Royal Filigree necklace. Find it {here}.

   Once upon a time, in a land quite near you, there was a sixteen year old who made jewelry. She sold the jewelry to make money for art supplies and saving for the big, scary future. She took pictures of the jewelry to put online. She even did a craft fair or two.

     One day, while in the land of A Great Many Supplies, the girl saw a giant tower of shelves-- and upon them were items that she needed: jewelry displays.

     Happily she danced over to the aisle, but her heart fell when she saw the paper tucked inside of the display. Two numbers were writte on it. 2-0.

     For a little cardboard thing.

     Now, that wouldn't do. $20 is a lot. Even with the magic slip of paper that lessened the price... it was too much. So the girl, being learned in the ways of the DIY (do-it-yourself), decided to make it.




This project is part of my Creative/Destroyable Books series. See other book crafts {here}.

Chainmaille cross necklace. . Email me if you want to know why.

Rivendell Twilight necklace. For sale {here}.

Until the computer (and my files) are working, I'm going to share some shorter posts (with unedited pictures and everything). No tutorials or good photography yet... just some of my most recent tips, tricks, and little projects!

Beads.

They are so hard to store! The little things never want to be sorted or organized (or even get found when dropped on the floor). I buy beads in small amounts, and it is difficult to find containers to keep these little beads marching in order.

Craft stores have plastic containers with dividers, which are great for organizing beads and other little odds and ends. But $10+ for a plastic box? I don't think so.

My mom used to do some cross stitching, and she had two old plastic boxes that she kept embroidery thread in. I put the thread into a Ziplock baggie and put those boxes to good work. However, the "cubbies" were deep enough and the dividers far enough apart that the box was only good for the beads and jewelry findings that I had alot of. Sets of 100 little beads still had no storage, and there were no options for other sizes or types. Even so... I filled up the two boxes and needed more.

But I was not spending $20 on a little plastic thing.

I'd like to share a quick and easy craft that my little sister and I made-- I call it the Clothespin Picture Holder!

Addie keeps coloring her coloring pages, and wanted somewhere to display them. I wasn't fond of the idea of having a ton of coloring pages taped to our wall. The clothespins let you clip as many pages as you want on; you can then switch which ones go in front.

You will need:

• clothespins
• mod podge (or your choice of glue)
• (optional) stamps
• wall stickies

This would be a great craft to do with your own siblings (or, in the case of parents reading this, your kids).

Now, I was very excited about moving to our new house. My bedroom, which I share with my 7 year old sister, is very big. I wanted to decorate our room just like Arwen's from Lord of the Rings.



Then came some hitches in my "plan." I realized how much it would cost (waaaay too much). My sister didn't like the idea too much. And my parent's weren't big on me going decorating-overboard when I will be moving out for college in a couple years.


So... new plan! Our bedroom has become the furniture cast-off room. Anything old or unwanted or scratched gets to come in here.











In the spring Dad will help me paint the furniture (not the walls, though, but I do have a mural planned).

Addie and I have a color scheme. Thankfully we both love blue, she can stand green, I can stand purple, and cream is pretty basic and girly.



Other than that, our room will be a true mash-up. I want Elvish, she wants Princess. I also like your typical bright, bold, teen designs, while she favors the pastel little girl look.

We also have some Chinese decorations that Dad brought back from a business trip, so we've got an Asian look going. Plus some shabby chic and "wrought iron."



Hopefully the color scheme will hold it together, but you know what? That's not the goal. We just want a fun and beautiful room to enjoy! Who cares if it is eclectic? (Haha, I mistyed that as "electric.")




People are always telling me that they don't know where I get my talent. No one else in my family is particularly good at arts and crafts. (Aside from my grandma, who only did a little bit.)

Well, I know where I get it! (At least the creativity part). DAD. He's an engineer with the biggest imagination in town.

Adelynn's "Princess Tower Bed" with a "dungeon" underneath is made from an old bunk bed. Dad had built it for my brothers years ago but it was in bad shape.

So he turned it into a loft bed and perched it (screwed it) on top of a dresser we got from the old Newman Center when they were demolishing it.

Yes, that furniture need PAINTED. I do not want dark green. :D

I've still got my pastel fairy quilt. :) Dooooon't like pastels but it's still pretty. Adelynn's just-begun dollhouse is on her desk.




Here is my school desk and bookshelf. I homeschool and do all of my work in my bedroom.

Funny story-- the bottom two shelves of that dresser are full of doll clothes and accesories. My grandma likes to sew doll clothes... alot. :D

And the side is entirely covered with stickers (Addieeeeeee!) which I can't seem to get off.

And the window shades are both broken, but maybe fixable.

And the bullein board squares? A $5 find at Staples, because it was a bit beat up.








(So, remember how I made a v-log a couple of months ago? I was going to show you the craft room but decided the video was too long. So now you get to see that footage. Excuse the UMMMMM at the end.)




Here you can see part of the basement. We've built a double-sided "wall" of bookshelves in the middle of the basement, and you can see part of it here. You can also see how we dry out our snowclothes. :)

...and... that desk and all the mess is my "studio!"

 I cleaned up a bit:


OK, so the craft room is not mine. I'm the only one who uses it, though. :)

Would you believe that we got the nice, big Jeep desk for free? The people who owned the house before us no longer wanted it.

This is where I do all jewelry, crafts, and art.

I'm going to be sharing cheap, easy, and (hopefully) creative organization tips on the blog!

My first tip-- to stick the lightbox ontop of the bookshelves. It frees up lots of space on the desk.

Also, don't leave cardboard boxes on the floor. Because then the basement might flood when the well goes crazy and then you'll have a mess to clean up and it will smell like mold.




Please CLICK HERE if you would like to see the posts about my bedroom and the craft room! (The link will automatically update with any new posts).