Time off = organizing the house! Tutorial on creating cute and cheap organizing 'baskets'

I have been enjoying time off maybe a little too much.  I have been getting up early to enjoy my coffee and quiet time in the house, then working hard at re-organizing the mess that I call my home.   It is way, way overdue, and I am thankful for time to work on it.  It is going to make my life so much easier in the long run

The first day I wanted to begin to tackle the kitchen.  I had seen people organize their cupboards and pantries with baskets and I had a thought.  I am a little bit of a hoarder...hehe...in that I love to keep old boxes, tins, etc to reuse.  So, I went in the craft closet and found some boxes perfect for the job.  

First, I needed to paint them.  Good ol' spray paint to the rescue!  I chose the vintage-y green, as I thought it would match the new dishes (even though they are not in the same area...hehe.)

Then I went and bought these handy dandy metal book plates at the local JoAnns (which is not only where my hubby works, but also a 7 minute walk from my house...I know, I am a lucky girl!)

This is what I started with....

But then had the idea (I am sure I saw it on the box or something) to put ribbon through the holes like this:

So it would then look like this!

To make sure they would end up staying, I added a little glue to the back.  Any kind will work.  I had already tied the book plate around the back of the box, then kind of flipped it in place to get some glue on it, and then flipped it back.  The ribbon helped keep it in place while the glue dried.

And here are some of the almost done pieces!  In the forefront is the tied ribbon on the back of each box.

Ta da!  I think they came out great!

Finally, here is the finished product!  (Well, basically...forgot to insert the tags in a few of those book plates...hehe.)

But the book plates are perfect to give the family the labeling and organization they need to keep things in better order...something we desperately needed in the kitchen!

Happy organizing!

Ash

Holiday crafting bonanza!

Well, now that the holidays are over, I can finally share some of the things I made for folks!  There are a few people yet to get their gifts...so...hope this doesn't spoil anything for them...hehe.

One of the things I really had fun with this year was kitchen goodies.  In particular, crocheted dishcloths and hotpads.  I had fun making different styles and colors for each of the people's kitchen color schemes.

Here are actually just a few I made.....

This adorable pattern for the hot pad house can be found here at Lion Brand.

So much fun to create!  I actually probably spent more time on these than I should have, and did not finish some of my other gift to folks.  So, they are getting theirs late, and I will share those with you soon. ;)

Ash

Feature Fridays and....Tales and Trials of Mrs. P!

Whoops!  I went M.I.A. again!  But hey, the holidays kicked my butt.  I worked really hard on gifts for friends and family and then we traveled through crazy weather conditions to see family and then drove back!  What a whirlwind!  But more on the holidays later.  

Right now I am excited to present this week's Feature Fridays blog, Tales and Trials of Mrs. P!  The blog is written by a friend of mine, Laura, aka, Mrs. P.  She has a fun blog talking about life with a young child, being a busy professional, and then, of course, her creative side.  Food, crafts and decorating! 

For example, she recently took upon herself to make her daughter a freakin' awesome 1st birthday gift.  I mean, this is something I totally wish I'd had as a kid...a teepee!  It came out pretty adorable...

How fun would it have been as a little girl to curl up in the little teepee to play or read?  Check out her blog post about her teepee and living room here.

And how about this adorable baby costume for Halloween?   Little dinosaur baby!

She also posts lots of great recipes.  We both love to make sure our family is eating healthy but still make delicious foods, so I like to see the recipes she shares.  Like this one - pasta with italian sausage and vegetables.

I actually don't eat meat, but I think this would rock with a meat substitute if you are also vegi....looks so good!

So go check her blog out and say hello.  As I mentioned earlier, it is fun to see what she and her adorable family are up to, and get some great ideas for around your house, as well.

Happy Friday (and happy almost New Year!)

Ash

Retro yarn wreath...

I do love the holidays, but I can only decorate so much.   I am not the best decorator ever, but I did do a little this year.

One of the things I had to try was a yarn wreath that I'd seen inspiration for somewhere a while back online.  I have a ton of small scrap balls sitting around the house, and desperately needed a reason to use them.  

So, I took an old wire hanger and stretched it back out to a circle and then actually skewered the balls all the way around.  SO EASY!  I felt like it was kinda retro looking, and was a fun and quick scrap busting project for sure!  I took a little funky white skein that was too old and delicate to really use anymore to make a 'bow' at the bottom.

Then just added a ribbon to the top and hung 'er up.  (Upon closer look of this pic, looks like I need to secure the red ball a bit better...hehe.)

I love seeing the wreaths that people make this time of year.  

Hope your holiday season is going great!

