Top 10 Craft Projects of 2011

Happy Friday everyone! This weekend will be a BIG clean up and re-organization for me. I have 5 days off and a house full of Christmas decorations to put away, toys to purge, and a whole lot of new toys to find a home for.  {Oh, and the start of the Bachelor on Monday night to look forward to - my shameless love!}  I guess a little New Years celebrating will be thrown in there too...

So a couple of days ago I shared my Top 10 Organization Projects of 2011.  Today I am pulling together my Top 10 Craft/DIY Projects for the year.  It's always kind of fun to look back on what you have actually accomplished during the year as there are SO many days that I feel that I have done nothing.  So here are some of my favorite projects {roughly in order of posting dates}:

1. Being from the Vancouver area, our winters {and falls and springs!} can get very wet around here. Our hardwood floors were very thankful or this quick and easy pebble boot tray.

2. Our teacher Valentine gift box is still one of my most viewed posts.  It can be easily adapted for any occasion and is lots of fun to fill up!

3. We had quite a few kids' parties throughout the year but Matthew's camping party received the highest number of views {and it was a pretty fun party!}.

4. I finally got around to making a new wreath for our front door and created this moss initial wreath.

5. The most commented on craft post from this year was my Easter bunny bunting.  Gotta love those bunny bums!

6. One of my personal favorite projects of the year were these DIY blue mason jars {and yes! they are waterproof!}  Check out my organization post for some other fun ways to use them!

7. I created our Summer To Do list in a mini-book/scrapbook style so we would be able to look back at what we did throughout the summer.  Again, these can easily be done for different seasons or holidays {I did one for fall too} and are great little keepsakes.

8. I began working on a monthly magnetic calendar in August 2010 and finished my last one this July.  Whew!  That was a time consuming project but lots of fun to create!

9. Our kids' art display was the most featured project of the year and is quite well used around here.

10. While my attempt at doing my own Happiness Project was an epic FAIL, I do still like my chalk board/bulletin board re-do that I did {and I try to remember that quote every day!}.

11. Okay, this one isn't really a project but it is one of MY favorite posts so I tagged it on at the end as a little bonus.  I just wanted to share our story of our angel cat, Big Blue, one more time.

Thank-you so much to all of you who have shared along in the journey this year.  I can not tell you enough how much inspiration I get from all of you and how much your comments encourage me to continue on. I look forward to a project filled 2012 with you all!

I linked up with Design Dazzle, House of Hepworths, Southern Lovely, Skip to My Lou, Funky Junk Interiors, 30 Handmade Days, Chic on a Shoestring, Whipperberry, Somewhat Simple, Delightful Order, The 36th Avenue, Oopsey Daisy, Blue Cricket Design, Home Stories A to Z, Tip Junkie, A Bowl Full of Lemons, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Today's Creative Blog, Uncommon, Thrifty Decor Chick, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Craft-O-Maniac, CRAFT, My Crazy Beautiful Life, Passionately Perfect, Positively Splendid, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, Lolly Jane, Young and Crafty, Too Much Time on My Hands, Junk in their Trunk and Tatertots and Jello.

Top 10 Organization Projects of 2011

Well, I have decided to divide my 2011 "Top 10" lists into two posts this year - one for organization projects and one for crafts and other projects.  2011 was a good organization year for me.  Although I didn't complete everything that I was hoping to {my nasty garage pops into mind!}, I am happy to say that everything that I did organize has actually remained that way!  It really does pay to purge!!

So, here are my favorite Top 10 organization projects of the year {in no particular order!}:

1.My craft room.  This was actually the project that started my whole organization craze and is probably my favorite room in the house.

2. The laundry room. Although it is still organized, there is still usually at least one pile of clothes on the counter. {Oh, how I hate putting away laundry!}

3. The fridge was another one of my favorite projects.  This one does require a little upkeep but I really do like having the bins and I love the vinyl!

4. If you have kids, I am sure you have a ton of first aid gear lying around the house.  Our boo boo box is a great way to organize everything and it is easily portable.

5. Make some cute {and functional!} bathroom storage jars.  

6. And to organize those kids in the bathroom, make them their own Brush and Wash station. {This has actually worked amazing well!}

7.  Organizing the kitchen cabinets was one of my biggest purging areas.  I have not missed one thing that I gave away and the cabinets have actually stayed organized with very minimal effort.

8. Organize all of those photos with a fast and easy way to scrapbook.

9. Our front entry and mudroom organization.

10. And by far the most viewed organization post {with almost 40,000 page views mostly courtesy of Pinterest!} is our family binder.

Well, hopefully that gives you some organization ideas!  Organizing can sometimes be a daunting task so break it down into small, manageable projects.  If something is well organized {and you really have gotten rid of those extra items that you don't need!} it really does not take much effort to maintain.  I'm excited to keep working my way through the house in the year to come.  And who knows?  Maybe I will even tackle that garage!

Happy organizing!!!


I linked up with House of Hepworths, Southern Lovely, Skip To My Lou, 30 Handmade Days, Oopsie Daisy, Blue Cricket Design, Home Stories A to Z, Tip Junkie, A Bowl Full of Lemons, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Today's Creative Blog, Uncommon, Thrifty Decor Chick, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Craft-O-Maniac, CRAFT, My Crazy Beautiful Life, Passionately Perfect, Positively Splendid, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, Lolly Jane, Young and Crafty, Too Much Time on my Hands, Junk in Their Trunk, Tatertots and Jello, Organizing Junkie, Whipperberry, Tidy Mom, The Shabby Nest, Fingerprints on the Fridge, The 36th Avenue, Delightful Order, The CSI Project, Chic on a Shoestring, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Gluesticks and Somewhat Simple.

