Craft Room Re-Design

Ok. So it's more like just 'Design', as I've never done anything with this room, in the, oh...10 years I've owned my house. It's been in a perpetual state of catch-all, with an occasional bout of being occupied by a tenant, or two cats.

Before #1

As you know, I do quite a bit of selling on eBay. If you look real close, on the left hand side, there is a white thing sitting on top of my printer. That's my scale. Those boxes. Empty. The litter box. Empty. The ottoman has items on it from 2 months ago, when my toilet was acting up (I had a plumber fix it. Tried to do it myself, but that's another blog). Those items were taken out of the room, and moved to the basement with the rest of the building materials. Oh, the greenish/blackish blob half on the couch, and half on the rocking chair? That's a comforter, that I finally got around to taking to the laundromat to wash, in February. I was too cheap to dry it there, so I hung it over my shower curtain rod. It then made it's way into the craft room.

Before #2

Oh look. MORE empty boxes! The tall one, sitting on the floor, was filled with recyclables, and removed from the room. The things that are on top of the dresser are various things I have listed for sale on eBay. I managed to move and condense things enough to get most of them inside the dresser, by the end of the night. They are now either all sold, or in the dresser. The black tote, also had eBay items in it, and half sold, and the other half were put in the dresser. You'll see the tote again, in the 'During' pictures. And now for the fun part! Organizing. I did all this organizing two Fridays ago. It took me from 6 p.m. until 3 a.m. to do it, but it was SO worth the missed sleep.

During #1

I was ridiculously happy when I measured, and figured out I could put both the dresser AND the hope chest on this wall. I REALLY didn't want to put either of the pieces in the basement. The hope chest holds what it's intended too. Memories. All my pictures are in there. My Grandfather's WWII Army Uniform (Which I'm likely to have put into a shadow box and hung on the wall). My Father and Aunt's confirmation records. The family photo's I took out of my Grandmother's house when we cleared it out. Memories. The dresser, as previously stated, holds my ebay sale items. When this picture was taken, I had the top drawer full of items that needed to be listed, and the second and third were full of items that already have a listing (meaning, all I have to do is relist them). I'm proud to say, everything in this dresser has now been listed, and it was a GOOD month for sales.

During #2

This corner will contain my work surface once all is said and done. The laptop stand is just a filler right now. I'll be selling that at the annual community yard sale. I have a drafting board in the basement, and intend to buy some table legs and build a base for it. It will make for a nice area to work. I intend on re-purposing the book case I have in the basement, and putting that behind the chair, and using it for storage. There are some really pretty canvas totes on sale this week at Target. I intend to pick up 4, and stick them on the shelves, along with some various sized boxes I cover in fabric.

During #3

Yay! The couch is almost clear! There's the black tote again. This time, it's full of all the projects I intend to do for the room. They're all in one spot, which is going to make it much easier for me to knock the projects out in no time. A girl can dream, right? The ottoman will be re-covered in fabric.The brown wood things (there are actually two)? They're mirrors. The one will be fastened to the dresser, and the smaller one will be taken down to the basement. It goes to the vanity that's already down there. This furniture came out of my Grandmother's house, and I really didn't want it. I was being nice to my sister, who lives out of state, and who indicated she wanted it. When it came time for her to take it home with her, while she was up for Christmas, she didn't want it anymore. Damn it! Now that it's in the house, I can't make myself get rid of it. ARRGGHH! Almost forgot. The vacuum is going down to the living room closet. Those with good eyes see the empty litter box is in the bottom right hand corner. I stuck all the various electronics in there. Chargers, USB cables, who know's what. If it was electronic related, it went in there!

During #4

It's kinda pissing me off I can't get these two pictures to be side by side. GRRR. Ok. So, I broke down a bunch of the empty boxes, and stuck them in another box. The larger box on the left, has the styrofoam out of the large box from one of the before pictures, that got used for the recycling. The rod on the top holds the coats I have listed on eBay. One of them has already sold. There's also a bag of stuffed animals in there. The top corner of the picture is actually my authentic cowboy hat. It's in a very dusty bag. But the hat looks fantastic inside ;) The A/C units will go in both my bedroom, and the craft room once summer hits. Then the closet will be used to hold packing materials for eBay sales. I'm also going to put another shelf in, so I can move the printer into the closet too. My OCD likes having clear surfaces, so it'd be nice to be able to close the door on that area.

During #5

Of course, I'll need to patch the hole in the closet (I had my water supply lines replaced...ohh...5 years ago) before that happens though. Look...the spackle is even IN the closet (and has been for a year now. Don't judge.).

Finishes #1

This quart of paint was FREE at Ace Hardware (I used a coupon) 2 weeks ago. It's actually a little darker than the paint I'm going to use on the walls, but I thought I could use this on some frames so they stand out a little more. I also have black and white spray paint I got a few weeks ago. All the miscellaneous frames I have in the house, are getting a unifying look, and will be hung on the wall, in a group in this room. They're actually going to end up framing the TV (kinda) I bought for the room. Got a great deal on it at Best Buy, 2 weeks ago. YES. I didn't do anything but shop that weekend!

