Sharing my search for inexpensive crafts, craft storage and general craft therapy!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Welcome to Skrimp N Skrap

Well, I guess I am going to finally do it...I am going to blog!  I have been considering it for ages and have been enjoying the blogs of others for much longer.  It seems only fair for me to share some of my crafty ideas and not just lurk others!

A little about me...I am passionate about low-cost crafting - thus the name.  The Dollar Tree, 99 Cent Stores, Goodwill, Big Lots and Tuesday Morning are my very favorite haunts.  Oh...and Craigslist.  Craigslist is my addiction!  (Seriously, hubby is looking for a Craigslist Anonymous group for me.)  I have found some incredible hauls on Craigslist.

I am also passionate about low-cost, functional craft storage!  Seriously, I can repurpose and reuse with the best of 'em.  Most of my craft room consists of furniture that I no longer had use for elsewhere in my house.  Nearly all of my small storage containers are from the Dollar Tree or 99 Cent Store - and they are still seriously cute...at least I think so.

Anyway...so what will this blog be about?  To start with, I wanted to share some of my craft room solutions.  Some will look familiar as I stole the idea with pride from other blogs and YouTube videos. Others may be new and spark some ideas for all you crafters in the blogosphere.

Here is one that I am especially loving...



For the longest time, I kept my medium size brads and grommets in one of those typical craft containers.  It had divided sections but only one cover.  It was getting far too full and when I was looking for a specific piece, it would always fall to the bottom.  I would have quite a time digging it out and kept wishing I could just dump out the section.  Doing so would have meant dumping all the sections since it only had one cover - what a pain to re-sort! 

I remembered buying these small sealed food containers for my brother's bolts, nuts and screws.  I got them at the Dollar Tree - 10 per package.  I bought 9 packages and put them on their sides on this slide out shelf behind my desk.  I soon realized they would work great for a bunch of my other embellishments, too.

I just love this solution.  I can see everything I have - no more out of sight out of mind - and easily just grab out one container when needed.  The best thing is I can dump it on my desk and have minimal clean up!  Yes...I spent $9 but it is SOOOOO functional, provides TONS of space and is really no more expensive than much smaller units at the big box craft stores.

This is another new addition to my craft room.


I have a ton of 3-D stickers and embellishments that I had been storing by theme in 12x12 plastic drawers.  Trouble was, I didn't see them so I didn't use them.  Besides, the drawers were overflowing and jamming up every time I tried to open them.

My husband thought I couldn't possibly find another place to store anything in this room.  My response?  Wanna bet?  Any open wall space is OPPORTUNITY!  I had seen others install the Ikea Bygel rails around their rooms and then use the curtain clips you can also get at Ikea to hang up their embellishments.  Loved this idea.

Unfortunately, my craft room is an old, enclosed porch on our slump block house.  There isn't a lot of wall that is easy to drill in to.  Then I saw it...an opportunity above my window!  I hung a couple rails almost like a valance.  It is a little high, but I'm 5'11" so I can make it work.  I love it!  It is not only visible to remind me what I have but it is inspirational as well.

Some day, I'll show you an overview of my crazy craft room.  I call it the Kiddie Kubby.  (Do you think I'm fond of the letter "K"?)  It is 6' x 14' with an awkward area where it extends behind my library fireplace.  It used to be the area where I stored my kids' toys and at the back was a place for my cats.  The kids would just trash it and then played elsewhere so I decided to take it over.  The room is a bit of a mess right now and I'm too embarrassed to share pics...will have to be a later blog.

In the meantime, here is one more addition that I am enjoying.





I really like layouts and cards with sewing on them but I never remember to try it out myself.  Why?  Once again because I had stashed my sewing supplies in a cabinet where I didn't see them.  So, I found this lazy susan at Goodwill, put an old candle holder (also from Goodwill) on it to hold bobbins and a couple candle holders (Dollar Tree) beside it for other spools.  On the bottom of the lazy susan are a sewing kit and little, white buckets (Dollar Tree) that hold other small spools.  Now it serves as inspiration and a bit of color.  Still haven't sewed on a craft, though...that's my next project.

Well...got tons more I can post later plus a few Skrimp N Skrappy projects but I'll close for now.  Gotta get my kids to their music lessons.

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