CLOSED: FrugALong 2010

[envirocraft]

Great job Always!! I'm so jealous of your space.  I have a small desk in my bedroom and everything is stored in my closet.  My boyfriend promised me that when we buy a new house I'll get a craft room. 

[alwaysinmyroom]

There is a closet in this room that holds my clothes but I use the floor to hold some of my bins of yarn, fiberfill and batting...I made it a rule that unless it fits in the current bins, I could not buy anymore craft supplies!

I am trying to destash and be frugal at the same time...it helps to know what I have!

[cat2007]

great job on the organization AIMR. 

I've sold my kitchen table for $40 to a neighbor, since it's sitting on the front porch I told her I was going to tack on $20 rent (she wont pick it up until friday haha)   one big piece gone..........

I have done absolutely NOTHING for two days in regards to decluttering, thanks to my midol haze, and AIMR, seeing your pictures have made the decision for me regardless tomorrow morning I'm breaking out the black bags, price tags and hitting my closet, the book pantry(where all my crafts stuff is stored-I'm never going to use any of that stuff so rummage sale here it goes),

[craftylittlemonkey]

Get outta town girl! That looks super fantastic! like super extra plus fantastic, are you sure that's the same room? WOW!!! I can see how you would just go in there every day to sit and admire how organized and inspiring that is. It will feel so great to craft in there I'm sure.

Pixieval, now it's your turn. You never did tell us what you got kicked out of your craft room for, what was hubs up to in there anyhow? Inqusitive minds want to know...

Ok girls, I feel like dog today, I've been infected good by that little petri dish and I'm hurtin' for certain. I'm still sloggin ahead though, I'm determined to live up to the examples here. You guys have been great inspiration!
Apparently some of us needed organizing to be a 2 month theme though (or three!).
Progress:
-Glue repaired a bamboo cutting board, sanded it and it's little sister and oiled them both (do you touch up and oil your wood cutting boards? Makes them last longer and keeps bacteria from settling into the cracks).
-Cut down the dishes kept in the cupboard to a set for each of us, no more, the rest stored in the back room closet for guests. This may seem crazy but the counter is too small for any clutter and I'd rather do anything other than wash dishes so by supper time there is no counter at all and no room to work. This way I am forced to wash at each use but there are never more than a couple minutes worth to do so it's virtually painless.
-I can't even believe this but the shed, back room, closets and storage cubby, basement and both bedrooms are FINISHED! Everything extra is out of here, everything left is organized (excepting some laundry that needs folding and some tools in the basement). I am in shock! I mean, I still have some things to send to the thrift store and some parcels to mail off to people but they're ready to go.
Now that it's finished I realize that I've been procrastinating doing the craft room! Maybe I'm just disappointed that it didn't take the first time round but it wasn't quite right and there was still way too much stuff in here that's gone now (I don't miss ANY of it either!) so...
We're off for the weekend starting friday and I have to pack but does that leave me time to work on this room? Boy, would I ever like to come home to not-this-mess! Oh girls, help me out with some butt-kicking words of inspiration PLEASE! I need it.

[Beeclef]

I actually recognized some of the layout there! It looks great, and gave me a little pang of missing Pennsylvania and our crafting group.  Great job organizing, and many hugs aimed in your direction. 

[KLKing]

 Great job on the room, Always! It must really feel great to have it all finished;
 and same to you, too,Craftylittlemonkey! Get well soon! Stay away from those Petri Dishes!
They sound dangerous!
I wish I could come and poke my nose in all those bins...
I'm thinking of inviting myself over someday.??

[lylacfey]

Alwaysinmyroom- OMG Amazing! You thought my room was eye candy. Thank you for the goddess comment, lol. I am absolutely in love with your play room.

craftylittlemonkey- Here's the promised pics of my paper storage and die cutting table.

First one:



The two decorator boxes under my table are full of specialty papers and ephemera. The green box is my cardstock, Bazzill and designer paper. The large box next to it holds my miscellaneous tools.

The table holds all my electronic die cutters. I keep threatening to declutter them but in the end I do truly love them and they all have different purposes. Once you get into die cutting you start understanding die cutters are very hard to consolidate just to one. I keep my Cricut Create in the living room for quick projects. I will keep my Silhouette also in the living room since it's my main computer die cutter.

Scrap paper box:



The other decorator box holds all my scrap paper. I have everything in there from plain cardstock to specialty. I am in this box several times a week pulling out sheets so I can try a new technique before I use a good sheet of my other stash of paper.

I hope that helps.

[craftylittlemonkey]

Thanks for the pics Lylacfey, once again I'm amazed at how organized you are especially as you put everything back as soon as you use it and keep your room looking that way. That is not something I think I'll ever master, I make a HUGE mess.
What I really want to see though is what you make from all that stuff. That's what really has me curious, what the die cutters and other tools actually do.

[Lindsay517]

So..I've spent my entire evening at work reading this thread...I'm on page 71 so far. You guys are total inspiration!

So..even though it's almost 6 months in...Can I join in on the fun?

I'm Lindsay, btw *waves*
My boyfriend (husband, whatever..we've been togeather for almost 9 years) and I are really trying to find a way to afford for me to go back to being a stay at home mom. For the past year, due to James getting laid off, I've been working nights, which is really hard. I'm bipolar..so not taking care of myself with regular sleep and such really messes with my moods. We also have 4 year old twins *aka "the wonder twins"*  who are special needs (they both have learning delays and Olivia is legally blind due to the fact that they were so premature) and really benefit from me staying home and working with them.
Wow..I'm rambling. Anyways..we're trying really hard to get into a frugal lifestyle to benefit our family.

Next time we run out of laundry soap, I am so making the homemade stuff..the wonder twins have pretty sensitive skin, and I think I could control what's in it a lot better..plus it's cheap!
Our major goal right now is budgeting. James and I both started our relationship with tons of stupid debt..luckily, we don't have much credit card debt anymore, but we still spend way too much on a lot of silly little things.
Groceries are a huge expenditure with us. I'm always very interested in learning ways to save on that. We just planted our first vegetable garden this year, and I hope to add to it.

So yeah..hi! Hope I can join in on the frugal fun!

[alwaysinmyroom]

We love to share and get new ideas! Welcome to our madness!

Once again, I have gotten a few more good ideas of how to organize papers from you lylacfey!  I know I have more tweaking to do, as some of those bins are just things thrown in that I will have to search thru to find what I want...I am trying to be realistic and compromise my need to be messy when I craft with my new desire to stay organized and neat!!

I would love to have a die cutter so badly, but not sure where I would put it!!  Hubby suggested that if I clean out the Master Bedroom closet I could use it to store my yarns and then use the space in my room to store the current bins and put the cutter on the counter....I guess he wants me to clean out the closet...

bongirl5---ha ha ha I forgot that you are one of the few people I let into my room with all of the mess---how embarassing!  Hey, if you come visit at least I have room to drag in another chair and set up the folding table so we could craft together!!   I miss you!

KLKing--most of the bins contain various old papers, scraps, etc. and the drawers contain all papers, paints, cardboard, glue, etc.  I mostly use this room for papercrafting, painting and housing my yarns...since the floor is clean, I have been using it to cut out fabric and setup my ironing board as well (no more using the living room floor! yay!)

I love you guys for your encouragment and want to continue to encourage whomever feels they need it...remember that this was something I wanted to do...I hope no one thinks it is any kind of pressure or anything for you to do...each of us has our own style and tolerance level for "messy"...if it is not an issue, GREAT!  Do your own thing!