I haven’t done my nails in a little while, but on Friday, Manda came over, and we went on a 5 mile walk around Lake Merced, and then painted our nails and watched Coyote Ugly!

I saw some mushroom nail stickers on Etsy and was inspired to try painting some toadstools on my own.

Obvs, I am not the greatest nail artist in the world!! But what I did for the toadstool nails was paint the base color first (the light aqua), and then I used white acrylic paint and a tiny paint brush to paint out all the mushrooms and grass. The white background helps the colors pop on top. Then, I painted in the red toadstool tops with acrylic paint, and also some light green grass. After that layer dried (acrylic paint dries pretty quickly), I dotted on the mushroom spots and then gave the grass some dark green glitter polish to make it pop. Then the whole thing got a top coat of Seche Vite.

I really like how they turned out!!! I have magical forest fingers!

So again the whole reason I’m making time to clean up is to take photos for a crafty-space magazine. A lot of my stuff is in plastic bins, but those bins are not like…. cute or anything. They’re just cheap and easy to get. So I decided that curtains would be the way to go. HOWEVER, I do not sew (yet!) so that was a big road block for me.

Enter: Fabric Fuse!  (This is not a sponsored post, but that is an Amazon affiliate link). It’s a double-sided tape for hemming fabric. I thought it was pretty amazing, but I could feel the eyes of all my seamstress/designer friends rolling at me. I also bought some tape that you iron-on, but the fabric I picked is some kind of weird synthetic, so I didn’t feel confident about ironing it. This Fabric Fuse has some not-s0-great reviews on Amazon, so I have no idea how long my hems will hold up, but of now, it’s pretty great! It’s not like I’m wearing my curtains around town all day long, so I think they will be fine. (P.S. I WOULD wear them, but the fabric is kinda itchy on the skin….. Yes, I was dancing around in my curtains at 2 a.m. to try them out.) I hemmed the top and the sides and just trimmed the bottom raw.  The curtains are held up with velcro. I used hot glue to glue one side of the velcro to my table, and then used hot fabric glue to get the velcro onto the curtain. Nothing has fallen down as of this moment!

I was also excited to re-purpose my EAT CAKE pompom garland that I made especially for my Michaels promo video. I love how everything came together! But even with the velcro tabs, this is probably not a super practical option for me everyday, since I open the drawers behind the curtain A LOT. They hold all my office supplies and some craft supplies as well.  Plus the EAT CAKE garland is totally in the way. But at least I have a cute option now if I ever need to snap a photo for something!

I still have a big work table that needs a curtain, but I ran out of fabric. I originally bought some other less crazy fabrics, but the fringey cowgirl fabric was actually the most fun and looked the least like I was hanging bedsheets. It reminds me of party decorations!!! It’s a LOT of pink to have in my room, but I guess I don’t mind pink…

Here’s the yarn wall.

I LOVE NOT HAVING BOXES IN MY ROOM. But are there boxes in the hallway and the living room. YES. But at least I know now what I’m getting rid of. Update soon for yarn and knickknackery sales!

Sorry for the gross iPhone photos. I need to edit the good ones! Going to do that now!

I’ve been totally working on picking up my space and sorting through all the boxes. It feels really good to do this, although, it’s hard to get other work done as well! I’ve been getting obsessed with creating cute little nooks and crannies, and I really want to paint everything, like my shipping-label printer, but I have to remember to just snap some dang photos for this magazine already!!! EEEP!!!

Anyhoo! My group giveaway is launching in 5 days, and it’s not too late for you bloggers and indie biz owners to pick up a medium-sized ad if you’d also like to participate in the giveaway. (You can also grab a large ad, but that spot won’t open up until Sept. 26 since there is only one large spot each month!).

It’s Celebrity Week at Michaels Stores, and I was so super duper honored to be included in this party! Like, hello, this is as close to Betsey, Isaac, and Martha as I’ll ever get! (Actually, Betsey was appearing at her old store in LA one time, and we happened to be in town, but I was not feeling cute, and I think we’d been hoofing it around all day, so decided to pass!) If you click on the “Meet the Stars” page, most of us have little promo videos!

All week, there will be craft tips, new products, and special sales at Michaels. I am promoting a new crochet class that will be taught exclusively at Michaels Stores starting in October and running through December.  Please note, that I will not be personally teaching this class, but I wrote the pattern that certified instructors will be teaching you. The project is a Strawberry Cake Scarf, and it’s also a really great pattern for beginners! I am not sure if they have plans to post the pattern online or not, so you should take the class if you want it, especially in time for the holidays!

I linked the above banner to the link that is from the Michaels email newsletter, but it doesn’t link directly to my class in particular. Just click onto “Knit & Crochet” classes, and then click on the “Book Your Class Now” button. Enter your zipcode, click on a local store, and check out their class listings for October. My class does not show up at my closest store, so I’m curious if it’s scheduled yet anywhere else! Also, maybe something else will happen on “my” Celebrity Day, so let’s hold tight and see what happens! I’m assuming that will be next Saturday or Sunday!

Hey, Aussie babes!! Pick up the September issue of Homespun Magazine to see my lil Radish Scarf in their “Best of the Best from Pinterest” highlights along with lots of other fun, spring projects!