Magpie Ethel

The Bin That Was The Final Straw

I don't have the best organization in one spot in my studio.  I have a cute little vintage crib turned into a daybed.  It is intended for people to sit on that visit. In reality it is a catch-all for everything. I stack stuff on the seat cushion. The crib is skirted and underneath I store lots of plastic bins. 

There are two rows of bins under the skirt and they are stacked about three high. When I want a bin I have to lift up the skirt and pull bins in and out.

Recently I was rummaging around under there and discovered I had completely missed a bin of vintage Valentine tidbits.  I have pretty much finished Valentine Day crafting. I kept thinking while I was working on Valentine's Day things that I was missing this or that, but thought perhaps I had used up my stash with crafting the previous year. NOPE. I missed a bin under the crib.

I knew it was time to figure out a different storage system in that spot. I hit a couple of antique malls looking for a cabinet and came up empty handed. I had a bee in my bonnet to find something that worked and since I wasn't coming up with something vintage, I headed to my IKEA catalog. I thought this TV stand might work for the studio. I liked that it was metal and the blue color was awesome.

Tom and I made a trip to IKEA and picked up a pair of them.

I took out the old crib. It is easy to store in my garage.

I piled up all the storage bins outside the studio that had been stored under the crib while I set up the new shelf.

Tom and I put together the two units.  I wanted to stack them on one another and it worked like a charm.  The cabinet takes up a much smaller footprint in the studio. It has just as much if not a bit more storage. It also has a flat surface on the top which is always handy.

The shelves aren't adjustable, but they perfectly hold the storage bins I had. I may switch out the bins with the turquoise handles for something vintage, but for now they work.

I like the perforated doors that slide back and forth and can hide the plastic bins. I am not a fan of plastic bins, but they are such good storage. I may add some of my vintage style flashcards to the front of each bin to pretty them up.

The IKEA saleswoman suggested we bolt the two cabinets together with L brackets. We decided to use extra strength magnets and L brackets to see how that worked rather than having to drill holes in the cabinets.

I used the magnets and L brackets on all four legs. I also used two straight brackets with magnets on two of the legs. The magnets/brackets actually work really well and it doesn't move when it jostled. Since I am the only one working in the studio I don't worry about somebody pushing into it and knocking it off.

Seriously in love with this new cabinet.  Fun to have a flat surface and decorate the top.

A much needed change.  In a roundabout way I am kinda glad I missed that bin of Valentine crafting supplies.

Happy day!

Bonus, Second View of My World

I had the pleasure of another blogland friend visiting a couple weeks ago. Danielle from My Blessed Serendipity was in town and we got to meet.  By coincidence her post came up today a day after Crystal's yeterday.  Pop over to see her post HERE!  Thanks for the peek into my world Danielle.  I am thrilled to meet blogland friends and see my world thru their eyes..my view is through vintage glittery glasses!

Happy Day!

Another View of My World

My world...my house and studio.  Colorful, quirky, fun and one of a kind. I love to show it off and it is interesting to see a person's reaction to it. (OH MY GOSH!..is often shouted when entering my studio door).  I posted the other day about my blogland blind date and meeting Crystal.

She did a post about her visit. It is fun to see it through her camera and her eye.

Pop over to see her post HERE!  Thanks for the peek into my world Crystal.  I sure love living in it.

Happy Day.

Studio Evolution

I had the pleasure of having Maddie, Erica and Hannah from the Pyrex Sisters come by the other day for a studio tour. I was explaining how when we first moved in our house it was used as more of a sun-room for entertaining.  It finally dawned on me one day that it would make a great space for a studio and I started hauling supplies out to it and filling it up with goodies.

I had the pleasure of having my studio featured in a magazine way back in 2006.  I have never shared this spread on my blog, so I thought it might be fun to see the article and what my studio used to look like..in the early years.

This is my studio on the cover.  March issue 2006.

Here is the article. My studio was so sparse compared to what it is today.  (You can double click on photos to enlarge.)

Fun huh?  Thrilling to see it in print.  Better Home and Gardens contacted me after that article ran and they were doing a new feature on collections.  The February 2007 issue had me smiling from one of the pages with my collection of trays.

