I have been so preoccupied with trying to get everything completely organized the last month or so (as you know if you read the blog) that I haven’t had much time for blogging. I thought today I would bring the two together and show you a little of what I’ve been working on: My Craft Room! Keep in mind that we are renting here so I can’t have awesome wallpaper or lots of built in cabinets and counters like I would like to have. I just try to make due with the things I CAN change.

The shelf was Ikea Expedit shelf was bought for a room divider when we lived in base housing in Jacksonville, seems like all of housing combines the living room and dining room into one and I can’t stand that. This filled with books fixed that problem for me. If I had bought it specifically for my craft room I would have chosen the white laminate version. I might paint this one or cover it with contact paper one day if it is going to remain a craft room piece, we shall see what happens to it when we move on to the next place. There’s my homemade dress form from a previous post. The first two cubes on the third row from the bottom hold fabric bins that I bought at Ikea. The first one is full to bursting with lace, ribbons and various other trims. The second one is full of special fabrics in small quantities like expensive lace sample pieces, embroidery, antique pieces, etc.

These cubes hold all of my rolled yardage of fabrics and my 1-2 yard pieces folded in the last cube on the second row from the bottom. The last two cubes on the bottom row hold dismantled suits (hahaha remember when I purchased that whole closet full of men’s wool suits at an auction for $2.50?) and things I have planned for giveaways. The pink tub in front of the shelf has finished sewing projects that I might want to list on Etsy one day. The black box on top has all of my vinyl records that I use for crafting and my notebook making supplies. There is nothing in the old Sears fashions hat box or the pink luggage (which you might remember from this post). There is a photo of my great grandparents in a frame I painted, My giant thimble plant holder and my Evian Christian LaCroix “lace” bottles. I just think they are so pretty.

I upcycled the K’s from a plain piece of wood and a message board. I plan to do a post about those later. Also on top is one of my most prized possessions, my mint condition issue #1 of Martha Stewart Living. I pulled it out of the garbage when I was in HS, it hasn’t even had the subscription cards removed. Apparently it was sent to the school and sat there unread for so long that they tossed it. It began my life long obsession with collecting her magazines… The fruits of which you can see on the top two rows of shelves! My Martha Stewart collection! I have at least one copy (two if there were different cover images issued) of every MS publication ever produced. All of the Livings, Babys, Kids, Weddings, Everyday Foods, Body + Souls (now Whole Livings),  Blueprints, The individual Special Issues that come out every so often and even the old Martha By Mail catalogs. LOL. They are all complete, no writing and in Very Good to Mint condition. Obviously, I am VERY proud of it! LOL.

This banner is hand stitch applique and sequins (the pink letters) that I made a while ago. It hangs over the entryway that leads to the livingroom. I had hubby hang it up for me! All images can be enlarged by clicking on them. I’m sorry about the color being sort of off in some of them, I’m still not sure how to make the flash on the new camera work correctly indoors.