Today we have a special treat.  Laurana’s invited us into her 1.5 square meter (16 square foot) craft room.  It used to be a closet; now it’s a completely drool-worthy space.  Want to take a little tour with Laurana?  Here’s what she has to say:

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I used to scrapbook at our dining table, which was usually so full of my crafts supplies that we had to eat in the living room… To improve the situation a little, we planned to assemble some new shelves for my supplies in our small walk-in closet.

But at some point I realized that hey, maybe it could be possible to fit in a little desk and transform the closet into a tiny craft room! My fiancé was a bit skeptical at first, but finally agreed to completely refurbish the closet with me. And I’m very happy with the outcome of our hard work. It turned out even better than I had expected!

Well it’s nothing like some stunning, spacious craft studios I’ve seen, but it’s cute and it’s mine and I love it :)  I’m inspired by its vibrant colours, and it’s great to have all my scrapbooking supplies on display close to my desk.

Small work space is also very practical; it’s easy to keep things organized when everything’s on hand, and you just have to tidy up often because you don’t have enough room to work if there’s stuff laying around.

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Amazing, huh?  Laurana makes me want to rethink the little corners of my own home and use lots of color.  To catch more pictures of her space and her life, check out Laurana’s blog.  Unfortunately for you and me, it’s not in English… but don’t worry.  It’s still as totally drool-worthy as this redesigned small space.

I used to be one of those shoebox people.  You know – odds and ends all got sorted into shoeboxes.  It was the most unattractive system imaginable, and I usually hid everything in the closet.  Yet it worked.  It was also really easy to pick up and haul every time Martin and I moved.  But lately I’ve been dreaming about a beautiful and organized desk that includes zero shoeboxes.

I have a little desk in Germany.  (You’ve seen a few glances at it when I’ve made this and this.)  We put all our attention on the kitchen and creating Martin’s desk in the living room where we’d have guests.  I was okay with that.  And I’m completely fine with making a dining table my current desk in the suburbs.  Except next week when we head for the hills, I’d like to put together something more attractive.  (I’m also banning any access to those drop-dead amazing office spaces companies like Pottery Barn create in their catalogues.  Those images do nothing for my effort toward simple living.  Sooo beautiful!)

To begin organizing a more attractive workspace, the first thing I did was start sewing fabric boxes like I saw in a library book.  (The Sometimes Crafter also put together a wonderful tutorial for similar fabric boxes.)  My favorite new box holds stationery (my top shoebox item before).  It’s such an easy, stylish way to display my cards and envelopes.  And don’t they fit just perfectly?  Plus my letter writing has multiplied with such easy access to pretty cards.

How do you store your stationery?  I’m still trying to organize our envelopes and limited larger cards, so please share away!  We’d love to hear about the stationery situation at your house.

And did you notice?  I used the same fabric as my pencil holders from this tutorial.  Looking clever already, no?

(Image for Making This Home)

We had guests from Germany visiting this last weekend.  I’ve been a guest at a number of German homes, but this was the first time Germans have come to visit me in the US.  This couple (who introduced us to this amazing European music) has spent a lot of time in the US, so they weren’t surprised by the enormous cars, huge parking lots, or the relative disorder compared to German living.  What they hadn’t done before is visit a newer home in American suburbs like where we’re staying for another week.

I got to see culture shock in reverse.  Would you like to hear?

1.  Wall-to-wall carpeting is the norm in the US.  Not in Germany. Germans hate the idea of all the dust and grime that can build up in carpeting, so homes are never carpeted.  Like Germans, we take our shoes off in the house, so the couple kept lifting their feet like they were stepping in mud whenever they were on the carpet.  It reminded me of a little kid learning to walk.  They avoided the carpet as much as possible.

2.  American walls are hollow; German walls are not. We learned this the hard way when we started tearing down our apartment walls for our kitchen remodel in Berlin.  We expected hollow walls, and we found this:

Meanwhile, our guests couldn’t believe all of our walls were hollow.  When the wind starts blowing really hard, the heating system has to work really hard as all the heat blows out of the house.

3.  The average home in the US is much, much larger than in Germany because things like building materials, water, and electricity are a fraction of the price.  From our guests’ point of view, strips of grass between the sidewalk and street are a waste of water.  Huge homes should have multiple generations.  Large open areas in a home are too expensive and inefficient.

4.  The first thing Americans do when a guest comes to visit is give a tour of their homes; Germans never do. In Germany, places like the bedroom are private places.  You don’t get a peek unless the homeowner leaves the door open.  In the US, we get to be nosey.  We show our homes because it is a piece of us, allowing our guests to better understand us and feel comfortable and relaxed in our homes.

5.  At dinner, the first thing Americans will start asking when they’re visiting each other is, “How can I help?”  Not in Germany. This point is the hardest for me in Germany because the best thing you can do is leave a German cook alone.  Germans are organized and efficient, and they prefer to work on the task in the most productive way… which often doesn’t involve a guest’s help.  Your hosts actually have more respect for you when you let them do their thing.  As an American, I’m ready to jump in and roll up my sleeves so I can feel useful.  It is difficult to relax in another room at the same time.

6.  Screens are a problem. If you want to drive a German out of his mind, install screens on every door and window so his view is masked.  If you want to irritate an American, let the mosquitos fly in through the open windows all night because you have no screens.

