not your grandma's crafts

I am not enthused...

2010-04-15T09:30:00.002-05:00

I know I need to finish that owl pillow. It sits on my desk and I stare at it as I stream videos on my computer from Netflix and it basically screams at me to pick it up and finish it...I know I don't really have all the much more left to do, but all the fun parts are done and now all I have left to do is sew it together to make it look like a pillow. How do you find the motivation to complete a project when all the exciting parts are done?
-M

Everything is better when it's personalized...

2010-04-05T13:34:00.000-05:00

When my sister was getting married she asked me to be her Maid of Honor and so I felt that anything I did had be absolutely be more original than anyone else. So much pressure! I knew that I wanted to personalize a wood serving bowl for Anne & Chuck by burning a recipe on the rim of it and so my quest began to find a wood serving bowl with a wide enough edge and a recipe small enough to fit.

I ended up finding the bowl at Crate & Barrel and found a salad & dressing recipe that would fit. I bought a wood burner and used the pointed tip to produce clear lettering and practiced on a scrap piece of wood before beginning on the bowl. Overall, it was a fairly easy craft and I think it's lovely.

I also made some paper flowers, these are a few of them.

The 'c' in the word cranberry was the first letter I wrote and is a little wobbly.

Another close up.

I learned how to make these Kusadama flowers here.

For the flowers I used a world map since Chuck is a trained pilot and specifically I used the area around Italy since that is where Anne would like to go.

-Meg

A bit late for Easter...

2010-04-05T09:46:00.000-05:00

I suppose I should have put this up before Easter, but now you have something to think about for next year or if you just like doing little bunny projects. Last Friday our friend, Jamie, came in to work with some goodies her mom had mailed her for Easter and one of the things she got was a little candy bunny that they had made years ago and have kept around ever since. That's some serious willpower because I would have eaten the chocolate kiss immediately.

To make this you will need:
Plain white paper
Hershey's kisses
Black felt tip pen or thin Sharpie marker
Pink Crayon
Ribbon, twine, etc...for the tie
3/8" wood bead
Small white pom
Glue

Use the white paper to cut out 2 ears, color the middle with the pink crayon, fold in half to crease and then glue into the top hole of the wood bead. Use the pink crayon to create the bunny cheeks. Use the Sharpie to draw in the rest of the face. Glue the head to the Hershy's kiss. Glue the white pom to the back on the Hershey's Kiss. Use the ribbon or twine to create a bow.

Fini!

Quick, easy, and super cute. I hope you had a happy Easter!
-Meg

a vintage birthday...

2010-03-22T15:18:00.000-05:00

Lately everywhere I look in the blog world I have seen those little vintage inspired pendent banners. So I thought it was about time I made something incorporating this fun little touch. Scott’s Grandma’s birthday was coming up giving me the perfect opportunity to add a vintage touch to her birthday card. Since she is a fellow crafter I knew she would appreciate it. So here is what I came up with….

The front of the card is the pendent banner. I thought about adding more to the background with colored circles or something to that effect, but in the end I stuck with the simplicity of the muted toned banner. My favorite part being the touch of red in the string!

For the back I found a vintage photograph (I believe it is Shirley Temple) of children blowing out candles and printed it on an off white linen paper; giving it the perfect aged look. Then I wanted to bring in the red touches again so I sewed a border around the picture. Last I pulled in some of the colors form the banner by adding a personal message, and of course I used a vintage typewrite font!

I must admit well making this card I asked myself multiple times how would Meg add a vintage touch to this and that is where I got the idea for adding red string and sewing a border around the picture- Thanks Meg you are my inspiration :) All in all I am pretty happy with the results. Enjoy ~ Julie

Owls taking shape...

2010-03-18T13:50:00.001-05:00

I've had the owls finished up over the weekend, but I never posted them. Here we go...

First I finished sewing on the wings on and face of the small owl. At first I couldn't decide if I wanted to go with a bright orange beak (because I am partial to bright orange), but I'm very happy now that I decided to go a neutral color instead. I think he looks very darling.

hoot.

From there I started on the second owl. I used a dark grey fabric with a lighter grey casual flannelwear fabric for the wings. It's very lightly striped with purple. These eyes were a little trickier to sew since the pupils were larger and you could easily tell if it wasn't a circle. It while while sewing this owl on and sewing the eyes that I sewed it to my pants. Hahahahahaha, oops.

Staring contest.

I finished the owls! Great success. I think my favorite part of the owls are their eyes, the thick white fabric that I used already had a tendency to fray to I used that to my advantage and purposely frayed the edges of the eyes more. It was easy as running my nail a few times over the edge of the fabric.

