Organization Tips, Hacks, & Resources

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DreamBox 2020 Review – The Ultimate Craft Room Organization System

By Corinne 15 Comments Last Updated October 11, 2020

The ultimate craft room organization system – here’s an honest and thorough DreamBox review…

Hi friends! Today I’m sharing my office refresh/reveal featuring my new DreamBox from Create Room!

You might know Create Room by its former name, The Original Scrapbox.

They rebranded to Create Room shortly after I received my order.

I’ve been sharing little tidbits of my office transformation with my DreamBox on my Instagram stories for the last month, but I’ll admit that distance learning with two kids and a newborn has been kicking my butt and keeping me from being able to share this with you all sooner.

In this post, I’ll FINALLY be sharing my unboxing (well, uncrating) of my DreamBox, my new office setup, and complete review.

This post is in partnership with Create Room and contains affiliate links and a discount code for my readers and audience. All opinions are my own, as always.

What I Ordered From Create Room

Since moving to our new home, I gave up my built-in office cabinets and storage.

My new office was just an empty room.

I needed to start fresh and find a solution that worked for me that met all of the demands of my blogging, crafting, and homeschooling life.

After scrolling through Instagram over a year ago, I came across the DreamBox from what was then The Original Scrapbox.

I stalked their posts online for that entire year.

Everything was just so beautifully organized.

Their system made me feel inspired.

I also loved that you could close the DreamBox. With little ones running around or when we leave for vacation, it would be nice to close everything up and keep it stored safely!

After saving up and buying our new home, I decided it was finally time to invest in my DreamBox.

Here’s what I ordered from Create Room:

White Shaker-style DreamBox
80 tote & 77 Shelf Package
3 built-in drawers
Crown light
2-leaf DreamCart (comes with 13 InView™ totes)
Pre-built service

After reading about their pre-built service online, I decided it was worth the extra cost.

Create Room estimates building the DreamBox from start to finish takes about 5-10 hours.

The pre-built service cuts that down to somewhere between 1-3 hours, including the time you spend assembling the pegs, shelves, and putting in the different totes.

I also decided to get the overhead Crown light so I could see better at night when I’m crafting or working, as that’s when I do a lot of my editing and working because the kids are in bed and I have free hands to do #allthethings.

I should include that I work with white vinyl a lot of the time when I do labels, and weeding white vinyl can be tricky when you’re executing an intricate design, especially at night because white vinyl is backed by white paper.

For our homeschooling needs, I thought the DreamCart would be a perfect additional working counter space for our kids to work and create.

Plus, I can use the extra room for crafting when I’m working with more than one Cricut mat or multiple colors of vinyl rolls.

I can also fold down the two leafs and roll the DreamCart to the corner of the room if I need more floor space to create or work.

DreamBox Delivery

A couple of days before delivery, I received a call from the delivery service to schedule my DreamBox’s arrival to ensure I would be home to receive it.

When our order arrived, it was noted as a curbside delivery (which is standard for your DreamBox’s delivery), but we were able to persuade the delivery man to wheel our crate up the hill and our long driveway to the front of the garage.

Chris generously tipped him and helped with pushing the large crate since it was so heavy!

I was so excited to finally unbox this baby and carry it inside.

But I’m going to tell you this now – this thing is a beast.

You will absolutely need help! My husband and I both carried my DreamBox in, but I’m not even sure how we did it.

I would recommend having at least two, if not three, people to help you carry it indoors, especially if you have any steps that you need to go up or down.

Luckily, we only needed to worry about the two steps up onto the porch, and one step up into the house.

My Office – Before

Since moving into our new house, we switched up the rooms a bit.

My office was actually a small formal dining area, however, we already have a dining space off the kitchen, so it didn’t make sense to use this room as a dining space.

Soooooooo it became my office!

Well, before the DreamBox came along, it was really just a pile of my crafting and blogging stuff scattered on the floor…

You can see the amount of clutter and mess that is piled up in the center of the room.

All of my vinyl and iron-on rolls were still boxed up in the moving boxes.

You can probably see why I needed some help with craft room organization…

DreamBox Assembly

I got the pre-built service, which means the DreamBox is basically fully assembled (minus the individual pegs and shelves) when you receive it.

I highly recommend this service – it saves a lot of time, especially if you are like me with little ones running around and not a whole lot of time to spare!

We carried each door inside, and then the center portion of the DreamBox inside and attached the doors.

The fold-away table that comes with the DreamBox was already pre-installed (see below).

