My first post and an old project

Wow, I finally did it.  I wanted to start a blog that focused on my projects and here we are.   Let's hope that I am better at keeping up with this blog than I am with my personal family blog.  I am hoping this blog will help me both share and remember things I am doing.  I am also hoping it will encourage me to finish some of the many partly done craft projects that I have. 

Since at the moment I am in the midst of a major rework of my basement area and my craft area happens to be buried within that section of my home - I thought I would start my blog by sharing some old projects that I have done.  So here we go!!!!

  A while back I came up with a semi brilliant idea that used things I already had to solve a problem I had been contemplating.  I love those cubical storage shelves that you get at Target and the fabric baskets that go in them.  I currently have them in my kids rooms and my mud room and I am sure I could find a few more.  The only problem is that there is no place on the baskets to put a label so that you know which container has what in it.  I am always pulling down several to look inside to see which one has what I am looking for.  I wanted to add a label holder, but did not have matching fabric and did not want to buy a basket - just to destroy it for the fabric as they are kind of pricey. 

Then I had an aha moment!  There is a cardboard insert on the bottom of each basket that is covered in the same fabric that the basket is made of.  You can remove this fabric to use for your labels and then recover the cardboard in anything you have laying around or can find cheap at the fabric store. You can actually get quite a few out of 1 bottom liner - so you don't have to take apart every basket that you own.   Here are some pictures of what I am talking about.  This bottom has been recovered in a cheap neutral fabric that I had laying around collecting dust.

For the actual label I used a pattern that I found at this site: http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=JC&Screen=STORAGE_BASKETS

By the way - the fabric baskets that the label pattern goes with are super cute and if I ever get time I may try to make some.  One day.....  Back on track.  I then used some clear plastic I had left over from another project and sewed it into the center opening of the label holder.  You can find plastic at a fabric store or you can use an old shower curtain.  You could also just leave it open in the center.  At first I struggled with how to attach them, but finally realized that glueing 3 sides down with a glue gun was the perfect solution.  Leaving the top open will allow you to slip in a small piece of paper that labels the basket.

 So, now I have an organized mud room - well at least 1/2 of it is.  This is where I have to admit that I am somewhat of a project queen who has a tendency to start projects and then leave them in various states of completion.  However, the worst section in now nicely organized and one of these days I will get around to finishing the rest up!

So, that is day 1 of my new crafting blog.  I have never done a tutorial before and this is a project I did a while ago - so I did not take lots of pictures along the way.  Hopefully, it is clear enough that you can figure it out if you are in the mood to give it a try!