Ash

Feature Fridays and Julie Ann Art

Time again for Feature Fridays!  This week, I am featuring Julie Ann Art. Julie Ann runs an awesome blog, and I love her 'about' page, specifically her quote on there about her blog:

"Julie Ann Art is a lifestyle blog with a focus on handmade, Etsy finds and DIY Tutorials. I take great pride in the content of my blog and hope readers are left feeling creative and inspired."

I stumbled upon her page through craftgawker a while back, and loved it.  I think my very favorite thing is her business that she runs, hand-designed cards that are just too funny, cute and crude at the same time!   Absolutely my style!!  I mean, how awesome is this Christmas card?

GO to her etsy shop right now and check these out!  

She also offers quite a few fun tutorials on her blog.  Here are a few of my favs....

The DIY Business Card Holder.  A theme emerges when you look back at my favs from people's blogs...upcycle, baby!  How cute is this?  I think I will be making one for my etsy biz and one for my day job. Stat.

And pom poms!  I am super excited that they are the on design thing right now, because I loved making them as a kid and I am super excited to use them to embellish gifts for the holidays!  Check out her tutorial on this sweet pom pom flower . 

Basically, I really like her blog, and I think you will, too.  Check it out and leave her a note. 

Thanks for sharing, Julie Ann!

Ash

My most exciting thrift store find ever!

I have been beside myself this week, after getting my most exciting thrift store find ever!!  On Sunday, my hubby, my friend and I all hit the local St. Vincent de'Paul's thrift shop for fun.  I was super excited when I saw a vintage dishware set there with 56 peices!  It was so cute,and reasonably priced for a set like this at $150.  I thought that I'd better wait and see if it was still there after the holidays, when suddenly we realized that everything with a green tag was 50% off that day...and it had a green tag!!  Now....the big decision came, but I had been wanting to get rid of our boring dishes for a long time and start replacing all of our kitchen with vintage items.  So I went for it!

I know these pics are not great, but they still show off the cute little green and yellow flowers on the dishes.

And then, when we got home, we looked up the dishes, which are Franciscan Earthware, and found out that they are the 'Picnic' set made in 1971 or 1973 and that they were selling for much, much higher prices online!! And, one of the things I am really excited about is that I get to keep collecting, as there are more prices out there that were not in my collection!

What are your favorite finds?

Ash

Feature Fridays....Stars for Streetlights

Hey there!  For today's Feature Friday, I wanted to feature a blog that is not just visually appealing, it is also full of great photography tips, DIY's and great stories.  This is Stacie's blog, Stars for Streetlights.

I was trying to remember what turned me on to this blog, and while looking through Stacie's projects, I came across her awesome T-Shirt Flower Dress.  As you know, I also make goodies by upcycling, so I saw this and just fell in love!

I have yet to try making it, but it is definitely on the list!

I also love this Vinyl Record Notebook.  I am thinking this would be a great holiday gift this year....

Isn't it such a cute idea?

She has great fashion ideas and tips.  Another fav for me is this Two Tone Cardigan.  Another on this list to make!

I didn't even get into the awesome photography!  So go head on over to Stacie's awesome blog and check it all out!

Ash

Thanksgiving fun with gingerbread...

The Thanksgiving break was too short!  It was very nice to slow down, eat tons and tons of yummy food and work on crafting projects.  (Many of which I will share soon, and some of which will have to wait until after the holidays, so family and friends don't accidentally find out their gift too early!)

One of our little traditions that my hubby and I have started is to get our friends that don't go home for the holiday together to eat with us.  Then after, we all make our own gingerbread creations.  You may remember some of the fun we had last year from this post. We got pretty carried away!

This year, since there were only 3 of us doing the decorating, we decided to do one big one together.  We made a gingerbread farm...dreaming of what we wish we had. (A farm, not one made out of gingerbread, hehe.)

Ok, so it is no crazy masterpiece, but it is so much fun!  We baked all the gingerbread and cut out the shapes we wanted.  Thus....many things are not proportionate. hehe

Here is a close up of the rendition of my hubby as a gingerbread farmer, and the barn (it went through a gingerbread storm and blew down but was then repaired) and our gingerbread crops on the patch of green.  You can totally grow crops in gingerbread world.

And below you can see a close up of the giant bunny that is our friend, as well as a funny llama/camel thing.  There are sheep in there, too, but they are hard to see.  Oh, and the giant dog is watching them all.

And the thing I worked on the hardest was the little house that we gingerbread folk live in.  With holiday lights, even!

Whatever your traditions are, I hope that you had a great time!  

Ash

Feature Fridays return with....Oops! I Craft My Pants!

Ok, first of all....this blog already wins because of the name.  BEST CRAFTING BLOG NAME EVER! The first time I stumbled upon Erika's blog entitled 'Oops! I Craft My Pants', I was just cracking up.  Even my hubby thought it was pretty funny, and he doesn't get into this stuff like I do. 

