Improved Spaces, Inside and Out

 Grandma Jo recently gifted her old Cricut to Evelyn and me.  Not knowing for sure where to put it, it found a home upstairs by the printer.  Then we were looking through some fun things from Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Evan's house as it is being cleaned out, and came across some of Grandma's craft supplies.  No one else had claimed them, so we got to bring them home.  The Cricut machine and a bunch of fun new craft supplies inspired me to create an actual craft area in our house.  Evie and I love to do crafts, and these usually end up being done on the dining room table (which is VERY evident if you've ever seen our table!), but I had supplies strewn all over the house.  Since our upstairs is very "under-appreciated" (in the words of my boys), being used primarily for family movie nights, I decided this could be a perfect place for a dedicated craft space.  We had a 6 foot table to use, but were in need of chairs.  I looked on Marketplace and found some folding chairs for just $3 each, only a couple of miles from our house!  These cool, vintage chairs were a little rough, but I love a good before-and-after!  I scrubbed them well, spray painted them glossy black, and recovered the seats and backs with some bright red vinyl.  They are perfect for our new room!

I gathered up supplies from nearly every room of the house and got busy organizing.  We used the old furniture from Violet's room to house most of the supplies.  Evelyn did a great job of labeling the drawers so we would know what was in each one.

The other half of the room can still serve as our "family movie night" space, and now we can properly appreciate our awesome upstairs with some creative space as well!  So that's the improved space on the inside, mainly for the girls.  The improved space on the outside is primarily for the boys.  A friend of Grandpa Kermit and Jackson, Raymond, offered to come over and paint basketball court lines on the concrete where their goal is.  I had no idea what an undertaking this was!  He had all sorts of boards and measuring sticks and ropes to make sure it was all done to the correct dimensions. Once he had it drawn and taped off, he let the boys come in and help with the painting. 

Their finished court looks so official!

I have no doubt that BOTH our inside and outside improved spaces will get plenty of use!