Welcome to the Craft Room—a cozy corner of our simple living blog where creativity meets purpose. Here, you’ll find a curated collection of sewing, paper crafts, and woodworking projects designed to inspire your hands and enrich your home.
Whether you’re stitching up reusable household items, crafting heartfelt gifts with paper, or building small wooden treasures, these projects blend timeless techniques with modern simplicity. Perfect for beginners and seasoned crafters alike, every tutorial emphasizes sustainable materials, practical outcomes, and the joy of creating something uniquely yours.
Let’s make crafting a part of your simple living journey—one project at a time. Ready to get started? Dive in and discover how crafting can add beauty, functionality, and fulfillment to your daily life!
Our family has been a Boy Scout family for 12 years and you would think that we would have all kinds of Scouting t-shirts laying around. And we do, but not always in the size that is needed. Gabriel is going to be working on staff at a National Youth Leadership Training camp over spring … Read more
There’s something about this life we’ve chosen, something that we can’t get away from and I just have to be okay with. What is that something? you ask messes I walk in the door from grocery shopping and this is what I find… the beginnings of wood working right on my living room floor… … Read more
This post contains affiliate links; you can learn more on our disclosure page. The dance company that Phoebe is involved in has a big sister/little sister program. They pair the junior company members with with senior company members so that each girl has someone specific to go to when she has questions or needs help. It also helps the older girls to reach out to … Read more
When I was making the cushion for rocking chair I thought the fabric would be great for a grocery bag holder. The one I have matched the old house but not this one. So while I was making the bag I thought I’d do a little tutorial… Materials needed 20″ X 27″ piece of fabric … Read more
Welcome to this week’s link up of Handmade Christmas gifts. All the categories will be open for links through Nov. 31st so make sure to go back through and see what everyone is linking up. Also, feel free to link up items as you complete them. The hardest people for me to make gifts … Read more
When my older children were little their Grandpa gave them a finger print art book. They are way beyond finger print art but Esther thought it was so “beautiful” when I showed it to her. (disclaimer: that was the only link I could find to the book. I’m guessing it’s out of print, I know … Read more
wow! I can’t believe it’s week 5 already. The summer is just flying by. We had fun making this dress today. We saw a similar dress in the quilt shop hop we did a few weeks ago and I knew I wanted to include a back tie dress in the sew~along. So we took the … Read more
Yikes, getting the tutorial up late is becoming a habit. Hopefully one I will break next week. This is our fourth week and if you’ve been making a dress each week I bet you’re becoming quite confident in the construction of a pillowcase dress. Also, I hope you are beginning to realize the variations are … Read more
The first time I made Phoebe a pillowcase dress I made it the traditional way and I thought it was pretty cute. It was a little hard to get the ribbon tied without the dress falling off but we eventually got it done. When Christian, who was then about 11, saw it he declared it “inappropiate”. … Read more
So, what exactly do you need to make a traditional pillowcase dress? Fortunately, not much. Here’s the basic list… pillowcase ribbon sewing machine matching thread ric rac or other embellishments (optional) For some of the other variations you will need… 1/4″ elastic elastic thread bias tape (you can make your own, if you want) extra … Read more
For our summer sew-along I thought we’d make some pillowcase dresses. Before you roll your eyes click off this post, hear me out. As I thought about projects that are fit the parameters that I want to keep for a summer sew along I believe that the pillowcase dress and variations of it will fit … Read more
In the spirit of “keeping it real” I thought I’d share a fun, but failed, craft we did the other night. It all started when we were planning out a co-op class for our younger elementary students. We’re learning about Valentine’s Day this month and thought these bath fizzies would make a fun craft. Apparently … Read more
In our last “lesson” we talked about how to read the outside of a pattern package. Now that we have that down and have picked our fabric it’s time to cut it out. When you open the package you will find some pattern pieces and some instructions. On the first page of the instructions there … Read more
This spring I’ll be doing a lot of sewing for our drama group using commerical patterns. I thought this would be a good opportunity to teach Phoebe how to work with commercial patterns. As I began her instruction, I realized just how confusing commerical patterns can be for someone with limited or no knowlege of … Read more
This post contains affiliate links; you can read more on our disclosure page. A couple of years ago, Josiah made silhouettes for Christmas gifts for Carl and I, grandparents, aunts and uncles. It was such a fun gift! I’ve always loved silhouettes. One of the classes I help teach at our homeschool co-op is for … Read more
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we were putting together fun activities for Esther to do when no one is available to play with her. I’ve used alot of the same stuff I used with my older children, but Crystal from Money Saving Mom has been posting some things she has either made for or … Read more
I hope you have enjoyed the Summer Sewing School. We have had a great time here, it ‘s been something that my children have looked forward to each week. This is our last lesson and if you have done all the projects you have learned some basic skills that will enable you to create all … Read more
When we go to the library we always wind up with a huge stack of books. I’m sure it’s just because there are so many of us. All the children have their own cards and I guess I should have them each check out their own books, but then its a mess when we try … Read more
Boy, these summer weeks are moving fast! I can’t believe that this is our 5th sewing class. Today we are making lined tote bags. Tote bags are great for the beginner sewer because you don’t have to be exact, you just have to be consistent. For this bag, we will be using a 1/4 inch … Read more
Note: If you’re wondering how to sewing and not break your budget, I’ve written a guest post for Money Saving Mom titled Five Ways to Save Money on Sewing Supplies. There are some great ideas in the comments so be sure to read those also. In the hustle and bustle of getting ready for children’s … Read more