Over the past few weeks, we’ve dipped our toes into the world of bookbinding. After mastering a five-hole pamphlet stitch and Japanese four-hole binding, it’s time to tackle the final introductory process. This week, we’ll put aside the needle and thread and explore a book constructed without a single stitch. The accordion book is a…
Welcome back to Bookbinding 101! Last week, we made a pamphlet-stitched book, and this week we’ll be experimenting with a stab binding. Here, the book block, or the body of the book, is a stack of single sheets rather than a signature. Therefore, stab bindings allow you to make books that are not possible with…
I’m only a quarter Jewish and didn’t grow up celebrating Passover but luckily, I have a lot of friends who did. This year, beginning in December I started working on wrangling myself an invitation to someone’s Passover Seder. There is just something so special about the way older generations pass down the story and the…
For some reason I can remember what St. Patrick’s Day was like in high school as if it were yesterday. I was an impossibly uptight and nervous student and dreaded most holidays at school because they seemed to come with an accessory or head piece I didn’t want to wear. St. Patrick’s Day came with…
When I stumbled upon a package of 12 mini cats on Amazon, they were in my cart before you could say, “Who would order a bunch of miniature plastic cats?” I figured that when it came to mini cats, one should buy first and think later. It only took a minute of having these beauties…
Today I’m thrilled to introduce a guest DIY mini-series on bookbinding! This month’s family theme lends itself so nicely to scrapbook, photo album and memory book projects, so I thought this series would be perfect for anyone wanting to make their own. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Take it away, Pooja! — Grace Hi, everyone!…
It’s funny that Louise Nevelson’s wooden sculptures resemble jigsaw puzzles because as an artist, she doesn’t seem to fit anywhere. She is the rare kind of artist that has been both canonized and minimized by the art world — her works are held in some of the world’s most prestigious art collections, but her name…
I’ve been seeing papercut projects everywhere recently, and it’s not difficult to see why. Like knitting, crocheting and baking, paper cutting is an activity that nurtures the “slow” lifestyle and offers a welcome respite from the jumbled fast lane that is contemporary life. There’s also something incredibly beautiful about intricate and ornamental designs combined with the simplicity…
Today, we’ve been all about marbling — first the interview with Ilana Kohn and then Past & Present: Marbling. We’ve built quite a collection of beautiful marbled papers here at the office, and we’re always looking for ways to incorporate them into our daily lives. I tend to treat beautiful paper the way other people treat…
I love a clever DIY project, especially when it uses an unexpected or overlooked material. This project uses a humble orange utility bucket as the base of an amazing upholstered ottoman. The product of a collaboration between Liz and Rachel of Commonwealth Vintage Rentals and Leland of Revive Upholstery & Design, this utility bucket ottoman…
Tomorrow we’re doing a French-themed entertaining post that had us focusing on mussels for a while. After toying with a few DIY projects to go with the table settings (the rest will be on the site tomorrow), we decided to go back to basics and make some quick and easy shell candles. This is my…
Happy President’s Day, everyone! In honor of today’s holiday, I wanted to start the day with a little presidential-inspired DIY. I love how quick and easy it is to make paperweights, so I decided to look through the NYPL digital gallery to see if there were any interesting presidential silhouettes to use. While searching for…
I’ve been working on a little love declaration of my own all week as part of our February Instagram challenge. My Facebook and Twitter pages seem to be a constant love letter to my cat, so I decided to focus my declaration on my other love: my morning latte. I didn’t start drinking coffee until…
It’s funny how small the world can feel sometimes. During the D*S book tour, Amy and I had an early morning stop in DC at Politics & Prose that led to an unexpected reconnection. Waking up over donuts and coffee with our crafting group, I recognized a face that turned out to be a college…
Brett Bara has been sharing fun sewing projects with us at D*S for two years now, and she never ceases to amaze me with her enthusiasm and energy for crafting. So I was excited to hear that she’s throwing a gigantic Brooklyn Craft Camp next month! This massive one-day crafting event is taking place in…
Growing up, my mom used to take long baths. Very long baths. As a child, I wondered how she could sit there for so long. Now I’m realizing that the bathroom was her only escape from four kids. And even if you don’t have kids, the bath is often the only place where phones and…
For those who don’t live in New Orleans, the Tuesday preceding Lent is often a relatively uneventful occasion. While our Louisianan neighbors use the day as an opportunity for riotous celebration and pre-Lenten indulgence, Mardi Gras — a holiday that dates back to the seventeenth century — can sometimes go unnoticed by the rest of…
Last week we transformed our admittedly already very pink and red office into a Valentine’s Day wonderland for our craft breakfast party. Twenty-five D*S readers joined our team for breakfast treats and a slew of DIY Valentine crafting. In addition to the amazingly creative projects our readers came up with (images coming up this afternoon!),…
Today has been a full-on explosion of heart-related projects, so I’m happy to wrap up the day with one I’ve been dreaming of for almost a year now. At last year’s Gift Fair, Amy and I saw these incredible Woolfiller kits at the Sweet Bella booth. Perfect for patching holes in wool garments, they’re an…
Dice are the oldest known gaming implements. In ancient Greece and Rome, dice were commonly made of bone and ivory. The Romans were particularly passionate gamblers, and gambling was forbidden except during the festival of Saturnalia (the festival honoring the god Saturn during late December). Despite the ban, it was difficult to curb the Roman…
