Craft Room Reveal!

Stick a fork in it 'cause the craft room is finally done!

Though these amateur photos of mine don't do it justice, this space turned out just as I'd hoped. It's happy, colorful, has a vintage charm, and inspires creativity.

Here's the before photo where it looks like a tornado hit the room.  Oy vey!

And here are the afters!

On this bright and lovely beadboard wall there used to be a book case. (It's barely visible on the far left of the before photo above.)  I removed it in favor of an oilcloth-topped farm table that now serves as a sewing table, and a gallery wall of fabric art and prints.

I completely forgot to take close-ups of the art, but I'll do another post with vignettes, and share a couple of the little projects that went into the room.  For now, let's stick with mostly broad views. :)

If you turn your back to the sewing station, you see this armoire I painted last year and a shabby blue book case to the right. The armoire holds crafting supplies and pillow forms.  The book case contains bottles of fragrance and essential oils, and finished candles that are sold in the Harmony Farm Candles Etsy shop.

On the wall opposite the blue book case is a double window. To make the most of unused space above the window, I hung scrolled iron brackets and placed a painted 1x12 on top for a shelf to display part of my model horse collection.  The front edge of the shelf is edged in an adorable red crocheted lace tape.

To the right of that window is the doily clock I made last month.  The shelves, originally unpainted from Michael's, now sport jaunty coats of paint and hold frames and knick-knacks.

And in my enthusiastic haste to take these photos, I didn't remember to get a closer shot of the blue desk, which I painted in 2010.  Sheesh!  Though I added a bit of Cath Kidston wallpaper to the front of the door of the desk, the thing I really like about the desk now is this milk glass lamp that sits on it. It was a yard sale score, and while it worked, the shapely shade was very dingy.  With the addition of strips of sweet Tanya Whelan fabric, it fits right in with the vintage, colorful theme.

So there it is: the long-awaited (for me, anyway!) craft room.  I'll be back next week with more photos and close-ups, and info on where many of the accessories were sourced.

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Saturday Randomness

It's a chilly, dreary Saturday here, so let's lighten things up with some random but cheery photos.

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First up is this vintage-style alarm clock, found on eBay late last year.

 

I had seen a very similar clock on the delightful blog, Tinkered Treasures, in a November 2010 post.  It was from a completely adorable line called Green Gate and was only available from a UK shop called Berry Red.  Needless to say that by the time I found out about it in 2011, it wasn't available.  Plus, it retailed for something like $30.  Which seemed a bit much for a bedside clock...but maybe I'm just cheap?

Tinkered Treasures

Anyway, I hopped on Etsy, then eBay, to see if I could find a reasonably priced vintage alarm clock. On eBay, I found a seller from Hong Kong who had a new clock that was very similar to the Green Gate clock.

Side-by-side, you can see these are pretty much the same clocks, just with different faces and hands. 

However, the eBay clock was a much more reasonable $13-- including postage all the way from Hong Kong.  Score!

This seller still has a few of these clocks, as well as some other vintages styles. Click here to view them.

I'll warn you, though, the double-hammer bell is REALLY loud.  There's no way you'll sleep through that alarm!

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While we're on the topic of cute home goods, the Spring 2012 Cath Kidston line is now out!

Here are just a few of the many items that caught my eye...

Chicken Tea Towels

Bleached Flowers Photo Frame

Pinny Flowers Cotton Duck Fabric in Stone

Circle Ditsy Mini Clasp Purse

Provence Rose Set of 3 Tin Canisters

 Set of 4 Tea Mugs

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After making candles this week, volunteering with my local Friends of the Library group, working on a little project I'll sneak peek below, and generally playing catch up from being sick last week, I haven't yet started making those flannel pajama bottoms I mentioned in January.  

However, this is the week and this is the fabric I'll be using:

 It's from JoAnn and the line is Cottage Gardens.  I happened to luck out and buy the last 4 yards on the bolt for just $4 a yard.  P.S.--If anyone has any yardage of Cotton Gardens (which came in both flannel and quilter's cotton and in a couple of different colorways), email me if you'd like to sell it.  I love this line so much and JoAnn no longer carries it. : (

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To continue with what has turned out to be a very flower-heavy post, here's a peek at a project I'm working on.  I've begun contributing craft tutorials to a local magazine.  This project--which is still underway in the photo below--will appear in full in the March issue of Alamance Magazine for you local readers.

Fabrics, from top to bottom:

Old New 30s in Purple Rose by Lecien

Old New 30s in White Calico by Lecien

Delilah TW42 in Pink by Tanya Whelan/Free Spirit Fabrics

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So, what have you been up to this weekend? 

-Erin