Cardboard Tube Clip-On Shelf Labels

There really is no need to...

... because I'm about to show you one of the simplest crafts to ever grace this blog. In fact, I'm fairly confident in asserting that it is probably one of the simplest crafts EVER in the history of ALL crafts. So don't fret, no. Just sit back. Relax. Take a load off. This won't take but a minute.

I give you the...

Let us begin.

All you need is love. And some form of cardboard tube. Like a toilet paper roll say, or a kitchen roll tube.

Ascertain how you'd like to label your shelves. I needed to be able to locate my painting and drawing supplies at a moment's notice, so that's what I chose to write on one of my tubes.

Now, take your tube. And now take your pencil.

Am I going too fast? Are you able to keep up with the sheer complexity of this craft? Good.

Now, write your chosen words in pencil on your chosen tube. I chose the words "painting & drawing". Don't be afraid to get VERY specific. Your children will thank you when you order them - or in my case, ask them nicely - to go to the "Painting and Drawing Shelf" to get the #47 red.

Trace around your words with a fine-tipped Sharpie.

Note: Sharpie is a very famous brand of marker here in North America. They are literally everywhere.

If you like, you can also add colour to your words with paint or colourful markers as below.

Alternatively, if you are down and out, you may decide to forego the labels entirely, and instead give yourself a lively boost with a few choice words of wisdom. "Be brave" or "Laugh" for example. As you know, it is essential to occasionally laugh or be brave. Sometimes both at once. So these tubular concoctions work perfectly to jog a sluggish memory.

Once you're done with the words, flip the tube to the other side (or 180˚) and cut it lengthwise as below.

Finally, it is time to place your tube on the shelf edge. Gently pry open the back of the tube and clamp it in place. It will look like it is eating the shelf.  It isn't of course. It's only a card tube.

And now you will never forget where you put your stationery supplies. If you do, be brave and/or laugh. But don't come crying to me.

Have a lovely weekend!

♥M

Check out another lovely toilet roll craft right HERE!

Second Chance Workroom

If you lived here, you'd know that having a clean workroom is more exciting than it sounds. Let's just say, my workroom was in "a state" up until a few days ago. I've spent the better part of two weeks wrangling it into something worth showing you. Don't you remember? It was only last year that I told you I'd give you a tour eventually.

FYI: For future reference, the definition of "eventually" is 11 months.

In retrospect, I blame my messiness (far too embarrassing for before-pictures) on the darkness down here. There is nary a window in my little space, you see. Any craft project photo has to be taken in daylight which means hauling the project upstairs where the sun lives, taking the picture, and hauling everything back down again. Such a hassle. After awhile, except to get the occasional supply or add to the growing morass, I stopped working down here altogether.

Problem is, because I gave up on the basement workroom, my craft stuff was scattered all over creation. The basement was the dumping ground, yes. But I used the dining room table as my craft table, I used the living room as my computer desk, I used the couch as my quilting space. In short, there was craft-related stuff everywhere and because there was craft-related stuff everywhere I was forever in a craft-related frame of mind. I couldn't get away from it, you know?  I felt the tug constantly, even when my family was around. It was like being in permanent limbo: never knowing when to stop working and when to start not working. That's one of the reasons I took August off. I needed to find a healthier division between work and family time again.

In my mind, the solution involves having a space dedicated for work exclusively, a place that allows me to focus, and one I can walk away from at the end of the day. I knew it was time I give the basement a second chance.

So for the last couple of weeks, I have rounded up all the piles of craftiness, I have tromped up the stairs and down again, I have scrubbed, I have dusted, I have rearranged the furniture, I have purged,  I have organized, I have labelled even. I am making myself a tidy work nest. It's a little bit exciting.

I look around the room today and I feel okay to let you in. I still have a whole slew of loose ends to tie up (not the least of which is possibly painting the shelves and the whole lighting issue... ) but isn't that always the way of things?

Without further ado, here it is: my basement workroom. Welcome!

♥M

P.S. By the way, when Lo and I bought this little house, the basement was a useless mess of fake brown panelling, exposed cinder blocks, wicked-scary wiring, and yucky old carpet. We've since ripped everything out, installed a beautiful new laundry room, and created this work space. Lo also built me the shelving unit. We're not quite done yet... Hello? I need trim! As usual, we hope to get it done soon...

O is for Organization.

Remember last week's recyclables post? That was me starting to organize my mounds of junk, attempting to bring some order to my workspace. I'm hoping to eventually come to a point where I can share my basement craft zone with you. Note the use of the word "eventually"... Let me just say this. I spend my days somewhere between clutter and chaos. The whole order thing is a teensy bit of a struggle. I'm forever making. Cleaning rarely comes into it. But I'm trying to change that. Here are my baby steps...

Buttons. IN JARS. With letters on them. That spell B-U-T-T-O-N-S... The buttons used to be in a bunch of different places. I couldn't see them and never used them because I didn't ever think of them. Now they are in plain sight on my work table, and I have actually used them on a few projects. Exciting stuff!

