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Craft Space "Must Haves" | Preciously Paired

My Craft Space “Must Haves”

posted in crafts, decor, home, inspiration, organization, Uncategorized by Hanna on

For of us “crafters” we all seek for a space to to call our own to store all our supplies, be inspired and do projects. With each of us that space can vary. For me it started out as a small, portable sewing cabinet, then moved to my daughter’s closet, then graduated to a spare room I shared with my husband’s office until we had another baby and finally to my latest craft area in our basement. Each space had pros and cons, but it is what it is and most importantly it is MY space to do what I love!

Craft area

No matter the space I designate to store my supplies and do projects I’ve come to find my “must haves” for the space.

1. Good lighting. If I had it my way my craft space would include large windows letting in lots of beautiful, natural light. Why don’t we add in an ocean view when we’re at it?! However, this is rarely the case for most people, including me. My craft space is located in our basement and even though these pictures don’t reflect it the lighting is terrible and dark! Right now I have a small lamp to light up my work space but I plan on adding some lighting underneath the top shelves to brighten things up and help me see what I’m actually trying to do.

2. Organization. Let’s face it, no one wants to do a project when you have to go digging for every supply you need and a in ton of different areas around the house. I’ve been there before and it takes me twice as long to complete a project which sometimes I then shy away from doing them all together. My favorite craft space organizers are pegboards, they are fabulous! Storage boxes are another must have and we all know that Ikea is your one stop shop for organization, especially when it comes to storage boxes.

3. Inspiration. When I’m in my element doing projects I like to be surrounded by things that inspire me. This is where my hanging clipboards come into place. Whenever I see something that inspires me in a magazine or there is a quote I like I clip it to my clipboards.

4. Colorful and fun accents. No matter where my craft area is, it can always be brighten up with fun colors and accents. One way I like to add color is through the things I organize with. I painted my pegboard, added some patterned paper to some of my storage boxes and spray painted the lids to my mason jars. Another great way I add color is through some fun decorative art. I scored mine from the Esty shop Poppy Mae. Her “Hello Lovely” and “Love” prints I have displayed in my craft space are just two of the dozens of cute and colorful print she has. Here’s another one of my favorites that is motivational. I recommend checking them out!

Craft area2

Craft area3

Craft area4

So now my craft space is organized, beautified and ready to go for all my projects!

Craft area1Where is your craft space located and what are your “must haves” for it?

Organizing with Metal Label Holders

posted in crafts, home, inspiration, organization by Sara on
This week I’ve discovered something amazing… Martha Stewart Adhesive Metal Bookplates. I swear, this woman thinks of everything! For a while now I’ve been looking for someway to organize and spruce up my IKEA baskets. I really wanted to add some sort of metal hardware to create a more industrialized feel, but have had a difficult time finding anything that I really like. I scoured the internet looking for some metal label holders, but I found nothing that I could easily use on my baskets. Then out of the blue I came across these adhesive metal bookplates at Staples. They’re genius I tell you! They’re easy to use, they’re inexpensive, they’re available in several different sizes, and they will stick to just about anything you could think of. I simply love the look and feel of these metal bookplates, so I bought several more packs to organize my office/craft space as well. 
  
 

There are so many different possibilities when it comes to these savvy label holders that I thought I’d share some of the creative ways others have used them too.

Link’n Blogs Linky Party {#20}

posted in baby, blogging, crafts, diy, family, food, health, holidays, inspiration, kids, lifestyle, marriage, motherhood, organization, parenting, party, recipe, sewing, thrifted, tutorial by Sara on
Today we’re honored to be guest hosting the Link’n Blogs linky party brought to you by Put a Bird On It. This is our first time ever “hosting” a linky party and we couldn’t be more excited to share with you the inspiration and talent of so many wonderful bloggers! It is actually through linky parties that we have come across some of our favorite blogs and have connected with some amazing people. With that being said, we invite you all to share, connect, inspire, and be inspired yourself!

Welcome to Link’n Blogs {#20} !
A place to link up your projects and make new friends. We are all about visiting links and following new bloggers here at Link’n Blogs. Remember to leave comments and PIN PIN PIN!
Cause sharing is caring. 


