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Saturday, July 11, 2015

Where I Create...aka, My Happy Place!

Hello friends and happy Saturday! If you're new here, welcome! I'm so glad you stopped by. And for my regular readers, thanks for stopping in to visit...) I'm always happy to hear from both new and old friends! Today I'm joining Karen from My Desert Cottage for Where Bloggers Create. This is my first time joining and I am super excited! My craft room, otherwise known as my happy place is one of my favorite places to be. It is constantly evolving and changing to suit my needs as well as my growing collection of craft supplies. It is a busy, colorful, fun, and inspirational place to "play". Won't you join me for a tour?

This may sound very familiar to some of you as I recently posted a craft room update. It was through that post that a blog friend suggested I join this party, so I am back to share my happy place again. I have made a few changes since that post a couple weeks ago, so stick around and see what I've been up to. We'll start in the sewing table corner. To the left of the sewing table is a closet full of stuff! I recently made a new chair cover for my vintage sewing chair. The fabric was from a pair of curtains I made for my classroom year before last. For those of you who are new here, I'm a kindergarten teacher! You may have noticed the black and white checked floor. This room used to be my son's room. When my daughter moved out, he took over her room and I took over his...lol! He was into racing, thus the checkered floor. It is not in the best shape, but it works!


This sewing box was one of my redo's from a while back. If you visit here often, you already know I love to go thrifting and I decorate my house with my finds. My craft room is no exception. The sewing table was a vanity my mother-in-law got cheap at a yard sale and she gave it to me. I had the hubby attach two shelves (also thrifted) to the back, and now I have a sweet little sewing table. 


Here's a closer photo of the chair. The chair is actually a vintage Singer sewing chair. The seat has a storage compartment. I believe I gave $5 for it a few years ago.The seat cover comes off and there is storage underneath. 


Moving to the right, you can see my $5 wooden file cabinet which of course got a makeover after I bought it home. On top of it is an organizer drawer unit I bought at Michael's with a 40% off coupon a few years ago. Hanging on the wall above is my blog friend bulletin board. I display correspondence from all my blog friends here for a while. When it gets too full, I move the cards, letters to my memento box, which you will see in a bit. 


My ticket stub jar and a photo of my sister and I when we were little girls sits atop the plastic lazy Susan style Scrabble board on top of the units. That's me in the bonnet!


Moving on around is one of the shelves that holds my glass desk top. It holds a variety of things, from stationery to my hot glue gun. 


Here's the desk top. This picture was from a couple weeks ago. I have since changed it and will share those pictures too.  Almost every item on it was thrifted.


Here's the new setup. I added a couple shelves on the side and made an "L" shaped configuration. I also recently found that shelf that I believe was part of a twin headboard at some point. It holds tons of my stationery supplies that I use for my newest hobby...keeping a planner. It involves so many things I love, like organization, list making, journaling, and decorating (similar to scrapbooking). It gives me a reason to buy pretty stationery supplies like stickers, pretty papers, washi tape and so on. I LOVE these types of supplies. 


Here's a closer view. I love having all my pretty supplies in plain view!


Here's a close-up of my planner. This is my latest addiction!


I love making cute clips to use in it too...)


These are two new thrifty additions. I'll show before and after pix at the end of the post.


Here's the top of the new addition on the side. I put scrapbook paper on top of the shelves and topped                                                             it with another piece of glass.


And here are the shelves holding the new side addition. There are lots of supplies in the baskets and containers....stamps, ink pads, punches, sticker paper and so on.


I have also been adding some colorful "artwork" above the desk. I can't wait to repaint this wall white! I am over the green! 


Here's the other shelf that holds the glass top up. It holds mostly paper for the printer, and paper cutters and punches. It is easily reached when I am sitting in my desk chair.


You may have spotted the black and white polka dots in the above photo. This container holds all my yarn and looms and my printer sits on top. I sat it on top of a frame with casters from a chart stand I used to have in my classroom. I can easily roll it out when I need to use it.


This unit was a great thrifty find last year. It holds a variety of things, but mostly my Crayola collection. It is no longer on top of my desk. It will be mounted on the wall after I repaint them.


In the right corner are two shelving units which I have placed in an "L' shaped configuration. They hold tons of craft supplies, from paint to fabric!


Here's my other big desk which is a vintage mail sorting case I bought it years ago from the post office where I used to be a substitute mail carrier. It is actually going to live on my front porch when we get it built. It will serve as a buffet on the porch. I will replace it with lots of shelves. I'm waiting to paint the walls white after this beast is moved out. It will probably be a few months before that happens.


