quite the pair

When I moved in to the house there was no table or place to eat other than TV trays, so first I found a round wood table for $10 on Craigslist and a couple of chairs to go with it. I only have two chairs, but there are just two of us and it allowed us to stick the table in a corner so that it works well in our space. The chairs were nice but a little beat up, so they needed something to make them pop. Thanks to IKEA I had the perfect solution.

How was my first upholstery job?

home improvement makeover

Recently graduated, living off a nonprofit salary and having had 2 days to pick out an apartment in a new city, my new roommate is awesome but the apartment itself is um, lacking...

Work has kept me from doing some of the bigger plans I have- ranging from painting walls to weatherizing windows- but soon after arrival I started on a project that I had been planning even before finding my room. A year ago I bought some beautiful fabric at Joanne's (when my car was broken down in Minnesota) and have used it for a variety of things since.

I wanted to decorate part of my wall with the fabric, but not just as wallpaper. I started out by cutting the top of the fabric down.

And I also cut out birds individually.

I cleaned my wall with just water and a sponge. I sprayed the fabric all over with fabric starch. The instructions I found online recommended using either regular starch or spray starch. For such a large piece of fabric, I wish I had regular starch as it was difficult to saturate the fabric with spray starch. You can see the results below- there were definite difficulties getting a tight bond against the wall. I left some tacks along the very edge to keep the fabric up.

But the results overall- I love them!
The other great thing- the fabric peels off with basically no residue! Just clean the wall with a little water and you are set to go. Fabric is a great choice for those of us who are renting.

My fabric wall decoration has created a cozy corner with my desk where I can craft, though I'm still in need of the various storage supplies to really set up a neat crafting corner. First house project- completed!

i'll fly away...

Upcycled vintage brooch with chain and vintage faux-pearls.

Took a bunch of photos a week ago but haven't listed anything yet. My good camera is broken so I have borrowed my mom's and it doesn't take very good photos. Most are unusable, like the one above.

wooden jewelry

While glittery costume jewelry will someday be my downfall, sometimes I choose to embrace my hippie side. Or more likely, I like to contrast a fancy dress with more simplistic but still bold jewelry so I don't feel ridiculously overdressed during the day. On those days, I love wearing jewelry made from natural materials. Wood is a material I will never master, so I'll have to keep collecting from other artisans. I have built up a bit of a collection myself and prefer (like with most things) to buy from individual crafters or fair-trade coops. Or to buy/ be given vintage pieces. Here is a sampling of my personal collection:


The first is a pair of handmade earrings I purchased at the Ithaca Farmer's Market. I can't remember the name of the man who made them, but I love their shape and the marbling of the wood. The bracelets I found at my grandmothers. She thinks they were my great-aunt's. She had spent a lot of time in Mexico. They have a bit of wearing so I typically wear them mixed up with a large gold bangle. The last photograph is a necklace I made with a large wood and gold vintage belt buckle. Look for it listed in my store later- this is the first time I've gotten around to photographing it!

My other favorite peice of wooden jewelry is a bracelet made of large flat wooden beads with pieces of mother of pearl inlaid, but the MOP kept photographing weird so I haven't posted pictures. Both are items my mother purchased at a fair trade store. (I don't know why I couldn't get a good photograph, and the images above looked much better before I tried to post them... advice?)

Here's a few pieces I wouldn't mind adding to my collection:

These bracelets from Nkuku are absolute showstoppers. Luckily for me and sadly for you, dear readers, these bracelets are out of stock.

Nkuku is a certified 100% fair trade shop (World Fair Trade Organization and the British Association for Fair Trade Shops.) "All our products are inspired by the traditional skills of artisans throughout Africa and India. The name ‘Nkuku’ was borrowed from a village in Zambia. We combine contemporary designs with age-old techniques, natural materials and sustainable methods of production to ensure each product is truly exceptional."


Sourcing of wood can be an issue so I love these recycled wood earrings found on Etsy by inbloomdesigns, who has a whole section on recycled and repurposed wood jewelry. I especially love the story on these- made from the wood from a clementine box!

first i need a house

Then I need a yard.

Then I will make these (from Design*Sponge)

Then I will throw amazing parties in my yard.

I love love love blue glass, and wonder where there bottles came from. I try not to buy wine in blue bottles since many places don't recycle blue glass, unless I have a good idea of what to do with the bottle.

These torches would be the perfect solution- reuse, repurpose, renew an item that cannot be recycled conventionally.

rain clouds don't worry me

Check out this adorable skirt (reposted from Design-Milk) made out of an umbrella.


I'm not totally sure I would wear one- definitely depends on the pattern. But I wish that I could read the website! Anyone want to translate for me?

And what do you think? Would you wear an umbrella skirt?

intro...

Everyday I read blogs on design, crafts, food and think how much I'd like to chronicle my own journey discovering the beautiful things around me and, more particularly, the beautiful things I can create. I have a job at a nonprofit that I love, love, love but know I have an intense need to be creative and create. Even at design school (a degree I don't particularly put into practice) I needed to do things outside of my projects in order to indulge my creative urges and have tangible objects at the end. I use design thinking at my job all the time, I just don't get to actually make things. That's what this blog is for. The things I create and the inspiration I find that makes me want to create more.