Craft Room Completion!!!

Here it is.....TA DA!!!! My office/craft room has been decluttered, reorganized and repainted!!

From one of my most favorite blog/shop, I got the beautiful ombre wreath for the door to my office. {Also the beautiful clay 'tags' that hang from wreath} You REALLY should check out Linda's blog and her shop. http://burlapandblue.com/

So, we'll start the photo 'tour' off with some views of the wreath and door......

I love how this wreath looks....and it just reminds me to be happy and creative upon entering!!

I love the added tags to remind me of the importance of dreaming, loving and finding my joy!!

So, this is a shot of the computer area....I don't "decorate" too much in that area, as the hubby uses this area a lot. So, I try to keep it as clutter free as *possible*!!

This is a photo of the scrapbook & crafting area. I bought the jars and bottles to organize the "stuff" that was floating around in some of the drawers!

This is a larger view of the crafting area.....remember what it looked like in the *before*?? Here it is......

UGH!!!!!!!

I used a pants-hanger that I had in my closet to organize ribbon and tape! Easy to get to, easy to return to it's 'proper' place!

Created my own "art" to hang on the walls....favorite sayings and motivational words! Much needed with my current goals and aspirations! (Nice blue wall color, eh??)

With these homemade "prints", I can change them out and create new ones as needed! CHEAP DIY!!!

This one was fun to create....using different fonts and some clip art! I saw one *sorta-kinda* like this, but some of the words didn't apply to me, so I created my own! {You can, too!!}

The closet has been *mostly* organized....it took me forever to go through all of the scrapbook paper and "catagorize" it~~~according to color, striped, patterned, etc... {And, yes, Daisy is investigating!!}

Scrapbook "packet" projects and 'notebooks' of scrapbook papers.

Loose, but, organized scrapbook paper....if I buy ANYMORE paper, I could open up my own store. ~GEESH~

Also, note the new wall color!! A softer blue!! The chair is awaiting reupholstery....I have the fabric and now I have the *space* needed to work on it! YAY!!!

So, there is my promise to myself and ~the hubster~ that this room WOULD get done! It was just ONE of my resolutions for the New Year.

How are you doing with YOUR resolutions?? Any luck in sticking to them? This was actually one of my resolutions last year! So~~I feel pretty good about completing it!

BTW~~Here is how my crafting area looks tonight....I'm working on a wedding project~~~{for a friend}.

Heart & Home

In the ever present desire for a welcoming and "me" living room, I will be once again perusing the aisles of the TJ Maxx Homesource Store. Ever since Sasha passed away and I removed his big bird cage from the room.......it feels empty and echo-ey. Sad. So------everything came off the walls! Nail holes have been filled, touch up paint is just in the can.....waiting to be used. But, as is the rest of my life, I feel unsure, unmotivated and so confused. Is this 'shell' of a room representative of how I feel inside? Am I the only 40-something woman who feels this way? I married sooooo young, had my girls by the time I was 2o yrs. old. I have been married for thirty-years and I have two grandchildren. I am ONLY forty-eight years old. Wow.....am I that old??? When I gained weight over six years ago, I truly believed that once I had the diagnosis of hypothyroid and was given medications to take, the weight would fall right off. Oh how naive I was! I don't think I've lost a single pound since my diagnosis. Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, Medifast, Atkins......you've all failed me. I should be your case study, Jenny Craig!! I go to the gym and workout like a fiend. I truly have 'guns'!!!!!! Lots of fat, too...... The only thing I have lost is my self-esteem.....and I have learned that there are 'loved' ones in our lives who DO judge, who DO contribute to the self-loathing. It's been not only a depressing experience, it's also been eye-opening. But, it has left me lower than low. I continue to walk around, pretending to be happy. Giving and loving to everyone around me. I smile. I laugh. I hug. And I can hear my own heartbeat echoing in this empty shell. If I work on decorating the living room, am I just pasting a smile on the walls of it??? Is it a facade? Or will it be the beginning of my own healing....peeling back the old layers and finding my new ones? It is time for me to be decisive, time to take action.......can I? Will I?