The Creative Spark {No. 23}

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We were definitely bitten by the sickness bug around here. Out of the eight of us that were here on Christmas morning, seven of us were sick {and it will be a Christmas miracle if my brother doesn't come down with it too!} Poor Matthew was the worst of the bunch and could barely get off the couch to open his presents. Needless to say, the last couple of days have been spent in our P.J's enjoying some quiet family time and working on lots of projects like this:

I am finally going to get dressed today and head out to Ikea to look for some more storage to fit all of the toys.  I kind of go into hyper-organization mode after Christmas and am looking forward to getting the house cleaned {and disinfected!!} and organized again.

Okay, now let's get on to the party and see what you have all been up to!  Feel free to link up anything that YOU have created - crafts, DIY, scrapbook projects, organization ideas, decorating, recipes - anything goes!

Want to link up?

• Link directly to your specific post {not the homepage}.
• Please add The Creative Spark button to your post or blog {the code is in my sidebar}OR place a text link at the end of your post. I would love for you to help me spread the word!
• Check out some of the other fabulous links. A few nice comments always inspires us to create more!
• Follow along with facebook to see if you have been featured throughout the week.  I will also be posting My Sunday Sparks every week to showcase your work so don't forget to check back!

Merry Christmas!!!

Well the big day is finally here! Merry Christmas to you and your family! May your day be filled with joy, wonder, and all of the magic that Christmas brings!

Form our family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

{Oh, and look who I managed to snag a picture of!}

{Click here for info}

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Christmas House Tour

With just 4 days left until Christmas, I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of our holiday decorating. Let's just add it to the list of things that I was planning on doing way back at the beginning of the month.  Seriously, where does the time go? 

Come on in and let's get started on the tour! I don't really have a particular theme or fancy color scheme that I stick to.  I just kind of go with what I like.  So here is our front entrance as you come in the front door.  I save a copy of the kids' letters to Santa each year that are tucked away in the little mailbox.  I'm sure they will be quite funny to look back on in the years to come!  The front entrance is also home to our 12 Days of Giving Tree.  

To the left of the entrance is our sunken piano room.  I created the Ruffled Tree Art and printed off some vintage Christmas music for the picture frame {from The Graphics Fairy}.

If you head straight though the front entrance, you come to our dining room.

And then into our kitchen.

We have a guest bathroom off the kitchen.  It is pretty much decorated with white and silver. I love my glittery little bird!

And, my favorite room, our great room.

We have a thing with Santa pictures around here and they are all displayed somewhere around the house.  Dave and I always had our picture taken with Santa before the kids were born.  And then our fur babies had to have their pictures taken with Santa.  And, of course, now we have the boys' pictures with Santa.

Of course, it all looks prettiest at night {well, at least it would if I could take better pictures!}

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!


I linked up with Today's Creative Blog, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors, Whipperberry, Sun Scholars, Tidy Mom, Delightful Order, Gluesticks, My Crazy Beautiful Life, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue and The Shabby Creek Cottage.

The Creative Spark {No. 22}

Well, the Christmas crunch is definitely on!  I'm sure you have all been busy shopping, wrapping, baking, and celebrating!  I am still recovering from the flu so I am WAY behind on the Christmas preparation.  Christmas time is NOT a good time to get sick.

On the plus side, I did FINALLY get around to doing our Gingerbread House with the kids today.  

Now it's time to see what YOU have been up to! Feel free to link up anything that you have created - crafts, DIY, scrapbook projects, decorating, recipes, Holiday ideas - anything goes!

Want to link up?

• Link directly to your specific post {not the homepage}.
• Please add The Creative Spark button to your post or blog {the code is in my sidebar}OR place a text link at the end of your post. I would love for you to help me spread the word!
• Check out some of the other fabulous links. A few nice comments always inspires us to create more!
• Follow along with facebook to see if you have been featured throughout the week.  Given that Sunday will be Christmas, I will be skipping my Sunday Sparks this week.

I HOPE YOU ARE ALL HAVING A HAPPY CHRISTMAS WEEK!

Sunday Sparks {No. 21}

Can you believe that there are just 7 days left until Christmas?  Are you ready? I have been stuck in bed all weekend with the flu thinking about how many things I still have to do and not being able to do any of them.  Next week is going to be one busy week!

There was a FABULOUS link up last week at The Creative Spark!  You guys have all been hard at work and are SO amazingly talented.  I love going through all of your projects!  Thank-you so much to all of you who are able to take the time to share your ideas and visit around to the other blogs.  You are all wonderful!  Sunday is always my day to share a few of my favorite projects so here they are!

Lowri over at Papervine always comes up with the cutest paper crafts.  These little jars make the perfect neighbor gift {and you really can't go wrong with yummy treats inside!}

We always try to get at least one ornament each year with the year somewhere on it.  I love these simple, DIY ornaments from These Moments of Mine.

I thought these faux zinc letters from Gardners to Bergers looked fabulous!  I can't wait to try this out!

How cute is this mailbox from DigiArt Cafe?  What a great way to display copies of your kids' letters to Santa.

These Santa nails from Scrappin' with DeeDee are so much fun! I only wish I had nails nice enough to try this on!

One of the {many} things on my To Do list this Christmas was to make some snowglobes with the kids.  With less than a week left, I just don't think that that is happening but I love these ones from Elizabeth and Co.

Hopefully that should give you lots of Christmas inspiration and remember that there is always next year!  Thanks again to all those that linked up to The Creative Spark this week.  If you were featured, feel free to grab a button from my sidebar.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope to see you all back on Tuesday night!