Birthday Goodies !

I wanted to share some of the fun items I got for my birthday….on the actual day Wayne and me went “thrifting” at my favorite thrift shops here in Mesa. I was looking for a rotating spice rack that held round bottles….and this is what I found:

It was three dollars less 40%….can’t beat that! I want to paint it red! But it didn’t come with bottles…so on to the next stop…and I found two acrylic trays with 20 bottles each ( $5.00 each) and there were all the bottles with each tray!

From the side as if they were hanging on the wall…

I had to wash the lids after taking off the white labels, they came off quickly and there were shaker tops underneath the lids….perfect! I want these bottles for my glitter and beads and such so they are out where I can see them, I forget I have them otherwise…..now I am not sure which older I will use…but I have plenty of bottles and nice holders either way…:)

This gift was especially made for me by my friend Meri, she has become the queen of shadow boxes! This one has two of my very favorite things….horses and cherries! Perfect colors too!

See those cute cherries attached to the frame?

Aren’t these boots just the cutest???? And a sweet palomino foal! Check out Meri’s boxes at her Etsy site:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/imagimeri

And last but definitely not least…..I LOVE Cath Kidston but can’t even begin to think of affording her kitchen items! If she would just open some stores here in the states! The difference in the pound and the dollar is too high right now and shipping is so expensive! But I found these at a Home Goods in Mesa……and Wayne bought them for me yesterday! :):) They could be from Cath herself!

Aren’t these so cute???? I love the shape of the teapot…

and look at the gingham on the top!

And I love the flowers inside the cups….

I know quite a few of you have gotten plates, bowls and three tired platters, but I had not seen this teapot! So happy with this, it will go with some of my Fiesta!

Along with these goodies I also had a few wonderful meals, got a cute reproduction vintage horse game ( Thank you Linnie) and had a great birthday month!

Thanks for stoppin’ by and please don’t for get about the Easter Tag Swap…..it is explained in the post below this one! :)

The Best of Intentions

I have had the best intentions with my craft room….it was going to be everything I needed….but this is the third time in over a year I am totally moving everything around!!!!! It was so cute…

but I just couldn’t get it to work!

I have tried numerous formats…..

numerous pieces of furniture…

added another table and got rid of the computer hutch….

revamped the drawers and cubbies…

put the plastic drawers on this table, it works better here…

But this is what it looks like most days!!!!!! ( warning…ugly)

stuff everywhere and no place to work! So right now this is how it goes…..

I have moved all of the paper to one table…..still don’t like how it looks, but I cannot buy anything else…I have to make what I have work!

Clutter…clutter…clutter

I can’t believe I am showing you all this…..but I need some help!

Things I know:

1. TOO MUCH STUFF !!!!! Meri, Come on by, we are going to give you some more stuff!

2. No closet….a room 10’ by 10’ and no closet…..do I need to take over the only other closet in the house in the guestroom for seasonal things and such? It is a small one, but I cannot use our master bedroom closet….too far away and I would forget what is there…..there is no money right now for more vertical help, shelves, etc….so can you help me work with what I have????? I am at such a loss. I am so blessed to have all of this and yet it brings me down! This is really not good….shame on me! If I could just get a few good ideas…I know I could do better here with this room.

3. I LOVE scrapbook paper. I am a paper hoarder…..no doubt! Joyce, we need to start a group to help people like us! LOL Now that there is no extra funds, that ironically will help this problem…so this problem is basically alleviated right now.

4. I don’t do “organized”well at all…..is there a group for that????? :):) Seriously, my best friend Cheri just rolls her eyes, she comes over here and helps me clean and organize the same areas over and over, good thing she loves me! :):)

So…..my friends out there in blogland, help please…….

Revamped Craft room

I decided that my hutch that I had in my room was just too big and bulky and it took up too much precious space. So I put it on Craig’s List and sold it! Yea!!!!!

So once it was gone this is how it looked….

Lots more space for my computer, printer and everything! But the modular unites were still taking up more room than they needed to and I needed to bring in another table, so I could put my dollhouse on the cherry topped one so I can work on it. '

So this….

Became this:

thank goodness for the Salvation Army! This is a sturdy heavy Formica topped table, it was 39.99 marked down to 29.99! Not real cute but totally usable!!!! And the way the legs attach I have lots of storage below.

The larger cupboards ended up behind the left French door and the smaller ones over behind the right door…

Then it was hours and hours of going thru everything once more time! I called Meri and she came and took all of the excess! She was a happy camper!

So now, this is how it looks!

I was lucky enough to get these plastic holders for my cardstock for just $1.00 each from my friend Jennifer at Mystic Paper here in Mesa.

I still need shelves, but they aren’t critical at this point. The dollhouse sits on the other table perfect…..

For the time being, until it is remodeled this is where it will be….I need to move all of my cute stuff from behind it and put it on the other side of the room. I also repurposed the red Kitchen cart….

It isn’t anything fancy, but it is very workable and after having “cute” I like practical better! Cute will come later! LOL What do you think of cloth skirts on the two table to hide the stuff underneath???? And what fabric would you use????? I appreciate ideas from my buddies!

ME Monday with Vicki at Cherry Chick

I am sharing my ME border that I decorated my plain jane white shelves with in my craft room…..

This is a paper border you get in a package for teachers to put around bulletin boards. I just love these!!!!! I have used them in my kitchen on shelves I had there also. They look great in a pantry too!

The nicest thing is you can just tape them up, then when you want to change the look you only have to do minimum work to have a whole new look! These come out at Michaels when the school year starts,but you can find them at any teacher’s type stores year round!

Here’s a closer look!

For just a few dollars it really brightens up the place! :)

Please hop over to Vicki’s blog and see all of the cute ME items for ME Monday! http://www.cherrychickjewelry.blogspot.com/

A Revamping already!

I have been watching some of my favorite people redo their crafting spaces. I have to admit, the way I had everything looked really cute but didn’t work really well…so I went and got some sweet little boxes at Wal-Mart and reorganized the item I seem to use all of the time

This seems to work a whole lot better.

Then I took the items I had in the cute cherry boxes on the shelves behind the desk and put them in plastic containers that I can see thru and grab as needed. Not as cute, but much easier to work with! Those shelves are not easy to get to!

I still need to move all of this around a bit, I can’t get into the bottom 12 inch drawers….but they are Christmas anyhow…

I also redid my hutch where my computer is….being into genealogy, papers pile up in a New York Minute!!!! So, I had to get some organization here also.

Love my little red dish drainer, got that idea from Brenda at A Cozy Cottage! I have file folders on their way to me that have colorful rick-rack on them! The little white boxes hold all of my CD’s…images, photos, etc….I will be making them all cute at a later date…I hope! Of course, there is always stickers. :)

And yes, that is a sweet little paint foal on my screensaver, and my Vista Bubbles….love them!

Take a good look, it is empty!!!!! Joyce, those are your Necco wafers I am eating right now! I got the fun, colorful pencil holder at Target, in the same place as the dishes….I love all of the colors, and if I need to I have a silverware caddy for a picnic! That is what it was intended to be!

I also thought I would show you a few photos of part of my Peep collection. I have no idea where to put this stuff, and I have a big bin of even more….but I am not parting with it! :)

Have a great week everyone! It is suppose to be 85 degrees today! :)