Now I just need to finish sewing the straps and back on so that it's a complete pillow and not a bunch of small pieces. I also need to go find some great buttons for this (I will be using a button closure for this).

For now, I hope you are all enjoying some crafts and the great weather - it's a beautiful 60 degrees here in Chicago.

-Meg

Bit of a mishap...

2010-03-12T09:04:00.000-06:00

I have to learn to pay more attention to what I'm doing because one minute I'm sewing my pillow and the next I'm undoing my work because I've sewn it to my pants. Shoot!

-M

p.s. The cable and internet are out at the apartment though, so it'll give me plenty of time to finish up the pillow cover and if I'm really productive maybe the pillow form, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. One day I will figure out the sewing machine I bought off craigslist, but for now it's up to my hands to do all the work.

Here we go again...

2010-03-09T15:07:00.001-06:00

I began my bird pillow again. Here's hoping I don't loose various pieces as I had before. I wanted to make an 11x17 pillow, so I measured the front and back pieces with a 1/2" border and then sketched out the tree branch on stiff white linen and transferred it over to the brown flannel casual wear fabric that I bought at Vogue Fabrics a while ago.

Snip snip!

Pinned and ready to go...

I have yet to finesse the technique of holding a pinned together project without stabbing my hands a million times, so my poor hands look like I ran them through rose bushes. Oh well...

Once I had pinned the tree branch on I began sewing it and the little bird on...

I love contrasting thread.

Not quite finished and trimming is desperately needed...

I still have to finish this little bird by adding the feet, beak, and wings as well as add a second, larger one beside it. Then I'll sew on the back and I think I'm going to button close this on the side...so we'll see how that turns out as I have no fully thought it out just yet. I'll also have to make a pillow form for this since. I will finish this bird, and hopefully the larger one as well by the end of tonight.

-Meg

A quick addition to Meg’s post....

2010-03-03T16:57:00.000-06:00

Last night I was lucky enough to be the recipient of this exquisite floral arrangement made by friend and budding florist, Colleen. Just thought I would share with you… Enjoy ~ Julie

Desperate for Spring...

2010-03-01T20:57:00.000-06:00

Obviously, I have not posted about the bird/owl pillow I was making because sadly my owls have gone missing. I suppose it would have been easy enough to just make them over, but I kept thinking that they would be under the pillow, couch, pile of clothes, shoes, etc...So instead of redoing them I slowly cleaned my apartment looking for the ones I had already made. Alas, I have no idea where they went and despite my best efforts they remain ellusive. Perhaps, like me, that have become tired of snow, ice, and dirty slush and flew the coop. How I wish I could follow them! In the meantime, I bought some cut flowers at the grocery store so you can look at these arrangements while I go back and start my owls over again.

Do you love these old milk bottles as much as I do? I found them at an antique shop in Davenport, IA (Antiques on Brady). They have tons of bottles, but these are the ones that I've picked up so far. Also, I found this old metal bottle crate in the alley by my apartment last summer and now it finally has a purpose. Yay!

Are you as ready for Spring as I am?
-Meg

Bottle cap tacks....

2010-02-25T11:14:00.003-06:00

The day has come…. I have completed the long awaited bottle cap project. For those of you who don’t know I have been talking about making this project for months and have pestered my friends into saving tons of bottle caps for me. (Thank you to everyone who contributed) So after a lot of talk and not a lot of action I finally completed the project last night! Yeah!

Supplies:

The supplies were pretty simple and inexpensive. Card Stock, 1” hole punch, thumb tacks, hot glue, craft glue, resin, an image (or multiple), and bottle caps!

I decided to do an alphabet set of tacks so I scavenged the internet for a free font download and came across a typewriter key font which I love. (This site has a lot of interesting fonts; you should definitely check it out.)

Process:

Download the font or image you want to use and scale it to fit in a 1” circle.
Use the 1” hole punch to make the bottle cap inserts from the image.
With a dab of craft glue adhere the 1” circles to the bottom of the bottle cap.
Allow to dry.
Once the drying is complete, mix your resin solution and pour into the bottle caps. (At this step you can play with the effect you want. If you overfill the bottle cap you get more of a bubble effect) WARNING: Make sure you do this is in a well ventilated area because it STINKS!
Once all the bottle caps are filled allow to dry (it took mine about 12 hours to completely dry)

Once dry all you have to do is use a little hot glue to attach the thumb tacks and Whah lah! You’re done.

Enjoy ~Julie

"Pie" pops and other mishaps...

