tax time is fast approaching, which means many of us are busy kicking ourselves (once again) for our lack of financial organization. every year we swear we’re going to keep track of all our expenses and hold on to every receipt. well, it’s our belief that if you create a system that is simple and…
regardless of how crazy our lives get, we always need to spend time with friends and family. we’ve recently started hosting a regular sunday dinner at our apartment, where we invite a couple friends over to hang out, catch up and eat some homecooked food. all these guests mean a lot of empty wine bottles….
nature crafts are our absolute favorite things to make, and what better way to celebrate fall than to bring nature indoors with a seasonal leaf mobile? a good friend of ours gave us a stack of leaves from a recent trip back east, and we now have them hanging all over our apartment, suspended from…
a few years ago we were delighted to discover that most hardware and lumber stores carry a selection of tapered wooden table legs. they come in a wide variety of heights, from 4” to 28”, which means you can easily make all sorts of tables (from bedside to dining room) out of just about anything….
we’ve been wanting to get a bird feeder to hang outside our living room window for some time now. (hopefully it won’t drive our cats nuts!) this little feeder was inexpensive and easy to make, and we were able to customize it with paint to look like a little snack stand at an amusement park!…
holy moly!! this post marks our 1 year anniversary of doing diy projects here at design*sponge! boy how time flies!! we just want to say it’s been such a huge privilege and pleasure sharing our weekly projects with you. continuing with last week’s idea of re-purposing an every day object by giving it a little…
there’s nothing better than emptying your pockets as soon as you get home after a long day, but we find that we leave little piles of change, keys, and bills all over the house unless we have a designated place to put them. this ubiquitous wooden magazine holder from ikea turned out to be the…
we’ve spent the last few days in chicago visiting friends and seeing the sights. (we also caught the renegade craft fair on sunday- you can check out some pictures on our flickr page right here. we wanted to make sure to leave our generous hosts a nice thank you gift, but without our usual arsenal…
we’ve been out of school for a while now, but this is still one of our favorite times of year. we love roaming the aisles of our local office supply store checking out all the fun, colorful back to school supplies. the other day we came across these red folders for 25 cents each, and…
ever since we bought our first piece of “grown-up” furniture (a teak dining room table) we’ve done our best to protect its surface. these cork and felt coasters are a cinch to make, and do a fantastic job protecting the wood from those inevitable water rings made by our drinking glasses and coffee mugs. click…
this is a simple project that combines two of our favorite elements about crafting: using leftover supplies from a previous project (in this case, the yarn) and reusing something that was on its way to our recycle bin (the glass vase). yesterday morning as derek and i were brainstorming ideas for this week’s diy wednesday…
our love of knickknacks, thingamajigs and ephemera is outweighed only by our hatred of clutter. which means whenever we pick up yet another objet we’d better find a spot for it. we fashioned this mini shadow box out of a simple cardboard gift box to house a little assemblage whose contents can be changed on…
we’ve always loved customizing our clothing with tiny embroidered accents. a discreet script monogram on a collar, or just a simple running stitch along the edge of a shirt or dress can turn even the most ordinary garment into something truly unique. the same applies to your home. adding a touch of personality with a…
you may have seen these darling rubber stamp sets from yellow owl workshop here on design*sponge a few weeks back. well, we just got them in at the shoppe and couldn’t resist breaking them out for a little rubber stamping extravaganza. you can use these on almost any surface, but we decided it would be…
a few months ago, the nice people from the nest magazine paid a visit to our home and shoppe here in san francisco. they were interested in all the crafty diy elements of our home, so in honor of the occasion we made this special little clock. it’s a really fun project, using techniques we’ve…
one of the absolute best things about owning a store is getting emails from people around the country submitting their products to our shoppe. it’s amazing how many people are out there making wonderful things! a few months ago, we got one of those great emails—from a girl named natalie who thought might like her…
hey everybody! since grace is out here this week enjoying our beautiful city, we thought we’d do our best to keep her away from her computer by offering up a couple quick posts of our own. first we’d like to share the work of a favorite local artist of ours, christina empedocles! we met christina…
with the crazy heat wave we’re having in san francisco this week, all we can think about is spending as much time as possible outside. and since balmy evenings especially are a rarity in sf, we plan to take advantage of the warm weather and prepare a few dinners to eat up on the roof…
july 4th is right around the corner, which means one thing: barbecue season has begun! so bust out the burgers and tofu dogs and don’t forget to b.y.o.b! at the end of the day you’re certain to have a little sunburn and a lot of empty six-pack holders lying around. with a bit of gift…
we came across these tiles during one of our regular hardware store browsing sessions. normally used to tile your kitchen or bathroom, they’re an irresistible bargain at 45 cents apiece. add a little spray painted design and some stick-on vinyl pads for feet and you’ve got yourself a custom trivet for less than $1. (while…
