Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Craft Room Storage & Decor


See the bottom of this post for links to where I purchased everything!

We moved to a new home in April and the first thing I did after unpacking was start setting up my craft room!  In our old town home, I did all of my sewing and crafting on our dining room table and stored my supplies in random parts of the house.  Now, I have an entire room to spread out in and I love having all of my supplies in one place!  I'm sure I will make a lot of changes /additions to this space over time, but I wanted to share pictures of it now while it's decently clean and organized :)

I keep most of my supplies out in the open for easy access, but I try to keep most of it out of my toddler's reach.  He's not allowed in here by himself, but he does like to play in the craft room while I'm sewing so that motivates me to keep the room clean and make sure nothing dangerous is left out.


The desk can fold up into a closed cabinet, but I leave it open and use the extra leaf section as a cutting table.  I keep my cutting mat and sewing machine on the desk, and store my Sizzix machine underneath it when I'm not using it.  I also have our Kindle Fire propped up on an easel so I can watch Netflix while I'm crafting :)

The accent wall was done by the former owners and we decided to keep it knowing that this would probably be my craft room for a few years.  I'm not sure what method they used, but I think it was similar to this tutorial.

 

The green cabinet was a $5 yard sale find that my husband helped me re-finish and paint.  We painted it to match the green on the accent wall and I love the pop of color it gives to the room!  I store my felt sheets in these drawers and I keep small scraps of felt in the glass jar on top.


I absolutely love this peg board, and it comes in so many cute colors!  You can also buy different hooks and attachments to fit the board.  I had way too much fun organizing my stuff when I first got this :) My thread spools, embroidery floss and ribbon are all stored on here along with my fabric and craft scissors.



I store most of my findings in clear jars so that I can easily see what I have to work with, and as a bonus, they make colorful decor for the floating shelves! All of my beads, buttons, zippers and buckles are stored in these jars.  I love having everything out in the open where I can see what I have to work with.



I have a simple Brother sewing machine that is easy to work with and very easy to learn on.  One day I would love to own an embroidery machine too, but for now this is all I need.  I do most of my felt cutting at this desk as well, so one of the first things I made for my craft room was a little bag to act as a thread/scrap catcher.  It secures to the desk with velcro command strips and helps keep my work area clean from felt fuzz and loose thread!



I bought this Sizzix Big Shot a few months ago, and I can honestly say that I use it every day when I'm crafting!  This die cutting machine lets me quickly cut letters, numbers and simple shapes.  I absolutely love it and I'm always searching for new dies!  I'll write a separate blog post about all die cutting in the near future :)


This white cabinet was given to me by a family member and fits perfectly in this small space!  I buy fabric mostly by the 1/2 yard or in fat quarters, so this cabinet is great for storing those small cuts. There is also a shelf that pulls out at the top of the cabinet where I can set the scale to weigh my products.



My son loves to play with his felt food and quiet books when I'm sewing, so I keep them easily accessible for him in a storage bin on the floor. His favorite activity is making a pizza with silly ingredients on top :)



About a week after getting my Sizzix and an alphabet die cutter, I knew I needed a storage solution to keep the letters separate.  I found these embroidery floss boxes on sale at Michael's and they are perfect for keeping my felt letters organized!

I hope you enjoyed this peak into my craft room!  I still have more decorating to do and some upgrades to make but I love this space and I'm so happy with how it's coming together!  Leave a comment if you have a specific question about something :)

Sources
Sauder Craft Table: Amazon
Pegboard Wall Organizer: Amazon
Brother XL2600I Sewing Machine: Amazon
Sizzix Big Shot: Amazon
Pink Desk Lamp: Target
White Shelves: Target
White Chair: IKEA
Narrow White Cabinet: Similar Here
'Joy' felt flower board: Blue House Designz
Mason Jar Pincushion: Cracked Pistachios 
Assorted glass jars: Michael's
Clear Bobbin Storage Boxes: Michael's
Green and White Striped Storage Bin: Target
Green Dresser: re-purposed night stand
Wall Pincushion: re-covered wall art from Hobby Lobby
Mannequin: LaDiff in Richmond

Friday, October 23, 2015

Rainbow Soft Books

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

I could not be more in love with these books!  I originally made one for my nephew at the beginning of the year (see it here), and a few weeks ago I received an order to make three of these for triplet girls! How sweet!  I love how bright and colorful these books are and it was such a treat to get back to hand sewing for a little while.

The books are all hand sewn (except for the seams) and are stuffed to give them a soft, plush feel.
The white clouds have stuffing and ribbon loops as an added fun texture.  The storm clouds have crinkle paper sewn behind them and the strips of rain drops are sewn onto satin ribbon.  The suns are my favorite part and they each lift up to reveal a small circular mirror behind them.  Enjoy more pretty pictures below!


Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Rainbow Soft Books - Today I Felt Crafty

Monday, October 19, 2015

Halloween Trick or Treat Tote Bag


This weekend I finally finished the trick or treat tote bag I'd cut out a few weeks ago!  This is probably my last Halloween craft for the year, since I'm just about finished with the fabric bundle I bought in September.  You can view the Halloween quiet book and placemats I made with this fabric bundle here and here.

For this bag, I followed the same steps from my Fabric Tote Easter Basket Tutorial, but added an appliqué felt pumpkin onto the front of the gray fabric before I sewed everything together.  This is such a quick sewing project and I'm glad I was finally able to use up most of my Halloween fabric! Now it's time to start planning my Christmas sewing projects ;)







Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Rainbow Quiet Book


To say that I'm excited about this project would be a huge understatement.  I put a lot of thought and energy into designing a new quiet book, and I knew I wanted to it to be bright, fun and educational.  I wrote down ideas for seven different pages and figured out what skills and activities I wanted to incorporate. All of the activities are sewn onto colorful sheets of felt, and I paired each felt sheet with matching colorful fabric on the back!  This was my first time using all wool felt and all machine sewing and I'm so happy with the results!  Wool felt makes such a big difference!

This book makes a wonderful Christmas or birthday gift and provides hours of entertainment!  You can remove pages for individual play or to swap them out with new pages. The activities are perfect for quiet play time at home, or take a few pages on the go with you to keep your little ones busy in waiting rooms, restaurants, church, car rides and plane rides!



The red page has 26 circles that velcro to the page to help practice the alphabet!
The orange page is a clock with hands that you can move.


The yellow page has three skills to practice: buckling, buttoning and zippering.


The green page has six shapes that can be grouped with their matching buttons.
The blue page helps with learning to lace and tie shoes!


 The turquoise page has squares that make up three generations of a family tree. The squares velcro onto the page to help learn about your family.  Each square is a pocket made of felt and clear vinyl so you can insert your own family pictures into them!  The last generation line can fit up to four children.

The purple page is an I Spy page with four colorful animals mixed in with beads.




Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Little Man Busy Mats


These are two mats that I made and photographed this summer, but forgot to post!  These are the companions to my Little Princess Busy Mats and the vintage wagon mat is still available for sale in my Etsy shop!

There are four activities to keep busy little boys entertained.  The felt shapes velcro onto their matching shapes or can be stored in the pocket .  The I Spy window is made with clear vinyl and there are 5 vehicles hidden in the beads.  The three zippers are great for little fingers (Rhys loves them!) and the buckle is great for practicing fine motor skills!








Copyright © 2014 Today I Felt Crafty