2010-02-16T07:46:00.000-06:00

By now I would say that most people who frequent food blogs have heard about, seen, or have tried pie pops. I first saw them in July on Luxirare and have been obsessed with the idea of them ever since. The idea is genius and the product is so cute and charming. How could they possibly go wrong?

I started off by making 2 homemade fillings - for the banana filling I mashed 2 ripe bananas and added a couple teaspoons of cinnamon and for the blackberry filling I minced a pint of blackberries and added a couple teaspoons of sugar. I used premade cherry and apple pie fillings, but cut the pieces up so that the filling would fit in the crust circles. I also bought pillsbury premade crust - the ones that are flat in the refrigerator aisle - so that I didn't have to make them myself.

So, once everything was set up, I happily rolled out the crusts so that they'd be a little thinner and use a 2.5" circle dough cutter to cut out 22 circles from one premade crust. I added about one teaspoon of filling to 11 of the circles, put the lollipop stick in, sealed with a second crust circle, brushed with egg whites, and popped them in the oven at 375 degrees. After 15 minutes they were finished and looked BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't wait to try one so I gleefully picked up a banana pie pop and put the whole thing in my mouth. Wow. There was so much crust and so little filling. The crust sucked all the moisture from my mouth and I thought I was going to choke on what should have been a delightful bite of pie! I know that the Luxirare blogger said that she enjoyed more crust that filling, but I thought I'd at least be able to taste more than the whisper of filling flavor. So disheartening. I didn't even bother photographing them because I was so depressed over the whole incident, but this is what they looked like (maybe not quite as perfect):

Image from Luxirare

I don't know if I did something wrong, has anyone else tried these? I've read elsewhere online that they used 3" circle dough cutters, but I figure that while it may increase the amount of filling you can fit, it will also increase the amount of dough. So...you'd end up with the same issue, right?

After that I had to think of something else to make for Valentine's Day to bring into work so I thought candied lemon peels would be delicious. I went to Tastespotting.com and searched lemon peel and so I clicked on the first one, Tangy Lemon Peels Dipped in Dark Chocolate from Cooking Weekends and followed the instructions because I had never made these before.

These are what they should have looked like - image from Cooking Weekends blog

The instructions say to parboil the lemon peels for about one minute in order to remove some of the bitterness - that made sense to me, so I did it. Then the directions say to mix one cup of water and one cup of sugar over heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then add the lemon peels and allow to simmer for about an hour. Done and done. After my pie pop disappointment I had my mom taste these first and I feel a little bad about that. They were bitter...with an awful aftertaste. What the heck? I looked online and other recipes for candied peels and they said that you should boil the peels for 20 minutes and then change the water 4 times (so boiling for a total of 80 minutes) in order to remove the bitterness. Then you're supposed to simmer in the sugar water for 2 hours. Granted, this was the most extreme version, but I only had 3 oranges so I had to get it right this time (I used all the lemons the first time so I had to switch to candied orange peels).

The candied orange peels were delicious, but they were so soft by the end of it that when I rolled them in sugar and dipped them in chocolate they kept breaking into little pieces. Only a handful were left intact. *sigh*

Other V-day weekend sadness included making homemade roasted tomato soup that ended up tasting pretty similar to canned Cambell's Tomato Soup and being in an accident on Saturday morning in the Michael's parking lot...I should have known that things were only going to go downhill from there.

Oh well.
-Meg

fuzzy felt friends....

2010-02-15T14:37:00.003-06:00

I made these little guys about 6 months ago with the intention to put them on baby onesies, but then I realized if my husband found baby clothes, he might have a heart attack. And since I am not sure if his life insurance policy is up to date, I would rather not risk it. :) So they have been sitting in my sewing box for months. I have decided to share them with you guys and with a little magic (Photoshop) I was able to put them on onesies without my husband discovering a baby-r-us receipt.

The monkey (or dog depending on what you see) and the lady bug are made from simple shapes cut out of felt and sewn together using embroidery floss. My only worry would be washing them. I don’t know how the felt would hold up in a washing machine. Although this project could be easily duplicated using cotton instead of felt. I would also love to see Meg’s snail on baby onesies. Hmmm…. I am thinking there could be an opportunity here.... We will see. ~Julie

Random want...

2010-02-09T21:29:00.000-06:00

I've been working on a new pillow lately (surprise, it doesn't include felt) and I will hopefully have something to show you by the end of the week. At least a progress post, that is. In the mean time I have been browsing online for various whatnots and came across this jacket:

(Picture by www.katespade.com)

Behold, the King Street Twill Bow Trench Coat by Kate Spade. I love it, but at $645 I just don't think I can justify buying it. *sigh* I have many weaknesses in life (felt, shoes, pillows, antiques...) and coats have become a more recent one. Must...resist...

