Fabric Scrap Organization

As I launch into my journey of learning how to sew, only two projects in I have realized I am going to accumulate a lot of fabric scraps that are too small to go back with the original roll. I needed a place in my ever-growing cluttered craft room to keep these scraps accessible and clean, yet out of the way. So I rummaged around the house and found an empty large Pup-Corn dog treat container. Perfect!

I soaked the container in a solution of hot water and Dawn dish soap to get the treat smell out and to help remove the sticker label. I then scrubbed the label residue off with a rough sponge and let it dry. Since it was looking pretty plain and boring I dug into my decorative scrapbook paper and stickers and dolled it up a bit.  Now I have a perfect fabric scrap container that is easy to dig around in and keeps my scraps handy when needed.  And it's pretty to look at, too!

Craft Room Photos

As promised, here are some better photos of the new craft room setup. Please ignore all the white blobs on the carpet - Giant Dawg is in shedding mode and he is just...everywhere.

This is my scrapbooking, paper crafts, etc area viewed from the doorway:

Same station viewed from the closet:

This one is my painting, wood burning, glass etching station.  The main door leads into our basement kitchen where I have access to a double sink - and beer fridge.  ;)  And also easy access to the basement bathroom.  It really is quite handy!

For the wall storage, I used regular pegboard and accessories from Home Depot.  I was going to paint the pegboard to make it more attractive (it's brown) but got impatient with wanting to get my room together and didn't want to have to wait for primer and paint to dry before hanging them.  So, instead I covered the pegboard with 12 x 12 squares of patterned scrapbook paper.  I just scotch taped each corner and stuck them on the board, overlapping them just a bit.  Then I simply punched through the paper anywhere I needed the hardware hanging accessories.  It was easy, cheap and it's pretty!  And if I get tired of it, I can always put up a new pattern or color scheme.

Scrapbook Station Pegboard:

Wood Burning, Painting, Etching pegboard:

I also now have a closet that runs the length of one whole wall (to the right of the tv, but not shown in these photos) for extra storage bins and to store all my glass pieces that I save up via thrift shopping intended for glass etching and painting.

New Craft Room!

New Craft Room! I don't have a wider angle lens so can't get the square room all in one shot - but it's so much better than the loft - even more than I though it would be! I've over doubled my space with the storage areas and with the new L shaped workstations. And it's about 15 degrees cooler so good for my supplies and good for me!  It was a lot of work - but well worth it! Can't wait to actually use it for crafting now!  I will try to get "real" photos soon.

Craft Room Relocation Project

I'm in the process of deciding if I want to relocate my craft room from the loft upstairs, where it becomes a sauna in the summer, to the old office basement room downstairs.  There are pros and cons to each, but I'm thinking at this point the move is winning the pros section.

Loft: I currently have 4 workstation tables with peg-board attached over each (all movable). Not a lot of floor space left and zero vertical storage due to ceiling height. Nice and open, love the wood walls/ceiling but, sometimes leaks a little over one workstation with heavy snow (until we get it fixed).

1. View from landing at the top of the steps; that is my little window covered by the blinds straight ahead (also where the evening sun sets).

2. Photo station and scrapbooking station with storage in between and under.

3. Paint station and wood burning station with storage between and under (tv/computer/stand is behind/left of me).

4. View from in front of the window. There is one step down to the landing and this overlooks the livingroom/dining room/kitchen. The box fan is currently there to pull cool air into the loft, which actually works fairly good if I remember to turn it on about an hour before I need to go up there.

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Basement Room: This is currently Jason's gaming room (former office) that we are moving into his other "play" room with his electronic projects, drums, guitars, etc. It is about the same length as the loft, but almost double the width and with (mostly) 8ft ceilings except where the duct work runs. Little bitty colorful ceiling fan was here when we moved in but actually works pretty well. All this "stuff" will be moved into his new room. The paint in there actually isn't too bad, just boring - the carpet is hideous but that's for another year.

1.View from the doorway looking in.

2. Closet with upper shelf runs the entire length of the wall (why there is only one tiny door to access it all is beyond me). Filing cabinet will stay in there as it's just too heavy to move and we don't have much space left in the office for it - but the bottom drawer is empty and can be used for extra storage.

3. View from the far corner of the room beside the closet. The doorway opens up into the downstairs kitchen. (Another pro I thought of while taking photos - a sink right outside the door. And a bathroom just down the hall from that.)

4. View from in front of the closet.

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If I decide on the move, there will be updates of the newly decorated / organized craft area!

Condensated Sunset from the Craft Loft

Looks like I'm going to be seeing a lot of these views from now on!  I set up a photo "studio" for indoor macros and such in the craft loft. On top of that, Jason hooked me up with a 32" TV and Mac Mini running Ubuntu Linux for instant photo production via Gimp, streaming music or watching Myth TV while I craft, photograph and create.  It's going to be a very crafty and productive winter!