On top of one of the corner shelving units are two baskets filled with printed burlap and vintage sheets. On the left end of the post office desk are some cardboard boxes I dressed up with washi tape and a few other things. Most of my storage is free, like the repurposed boxes, or thrifty, like the wire freezer baskets holding fabric on top of the shelf.


Here's a view of the back side of the shelf. I put contact paper on the back to make it pretty. The painting is one I painted when my friends and I got together for a paint party. The white revolving tiered unit is from Harbor Freight. It was grey when I bought it but I painted it white. It holds a ton of stuff! My little vintage ladder was moved to the corner in front of the shelves. It will be moving to the new front porch as well after it's built.


Another view of the top...vintage sheets and paper straws. I have a thing for both! I also LOVE globes! I've had this one for years. It's the first one I purchased.


And the right side holds another washi decorated box and my fabric scrap basket.


The left side. This caddy from Harbor Freight was one of the best deals I ever got new. I assembled it, painted it white, and loaded it down with all kinds of goodies!


The middle...love the happy colors in this shot!


Here's the right side. Lots more junk stuff!


My Raskog cart from Ikea holds a variety of things! I have plans for it soon.


The other end of the room...near the entrance is the closet and a vintage thrifted record cabinet that holds lots of stuff.  The two drapery tie back hooks on the wall hold lots of thrifted embroidery hoops and a few other things.


The metal card catalogs are among my favorite thrifted items. The wire basket on top holds fabric I will be using in upcoming projects. A thrifted medicine cabinet turned chalkboard is mounted on the wall above.


Most of the storage items in my craft room were thrifted and many are vintage. This little recipe box recently got a makeover and it now holds scripture and quote cards I am using in my planner. I made the cute little dividers as well.


As promised, here are a couple of my recent thrifty finds complete with before and after photos. This little unit was just $2.39. I saw potential in it even with the awful paint job it had. All I had to do was paint the drawer and attach a new pull. All my knobs were too big so I got creative and used a vintage brooch I had in my stash. I love it now!


The next two involve a repurpose and a makeover. The top one is made from a metal Nike brand wallet box. My son needed a new one, so I picked one up for him at TJ Maxx. The metal box with hard plastic lid was not to be thrown away though. I simply spray painted the metal and added one of my Project Life journaling cards to the top with some washi tape to hide the swoosh. The second one is a vintage mug tree I found for $0.69 that I simply spray painted gold to hang my skinny washi tapes from. Not bad for less than a buck! 


Thanks Karen for hosting this fun party! Be sure to hop over there and visit some other places where bloggers create!



I have a few sewing projects I hope to complete this summer. I have four weeks left before I have to return to work. I hope to get everything finished!

And that, my friends, concludes our tour. It's a small room, but I have managed to store everything in it quite  nicely. This room has transformed many times over the past three years and will transform many more in the future. It is truly my happy place and it just gets better with time. If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer. 


I am off to visit my daughter for the weekend. My Mama is going with me. I'm looking forward to our visit although it will be a bittersweet one. This is the last time I will be going to spend the weekend with her before her move abroad. It's all good though...as I am looking forward to a visit "over there" during my Christmas break if everything goes as planned! I hope you all have a delightful weekend! And, as always, thanks so much for visiting and leaving such sweet comments. 

Until next time.....

48 comments:

  1. I hope you have a wonderful time with your daughter and your Mom. Your craft room is so lovely, so many great things and so much inspiration!!! You must really love spending time in there and making things and doing and making it all so pretty too!! Happy crafting!! xx

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  2. I never get tired of seeing your Happy Place, Vicky. Like the rest of your home, it is decorated with such love and meaningful items. All of your stuff makes me drool...I could play in there for days!

    Safe travels to Tally this weekend and best wishes to your daughter on her new adventure. I hope it works out so you can visit her during Christmas break.

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  3. Your craft room is so organized, colorful and fun!! Mine is a messy corner but I hope to make it more functional soon!
    hugs,
    Linda

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  4. Your craft area might be small but it's well organized and things are at hand for creating, certainly a happy place.
    Happy crafting from # 33.

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  5. Your crafting space is so perfect ... I love all the color!!! You're such an inspiration.

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  6. I just love your craft space Vicky, I always like looking at all your stuff... it looks so organized and bright and cheery! :o)

    Tania

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  7. You are one organized lady. Everything really looks good and where you can put your hands on the things that you need. Thanks for sharing this wonderful Happy Place.
    Mary

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  8. Such a bright, happy creative space! I am showing this to Horror Monster to entice him into becoming this lovely!

