Some of us are blessed with a space where we can relax and work on our crafts. Others don’t have a space but have the funds to work on our craft room ideas. I am blessed to fall into the latter category. This is the story of how my personal creative space came into being.

Craft Room Ideas: How It Began

When we purchased our house, the basement was entirely unfinished. It consisted of bare cement walls with a cement floor and hookups for laundry appliances. The furnace and the water heater are housed in this space.

The decision was made to line the walls with shelving units for additional storage. The ceiling was nothing but bare studs and floor beams with bare bulbs providing light.

My Personal Space

As time went on, I began to create a space in one part of this large basement room for my own personal use. My husband insisted that I would never spend any time ‘down there.’ He considered the basement too dark and dreary. It was dark, but I did not view it as dreary. I saw potential for personal space.

Initially, I set up my treadmill along with a TV to watch while I walked. I soon added my yoga mat and sewing machine table. In followed my craft table, along with drawer units to house my materials. It did not take long before I had turned the basement into my personal space.

My husband was shocked at first that I wanted to spend time there. Then he realized that I actually needed that space. As an introvert, I need time and space to myself. That space was where I went to rejuvenate and recharge.

The Analysis

We did an extensive analysis and realized that we had the funds to invest in creating a room for me out of one half of the basement space. By erecting a wall down the center of the basement to create my room we could also make the other 1/2 of the basement more usable. Bonus!

It’s All in the Details

Making the decision to create my space was the easy part. The planning and decision-making that came after that was the part I had to really think through. For instance, I needed to decide how many electrical outlets I needed and where I wanted them.

Who knew that I needed to know at what height the outlets should be placed along with where on the walls they should be placed? What kind of lighting did I want, and where did I want it? Choosing the paint color was simple by comparison.

These decisions required me to put considerable thought into what activities I planned to do and where I planned to do them within my space.

Unexpected Expenses

It was while the electrical work was being done that we discovered that our current electrical box had a short in it. Rather than trying to make it work, we decided that it was safer to have it replaced.

This was not an expense that was planned, but there are typically unexpected expenses when you are undertaking a project like this.

Organization of Your Craft Room Ideas

The finished room was on the small side, so I decided that the only closet would be the one to house the electrical box and the large plumbing pipes. I would use portable storage as well as the shelving units in the laundry room section of the basement.

This would allow me to maximize my space while keeping it from becoming cluttered. Craft tables that can be folded and put away also allowed for saving space.

I decided that the only permanently-placed objects would be my sewing machine cabinet, my treadmill and my electronic keyboard. Everything else was fluid depending on my project needs.

Because I knew where my permanent items would be placed, I could then decide on the lighting I needed. Thus I have 3 individual switches for 3 different sets of lights.

I chose double outlets at all locations so that would allow me to avoid using power strips.

We put the lights and the outlets on separate circuits in the electrical box because I had fears of overloading circuits.

Heating and Cooling

I am using a wall-mounted ceramic heater as my heat source for cooler weather. It is always cool in this space in the warmer months so there is no need to add anything for cooling.

We chose to use the best and thickest carpet pad we could buy. It serves to provide warmth and comfort to both the room and my feet. It is a cement floor so we knew we should not cheap out on the carpet pad.

Moving In

As I stated previously, I decided to have only a few permanently placed items. The rest will all be mobile.

I am enjoying my new space very much. I am truly blessed.

Do you have a personal space where you can relax and work your crafts and hobbies? What is your favorite space in your home where you can create and relax? What craft room ideas can you share with our community? Please join the conversation below!

Fifty years of marriage is a milestone worthy of praise and celebration. Do you know a happy couple that’s going to be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary soon?

Maybe you are the one with the upcoming 50th anniversary? The 50th anniversary is also called the Golden Anniversary and is oftentimes represented with gifts made of gold.

But let’s face it, the couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary is likely in their 70s and beyond, and they probably don’t need any more “stuff” – be it gold or not – to clutter their space.

I think that experiences and personalized presents make the best gifts. They provide lasting memories and show the happy couple how much you care. Do you need some thoughtful gift ideas for an upcoming 50th wedding anniversary? I’ve got you covered with this list.

A Travel Experience

The happy couple may have been dreaming of traveling to a specific place for years but never got around to it or didn’t have the means to make it happen. This can be a group effort where you can pool money from friends and family and send them off to their dream destination.

You can also surprise them with a secret destination. Why not make it a family event and send the couple off with their family members. Cruise vacations make an excellent choice because they are all-inclusive and effortless.

Note: Stick to travel adventures in your country of residence during periods where international travel health risks are a concern (such as the Covid-19 pandemic). Check with current health and safety travel advisories before purchasing travel tickets.

A Family Event

At this point in our lives, we tend to enjoy family time more than ever. The kids and the grandkids are probably spattered all over the place, and we don’t get to see them as often as we would like.

Why not plan a get-together and gather as many family members as you can? This takes quite a bit of planning, but the happy couple will definitely appreciate the gesture and the memories that will be created.

Treat it like a wedding of sorts and hire an event planner. A 50th wedding anniversary is quite an achievement and is worthy of a big celebration. You can pool money from family and friends to fund the party.

