Kobalt Craftroom Work Station

Funny thing happened while in Lowes last week getting material for a DIY outdoor lantern project...

Hubby and I spotted some neat Kobalt tool/cart work stations, STRATEGICALLY planted in the open aisle way separating the front products from the back products.  Of course, right now, all of those aisle ways are jammed with "on sale" Christmas product, and usually I cruise right past them. (I'm the only party in this house remotely interested in any DIY tools unless it's outdoor equipment and tools.)

I immediately stopped, and my brain did one of those little explosion of thoughts dances.

"THIS WOULD MAKE THE BEST CARD CRAFTING STATION!!!"

Hubby, who after MANY years of marriage to me, said out loud "that would be great for crafting!" (Hence the reason why he's perfect for me...he so get's me without me saying a word.)

I could see all the benefits of having such a workstation:  on wheels, soft close drawers, peg board and shelving built in, hard butcher block surface, good size in height and length, and the color was perfect for my room.  Deal Done!

Here it is in all it's finished glory...

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This room is my office/crafting space.  It's one of 4 bedrooms in our home, and during the 20 years we have lived here it's never housed an actual bed.  I've used it as my personal space and it's gone  through many cycles of decorating, rearranging, and use.  It's finally found it's last configuration, and I've gotten it (now) to the perfect work area for me.  It's my refuge.

I love to create homemade cards through stamping, and now that I am retired, I've gotten back into the art.  I was currently using the IKEA Hemnes dressers, the closet, desk drawers, a rolling cart, and built in shelving as card making storage, but it was hard to pull all those products out from totally different areas, AND work at my desk crafting cards in front of my computer.  There was never enough room.

I am a crafter who likes to stop and start and leaving supplies all over the area where I also use my computer caused moments of panic for me.  That space would quickly fill up and be impossible to use for anything other than what was currently in a state of creation.

Added to that, gathering all the supplies needed from all over the room was really a straight pain, and I often forgot about supplies that I had because they were not cohesively together.

When I saw this cart, I knew I could house about 90% of my supplies there and still have additional workspace on top...for well, any work I wanted to do.

And I was right!

So we bought it, brought it home, got it in the house (thanks to our sweet neighbors for their help), and of course that led to the cleaning and re-organization of the whole room.

But, in the theme of keeping it real for you, there was a lot of You-Tube watching and general chaos going on during the re-organization project...

Don't worry, that bottle has been reused and now holds Thieves cleaner!

I did purge a tiny bit of stuff, but not much.  I had already cleaned out a bulk of my supplies last year and kept what I knew I would truly use.

The process took all day, but I finally finished around 5:30 in the evening.  Here is what it looks like now.

Clean clear surfaces are like an arrow to my heart.  I also think they keep the room from feeling closed in as well.

My Woodbridge baskets used to be filled with supplies.  They are now all empty and on display.

The small dresser houses all of my Young Living business and team materials, as well as my DIY oils supplies.  It's now a work station for my love of oils and my business.  My oil inventory is easily accessed on the shelf about the dresser.

An IKEA Raskog cart holds my pens (yes, I have a pen problem; it's well documented), my laminator and lamination sheets, and my Happy Planner hole punch.  It can easily move around the room as needed.

The opposite side of the room is where the larger of the Hemnes dressers resides.  I hold a variety of things, including my everyday notebooks and planner supplies, some miscellaneous crafting supplies, and 2 drawers are used for card making.  

In the corner, where the ring light now resides, there used to be a large rolling cart.  It was totally cleaned out and relegated to the basement where I will put it to good use down there.

Because this dresser will be right behind me while I craft, it made geographical sense to place all my stamp sets and paper punches here.  I can easily grab what I need by turning around.  I can also see them so much better.  Before, they were in all those Woodbridge baskets.  That meant having to pull down each basket and look through them for sets that I wanted to use.  

The other side of the cart has shelving space where my Big Shot and supplies fit perfectly.  I can just place it on the cart top, use, and then put away.  My Xyron machine and tools are here as well.

You might have noticed that while the cart does have dedicated pegboard space, I opted to use Command hooks instead.  I love pegboards because of their versatility, however, I do find that when you are grabbing tools, the metal hooks can come out easily, even with the little straps affixing them to the board.  In addition, I also knew that I would be brushing up against them when working around the cart, and decided that the ball tipped hooks were a better and cleaner option for me.  Plus, their Command, so they can be easily removed and repositioned as needed.

Let's look in a few of the drawers now...

Tool drawer at the top.  It easily holds Dollar Tree baskets to keep things organized and neat.

Second drawers has all my little card accents like brads and buttons.  Plus, there's room to grow.

A drawer for my bags and tags.  I find sales and just purchase to have things like this on hand for crafting and gift-giving.

