Taming the Ribbon-y Mess

A while ago, a remembered seeing someone organize their ribbon by wrapping it around cardboard sheets.  I needed to uh, tame the ribbons I had.  I love ribbon, but even though I don't have that much, it seems to take up way more room than it should!  And considering I just added 13 new styles that I nabbed at the dollar store (to make baby ribbon/tag blankets!) I definitely needed to contain it.

Isn't it pretty:

Since I was doing tons of ordering online of necessities while I was on maternity leave, we had a garage full of cardboard!  (By the way, if you're looking for awesome diaper deals, check out Amazon.com/Mom.  Seriously, I'm getting super sweet prices with Subscribe & Save.  Ok, back to regularly scheduled programming)

I cut the squares so they would fit nicely in the basket(s) I already had.  Then, I started unwinding, and re-winding from the spools to the cardboard cards.

So, we went from this:

To this:

Yay for quick, and pretty organization.  Love it.  Oh, and I'll show you those ribbon/tag blankets soon!

Project Storage?

Is it just me, or do we as crafters/decorators run out of room to either store, display, or complete our projects?

With blogland offering so many fantastic ideas to really stimulate creative expression in your OWN crafts, I've found our house overflowing before with projects in the raw, half done, or complete, and it pains me.  I love almost everything I do, but I suppose like the catalog stores, we have to rotate our goods in order to keep it fresh.  But what do you do with all your old projects?

I assume there are some options, but I'm really actually curious what the consensus is- Do you give them to the local thrift store?  Do you sell them in a store (such as etsy, or consignment)?  Do you have regular garage sales?  Or, am I going to be jealous to hear that YOU really get to store everything, and continually rotate your projects back into the decor every year?

I've made a lot of fun things in the last year, but some of them just can't stay.

So, this comes up for me, because finally, I have the mental capacity back to have the desire to craft, even though physically, I'm out of energy.  The same cheery yellow wreath I made back in February is still on the front door.  While cleaning out the garage, I came across a stash from my last thrifting trip I took- of course all with high hopes of re-vamp.  Some of it made a trip in the back of my CR-V to Goodwill.  Some of it ended up in the rafters.

Either way, I can't store it all.  So I need to know... What type of storage solutions, purge solutions, or otherwise do you employ to keep your house in order? 

How I arrange a Picture Ledge Gallery Wall

One of my favorite features of our living room is the picture ledge gallery wall that we installed about a year ago.  I really like the Pottery Barn versions, but they used to be too deep, sticking out off the wall around 10".  They now make a much shallower version called the Holman Shelf.  During a trip to IKEA, I found shallower shelves, that were exactly what I wanted!  They came in white and black, so I picked up two of the 6' version in black.

Here are two options, as your base, for creating a gallery ledge wall:

The Pottery Barn version of the Holman ledge only comes in lengths up to 4', and is $55/ea.
The IKEA version of the Ribba ledge that was 6'+ was $19.99/ea.  :)

Pottery Barn Holman Shelf:

 

IKEA Ribba ledge:

 

I went to work creating a collage of my photography in many different style framing options.  I tried to mix black, white, wood, and silver tones, in hopes that I wouldn't be fixed in one style as I shop and come across frames I like.

The ledges make it easy to quickly rearrange our photos, and I love that they just lean- much more modern than hanging them all on the wall.  (not to mention that I don't have tons of holes in the walls now)

So I tried different combos of heights and colors, along with frame mats and colors.  While prepping for this post, I literally heard a crash as one of my frames came tumbling off the ledge.  But that's for another day.

Here are a few different arrangements I created...

 

Grouping Browns together

  

Grouping green based photos together

 

Grouping black and whites...

And ultimately the version we have now:

 

  

(there's the orange curtains.  SQUEAL!!  Check out the sneak peak here)

Sorry for the glare, but you get the idea...

And yes, it's all my photography.  :)

I like to add in little adornments during the holidays.  For example, I had some glittery snowflakes randomly on the shelf, and I'm sure the upcoming months will see flowers, stars, and other small knick knacks.  :)

Oh yea, and the other thing about ledges?  They get dusty.  Take a rag to them every so often to keep the focus on the art, not the layer of fluffy dust!

 

EW!

 

And, to note, I had originally titled this post "How To Arrange..." but quickly realized this is only how I arrange it, with what I have now, and to my preference.  There are so many options out there, so get creative!

So anyway, I hope you will share your photo displays too.  It's so very personal, but I absolutely think this type of display has allowed me to display my ever changing art.  :)  I love it!

Leafy Green My-First-Chalkboard

Yes, that title was a throw back to the Little Tykes products.  No, this is not PVC plastic, and orange and yellow like those kiddie picnic tables everyone has.

But, it is about how I made our first chalkboard.  It was a revamp project- a fun find from the HomeGoods clearance section.  Hideous (I think) to begin with, but an awesome shape.

Because the finished product is so much better than a before, here you go:

And, here's what I started with:

 

The project was simple.  The hardest part was finding the chalkboard in the first place!  This chalkboard was on clearance, on the day I had the incredible shopping trip when all the stars aligned.  I picked it up for $10.  Check out the regular HomeGoods price, and the SUGGESTED price... wah?!  $120?  For that?  No sirry bob.