A Couple’s Photoshoot

Another way to create memories is to offer a personalized portrait photoshoot for the couple. You can hire a local professional photographer or do it yourself if you have some photography skills.

A fun idea is to recreate their wedding photos. Try to set up the photoshoot in the place where they got married and choose attire that resembles what they wore on their happy day. Print out the photos and mount them in gold picture frames so they can enjoy them in their home.

A Personalized Box of Goodies

Put together a basket of their favorite things if you know them well enough. It can be food items and special treats. Some companies create exquisite gift boxes and offer to deliver straight to the receiver’s door.

A Course or Class

Classes – online and in real life – are quite trendy at the moment. It’s never too late to learn something new. Maybe the happy couple always wanted to learn about photography? Maybe they’d like to learn creative writing?

Help them learn from the masters at Masterclass. How about learning French Pastry Fundamentals from Dominique Ansel or Creative Writing with Margaret Atwood. These classes are offered online and can be completed at an individual pace.

A Couple’s Spa Treatment

Who doesn’t love to be pampered!? I know I do. Booking a spa day for the Golden Anniversary couple makes a great gift if they normally avoid splurging on these types of treatments for themselves.

Get them a gift card so that they can choose the treatments that they want.

A Memory Photo Book

A half-century of communal living will automatically generate lots of memories. Births of children, birthday parties, anniversary trips, family get-togethers, holidays, and so much more.

You can gather some of the photos taken at special events during their lives together and create a personalized photo book. Websites like Shutterfly will create a custom book for you or you can design it yourself and have it delivered to their home.

Ask around among family and friends for photos of the couple. Maybe you will discover photos that they have never seen before.

Alternately, if money is an issue, you can get crafty and create the photo album yourself. Adding some personal words and thoughts to the album is a warm gesture and sure to melt the happy couple’s hearts.

Do you know of someone who celebrated or is close to celebrating their Golden Anniversary? What do you think will make a thoughtful gift for them? Have you celebrated your 50^th wedding anniversary? Which of the gifts you received did you like best? Which ones did you absolutely hate? Do you have some personal ideas or experiences for a Golden Anniversary that you want to share with the community? Please use the comment box below.

Garcelle Beauvais’ Denim Trim Cardigan

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 10 Episode 10 Fashion

Aside from being a mom and loving her a man named Michael, Garcelle Beauvais is also busy being a boss. On tonight’s episode we saw her in a meeting that was about Hollywood script stuff that was frankly somewhat over my head. But do you know what wasn’t lost on me? The little CC’s on the buttons of Garcelle’s denim trim cardigan. That is some script that I’ll always understand.

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Cardigan Sold out by Chanel

Originally posted at: Garcelle Beauvais’ Denim Trim Cardigan

I’ve never had a migraine, nor has any member of my family. In truth, watching Khloé Kardashian deal with migraine symptoms on Keeping Up With The Kardashians over the years was my first up-close look at how severe migraine pain could be—and I’m not the only one who was educated thanks to Kardashian’s decision to be open about her struggle.

It’s so easy to assume that celebrities, with their glossy lives and perfect Instagram feeds, don’t have to deal with everyday ailments and inconveniences. But when these people choose to let fans and followers in on their struggles, the result can be a beautiful bonding experience. That’s exactly what I felt when I spoke to Khloé Kardashian about her long history of migraine pain, and the scenes in which I’d watched her suffer through it on the show. “It’s so funny, when that was happening, I was like ‘Stop filming me,’” she says of the first time the KUWTK crew filmed her mid-migraine. “You’re so on edge when you have a migraine, and any little thing just annoys the hell out of you. I was like, ‘Get out of my face, stop filming me, no one cares to watch this.’”

At the time, Kardashian thought the footage wouldn’t entertain viewers—and in a way, she was right, but she majorly underestimated the clip’s power. Rather than entertain, it raised awareness and allowed fans to see first-hand what migraine pain was really like. “It’s so interesting how many people remembered that from the show,” she says. “But that just shows how many people do suffer from migraines or know somebody who does, because for some reason everyone remembers that scene of me laying on that couch in agony.”

I was like, ‘Get out of my face, stop filming me, no one cares to watch this.’

As a mega-celeb in the public eye, Kardashian has waded her way through enough tabloid headlines to know that people will pick and choose which parts of her story they want to believe—but when it comes to her migraine journey, she wants to be sure she’s heard loud and clear. Her first migraine symptoms began at age 12, making her a regular at the school nurse’s office.

Invisible illness is a hard concept to grasp for those who haven’t experienced it, and if a person who gets migraines knows no one else with the same pain, it can become quite an isolating burden. “I don’t have anyone in my family who has migraines, so I would express how I was feeling to my family and they would all just kind of say, ‘Oh, you have a headache,’ and brush me off,” she recalls. It wasn’t until a family friend suggested she see a neurologist that she realized she could seek out help for her pain.

That said, the diagnosis itself is often easier than the journey to finding relief. “I’ve tried everything under the sun, from homeopathic remedies to acupuncture to peppermint oil,” Kardashian says, adding that she used to regularly tweet her followers asking for their at-home recommendations. “You get desperate, you just want some sort of relief,” she says.

