Of all the holidays, Valentine’s Day seems to scream “handmade cards” the loudest. Glitter, doilies and lace are the usual suspects for decorating, but why turn to them when you can easily create a sophisticated ombre valentine? With this simple technique, there is no need for vats of dye, oodles of drying time, complicated instructions…
After tossing all the holiday wrapping and boxes and looking sadly at my overflowing recycle bin, I am not embarrassed to admit that I dumpster dove in my own trash. I had this idea to create a much more affordable version of Vitra’s Uten.Silo organizer using the boxes that had served their purpose and been…
I’ve always loved having an advent calendar to help me get into the holiday spirit. I adore that it counts down to Christmas day and inadvertently reminds me how many shopping days are left. But more importantly, I love a hefty infusion of holiday sparkle through chocolate. However, the store-bought variety left me wondering how…
With Halloween over, the holiday season is technically in full swing. I know I am not alone in saying that I feel like fall and thanksgiving always come so quickly. This year, we are bringing the holiday festivities here. With a baby due in December, I have to stay put, but am lucky enough to…
I love the warmth and softness of cork. The rolls of caramel-y cork shelf liner scream at me every time I pass them in the store, so this time, I gave in to their pleas for purchase. And with fall quickly approaching, it seems like a great time to bring in the warmth and natural,…
Due to my husband’s profession, we have a constant influx of absurdly enormous books. While some are aesthetically acceptable enough not to disturb the visual flow I have going on our bookshelves, others are obtrusive in color or design. Since our built-in bookshelves are open to the living room, I like to have a clean…
With the rush of technological methods helping us find our way, paper maps and Thomas Guides are quickly becoming obsolete, but their contouring graphics will always remain timeless. Use your dusty glove-compartment maps to make travel-inspired stationery for some good old-fashioned correspondence. A simple dividing line, address and stamp transform a map-backed note card into…
For this project, a mix of ethnic patterns and bold colors inspired me. John Robshaw comes to mind when I think of the perfect pattern mix; his block-printed linens and patterned textiles display a fantastic combination of intricate and bold shapes and forms. My abundance of saved magazines constantly call me to reuse them for…
We love having outdoor parties in the summer. During long summer days, it is great to have friends over to enjoy the warm evenings. One of my favorite party motifs is a fiesta. With plenty of make-your-own tacos and endless margaritas, guests can help themselves, creating a low-maintenance but very festive get-together. To add some…
I love using trays in our house. A tray has the wonderful ability to confine a grouping of otherwise disorderly items and make them seem neat and organized. To refresh a tired old tray, I used an age-old mirror-making technique to silver leaf a piece of glass. To modernize it a bit, I added a…
I’ve always had a love of fonts. I have a collection of magazine pages torn out for their interesting fonts. I have books about fonts, bookmarks on my computer for font-dedicated websites, not to mention the hundreds of fonts I’ve downloaded. I want to be surrounded by gorgeously shaped letters. What better reason to make…
With spring coming near, it is time to freshen up my pots and planters. I found a mix of wildflower seeds and thought that it is the perfect thing for spring. With my planter full of seeds and a half of a bag left, I figured I would share the wealth and pass some seeds…
Every year, my mom gives me a lovely botanical calendar. I think it is a great gift and love it so much that I always have a hard time parting with last year’s version. I have thoughts of framing the pretty botanical prints individually. But then again, I feel like groupings of botanical illustrations have…
I have always adored a fireplace in the living room. Nothing beats the warm (in more ways than one) feeling that it brings. We have a great fireplace in our cozy little house, but we also have a little girl. As much as I would love to have a glowing fire in our fireplace and…
I love the look of old book pages. The toasty brown edges and pale centers of the pages pair perfectly with the stark black type. Simple design with such a vintage feel, but so fragile and brittle. To fix their fragility, I coated the paper with silicone. This technique preserves the fragile pages, making them…
it seems i am always in need of extra storage space. i have an abundance of art materials and supplies that just keeps growing. i am already storing boxes of paints, paintbrushes, paper, pens and scissors, and a multitude of glues behind a linen curtain beneath our built-in desk. it is a great storage place…
i love wax paper for packing lunches; i wrap sandwiches in a piece of wax paper and tie it like a present with a little cotton string. it’s so much better looking than a plastic bag. wax paper comes in handy for more things than i realized, like rolling it up to use for a…
