Design*Sponge » made with love

made with love: stripping tin

amym — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 18:00:14 +0000

Kitchen counter space is in short supply in my apartment (I have about 10” total!) so I’ve been taking every opportunity to maximize wall space for storage. On the design*sponge team’s recent trip to Boston, I found an old wall mounted letter holder to store my kitchen utensils. While I loved the shape (and the little trim around the top) I was less enamored of the new yet dingy aqua paint job. While we all love to do to a good old-fashioned glossy paint job to hide a multitude of sins, sometimes it’s a refreshing change to instead reveal metal’s patina lurking underneath all that paint. -amy m.

CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump!

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made with love: vintage crate shelves

amym — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:00:21 +0000

today i’m finishing up the final sequencing for all 400+ pages of the design*sponge book so tomorrow i’m going to be taking a very, very needed day off. so today i’ll be posting diy projects that would normally go up tomorrow. up first- a great upcycling project from amy merrick. amy turned her collection of vintage crates into beautiful rustic shelves just waiting to become cubby holes for special objects. can’t find vintage crates? try asking your local wine shop if they have any leftover crates from new shipments- you can always distress your crates or paint them to suit your personal style.

CLICK HERE for the project instructions post after the jump!

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made with love: bookplates

amym — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:00:41 +0000

Truth be told, I have a little book lending phobia. I’m happy to give books away to friends, but the lending part is hard. I once got badly burned by a beloved old copy of A Catcher in the Rye which, sob, never made it’s way home to me. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on…. umm…. oh whatever….. you know where I’m going with this.

Bookplates are charming throwback and serve a very practical purpose, saying “Give me my darn book back, already.” so you don’t have to. I scoured my favorite collections of antique (copyright free) images and designed several bookplate templates for you to download and create your own bookplates with. Proof positive that necessity is indeed the mother of invention. So to that sweet boy with my Salinger slung in his book bag, I say thank you. -amy m.

CLICK HERE for the full how-to (and downloadable templates) after the jump!

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made with love: plant propagation

amym — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:00:35 +0000

As an apartment dweller, I feel crazied each spring with dreams of having a real proper outdoor garden. Sadly, it isn’t in the cards so I usually redouble my houseplant efforts. Instead of buying new houseplants to feed my addiction, Ipropagate the ones I already have. Pruning stimulates new growth and you end up with a new baby plant to keep or give away. A win/win for poor houseplant hoarders the world over. -amy m.

CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump!

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made with love: catnip mouse

amym — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:33 +0000

Some people are born cat people. I wasn’t. It’s been a slow process but I’ve finally come around to loving cats, especially since I inherited two in an awkward post-breakup situation. Even though my kitties are the ultimate scaredy cats, they love toys. Ever the doting mom, I like to use up my extra fabric scraps by making catnip mice. Warning- whenever I stepped away from my crafting table, the cats would jump up and hide my mouse before I had even finished. Brats with a capital B. -amy m.

CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump!

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made with love: tin can planters

amym — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:00:27 +0000

It’s around this time every January that I start hoarding new houseplants. I was able to resist rex begonias for months and months, but I caved this weekend and bought a few. Now for the real problem- I’m all out of terra cotta empties and bored of just about every other option. I’ve been picking up old tin cans at thrift stores for nick-nack storage, but with a few holes popped in the bottom, they make adorable (and affordable) planters. -amy m.

CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump!

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