**Your links will show up on ALL blogs hosting the link party!**

Interested in guest hosting Link’n Blogs?!
I’ve created a spreadsheet where you can sign up to host a link party! It’s a great way to get to know other bloggers, share a recent post with other party goers and pick the features. Sign up using the link below!

Grab my party button! 
 



*Feel free to post my party button on your blog and say you linked up here!*



I am sharing a feature I did on Warby Parker collaborating with Architecture for Humanity. It’s a good company working towards a good cause!

Warby Parker + Architecture for Humanity






Katelyn is sharing a DELISH recipe for a spin on cheesy pasta. This looks so good! I love that it has bacon in it. Everything is better with bacon!



Be sure to give some love to our guest hosts – you will love their creative blogs!



These two girls have one of the cutest blogs! You’ve got to check out the Pinterest challenge they’re doing. Today, Hanna and Sara are sharing some divine cinnamon rolls – with a twist!






Chastity has a fun lifestyle blog and is momma to an adorable little cowboy! Today, she is sharing a heart filled printable perfect for the upcoming Easter holiday. I love it!





Carolyn’s blog is all about her life as a stay at home mom to her two daughters {which she never thought she’d be!}. And her post this week is about just that.




Here are this week’s features:

My Pick

DIY Felt Flower Headbands by Maddie Moe’s




Katelyn’s Pick

DIY Stenciled Tray by Life in Velvet



Hanna and Sara’s Pick

DIY Geometric Photo Display by The Caldwell Project



Chastity’s Pick

Picnic Basket Tutorial by Over the Apple Tree



Carolyn’s Pick

Bacon, Egg and Avocado Sandwich by Belle of the Kitchen


Fan Favorites


Reversible Easter/Spring Wood Blocks by Something Splendid



Pantry Makeover by View from the Fridge




I know the bloggers featured would love if you would visit their posts and say hello!

All features will be pinned to my Link’n Blogs board. Follow it here!



Follow my blog! If you want to receive an email reminding you about the link party, leave your email when adding your link.
Link to your blog post — not just your blog.
Share the love! Visit the other links and say who sent you.
If you enjoy a link, you can LIKE it {new feature!}
Adding your link gives me permission to feature you on my blog. 
Grab my party button! – See more at: http://iputabirdonit.blogspot.com/2013/12/diy-christmas-scriptures-advent.html#sthash.mPINNYsH.dpuf
Ok, here are the guidelines for the link party:  


Follow your HOSTS and GUEST HOSTS

If you want to receive an email reminding you about the link party, leave your email when adding your link

Link to your blog post — not just your blog.

Share the love! Visit the other links and say who sent you

Adding your link gives me permission to feature you on my blog
Share this link party on social media to help Link’n Blogs grow!

*Don’t be a LINK & RUN partier. Visit a couple links before you and a couple after!*


Happy Linking!

Leave a permalink on your blog back to the party to help our party grow!
*here is the link*
http://iputabirdonit.blogspot.com/2014/04/linkn-blogs-20.html


 

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I monitor each link and may delete a link if it is not something I want to promote on my blog. If you see your link was deleted, please email me. I’d be happy to chat about why! Thanks! 

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Making Progress // DIY Chalkboard Calendar

