Our Home: Craft Closet

I love my husband. He's my best friend, high school sweetheart, and the most intelligent person I know. One quality I love about him is that when he wants to do something, even when he's never done it before, he will do it. He'll learn all about it, become an expert, and go to it. A few summers ago, he took on the hobby of designing and building. We had spent the summer redoing rooms of our house: our then toddler's room from baby to preschooler, the boys' bathroom, and rearranging the living room. We used IKEA as our inspiration.

I love to craft and always had little room to do so without it taking over the house. So, when we purchased new bedroom furniture from IKEA for ourselves for Christmas, we decided to give myself an area in our living room. I had the Expedit shelving and desk, except I had the huge 16 cubby unit. It was a beast. We used it as a room divider/hall extension for about six months until we both decided it was too massive. I forfeited the space and we moved the unit into our preschooler's room, where it stands today. On a side note, I HIGHLY recommend this unit for kids...lots of organized storage!!  During that time of limbo, Kevin secretely began to research closet offices and found one that really excited him. He pulled me in and asked how I would feel about turning our vacuum/coat closet into a space for me. He would design it himself. I was all on board with the idea...especially after I saw his inspiration (you'll see later).  Our closet was one of those you NEVER open when company is there and I cringe to show it today. I have to though to help so the awesomeness of my closet now.


We took another trip to IKEA for the shelving, table legs, lighting (no overhead power though), wall storage, and storage containers. The filing cabinet came from Target and Kevin spray painted it an aqua that matched the wall paper. My sweet hubby even splurged and bought me the exact same (very pricey IMO) wall paper that was in the Country Living magazine here.

So without further ado, here she is!

Before :(

After <3

Another Angle

Original Inspiration

Pinterst Inspiration: Ear Warmer/Headband

Ok, I had to laugh at myself in this picture. I live in Florida. It was absolutely beautiful today on this NYE 2011...like 75* temperatures. Here I am in a spaghetti strap tank wearing an ear warmer. Haha! But, in my defense, it is supposed to get down in the 50s later this week...which is frigid in Florida.

Anyway, I saw here on Pinterst how a blogger pinched her headband with matching yarn. I already had a white scarf, so I used huge-o needles to knit together a headband quickly. Instead of using the white fluffy yarn as the detail, I dug out some pink and purple (my favorite colors) and spun that around. I like it!  I have a purple headband that I made with the purple yarn, so I'll do something similar to the original idea. I won't pull the yarn so tightly and leave the creases in like she did. That'll come soon...when I can dig it out of the drawer ;) 

Pinterest Inspiration with an April Twist: Melted Crayon Art

All over Pinterest you can find a really cool art: melted crayons, as seen here. I couldn't wait to try it out...I had a box of 120 Crayolas perfect for use.  I had a canvas laying around from a project I did in college, but I wanted to save it for something else (future family tree, thanks Pinterest!). So, I went rummaging in our linen closet. I remembered when we moved in to our house five years ago, we found these two cute, three pictures each, frames at Target for $5 on the clearance. We put them aside, waiting for the right place and pictures. Yeah, five years later.... When brainstorming what I wanted to do for this project, I immediately thought of the frames and thought about dividing the different colors into each spot. I had no idea where I would put them until our preschooler asked what I was doing. His room is bright jungle green and I thought right away these would look great in his room, and his walls needed an update anyway. He gave the idea a big thumbs up!  Then the project hit a snag: I thought they were shadow box-like frames because of the double panes of glass. Nope. So, I had to take off the back glass (not easy at all!) and then measure each box, cut the poster board accordingly, and then glue on the crayons with the trusty hot glue gun. I took them outside to melt with the high setting on the hair dryer. But, i found out quickly that they curl when cooling so i had to adjust them while drying. Overall, it turned out pretty cool. Alex is very happy with it, as you can tell by his fingerprints on the glass.....

