Craft Closet #2

I got super busy yesterday!

I managed to get every single container emptied and sorted through. I threw out all the garbage. I made piles of like items to see what I had of wich things.

The hard part is I don't have a ton of any one thing. Well, maybe of ribbon but I'll talk about that in a minute. The thing that makes it hard to come up with a good system for storage is that I have a little bit of many different things.

I even managed to sand, and paint my cute chair!

I spent most of today blog stalking and googling. I've come up with a few good ideas.

Remeber, I'm trying not to spend ANY money!

A while ago I bought some discounted paint at a hardware store. I love checking their whoopsy paints! Anyways- I ended up with a quart of some super bright yellow paint. Like primary yellow. This wasn't exactly the color I was hoping to go with, nor was it even close! I did have a small bottle of navy blue craft paint...

I also had some really neat wooded boxes with lids from Artichokes & Co. My mother in law gave them to me a few years ago. I've always loved them. I however need color in this space.





I am going to hang them on the wall and use them to store small jars of things.

I couldn't not use the lids.... and I have this paper.... still not sure what they will end up being.... but I had to!




Now...... ribbon. I have loads and loads of ribbon. Some on spools, but most is loose. I really can't think of a great way to store it all. I hope I figure something out soon because as far as my collection of crafty stuff goes... ribbon is the worst offender!

Craft Closet Confessions

First let me start by saying that I am super thankful to even have this space.... remember that when I go on and on about all the negatives...

I would LOVE to be able to have a craft room. This is not a room by any sence of the word. You may have caught me refferring to a "craft room" before. That was me dreaming.

I want to love this space. It has potential.

What I don't have is money. Or the best organizational skills but we won't go there.

The space is a 5'x7' closet with two large and deep shelves against the back wall.

It has a wall mounted, circular, flourescent light. It's beauty is unparralled.

It does not have any electrical outlets. I use a lovely green garden extension cord to power my glue gun and sewing machine.

There aren't any windows or natural light.



a little closer.....



Are you affraid yet?



I have a great old table I bought on craigslist. I even bought paint for it.

I was however MIA on moving day, and forgot to have Dustin tell the movers to leave it outback so I could paint it. Who knows when I will have a chance to paint it now.

I need major storage containers. On a next to zero budget.

The walls need color. But I refuse to paint them. I do have a few ideas though.

I need more lighting. No clue how I'm going to pull that off.

The great big black thing, that's our only source of A/C. It needs a new home.



All of these big totes need a new home. The labels aren't even correct on them.

The one with all the papers in it.... my kids special papers from school. I know, mother of the year award- right here!



This is the middle shelf. It needs to house my most often used items. And it does... it just needs to do it more effectively. Can you believe all my hairbows are produced out of those 4 drawers? ....... bet you didn't even know there were drawers....



My table. Oh my table. Once the A/C unit finds it's new home (in Gavin's closet cause it's too heavy for me to move down the stairs) I will pull the table out a little bit more. It can't come out too much farther, or you'd walk right into it. I think I will swap walls too, to help avoid that problem.



If I had a place to put anything, it wouldn't be the dumping ground that it is now. (hahaha.... yeah right)



Okay.... I think I'm done making excuses..... here's the rest

Best Friends

On Thanksgiving we had a few friends and thier families over for dinner at our house. One of them was an old employee of Dustin's. She recently joined the Navy and moved up here with her husband and daughter. We hadn't seen them in years, since she and I were both pregnant with the girls.



She was a late night computer bestie while Dustin was at basic. We'd always joke at how much alike the girls were and say that they were best friends. They just hadn't met yet.



Thanksgiving went just as we'd thought. The girls spent the entire time in Jace's room playing. When we'd go in to check on them, we were asked to leave, and close the door on our way out.



Of course I was far too busy hosting my first big Thanksgiving dinner to even think about pictures. I was more concerned about the turkey being cooked and not giving everyone food poisoning. The only pictures are from the very end of the night. I'll let them do the rest of the talking.

Being a Mom

I love being a mom. It is my #1 favorite thing. My days are filled with endless fun and wild adventures. I get to do the same days over and over, but every day is different.

I love tripping over piled up boxes on the floor. That I took out to the garbage a few hours earlier. While carring a sleeping Jace to bed. Recovering from that near miss of a face plant only to step on a Lego. I LOVE to find all the dirty laundry piled right inside the door to the laundry room, when the hamper is a mere 5 steps farther. Finding cold soap scummy bath water is still in the tub, is like getting to eat chocolate cake for breakfast. Spending an hour in the kitchen doing dishes and mopping floors is so much more rewarding when ten minutes later muddy shoes walk across...... and spill juice. Some people chase storms- I chase messes. What can I say? I'm an adrenaline junkie. I get to go on treasure hunts everytime I vaccuum kids bedrooms. I must be an expert hunter because I never come out with out handfulls of wrappers and garbage. Old, hard, snotty/bloody tissues are my favorite!

I love being a mom. It is my #1 favorite thing. My days are filled with endless fun and wild adventures. I get to do the same days over and over, but every day is different.

I love eating brownies for breakfast with my kids. I love that I still get hugs and kisses before they leave for school. I love reading stories and snuggling in my bed to watch cartoons with them. I love that they want to bake and cook with me. I love painting nails and itty bitty toes. I love that Jace is addicted to lipgloss. I love Logan's obsession with growing out his hair and always smelling good. I love the tenderness of Gavin's conversations. I love planning small day trips and not telling the kids where we are going. I love the tease of putting out Christmas presents.

The very best part..... you wake up each day not know "wich" day you'll be having!

About "Normal"

I finally was ablle to get into my doctor to talk to her about my ADD. It's been so bad lately. I started back on meds today.

The mind is such a crazy thing, I feel great. I am guessing half of my mood is just knowing how much easier every day life will be. I think the other half is probably due to the medication itself. It wasn't until I actually sat and said the things out loud, things everyone who lives with me already knows, that I realized how disabled I really am by ADD.

When it only affects me, I forget to do something for myself for instance, I can manage. When it affects my family, it's another story. I can't stand to see them suffer because of my shortcomings. It makes me feel awful about myself. It can really lead to a bad depression, if I let it go too far. Not normal.

I wonder how many people are treated for a depression, that is really caused by something else. If I didn't know better, I'd go into a doctors office describing my symptoms, and walk out with an anti depressant. Helpful for depression, but won't help the underlying cause..... so depression would persist. Not normal.

Just knowing the prescription is there in the cabinet for when I need it, lifts so much anxiety from my life. If I have a busy day, errands to run, appointments to make, grocery shopping to do..... I would spend the day before worrying about wether or not I'd be able to accomplish the days tasks. That anxiety in istelf would make it nearly impossible to sleep the night before, leaving me sleep deprived, stressed, and feeling sick. Most deffinately NOT normal.

It still amazes me that one pill- one tiny little pill- can make such an important difference in my life. It can make me feel normal.

Christmas Crafts!

Last night my stomache hurt, so I stayed on the couch watching T.V. until late. I did get to catch the Martha Stewart Christmas Special. I watched her make the cutest ornaments! I'm going to have us all make them together tomorrow or the next day! They seemed pretty simple and I think the kids will really enjoy them.

Last night I let Logan and Gavin cook dinner. It was pretty fun. Later, while brownies were baking in the oven, I snuck upstairs and wrapped a few presents to put under the tree. Then we a got snugglie and watched Elf, while snacking on warm brownies and candy canes. I love Christmas.