When she first reached out to her fans, she was overwhelmed with support, and surprised that so many of her followers could relate. “I know my fan base, we’re like BFFs in my head, so when I saw people like, ‘Oh my gosh I suffer from migraines, too,’ that was surprising for me—just how many people I saw that were in this little group with me, the migraine group,” she says.

I get presented and offered a million things a day, but if it doesn’t work for me I’m not just going to talk about it.

Kardashian says she has found relief, though, and it came via new migraine therapy Nurtec ODT (rimegepant), which is approved for the acute treatment of migraine in adults—so much so, in fact, that she’s become an advocate for their Take Back Today campaign, the focus of which is to foster a digital community where people with migraine can connect and share their experiences. The campaign encourages people with migraine to use the hashtag #TakeBackToday on social media to share their stories.

Like so many other people with migraine symptoms, Kardashian had her fair share of trial and error before she found a medication that worked for her. “For my whole adult life I was trying different prescriptions, prescribed and over the counter, and I was actually given Nurtec ODT as a sample,” she shares. It was after success with the sample that Kardashian consulted her doctor about the decision to use the dissolvable medication long-term. “I have been looking for a remedy, a medication, for something for so long. I get presented and offered a million things a day, but if it doesn’t work for me, I’m not just going to talk about it.”

Source: Instagram

Real talk: With everything going on in the world right now, we’re all more on-edge than usual. For Kardashian and so many others, stress is a major migraine trigger. “With the pandemic, I was experiencing more migraines because of stress and the uncertainty of the world,” she admits. Even outside of a global pandemic, it’s easy to see that Kardashian lives a majorly stressful life, with millions of followers watching (and judging) her every move, many of which end up captured on reality TV the following season. On top of all that, she’s a mother to beautiful toddler True, who just might be the most beloved baby on Instagram.

Kardashian insists that wanting to show up for her daughter was part of what made her so determined to find migraine relief. “After my pregnancy, I experienced a spike in my migraines. I think it’s from hormones, I’m not really sure, but you get this Mom Guilt,” she says. “True just turned two not too long ago, so she’s not gonna remember all this, but as a new mom every little moment is precious to you. So when I do have a migraine and I’m knocked out for the day, I feel so terrible. You’re just like, ‘I’m such a bad mom.’”

Kardashian describes how frustrating it can be when True wants to play and all she wants to do is lay down and rest her head. When I joke during our interview that it sounds like a cliché medication commercial I’ve seen before, she acknowledges how true-to-life those commercials sometimes are. “Those commercials are so relatable because they’re just so spot-on,” she says, adding, “I’m just grateful that True is so young and I that have found relief for me.”

All the skeletons are out of my closet. I don’t really have anything to hide.

With True as her top priority, Kardashian has quickly discovered that maintaining her own health is essential to caring for her daughter. “We don’t realize how delicate our bodies are, and we just put them through the wringer every single day,” she says. “It’s kind of miraculous what our bodies can endure.”

With this in mind, Kardashian is taking steps to ensure both her mind and body stay healthy. “You can’t get rid of stress altogether, so you have to learn to cope with it,” she explains. “Working out has been a game-changer for me, drinking a lot of water…all the things that we should do that we probably don’t make ourselves do daily, but they all help.”

Whether or not you experience migraine symptoms or any other health issue, Kardashian’s advice applies to you: “Make sure that you always put yourself first. Take care of you,” she urges her fans. “I’ve always been pretty open—all the skeletons are out of my closet. I don’t really have anything to hide. I’m an open book and I’m happy to be, so I think people were surprised about the way I’ve been able to push through my migraines and still do what I have to do.”

That said, she doesn’t want to downplay the severity of her struggle. “It’s not that easy, so I want people to know, you’re not alone for wanting to lay your head on the floor and not lift it up. I’ve been there, and it just sucks.” The only way to get relief, though, is to proactively seek it out. “I think people put off medical advice because they’re afraid, but with information, then you can do something with it. If you have no information, you don’t even know where to start, so I think being informed is the best,” she insists. “But first and foremost, make sure that you’re happy and healthy, because that’s the heart of everything.”

Eileen Davidson’s Black Off the Shoulder Jumpsuit

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 10 Episode 10 Fashion

On tonight’s episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills it was so fun seeing some blasts from the past mixed with current Real Housewives with a side of Kardashian at Kyle Richards’ charity event. It was definitely one of biggest and best parties thrown by the BH babes to date, and that’s saying a lot.

I have to say, though she wasn’t known to bring the drama, it was weirdly comforting to see Eileeen Davidson enter the scene. And while I would have never pegged her to look good as a brunette I absolutely loved the look on her and the cut was complimented by her black off-the-shoulder jumpsuit. So while everyone seemed busy giving Camille Grammer the cold shoulder, Eileen’s being sold out in my size was the one that hurt the most feelings.

The Realest Housewife,

Big Blonde Hair

Click Here to Shop her Jay Godfrey Gwen Jumpsuit

Originally posted at: Eileen Davidson’s Black Off the Shoulder Jumpsuit