Any cultural differences you’ve run into?  Heck, even generation to generation has some major differences.  Wanna share any that pop into your mind?  Meanwhile, we’re taking our guests to Costco.  Can’t get much different than that if you’re used to buying milk by the liter.

Psst… Check out the culture shock Americans have moving to Germany.  Or even more startling, the culture shock I had in the United States when I went back home after months as an expat in Germany.

Do you ever open your folder of digital photos and find yourself getting completely lost in all the wonderful memories?  Will you go in search for one picture and wind up looking at dozens of others?  It happens all the time at our house.  But you know what?  We never seem to say, “Why did we take that picture?”  Our usual response is something more along the lines of, “Why didn’t we take more pictures?”

Taking more pictures doesn’t sound like something that suits our Simpler Life Series until you look at it differently.  Taking everyday pictures is a beautiful way to capture the simple moments of our lives.  It forces you to slow down and think about your home, your family, and your community.

Day-to-day life always feels the same each day.  We don’t really think of ourselves as growing and changing.  We are changing and growing, though.  Sure we see young babies developing (which is why parents often capture wonderful shots of their children’s days).  For you and me, a lot of those changes happen inside of us.  (I prefer to not think of external changes like wrinkles and gray hairs just yet.)  These moments in our growing lives are seldom captured unless we’re on vacation or doing something fun.  What if you changed that?

Look back on how your life was one year ago.  Who were you then?  I doubt most of us would remember if it weren’t for photographs.  We have endless and cheap access to hard drives.  Programs like iPhoto can tag the people in our pictures for us, organize our pictures into groups, and hide less significant pictures when we want to do quick scans.  It’s all so easy.  So why not take more pictures?

Elise at “Elise Blaha: enJOY It” takes a picture every day of the month.  Then at the end of the month, she puts together a little collage on her blog.  It tells a wonderful story of the season and her life.  Her pictures capture such moments of simplicity that I imagine most of us wouldn’t notice in our own lives unless we take on a project like hers.

So guess what I’m hooked on doing.  

My month project: a photograph a day.  A glimpse of the everyday, simple moments in the places we live.  (May 1 -4 shown above.)

Would you be willing to try an experiment and take more pictures?   Small Notebook has some great tips for organizing digital pictures on a PC.  And for those of you with blogs, consider photographing some of the small things in your day.  Leave a link below so we can all check it out!

(Images for Making This Home)

As promised, I’ve got an easy tutorial for making your own fabric stencil projects like I did for these last minute baby gifts.  This project is incredibly simple, and it looks fabulous.  I’ve been coming up with every excuse NOT to stencil for months because I was afraid of messing up.  Now I’m hooked, and I’m anxious to make more baby gifts for a few more cousins (hint hint!).  I just know you’ll find it surprisingly simple, too.  Give ‘er a shot!

Make Your Own Stenciled Fabric

1. Round up supplies. All you’ll need are the fabric or clothing you’ll want to stencil, parchment paper or butcher paper, fabric paint, and a stiff paintbrush.

2.  Pre-wash your fabric. This way, the fabric won’t shrink later, and you can wash off all the factory sprays and smells from your project that might restrict paint from absorbing completely.

3. Draw your stencil onto parchment paper or butcher paper and cut out with an exacto knife.  This entire project is great for kids if – obviously – an adult does the cutting.

4. Prepare to paint. Lay a piece of junk mail between layers of fabric to keep them from sticking and arrange your stencil the way you’ll want the image to appear.  If the paper wants to curl, put heavy weights like books and soup cans on the corners.

5.  Dab the paint on with your brush. For this project, I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint from Joann’s, color Sunshine Yellow Matte.  To best spread the paint and avoid getting paint under your stencil, place the brush on the stencil paper and make small, steady strokes onto the fabric.

6.  Wait four hours for the fabric to dry. Now some people say you should leave things like these stencils on the fabric until it’s dry.  The idea is that picking up the stencil will smear the fabric.  But me?  I prefer to pull the stencil straight into the air like it’s a graduation cap I’m about to throw.  I do this will all of my projects partly because I’m impatient and partly because I want to be able to do touchups while everything is wet.  I do the exact same thing when I’m painting our house.  So stencil-on/stencil-off while it dries – it’s your call.  Either way, you’ve got to wait three or four hours for the paint to completely dry.

7.  Sew your newly stenciled piece into a bag or other project if necessary. It’s much easier to do this step at the end, especially if your paint smudges.

8.  Give ‘er away and wait for the next last minute gift you need to make someone special.

9.  Oh!  Make sure you tell people to wash these items inside out.

So what do you think?  Any cute stencil ideas that come to mind?  If you make any, we’d all love to see the pictures!

If you’re feeling extra crafty today, you might enjoy making recycled gift wrap and handmade gift tags to go with your little gifty.

We’ve been talking a lot about creating a simpler life the past few months.  Sometimes, it’s with the Simpler Life Series every Tuesday.  Other times, Martin and I are sharing tricks that we’ve spotted in Europe (like making fresh flowers last longer or lowering your utility bills).  Either way, we’ve covered a lot of area.  It’s time to put everything in one easy to access place… which is just what we’ve done!  Tip your head up just a bit and you’ll spot a new tab on the header called “A Simpler Life“.  

The new page is organized by category, so it’s easy to find ideas for organizing, donating unused contacts, feeling more European, finding acceptance… you name it!  It’s your one-stop spot for simplifying life and finding joy.  We’ll keep pulling together ideas for a simpler life, so the page will always be current.  

Here’s to a life with less stress!