My husband installed the LED light for the crown and fixed the Crown to the top of my DreamBox according to the directions.

Then I began putting in the pegs and shelves.

The shelves are held up by plastic pegs, which you can put in the holes using a special black peg tool that comes with your DreamBox.

Trying to do it with just your fingers can hurt after a while, so I would recommend using the tool provided.

I’ll be holding onto my peg tool even after we’ve finished installing all of the shelves and totes in case I want to switch up my shelves and totes later on – it’s seriously a finger-saver!

Once my shelves were put up, I started putting in the clear plastic InView™ totes that came with my DreamBox.

I decided to get the 80 tote and 77 Shelf package since I had a variety of different materials to store, including multiple types of paper, vinyl, and blogging materials (like cords, chargers, camera lens, etc.).

These totes are great for craft room organization and can store a variety of crafting materials.

DreamBox Dimensions

When the DreamBox is closed, it is 37″ wide, 72″ tall, and 34″ deep.

Open, the DreamBox is 102″ wide, 72″ tall, and 49″ deep (with the fold-away table extended).

The included tabletop is 34.75″ wide and 35.5″ deep. The tabletop has different heights depending on the height you set it at, and can be set to a standing height if you prefer to stand while you craft!

Also, without any craft supplies or totes in the DreamBox, it weighs between 70-80 pounds.

Vinyl Storage

I decided to store my iron-on vinyl in the large pull-out totes (see below).

If you’re a big vinyl crafter like I am, I can tell you now that each 12.75×12.75″ container can hold 7 regular-sized rolls of vinyl or 6 boxes of infusible ink.

For my permanent vinyl rolls, I stood those up in the doors on the shelves and placed two acrylic bars in front of them to hold them up.

I could honestly double up the number of rolls I store this way on the door shelves as well, which might come in handy if I go on a vinyl-buying spree in the future ;).

Paper Storage

I stored all of my paper and sheet crafting materials (cardstock, patterned paper, wood veneer sheets, vinyl sheets, butcher paper, etc.) in the large pull-out totes on the other side of my DreamBox, and divided them up by the types of paper and material.

Infusible Ink And Cricut Materials

All of my Cricut blanks and infusible ink materials are stored in the center part of my DreamBox in large totes and a few shoebox totes.

Yarn Storage

For my yarn, I loved the way they looked stored in the shoebox totes.

If I decide to stock up on more yarn, I can always take them out of the toes and store them horizontally in the same space and stack them on each other to maximize the use of that space.

For reference, each shoebox tote can store about 4 regular-sized skeins of yarn.

Blogging Items

For blogging, filming, and editing, I have a number of cameras, lenses, and different equipment that I need to use and organize.

I decided to keep mine and Chris’ cameras in different shoebox totes, as well as our lenses, external hard drives, memory card readers, and cables, and chargers.

Additional Crafting Items

For the kids, I have a number of different craft items we use for free play, counting, and art.

I store those in the notions totes (the deep, narrow bins).

I also store individual projects I’m working on or weeding in these bins as well.

Crafting items are on the left, and projects are on the right.

Craft Room Organization With The Dreambox

I love my new office set up with my DreamBox!

Use code SLAYATHOMEMOTHER at checkout to save $100 off your DreamBox purchase!

Talk about craft room organization on steroids ;).

I pride myself on being clean and organized, but I don’t think I’ve ever been this organized.

The Dreambox comes seated on 12 heavy-duty Caster wheels which make opening, closing, and moving the DreamBox super easy!

There are four caster wheels on each door, and four on the main center box as well.

All of the caster wheels lock in place for extra stability.

P.S. Make your own tote covers for your DreamBox bins HERE.

Everything has a place, from my many vinyl rolls and paper crafting supplies to my camera equipment and sewing machine.

These hooks are handy for storing Cricut tools, fabric scissors, hole punches, and rotary cutters!

In my three built-in drawers, I have sewing machine needles, crochet hooks, Cricut machine replacement blades, and extra pegs for my DreamBox.

Two-Leaf DreamCart

Here’s what my two-leaf DreamCart looks like with just one leaf in use…

And here’s with both leafs in use! This is how we most commonly use ours…

The two-leaf DreamCart adds on the perfect counter space for our kids to work on their schoolwork, projects, or just break out some crafts and get creating!

Did I mention that the DreamCart can latch to the DreamBox table for an even, connected workspace?

DreamCart Dimensions

The two-leaf DreamCart is 69 1/2″x 28 1/2″.

If you’re interested in the one-leaf DreamCart, its dimensions are 44″ x 28 1/2″.

