Balsa is one of my all-time favorite materials: It’s cheap and lightweight and easily handles bending, cutting, staining, painting, glueing and pretty much every other technique that comes to mind. It’s also a great resource for creating professional-quality results with few tools, as you can see in this awesome balsa lampshade project from Jamie Samples…
This is the second project we’ve shared from designer Kara Paslay in recent weeks, and again she’s managed to reintroduce me to a cool technique I had long forgotten about. Inspired by the ocean, Kara decided to transform a simple paper globe into a beautiful sculptural pendant lamp. By dyeing and dipping cut paper rounds into…
When we moved into our current rental, it had a hideous ceiling fan and light hanging in just about the oddest place you could put it. Needless to say, it was the first thing to go. This left us with the dilemma of not having a light source in our dining and living room. I…
It’s wonderful to see so many DIY projects that take advantage of the humble paper globe light. Just when I think I’ve seen them all, I come across a new one that I love, like this version created by Heather Jennings of Poppy Haus. While browsing her local Anthropologie store, Heather was inspired by two…
With all the attention we’ve been giving to rope and pendant lights, this DIY tutorial from stylist Raina Kattelson couldn’t have come at a better time. We featured Raina’s gorgeous Hudson Valley home a couple years ago, and we loved the palette so much that we also created a Simply Color inspired by Raina’s kitchen….
Not that long ago, I replaced a standard light fixture in my home with a custom pendant. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how significantly great light fixtures can change a room. The initial intimidation of working with electricity is starting to lessen with some great pointers from my dad, and now I…
While working on today’s Treasure Hunting hangers post, I realized that one of my favorite ideas was the very simple clothes hanger lamp from Droog. Designed by Hector Serrano, the clothes hanger lamp is a plastic hanger with a very low-watt bulb attached, allowing you to create a light fixture out of your own wardrobe….
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…
I’ve seen a few lamps of this kind available in stores lately, but they are all a bit pricey; it’s clearly a great design that is begging for a DIY version. So I’m thrilled to see someone tackle this very feat and with such great results! Sarah Goodwin, designer and founder of the creative firm…
This fabulous bushel basket lamp project comes from Erica Domesek, the DIY queen from PS – I Made This. You may have seen her gorgeous marbled paper project that we featured in September, or maybe you’ve already grabbed a copy of her new book. If you haven’t done either, get to it! I’m getting my…
Believe it or not, I have a drawer full of old drinking straws — superfluous craft supplies are an occupational hazard. So I was thrilled to see this straw chandelier project come across my desk, because now I can use them for something beautiful! As those of you who saw Aunt Peaches’ coffee filter flowers…
I believe I’ve compiled enough anecdotal evidence to prove that all artists and designers share a love of discovering new materials; I can say from personal experience that I enjoy dabbling in other artistic fields to fuel my creativity. So it doesn’t surprise me that Maja and Tess, the ladies behind Polli handmade jewelry, are…
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…
we were feeling inspired by all of the beautiful filament light bulbs we keep seeing! this week we took on making some of our own lights, something that sarah was in need of for her place. a trip to a lamp supply store provided a wealth of ideas, and we put together these simple light…
the bbbcraft sisters love parties! and what’s more important at a party than lighting? with a couple of photographers in our family, we have always had to focus on both indoor and outdoor lighting at parties, making it soft and cozy and above all, inviting. nothing captures this more than a little bit of diffused…
when we decided to move our bedroom to a different room in the house, we no longer had the space for our old bedside tables. i decided to use an old chair because it was narrow enough and it looked pretty good. unfortunately, i lost two important things in the switch: a place for private…
good morning! it’s pretty chilly here in brooklyn so i thought it was only fitting to start the day with our guest blogger sweet paul’s fun how-to for winter ice lanterns. if you’ve got 2 buckets, some water and a few sprigs of something green you can easily create a great homemade lantern that will…
i love the seventies feel of the colors on these giant wood beads, so i decided to embrace it and make a cozy little chandelier for over my small dining table. the softness of the yarn and the smooth beads makes this a very fun lamp, perfect for winter evenings. you could also spray paint…
hi, my name is amy azzarito. i’m excited to be joining d*s to share a new column called “past and present“. in each past and present post, i’ll explain the history of an object, leave you with some quick facts (to hone those trivia skills) and give you some great take-away tips for incorporating the…
the idea for this second project in the outdoor entertaining series was conceived at my local long’s drugs, which is an oddly large pharmacy, grocer, garden center, hardware super store that’s open 24 hours. i walking down one of the hardware aisles, admiring their selection of spray paints, when at the end of the aisle…
