Craft Room: The Grand Reveal!!!

Hi there everybody!  I told you I would do it, and I did.  How's that for awesomeness!?!  As I was taking pictures, I decided that I would show you a few pictures of the room today, and on Monday I will have a detailed post about everything I did, where I got it, etc. etc. etc.  Otherwise, this post could be SUPER picture heavy and long.  And who really has time to read a long post anyway?
If you missed the before posts, check out here and here.

 When you walk in the doorway, this is what you see!  Isn't she so pretty!

Desk/Work Space, Sewing Table and Chair, Shelf and Wall Art!
(Gone are all the shelving units and globe lights!  The shelving was eating the space away!)

A view of the door and small window and new curtains.

A closer look at the shelf (I'll show you each item next week, don't worry!)

A close up of my wall art.  I absolutely love it!

My craft cabinet, sitting next to/behind the door

An inside look of my craft cabinet.

 Here's a look at the 'other,' corner of my craft room.  My sewing table and sewing machine (Bernina 1008--love her!) and shelves for extra fabric/stuff I'm working on (or supposed to be working on).  The pink and brown tote is my paper stash.

Sorry for the squished-ness of some of the pictures.  This room is only about 8.5 ft by 7.5 ft, so it's tricky to photograph.  I love having a small room though, it's easier to keep clean.  I have plenty of other house space to spread out in for large cutting projects and such, but this room is just right for everything else.

Thanks for reading, and come back Monday if you'd like some more details.  If you have any specific questions, let me know in the comments and I will address them in the next post!

~Lynette~

Sewing Room Sneak Peeks!

Alright, I've been saying for weeks that I'm going to show you my finished craft room.   Well today, I finally found the cord for the camera to connect it to the computer (it was sitting on the computer desk right in front of me all along.  Who knew that the charging cord for the wall would be gray and the computer cord would be black...I thought they all matched!  Tricky husband's camera!).  So, today I will once again show you a classic before, and a couple afters of the basics of the room.  Then today, I will tidy up the room, stage it for pictures, and snap a couple.  Maybe if I'm good I'll get the rest of it up by tomorrow!  Now wouldn't that be productive of me?

Enough words.  Let's show you some pictures.

 Here's one of those classic before pictures.  I think this picture is worth all my words. :)

Another Before Shot

New Flooring. Less than $80 at Lowe's with Labor Day Sale and Change of Address Coupon from the post office. (And we did the entry way right outside this room with some of the flooring as well).

Primer $17,
wall paint (free=came with the house and didn't really match anything)
trim $30 and paint $15 for trim and door. 
(We did re-texture because of some funky things going on, but I'm leaving out those costs because they aren't typical issues for other people).  We also scraped off the cottage cheese ceiling and re-textured and painted that the same color as the walls.

Switch covers and outlet covers $6.
And lighting.  Those globe lights just weren't doing it for me.  They made the room incredibly dark, and as a contacts wearer who loves to sew for hours on end, I needed a better solution.
Enter this.

Utilitech 48" 2-Light Utility Fluorescent Wrap Light from Lowe's.  We got it for less than $20 with a coupon.

Overall Cost= $168 for a brand new craft room.  And if you count the other costs, I would say it would have rolled in right about $200.  Everything else, as you'll see in my later post was done with things I already have or with minimal costs (like $5 or less).

So I was left with a brand new room, and had no idea what to do next!  Find out (hopefully) tomorrow what I did with the place!

Thanks for reading.

~Lynette~

Favorite Things Friday: Hair Gel, Dustbuster, French Fry Slicer

Hi there friends!  I hope you are having a wonderful week, and that you have a great weekend.  I am always ready for weekends by the time they get here---and I don't even work! :)  Well...other than dishes, laundry, dishes, laundry, you know the drill! :)

Today, I decided I'd hop on for a minute and share a few of my latest favorite things I've been loving.
First off, I love good hair days.  And because I have curly hair, I have to have a good hair gel to have a good hair day.  That's where this good stuff comes in.  Wetline Xtreme Professional Styling Gel from Sally Beauty Supply. And it smells delicious.  Like apples.  It holds great, even enough for me to have a 2nd hair day every now and then, which is great in the wintertime.  Mine has a lime green lid, and for 3.99, I get about 6 months + use out of it.  And I use it nearly everyday! :) 

Recently, my husband and I put in a wood burning stove.  And when you're constantly reloading the stove with wood to stay toasty, it brings in crumbs.  Of wood.  And my large vacuum, Roger, got tired of getting out of the closet every time we made a mess.  Enter this little friend.  Black and Decker's 14.4V Dustbuster.  We got it for $40 from Bed Bath and Beyond, thanks to some gift cards from some friends. (Love that!)  Still need a name for this little guy.  Any suggestions? :)

Alright, here's possibly my favorite.  This thing is awesome.  French Fry Cutter.  Can I say, amazing?  Nearly every Sunday after church, my husband and I attack a few potatoes, toss them with salt and olive oil, and bake them in the oven for toasty, tasty fries.  Easy to clean, heavy duty, and easy to put away (on top of the fridge!).  This one was a tad pricy, but again, we used a gift card.  They make others that are not so commercial, but this one really is handy.
Well, there's my share for the week!  I hope to start back into blogging a bit more regularly.  Like once or twice a week, but we shall see what life brings! Have a fantastical day!
Thanks for reading, as always.
~Lynette~

What I'm Thankful For

Hello there my friends!  It's good to finally be writing after so long of an absence.  I have been busy, what's new right?  Owning a home is a wonderful thing.  We will never be bored ever again in our lives.  Each night when my husband gets home from work, we are working on one thing or another.  Saturdays are full of yardwork, remodeling, or installing something here or there.  But we are loving it.  Our home is finally feeling like ours, and I'm finally able to say that I love our home.  It takes a while to convince me, probably because we've moved nearly 10 times in 3 years.  And we're done with that. Yay.