Going Green: Inexpensive, Good Homemade Laundry Detergent

I'm a green freak. Yep. I try everything in my power to limit the amount of waste our family creates and I'm so proud that they are all on board with me. I'm that person who has more recycle than garbage...I even bring home my school's plastic..about four bins a week. But hey, my students see the example, and isn't that what it's about?  ;)

Anyway, I have to keep detergent in mind for my family because one of us has sensitive skin that doesn't like fragrance and three of us have mild eczema that gets worse when irritated by detergent. I dabbled with store bought natural detergents before and found one a Sam's that I LOVED. Inexpensive, coconut oil based, and awesome. But, we no longer have a membership because it's too dang far to be economical. I used Arm & Hammer for a very long time until I found an economical and easy recipe for homemade detergent on this blog. I decided to give it a shot. The blog even gives you the financial breakdown!

 

The laundry detergent itself is awesome. You use very little (I use two heaping spoons, depending the level of soiled clothing). The softener is so-so. The baking soda settles to the bottom so quickly that when it came time for it to spin out of the cup during the drain, the baking soda would stay. I have just used vinegar in the past with good results, so I just stuck with that. I use vinegar all over the house, so I just buy the super huge bottle...  Just be careful if you touch it to your hands...the Borax dries the skin out very quickly.  Good luck!!

Food!! Funyun M&M Treats

My dear friend Tina is a wonderful cook and is always on the look for great recipes...which she lovingly shares with me. This is a kid-friendly recipe that makes for a dangerous treat...dangerous in that you'll eat your weight in them.  It's simple:  a Funyun, M&M, and melted almond bark, found in the chocolate section of the bakery aisle. I just melt a block or two of the almond bark in a plastic zipper bag in the microwave and then cut a bottom corner from the bag. It makes for a less messy, preschooler-ready icing bag. Just squeeze a drop onto the Funyun, place the M&M, and set aside to cool...or pop right into your mouth. Enjoy!!

My project: Angry Birds jack-o-lantern

Yeah, I"m two full months late, but here is our jack-o-lantern from this year. It's become a time of expectation for our family when I create our family jack-o-lantern because they always embody something special to our family. I've done ESPN, Orlando Magic, our favorite bands Sister Hazel and Big 10-4, Mickey Mouse, a Cross-Country running shoe, UNICEF, and plenty of others I can't think of right now. This year the inspiration to do an Angry Bird came from our two boys who, like most other kids, are obsessed with the addicting game. I found some free Angry Bird coloring sheets online, chose the traditional red bird, and carved away. This year I didn't have any actual openings in the pumpkin, it was all from carving off the skin and shading with Sharpie. The eyes were made from sewing pins because I accidentally shaved off his pupil, oops!

What's extra cool (at least for my family) is that I carve the pumpkin Halloween afternoon, we let it sit outside during trick-or-treating, and the next day it gets peeled, chopped, boiled, and divided for our Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. You know, I gotta keep it green! :)

Pinterst Inspiration: T-Shirt Scarf

I love it when Pinterest projects are quick to complete, and Amanda wasn't kidding when she blogged that this scarf was easy. I began it and finished it all during an DVR'd episode of Dr. Phil.  The hardest part was finding the three t-shirts I could sacrifice for the project. What was great is that the shirts didn't have to be perfect. The white shirt had some spots, but you won't be able to see them.I dug out a purple, white, and gray set of shirts. I followed Amanda's instructions from here by cutting off the hem (used later) and then cutting the shirts length ways at 1 inch strips to make a huge loop. From the three shirts, I made about 33 loops, but you can make as many as you want. You then stretch the loops and then wrap them around your hand a few times until you get the size of the loop you want. Snip a four-inch approximate piece from the hem strip you set aside, tie two loops together. Keep going until you run out of loops. Then, enjoy!  Here is a picture of the scarf in action. I wore it the next day to Epcot and got a few inquiries about it. :)

Here is the original blog...

 

Pinterest Inspiration: Curling Iron Hair

I'll admit it. I'm not a girly girl. I have never known how to do my hair, and when I tried something, my fine hair wouldn't hold anything. When browsing Pinterest (my favorite pasttime), I came across Kate's blog. I love her hair styles and, even better, she showed how to do it! Wahoo!!  I followed her instructions for how to curl your hair with a curling iron (I know...simple stuff...but not for me...)  and I came out with this. I loved it immediately, and my hubby did too.

