Category: Projects

  • How to Make a Patterned Vase

    The Finished Patterned Vase

    I came up with the idea for this little vase after talking to my friend Amy. She wanted a vase like this simple glass one from IKEA, but in white. One could spray paint a vase from the inside, but Amy doesn’t really have a good space to do a spray painting project (and it’s winter in Chicagoland, so no going outside).

    I thought a good alternative would be to line a vase with paper. Then you could switch it out with different colors or patterns whenever you want to! I decided to try it out myself, and I put together a little ‘how-to’.
    (more…)

  • Disappointed

    I made a purse.  It didn’t turn out quite like I had hoped.

    I bought a pattern, per Lili’s suggestion. I hesitate to link to the one that I bought because I don’t think it’s the pattern’s fault, but I went with the “one for all shoulder bag” from Betsy Ross. (Sorry to not do your pattern justice Betsy Ross – it was my first attempt at making something other than curtains.)

    I didn’t want to potentially waste any of my ‘good’ fabric, so I used an old duvet cover from IKEA and a sheet I picked up at the thrift store for $1. The whole project took a few hours, and really wasn’t too hard. The purse is even sort of cute…

    My First Purse

    The pattern didn’t call for any lining, but it did say that thick fabrics are better. Maybe that’s why my purse is so floppy? I did try to get fancy though with a lining (thinking it would add the requisite thickness) and pockets. The pocket I created specifically for my cell phone, by the way, is too small.

    The Lining

    Oh, I also added interfacing to the gusset (the bottom/middle part) of the bag. I thought it would give a little extra support.

    It didn’t.

    Meh.
    Hello, big floppy mess!

    Why does it look like that? What should I have done differently? I was having so much fun making it, but now I don’t think I’ll even use it. It makes me a little sad.

    I want to try again, but I’m worried about getting the same results. Any ideas on what I did wrong?

  • Francesca’s Painting

    Francesca’s Painting

    I couldn’t show this until now because it was a gift…

    Francesca's Finished Painting

    I had created a similar painting a few years ago for little Ross on his first Christmas, so now it was baby Francesca’s turn.

    It was a simple process. I created the layout for the 16′ x 20′ canvas in Illustrator with a vector frame from istockphoto. I printed it out on 4 sheets of paper, taped them together, and traced the design onto the canvas with carbon paper. Once the pencil outline was on the canvas, I simply ‘colored’ it in with paint.

    Francesca's Painting, in progress

    Merry first Christmas, Francesca!

    The Finished Painting

  • Christmas Wrapping

    I love wrapping gifts. Naturally you want to choose a gift that you think will delight the recipient, so why shouldn’t the presentation have the same effect?

    Each year I choose a theme for my Christmas wrapping. Actually, I hesitate to use the word “theme” here, because I always think of theme rooms (Jungle safari! Circus! Beachy/nautical/seashells aplenty!). What I mean to say is that I am my own art director. Yes, hello – I am persnickety.

    Anyway. This year’s “theme” was metallic and pink. I’m using silver, copper, bronze, and gold wrapping papers (from Target and IKEA), and various silver, bronze, and pink ribbons.

    Ribbon

    Wrapping Paper

    The gift tags I made are simple, but with enough possible combinations to make them interesting. First, the necessary tools…

    Gift Tag Supplies

    I have a very heavy-duty circle punch (the big black thing), but any craft punch would work. I also used a couple of Sharpies, a pencil, scissors, a hole punch, decorative scissors (for children, judging by the brightly colored plastic), and scraps of pretty paper.

    I started by punching out circles in my shimmery stardream papers. I then used the leftover scraps to trace onto my other papers, and cut out a slightly smaller circle with my decorative scissors.

    After making many circles, you can put the gift tags together in different color combinations, punch a hole, and you’re done.

    Hole Punch

    Gift Tags

    The gift tags are the most labor-intensive part of the wrapping process, but they’re actually pretty easy. Once they were finished, I just mixed and matched everything. Choose a paper, choose a ribbon (extra points for off-center placement and criss-crossing!), add the gift tag, and that’s it.

    Jessica's gifts

    Don’t they look nice when they’re grouped together?

    Christmas Gifts

  • Stairway Color

    Stairway Color

    I chose a color for the stairway: Campground from Behr. I’m painting this weekend, so we’ll see how it looks…

    Stairway Color

  • Studio Floor, Finished

    Studio Floor, Finished

    The studio looks good, even while empty! It’s amazing how much difference some molding can make – the new bamboo floor looks sharp.

    Finished Bamboo Floor

    Kim (Four Beds Two Baths) and Raya (The Paper Pony) are installing wood floors right now too… I’m looking forward to seeing their finished results!