Craft Room Gets a Makeover

I  promised myself that during these cold winter days, I would organize my craft room. I would make it easy to pack up and move to our new home in North Carolina.   One shouldn't make such big promises to themselves.  What a challenging project! This is similar to sending your 4 year old into a penny candy store with only a nickel and telling him to bring back change!  The hardest thing is finding something you have forgotten about- that wonderful trinket from a flea market years ago- that you knew one day would be re-purposed into something gorgeous.  You re-discover it and start to heat up the glue gun to create a little magic and that voice inside your head says, "but you are  supposed to be organizing this stuff, so get going!".  

 

My first challenge was finding clear boxes to organize my treasures.  Amazon and The Container Store had smaller sizes, but it was hard to find a larger clear box to hold fabrics and silk flowers. 

I finally scored some at Home Goods of all places.

 

My old dressmaker form ( that serves as an inspiration board)  

is still dressed in winter fur and tartan.

I get side tracked and make up a few new "purse necklaces" for her to wear.

These little coin purses make the cutest long necklaces. 

 

I am lucky to have so much storage for crafting projects, but somehow that just makes the

organization task harder.  Too many places for too much stuff!

 

 

Ribbons are stacked in the cupboards, but it is too hard to get to the back ones.

They would be much better in shallow drawers in one layer.  I need to make note of that for my

new home!

 

Small dressmaker forms are use to assemble groupings of a possible design.

 

Tassels from the ultimate passementerie artist- Patricia Fox.   Hand dyed  yarns, vintage flowers and

bead work from old dresses are assembled to create this decadent tassel.

 

I keep all these things out for inspiration.

Vintage French trims are carefully rolled and placed together in an acrylic box.

 



Antique laces are gently folded and placed in clear boxes.

 



A stash of vintage French lampshades is found in a cabinet.

 

The intricacy of the designs is eye candy and I love just looking at stacks of them, all mixed together.

 

I have a weakness for small dolls with pretty faces and love to create projects with them.

 

I find this little girl and wonder where she is from.  What's the deal with the fur hair? 

She's porcelain and her eyes close.  Just too sweet for words.

 

A fragment from a French mannequin doll.

 

A German powder doll head that has never been used. 

 So I carefully place all of them in one large acrylic box and plan to make  Christmas angels with them.

 I find my stash of antique sewing implements and tuck it away to deal with another day.

But I couldn't resist leaving out this beautiful little basket of silk thread.  More eye candy.

 

Velvet millinery flowers and fruit - now easy to spot on the shelves.

 

A stash of metal findings and old bracelets- waiting to be embellished.

 

 

Boxes of old French buttons- I love the boxes.

 

 

On to the flower container cabinet.  Time to organize by shape and purpose.  All of the

vintage loving cups get together for the first time in years!  

 

 

 

 

Paint brushes get organized in glass vases. 

 

I decide to empty this old painted open shelved cupboard and get rid of most of the books that were

on the shelves.  It makes a great place to arrange the clear boxes in one spot.  Easy to see!

 

 



Now everything is in one place and easy to find.

 



 

The pink baskets will hold future projects in one confined spot.

 

 

A grouping of tassels, pins, leopard and antique tartan ribbon in one basket to make a pillow.

Ballet slippers, old rhinestone trim and hand dyed ribbon in another basket just waiting for an

inspired moment.

A finished masquerade mask is nestled with a grand pink silk rose waiting for it's debut. 

 

New arrivals of hand dyed ribbons getting worked into the ribbon cabinet.

 

But not so fast-

 

But maybe  I should pull out that French doll and create something for my granddaughter.

 

Organized Eye Candy!