posted in diy, home, organization by Hanna on
I’m blaming it on the warm weather and “spring cleaning” for my recent productivity and finally starting to unpack the rest of our boxes; most of which had a lot of our home decor stuff. Four months in our new house and in just the last few weeks I feel like we’ve made some real progress to make it look like we actually live here!
After living in our house for awhile and giving it much thought (I’m talking many nights in bed before going to sleep) I’m starting to get a sense of the things I want to do for each room. I still wouldn’t say it’s all exactly how I want it, but I’ve been surprised at how putting up a few things really brings out who we are and makes me feel more comfortable in my house. Plus I had a good reminiscing moment while pulling out all our pictures that have been boxed up. I already need to replace most of them with updated pictures of the girls!
So today I’m giving you a peak at our dining room. It’s right off the kitchen and connects with the living room and the family room so it’s a place we’re in a lot!
Right now I’m going through each room and decorating it using mostly things we have on hand and then making a list of things the room still needs that we’ll need to start saving for. Rugs are at the top of the list for pretty much all of the rooms on our main floor as is the case for the dining room. Anyone have some good suggestions on rugs for a dining room? I need to find something that will hold up with kids and the huge mess they seem to make under their chairs at meal times!
Other than a rug the thing on my list was some sort of a calendar. I made one for our last place out of an old window frame, but it doesn’t fit anywhere in our house where it would be convenient. While I was at Hobby Lobby I happened upon a chalkboard that was 23×35 inches for only $8.50 after getting it 40% off. 
At first I thought about taping off the lines for the whole calendar and painting it (I ALWAYS think of the hardest way first) and then I discovered paint pens. Pretty much the best thing invented and I’m just learning about them! I’m probably way behind on the times here. I made another trip to Hobby Lobby for mine. This is the one I got and I had just enough to draw out the whole calendar. I also gave the wood frame a coat of white paint that I had on hand as well.
I’m loving finally being able to see our month happenings at a glance, especially with Eric traveling for work. I never seem to remember his schedule and always think he’s going to be home one week when he is scheduled to fly out. This will keep that all sorted out.
Oh and lets talk about how I had to actually turn on our fan today because it was so warm outside! The problem was I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off for the pictures. The chain was stuck and every time I tried to reach higher my hand would get whacked by the fan. Tomorrow’s fix-it project I guess.

-HANNA

Linked To:
http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/2014/03/craft-o-maniac-monday-link-party-13.html
http://carriethishome.com/2014/03/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-69/
http://www.abrightandbeautifullife.com/making-monday-34/

Our Blogging Goals for 2014

posted in blogging, family, motherhood, organization by Sara on
Hi everyone! I’ve just returned from a week-long vacation with Hanna and am already looking forward to our next one! We always have so much fun together and it is as though we’ve never been apart. With a whole week together we had so much that we wanted to do, but it only took us a day to realize that not all of it was going to get done. With having three little girls under the age of 3 there was just no way that we were going to be able to care for them, complete all the projects we had planned, and go everywhere we wanted to go while still keeping our sanity at the same time. When it came right down to it we decided to set aside our blog and all of our projects for the week and enjoy the time we had together. Instead, we had a blast chatting away the days, eating way too much food, and watching our girls play together—while having to play referee on occasion. We even found the courage to pack the three girls in the back seat and travel out to our parent’s house for a few days. With it being about a four hour drive each way, Hanna and I utilized the time to talk about our future progress and goals for the blog. Since many of our blogging goals are geared around our readers, we thought we’d share them with you.

BLOGGING GOALS

1.   Get more personal in our posts. We want our readers to come to know the real us. While some of our pictures may suggest otherwise, we have bad days too where our hair and makeup doesn’t get done, our house is a disaster, we lose our patience with our children and the laundry is pilled high. We make mistakes and we are always striving to be better than we are. We’re not blogging to imply that we are above anyone else, but rather to share our ideas, experiences, and inspirations to help and inspire others.
2.   Stay true to ourselves. We have both found a lot of joy in blogging and the opportunity it gives us to stay more connected with one another. In continuing to blog, our overall goal is to remain true to what is important to us, what we believe in, and who we are. We will never post anything on the blog for the mere sake of posting something or to get gain.
3.   Comment more on other blogs and connect more with other bloggers. We are constantly overwhelmed by the support of other bloggers and our readers. We are delightfully gitty with each new follower and with every comment. Our goal is to continue to pay-it-forward by supporting other bloggers and to make new friends by reaching out. After making this goal we have rounded up a great group of other bloggers for a surprise blog series we will be starting in March– stay tuned! 
4.   Start an editorial calendar to organize our tasks and improve our time management. I know I am not alone when I say that time management can often be a struggle, but it is something we are constantly trying to master (without success). We started using an editorial calendar (both a hard copy and an online version) so that we can more easily keep track of the tasks that need to get done and hopeful become more organized with our time. If anyone has more ideas or suggestions on the matter please feel free to share!
5.   Post more regularly on our social media sites. This is really something that we have both struggled with since starting our blog. Neither one of us are the type that updates our Facebook status everyday (barely every month) or posts a new picture on Instagram on a daily basis but we are beginning to realized the importance of social media use in growing our blog. And, since we only post three times a week we hope to stay more in touch with you and fill you in on daily happenings through the use of social media. Wish us luck!
6.   Make our blog more easy to navigate and more easy to connect with. It has been less than two months since we started up Stripes and Polka Dots and we are already finding many new ways to make it better. Unfortunately, we feel rather limited at the moment as to where we’d eventually like the design of our blog to be, but it is our goal to save our pennies and do our research so by this summer we can make our blog more user friendly. With some of the changes we hope to incorporated in the coming months we hope it will enable our readers to become more engaged as we wish to get to know you better. 