Oh well, I'll go back to my pillow and hope that it cheers me up. Also, speaking of pillows...would anyone like a snail pillow or a felt elephant? I'm not really sure what to do with them since I live in a microscopic apartment that is already overflowing with things.

Until we meet again.

Meg

colored paper, hole punches & a little bit of glitter…

2010-02-02T10:26:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to share some of the cards I made recently. I splurged and bought a bunch of new hole punches and had to try them out. I will admit they are very spring themed, I think I had a touch of cabin fever.... Enjoy- Julie

lunch time valentine…

2010-02-02T10:16:00.000-06:00

Inspired by my post last week, Meg and I plus the other girls in the design department tried out the felt fortune cookies. They turned out great and they were super easy!

All we did was cut out different sized circles from the felt, glued a piece of wire down the middle (hot glue-much faster), covered it with a strip of coordinating felt or ribbon, folded it, and inserted a fortune. (Directions from Martha Stewart.com) Super cute end result and it only took us about 20 minutes to make a handful. If you make a bigger circle you can add Hershey’s kisses inside. This would be such a cute little surprise inside a kid’s lunch box or a great place to hide an engagement ring!!! (hint… hint… Frank :) ) And you can always package a couple of them in a cute takeout box for that someone special. Enjoy…. Julie

Will you be my Valentine?

2010-01-27T10:02:00.003-06:00

While exploring Martha today, I came across some super cute Valentine’s Day ideas. Here are some of my favorites….

Over the next few weeks I am hoping to make a few of them, so keep checking back for updates!!! Talk to you soon. Julie

Gift Tags

2010-01-21T16:33:00.000-06:00

Don’t worry we are still alive!!! We have just been two very busy bees over the holidays. Sorry. Today I have a fun gift tag idea to share, that I used for my Christmas gifts.

This year I used a paper that was covered in snowman to wrap all of my presents. To create matching gift tags I took a piece of the paper and enlarged it on the copy machine until the snowman graphic was the size I wanted. I then used this as a template. I used different colors of cardstock to create the components and then added some glitter! This was a fun and easy way to add a little something fun to my gifts. This technique could be used all year round.

Julie

happy holidays.....

2009-12-23T12:42:00.004-06:00

While shopping at Crate & Barrel the other day I stumbled upon the cutest holiday candy bag. It was a little too pricey for my budget, so I set out to duplicate it for less. With some felt and a little bit of work I was able to create something pretty close to the original.

Inspiration:

Image from CrateandBarrel.com

Results:

Process:

• Cut felt to the desired bag size, leaving a ½” seam allowance. (I used two pieces of felt to add detail to the inside)

• Fold the pieces in half. Sew along the long open end (like you would a pillow). Do not sew the top or bottom closed!

• Measure the bottom of the bag. Using a circle template cut out a circle with that diameter (leaving a ½” seam allowance). Use a fabric pen to trace the circle for guidance.

• At this point I found it easiest to draw a line on the inside of the bag ¼” from the bottom which can then be aligned with the outline of the circle.

• Pin the circle to the bottom of the bag, aligning the two markings. Note the markings will not be touching, you will have to visually line them up. Sew together.

• Turn the bag inside out and embellish as you desire!

Julie

Never enough felt...

2009-11-23T20:38:00.003-06:00

I admittedly already own a lot of felt. Something about seeing "4 for $1" makes me grab various felts at a manic speed. I must have every color! I must have 4 of every color!! When a multiple of something only costs $1 you undoubtedly end up with a lot of it. (Ahem, I have about 50 matchbooks from the dollar store, what a steal!) I'm sure there's some underlying issue with me being felt and $1 bargain obsessed, but that's for another discussion.

My only real complaint about these cheap felts is the color selection. If it's not neon, it's dull. There are not many uses for hot pink felt, not in my world at least. So when I decided to make those felt "bows" that Anthropologie was using I was already trying to figure out how I could possibly make them look good with the color selection I already own. Answer: I couldn't.

I've been eyeing some fabrics and felts over at Heather Bailey's online fabric store and finally broke down and bought some sheets of felt. These are the colors I decided to purchase: Pistachio, Vanilla, and Cherry Pie.

