For many, many years I didn’t have a craft room. I worked wherever I could find the space: in my bedroom, my living room, all over the dining room table. Then the kids came along, and I found it increasingly more difficult to work on large projects because I had to have every last piece tidied up at the end of each crafting session. I couldn’t leave painted pieces out to dry, or pinned items ready for sewing, or even a simple needle and thread where the kids could get at it. Which is why I couldn’t have been more overjoyed when we moved to our current house and I could wall off a section of the basement as my own — separated from the rest of the house by sturdy baby gates.

I finally painted this space and really made it my own last summer. As you can see, it’s just a long stretch along one wall of my basement, “walled” off on one side by copious second-hand bookshelves. There are more shelves on the other side in the kids’ play room, and they’re all screwed together, making a solid-but-temporary barrier.

The kids aren’t babies or toddlers any more, so I can do without the baby gate and trust, for the most part, that they will leave my things alone. It’s a good thing, too, or they’d never get their costumes for ComicCon or Halloween in time, let alone all the little constant repairs that I have to make on their things.

Those first two photos were taken immediately after the renovations were complete and before I’d had a chance to get into any major projects. Right now… Well, it’s less than three weeks until ComicCon, and every surface is covered with costume pieces in the works. I’ll mostly be living in this room until then.

When I’m making costumes, especially when I need five on a short time limit, I have to multitask. Today I’m working on a ball cap, a T-shirt, a skirt, a pair of sneakers, and a head. That last “head” one is my most ambitious project this year, and I hope like heck that I manage to get it done in time.

If you already recognize what the costumes are going to be, well, you’re as big of a geek as I am. Congratulations! I’ll probably see you in a few weeks at ComicCon. Don’t hesitate to say hi!