Where Kim K. creates part 1...

I've decided after taking a zillion pictures that I'm going to break up my craft room into a couple of posts starting with my vintage collection of Chinese checkerboards and paper lanterns that I have hanging on the south wall of my craft room. 

This wall reminds me of our brief time in China.

The outfits you see hanging on the wall were purchased in Guangzhou and fit Emma and Josie in 2008.

The suitcase is filled with sheet music and special scrapbooking paper.

The pin cushion was made by Elizabeth Holcomb from Beth's Bagz

The pink leather shoes are hand-painted with butterflies and were Josie's baby shoes. They have squeakers in the bottoms of the soles.
 
My dresser is filled with scrapbooking paper and tissue paper.  The turntable on top really does get used regularly.  My vinyl collection are mostly artists from the 40s, 50s and 60s.  I still have all my records from the 80s, but Duran Duran doesn't quite have the same appeal as the Rat Pack now.

I've had to get very creative in the placement of my checkerboard collection.

The pink goldfish paper kite was purchased in Beijing.

The paper lanterns are suspended on fishing line.  I added the handmade tissue paper flowers.

Beyond my checkerboard collection is a closet filled with the girls crafting supplies.

Things like construction paper, coloring books, and play dough are all accessible in their closet.

The counter that you see in the center of my craft room was originally in my grandparents clothing store.  The base contains deep drawers perfect for storing lots and lots of supplies.

A few years ago this storage unit received a  fresh coat of paint to coordinate with my room. The counter was purchased from Lowe's.

Buckets attached to the side of my counter were acquired from Ikea (I added the lace with a bit of hot glue). They are filled with crayons, colored pencils, markers, and child-friendly scissors.  When the girls want to join me in my room, they can just grab a bucket and sit at the counter with me.

The other side of my counter holds a roll of white paper and several baskets full of vintage hankies, button collections and doll clothes.  Blue mason jar lights are suspended above the counter. Chris put them together for me last summer.

 I hope you enjoyed this small tour of my special room.

I have much, much more to share in another post.
 

Preparing for my craft room tour...

I've wanted a long shelf above my craft room window to hold all my special Creative Breathing, ImagiMeri's, Vivs Whimsy and Magpie Ethel creations for awhile. On Saturday, Chris helped hang and build a shelf the length of my only window.

My craft room is a tiny bedroom in our finished basement that is literally bursting at the seams with vintage toys, crafting supplies and hand-made treasures given to me by fellow bloggers.  

I love my new shelf and now I can get the rest of my special room ready for a pictorial tour.

 I'm hoping after work, I can finish taking pictures of the entire space. 

 Between you and me, it hasn't been this organized in months. 
 

The advantage of being tall at an estate sale...

While I was at work Friday, my husband sent pictures to my cell phone. He scored vintage Halloween!! They were on a high shelf in the basement...hidden unless you had a ladder or the advantage of height.  He paid .50 cents. They are worth quite a bit more than that. 

If you've followed my blog for awhile, you know how much our family decorates for Halloween. I've always fantasized about finding vintage Halloween.

They are German diecut Halloween figurines from the 1920s.  For now, they are on top of my hutch in my craft room.  Safely out of sunlight or curious fingers.   He also brought home a few vintage toys and tiny Santa spun heads.  Yes.  I'm very very spoiled.

The graphics on the box are fantastic, but the contents inside the box are even better.

The paint set was never used.  

He also brought home a tea kettle and a coffee peculator.

We had amazing coffee Saturday morning and then went back to the same estate sale because everything was half off.  I needed to see this place for myself!!
 
I scooped up 3 boxes of vintage Christmas bulbs. I love the graphics on the lids.

I also rescued a few ornaments.

A doll suitcase filled with handmade clothes also came home.

They were hand washed and hung to dry outside.

The wool coat and hat are my favorite.


I also picked up this noise maker.  Love the little girl graphics.

It fits in nicely with the rest of my noise maker collection.

 I spent five hours cleaning and organizing my craft room.  I need to take pictures, but I promise to share them soon.  It was a great weekend and I can't believe it's over already.   
 

Everything's coming up daisies...

Our yard is full of beautiful daisies right now.  Thank you, Chris.

Someday she won't let me dress her up for photo shoots.  7 is still a very accommodating age.

Although there aren't daisies in this floral patio umbrella, I have to squeeze in another estate sale find.  Chris came home with this patio umbrella for $3.  It was musty and full of mildew, but it was in great shape. After a good scrubbing with a brush and a solution of borax and hot water, it looks practically new.

I really should have taken a before picture. The wrestling I did to clean this umbrella was crazy.  I even soaked the umbrella in a plastic garbage can with borax over night so that yellow fringe would be white again.

The things we do to rescue estate sale finds!!  I can't wait for the work week to end and my chores are done around the house.  I'm hoping to squeeze in a bit more time in my craft room getting things organized for a photo shoot.   Have a glorious weekend. 
 

Getting a jump start on Christmas...

Last week, Chris came home with a set of vintage Christmas elves from a recent estate sale and I promised a video of them in action.

With a little tender loving care, he got all the motors working again and the elves are busy with Christmas production.  I added the sound effects in the video for Josie's sake.  They really are very quiet (and rather slow) workers.  

Because they are hand painted, we won't put them outdoors in December.   They will probably go on top of the landing above the stairwell.

We'll have to find a new home for the sleigh.  Merry Christmas in July!