In my case, I have accumulated a great deal of fabric and paper and I couldn't use them effectively because I couldn't FIND them! They were buried under each other and entwined in a mess of pattern and texture (and not in a good way). Also, because this mess had propagated throughout my work surfaces, I had no place to craft, cut, etc., and had to migrate to our dining room table, an impractical solution.
With the excuse of my birthday being a few days away, I decided to kick my childish habits and get organized in a smart way. I reused an old kitchen table and covered it in a durable, silver ironing board cover material for a multi-use surface. I actually wanted to find some neat oilcloth, but the Marimekko ones were a bit too pricey (for now). After cleaning up some clutter in our laundry room, I decided to fit my table in and have that be my fabric/work space:
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| Artwork by my daughter inspires me |
Given this is in our laundry room, I am trying to convince myself that the environment is industrial chic, but I think I need to try a bit harder.
With my work table set up, I then organized all my scrapbook papers, longer sheets of more delicate papers, and wallpaper rolls in my work room, home to my houses in "rehab": the Citadel and my VERO.
I definitely saw potential for a room divider (I got two) or a headboard. I chose to pursue the latter, but not before I looked at the plastic card and saw a mate for one of the two Lundby tabletops I received from Julie of Vintage Lundby (check out her blog -- it's filled with Lundby inspiration, and she is an incredible resource on all things Lundby):
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(My other vintage Lundby tabletop now lives in Australia with The Shopping Sherpa, as it was one of the parts of our swap; you can see it in the Day Seven picture here.) All I needed was a little glue for the tabletop to work as a canvas, and I put it aside for an evening to set.
My last burst of craftiness was the large pendant lamp in this tidy little scene in the Citadel. It is made from the top of a discarded lava lamp given to one of my kids three years ago and never used. The gooey, yucky lamp matter in the bottle went out, but I decided to keep the top. I poked a hole in the top and strung some leftover wire through. I'd prefer it if it were a bit smaller, but decided to forge ahead.
Credits: Bed consists of a soap dish for a headboard and another marble one for the hidden base, in addition to a dollhouse mattress; coverlet, matching pillows, and green filing box on desk are handmade by The Shopping Sherpa; red pillow is minimodernistas; pendant light is made of a lava lamp top and steel wire; side tables are planters from a dollhouse store turned upside down; artwork is a vintage Lundby tabletop with a graphic from the soap dish packaging; plant and purse are AG Minis; desk is by ELF Miniatures; chair is Reac; shoes are Barbie; garbage pail is Re-ment; lamp is vintage German; cowhide rug is handmade by Oese. Accessories are Re-ment, ELF Miniatures, beads, handmade by me, and dollhouse store and eBay finds.