I loved it. I took me a LONG time (about an hour!) but that's only because it was new to me and I had to go back and refer to the video (thanks iPad for portability!!!).  I also discovered that I need a smaller size curling iron. I had used a 1.5 inch iron, which was a bit too large for my shorter hair. My wonderful 12 year old son (with guidance from my mom) bought me a 1.25 inch iron. Perfection. I used her tips for applying Aquage, except I used mousse...and a bunch of it. But, it lasted a whole day's trip through Disney World!! And, this time, the curling only took me 25 minutes :)

Here is Kate's blog. Warning: It's as addicting as Pinterest!

Pinterest Inspiration, with an April twist: More paint chip art

I like the paint chip art project so much (see my inspiration here), I wanted to make another in a smaller frame. But, I didn't want to make just the same thing...I wanted to change it up a bit. So, for the fun of it, I grabbed my pinking shears that were in  my container by my head and had at it. I started in one corner and just cut chips however long I wanted. Some sides aren't trimmed and are just the straight edge. Those are hidden underneath.The frame did a nice job bringing it together...yet another find in our linen closet and yet another free project!!

Beginning...

After a few chips...

Final piece!

I

Pinterest Inspiration: Paint chip art

So, I fell in love with these two Pinterest projects immediately:

Project 1     and    Project 2

So, I had to try for myself.  What's especially cool is that because I had just purged and reorganized our linen closet, I found this frame. So this project literally cost me nothing. While out for an errand, we swung by Ace Hardware and I grabbed some samples. Sweet!!!  I love the way it turned out :)

My Project: Caprisun Pouch Cape

Ahh, a Caprisun pouch cape. I haven't a clue how this hit me, but I'm glad it did. As I was making the Caprisun pouch apron for my school's Fall Festival, my preschool was running around. He stopped and asked if I would make him something and I wondered what in the world would a four year old want that I could make from these drink bags. The inspiration hit me and a hit was created.  Alex is modeling the one my Green Team students will raffle off in the spring. (I make a prototype for every Caprisun project so I can test its durability. I don't want a kid to receive a weak product!)  He loves his, and I'm sure some young children will be excited to receive on in the Spring Fling!

My Project: Caprisun Pouch Apron

At my school, my class is responsible for collecting and cleaning Caprisun pouches that we send to TerraCycle. Our school earns two cents per pouch (yes, not a lot, but I adds up!!) which is saved for some Green Team Themed item/project for our school campus.  For our school's Fall Festival, I decided to whip up a couple bags and such for the Green Team to raffle off and this came to my mind. This was my initial attempt at a Caprisun pouch apron. It turned out pretty cute, in my honest opinion ;).  It's a simple zig zag stitch with ribbon at the top. A pocket on the front is perfect for a dish towel (since you can't wipe your hands on this slick apron...a bad habit of mine). It's great because it just wipes off, rolls up, and stores away neatly in a kitchen drawer. :)

My project: Caprisun iPad bag

In the spring, I did some action research for our county's technology department on the affects of the use of technology in the classroom. Since they can't pay me in funds for such a job, they pay teachers with technology. In my case, I earned a iPad. Yes, totally awesome. When I first put my hands on it, the very first thing I thought was, "Oh crap. I'm going to break this dang thing!!" So, I went to work that evening creating a bag for it.

I took some Caprisuns that my boys drank over the summer and cleaned them. Whenever I make a Caprisun bag, I always use a zig zag stitch, overlapping the edges of the pouches, but to make it large enough, I couldn't. I had to use space on the ribbon for enough width. After I made the bag, I attached the ribbon handles and set to work on the inside liner. I don't have a pattern for the liner because I just winged it, but it is made from quilting batting and I tripled the bottom for cushion. I was quite happy with the outcome, except when I use my bag, I can't use an iPad case...not enough room. But, there isn't much I can do about that. Anyway, I'm happy with it :)

2012: A time for repurposing and rededicating!

What a wonderful year 2011 was!!  There are too many wonderful things to list, but if all my following years go as well as this, my life will truly have been blessed!  Last year, this blog was only used to share my adventures and misadventures in cooking. Now that I no longer consider myself a beginner, I am changing the goal of the blog to share my life. I'll share my life in sports, the creative freedoms that teaching allows, the amazing projects that Pinterest offers me, and all my other many numerous hobbies. My life is crazy busy, but crazy awesome at the same time.