Creative Collections: DIY Artwork

I have such a hard time paying for art. It tends to be so expensive, especially when you need a large piece. Lots of times, I’ll just stretch a piece of fabric over canvas or frame some pretty scrapbook paper. Here are some other ideas for inexpensive ways to make your walls beautiful!

Chevron Art by Kelly Hicks Design

Art with Office Supplies by How About Orange

Pretty Bird Wall Art by Blue Cricket Design

Potato Print Artwork by Oh Happy Day

Ombre Canvas Artwork by Little House on the Corner

Urban Outfitters Wall Art by This Girl’s Life

**************

As I was looking for ideas for this post, I found other ideas to frame–cloth napkins, vintage pillowcases, maps, wallpaper, wrapping paper…

Family Room Art

I feel like it’s been ages since I posted about the projects I’ve been doing at home! I’ve loved all the Christmas ideas and the New Year’s Organizing Revolution! But as I’ve looked through some of the pictures I’ve taken, I can’t believe how many projects I have to update (there are some pictures of Emily that are from months ago, oops).

Just before Christmas, I got some new curtains from Target. I love the trellis/Moroccan pattern. And the gray-blue color.

Farrah Fretwork

But I didn’t really like them with the orange in the room. I decided to shift to just blues and greens, leaving the room a little more monochromatic and very soothing.

Which meant that I had to change out my art. Okay, I searched through all of my pictures. I swear I took a picture of my old art… or not. So I’ll try to explain it–they were two vertical panels painted green. Each panel had a navy blue branch and an orange branch.

I cropped a random photo to get this shot. Imagine it taller and with a second one beside it.

I had found a variety of art ideas on Pinterest that I decided to combine. Three picture ideas, 2 books, lots of Mod Podge, 2″ circles,  some paint, and bird cutouts later…

I love it! It still looks handmade, but it’s a little more sophisticated than what we had before. And right now, I’m all about birds (I have some little wire ones that are so cute) so this ties it all together nicely.

I have to laugh a little whenever I look more carefully at the background. I originally used a copy of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks as the background. And then I ran out of pages. With about a third left to finish. A canvas this big takes more than I thought! I looked through my donate box for another book with pages similar in color and size. So the other third (and some overlapping at the beginning) is from Cat and Mouse by James Patterson. Yep, a love story and murder mystery. 

Stay tuned Wednesday for other art ideas that you can do!

New Year’s Organizing Revolution: Family Room

Our family room does double duty–living room and playroom. And oh my, little Emily has quite a collection of toys. Already. Let’s please note that she’s not even a year old yet. Yikes!

But I think we’ve done some smart furniture buying to do double duty.

This shot is a good combination of our storage ideas. The wicker cube holds our dvds. The large basket on the shelf holds most of our board games. Then the other basket holds Emily’s burp clothes.

More baskets! The top two are PS3 and Wii games (one for Logan and one for me). The baskets on the bottom are Emily’s toys. The shelf on the left is her library.

Yeah, Emily decided she needed to kiss the camera as I was taking pictures.

This ottoman was one of our smartest buys. Cushy so we don’t have to worry about her hitting her head. Then there’s storage on the inside–some of Emily’s toys and our weights (to keep it in one place).

I’m still on the lookout for an inexpensive dresser at a thrift store. I’d like to do something like this, just with clear plastic tubs. I’m thinking a bright blue like this one though.

from BHG

Add it to my list of projects!

*************************

What smart storage solutions do you have in your family room?

Creative Collections: Play Room Storage

Ahh, toys. It seems that they’re slowly taking over. And our cute little house doesn’t have tons of closet space, so we’re all about creative solutions!

**************************************

Old Dresser as Toy Storage by BHG

Why yes, something like this will be in my living room when I find a good dresser. Maybe with clear bins though.

