Guest Post Creating the Ultimately Organized Craft Room

I'm so excited to have Kaitlin Krull as a guest blogger today!  She is sharing some really great tips to help organize your craft room.  I recently went from an entire room down to a closet and table after my last baby so I'm really excited to use these ideas for my own supplies.  

All crafters know that finding space to store all your supplies and equipment can be tricky. Organization is essential for both successful crafting and maintaining a clean home. At Home Improvement Leads, we love a well organized room and think there are plenty of ways you can create a neat and tidy craft room of your own. Here are a few of our top tips to help you get started.

A place for everything

The first thing you should do when setting up your craft room is decide how you want your room to be set up. Designate a place for all your equipment and supplies, then label everything accordingly and make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be. This first step may feel tedious, but we promise that it will be worth it in the long run and give you more time for creating.

Plenty of workspace

While storage is essential for an organized craft room, workspace is just as important. Make sure your craft room has plenty of room for all of the various tasks you need to complete. A kitchen island or large butcher’s block works well as a multipurpose unit in larger craft rooms, while a long wall desk or craft table offers just as much workspace while keeping the center of your room free. Whichever option you choose, keep in mind that you need to fit in all your equipment, too!

Color coordination

If your craft involves scrapbooking, sewing, or knitting, color coordination is essential to a well organized craft room. This applies to everything: buttons, paper, stickers, ribbon, thread—you name it, you can (and should) color coordinate it. In addition to saving you time whenever you need to find a particularly hued item, it makes your supplies pop and gives you a satisfied feeling every time you open a drawer.

Professional paper organization

Scrapbookers, card makers, and anyone whose craft involves paper and/or tissue should take a page (pardon the pun) from professional stationery stores and invest in quality paper storage. While you can store paper and card any way you like, we recommend vertically stacked clear paper trays for color coordinated sheets of paper and shelves filled with magazine holders for extra reams of paper and crafting magazines. Complete this step and your craft room will feel like a professional at-home business in no time.

Small supply storage

A well organized craft room will require storage of all sizes and small storage is especially important. Buy or repurpose glass or plastic jars and tubs of varying sizes to store buttons, glitter, sequins, string, and anything else you can think of. Clear storage containers are particularly useful here because you can easily see and access each container without having to search through drawers and bins full of random supplies. Plus, glass storage jars are super trendy at the moment and will give your craft room a styled finish if you keep your storage containers on display.

Creative storage solutions

As far as other storage is concerned, there are plenty of ways to tidy away your craft supplies at the end of the day. Our favorite storage solutions involve creative thinking and utilizing the space you have in the best ways possible. Wall-mounted shelves and over-the-door storage compartments keep craft supplies of all shapes and sizes off the floor and also free up your workspaces. Corkboards, whiteboards, and magnetic noticeboards are also particularly useful for showcasing your favorite designs, inspirations, and to-do lists. If all else fails and you find yourself stuck for storage, a handful of wicker and rattan baskets will easily hold wrapping paper rolls, skeins of yarn, and just about anything else you have lying around.

Motherhood print and July visiting teaching handout

Can you believe its already July?!?  Here's this month's Visiting Teaching message (you can find the entire message here.)  It was so good I had a really hard time narrowing down and picking quotes so I included a lot of text. Hope you don't mind.

I loved this quote so much I decided to make an 8x10 print for my home.  You can also shrink it in a word document to give to your sisters as well.

To use right click and save to your computer.  You can then print them off at your favorite place (top one is size as a 4x6).  Another option is to copy and past in a word document.  You can then re-size to fit your needs.  I like to fit 4 to one page and print on cardstock. 

June 2016 Visiting Teaching handout

Summer is really throwing me off!  Where did this month go?!?  Well if you are like me and need something for the last day of the month like I do I've got you covered.

I'm going to attach this cute handout to some cookies and promise to get my visiting teaching done much earlier next month.  

If you'd like to use it as well I like to paste mine in a word document to size and fit 4 on a sheet.  To do so right click on the picture, copy, & paste in a word document.  Hope that helps.

I am hoping to start sharing visiting teaching handouts every month and at the beginning!  I've been hit and miss in the past.  