(Images from Heather Bailey's Online Shop)

I just received them in the mail today and the colors are perfect. The colors that you see online and pretty much the colors that you will get. The only downside is that it costs $2.25 for a 9"x12" sheet. That makes my heart hurt a little bit. She's offering felt bundles now, but they cost $10.50 for 5 sheets...that's only a 75 cent savings. I like her bundles with the exception of the green bundle that has 4 awesome colors (Pea Soup, Evergreen, Fairy Pool, and Pistachio) and one color that I would rather do without (Ginger Root). Still...75 cents? That's the best savings you can give me? At least make it 5 for $10 and save me $1.25. The odds of me wanting all the colors in a bundle are slim, so I might as well cough up the extra 75 cents and get exactly the colors that I want.

Oh well. At least for now I'm thrilled with the colors that I bought and I'm happy with the quality of the felt. I would definitely buy from Heather Bailey again...but be aware that it's going to cost you. Here's hoping for some holiday coupons.

-Meg

Finally!

2009-11-23T12:10:00.001-06:00

It's been a long time coming, but I finally finished the elephant square pillow/plush that I was working on. Behold!

This little guy (8"x8"x8") took me longer than I thought it would, but I also wasn't constantly working on it. In fact, there were many moments when I could have been working on it, but didn't. Then with the whole ear debacle, the project just kept dragging on and on.

So on a very laid back Saturday night I began the finishing stitches - I added the eyes and closed up the face. I like when the animals don't have mouths and as you can see this little guy doesn't have one.

Of course, none of my projects ever turn out 100% perfect, but I think these imperfections give the pieces some character. Notice the wobbly side of his face and if you saw a straight on shot of him you would notice that his ears are not quite even.

That's not too terrible, right?

What a little darling!

Also, I suppose I could have made his trunk a little larger. Oh well! Am I the only one who has project mishaps?

Longer than I thought...

2009-11-18T10:47:00.002-06:00

This elephant plush/pillow is taking forever! I've got the square sewed together and the nose on, but when I went to put the ears on I realized that I had made them too small. So, I have to redo them. Almost done though, so close!

Here's something pretty to look at while you wait:

This is a table that my very good friend and roommate, Joey Henrichs, made. The top is made from old barn siding that's been stained dark and the legs are old barn remnants that have been planed down, painted white, and distressed. He is an amazing furniture maker. Love love love.

Also, a friend got a gift from Anthropologie yesterday and look at the lovely bow the store put on the box for her:

This looks fairly easy to duplicate. Those are about 1 1/2" felt circles with two small cuts in the center with the ribbon threaded through. I love cute packaging. I think I'll be using this for my Christmas gifts this year.

-Meg

just for fun....

2009-11-10T08:41:00.001-06:00

Browsing the usual sites today I came across these free downloads. Although they are simple silhouettes, I already started to ponder what I could do with them. I would love to put a bold red frame around the image of the girl on a bike. The whimsical rabbit would make a wonderful card or wall decal on a child’s bedroom wall. And with the holidays coming around the deer in a winter setting would make a great card or wrapping paper decoupage. Enjoy! -Julie

P.S. Please share any of your thoughts or ideas on what to do with the free downloads....

Something I've been working on...

2009-11-09T13:23:00.002-06:00

It's not quite finished, but it's been so long since we've posted anything that I figured I'd give you an update. Over at How About Orange last week, Jess posted about some tutorials for small, soft, and cute things and I was instantly enamored with the felt rabbit keychain. Obviously, I couldn't resist because it was handsewn and felt - 2 of my favorite things.

I didn't want to make a rabbit though, and I especially didn't want to make a keychain because I certainly don't need any more things to carry around. So I was thinking about what I could do and how I could warp the idea into something that I really wanted. Easily enough I decided that I wanted to make an elephant pillow/stuffed animal in the style of that felt rabbit.

First I traced a square outline on some gray felt to give me 6 squares (5 darker gray and 1 lighter gray for the stomach).

Then I cut out two small strips of dark gray felt and sewed them together, stuffed a little bit of filling inside, clip the ends to fray it, and sewed it onto the felt square that would make up the rear of the elephant.

Now I'm sewing all my squares together, but I still have to make the face, ears, and trunk.

Here's my progress thus far:

I'm hoping to finish this soon, within the next day or two, so I'll let you know how it goes. - Meg

How quickly can I gather the supplies to make this...

2009-10-29T08:31:00.001-05:00

As I roamed about the internet this morning I clicked over to Wild Ink Press and looked through her posts and found this amazing DIY project: Homemade Clock.

In the short time that I've known about this project I have been emailing it to my friends and family. Pretty soon we'll all have a variation of this clock. Alas, I do not have any wood type laying around for my use, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for any interesting numbers (whether wood type or not).

-Meg

Alphabet inspiration...