A side drawer dedicated to my small collection of ribbons and twines.  I leave a pair of scissors here for easy cutting.

A deep bottom drawer is perfect for my collection of designer papers.  I have my plain colored card stock in another drawer in  similar plastic bins.

To some, it might seem like this room is now a bit cramped.  And, while I can agree that this cart took up the bulk of the center of the room, I am not in the least worried about the size.

I don't host dances in here, or do my yoga, or need that space for any other pursuit other than crafting.

In fact, I like the coziness and utilitarian feel of the room even more.

It's a space made for dreaming, creating, thinking, and working.  It's organized and homey.  It's got an incredible view of the pond in our back yard, and in the morning, it gets beautiful light from the rising and morning sun.

Let me know how you craft (if you do) and what you need to make your space a place of inspiration.

Break some rules today and use a tool chest for a craft station!

Thanksgiving 2018

Well, Turkey Day 2018 has come and gone, but not without a lot of planning, good food, and great memories.

If you recall, I used a Thanksgiving Planner from Etsy to really minimize the stress and strain of the day, and I want to tell you...it worked!  

Having thoughtfully procured lists, leading up to the actual event was genuinely a perfect way to have an enjoyable day.  In fact, my husband was grateful because he didn't get "yelled" at during any point in the day!  (Can any of you relate?)

Having these checklists, and writing my own additional ideas helped to keep me on track.  I went to the grocery store once, and we DID NOT have to make emergency trips at any point in the process...that in itself was amazing.

The preparation actually started on Wednesday.  Since we were eating at noon, and since I was cooking and preparing the turkey, ham, mashers, carrots, stuffing, green beans, corn, fruit cup, cranberry (canned), drinks, and two of the desserts, I knew that starting the day before would give me a head-start to the big day.

So...on Wednesday, I did all the chopping and bagging of ingredients for each of the dishes I was preparing.  This was simply a matter of combining any dry ingredients in small labelled baggies as well as any chopped and/or wet ingredients in labelled baggies, and placing them in a refrigerator bin in the order in which I would need them.

This is what it looked like during that stage:

My long counter was used as a buffet area.  The crock pots actually cooked the food right here, and were used as warmers. I labelled where each of the different items would be placed, and included the laminated recipes on top.  I pulled the recipes as I was preparing that food item.

My island was where the main preparation occurred.  You can see the baggies started, including the veggies that were stuffed into the cavity of the bird.  It was super easy to just chop and bag.  On Thursday, as I started each recipe, I simply pulled out the corresponding bag(s) and dumped them in.  Not having to chop anything was great!  In fact, the chopped veggies, like the carrots, celery, and onions for my gravy base, had a chance to really "meld" together, making the recipe(s) richer and heartier.

Hubby helped by periodically cleaning and washing items as I needed, keeping the trash dumped and bag replaced, and putting away cleaned and dried items.  He ran the dishwasher twice on Wednesday in order to keep up with it all.

Once all the food preparedness was complete, I could finish my decorating.

I started by setting my places and placing the floral arrangement I had created Tuesday night in the middle of the long table.

I used a trough built by my oldest bonus son, lined it with plastic, and then wet floral foam, to create this arrangement.  It had a combination of real pink and white roses, dried hydrangeas, live cuttings from the bushes around our home, Dollar Tree plastic pumpkins (some spray painted pink), feathers, acorns, and Dollar Tree battery operated string lights in yellow.

The table was set with disposable plates and utensils (Amazon) and Fostoria glasses.

I covered the table with a green and creme striped table cloth (Marshals) and then used brown paper as a runner down the middle.  The best part about using the paper was that the roll will also be used as wrapping for Christmas!  I originally was going to write little quotes on the paper, but decided I liked it bare.  I let the centerpiece be the "star."

I used my Fostoria Champagne glasses as an electric candle holder, filled with split peas from the grocery store.  

The napkins and rose gold utensils were tucked into small paper bags with name tags attached. 

Throughout the living area I had little vignettes placed to decorate the day.  This rustic framed image came from the Dollar Tree.  It was placed on the table where the games were waiting for guests.

Each guest wrote what they were thankful for and hung it on twine hanging across the sliding glass door.  They also had to take a Thanksgiving riddle and hold on to it.  We shared those during dinner. (Which helped with eating too fast!)

We teamed up and played the "Build a Turkey" game by rolling dice in an effort to get a certain number to build a turkey.  

The funniest game was discovering their new "Turkey" name.

Each guest wrote their name on a sticky name tag, and we laughed at the funny combinations like "Burnt McGiblets" and "Deep Fried St. Cranberry."

It was a great day with family and friends, and I would gladly do it all over again.

The planner was an indispensable tool, that made they preparation easy.  On Thursday morning, I used their hour by hour organizer to execute exactly what had to happen when.  It allowed me time to get ready myself, and still have everything ready at the appointed hour.