Chore Jars

Getting my cute girls to clean has always been a struggle for me!  I have tried many ways and it either lasts for a day or fails completely leaving our house a mess or me doing all the work.  I finally found something that WORKS!

These awesome jars have changed the way we do things around here.

 I've discovered my kids are overwhelmed by the idea of cleaning an "entire room" even if there are only 3 things on the floor.  It takes them an hour, they shove things behind the tv or under the bed, garbage is set on the bookshelf.  It drive me nuts and leaves an even bigger mess.
So here's what we changed.  First they work together on one chore at a time.  They pick a room from the first jar and a number from the second.  If they pick living room and 20 then they run and pick up 20 things in the living room.  Then they are done with their chore.  Its easy and fast.

 Now here's the great part for me.  I decide how many sticks they draw and when.  Sometimes its 3 sticks (chores) before they play the wii or 1 several times during the day.  Sometimes I pick the room and they only draw a number.  Our other rules: 1. things have to be put where they go or you have to pick up double 2. count out loud  3. when its time to draw a stick you must stop what you are doing and do the chore immediately.  3. If there are not enough things to pick up in that room you finish up in the living room (or room of my choice.)

 In our house my kids earn points for extra chores or good behavior.  They can use the points for prizes (they loose money so this works for us).  As an added bonus for the kids I add a few surprise sticks that earn them extra points and every time a room is finished they put the stick in the done jar.  We determine how many sticks equal a point that the beginning of the day.

 It seems to be working and there is still excitement.  They are still asked to clean up after themselves and make their bed every morning.  Occasionally a room or a special job needs to be cleaned and that's their chore for for the day (or I give extra points for the job) so I do switch it up a bit.

If you would like to make your own I've included a free printable below.  I taped mine to pint sized jars (they do not wrap all the way around) and wrote on small Popsicle stick.

Summer of Fun Plan

We have a week left of school and I've been having fun pinning so many fun ideas to do with my kids this summer. However, I am really good at finding ideas its the "doing" that doesn't always happen.  This year we are going to try something new.  I keep seeing all of these fun schedules and thought this might be the perfect solution.  For me it makes the planning easy and my kids are so excited.  They helped me come up the days and a few ideas for each one.

Here's of plan

There are also many others all over pinterest, the days didn't quite work for us so I made my own.

On Monday we will be choosing a craft from one of our many pinterest boards, free art, or learning a new skill (sewing, crocheting, etc.)

Tuesday is the day we get out of the house.  We will head to the park, library, shopping, movies (our theater has $.50 movies on Tuesday), etc. 

Wednesday will be the day to try some new treats.  I know we have Popsicles and cookies on our list.

Thursday we will have fun learning! Some ideas are a read-a-thon, research projects, science experiments, and math games.  

Friday is basically a free day.  There will be lots of water play, card/board games, movie nights, play dates or whatever the kids want to do.

The best part is its summer and we are flexible.  So if we are going to the library on Thursday instead of Tuesday no big deal!  We just switch up the days.  The real purpose of the schedule is to make sure we are doing something and not wasting our summer days. If I can get them moving in the morning the entire day seems to run smoother, the tv is used less, there is less fighting, and they are having fun! 

You are welcome to use our plan. Click on the picture and save or copy and paste to a word document.  I also included one below without a flower.

I hope this gives you some ideas to make your summer memorable and maybe run a little smoother.

March 2016 Visiting Teaching handouts

I love this months lesson! (found here) It is a beautiful reminder of who we are and of our potential.  I created two prints for you to share with the sisters you visit or use in your own home.  I think this message is so important I'm going to print and frame one for my daughters' bedroom.  Its something I never want the to forget.

Click on the image the copy and paste to a word document or save to you computer and print it from your favorite place.  They are formatted as a 4x6 print.

Seattle Seahawks Valentine Cards

My daughter wanted Seahawk cards to give to her class this year.  I made these for her to pass out with a little bag of skittles.  Easy and cute!

You are welcome to use these for your little hawks fan.  Save to your computer or Copy and paste in a word document and print on cardstock.  They are sized 3"x3" and you can fit 6 on a page.  Happy Valentine's day!