2009-10-27T16:18:00.002-05:00

I've been busy with work and weddings and random family whatnot that I haven't made anything recently (although I have started something and I'll hopefully post it within the week). I never stop thinking about crafts and what I would do and buy if I had a million dollars just handed over to me. Some of the things I'd buy might include the following:

Argyle
Bronze patina
Cameos
Distressed wood
Encyclopedias
Felt
Garden paths
Handwritten letters
I-beams
Jars
Keys
Letterpress
Milk glass
Nature
Owls
Pillows
Questionnaires
Rambling objects
Salt & pepper shakers
Typewriters
Upcycling
Vintage
Wildflower arrangements
X...xylophones?
Yarn
Zippers

Sources:
Argyle sweater dress: Shay Benet Clothing
Milk glass vases: Country Living
Key: ul_Marga Flickr
Salt & pepper shakers: Moma
Typewriter: joevintage etsy

-Meg

trash that dress

2009-10-23T09:12:00.001-05:00

Do you have an old wedding dress and no use for it anymore? Explore this possibility: A friend of mine just told me about this new photography trend. After all of the wedding festivities the bride (groom optional) does a second photo shoot in very unusual places: an abandoned house or barn, a river, the lake, etc... During the photo shoot there are no restrictions - the bride may be completely submerged under water or laying down on a street! The end result…magnificent artful photos. The only catch is that your dress may not make it back in one piece. Check out the following link and tell us what you think.

http://freetoflaunt.com/?cat=10

Julie

memories....

2009-10-22T09:15:00.001-05:00

So Meg’s inspiration board makes me want to get married all over again! To the same husband of course! Just for fun I have put together a collage of images from my wedding. My theme was clean, simple, and blue! Later I plan on adding more details to share. But for now enjoy! -Julie

The photography was done by Eric O'conner (who I highly recommend)

poppies, poppies, and more poppies….

2009-10-20T08:30:00.009-05:00

During our last mini-craft social when Meghan made that awesome snail pillow (which I plan on stealing from her) the rest of us were working on poppies!

I came across the how to on How about orange and fell in love with the idea immediately. These easy to make fabric poppies make wonderful pins and adornments for anything, the possibilities are truly endless. We pretty much followed the directions to a T. We used hairspray instead of fabric stiffener and it worked just fine, for a fraction of the cost! And to speed up the process we dried them with a hair dryer instead of waiting for them to air dry. I have decided for the center I prefer a button instead of the fabric bunch, a vintage brooch would work great as well! Once the poppies were all glued together I found that they were pretty big, so I bent the petals back in different directions for a flatter look, although the originals look great too.

You don' have to use all of the petals, this is a picture of the mid way point

Different ideas…..

Gina chose to use felt instead of cotton or linen, and those turned out very well, I wanted to pin one to winter hat! I think the felt will be more durable in the long run, too. Plus it cut some time out of the process because there was no ironing or spraying, and that is always a plus. :) Also, Sarah picked a patterned fabric mixed with a solid, and that created a fun and bright flower, very cool! All together everyone was very happy with the outcome. So print out those template and get creating!!!! -Julie

Must see....

2009-10-19T16:47:00.002-05:00

Check out the Design*Sponge sneek peek blog today. I love Ellen Hanson's house. She is an interior designer living in New York. If you know me you know my favorite colors are Black, White and Grey and she has them everywhere, check it out! -Julie

Things I do when I'm bored...

2009-10-14T08:26:00.003-05:00

So I'm not engaged or even that close to being engaged, but that doesn't mean that I don't like to plan ahead a little bit (or a lot...). Anyway, so this isn't a craft in anyway, but I did make this inspiration board over at Style Me Pretty not too long ago so I thought I'd share with you my current dream wedding board. Go over and create your own inspiration board, whether you're married, engaged, or just doing it for giggles. - Meg

A mini craft-social and an adventure in pillow making...

2009-10-06T16:46:00.001-05:00

While roaming around the Renegade Craft fair last month I came across the cutest pillow that I wanted, nay - needed, to have and it only cost (holy crud!) $55. How swiftly my dreams of having this pillow on my couch faded. After much longing, Julie and I once again discussed this pillow and thought that I could make that pillow myself at a fraction of the price, and so I did.

Julie, a few of our friends, and me all got together one night after work to socialize and do some crafting. Everyone else made fabric poppies (which Julie will discuss later) except for me - my goal was to make this beloved pillow. It was a great night of cutting, gluing, and my favorite - hand sewing.

Here is the inspiration pillow:

Out For a Stroll by Alison Tauber

Alison's pillow is admittedly better than mine, but I think I could get it right on the second try.