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  9. This is so fun!!! Love your space!!! It always makes me happy to know that I am not alone...when it comes to wanting our own spaces for art!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  10. Dear, sweet Vicky, you know I adore your craft room and seeing it again brightens my day :) You have such a beautiful and creative corner. You are a lovely andd cheerful lady and your room reflects that.

    Thank you so much for giving us a tour. Hugs to you!

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  11. I came over from Tania's blog. You have the most awesome craft space ever!

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  12. You have made yourself a nice working space, Vicky! Nice to visit! Happy Creating, Cindy

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  13. I love all the happy colors in your creative space! They put a smile on my face; I can only imagine how inspiring they are for you!
    Thanks for letting us take a look ~

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  14. Vicky what a lovely craft studio you have. I am coming across so many fabulous names and I love yours 'Life on Willie Mae Lane.' so sweet. I'm loving your clips and recipe box too. Thanks so much for the tour around. Karen.x

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  15. I love, love, love your Happy Place.

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  16. I really enjoyed the tour of your craft room! I love the bright and cheery sewing chair that you recovered. Everything looks HAPPY!! Thank you for sharing with us.

    Hugs,
    Dianne

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  17. I have seen your happy place many times in other posts but it still amazes me! I love all of your creative organizational shelves and things but the thing that is the best is the color everywhere!

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  18. You are so inspirational Vicky. I love your work areas and the organisation that goes behind them. Have a wonderful week ahead xx

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  19. Your space is amazing, Vicky! So much storage and your clips are adorable!
    I enjoyed looking around, thanks for sharing!

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  20. You have so many crafty storage solutions. I'm super impressed.I really like what you did with the metal box and how great it turned out. What can I say? I was impressed with everything, and have plans to return to see what you create and thrift in the future!

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  21. I just read that you only reply by e-mail. I have been told my e-mail address sends out spam, so I no longer use it, except to log into blogger. I only accept comments on my blog because I don't want you to go through what several others did before I found the problem was my e-mail address. BTW, I don't miss my e-mail because it was all mostly junk mail, anyway!

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  22. Hi Vicky, as I look through your creative space I just want to run out and start cleaning and rearranging my space. I am pretty happy with three walls, but my back wall is a mess. You have managed to store everything is such a pretty way that it is a joy to enter and look around. I almost left out the photo of my back wall . . . but maybe someone will see it and make suggestions. This is my first time to join Karen's party too, and I am having a ball looking through all of these wonderful spaces. Enjoying them for what they are and gleaning from them fresh new ideas. I really love your sewing chair and the way that you covered it. You definitely named your space correctly it is truly a Happy Place:)
    Have a great week.
    Connie :)

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  23. I think we must be kindred spirits.....I call my space "My Happy Place," and I am all about bright and fun colors! I think your space is happy and a whole lot of fun. Thanks for sharing your creative space.

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  24. Fabulous tour. I have to ask since it's my first time where you came up with your name? My mothers
    name is 'Willie Mae'! So nice your going on a trip together. I love you Happy Place. My little room is Happy too. Most of the time. Except when a bomb goes off in it and I tear it apart and redo! I loved your chair. I've never seen. I am mostly a quilter so it caught my eye. You did do a fabulous job of getting alot of things in there. Aren't containers wonderful. Well I am following you now. I enjoyed the tour. Thanks for sharing your space.

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  25. Your room is so colorful and full of goodness! So much to see. I'll have to come back to revisit and get some ideas for my room. I, too, call my place "My Happy Place" because creating in there just makes me happy. Thanks for sharing!

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  26. I love your space and I think the floor is wonderful. I think it's works great with everything in your room.

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  27. Hi Vicky, wow your craft room is just so pretty and colorful and I LOVE it! You did a great job decorating it!

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  28. Oh thanks for coming by and telling me your story about your name. How sweet. I love the story. I would love to have land again. I'll just have to visit you and enjoy yours! I didn't know I was a no reply blogger.
    I am not techy. I'll see if I can fix it. Thanks for letting me know. Have a beautiful week.

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  29. Oh thanks for coming by and telling me your story about your name. How sweet. I love the story. I would love to have land again. I'll just have to visit you and enjoy yours! I didn't know I was a no reply blogger.
    I am not techy. I'll see if I can fix it. Thanks for letting me know. Have a beautiful week.