How to Clean Out Your Closet for Good

posted in home, inspiration, lifestyle, organization, Wardrobe Basics, women's fashion by Sara on
Find out how to finally say good-bye to those clothes you never wear and purge your closet of all that negative clutter.


It’s a new year and it’s time to whip your wardrobe into shape and finally say good-bye to those things you’ve been holding on to for years. You know, those items just sitting in your closet that you see every day when you go to get dressed but never pull off the hanger for one reason or another? Maybe it’s your favorite pair of pants that don’t fit anymore but you hold on to them with the hope that one day they’ll fit again. Or perhaps it’s a shirt that doesn’t quite go with anything else in your wardrobe, but you can’t bring yourself to get rid of it because (even though it’s been years) one day it might magically go with something.

I’m as guilty as the next girl when it comes to this problem; and quite honestly, I’m tired of it. I mean really, why do we insist on keeping clothes that don’t make us feel good about our bodies?! These clothes, no matter what the attachment to them might be, are not doing us any favors. They’re merely clutter in our lives; roadblocks if you will, that are preventing us from truly embracing our bodies.
I’ve spent the past year striving to overcome these wardrobe roadblocks and build a new wardrobe for myself. You can read about my full wardrobe transformation HERE along with steps to create your own. I can’t say that I’ll ever be perfect at it but I am learning. I still make shopping mistakes and have trouble letting go of certain pieces that are more than overdue. With some of the lessons I‘ve learned, I want to share with you some tips on how to finally purge your closet of the clothes that are holding you and your style back. 
 

1. Get rid of anything that does not fit or flatter the body you have now (whether it be something from high school or a recent purchase)

 

2. What may have been your style 3 years ago may not be your style now

 

3. If you haven’t worn something for at least a year, chances are you won’t ever in the future.

 

4. If you have clothes that need mending but have been sitting in your “to-do” pile for months, either make it a goal to fix them this week or throw them out

 

5. Don’t keep something if you have nothing to wear with it (even if it is the most stylish skirt you own)

 

6. Don’t keep clothes that are uncomfortable to wear, that wrinkle easily, or that make you feel like you are always having to adjust or pull at them

 

7. Sentimental clothing can be hard to finally let go of, so allow a few minutes to remember the good times, take a picture of it, and either box it away or put it in the giveaway pile

Find out how to finally say good-bye to those clothes you never wear and purge your closet of all that negative clutter.

 

When cleaning out your closet, be truly honest with yourself. If an article of clothing falls into one of the categories listed above, get rid of it. Don’t allow yourself a lot of time to rethink your decisions. Cleaning out your closet can be hard in the moment; but believe me, it is so liberating when you are finished and you’ve freed yourself of all that negative clutter!

To reiterate what we have been talking about, let me share a few brief examples of clothes that were difficult for me to let go of and why I finally did.

 

Example #1: I bought this skirt almost 5 years ago. I fell in love with it the moment I saw and just had to have it. Before I thought much about it I bought it and took it home to hang in my closet. The problem is that it did just that…sit in my closet. I’ve always loved this skirt but have never really found anything I liked to go with it. I’ve worn this skirt a total of 6 times, none of which have been in the last 3 years. Needless to say it was time to finally let it go.