Yes, so I just threw the buttons in some canning jars we had kicking around, covered the tops with junkmail pictures, and topped them off with some letters I cut out.

Next, I organized what used to be a literal rat's nest of embroidery thread in a painted egg carton. This way it's no longer a mess of knots, I can see all the pretty threads, and all the similar colours are together. It's only about a million times better this way.

Just a few little steps toward the workspace sanity I long for... but the progress is actually satisfying, you know?

Well, you have a lovely day now. I'll be back here on Friday!

Meet My Dear Recyclables.

Don't be shy now Recyclables. You know I took you out of the basement for a reason. I gave you months of warning. And it wasn't just so I could take your picture. Though I will say this for you Recyclables: you are much more photogenic than I ever imagined you'd be. No, I took you out of the basement to introduce you to my friend here. Reader, these are some of my beloved Recyclables. Recyclables, say hello to my sweet reader. Isn't she lovely Recyclables? I think so.

And I also dragged you out of your cavernous home because I wanted to organize you (and your cavernous home) up a little bit. I don't mean to offend you, Recyclables, but you were a bloody mess down there. The toilet rolls cavorting with the bottle caps. The cereal boxes mixing with the bread tags. I'm sorry but it was more than I could take! Admittedly, it was my own fault. I gave you no choice. I threw you down there expecting you to sort yourselves out. Well... that never happened. I finally had to take things into my own hands and whip you into shape myself.

Now look at yourselves Recyclables! You look... well... I think you look downright NICE in fact. True, there are just scads, just oodles of you! But I'm sure that in time we'll find a use for each and every one of you. I'm very much hoping that will be the case and I'm working hard to make it happen. Now say your goodbyes. It's time to find a fresh, clean spot for you down in your basement, one where I'll be able to see you and say hello to you regularly. No more big black garbage bags for you Recyclables, oh no! You'll be on shelves and in containers! Won't that be luxurious? It'll make us all much happier. Of that, you can be certain.

Now you! You have yourself a fine day. I'll see you again soon!

Cleanup Cleanup

No drawing, no designing, no painting, no cutting, no stitching. None of that today! Or yesterday for that matter. Only cleaning. Just me with the dusting and the washing and the sweeping and the vacuuming. And it's finally, FINALLY having an impact on my basement workroom. Yippee! Mind you, there is still alot to do. Here is my wish list:

• Make 2 sets of curtains. 
• Paint the closet doors and trim. 
• Paint the ugly orange wall.
• Install remaining trim.
• Paint a design on the floor.
• Resurface Betty's (my sewing machine) cover.
• Put up another little shelf.
• Install all the stored pieces of wall decor.
• Install some wall hooks. 
• Get a table lamp.

Yes. Not quite done. 

But I have managed to get my storage in some kind of order. See? Here's my felt, my burlap, my quilting cotton, my batting and a few other miscellaneous supplies. You don't know what a disaster this was before! Just terrible. And oops, silly me, I forgot to take 'before' pictures. Oh well. I don't need those awful images cluttering up my brain anyway. No it's much better like this. By the way, Lo built this awesome closet for me. He's my sweetie. He's not quite done yet but progress has definitely been made lately. Oh happy me!

Here is a closeup of my quilting cottons. As it turns out, I don't have as much of it as I thought. Which is good. This pic doesn't show my cotton scrap bin though. I had to jump up and down in it a number of times yesterday to make all those little scraps fit. Not a pretty sight. I will hopefully be starting on a project soon that will use some of those babies up.

Next door we have painting and drawing supplies, adhesives, crochet cotton and cotton yarn stash, laces, ribbons, embroidery floss. Jeepers, am I spoilt or what?! WowZERS! And, of course, my little button box.

And I actually managed to fit my recyclable stash all in one big bin which I've stored under my work table. But I'll have pictures of that later. The room is still essentially a nightmare. I will show you the rest once I get it under control. Thank goodness I can see a light at the end of this dark tunnel.

Oh and one more little thing. Here is my favourite item in the whole workroom. It's my tool caddy. It sits dead centre on my worktable so I don't have to get up when I need a tool. It's got most everything I need. I scored it for pennies thrifting a couple of years ago and it's just recently come out of hiding. It is solid wood and very sturdy with a nice rotating handle. It is THE best!

Well, now it's time to actually make something... but not a mess! NO MESSES ALLOWED! Well, at least not until tomorrow anyhow. Hee hee.

Have a lovely day!

Colourful Felt Monster

This week, but more like month really, I'm in the midst of a major workroom cleanup. It's crazy how much stuff I have to go through and organize and clean. Oh the cleaning... I'm trying to do it in little bits so as not to get overwhelmed.

Last night I tackled my felt pile. I 'felt' it needed some TLC. I wanted it organized by colour. I wanted to get it all on one shelf. I actually wanted to get it all in one room first. Many little piles had mushroomed magically in several different locations about the house. How that happened we'll never know... But after a few good hours of consolidating, dividing, ironing, and sorting, I managed to wrestle the colourful felt monster into shape!

Only 25 categories of craft supplies left to do! Sigh...

One step at a time, right?

Have an organized day!