Organizing Craft Supplies by Something To Do

Stuffed Animal Swing by It’s Always Autumn

Peek-A-Boo Toy Sack by Make It Pefect

Fabric Storage Bins by Make It and Love It

Spice Racks as Book Storage by Naptime Decorator

Lego Table by Kojo Designs

And just because I love labels…

Toy Storage Labels by Confessions of a Slacker Mom

Printable Toy Tub Labels by Childhood 101

New Year’s Organizing Revolution: The Office

It’s done!

12 hours, $12.50, and lots of purging and dog hair later!

Done!

Let’s revisit the disaster that our office/craft room/playroom…

AND NOW…

It’s beautiful. And sparse. And clean.

I didn’t realize how stifled I felt my creativity was until I cleaned everything out. But all that “stuff” seemed to clutter my head too! So after a huge purge and moving things out, I have this…

This is my gift wrap station. I really liked how that was working, so it’s the only thing that didn’t change at all.

Ahh, my mini fabric bolts. I love these!

And I love the cabinet they’re in. The only thing I changed here was removing the wine rack from the top. Wine in a play room–maybe not the best idea! So that went to the top of the refrigerator. And now my copper plant goes on top of the cabinet until the weather is nice enough to go outside.

This is our main landing zone. All the extras were moved out (we have lots of things that go to other people!). The white basket is things we might need for Emily while we’re out. The woven basket is gloves, hats, and scarves for Logan and me. In the bench are baskets for our shoes and a boot tray is over to the side.

Do you see how clean this desk is!!! We have a small file box with To Do, Done, and To Shred so papers don’t clutter the desk. There’s also a little calendar with Emily 🙂

And perhaps the biggest change…

Behind this curtain is…

Beautiful, organized, and clean

From the top left, moving down:  spray paint and dog things, magazine file boxes (tutorial from A Bowl Full of Lemons), tissue paper and gift bags, fabric bolts and second sewing machine (on the floor). Center:  Etsy towels and felt, office supplies and scrapbook paper, project bins (one for each of us). Right:  paint, bread machine and cast iron pans, and extra bins (tools, office supplies, and craft supplies).

The bottoms of the center section and the right are completely empty so Emily has space for her toys…like the kitchen set I hope we’ll make for her first birthday. Empty. Did I mention that?

So clean and organized!

A tub for each of our projects. I got 6 of these for $1.50! And the labels were $2.

These magazine boxes are made from the tutorial from A Bowl Full of Lemons in yesterday’s Creative Collections. And the white post it notes were $1.

The stackable box cost $8. It holds things like paper clips, thumbtacks, glue, and sticky notes. All labeled of course!

You guys. I can’t tell you how great it feels to have this room look so fabulous. For the first time, I let Emily on the floor in there… Too bad the first thing she went for was the dog’s bowl.

****************************

I’m linking up to The New Year’s Organizing Revolution. Don’t forget to swing over and vote for me! Voting is open all weekend.

Creative Collections: Organizing for the Office

The great organization of our office/craft room is underway. Fortunately Logan is totally supportive of this, because I’ve destroyed our dining room in the process (please don’t come visit my house this week!).

That resolution about clearing off the dining room table will start once the office is clean!

Since containers, boxes, and jars can get a little pricey, I’ve searched for storage and container ideas that reuse other items. You know, to save a little money… so you can buy more binders for your office (or fabric for your craft room!).

Embroidery Hoops as Storage by Apartment Therapy

Fabric Covered Bins by Tales from a Cottage

Chic Office Organizers from Timewashed

Go Anywhere Office by BHG

Muffin Tin Organizer by The Daily Buzz

Sticker Holder by Club Creating Keepsakes

Magazine Storage Boxes by A Bowl Full of Lemons

Keep Organizing! Hope your offices are looking great!

New Years Organizing Revolution

Toni over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is hosting a HUGE linky party through the month of January.  Each week you organize one room/area of  your house (office, kitchen, closets, family room/play room), link up your blog or Pinterest board, and vote for the best transformations.
PS–The prizes are pretty amazing!