Of course, one of the best things about hosting and cooking most of the food...

Leftovers for Friday's dinner!

I cut up the turkey and mixed it with cream cheese and cranberry salsa to make a great filling for Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.  I reheated the sides while they baked in the oven, and voila!  Dinner is served.

I hope your Thanksgiving was a joyous time spent with many blessings.

Now it's time to start working on that Christmas Planner!

BONUS:

I have included some up close photos of the floral arrangement.  Enjoy!

Christmas Trees - Part 2

So, as promised, here is part 2 of my Dollar Tree Christmas Tree creations.

(Part 1 here)

When I originally purchased the white trees and that decor, I also purchased a pair of green trees and decor with the intention of creating a tree for my father-in-law.  Because they do not live together (medical reasons), I wanted them to each have their own tree - a bit of festive cheer in their individual places.

However, the more I mulled over my decor choices for his tree, I realized that he would appreciate a more "Christmasey" type tree, and not the "Woodland Themed" tree I was thinking about.

So, not to be a Humbug, I went back to the Dollar Tree and purchased decor more in line with the season.

Here's how it all went down...

Upon my return to the Dollar Tree, I decided to go with a snowman slant, focusing on the red and white colors that would really pop on the traditional tree.

In addition, I also picked up a pack of 20 plug in lights (yes...at the Dollar Tree) as well as a package of Wired Garland Ties.  These were made by the same manufacturer as the Christmas trees and matched the branches perfectly.  

Remember, I had already purchased 2 trees with the idea of cutting up the second one, BUT, now I had 2 themes for 2 trees and needed some way to "fill out" each one.  

I knew I could wrap the ties around the stem of both trees and fill it out much like I did the white tree.  I could also skip the hot glueing here because it's just a matter of wrap and twist!  (Tip - if you buy the white tree you will need two trees to fill it out as there are not white garland ties in the store, only green.)

It was super easy to fill using the wired ties.  I started by pulling down the bottom branches of the tree and then twisting a tie around one time.  I filled in with 3 ties and distributed the branches in a wheeled pattern all around the trunk.  Next, I pulled down the next layer of branches and repeated with 2 ties.  To make the branches the same length as the descending branches I simply twisted them once more around the trunk.  You can also cut and "prune" as needed.

By doing this wrap and twist effect it effectively covered the trunk of the tree - similar to the branch pieces you get with artificial trees intended to camouflage the wooden trunk.

In the end, here is what I had:

I added the plug in lights starting at the bottom so that the plug was located there.  I originally bought 2 packs, but only needed one set of 20 lights.

I started with the largest ornaments - the snowmen, and hot glued them into place.

As with all the glued on ornaments, I snipped off their hanging ties with scissors.

Aren't these the cutest?  Their arms are actual twigs and their sweet smiles are super cute!  (They would be cute package decor as well...and at $1 a piece, a great way to add an ornament to a package as a bonus gift!)

After that, I glued on the rest of the elements; the red balls were glued so they appeared to "hang" from the branches, the candy canes were glued where they touched the branches, and the snowflakes were glued where they naturally filled in open spaces.

When hot glueing the ornaments on the branches, hold them for a minute so the hot glue cools enough to adhere and they don't fall off.  You can use a hair dryer on the cool setting and low speed to accelerate the cooling process here, but I just waited patiently.

The floral picks were pulled apart and each element was randomly glued on the tree to fill it out.

The gold star topper was glued to the tip of the tree (which I bent in half to make stronger).

When it was all done, I had a traditional tree that I am sure my F-I-L will like.

I pulled another cloth napkin for a tree skirt and it added the perfect touch.

All in all, this tree cost a total of $15.00!

One item that I bought but did not use was tree garland.

It would have been too much for the tree, BUT... it will look amazing on packages in place of ribbon or twine.  And, with 20 feet, I will get to use it on several wrapped items. (I think I might go back and buy some of the other colors as well!)

Oh, and the Woodland Themed decor...

These squirrels were found in a pack of 4 at Wal*Mart.  I couldn't resist buying them for this tree!

It was assembled in the same way as the other tree, but you will notice, it has none of the traditional Christmas decor...

However, I LOVE THIS TREE!

So, I'm keeping it for myself and will use it on a dresser in our entry hall.  I also think I will leave it out a bit longer than the holiday season.  It has that sweet winter vibe so it can linger well into the winter months.

I didn't use all the decor elements I had initially purchased for each tree, but I will find other ways to incorporate them into my holiday decor and wrapping.

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you celebrate with those you love and are focused on a beautiful season of giving and receiving.

Stop back by on Saturday as I will have a full report and photos on my Thanksgiving planner and dinner party!