My Craft Space

For those of you that missed my craft space being featured on Organized Mom a few weeks ago, I'm re-posting it here today!

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Over the last year or two I've become somewhat of a craft-supply hoarder! You can bet I was in that nice long line when Roberts Crafts Store closed earlier this month. I can't pass up cute fabric from the remnants bin, and I have a hard time not buying cute ribbon when it's 50% off at Hobby Lobby! This little habit of mine has forced me to organize my stash and evolve the space!

Since I dabble in so many different things—sewing, painting, jewelry, paper crafting, crocheting, (the list goes on and on!)--I have to keep it all organized! It’s hard to sit down and get creative when everything is cluttered and messy! This space needed a huge overhaul when I started crafting! Here's what it looked like before:

EEK!
What. a. Mess.
It makes me stressed out just looking at it!!

This is what the space looked like after we first painted and built up the units and shelving last April:

This is what it looks like today:

Baskets on the left hold computer software and the baskets on the right hold sewing supplies and things like glue guns and my Cricut accessories.

In the drawers of the desk are pads of stationary, scrap pieces of paper to write little notes, scissors and markers, cables and headphones, as well as extra toner for the printer. The bottom two drawers hold fabric scraps and project leftovers.

These clipboards, hanging near the computer, are perfect for clipping up to-do lists or project ideas ripped out of magazines.

Everything stored on the shelves or in the desk are things that need to be within arms reach at any given moment because I use them the most.

Everything else goes in my craft closet which is just a mere 15 feet away and easily accessible.

Just like I told you before—lots and lots of ribbon!

and way too much scrapbook paper for someone who does digital scrapbooking!

Labeled bins help keep all the different smaller items separated but easy to find.

My favorite thing about this closet is how perfectly the fabric shelves fit in the awkward space between the wall and the door! It makes me happy to open the door and see a rainbow of fabric stacked up! I have bigger bin at the bottom of this closet for more bulky fabric.

There's also a bin for unfinished projects, so whenever I am bored I can go grab something out of that bin and actually finish it.

Going back to the desk area, I have this extra set of bin drawers that are on my craft side of the desk. It's only there because it was the best place for it. These items would normally go in the craft closet, but that's getting a bit full lately!

This desk and shelving system was designed to not only make it easy to get creative and dive into projects, but also for our family to spend time together even when we are doing separate things. My hubby can read his favorite geek sites on the computer while I am working on the current project and our 3 year old just plays behind us! Here’s the other side of the room where he plays:

This is definitely an area of the house we spend a lot of time in and I look forward to working in this space every day! I’m so glad I was able to share it with you! I hope it inspires you to get organized and get creative!

Learning to love the abc’s

Luke went through a long stretch of many months where he didn’t want to have anything to do with learning anything!  He was struggling with his abc’s and numbers and did NOT want to work with me to learn them!  He was also struggling with handwriting and learning how to hold a pencil—he never really liked to color until just recently, so he was behind with drawing and tracing skills. I was getting pretty discouraged and worried that he was falling behind the other kids his age—especially the other kids in his preschool.  So for Christmas, I made sure to find some items that would help get him back on track!

First, on my hunt, I read hundreds of raving reviews for the LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD.  Tons of people were saying how quickly their children learned not just the letters, but also what sounds they made!  I found it for less than $10 on Amazon, so I went ahead and added it to the list!  Luke watched it 3 times on Christmas day and several times over the next 2 weeks.  He was instantly interested his learning his abc’s again!  He was quickly recognizing letters and also telling me what sounds they made—which completely blew me away!  I am looking into the other DVDs to help him with colors and numbers too!

Because he loved the DVD so much, I pulled out his old LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set that I’d long put away since he’d lost interest and I was tired of finding the magnets everywhere!  We keep all the magnets in a basket (instead of on the fridge) and use it on the table or sitting on the couch.  It reinforces the “every letter makes a sound” song that they sing in the DVD.  He loves sitting there and switching out the letters. 

Lastly, another Christmas present I insisted getting Luke was something to help him learn to hold a pencil and trace/draw better.  I found the LeapFrog Scribble and Write when I found the Letter Factory DVD.  It also got really good reviews, and since it was also reasonably priced I decided to go ahead and give it a try.  It took some practice before Luke got the hang of using it on his own, but now he loves to sit and trace the letters.  It teaches uppercase and lowercase letters, shapes and has a few little tracing and guessing games, too.

Luke know knows nearly all of his letters (he mixes up a few like p & d) as well as the sounds they make.  He’s also come so far in his ability to trace lines and letters!  I am one happy mama!!  If you have a toddler struggling with these things I would highly recommend these learning toys!

 

*Disclosure* all opinions are mine and I was not asked by Leapfrog to promote any of these items nor was I sponsored or paid in any way for writing this post!  I just love what they have done for my 3 year old and wanted to share!

For Nursing Mamas

The first few months of having a newborn, majority of the time is spent feeding them!  I have 3 things that have already come in pretty handy in the first 2 weeks of welcoming Sam home. 

First, a nursing strap.  This is a super easy project that will take you less than an hour and makes a great gift.  My friend had a car-seat canopy cover that worked also as her nursing cover—this nursing strap is what allowed her to use it for both.  All she had to do was take it off the car-seat and clip this strap on and she had an instant nursing cover!  The clips are actually curtain rings (found them at Target).  You can also just use this strap with any blanket to do basically the same thing. 

After trying out the strap, I decided it would be good for times to pack light, but I still really wanted a separate nursing cover with the boning in the neck and an adjustable neck strap.  So I whipped this out (which would have only taken an hour or two but ended up taking me an entire day since baby Sam takes up a lot of my time!):

And lastly, when you are waking up every 2 hours at night and getting very little sleep, it starts getting a bit tricky to remember things like which side to start nursing on each time. I was tired of finding my notepad to write everything down in the middle of the night, so I made myself a little nursing bracelet! I just switch it between wrists to remember which side to start on the next time! I just measured a piece of elastic cord, tied a knot and then strung seed beads on it before finishing it off with another knot. It’s not bulky or heavy, so I can sleep with it on and most of the time I forget it’s even there.

That’s it!  Nursing made easier!