I’m in. Because currently my office looks like this…

And no, I didn’t do anything that would make it more dramatically messy. We’ve been living with it like this for weeks. Lots of weeks. And actually, this is a little better than it was last week, because Logan moved out our Christmas decorations and a tub of comic books. Yeah, please don’t judge…

I know I talk about organizing on here regularly. And to be honest, I do consider myself an organized person. But this is the black hole!

There are a few reasons I think it happens to this room:

1.  This room has LOTS of different functions:  office, sewing/craft room, storage, mudroom, dog room, and eventually a playroom for Emily. All of these functions involve stuff.

2.  We get lazy. I’ll organize the room (or at least parts of it), and it will look great for a little bit. Then we get busy or tired and just drop our things. Of course, we’ll eventually put it away–right?

3.  I have too much stuff. It amazes me how many things go into sewing and crafting. But now that I’m also sharing the room with Emily, it’s time for a serious purge.

So my label maker is ready. I’ve covered boxes with contact paper so things match. Here we go!

Come back on Friday to see the transformation!

*******************

During this challenge, the Creative Collections on Wednesdays will have easy organization ideas for that area of the house.

Creative Collections: Christmas Wreaths

As much as I love Christmas (and I do!), I’m dragging my feet on decorating my house. I think there are a few things holding me back… I have several sewing orders to fill and need to get those things checked off my list before I can really enjoy decorating. And it was in the 60s over the weekend. And rainy now. I’m no fan of cold weather, but it’s better than rainy and cloudy!

But maybe this weekend!

In the meantime, I’ll admire all of the beautiful Christmas lights people have put up (including the white icicle lights Logan put up) and imagine how great our house will look. And think about what wreaths I might someday make!

White Yarn Wreath by BHG

Christmas Ball Wreath by Good Housekeeping

Bay Leaf Wreath by Make It and Love It

Candy Wreath by Gwynn Wasson Designs

Frame “Wreath” by This Flourishing Life

Burlap Wreath by Laugh, Love and Craft

Creative Collections: Advent Calendars

The more I think about Christmas, the more excited I get. There is just something about this time of year that truly fills me with joy. And I really can’t wait until we put the tree up and seeing Emily’s excitement about it.

Since the beginning of Advent is quickly approaching, I thought it might be a good time for some Advent calendar ideas. I’ve already linked up to KoJo Designs with their Advent Ornament balls in this post. But  here are some other ideas for you too!

Magnetic Advent Calendar by Twig and Thistle

Paper Chain by Budget Wise Home

Baby Socks Advent Calendar by Martha Stewart

Big Box Advent Calendar by Mod Podge Rocks

Advent Jar by Two Peas in a Bucket

Cone-iferous Advent Calendar by Spoonful

Library Pocket Advent Calendar by Ruffled Sunshine

Let the countdown begin!

Creative Collections: Thanksgiving Centerpieces

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving! All the planning, cooking, and prepping! And cleaning at my house… because with a baby that doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should (good thing I get a whole week of school off!).

For the last several years of hosting, I get to the last few hours before dinner and forget a centerpiece. So each time I’m scrambling to come up with something that looks as good as the meal that we’ll be eating (we do a buffet so the center of the table is mostly clear).

This year I’m doing better though! I have some of the things I need already bought. Is the centerpiece ready yet… well, no. But it’s a step closer.

So here are some great centerpiece ideas that you can try. And maybe you won’t have to scramble at the last minute for something you like 🙂

Lentils, Beans, and Popcorn from Quite Pinteresting
This is similar to what I’m trying this year.

Corn and a Candle from Quirky Combinations

Candles and Twine by Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate

Wine Glasses and Gourds by Steph Hicks

Natural Table Runner by Better Homes and Garden

Pears and Glass by Better Homes and Garden
Really any fall fruits or vegetables would work.
 

Tuna Can and Clothespins by Glorious Mind

Okay, I realize that lots of these have candles, but I always think they give a nice ambiance (Hmm, think that will change as Emily gets older?). Just make sure that they’re unscented so they don’t interfere with the amazing smells of your dinner.