Attention Fabric Lovers...

Oh, danger.   DANGER!!!  Oh, the danger of reading other creative people's blogs.  Lindsey over at The Pleated Poppy has just introduced her readers to Hawthorne Threads - an online fabric (and more!) shop that has taken my breath away with its darling factor.  Oh!  I am so in love.

I won't bother to re-invent the wheel but instead will send you over to Lindsey herself to sell you on why the shop is so great.  It's worth a look.

One thing she doesn't mention, however, is their incredible selection of patterns.  Amy Butler, why oh why must you tempt me with your darling patterns?  Now I have to learn to sew FOR REAL!

Evolution of a Craft Room: Part One

I'm cheating on my kitchen.  Seriously, I was in there yesterday to make dinner and had to say to it, "Hello, old friend!  I've missed you!"  The other lover?  My new craft room.  Or office.  Or croffice, as we have been calling it. 

We have been madly involved with making our former guest room into a real, live, place for the lady.  Our former "croffice" is now the new guest room, and both spaces are so much happier now.  I debated about whether or not to wait on posting and make it a "big reveal," but in reality I'm too excited about the little changes happening to be patient.

Weekend One:  I wish I had done a better job of taking "before" pictures, but here is the one I do have of the room, just before we Peter painted:

Just imagine a treadmill stuffed in there, a table with a t.v. and LOTS of crafting supplies piled on the bed.  That's how you would catch this room on any day of the week.  We sold the treadmill & t.v. on craigslist, tried five different "tiffany blue" patches on the wall, and came up with this:

EXACTLY the color I was looking for - Benjamin Moore's "Waterfall."  I didn't have a Tiffany's box to compare, but if my memory serves me correct, it's a perfect match. 

Weekend Two:  Find & install my girlie chandelier.  I found it at Home Depot and it had everything I was looking for - a white antique finish, crystals, and the ability to hold 60 watt bulbs.  I think every lady needs one of these somewhere in her home - especially if she does not have girls!

Peter painstakingly made my dream of crown molding come true.  I wanted something simple, and this was perfect.  And we learned that we need to invest in an electric miter saw for any future projects :).

I found these faux red tulips on clearance at Wal-Mart yesterday and knew they belonged in here.  My overall color scheme will be the Tiffany Blue with black, white, and red accents.  This purchase confirmed my vision of splashes of red!

Peter also put shelves up in the closet - but I'll post pictures on that when I am done organizing...and oh yes, it will involve me getting mean with a clearanced-out label maker I found at Target!

One Moment in Time

Today is the day!  We are so excited to have our first quarterly activity this year in Primary - the Primary Olympics!  Our themes is "Go For the Gold."  I have been a part of this before in other presidencies and it is always a favorite.  With events like "Who's on the Lord's Side" Ice Hockey, "Good Samaritan" Bobsled Racing (using sleeping bags on the gym floor) and "Lengthen Your Stride" Figure Skating (using washcloths), not to mention the "Word of Wisdom" Smoothie Bar, how can it go wrong?  We're stoked.  

Our awards ceremony promises each Olympic athlete one of these gold medals made from cookies. 

We all know that "real gold = sugar" for Primary children.

Tiffany Blue

My taste is evolving on the craft room decor.  Actually, I would say it is revolving.  Last night I got a replica paint sample of "At Sea" by Benjamin Moore (the color in the Country Living office I featured a few days ago), painted, and decided that yes, it is too light.  I want more pop.  So I am re-volving back to my original color choice, Tiffany Blue.  I want a craft room that makes you feel like you walked right into a Tiffany's Box.  I am inspired by the color in photos like these: 

Most photos found at House of Turquoise.  What a pretty blog. 

Back to Home Depot I go for more paint samples!

Valance a la Tablecloth

The other find from my Prosser trip was a tablecloth that ended the long search for a window treatment in the family room.  I had searched high and low for a fabric that suited my taste, but of course, it would have to come in the form of a tablecloth.  Which was actually to my advantage, since some of the hemming was done for me!

I simply chopped it into three equal pieces (adding room for and sewing up half-inch seams where needed), sewed some chocolate brown grosgrain ribbon to each end, tied them up to some decorative knobs, and voila!  Easy peasy, and I even had enough leftover to make a matching pillow for the loveseat.  Love that polyfil.

Visions of a Craft Room Dancing in my Head

Last Saturday my friend and I headed to historic downtown Prosser for some boutiquing (a word?) and antiquing.  It was fun to get away and have girl time.  My goal in shopping was two fold - one was to look for inspiration and/or pieces for making over my craft room/office.  I was browsing with this recent office makeover (made of a closet!) from Country Living in mind:

I love it.  So lady-like.