Example #2: This basic button-down shirt was a more recent purchase of mine. I bought it about 6 months ago because I wanted one I could wear and/or layer with other pieces in my wardrobe. I bought the first one I tried on in Target. It only took me several wears to realize that this was a big shopping mistake. First off, the shirt altogether was a bit too long on me which made it bunch up at the bottom when I walked or sat down. The sleeves were also too long so I could only wear it if the sleeves were rolled up. And lastly, the material was thin which caused it to wrinkle easily and loose shape when I tried layering it with other pieces. It was a literal fail; but I guess I kept holding on to it hoping that one day I’d try it on and it would magically be everything I hoped it to be. Instead I came to terms that is was a waste of my money but a good learning experience. This too is in the giveaway bag.

 

Linked to:
http://www.madetobeamomma.com/2014/01/hit-best-shot-link-party-2.html

Closet Office on a Budget

posted in diy, home, New Years, organization, thrifted by Sara on
There is some thing about the new year (a clean slate) that is so motivating and empowering. It is a chance to do better; to be better. As you know, I’ve made some pretty hefty goals/resolutions this year, one being to uplift and inspire other women through blogging. I started this blog just over six months ago and while I had many aspirations for it, I quickly felt limited. Several months after I started blogging my husband started in on his doctorate degree and I got a job. Time started to become an issue, and I quickly realized that I had jumped into blogging without a clear vision and some of the tools necessary for success– one being an accessible computer. 
Well, my life circumstances haven’t changed much. I’m still working, my husband is still in school, and I’m still a mom. Time has not become any more available; however, I’ve realized that I can’t always wait for the perfect timing to pursue my dreams. The fact of the matter is that perfect timing does not exist. So, with that realization I chose to stop being a dreamer and start becoming a doer. I also got myself a computer. Technically, it is my husband’s computer (a graduation gift from his brothers). But since we bought my husband a laptop for school he finished building this one for me so I could blog. He also bought me a dress form for Christmas so I could started pursuing my dreams in fashion design and a inspiration notebook so I can keep track of all my ideas. He is honestly my biggest fan and supporter. 
The only thing left was to make a space where I could create, design, and be organized. Our spare bedroom is our guest bedroom/sewing room, with little to no room for a home office space. The solution to our problem: a closet office. That is right, we converted our closet into our home office. The best part about it was that it only cost us under $40!
cute closet office on a small budget



IKEA Desk: $20 (Craigslist)
Clipboards: $2 (thrifted, then painted)
Paper Trays: $3 (thrifted)
Desk Lamp: $4 (thrifted)
Black Storage Box: $2 (thrifted, band new)

sewing room

Everything else I already had on hand. Now all I need is an office chair. Any ideas? As you can also see, I’ve been fabric shopping. I’ve found some great pieces to start my first collection with!

And, if you’re not already completely overwhelmed with all the new and exciting things going on over here, I have a few more to add. First, is my new blog title and design. I’ve decided to changes things up because (get ready for my second surprise) I have added a new partner! For all my previous followers, you can rest assured that the Stripes and Polka Dots blog will produce some of the same great content as before but be twice a better! But for now, I’d like everyone to get to know my new teammate.

Hey; Hanna here! If you haven’t noticed yet from the pictures, I’m Sara’s twin sister. I’m also the wife of a traveling husband who travels weekly and all over the country for work, the mother of two sweet girls and a blogger. I’ve been blogging for about 4 years now, mostly posting family updates and happening, but I have also used blogging as a place to share all my projects, ideas and thoughts. Since Sara and I were always talking about our blogs and giving each other ideas we decided why not become blogging partners! As I start posting regularly, I hope that you will get to know me more and that I can help inspire and be inspired by everyone who is a part of the blogging world. To give you an idea of what you can expect from me check out some of my popular posts on my previous blog.

Linked To:

http://thelilthingsblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/currently-january-2014.html
http://www.madetobeamomma.com/2014/01/hit-best-shot-link-party-1.html
http://thehappyhousie.com/?p=7078