My walls were totally covered in trays. Most of them have been taken down to make room for shelves and other means to store supplies.

If you go the sidebar on my blog you can see various posts on my studio and how it looks today. Much, much different...but a spot that I dearly love!

happy day!

Sweet as Chocolate Storage

In my world I can NEVER have enough storage.  My studio is one of those rooms that is jammed packed and I am always trying to weasel more storage into it.  I was at a  local antique store the other day and saw this sweet Brown and Haley display shelf.  I liked the price.  I liked the flowers and I liked the sweet pink stripe at the bottom.

I just had to find a spot for that candy shelf in my studio.

As much as I loved the little turquoise highchair, it did not have much storage potential.  It fell into the eye candy category.

I swapped out the highchair for the candy shelf. This of course snowballed into lots of studio storage rearranging with the newly acquired space.

I had a bunch of these boxes made from an old sign.  They were tucked away in an out of the way spot and now I can enjoy their great green color and graphic appeal.

I still kept some eye candy like this silly toy stove and the pink pig.

My supply of mercury glass picks is easier to access now.

I had some vintage children's shoe boxes full of goodies that were tucked away in a cabinet. Now I can enjoy them more.

The shelf provided lots more storage.  Lots of things stayed in virtually the same spot, but It was fun to add new goodies and rearrange.

You can still see the sweet little graphic on the side as well.

My, oh, my storage makes me happy! As you can see my vintage finds almost go floor to ceiling....making the most of every available space!

ps. A friendly reminder that St. Patty's day Etsy will be listed tonight at 5 p.m. (pacific time)

Studio Audience

I have been putting in quite a few hours each day in the studio with holiday crafting.  It is just me out there working.  Truthfully I am so messy when I work, that there is little room out there for a co-worker. 

I do have an audience tho.  They do not lift a finger and seldom get in my way.  They keep me company with their vintage cuteness.

This little gang occasionally rattles a bit at me.

These characters only silently stare my way and give me a look of approval. I get an occasional squeak from this bunch.

Some chirping from this little flock.

This pair tends to giggle quite a bit.

This stern little gal silently gives me a wink.

An occasional applause from this pair that hang on cabinet knobs.

A toot of a horn from this clown.

Santa heads that are waiting for crafting give me a ho, ho, ho.

This is not a quite little corner with the trumpet of an elephant, the baa of a sheep and the oinking of a pig.

Never a dull moment in my world of glitter and glue. Inspiration and encouragement from this little audience!

Happy day.

 

Studio Twilight

I am in major crafting mode right now with the holidays just around the corner.  I work into the evening into my studio.  I love how the studio looks when it is dark outside and you can peek in the windows.

My squeaky toys are silhouettes on the windowsills.

Crazy color as you leave the darkness of the night outside.

I love crafting into the early evening.

Busy, busy, busy into the night.

happy day.

Studio Window Clutter.

No mimimalism in my studio.  Just a window full of colorful clutter.  (doulble click for a closer look at the chaos)

Two Reasons to Smile

I have two reasons to smile.  ONE is this darling squeaky Pinocchio that I found at the Plucky Maidens sale in my friend Janet's booth.

Number TWO is a super sweet post that my friend Pam from One Gal's Trash did about little old me.

Pam came over the other day and hung out with her camera in my studio. For those of you who want to see my studio thru her eyes, check out her blog.

I really like the shot of all my spun heads.

Two reasons to smile. Happy Day.

 

Half My Body Weight in Glitter?

You may remember I found those two tins of glitter on Friday at an estate sale. They both held a pound of the glittery stuff.

I never really thought about the super-size of these containers.  A couple of folks left comments about the big vintage size containers and it got me to thinking.

I have this stash and most of these are of the pound variety. This would add up close to 20 pounds.

I also find good size jars where women have discarded the original container and put it in any old jar.

Then I have a drawer full of smaller containers of the shiny stuff.

My glitter shrine would add a bit of glitter weight as well.

These two little bottles would only add up to the weight of a fingertip, but they are the cutest little bottles I have ever run across.

That adds up to a lot of glitter.  Let me tell you loud and clear, that there is NO WAY I am sharing my weight in blogland....BUT I do have a lot of glitter.