When I did my spring cleaning this year, I found a few forgotten treasures in the closet. One was a “miniatures” shelf that we used in our last house.
When I saw this post, I knew just what to do with it! Even though Mandy re-purposed a cutlery tray instead, the idea worked perfectly.
All the leftover spools are still on their kabobs in a bowl. (I have a LOT of hand-me-down spools of thread . . . lucky me!)
I love the fun shots of color in my sewing room! ♥
One thing I LOVE is seeing my blogging friends’ sewing and crafting spaces. Some have whole rooms dedicated to their art, some have one bookshelf or a few pretty boxes, and many (most???) of us spill over onto the dining room table for big projects. When I recently finished a weeks-long high-priority project for work, I couldn’t wait to get reacquainted with the “crafty corner” of my small home office (which also includes jewelry, scarves, and belts, a Mary Azarian print my mom loved, and some of my grandma’s vintage hats) . . . but first I decided to reorganize it so I’ll be ready for all the fun ideas I’ve been collecting. Then, when I snapped a photo of my finished work, I was amazed at how many projects I already saw in this tiny space! So here’s the photo, here’s the list, and now . . . to start playing! ♥
AFTER!
BEFORE . . .
When I ran across a paper towel holder I no longer use, I immediately thought of the rolls of ribbon I recently bought at Michaels (three for a dollar!) to make some more fabric memo boards. They’re a perfect fit! Here are a few other craft and sewing room ideas:
UPDATE: Emily at Two Purple Couches just sent me a tip that this and lots of other great storage tips are included in the September HGTV magazine! I did a little sleuthing and found a link here. Enjoy!
Sometimes the pillow stuffing I buy has wooden chopstick-like instruments packed inside to help poke the fluffy stuff into tight corners. I’ve been collecting them in my desk drawer knowing that someday a light bulb would go on and I’d think of a creative way to use them. It did! 🙂 I wrapped embroidery floss around each grooved end to create a “stop,” slipped my thread over the sticks, and stood them up in a parfait bowl to display on a shelf. Now, instead of hiding away in a tote bag, the colorful spools are an easily-accessible part of my sewing room decor. I love it! ♥
I always have a line-up of a dozen or so projects I want to try, but once in awhile something bumps all the way to the front. That happened when I saw this intriguing bag on the Empty Nest Feathers blog, who linked to the tutorial at Exchanging Fire. I couldn’t wait to make one for my embroidery floss, and I decided to use a couple of the black and white fabrics I already have as different elements in my office/sewing room. (Click on any photo for a larger view.) All you need are two 18-inch squares of fabric, two yards of cording or ribbon, and an hour or less of time. I can foresee a larger version for a beach bag, a tiny version for a jewelry bag, and every size in between for all different types of gifts and storage. It was SO easy and fun . . . you’ll want to try it! ♥
I have such a fun job (writing books and classroom resources for K-5 students and teachers!) and I’m lucky to have a small but cozy home office to work in. It has a large black desk, a black rolling chair, and black metal shelves filled with my curriculum and reference books. It also has a matching black metal shelf for my fabric and sewing/craft supplies and a very small black desk for my sewing machine. My favorite piece of furniture is a dressing table bench that belonged to my Aunt Vitha. We painted it black and recovered the seat in zebra print, using a bedsheet I found at Target. I also made a black and white alphabet print cover for my sewing machine (from a fun book called Simply Irresistible Bags, but I’ve since seen lots of tutorials on sewing blogs and Pinterest) and black and white floral curtains (basic hemmed sides and bottom and casing on top) for the window. So, when I needed to leave my ironing board set up for my after-hours sewing projects, its stained, worn, pink and green cover looked badly out of place. This weekend I remedied the problem by making a new cover from the zebra bedsheet! I simply used the old cover for a pattern, leaving a little extra around the edges to stitch a casing for elastic. Oh yes, and the old cover had two velcro straps that fastened under the ironing board to help keep it in place, so I snipped those off to reuse, too. It fits, and I love it! ♥
After adding pins to the backs of some of my road trip flowers, I needed a place to store/display them while they’re waiting to become gifts and one of my World Market bargain bin placemats works perfectly! I simply stitched two ribbon loops on the back of the placemat, pinned on the flowers, and hung it on my sewing room wall. I love how bright and cheery it looks! Oh, and here are links to some more placemat projects:
Happy Monday! ♥
If you, like me, keep many of your sewing/crafting supplies out in the open in decorative containers, you’ll love this quick-‘n-easy project from Dianne Faw! Simply take the cover out of a tape dispenser, use it as a template to make a new, pretty one (from scrapbook paper, gift wrap, a map, whatever you have on hand), and put the new cover in. So cute! ♥
P.S. I’m keeping my new dispensers in this fabric basket that I fashioned from an “oops” while making my first bracelet purse. And if you haven’t tried a bracelet purse yet, click here. They’re so much fun to make and give for little girl gifts!
I had a few spare minutes today and decided to tackle some quick-‘n-easy projects with my materials and supplies, so now I have . . .
(1) a clasp on my needle book (braided embroidery floss stitched to the back cover wrapped around a small button on the front cover),
(2) labels on the red fabric bins where I keep my office/sewing/crafting supplies (typed lists taped to scrapbook paper rectangles and clipped to the fronts of the bins), and
(3) a home for my ever-growing collection of PW‘s (pattern weights) . . . the mason jar from my Mother’s Day gift labeled with a Publishers Weekly logo. (I don’t think they’ll mind, do you?) ♥
PILLOWS A-LA-MODE 