Archive for Projects

[Family Friday] Giving Thanks

November 20, 2009 · Filed under Family Fun, Holidays, Molly, Projects · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Holy Moly! Where has November gone?! (Or as Buddy the Elf would say, “Son of a Nutcracker! Peanut Brittle! Snow Flickers!”)

Is it really almost Thanksgiving? We’re piling into the car next week and heading west to my sister’s house in Indiana. How many Cracker Barrels do you think we’ll pass on the way? Whatever you guess, add 10 and multiply by 3.

I’ve been keeping track of a few Thanksgiving related projects and family ideas. First, here’s a nice idea from Paper Source – decorate keepsake boxes for each of your guests, then encourage everyone to write some nice things to put in each others’ boxes. Sweet.

That would be a nice gift for anytime, not just Thanksgiving.

Also, I love these notecards by Fugu Fugu Press which you can use to let people know what you’re thankful for. Sarah of The Small Object pointed these out via Twitter. Aren’t they great? I love Fugu Fugu Press. (I love the Small Object too).

Since Thanksgiving and family tend to go hand-in-hand, I spotted this link on the Junior Society blog (by Robert Mahar of Mahar Drygoods) for modern family trees by My Tree & Me. I especially love the “Ripples in a Pond” design.

But this Super Mod Tree is pretty cool, too:

And I would give thanks to anyone who makes me these reverse appliqué Thanksgiving placemats and matching napkins from the Purl Bee. I love them, especially the colors.

I hope you all have a happy weekend, and I hope to see you back here on Monday!

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[Crafty Monday] Wedding Flowers

September 21, 2009 · Filed under Birthdays & Parties, Crafty!, D.I.Y., Etsy Finds, Molly, Pretty Things, Projects · Tagged , ,

My brother-in-law is getting married in 5 weeks, so I’ve been thinking about weddings and such. Plus, you guys really seem to like the wedding and party favor posts (here and here) on this blog, which consistently get a lot of views each week.

So you know what? I like you. Here are some more wedding party ideas, of the flower variety, for you.

tissue-flowers-zakka-life

I saw this tiny paper flower idea from Zakka Life on iDIY. Pretty and cheap. Score! You can find the tutorial here. And check out the tutorial for the centerpiece (below). Gorgeous.

Have I mentioned that I think  “I DO- it yourself” is a pretty clever name for a wedding site? Thumbs up.

tissue-flowers-zakka-life-table-centerpieces

The tiny flower idea reminded me that I bookmarked these paper flowers by truLuxe on Etsy awhile back. I love this photo, don’t you? I love the combination of the flowers with the silver vases.

truLuxe Paper Flowers

Turns out that there are dozens of Etsy shops selling flowers like these in a huge array of colors (search for “party poms” and enjoy the insanely cheerful results). I am definitely buying some for the girls’ birthday parties this year.

While I was looking at the party poms, I couldn’t help but notice these sweet cupcake toppers (which you could also use as table decorations) by Millalove, who has a whole shop full of really terrific paper flowers and cupcake toppers.

Millalove Cupcake Flowers

I also found this beautifully simple paper roses tutorial by Dozi Design, (which Creature Comforts laid out in this easy to follow grid for you).

Dozi Design Paper Rose tutorial

And lastly, this is another really pretty (and double-sided) flower garland by Panda with Cookie (check out her hilarious logo) that you could buy or try to make yourself.

Yellow Paper Flower garland

Garlands are a good, easy and cheap way to decorate for a party. All you need is a ton of ribbon, some pretty paper (or cardstock or fabric), scissors and a hole punch.

Flowers make me cheerful. I had fun finding all of these pictures.

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[Family Friday] Owl-licious Crafts

September 18, 2009 · Filed under Crafty!, Family Fun, Kids, Molly, Projects · Tagged , , ,

I couldn’t possibly do an Etsy round-up of owls, because there are just too many things to choose from. (Well, I guess I could be sweet-talked into it…) But I got a Paper Source catalog in the mail this week, and aside from exclaiming “Hot Damn! I almost forgot I live near one of these now!” these owl place card kits jumped out at me as extra super cute.
Owl Placecard Kit

You can see how easy they would be to recreate (as place cards or as decorations), without the kit;  just get some cardstock and some scalloped scissors and glue. I like the idea of using patterned paper for the wings and maybe using brads to make them movable.

I also stumbled across this picture of “Your Best Handmade Creations” on Martha Stewart:

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It had no pattern/instructions, but I HAD to make one for myself. This is seriously one of the cutest crafts I’ve ever seen.

Srsly.

(Did I sound like a giddy teenage girl just then? Good.)

I used a 4″ styrofoam ball, about 4 pieces of felt (couldn’t find any of the awesome hot pink felt like in the picture above, but the next one I make is going to be the yellow/pink combo), two 20mm googly eyes, and a glue gun. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out:

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The key is to start at the bottom, gluing the feathers around the bottom first, all the way to the top. As you can see, I cut out a little pink circle for the bottom. Why? I dunno. I was just making it up as I went along, and it seemed like a good idea for helping the owl stand upright.

