You could totally add a pocket! My Aunty just wanted a single pad, but a pocket would be a great mod. I have prepped a pattern for this, happy to share 
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Really? That is incredibly generous of you my friend. I would love that.
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Cool - I hope it’s OK with you, I added your great pocket idea as an optional mod to the pattern. I’m scanning it now, and will start a thread
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Of course, that is perfect!
Choose food colors - the foods your kids are particularly messy cooking! 
Like scorched tomato sauce.
OR
Hide them for your own personal use and make them in your favorite gorgeous color(s).
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I’m a little late to the party, but I need this craft-along this year!
Gorgeous leafy pot holder, Jemimah!
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Lovely!
I constantly need potholders because I use them to set hot plates on them on the counter since I really don’t have a table or anywhere else to use. Since I am renting, I do not want to accidentally burn or stain the counters!
I will head over to your tutorial…I know I have some stuff that I bought to make hot potato bags and then had a reality check…I really don’t eat that many microwaved potatoes…
I need to see if I can find this color in fabric…ha ha ha
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ha ha perfect!!!
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Ooh, that is perfect! Where did you find that? It’s not exactly leaf colours but I’m sure I could figure out an actual tomato shape 
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Wait, I thought we were stashbusting, not shopping!!
Pretty sure I can top anybody’s messy stash pics. Perhaps I should just post some & make you all feel better?
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Shh! Quiet, you! 
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haha busted!
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Ok, in the interests of establishing a baseline for worst stash mess (it only goes up from here) I submit my house:
This unsightly pile of boxes on the dining room floor is mostly soap & candle supplies. Oh, and my husband’s sewing machine in the corner, still downstairs from when I was teaching other people to sew the summer before last b/c I can’t presently get to the craft room closet to put it away.
The rest of the candle stuff lives here with a small portion of the gardening stuff (otherwise not pictured)
The less said about my desk, the better, tho many things here are still accessible & in use.
Upstairs, we approach the craft room…
Not the best time of day for this picture, but you get the idea.
Where things actually happen. Sometimes. (this may look familiar to those of you who have seen my self-portrait stamp)
This is not conducive to sewing anything large. Or medium-sided, come to think of it…
But wait, there’s more!
Here is where it all spills out into the bedroom, tho admittedly some of this is books & hand-me-downs-to-be & the glorious rocking horse my father made who was removed from my child’s room b/c she kept moisturizing her. more as above
And the boxes w/ fabric stash, which need sorting & repacking, etc.
In my defense, a lot of this built up over several years of family mental health stress. The tendencies are definitely hereditary, tho. Anyway a) you all can probably feel less bad about your craft hoards now? and b) the complex stacking problem of how to get all this sorted into things I want in places I can find them should keep me busy for a while!
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You win.
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I read an article a while back about people feeling bad b/c the internet was full of people showing off their carefully curated perfect pinterest/mommy blog lives, and how we should be a little more realistic about our depictions of our workspaces. I’ve spent most of my life cultivating a fashion sense of “yes, I will wear an octopus hat if I want; I don’t care what you think!” and so I’ve been trying to be a little like that with house pictures, too.
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@thanate - You are a brave (and inspiring) woman!
This is definitely the inspiration I need to post my own craft supply smorgasborg. I’ve been working all week to combat my “The Floor is the Largest Shelf in the House” mentality, but now I think it’s time to just start taking pictures and crafting.
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Heh, I am trying to teach my child that it’s easier to clear off space on the coffee table than use the couch as a table, and it’s uphill work. (Probably b/c she has such cough good examples, of course…)
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I am going to find what my space looked like before I moved and organized it…I am struggling to put things back now and still can’t find things because I truly think my brain works better when I have to hunt…does that make sense?
I think whatever works is how we have to do it…unless it is a problem for you, it should not be a problem for anyone else…
I wonder if elves might be hiding among your stuff?
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Wow thanate, that is quite the stash!
Perhaps my hoard is more this size …
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Q5KnZ
I am part way through a big sort out, but I keep getting distracted by making things!
@Harlan, that “scorched tomato sauce” print is perfect!!
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