I’m so happy with my purchase of the DreamBox and DreamCart, along with all of the accessories I chose.

It truly is the perfect set up for crafting, working, and homeschooling!

I absolutely recommend the DreamBox as a perfect solution to all of your craft room organization needs.

Create Room Financing Options

I know, this baby is a dream. And it’s also an expense.

If you need financing to get your DreamBox, DreamCart, or accessories, Create Room has great financing options with Bread, with an APR as low as 0%.

You can pay off your loan over 6, 12, 24, or 36 months with no pre-payment penalties.

Woohoo!

Applying takes literally two minutes and you’re all set.

Have you purchased the DreamBox or DreamCart, or are you thinking of getting one? Tell me in the comments below!

Save $100 off your DreamBox with CODE: SLAYATHOMEMOTHER

*Post originally published May 2020, updated October 2020.

5 Ways To Get Your Home Organized With Cricut Joy

By Corinne Leave a Comment Last Updated April 9, 2020

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.

Quickly organize your home in 5 easy ways using the Cricut Joy and your favorite Design Space font…

This post is written in sponsorship with Cricut, a brand I use and love, however, all opinions are my own, as always. This post contains affiliate links at no cost to my readers.

Hi friends! This week’s post is all about organization, and I’m so excited to introduce the latest addition to my crafting and organizational tool arsenal – the Cricut Joy!

Can we talk about the color for juuuuuust a split second?

It’s bright teal – my favorite color in the whole world! Okay, I’m done being a five-year-old. But seriously, talk about love at first sight…

Now can we talk about its size?!

It’s tiny compared to my Explore Air 2! At 8″x4″x4″, it’s only a few inches wider than my hand is long.

I have to admit, I was drawn to try the Cricut Joy for an odd reason, but it might be one that some of you guys can understand, depending on what season of life you’re in right now.

We recently moved into our new home. It’s a beautiful house with great bones – but it needs some love and renovations to make it ours.

Mainly the kitchen, office, and one of the bathrooms.

Those rooms are the ones we use the most, so I knew we were going to be a little misplaced while the renovations were taking place, with most of our household items still packed away in moving boxes.

That meant that most of my Cricut supplies (mats, vinyl rolls, and Explore Air 2) would be packed away and I would be without a real workspace/craft room to work with for a while!

Not to mention the new homeschooling schedule that we recently picked up and are trying to get used to for both boys while juggling our newborn Zoey, with no dining room table, desk, or office table set up ;).

Things are feeling a little all over the place for us, but that’s life for us right now!

Enter Cricut Joy…it’s a compact machine that delivers the same cutting and writing function my other Cricut machine does with more convenience while taking up less counter space.

I can plug my Cricut Joy in on our kitchen counter or on the edge of our coffee bar, quickly cut my material, and store it on a shelf or in a cubby until I’m ready to cut again – no craft room or mat required!

So needless to say, the idea that the Joy was so compact and portable made it an easy choice to invest in.

With this machine, I can start to organize our chaos room by room (or area by area within a room) at my own pace while conserving counter space and sanity without needing to drag my much larger Explore Air 2 machine, materials, and mats in and out of moving boxes…

Cricut Joy can not only cut its Smart Materials in a length of up to 20 feet, but its Smart Materials can also be cut without the use of a mat!

You can, however, use a Cricut Joy compatible mat (available in StandardGrip and LightGrip) to cut any small leftover pieces of Cricut vinyl you have quickly and easily without having to whip out your larger machine and mats for a smaller cut.

I’m loving how much thought was put into making the Joy easy and compatible for us Cricut users!

It even writes, guys! Just switch out the blade for a Cricut Joy pen to create custom cards or to write labels on Smart Label writeable vinyl.

For my first project with the Cricut Joy, I organized our pantry in true Slay At Home Mother fashion, and I’ve got to tell you guys – I can’t wait to start organizing more with this machine!

My brain is already dancing around with the different possibilities and projects I can complete and share with you all.

Here are 5 easy ways to organize your home using the Cricut Joy…

Make your own pantry labels with Cricut joy

We recently moved into our new home, which means I needed to restock, organize, and label our new pantry!

With my Cricut Joy, it took me a whole 15 minutes to design, cut, apply gorgeous labels to my pantry containers, and up my organization game!

Design custom labels in design space

For these pantry labels, I took inventory of the containers and food items in my newly organized pantry that I wanted to label and wrote them all down.

This saves me time and energy from having to get up and double or triple check to ensure I didn’t forget a container ;).