I found many, many cute things. 

These little birdies caught my eye, however, and I couldn't leave them in the shop:

A promise for spring and a newly-inspired space to craft to my heart's content.

Twitterpated with Pink

This has been a crafting-like-a-maniac kind of week for me.  I like to blame it on the fact that I never see pink in my house.  Seriously, I walked into my friend's house the other day, saw pink pillowcases folded with her laundry, and instinctively exclaimed, "Oh, cute Valentine's pillowcases!"  Yeah.  Of course, pink pillowcases are a staple in their home full of daughters.  But for me, pink is a novelty. 

I finished my heart felt wreath and love the way it turned out.  It was definitely a lot of cutting in front of the t.v., but a nice justification for sitting on my rumpus to watch those poor souls suffer on the American Idol auditions.  I still have lots of felt leftover and my b-l-e-s-s-e-d mother is taking my kids away for a few days, so don't be surprised if you see pillows or a table runner pop up on here in the next week...

Another little ditty is this one, an idea I found from Under The Table and Dreaming.  Cute, eh?  And very simple to make.

This one is becoming a trend for me - words spelled in frames.  I couldn't resist when I found these darling white frames on the cheap.  Cut out some white letters, mount with tape on scrapbook paper, and voila.  Instant art, I say. 

And it wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a pic of my Valentines, the Three Men.  A dollar store frame, hot glue, and a ribbon.  A lovely ensemble.

I Heart Plate Displays

After an unsuccessful search for cute valentine plates for my plate hanger this year, I decided to try & make some on my own.  I found these 10.5 inch plates at the dollar store, bought some acrylic paints in the colors I liked, and went to town.

First I cut a 5 inch heart template and traced around it onto the plate with a dry erase marker.  Then I used Q-tips to make different sized circles inside of the heart.  After the paint had dried, it was a snap to clean off the marker with a damp paper towel.  The best part about this is that I got what I had pictured, but couldn't find, for cheaper than I would've paid for something I didn't like as much!

I tried a perma-glaze product over the brown heart after it had dried, but ended up making a little mess of it (I ignored the fact that my acrylic paint should've been permenamel paint - oh well!)  So, if you are going to do this and glaze it, make sure you use a glaze that is compatible with acrylic paint.

Felt Valentine Topiaries

When I saw this idea on one of my favorite craft blogs, The Idea Room, I knew I had to make it.  Most of what you need you can find at the dollar store.  I'm also planning on doing the felt heart wreath - just waiting for the wreath form in the mail, since they were all sold out at JoAnn's.  For a tutorial, click here.

Have a Picnik!

I got a new camera for Christmas.  My wonderful in-laws replaced (with an upgrade, thank you!) my Nikon D40 that got ravaged in the midst of Christmas Mayhem 2008.  I'm having a lot of fun with the new one.

However...I will tell you that my sister Megan recently introduced me to picnik.com.  A cheater photo editing site for those who are photoshopphobic, like me.  It is EXTREMELY user-friendly and for about $24/year, you get pictures that make you look like you really know what you're doing!  Check it out!

A Hazy Shade of Winter

Ah, January. I hold such conflicted feelings for you. On the one hand, I'm so happy to be done with the excess of the holidays and back into a normal schedule, but on the other it does tend to leave such a drab feeling to the month when all of the warmth of Christmas is gone and the weather is gloomy. Since the sun sets at 4:30 in the winters of the Pacific Northwest, I like to leave my white twinkle lights up for the month of January (and sometimes even into February). They somehow make my home feel warmer.

I was also on the lookout this year for some "winter" type decor that was not necessarily Christmas. I have traditionally decorated with snowmen in January and kept to blues, so I found and am surrounding myself with the following in keeping with that theme:

My mom brought these to me last month, knowing that I love my blue January decor. My aunt made them out of wood blocks, scrapbook paper & vinyl (and a few other elements). They have been a cheery little addition to the mantel after the Christmas decor made an exit and left it looking naked!

I also got these blue & silver ornaments on clearance at Target and snuck a few up on my mantel as well, next to...

my candlesticks now topped with clearanced-out glitter pinecones scored at Craft Warehouse.

I got this lantern over the summer with a Pottery Barn gift card and while it graced the patio then, I decided to give it a home indoors next to the fireplace for winter. I've filled it with more of the same ornaments & glittered pinecones.

My three frames above the kitchen cabinets have also had a makeover from the Christmas red & green to blue & white! I'm so grateful for cute, seasonal scrapbook paper. You can't tell from the picture, but the white one has raised, white velvet dots all over it that remind me of snowballs. Which is nice, since we have not seen much snow this year!