Tutorial for cheap Ipad/Tablet Cover (Courtesy of LPH)

As you all know, I am a frugal, cheap, "I can make that" kind of a girl. 

When I saw the tutorial for an Ipad, Tablet, electronic book cover, I swooned!

Check out the full tutorial at Love, Pomegranate House. 



Me thinks that this will be a great present!

Craft area in the making

Don't you hate it when crafting strikes and you really don't have a place to craft?  Or you use the kitchen table to scrapbook or sew and then you have to put it all away and it kills your creative spirit?   I certainly hate that. 

In our house, we have 3 bedrooms and a basement.  Half of the basement is being used for the hubs office and the other half was used as a bedroom area if we had guests. 

Then we gave THE GIRL the full sized bed that was in the basement, moved her massively heavy (hubs built it) bed to the basement, and decided that we wanted to reclaim the never used unused guest bedroom space. 

Hubs and kids kept saying that we needed to get a new TV for movie watching....but the basement is cold and we have a large TV upstairs.   I wanted a space for ME.   A space that I can use for crafting, but that can also double for a neat place to sit in front of the fire too. 

This is my hubs' side of the basement:

 

My side of the basement initially:

I got rid of the mattress, dresser, table and chairs, and leaning shelf.  

Here are my ideas for this area:

I wanted to cover the bookshelves so I wouldn't have to spend a lot of money organizing and baskets.  Idea #1:  Rolling linen shade to pull down and cover my mess. 

Pinterest-rolling shade idea

I looked at Walmart and they didn't have any rolling linen shades, but did have vinyl rolling shades but they were too tacky for this purpose.  They did have accordion shades, but I figured they would get really wrinkled and then be tacky too. 

Idea #2.  Individual shelf curtains.

Pinterest-individual shades per shelf

My next idea was to cover each individual shelf with some fabric, but eventually the thought off all of that work decided against that idea. 

Then inspiration struck. 

Idea #3.  Curtains the height of the bookshelf.

BEFORE bookshelf wall

I headed to Goodwill. Bingo! Found some canvas type sheets that I could create my own "curtain" for my bookshelves. I used a tension rod at the top in order to hang the sheets. (After I sized, cut, sewed the sheets to become curtains).

AFTER bookshelf wall

I'm not done yet.  I know it still looks tacky, but I plan to add some design to the curtains to jazz it up a little.  Here are some ideas I currently have:

Pinterest

Pinterest

I also want a table to craft on.  I only have 24 inches between the bookshelves, so a regular fold up table we currently have won't fit. 

The hubs has drawn up a cut sheet for me to take to Lowe's and have them cut wood to create a table similar to this:

Granted, it wont hang on the wall (no studs to support it between the bookshelves), but it will have a picture or art on the underside, and I will lean it up against the wall between the bookshelves.  I'm super excited about it.
There is a fireplace opposite the bookshelf wall, and this is the first year (in five years we have lived here) that we have used it.  Still working on some sort of seating that takes up minimal space to sit and enjoy the fire together.  Any suggestions on that?  As you can tell, I have minimal space to work with. 

I figure with the pile of old pillows we have, I will create this in the meantime and be able to veg out on the floor in front of the fire. 

Pinterest

My plan is to head to Lowe's this week and buy the wood for my folding table.  I am super excited to get this room put together!!! 

Tips for Metal Cookie Cutters

Did you enjoy baking all those yummy goodies for Christmas?  I sure did and my waistline supports that sadly. 

A great tip I read today on LifeHacker.com is that in order to save your metal cookie cutters from rusting, you should dry them in the oven.  This helps to remove any water in the tiny crevices and keeps your fave cookie cutters from rusting. 


I know you probably knew this already, as did I, but sometimes a good reminder is appreciated.  Thanks LifeHacker!