If you want to skip designing your own labels and just use my design, click here!

I also briefly measured my containers to see what size I wanted each label to be.

FYI – my narrow containers are 2.5″, 6″, and 10″ wide, so I settled on making my labels two different sizes, 2″ and 5″ wide.

Next, I simply pulled up Design Space on my computer and started to type out my labels using a pretty cursive font named Emiline.

With cursive letters in Design Space, sometimes you have to play with how the letters are spaced. Click on Ungroup to Letters under Advanced to separate the letters and move them individually (see screenshot below).

Once you’ve spaced the letters to be where you’d like them to be, select all the letters in the word and click on Weld towards the bottom right of the screen (see screenshot below).

BTW, if you weld the letters together and see the insides of the letters are filled in, those letters are too close to the other letters (see screenshot below).

You can fix this problem by unwelding the word and re-adjusting the letters. Move those letters further from the other letters.

Once you’re done adjusting your letters, it’s time to Make It!

If you’re using Smart Vinyl as I did with my labels, you can select the Without Mat option on the Prepare screen because this material auto-loads into the Cricut Joy.

Once your Cricut Joy is finished cutting, you can easily unload, weed, and apply your labels like you normally would!

I can’t stop crushing on these labels – they sure don’t look like they took less than 15 minutes to create and apply!

Organize your fridge with DIY fridge labels

I can’t wait to get our kitchen renovation completed this summer!

We will be getting all new appliances, including a new fridge, and I am so excited to organize and label the new fridge with my Cricut Joy when the time comes!

Here’s a previous post I did featuring fridge organization with containers and labels, but those labels were made with sticker paper, which is not a long-term solution.

With my Joy, I’ll be able to quickly design and cut labels for our fridge with permanent Smart Vinyl for labels that last up to three years!

Label Nursery Closet Shelves And Drawers With Clothing Sizes

Cricut Joy is great for labeling a nursery! You can easily create labels for toys, clothes, and even diapering and feeding essentials.

Have a three-tier rolling cart with your baby’s diaper supplies in it? Add some cute labels to each tier to help keep you organized.

You can also add labels to your baby’s closet shelves, closet dividers, or dresser drawers to help keep things organized and even encourage your partner/spouse to put things away where they belong ;).

Organize Kids Toys In Labeled Bins Or Containers

Organizing your kids’ toys would be so easy with the Cricut Joy.

You can use whatever containers or drawers your heart desires, sort the toys by category, cut some labels out and apply.

Label Craft Containers For Easy Sorting

Here’s an idea for all of my fellow crafters – organize your craft supplies with the Cricut Joy!

Whether you put your crafting goods in a rolling cart with drawers, or you have them scattered across a workspace (who hasn’t done that?), you can easily sort, organize, and label your crafts with labels made in 15 minutes or less using Cricut Joy!

Alright #slayathomebabes, that’s all for this post! I’ve loved crafting with and being able to share my experience and ideas for the new Cricut Joy with you all. I hope this post gave you some inspiration for ways you can organize around your home, especially during Spring Break and during these crazy times we’re in right now!

Have you tried the Cricut Joy, or are you planning to purchase this machine? Let me know in the comments below!

Holiday Organization: 8 Key Spaces To Organize Before The Holidays

By Corinne Leave a Comment Last Updated January 18, 2020

Organize these 8 spaces in your home before the holidays for a stress-free season this year…

I shared in my last post that Chris and I are hosting Christmas this year for his family (my family lives out of state and can’t make it up here this year). I’m super excited to host such a big holiday, but being a hostess kind of stresses me out.

Mostly because I’m a master planner of just about everything.

I like to be sure I’ve thought of everything to everyone has what they need and are comfortable in our home.

But this isn’t my first time hosting Christmas, or a big family holiday. I’ve hosted holidays before, so I kind of know what to expect.

And being that I’ve hosted holidays before, I’ll also tell you that I’ve been pretty embarrassed before when family would come over and try to help cook or clean in the kitchen and go to open a drawer or cabinet door and see a huge mess before them.

I’m talking bowls, cups, and Tupperware raining down on their heads when they opened a cupboard.

The honest truth is that I wasn’t always tidy, clean, or organized. My tidiness left a lot to be desired and it took me a very long time to develop habits that would help keep my house clean on a regular basis so I wasn’t always stuffing things in drawers and cupboards before guests arrived, praying they wouldn’t open them.

But, even if you aren’t the tidiest person around, there are a few areas in your home that guests frequent that you can focus your energy on this holiday season to get it ready (and avoid embarrassment).

