Organizing winter gear

I should have taken a before picture of the closet, but it would have been embarrassing.  We have a small closet in our entry.  It came with a basic wire shelf... we can set stuff on top and hang hangers.

I have installed hooks on the inside of the closet where the kids can reach... that helped a bit.  But the winter stuff was a problem.  I kept it in a bin on the shelf... which was way too high for the kids to reach.  I am all about independence... if you want to play outside, go get your mittens.  But the kids couldn't get their winter gear out or put it away... so there was always a mess.  There is no room on the floor of the closet (that is where boots and a skinny bin for umbrellas are).  The only place left was the door.  The closet door is extra skinny, and I needed lots of little pockets for the little mittens, legwarmers, etc. 
And so I made my own customer closet organizer with scraps.  There are some bigger pockets and some small ones.  I put the grown-up winter gear at the top and the kids' stuff within their reach.  The organizer is attached to the door with velcro Command Strips.  I actually stapled the strips to the fabric of the organizer so I wouldn't have to sew through the adhesive and get my needle all gummy.

This organizer has been in the closet for almost a month now, and I am happy to report the closet has stayed pretty clean.  The kids can get their stuff out and put it away.  And even though the organizer is made from scraps and not all matchy, I think it is fairly cute.

Success all around.

cardigan sweater pillow cover

Oops.  When I exported my photo from Lightroom I left the watermark on.  Shameless advertising for my photography, I know.
Anyhow... I found a darling wool sweater cardigan at the thrift store.  I loved the colors and the big buttons... but I wouldn't have worn it (it was too big anyhow).  I washed it on hot and dried it in the dryer to felt the wool.  Then I laid it out and cut a square to fit my pillow.  I sewed around the four sides (leaving the center button unbuttoned so I could flip the right side out. 
I can take the pillow out of the cover by unbuttoning it.  It will look cute in the fall with my pumpkin pillows!

kitty

Here is a little Christmas present I made for June.  I up-cycled a wool sweater and made a tiny kitty for her.  The bottom side is fleece.  The nose is felt.  Button eyes.
June named it Lily.

a fabric sample book turned into a quilt

A while back I got a bound book of fabric swatches... for free.  The colors were all in rainbow order.  It was so neat... but useless and silly to display.
So I cut that book of fabric up into quilt blocks.  I arranged the colors chromatically from white in one corner to black at the opposite corner... rainbow order from top to bottom. 
I pieced it all together...
and then I sent it away to be quilted.
And I forgot about it.

Fast forward several months... I got a package.
It was magic.


My quilt came back!  I finished the edges and stitched my name on it (which felt a little like cheating since I sent it out to be quilted).

Oh, I love it!  My girls love it too.  It is the new favorite cozy thing.  Unfortunately it is small... like a lap blanket.

 

Too bad it isn't big enough for our bed... someday I'll get that ambitious!