She's Crafty

I've been forcing myself to have a handful of super stellar days lately. I'm guessing it's because of the warmer weather, the sunny days, and the feeling that springtime is around the corner.

Of course, the downside to having a super stellar day is that inevitably my body rebels and I have some less-than-stellar-days to compensate for that one great day. You'd think after all these years that I'd know how to balance doing stuff and resting. Nope. Some things require repeat lessons. Repeat lessons.

We wanted to put the craft room back together, but untangling the giant mess of boxes, totes, bags and miscellaneous stuff was exquisitely daunting. I had a hard time starting because:

a) the mess was a combination of crafting supplies, keepsakes, and linens

b) even though I have more square footage to work with than I had downstairs, we had some unique obstacles to contend with

c) I had extra shelving that I wanted to utilize (who would turn down extra storage space?) but I couldn't figure out how to use it all

d) there is only one outlet, so I needed to keep the sewing machine by the outlet

After weeks of study, I finally came up with a plan. I think. We started to execute the plan yesterday, and I think with some tweaking, it should work. We will know once we actually try to use the area, and if it doesn't work, I'll try to reconfigure or rearrange. At least we're at a point where we can organize and store.

I mentioned that the area we're using as the craft room used to be called The Crazy Room in this post. It was basically used for linen storage and Barbieville*. All linens went up there. Comforters, sheet sets, blankets, throws, curtains, table linens, extra towels and shower curtains all made their way into the crazy room. I purged several comforters when we made our pilgrimage to Amvets, but once I really looked at the shelves, I realized there were still some comforters and blankets that we could donate. Maybe 8 or more; I discovered comforters from our old full-sized bed. We no longer have a full-sized bed in the house, it's been gone for several years. I'm getting rid of my son's old twin-sized comforters, save 1 for when he goes to camp. I also donated a couple of my daughter's old comforters that I know she won't use again. Now that I think about it, I'll probably donate a couple of our king-sized comforters. I'm not in love with them anymore, and they aren't my son's style at all.

We've been infected with the cleaning bug; it sunk its teeth into the house and hasn't let go. Completely of her own volition, my daughter decided to organize our pantry one day.

She did an amazing job. I kind of wish I had a “before” picture so you could see just how much work she put in, but I'm kind of glad I don't because it was a hot mess. I wasn't entirely sure we had a floor beyond a few feet from the door. It looks amazing now.

I don't mind being bitten by the bug, except I can't do nearly as much as I'd like to. My former self could finish organizing the craft room in one day, then load the car with donations and go drop them off. However much slower than I'd like, it's still coming together. Patience, patience, patience. I'm short on patience with myself.

She's Crafty

*Sadly, Barbieville has since been demolished, but it housed ALL of my daughter's Barbie things.