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Once you glue the feathers (almost to the top), glue on the nose, then the ears (triangle shaped – folded in half), then the eyes, then the top piece.

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Yes, I’m pretty pleased with this. I want to make more of them with the girls, but I have to pace myself – it requires a lot of cutting. And, I used a glue gun, but it’s possible that regular Elmer’s glue would work. In all, it took about an hour and a half to make.

Stay tuned: I have another (short) post today. (You’ll see.)

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Fairies, Part 2

May 26, 2009 · Filed under Kids, Molly, Projects · Tagged , ,

I’m supposed to be posting a new recipe, but I’ve got a little follow up to Friday’s fairy post, so I’m going off topic today.

This weekend, I thoroughly cleaned the girls’ bedroom, and I had an idea as I was rearranging toys to create a little fairy corner for Elena, to which she enthusiastically agreed. I said, “Maybe we just need to make a little place for the fairies to come visit. And maybe they would like to have some little animals around, because we know they love animals.”

So, we gathered all of our fairy things (fairy wands, Rainbow Magic fairy books*, fairy dust** and toys), as well as some Fuzzy Town animals and tree stumps. We also taped Elena’s fairy creations to the wall. This is what it looks like (apologies for the not so great photos):

Fairy Corner

* I am still kicking myself for not being the inventor of the Rainbow Magic Fairy series. A cash cow for Scholastic.  Could’ve been my cash cow.

** One day we made little containers of glittery fairy dust. I’ll post the how-to next Crafty Monday

Elena decided to make little tiny beds to stick in the Fuzzy Town tree stumps (it’s a tiny cardboard box, with a tiny pillow and piece of fabric for a blanket. She added a little fairy pendant – perhaps to entice the fairies):

Fairy Bed

And here’s a fairy we have. Rosa named her Ruby:

Ruby Fairy

Elena put loving detail into creating the corner. In the bottom tree stump, for example, she put a couple of little glass lady bugs because “fairies really like lady bugs.” And of course the tiny fairy bed is a perfect reflection of how gentle and thoughtful she is.

So, we’ll just have to see where this takes us.

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A simple dining room

April 2, 2009 · Filed under Home, Karin, Projects · Tagged ,

I am really itching to repaint our dining room. As you may have seen, we’ve got a lovely deep dark orange wall and accents, but I am so sick of the orange…and in an old row house with only a few side windows, it makes for a pretty dark room. I would love to paint it a white or a cream, or maybe try a new accent color that feels new and fresh…something like this….

oval-dining-table

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Inspired Idea

March 9, 2009 · Filed under D.I.Y., Home, Molly, Projects · Tagged ,

How cool is this matching wall stripe and runner? What a great idea that you can adapt for your own home. I think it would look great even if you don’t have a runner on your stairs – heck, you could paint a runner on your stairs! Talk about a great idea that costs virtually nothing.

Karin, I was thinking of your house when I saw this photo.

orange-matching-stripe1

Spotted on Design*Sponge. Photo by Dan Duchars.

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Look!

February 21, 2009 · Filed under Molly, Projects · Tagged

sprouts

Sprouts! We don’t know which are which – we planted sunflowers, zinnias and sweet basil. The girls are very excited to see their seeds growing.

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Update: Spring Cleaning Week 2

February 17, 2009 · Filed under Karin, Organizing, Projects · Tagged

shirtIn the first week of the spring cleaning challenge, I spent one hour (just one) in the basement and managed to pack up not one, but SIX trash bags.  I also broke down a mountain of boxes. I took them all straight out of the house, and immediately it felt better. We still have a long way to go but it now feels just a wee bit more sane down there.

I also started re-reading Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston for some practical inspiration.  “Most people keep things because they believe they will come in useful one day, but in fact the stagnant energy that collects around unused things causes stagnation in the life of whoever owns them. So instead of being an asset, clutter is in fact a liability. That’s why people who have clutter are always stuck in their lives in some way.”

So, for week 2: I can commit to taking at least one more bag of crap out of the house.

What one small thing are you doing to declutter this week?

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Spring Cleaning Challenge

February 8, 2009 · Filed under Karin, Organizing, Projects

We had lovely weather today, and it led me to take a new look at the house. Today, the basement just overwhelmed me.
So, here is my “spring cleaning challenge”: De-clutter the basement by April — that way, by the time we need to get the bikes back out of there, we will actually be able to get to them. My plan of attack is simple: Remove one bag per week…which is probably the best way to make progress without devoting a whole weekend to it. Want to take the challenge with me?

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Lovely Valentine Project

February 7, 2009 · Filed under Crafty!, Holidays, Projects · Tagged ,

valentine-pins-beauty1

This lovely valentines pin project from the purl bee just make me want to pick up some needles and thread this weekend.

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