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  30. Hi Vicky, So nice to meet you and visit your wonderful creative space. Wow it is fabulous and you have such great ideas for storage and such. So neat and organized and ready for creating. I imagine you can spend wonderful hours designing here. It is colorful and just charming. Love the teal colored cart from Ikea and I've seen many like this around the party this weekend. I think I need one too. LOL
    I just love and adore your black and white checkered floor. It just anchors the whole space.
    Thanks for sharing. I am your newest follower.
    cm

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  31. Your space is beautiful and cheerful ~ it reminds me of a candy shop! I loved seeing how you revamped and reused thrifted treasures as storage. Thank you for the tour. :)

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  32. I think your happy place would make anybody happy Vicky. It's fabulous!

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  33. I love your checked floor and vibrant colors in your fabrics. You scored some really great finds to re-purpose for your studio space. Really great makeovers and storage uses. Thanks for sharing.

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  34. Hi Vicki!! Welcome to the Where Bloggers Create family! So glad you joined us this year! What a wonderful addition you are. I love the colors you used in your "happy place". So bright and cheery!
    I hope you are enjoying the party!!!
    xo,
    Karen

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  35. I can totally see why you call your space my happy place! I would be happy there too! I love all of your repurposed things, especially the shelf that you think was part of a bed, how cool! I also liked your vintage pyrex cups! Thanks for sharing your space with us!♥

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  36. Oh boy! Lots of fun in your craft room for sure! I saw lots of greeeeeeat ideas! The curtain is very cute - and the coffee mug holder for washi tape - genius! Love the furniture redos. I just cut a piece of fabric for my next quilt that matches the aqua on your sewing basket! We think alike! I can never get my craft room cleaned up in time for Where Bloggers Create. I'm so glad you joined!

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  37. What a bright place to create:-)
    Love it all:-) When I look at all your supplies I have a feeling like I am in a creative shop and I do wish so many products were avaliable here in Poland.
    Thanks for sharing it with us!

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  38. Of course this is your happy place Vicki! It would be mine too, and I'm sure anyone's else's who would be lucky enough to create here. You're so organized, but I guess that's the teacher in you :). Everything looks so colorful and cheerful, just what is needed for a place to create.

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  39. Hi Vicky!
    Just popping by visiting you guys in the Thrift It/Gift It...and wanted to say that your craft room is ahhmazing! It is all so lovely!
    Loved peeking around your blog!
    Kimberley @ SeasidAve.com

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  40. Love....love....Love It! I hope you had a great weekend with your mom and daughter. Have a great week. Hugs, Amy

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  41. Love....love....Love It! I hope you had a great weekend with your mom and daughter. Have a great week. Hugs, Amy

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  42. Great space, Vicky! First off, I have to tell you I love your floor. I have always wanted a black and white check floor. I love that vintage sewing chair; you did a great job updating it with fabric. I always say I want to get one of those Ikea carts and I think this year I am going to figure out a way to make it work in my small room. They seem to be so versatile and I understand it also comes in a cream color {which will work better in my room color-wise}. Thanks for sharing your creative space!

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  43. Vicky, this is about the most adorable craft room ever! Oh my goodness...so many wonderful colors and creative storage ideas! I would just go in there and hang out all day...you have certainly done a fantastic job here. I hope you are having a goreat Thursday, friend!

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  44. Wow, what a beautiful, cozy, and colorful space you've created. Love all your clever organizing ideas. Hope you had a wonderful visit with your daughter!

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  45. Hello Dear Vicky, oh it is so wonderful to visit with you! I'm trying to get back with my blogging and visiting since dad passed away. It's been slow, but I'm nearly ready.
    This was pure delight!! I've said it before, but girl you just amaze me! Not only are you creative but your room is creative. Everything about that craft room just speaks volumes of who you are. Fun, organized, creative, stylish, thrifty just to name a few. You ate something else.
    I would spend hours upon hours in that lovely room, Vicky. Although, I wouldn't want to mess it up.
    Well done!
    I continue to pray for your daughter as she prepares to leave, and my prayers continue for you as well.
    Have a beautiful week, Debbie

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  46. Hi Vicky :)

    I love your craft room and all the little changes you've added. Did you paint the tree in the moonlight painting? I love it :)

    I hope you had fun with your mom and your daughter. I can only imagine how tough it is to see her leave for overseas. I hope she has a safe time over there.

    xo,
    rue

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  47. Vicky,
    I so enjoyed seeing this wonderful space!! LOVE how bright and colorful it is!! And so organized with everything displayed beautifully!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

    Hugs,
    Debbie

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Thank you so very much for taking time to leave such kind words for me. Your sweet comments make my heart smile!
I always reply to comments by e-mail, so please make sure you are not a no-reply commenter! Blessings!

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