This bad boy weighs seriously about 10 lbs.  It's solid.  it was brown, with a heavy coat of mod podge and some travel theme before.  I love the little cubby at the bottom, and the curve at the top.

After I decided the office colors would be green and blue,  I pulled out the Rustoleom Satin spray paint in Leafy Green.

With my inspiration paint sitting next to me, I dismatled the screws, and took off the metal chalkboard.  (Extra sweet bonus?  since the beige piece was actually metal, it doubles as a magnetic surface AND chalkboard.  SWEET!)

 

I gave it a sanding, so that the paint would stick.  I didn't bother with primer on this one, since I sanded it down, and sprayed a total of two coats on the exposed edges.

Then, I used my little container of Chalkboard paint that I picked up at Jo-Ann's with a 40% off coupon, and painted the metal sheet.  It was banged up to start with, so it needed a coat of paint anyway.  After two coats of paint, I was ready to put everything back together!

Screwed it up, glued it on, nailed some holes into the wall for brackets, and there we have it.  I primed the board by rubbing chalk on it, then, tried to erase it off.  [I need a real chalkboard eraser- where do I get one of those?  Target?]  Ahh.  So much better.  Now, I just need to find a cute jar to hold chalk in!  Maybe a heavy duty wine glass?  I feel another project coming on.  Get me my meds.  teehee.

So, while this isn't an ornate, framed out chalkboard, it is my first chalkboard, and I'm just easing into the idea.  I don't know how much we'll use it- or not. 

Here's a photo in the office (make sure to check out the phase 1 office/craft room post from the other night here)

What do you think of my creation?!  The color?  The wall location?  Did you make sure to check out my post on this office to get the full list of new projects and about my inspiration fabric here?!  I hope so! 

Man, I'm on fire!  There's so much good stuff.  You're in LUCK.  I'm so glad you're here and actually care about my projects.  I'm just having a blast and a half!  :)

Oh, and we're all in luck that they don't make this version of that my first picnic table anymore.  My sister seriously had one.  I was jealous at the time.  :)

Office Craft Room, Part 1

By now, you've probably read a little about my new office (or what I'm lovingly referring to as my "craft room").  (if you haven't read up about it here, here and here...)

I thought I'd give you the first half room view of the side that I've adopted as my own!  The walls are blue in here already, from when we moved in.  Since I found this lovely fabric, I picked the accent colors to be green and blue with touches of black.

Oh, and as a forewarning, this post is FILLED with projects I'll share with you over the next little bit.  Yay! 

Without further ado, here is phase 1 of the office orgnaization, and the colors.  :)

Yes, right now it's sort of decorated for Valentine's day with pink and red accents.  Plus, I'll show you how I made those felt kissing balls, and the red fabric wreath later this week.  :)

This is my functional organization that's supposed to be "pretty" since it's out in the open.  I have 4 fabric lined baskets that are a color somewhere between green and blue.  The four magazine holders are from IKEA, and house folders with all my magazine tear outs, and a few magazines that were packed with ideas to the point I needed to just keep the magazine in tact.

 

Remember my sneak peak post about our Roman Shade in this room?  Well, this fabric is what set the tone for the room.  

 

Here's a better view of the desk.  I've got a full empty shelf at the very top I get to fill.  I'm sure that'll be easy if I put my mind to it.  Watch out HomeGoods!

Did you see that Live Laugh Love sign that I made for $1.70?  Check out that post here.

 

To the left of the desk is my magnetic chalkboard that I turned from super ooogly, to more modern.  Bonus was I didn't realize it was magnetic until I repainted the chalkboard itself.  A before and after post of that one coming soon too!

Oh, and did you notice that key artwork?  Check out how I made that here.

 

While this is kind of a cruddy shot, it at least shows my corner of the office, and the color scheme, and where things are in relation to each other.

 

I found these baskets at HomeGoods on the day I went crazy in their clearance section.  They're perfect for my shelves!  They were $3 each.  Gotta love that!  Plus, those IKEA magazine boxes were the perfect color and size too.  I bought those MONTHS ago. Glad I finally got to pull them out :)

 

 Oh, and a sneak peak under basket liner- I just taped these jute laced mini chalkboards to the basket to get them to stay.  Those came from World Market.

Do I dare even remind you about the office before?  Ugh, at least this way you'll pat me on the back (or at least tip your head?) at our progress

So, let me just quickly recap all the projects in here I have YET to post about:

- Chalkboard re-vamp (from oogly, to OOOOHAHHHH)

- Felt Kissing Balls

- Fabric Heart Wreath

- Desk jar organizer

- Jute wrapped Vase/object

- Fleur de Lis print

- Orangization in the organization: pretty folders and how I organize my magazine rip outs

Yes.  This week will be busy with posts!  Stay tuned, because on top of the great stuff in the pictures above, there are about 5 other projects and ideas not even posted yet.

Here's a sneak peak at one I can't wait to finish and post for you all:

YEP!  I painted that, and no it's not done, but I LOVE IT.  Check out this post for more inspiration info.  :)

Gosh, I'm just so excited I'm jumping out of my skin at the amount of good stuff to come.  Good thing it stopped raining here in CA for a day (it's back again Monday and Tuesday, heavy they say).

Anyway, I hope you all had a great weekend, and have a great week!