Here is my pillow (and the process of creating it):

First I cut out the felt shell shape and sewed the spiral detail

The I pinned it to the gray fabric that I bought and cut. I wanted a 15" pillow, but I didn't think it through well enough and ended up with a 14" pillow. Obviously, I forgot about adding an extra inch so I could have a 1/2" seam. Oops!

From there I pinned the two pillow pieces together and begun hand sewing the edges. I have a sewing machine, but honestly - I've never used it. I enjoy a good hand sewing, plus it's much easier to tote it around. So after a total of maybe...5 hours? I had this pillow:

Here's a close up of the snail.

Another thing I'd do different about this (besides leaving room for the seam) is that I'd raise the snail up so you could better see the bottom of it. Overall I love it and instead of $55, this pillow only cost me about $10.

Something to check out.....

2009-10-06T14:15:00.000-05:00

I was bored at work today and checking in with all of my favorite blog sites out there and came across this beautiful vintage wedding featured on design*sponge. The details are amazing and there are so many unique ideas. It makes me want to get married again….

dreams do come true.....

2009-10-05T19:54:00.000-05:00

Last week I actually attended the Martha Stewart show! Yes that’s right, little old me got to see the queen of crafts herself. :) It was just as I imagined…. Perfect.

Before you actually enter the set, everyone gathers in two holding rooms where they prep you for the show. (No gum chewing, bags and purses must be tucked neatly under your chair, everything in its place) Joey the enthusiastic audience warm up guy does a quick rundown of the shows topics, guests and audience cues, well encouraging loud and jubilant cheering.

Then we get to go to the studio. Bright lights, loud music, and pastels as far as the eye can see. An impeccable set.

The set is broken into 5 different areas. When you first walk in there is a seating room with a few chairs, a table full of books, and a hutch. The floor is adorned with a beautiful rug. Next the stage opens up into the large kitchen, with white porcelain dished neatly stacked on display and of course the best of the best appliances and kitchen utensils everywhere. Behind closed glass doors was the test kitchen, where there were several people all wearing salmon cardigans scurrying around tasting and sampling dishes. The other two rooms included the craft room and the potting shed. Both staged with every tool imaginable, but of course everything was tucked neatly into its proper place.

There were crew members running around making sure everything is just right before Martha came out. As I was seated (lucky enough to be on the floor extremely close to the action) I caught a glimpse of Martha in the test kitchen. I couldn’t believe it, it was really her!!! Then Joey gave us the signal to stand and Martha came out. She was wearing a salmon colored button up blouse and kaki capris. The audience clapped and cheered loudly and the show began. Although the show is not live, Martha prefers to tape as though it is live, no breaks (besides commercials). So the taping went fairly fast, the first segment was shrimp, asparagus, and an apricot ice cream dessert all from her upcoming book, Dinner at Home. (yummy) Next we learned how to make cute clothes from old baggy sweats with guest Carmen Webber, a contestant on season 4 of Bravo's Project Runway, author of Chic sweats. Then Martha talked with the author of Net Lingo, the texting dictionary for all those parents out there who don’t know what their kids are saying. To end the show Martha gave us some quick tips on ironing and broom maintenance.

It was an awesome experience!!! To be right there in the action was amazing. I only hope I can go back!

Halloween decor...too soon?

2009-09-18T08:09:00.000-05:00

I have a love of all things Halloween. It's my absolute favorite holiday and it's smack dab in the middle of my favorite season - fall. So imagine the utter glee and happiness that came over me when Martha (Stewart, of course) began talking about Halloween decorations and costumes. Sweet bliss. Some of the favors I'm kind of "eh" about, but some I love and one especially is my favorite - felt pumpkin people. So adorable and easy!

I did make some adjustments to this project, instead of using felt for the body I used fleece. The felt available to me when I went shopping was lacking in color selection. I know that she said to dye it, but really? I'm not going to do that. So I bought some orange fleece in a color that I love (bonus, the bolt was near the end so I got extra at 50% the sale price) and began measuring away. I didn't have a circle template that got up to 4", let alone 5 1/2" so instead I stuck a pin in the fabric and used a ruler to mark out 2" or 2 3/4" from the center and then connected the dots to make my circles. Success!

I digressed again from the instructions and filled my body and head with general polyfill. Excelsior? I guess I'm not up-to-date on my craft terminology, but I've discovered that it's essentially wood wool. If I didn't already have polyfill I might go ahead and buy the excelsior, but I liked the polyfill so maybe not. I know that when I make this again I will put some beans or rice or lentils in the bottom to make my pumpkin man sturdier. Also, I didn't want to buy some stiff hard wire so I just sewed the head onto the body.