Last week, Cheri over at I am Momma Hear Me Roar challenged us to write a list of 50 things we're thankful for.  So, here we go!
1. Tall socks in the winter
2.  Our wood burning stove (that's one of our projects...finally done!)
3. The Internet
4. My Husband.  He is wonderful, and he treats me like a queen.
5.  Color
6. my Ipod touch
7. My Bernina 1008
8. Food to enjoy and experiment with while cooking
9. Weddings
10.  Cherie Call Music...still listening after nearly 10 years.  She's good!
11. Toenail Polish that changes colors in the sunlight.
12. Manlifts (to help with pruning our GINORMOUS trees)
13. Cell Phones
14. Target's cheap $5.00 tights in brown and black
15. Fabric
16. My Home
17. Little Tender Mercies that happen every day
18. Blenders
19. Bacon
20. Pepperoni
21. CHEESE
22. Children
23.  My Education.  I know I can use it if I ever need to. :)
24. My Craft room. (It's pretty much done...I need to snap a picture or two don't I?)
25. Good Neighbors
26. The Book of Mormon
27. Temples
28. The Prophet
29. Music
30. Jesus Christ
31. Christmas
32.  Thanksgiving
33. Emotions and feelings
34.  The ability to write
35.  Good Books
36. Emails from friends
37.  Letters
38. My Family (on all sides!)
39. Purple
40. Laughter
41. Candy
42. Bathrooms
43. My pillow
44. My Curly Hair (so easy to do.)
45.  My Toyota Corolla aka Crayola
46. Heavenly Father and His perfect timing
47. My body
48. Seasons
49. My husband's job
50. Long Walks around the neighborhood.

If you haven't done this in awhile, you should try it.  Put on a favorite song or two, and just write what comes to your mind first.  My day was beginning to be boring and blah, but after writing the list, it made me remember all the things I have. :)  What a good thing.  And now,  I think I'll head out for my walk.  I think the sun is trying to peek out behind the clouds! :)  Have a wonderful thanksgiving everybody!
~Lynette~
p.s. What are YOU thankful for this year?

Craft Room: Before Pictures

Hi there everyone!  I finally found the camera, and here are my craft room’s lovely (ha!) before pictures!

Instead of writing a paragraph about what is wrong in the picture, I just labeled the first picture for you.  Oh, and do you see those crazy cords coming out of wall on the right side of the picture?  Ya, they are coming from outside through a hole.  So we need to patch that and kick those wires/cords out too!

Just so you know…this was the worst room in the house.  The other parts are painted a pretty white with new carpet or decent hard flooring.  This room was just sort of…lacking!  So we decided to give this room a complete makeover…because it really needs it!  And my husband said one day right after we moved in, “I think this should be your first craft- to get your craft room the way you want it.”  I about died!  I was planning on just moving everything in and using it as is until we could fix it up, but was so relieved when he suggested it.  I didn’t even have to ask.  Wow.

(This picture ‘showcases,’ the ugly pink color of paint best.)

And just so you know…the room is pretty much complete.  I just need to move my stuff in, make some artwork and hang it up for the walls, and I’ll be set enough to show you some ‘after’ pictures.

And you should be excited, because it’s a pretty big transformation!

~Lynette~

Wishlist Wednesday: Makeup Organizer & Fancy Dishtowels

Well hello again!  I decided I ought to at least share a few things I've been pinning on Pinterest lately for Wishlist Wednesday.

I'm loving this hanging make-up bag.  I have been wanting to make one of these for over a year, I just hadn't found a tutorial for it.  Check it out at Gluesticks.  Doesn't it look fabulous?

I'm loving these fancy kitchen towels over at  Stolen Moments.  She used the tutorial over at Pin.Sew.Press.   I'm loving the coordinating yellow pot in the photo too, how fun!

Thanks for reading!
~Lynette~
p.s. What is on your project wishlist?

Move Complete- Well Kinda!

Hello there!  I am checking in for a minute to let you know we are doing well.  I've got some fun news for you!  We bought our very first home!  We are so excited to have a place to stay for a very long time.  No more boxes, change of address online form thingys (speaking of which I still need to do another one), and no more packing.  But still lots of unpacking to do.  Ugh.

Our home was built in the late 1960's, so there are a few updates to do, a few random colored walls to repaint, and LOTS of space to hang pictures and decorate.  So I imagine if I remember to take pictures of everything, there will be some home improvement posts on their way.  Oh and I didn't mention---I get my very own craft room!!!  Whose walls are a musty pink color.  My husband says it looks brown.  It's bad.  I will get a before picture up as soon as I find the camera, and then I can leave you in suspense wondering how the room will end up.

We are loving having space, and we love our yard.  It's kinda big...6/10 of an acre.  And as we speak, I'm sitting in my husband's shop with his laptop, watching him fix our riding lawn mower so we can mow our jungle of a lawn! :)

Hope you're having a wonderful week! 
~Lynette~
p.s.  What would you love to change about your home or apartment?