An Idea Born Out of Necessity

Even though Spring has all but disappeared around here and been replaced with Winter, I have been on a Spring Cleaning kick! Yesterday's project - my closet. I am fortunate enough to have a walk-in closet to myself! The original plans for our house called for my closet to be another bathroom. While that would have been nice too, I am so thankful it never happened. My husband has his own closet on his side of the room, and I get the walk-in! Our previous home was built in 1922 and had 800 sq. ft on the main floor with a half finished basement. If your familiar with houses of this era, you know they built closets big enough to hold one pair of pants and two shirts. So, needless to say, I now feel spoiled. And now its clean! All winter items (except for a few sweaters to get me through the next week or two) have been removed and replaced with summer clothes. Every shelf has been dusted and cleaned out. I've got a pile of clothes to be refashioned in some way, and another pile thats heading off to the thrift store. During all this cleaning I discovered my jewelry was in shambles, spread out all over the place. I have a very nice jewelry box Lee got for me a couple Christmases ago, but my necklaces just didn't fit in there very nice. So I decided to make this...

It started out as this...

I removed the picture and the glass and filled it with this stuff...

Not sure what you call it, but I got it at a home improvement store. Its some kind of a pressed paper bulletin board. Much cheaper than cork. I bought it in a very large sheet to do the big fabric covered bulletin board in my craft room and had this piece left over. I covered it with some fabric I got from my sister ages ago (no more hoarding!!) and stapled it on. I added a couple upholstery tacks to hang necklaces from and hung it up in my closet. Done in less than a 1/2 an hour!!

(AAh! White walls! Trust me, one of the very few places you will find these in my house!)

I'm sure I'm the last to know....

but I just have to share this stuff with you. Has everyone else already made fabric covered tacks? I found a tutorial here (which by the way is a great site). So quick, easy and cute! But, very addicting! I love how different fabric seems to look when you focus on a small area like this.

Then, I found this in the clearance isle at Wal-mart. I didn't even know this was available! I've been using rice to fill fabric balls, toys, etc. but always wished I had something washable. Here it is! A little pricey, the bag was clearanced at 2.50, but I think it will last a long time ( the bag is about 1/4 the size of a normal poly-fill bag).

And finally, I am currently in the middle of making this. Angry Chicken thought she was the last one to try it, but no, I'll take over the rear.

Update! The bread is done and its delicious! This was my very first attempt at making bread by myself and it turned out pretty good. Next time I will decrease the salt in the recipe a little bit and maybe experiment with a little whole wheat flour. The bread reminds me a lot of sourdough bread - very crusty on the outside and really chewy on the inside. It takes a little planning to get this recipe done (very little actual hands-on time though) but its all worth it!

Thrifted Transformations

I bought this frame at a thrift store a while back for a quarter! Not real attractive, but I knew it had potential. I really like thrifting old picture frames. Their cheap of course, but a lot of times you can get really nice frames that are actually made of wood, unlike a lot of the frames you buy these days. A quick spray paint and they are as good as new (or better!).



As soon as my postcards arrived from The Black Apple I knew I would definitely be framing one of them. So, I dug out this frame and some high gloss oil paint. I debated spray paint, but its too cold outside. And I was looking for a nicer finish than acrylic would give me, and I knew latex would take a ton of coats, so oil it was. We had this on hand from some past unknown project. After a good coat of black I let it dry and added some silver acrylic. I know, I know you shouldn't put acrylic over oil, but it worked just fine. Here is the finished product.

All Sorts of Pretties

I've been working on (and even finishing!) all sorts of pretty stuff.

Vintage Earrings turned magnets, soon to be found here.

Spring flower bag for my friend Stacy. Between the two of us, we had this whipped up in one short afternoon! Thanks Stacy - it was lots of fun. Hope you enjoy the bag!

Up next? I'm thinking something with these...

Look what I grew!

Even though it is the dead of winter here these managed to pop up in my craft room!

I got this idea from Kiddley and decided to whip some up, possibly for Valentine's day gifts or just to "Spring" the place up a bit. They were extremely easy and came together very fast. Plus, its a fun reason to sort through your button stash.

Had a fun day on Saturday with Rachel. Did a little thrifting, craft supply shopping, lots of eating, and ended with some brain storming & coffee at Barnes & Noble. Tons of fun - thanks again Rach! As promised, I took her to the trim store, where she reacted appropriately! Here is a picture of just part of their trim supply. Took it with my cell, so I'm not sure of the quality, but you get the idea!

I spent most of Sunday cleaning up the craft room. Seems like this is all I ever get done. I am a very messy crafter. I have tried to change, but I think it is just part of my creative method. Its always nice to start out a new project with a fresh clean room. Now I just have to decide what to work on next!