A Peek at the Workspace ...

I thought I'd give you a peek at my workspace/dining room!

I've taken over the dining room in our modest two-bedroom apartment.  My stuff is spread out everywhere, I hope to reign it in a little with a larger unit that will house everything.  The view that you see is if you were standing on my couch in the living room, looking over its back to the dining room.  The round table is something that's been in the family for years - I have pictures from my first birthday and beyond blowing out candles at this table!  Eventually, I will find a gorgeous storage unit that will fit just about everything and reclaim the dining room  into something that will become a pleasant eating atmosphere without a tower of beads or some other crafting project that's about to topple over you.  In the meantime, I've made good use out of lots of recycled, reclaimed and reused materials for unique storage solutions - with a little flair!

Because Naked Tin Cans Are Just Indecent ...

A wonderful thing about being a repurposing DIYer is the handy stuff around the home that can be transformed into some pretty cool stuff.  All you need is imagination!  Of course, the flipside of that problem is the potential hording it can cause.  Yikes.  Well, I've been hanging onto these empty soup cans for a little while, I think it's about time I start this project I've had in mind - decoupage soup tins!

These handy - and uniquely decorated - items can serve many purposes on their own.  I keep various containers of miscellaneous items that are too random to be sorted with regular bead supplies and whatnot, as well as holders for paintbrushes, rulers, pens, pencils, Sharpies, pliers and other tools I need within an arms reach.  Another idea I've had would be candle holders - drilling holes in patterns with either a small votive or a tea light inside.  I'd like to make them for our balcony when the renovations are finished for our apartment building.  Armed with lots of paper ephemera, and with the help of my friendly neighbour, Dejah, we've done some pretty awesome work!

I had made a 'book safe' from a hardcover vintage textbook about the history of Nevada for Nick, and used the cutout pages to decoupage these two cans.  One features text with a 1864 map of the State of Nevada, the other features various images from the history of this great state.  I've started to brush a gloss over the cans, but I think it'll need another coat.