Finishes #2

I got a fantastic idea on how to re-purpose my roller shades, which are starting to crumble. This fabric is going to be used as my shades.

Finishes #3

Believe it or not, this IS the pared down stack of fabric I bought. It's a black/white/Tiffany Blue themed room.

Finishes #4

I got a killer deal on some Maidenform Bra's, and they came in a box, wrapped in this bag. I thought it was cute, so I kept it, and will use it to cover a storage box.

Finishes #5

I picked a color! It's the one in the top left corner. It's called 'Sea Life'. I only got a Gallon of it. I'm trying to stick to a self imposed $400 budget. So far:

Fabric                               $92.27

19" TV with DVD Player     $121.89

4 Cans of Spray Paint          $4.12

1 Gallon Wall Paint            $34.96

1 Quart Accent Paint           FREE

Subtotal                           $253.24

I actually thought I had spent more than this. Good to know! Why the $400 budget? Because I'm trying to do this in a frugal manner, and I happen to have $112.00 in rewards from my DiscoverCard. I transferred $200 from eBay in March. I hope to make the remainder on April's eBay sales.

I still need to purchase some floating shelves for the walls. As well as some storage bins, and whatever else I think will make the room look nice.

Next blog...more organizing/purging. Lots of pics in that one too.

March 2013 Coupon Savings

Ok. So I've done the whole couponing thing before, and haven't kept up with it. I'm giving it another go, this time, with the help of the internet. Did you know, there are sites that make it super simple for you to save? I'm sure I knew this...but didn't bother to look at them before. I am now.

Here's two I like:

www.southernsavers.com
www.forthemommas.com

Sooo...what have I bought for cheap? I thought you'd never ask!

Giant

Last week Giant had a $5 off "Personal Thanks Coupon" if you buy 5 frozen foods (from a certain selection, not just any frozen food). Pair that with some manufacturer's coupons and BOOM! super savings!

Rite Aid

+Up #1

+Up #2

Rite Aid 2

Rite Aid has also been very nice to me. Who doesn't love free potato chips? I also got 4 cans of Pringles, on my first shopping trip. These I paid for, without getting any +Up rewards, but, there's a reason. Be on the look out for the empty canisters to be re-purposed.

CVS #1

CVS #2

Cant forget about CVS! I bought a bag of $0.99 cent Jelly Beans, which had a $0.99 ECB. I added them into the Easter Care package I sent to my Aunt and Uncle. Then, I used the ECB, with a coupon to get 2 packs of gum, for $0.15 each. These are going in my Boss's Easter Basket. She's very good to me, and I like to spoil her ;)

Walgreens also treated me well last week, but...I'm not sure what I did with the receipts :( I'll give a recap of what I remember. 4 Cans of Progresso Soup, which cost me $0.75 each, after coupons, discounts, and bonus points. A free Starbucks Iced Coffee. As well as 3 Hallmark Cards ($0.99 ones) for free. It was a sweet trip!

I'm doing this weeks shopping tomorrow. Not too much on the list. I hope to make it to Walmart this week. I had a list of about 8 items for last week, but my dumb ass didn't think to go to a Super Walmart, as all of the items were of a grocery store nature. Sigh. I'll know better this week.

Doubling my Efforts

This has been sitting in draft form since 7/27/12. Might as well post it for all the throngs of my adoring readers.

I need to buckle down. Really.

I'm doing quite well with my cash spending. Keeping it in control, that is. Charging was much less this month than it was last. Still more than I'd like though. I'm blaming some of the overspending on having to replace all my perishable foods from when the power was out.

I have to buckle down...because...I GOT A NEW JOB! Slightly less money, but a WHOLE lot more in line with my future life goals. I'm SO excited. If I could do cartwheels, I would. I'm doing them mentally instead.

All that time away from my home at the beginning of the month, took a toll on me. Total lack of motivation to do anything. I haven't scanned anything else picture-wise, and though I have done a little bit of crochet, I'm no where near meeting the goal of completing the project. So...this months goal...eat what is in the house. That simple. When I'm out of frozen veggies to pair with my protein, I need to use up the canned vegetables I keep forgetting are in the cabinet.

Speaking of which, I'm back on track with following the eating plan from the dietitian. Back down the 5 lbs I gained at the beginning of the month.

Happy New Year!

...3 months late. Better than never, right?

So, what's been going on with me? Uhm...In August, I got a new job! FINALLY! Praise Jesus! Prayers ARE answered. Guess what. It is even more fantastic than I could even imagine. My brain is appreciated, and exercised on a daily basis. It is exactly 3 miles from my front door, to the office.

I am itching to be creative. Right now, I'm watching a marathon of America's Next Top Model. It makes several things pop into my mind. First, I can't stand Tyra Banks. Second, I can't wait for the weather to cooperate, so I can work with my willing model. You'd think more people would be willing to dress up all fabulous and wear some funky makeup, so I can take great pictures of them. Nope. It's like pulling teeth to get someone to work with.

I'm still up to my old tricks with eBay. Sorry for the crappy pictures.

February

March

Too much floating around in my head right now. Hard to focus it and get it out on the screen. More updates soon. Promise. Topics include coupon savings, craft room decorating, organizing, certifications, savings goals, and more.