Gearing up for Christmas

My new reminder

My messy desk while working on signs.

Made up some cross and cookie cutter ornaments.

Some pendant necklaces.

More crosses

Signs

My projects

A bedspring Christmas tree

So, I've been unable to write, blog, update, etc. for many reasons. My computer took a big dump on me and was out of service for over a month, but I have still tried to find time to craft and go junkin. I hit up several shows this fall like Ruffles & Rust, and got many ideas for future crafts. I even took my oldest son to a show after he took some interest in crafting. While we didn't find much for materials at the show, we did hit the payload at the Goodwill and were able to get enough cool finds for him to make his little creations, (more on those another time.) My MOPS group is having a home business fair, so I thought maybe I'd build up some inventory to sell. We'll see how it goes. The nice part is, if it doesn't sell, it's already something I love, so it's a win-win situation. Hope you like.

My fall pumpkin idea

Before I move right on to Christmas, I thought I'd at least show off the pumpkin I made. The pumpkin itself was from the dollar store and then I covered it with scrap fabric. Easy peasy.

Some of my other newest projects

Here are a few more of my latest and greatest. I had a little help from my crafty sister making the giant ruler measuring board. I also used floor polish and Martha Stewart glitter to make the glitter bottles. And the last picture is just to show that my grass is finally growing on "Jesus's Tomb." All these are really simple half hour at the most kind of projects.

 

New signs

I love making signs. I have decoupaged, screen printed, and painted on canvas, fabric, and wood. If there's a sassy saying or inspirational inkling, I'm usually trying to figure out where I can put another sign in my home. Here are the latest and greatest.

What I've been up to... in my DREAM ROOM!

So I finally got my craft room done. It was tough enough moving and painting everything by myself, but add four kids and their crazy school and sports schedule to the mix, and you get it. I went with a very light robin egg blue. It's very Martha Stewart looking. I tried to organize it so it made sense, computer and coupon stuff together, yudu stuff together, cricut and scrappbooking together, etc. So far I just sit and stare at it all, but soon enough it'll be messy and I'll be fully engulfed in a project. I can't wait for my crafty friends to stop by and come play with me and my fun toys!

 Hopefully this room gets my creative juices flowing even more!

New Craft Room

Recently my husband and I took on a huge project of moving two very full rooms. We moved my craft stuff from the rec room into the boys' room, and moved the boys downstairs into the rec room. We had to make a wall, paint, and put new carpet down in order for the boys to move in, but we got it done and it looks great. Now I'm in the middle of putting my room together and it is such an ordeal! We haven't painted yet, but I wasn't in a hurry to do that, I just wanted everything out of my living room. So for now, I am in a brightly colored space that just slightly resembles the Nascar themed room it used to be. Someday I will get the time to move everything again in order to paint it the tropical "Ionic Sky" color I have picked out, but until then, I'm just happy to have my own space.

Ain't that the truth!

I come from a crafty family. My dad is artistic and makes collages and "yard art", my mom is a sewing and quilting master, and my sister is a master of all trades. I do a bit of everything too, most of it for fun, some to regain sanity in a house full of noisy boys. The problem is, I don't know how to take it to the next level. I've been told "you should sell these" or "you could make money off of this" countless times, and yet I still have no idea where to start. My brain does not do organization. My brain does not do well with numbers. So you can see how managing a business would be darn near impossible for me. So, untill my children are all fully in school and I get my brain back that the pregnancies took away, I will continue to do what I love just because I love it.

Country Clutter, yep that's me.

Country Clutter has always been how I describe my home. It's a mix of shabby chic and primitive with a little bit of junktastic thrown in. It actually works well, because if I had anything fancy, my kids would ruin it anyway. So, I made the sign and got another great window from my brother in law to use as a frame. If there's anything that bothers me about this picture, it's the stupid surround sound speakers we have to have up, which never got mounted on the wall. They kind of steal from my theme, but I guess my husband has to feel at home too. I guess.

My cute birdcage from Micheals ended up being a candle holder/decoration display. That's a paper mache heart and a foam cupid in with my candle. I'm tempted to use it also as a plant holder, but anyone that knows me knows I can't keep house plants alive so I might be headed back to Micheals for a cute fake one.

I love to decoupage. If given the time, I have many more projects that would be at the mercy of my modge podge. This is our family star I made a while back. Ben Franklin was having a sale on their large metal stars and I felt this wall needed a little americana. It's actually a very simple project and takes no time at all. The hardest part for me was just finding the right spot to hang it.

My Curly Willow Branch

This is my favorite corner. I like it because it serves no real purpose, it's just cute. That, and it's hard for my kids to mess it up. I bought this curly willow bundle at a flee market for $15, which seemed like a steal seeing as it was going to become my new holiday tree. So far I've just dressed it for Christmas and Valentines day, but I'm sure it will be a staple for my decorating for each holiday.

Limited Cupboard Space?

Like I said, I use unusual things for different purposes. This is an old wheel of some sort that I put hooks on and hang my pots from. Then I added grapevine for decoration, along with a rag doll that you can't really see from this angle. I liked this idea, because I had limited cupboard space.

New pic of old window

I didn't like how that last picture turned out, so I'm posting a new one.

My newest project

For Valentines Day I had a bunch of register rewards from Walgreens, so I decided to make up some free valentines for my family. I even had enough to get four free 8x10's, so I found some super cheap frames at Micheals, since I had a coupon of course, and trimmed down the pictures and this is what I ended up with. These are my babies.

Recycle toys

Recycle your kids toys. This is a sign I made for my laundry room with my daughters old Barbie clothes.

You can pretty much make a sign out of anything. This rusted saw was getting thrown away, so I snagged it. Words of wisdom: make sure it's secure. Don't need any decapitations.

Love what you do. Do what you love.

I love my Cricut. I love making signs. I just wish I had more time to do what I love. 

I love me a good ol window.

If you look around my house you'll notice a few things. The first and most obvious is, I have kids. But if you keep looking you will see that I like to use things for other purposes. Mainly windows. I use them for picture frames, bulletin boards, room dividers, and decor. I'm always on the lookout for more windows, even though I have no wall space left.

To blog or not to blog

I've wrestled with this for long enough, just do it already. I try to keep up my Snohomish Savers page as much as possible, but also thought I should start adding my creations to Pinterest, so a blog is born.