Sunday Snippets

"Don't say no.  Fortune never smiles on those who say no."  --Nat, Liberal Arts

some fun for me

Wanting to craft, but ...

It's the beginning of the week and I had so many crafting ideas.  But, I pushed those aside to tackle my office/craftroom organizing.  I worked on a couple corners and one wall.  I doesn't look like I accomplished much, but it looks a lot better.  Actually, sorting through so much stuff is probably more important that how pretty I can get it to look.

 

 

I was so impulsive that I didn't take any "before" photos, but we all have seen "Hoarders" and can imagine the disorderly piles of too much stuff.

 

I sorted through my supplies and works-in-progress.  I threw out a couple of bags of stuff that I kept for recycling/upcycling, but after a year of not doing anything with it, it's obvious where it really belonged.  Another couple of bags were placed in the donate and yard sale bins in our garage.  And, a pile of project instructions I had printed from the internet was placed in my recycled paper bin (I print drafts on the other side).

I was storing my projects in decorative shoe boxes, but I kept forgetting what was in each.  I changed my storage containers to clear ones and labeled as much as I could.  Like with like and only projects I will really work on.  So I hope...

 

I sorted through more photos and put them in project boxes.  I wish the photos and memorabilia were already in scrapbooks, but at least they are categorize.  I'm going to count it as progress.

I have weird corner bookshelves, behind the door. Even though it's not too visable, I feel like it needs to look somewhat pretty.   I'm trying to use the space to display my cameras, accessories and supplies.  I might have to find some framed photos and treasures to fill the side spaces.

Does anyone else have these kind of shelves?  How do you style the space?







Well, no crafting for me today.  But, some Monday Mania did get me to orgranize enough so I can craft soon.

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --George Bernard Shaw

Finish-it Friday

Done - school, soccer and swim wallet photos cut, sorted and packaged to include with holiday cards.

A little fun for me

Today, I indulged in some television and crochet.  I crocheted a lining for a basket, while catching up on some of my favorite shows (I'm now a big fan of hulu).

I've had this basket for 18-20 years.  It used to have handles and the colored stripes were quite vibrant.  It has held rolled towels, toddlers' toys and books and has been a catch-all.  It's a good size and shape, and it's time for a face lift.

So, I pulled out some leftover yarn and a crochet hook.  This is my kind of project...using what I have and making it up as I go.  I think it will take me a couple of more days to finish the crocheting and attach it to the basket.  I'm hoping I will finish it soon and use this to hold some of my projects or my new yarns. 

UGH!!

I'm going to re-do my office/craftroom and this is definitely the place to start.  For the past ten years, I've "filed" my photos by throwing them into a couple of boxes.  They're in date order (sort of) and I've kept my kids' school and activity portraits separate from our family photos.  Actually, this isn't ten years of family photos;  this is about four years of family photos.  The family photos I've taken for the last ten years are either on my flash drive or still on the memory cards in our cameras. 

I started off by sorting the school projects, certificates and other memorabilia and filed them for each child.

 

 Then, I got the the school and activity portraits organized and safely house in a filing drawer.

More boxes and mini files used, to organize for future scrapbooking.  Much less overwhelming than the huge, chaotic file boxes, and I can actually imagine working on those scrapbooks.

The next step will be cutting up all those wallet photos (2002 to present!) and passing them along to our families.  Work-In-Progress is an understatement. 

BlogtoberFest 2013

It's time for BlogtoberFest!  Yes, I'm accepting the challenge to blog post every day during the month of October.   AGAIN! Third time's a charm...

Sunday Snippets

Grandmother's china

Yesterday, I did a couple of activities, in celebration of Earth Day.  One of them was upcycling some of  my grandmother's china.

When I transported my grandmother's china to my home, a few of the teacups chipped, cracked and broke.  I'm lucky that my grandmother had purchased 30 cups and saucers to go with her service for 20.  Even though I still have a complete set, I couldn't bear to toss the damaged cups.  I searched for upcycling ideas and saw an article on making teacups into candles.  Here's the link http://www.marthastewart.com/273016/teacup-lights  I did a couple of steps differently, so I would only use what I already had.

I used votive candles in the middles of the poured candle wax. Using new wicks and only poured wax would have created prettier and seamless candles.   When the votives have been melted, I plan to replace the centers with other votives or tealights (again, using what I already have).

To melt the wax, using a double-boiler or two pans would be the easiest tool.  I couldn't find the one I use for crafts, so I tried couple of alternative techniques.

I first tried using beakers and boiling water.  It worked but it went REALLY slowly.

I then put my craft bowl in a pot with boiling water.  This worked much better and quicker.  

I used the beakers to scoop the hot wax and pour around the votives.

Finished products

Did Earth Day inspire any of your projects?  Happy crafting!