Super easy wreath

I've never been one of those people who decorates for every single holiday, I go all out for Christmas, but the rest of the year my house looks pretty much the same, with the exception of some small seasonal changes, and the occasional switcharoo when I get bored with a vase or candle. I just don't see the point in having all those cutesy holiday decorations when my place already looks so great (plus I'm all about matching color schemes, so throwing in some pink for Valentine's day would totally clash with everything else that I own).

That said, I have also been feeling as though I've neglected my front porch, which is, you know, a pretty average front porch, except for the fact that no one ever uses it. The sidewalk from our driveway leads to our backdoor, and there is no sidewalk to the front door, so basically it's a wast of space. BUT it is the part of the house that you see when you drive by, and I promise I'm going somewhere with this incredibly long rant... where was I?

Oh yeah... anyways, I decided that the solution to my neglected front porch was a cute wreath, since I'm obsessed with the super-versatile Styrofoam wreath trend that is blowing up on Pinterest. And since nothing else that I own is seasonal, this seemed the perfect place to celebrate all of those random holidays.

Here is the super cute wreath that I made this afternoon

the base is made from 2" strips of burlap wrapped around a Styrofoam wreath form. The heart designs are hearts that I cut out of random pieces of cotton fabric that I had in my stash. After I cut them out I sewed them to cream colored fleece scraps to stiffen them a bit and add texture. And of course I used my hot glue gun to attache them to the wreath. Add a few bows and there you have it!

I have new pictures!

That's right I have new pictures of my studio, which will soon be fully functional. The construction is done, now it's my turn to take over. Luckily I have a day off on Monday (I love compressed summer work weeks!!!!) so I will be moving in this weekend. Of course, when that is finished I will have some more pictures for you.

Up to this point one of my favorite activities has been collecting wonderful finds to fill up this space. The most important factor in my purchases has been the purpose of the item, and I have really focused on collecting items that are going to help me keep the space organized. Here are some of the storage solutions that I am currently drooling over (all are available on etsy!).

A gorgeous trinket box from KypresjackDesigns. Completely my style, a little pricy, but absolutely beautiful.

This is actually a drawer from a vintage sewing machine, which would be completely perfect for a crafting studio. Available from RiverBendRanchStudio

I think these little felt bins are my favorite, and I am so going to make a set of these myself, although, if I can't find the time I just may buy them from sewingmomma

All About Me!

Who am I? That's a great question, and I could give you a generic answer that doesn't really tell you a lot about who I really am, but seeing as this blog is about my experiences as a new business owner, it helps for you to know a little about me. The more that you know about me, the more you will understand what I have to say. I'm Erin. I graduated from college in December, and I was ecstatic to be offered a full-time position as a preschool teacher right away. Unfortunately, at the end of the school year the school was forced to downsize, and I was suddenly out of a job, which is a pretty familiar story right now.

I understood that there was a possibility that I could be looking for a job for quite some time, so in the meantime I needed something that would keep me busy, and hopefully bring in a little money. I have always thought that it would be wonderful to work for myself, and I know that I may never have this opportunity again, so faced with a whole bunch of free time and some creative inspiration, along with that little voice in the back of my head that keeps saying "you can do this", I've started my own small business.

I run Obsessively Organized (a name that describes me pretty well), a paper goods organization which produces weekly planners, academic organizers, wedding plan books, journals, and teacher lesson plan books. At least, that's all that I make right now, who knows what my business will grow into (I hope it grows into something!). All of my layouts are completely original, I've designed them all myself, and I've used many of them in my own personal calendars and planners when I was in college.

As if my own business wasn't enough to keep me busy all summer, I have spent a huge amount of my time volunteering for my favorite youth development organization. Some people think that I have spent my summer being a lazy bum without a job, but you can tell that those people don't know me too well. The word "lazy" is not a part of my vocabulary. I've learned a lot in the month since I started Obsessively Organized, but I know that I have just barely grazed the surface of the knowledge that I will accumulate as my business grows. So follow along through all of my ups and downs. I can assure you that it will be entertaining, i'm generally good for the occasional laugh, especially at my own expense. And don't forget to check out my shop at http://obsessivelyorganized.etsy.com/ !