Over the years, I’ve learned what areas to focus my energy on and will be sharing the areas to organize in your home so you can avoid the embarrassment I’ve endured in previous holiday hosting experiences ;).

Here are the eight places you need to deep clean and organize for the holidays before family and friends come over (with some neat vlogs for cleaning and organizational inspiration if you need it) for a beautiful home that’s ready for entertaining…

EntryWay

Probably the first space guests and family will see when they arrive at your home is the entryway!

They’ll need to kick off their shoes, hang their coats, and probably need a place to rest their purses and diaper bags.

Clear out your entryway closet of extra coats, hoodies, shoes, bags, hats, and mittens to make room and free up some hangers for your guests’ belongings.

Also, if you live in a place with tons of snow (like we do here in Michigan), consider grabbing a special boot tray for guests to set their shoes in to help protect your floors, and invest in a mat both outside the front door and inside the door to help contain the snow/sludge/wetness from their boots and shoes.

Bathrooms

If there’s one space that’s going to be seeing a ton of action with a dozen (or more) people in your home, it’s your bathroom!

Take this time to organize your bathroom drawers, under the sink, the counters, and the shower.

Be sure to clean the vents in your bathrooms, faucets, mirrors, ceilings, walls, shower doors, as well as dusting the top of the shower stalls.

If you need to purchase convenience items like cotton swabs, quality toilet paper, cotton balls, tissues, soap, hand towels, or floor mats, go ahead and stock up.

Linen Closet

Someone is bound to need an extra hand towel, toilet paper, or even a towel while staying in your home (especially if you have out-of-town guests that will be staying the night).

Be sure to organize your linen closet so that the towels are folded nicely and necessities can be easily grabbed when needed.

You May Also Like: Linen Closet Refresh (+ Vlog)

Pantry

My pantry used to be really embarrassing. I’m pretty sure we had no system in place and kept things like laundry detergent and puppy pads alongside our cereal boxes and rice….

I refreshed out pantry space last year on a budget and now it’s gorgeous! Check out that post HERE.

When hosting a major holiday, you probably have tons of dishes you’ll be serving that require a number of different ingredients, or have guests bringing dishes that may need a sprinkle of this or a tablespoon of that.

Make sure that your pantry (or cabinet where you keep your pantry goods) is organized so guests and family can find what they need.

If you have enough time, you can even label your pantry containers and baskets with some printable labels to make it look extra organized ;).

Fridge

It’s no mystery that your guests are going to open your fridge a few dozen times while they’re there. Whether they need to stash a bottle of wine they brought over, or a cute smiley face with giant eyes will want a juice box.

Take this time to organize your fridge before the holidays by removing everything, wiping down the walls and shelves, and organizing the items you’re storing.

In my fridge organization post, I labeled my fridge drawers and containers with clear sticker paper (you can download the labels HERE), and implemented containers that took up the depth of my fridge, which made storing food and drink items easier than ever because I was able to see everything and use up more of my fridge space.

Kitchen Cabinets

From your spices and your salt and pepper to your silverware and dishes, your kitchen cabinets are going to be seeing tons of action this holiday season.

Now’s the time to organize all of your cabinets, even the ones you don’t think people will open and look in.

Oh, and that kitchen junk drawer? Time to clear that out, too!

Under The Kitchen Sink

With so much traffic in your kitchen and ultimately your sink, your garbage disposal and sink drains will be seeing an influx of food and water.

You may even have an awesome relative or two that wants to help with dishes after everyone has eaten and takes it upon themselves to load your dishwasher for you!

Be sure that under your kitchen sink is decluttered and organized so guests can find your dishwasher pods/detergent or grab a cleaner and microfiber cloth to help wipe down counters with you!

Bedroom Closets

Don’t forget to declutter and organize your bedroom closets! This is especially true for children’s closets, as kids mostly congregate to the room with the toys while in your home.

Organize toys, clothes, blankets, and hangers so everything is easily accessible and clean.

Also, if there are certain toys you’d rather the kids not pull out or get into (like the Nerf guns for the overly aggressive play shooter), pack those away months ahead of time ;).

This is also a great time to go through toys and clothing to donate and make room for holiday gifts.

But, master closets should also be organized as well in case guests accidentally wander into your bedroom and your husband leaves his closet door open on accident, revealing the huge mess you tried to cover up!

What are some spaces you try to organize in your home before guests come over for the holidays? Let me know in the comments below, and be sure to pin this for later!