But besides the awesome name, I have fun looking through her super craftiness, with cute clothing ideas for her children and for adults to the awesome printables she shares.  For example, look at this cool stenciling she did using freezer paper.  I am excited to try this out...

I think she might also be the queen of throwing freakin' adorable themed parties.  Like how awesome is this baseball themed birthday party?

And as I mentioned, she has great printables.  Like this super sweet one she did for her girls.

She often has them to share with fellow bloggers, so go check her stuff out and say hello.

Thanks for sharing, Erika!!

Ash

PS - Don't forget to join my blog, or subscribe via email, so you can keep up to date on all the Feature Fridays and upcoming crafting extravaganza that is the holidays!

Whew! I'm back!

Whew, indeed!  I am super excited that the elections are over, and even more excited that the work we did this year really paid off.  It is mucho gratifying when you work that hard to get the results you wanted.

So, with the elections wrapped up, we move into the next thing, which is luckily much slower.  I am already plotting all the things that I will make and do as we get closer to the holidays.  This Friday, I will get back to Feature Fridays, which I am also excited about. 

The weather here has been pretty nice, only recently getting cold and wet.  I recently got a cool new bike mount for my phone and had to share some pics from the bike ride to work one of the nice fall days.

Can't wait to get back to posting!  More soon!

Ash

In the final stretch!

Well, today makes one week left until the election.  Working 70-80 hours a week gets pretty darn tiring, but it all leads up to what happens next Tuesday.

And after that day passes, I am seriously excited to get back to my crafting, blogging, baking and other fun, non-work related activities!

I know all of us in politics say this every year, but every year is super important.  So, please mail in your ballot if you are in a mail-in state like mine, or head on down to the polls and make sure to make your voice heard!

Ash

I know....I know...

Well, I thought I could handle it all...having a blog, working 80 hours a week, having a life and starting an etsy.  Silly me!!  But seriously, work has been kicking my butt, and even on my days off, I end up trying to take care of personal life stuff...like laundry and having a husband.  So, needless to say, my blog has suffered.

So...I am declaring a hiatus on my lovely Feature Friday...but only until the elections are over.  Then Feature Fridays, as well as my serious crafting life, are back in full swing.  AND...I now have a serious hookup to help infuse that crafting, as my hubby just became a full time manager at the new JoAnn Fabrics.  I mean, how lucky is that?

I do have to share one pic that is not the greatest, but makes me really happy.  Just a few days ago, I hit the big 3-0 in life, and threw myself a nice little party (i.e., day of cleaning the house to make it presentable enough to have people over...hehe.)  For the party, I made myself this adorable and incredibly easy bunting and spray painted some peanut butter and spaghetti sauce jars to make my mantle look amazing, if I do say so myself!

All the green and blue bottles are just spray painted on the outside and filled with water to be great little vases.  And to top it off, I got the great ceramic skull as a recent gift and the candles that totally fit with the colors and theme.  

So, things are still happening, but my posting is a bit (ok, a lot) behind, and may continue to be that way until after Nov 6th.  (Don't forget to vote! You'll make my life a lot easier...if nothing else. ;)

Ash

Feature Friday... paper-and -string

This week I'd like to feature one of the first blogs I ever really got into.  It was before I began blogging, and I was really getting into felt as a medium.  I was searching everywhere on fun designs and ideas with felt and came across paper-and-string.  Her blog walks through her crafting life, and I have loved watching her move from her home into a real art studio and organize her crafting world.  It has been an inspiration to see someone take their crafting business to new levels and succeed.  

One of the first things I loved on her site and had to try making was her little hand-stitched felt purses from her tutorial. How cute are these?

I, of course, forgot to take pics of the ones I made for friends for Christmas before sending them off.  Harumph.  But other people remembered better than I, and they have shared their creation at paper-and-string's felt purse flicker group.  Love it!

Like I said, she has been making little felt cuties for her etsy store for some time.  They are totally adorable, every single one of them.  Like check out some of these little guys to get ready for the holiday rush. 

Teehee!  They are so cute!  

And ack!!!  How can you not love these little guys!?

I think I'd call it an army of adorable!

So go check her site out for more inspiration, cute tutorials, and see what you need at her etsy store.  Paper-and-string, thanks for sharing with us!

Ash

Drumroll please! My new etsy store!!

I am super excited to announce that I have officially opened my new etsy store!!  My new business, dubbed 23point4 degree tilt, is upcycled and recycled fashion for the masses.  I am excited at the possibilities that reusing fabrics and items allows for fashion and home items.  

Here are a few of the items you will find in my store....

My 'Camp Borders' Upcycled T-shirt skirt....

Stylish t-shirt scarf for men and women.

"Tree Hugger" T-shirt skirt.

I hope you will check it out and like a few of the items.  More will be joining them, soon!  Super exciting!  One more New Year's Resolution checked off!

Ash