Friday, February 12, 2010

I have a little pro-yect


Valentine's Day is this weekend. Have I done a bunch of decorating for it? Not really. However, I was bopping around blogland and I found an old post and it kind of got my creative juices flowing. Kim over at the Daisy Cottage asked her readers to send her a heart to put in a big bowl she had. At first I thought it was kind of odd, but she showed some of the hearts she made and it got me thinking. First, how cute are these little hearts and second, how easy would this project be?
I have horrible crafting ADD. I can probably count on one hand the number of projects I have actually completed. The upside, however, is a stash of fabric and supplies on hand and ready to go when some hair brain idea hits. It was after midnight when I pulled out my sewing machine and some of my favorite fabric. I didn't have any "stuffing" so I wadded up paper napkins (no one will know right?) The project just took a few minutes and while it wasn't perfect ~ I liked it.
Inspired, I went to Joann's the next day to pick up some more fabric (I didn't have any good reds in my stash) and while I was there I stumbled across the burlap isle. Chris over at Just a Girl is a big fan of burlap. She uses it all over her house. I'll admit I was skeptical, but when I saw a bolt and picked it up, inspiration struck. It was soft and just had that nice neutral quality. Finally I "got it". So I picked some up along with a couple of other fun fabrics. I have the house to myself tonight and I plan on doing a little Valentine sewing. Nothing fancy, but it will be fun.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Can't sleep, organize a closet

The house I grew up in had your standard under the stairs closet. It was your basic catch all mess. It was nicknamed "the tomb" because my dad said he felt like Howard Carter digging through Tut's tomb whenever he had to go in there. We also have a tomb. When we moved in I figured it was the perfect place to house all my extra dishes. The problem was that it was also the access to under the house so whenever we needed to get under the house I had to completely empty the closet. Kind of a pain. Recently Joj and I were talking about having new insulation put in under the house, so that meant I would be needing to empty the closet. Joy.So the other night I couldn't sleep and I figured now is just a good as any to empty my closet. Here is what it looked like when I started.

What you don't see are the dishes I used at Christmas which are still in the dining room. Part of the storage challenge is that everything fits if you stack it just right. While Jenga is a fun game, playing it with my dishes, not so much.

When we redid my pantry, I kept the white shelves. They had been hanging out in the garage slowly collecting items on their unused shelves. Not wanting to play Jenga with my Thanksgiving dishes I just put them out in the garage on one of the shelves. That is when I got and idea. Since the pates fit so nicely, why not re-use them in the tomb. So that is what I did. They are shallow enough to clear the trap door, but the numerous shelves make it so that everything has a home. I've always wanted a butler's pantry and now I have one :0)