I’m so excited to say that I have a “craft corner” now.  Not a lady lounge creative space like I will have one day…but a craft corner is all I need for now!  I live in a condo, and if I had a basement life would be easy.  I don’t have a basement though, so I have to find creative ways to save space.  A few weeks ago I sold a TV that was just taking up space in an armoire in the second bedroom.  I sold it on (c)raigslist, Shawn made some shelves, I put up fabric for the backing, and there you have it. A crafty corner!  Side note: I still can’t give up those pom poms from Amy’s shower.  I have seen them used in nurseries so why can’t I use them in my crafty space?  Seriously though, I might use them in my classroom for table colors.  Unless someone wants me to decorate their nursery!

Here it is all closed up…not bad.  Except after looking at this picture that set of drawers with the lamp on it looks awkward.  I have a better spot in the room for it.

Second sewing project:  Ruffle Wreath that I found here!  I did mine a little different, and if I could do it all over I’d change that white fabric into some fun color.  I chose white though because I thought that if it lasted over the summer, I can always change the bows with whatever the season is!  This was much better than my first sewing project with my new machine!  Guess what?  No tangles…no jams…just pure ruffles when I was sewing!   I’m ready for summer now!

Some of you might have guessed I got a sewing machine for my birthday. Some might find it funny that I wanted a sewing machine!  If you think that’s funny, you’ll think it’s even funnier that I asked for a sewing machine in college!  My mom picked me out a nice one in college for my birthday but it was on back order.  So she just gave me the money and told me which one to buy.  The problem was, like any college student, I was poor.  So I spent the money elsewhere.  I still always wanted one though!  Curtains, pillows, and other crafty things are just so much easier with a sewing machine.  When Shawn and my parents asked me want I wanted this year, I told them!  Shawn told me that was out the question for him to pick me out one…but my mom (and dad) pulled through.

Notice it’s a Singer “Simple”?  Haha, I need simple. We’ll get to that a little later in the post.

I wanted to start off with something easy.  Something to get my mind back into the sewing world.  I decided I would make a cute tote bag that was reversible and full of spring/summer colors.  I found the perfect fabric for what I was about to make.  It screamed at me from the fabric store, “me, me, me”.  So I picked it up and took it home.

Home is where the “fun” began.  Ok, some of it was fun.  Most of it was not.

I got my instructions out, I cut the fabric with the dullest scissors ever and began my awesome new bag that I would carry around all summer.  I was about ready to sew when I noticed, I didn’t make a dart.  What is a dart?  I didn’t know either.  That’s when I googled, “How to sew a dart”.   I figured it out and totally cut the thing wrong.  I made up for it and was ready to start sewing again.  That’s when my machine jammed.  Not once, not twice, not three our four times, but more than I can count on my fingers.  I called my mom, “Do you have the receipt for this thing?  It’s broken.  It’s broken for sure.”  She told me to take it apart and find the string that was jamming it.  After a greasy mess, I found the problem.  I thanked her and began to sew again.  Another jam!  Then I remembered this post!  (Thanks, Amy!)  My tension knob must have gotten turned somehow.  I figured it out!  I felt like a genius.

After about 30 minutes, I  sewed everything and I was finished!  Only, I had two bags and not one single opening!  I laughed at first, then I tired to fix it.  Again, the same thing!  On the third time I ripped it out those stitches with anger!  I was sick of pulling thread out.  (Next time I’m at the fabric store, I’ll pick up a fabric puller thingamabob.)  Now we were going on four hours with this little purse and Shawn came home.  I told him about all my frustration and how I just “didn’t get it!”  He looked at it, laughed, picked up the instructions and said, “Oh you just forgot to tuck the yellow part in.”  HE was the genius

Here it is!  The finished project.  Just don’t look too closely!  I’m a beginner!

The bag turned out a little smaller than I had hoped because I had to restart it so many times!  I brought it to school the next day and one of the boys in my class asked if I had made it.   (I told my class I got a sewing machine for my birthday.)  He liked it.  One of the girls asked if she could keep it.  Oh yaaa, First Graders aren’t picky!

Back to what Shawn bought me for my birthday!  Wicked Tickets for when Wicked comes back to St. Louis in the summer!  I’m a huge fan of Wicked, I’ve seen it twice!  I’m so excited!  He also get me my extended warranty for my imac.  What a wonderful birthday!

What should I make next?!!!

Would you wear this in public?  I think it’s one of those things: Girls love them.  Guys hate them.  (Kind of like the Uggs trend.)

I’m talking about my hair accessory!

I made a bunch of these over the weekend.  Today is Wednesday and I just now got brave enough to wear one.  I want to give one to every girl in my class.  I just don’t know what I’d make for the boys …and that just wouldn’t be fair!

So, would you wear one?  If so, check out this blog and make your own!  She even has a tutorial on how to make a camera strap like the one I have.  I also have to give props to Megan who made some darling little headbands too!  Like I said in a post awhile back, my Google Reader makes me happy.   I love creatives.

It’s no secret how cold it’s been lately.  How snowy and bitterly cold.  There is no question as to how much everyone has been indoors…just sitting around…getting cabin fever.

Which leads me to something that I have been having a lot of thought about.  A dining room.  I’m not a dining room person. I don’t need a dining room.  (I don’t have a dining room…so who am I kidding?) Seriously though, while being cooped up in this condo all winter…I’ve dreaming of new spaces to stretch out in one day.  So..I’ve been thinking.  I’m not a dining room kinda person.  I don’t do china and because of that, I am not going to register for it.  What am I going to register for?  A sewing machine.  (I really want one!) And a hose holder.  (Isn’t that weird?)  Maybe even some tools.  (Seriously!)  Not china.  I probably won’t even have a dining room.  I will have a ME room somewhere though.  One day I will move out of my condo, and I will still make sure that I still have my very own “space”.  A me room. Just as much as a man needs a “man cave”, I will have a “lady lounge”.  One day.  That’s right.  A lady lounge.  Yes, I made it up myself.  It will be a place where I can be myself. And relax.  And create.  And be me.

I will hang my photography on large canvases.

I will have color all around me.

I will just “DO IT” how I want to do it.  Whatever “it” may be.

I will have tiny important stuff small jars.

I will have a big white chair to relax in.

I will have random things in my room that most people just won’t understand.

ONE day.

I found these pictures from all across the web throughout the past few months.  I’m sorry, I don’t have names or even links for you to follow.  Normally, I keep all that stuff for me to link and give credit to.  I literally pulled most of those off of my hard drive.  I like to save ideas so I have them when I need them!