I finished the project as Martha instructed and overall I'm pleased with it. Oh, except I didn't have pinking shears so I just went with a straight mouth. I don't think mine looks as happy as Martha's. I gave him a darling scarf to perk him up (plus it hides any misc. stiches from assembly).

So here he is - Publius Puck Pumpkin:

Bachelorette Party favors

2009-09-17T23:20:00.000-05:00

This has been a long time coming. The wedding happened a couple weekends ago and it was amazing. Two really great friends of mine got married and the day was absolutely beautiful. However, before all that greatness could occur, I had to throw the bride a bachelorette party. I've already discussed the decorations with you (beaded garland and tissue paper pom-poms) so here are the favors that I made with Julie's help and the help of a couple of our coworkers.

Magnets!!

(Not exactly risque, but still awesome.)

These are all felt magnets that I made. Many people have made cupcakes and cupcake magnets before with this design. In fact, a quick search on etsy provides me with blackcatmima and shopmamapapaya and flashyfish. I'm not trying to promote them, although why not - love thy fellow crafters, but I'm just trying to get it out of the way that those cupcakes aren't some design that I maliciously stole. If you've made ones just like it, awesome, and if you haven't, you should because they're cute and fun.

For the 1 cupcake:

Cut out 2 bases in brown, yellow, or white felt at your desired size in the shape of like a squared off bowl

Cut out 2 cupcake tops in a color of your choice at a size that is wider than the base. Scallop the bottom portion.

*It is important that the bases match each other and even more important that the tops match because when it's time to sew them together, it becomes a hassle. I suggest you make a template and use it.

Sew beads onto 1 top piece for sprinkles and 1 red button as a cherry (although, I have never had a cherry on a cupcake).

Sew the beaded top onto one of the bases.

Sew the other top onto the other base, make sure that they mirror what you have just sewn so they match up.

Sew the two pieces together, leaving room to fill with polyfill and to insert a magnet.

FINI!

The cake piece was a lot harder and I really can't say that I have mastered a perfect way to sew this. That wasn't the best cake piece magnet, but the bride took the best one and I didn't photograph it beforehand. This one takes patience and maybe you can tell me a better way to go about sewing this.

For the cake piece:

Cut out 2 rectangles at your desired size to make the prominent side and magnet side of the piece. Sew one end together and leave the other 3 sides alone.

Cut out another rectangle that's the same height as the other two pieces, but thinner to make the end of the cake piece (where all the frosting would be in real life). Sew together with the other piece so that you have a triangle.

Cut out a triangle base to cover the bottom of the triangle and sew it on.

Measure the triangle for the top part of frosting and make it large enough that you can scallop the edges and have it overhang the sides.

Sew beads onto the top piece

Sew along the scallops around the top of the cake piece - leaving enough room to fill and insert a magnet, or 2.

*It's the top part that causes me trouble. Maybe I could sew the top triangle and scallops on separately. Hmm...*

Also, if you want you can add a strip of colored felt for the fruit/filling layer or bead the cake piece so that it looks like a funfetti cake. So many options!

Happy handsewing!

-Meg

2009-09-14T19:00:00.002-05:00

Meghan and I went to the Renegade Craft fair this weekend with some of our girlfriends. It was so much fun; we encountered so many creative and talented people. I left feeling inspired, itching to start my next project. The crafts ranged from homemade soaps and baby clothes to hand carved art pieces. If you were looking for it, it was there. Even if you weren’t looking for it, you found it! Unfortunately both of us forgot our cameras so I don’t have pictures to share, but I did pick up the cards of some of my favorite crafters, so check out their websites and see what you think……

www.squeaky-queen.com

www.rinsesoap.com

www.reciperags.com

www.theneedleshop.etsy.com

www.rosybird.com

www.alisontauber.etsy.com

www.ellembee.etsy.com

www.theweekendstore.com

www.circlestreet.etsy.com

www.dolangeiman.com

Also see if you are lucky enough to have the renegade craft fair visit you…. http://www.renegadecraft.com/

{this is Meghan now}
I loved that entire craft fair, Julie is absolutely right when she said there were a lot of baby clothes, because they were everywhere. I'm not one to be baby-crazy, but I was wishing for a pregnant friend as I wandered around. Our goal is that next year we will have our own booth there. I was trying to be good about not buying a lot of things, but I did break down and buy a pendant from The Weekend Store (link above).

It's a key from an old typewriter. I've been a big fan of these since I first saw then about a year ago, but I've never bought one until just this past weekend. I happily chose the shift lock pendant and $18 later I am now wearing it. There's something wonderful about immediate gratification.

Just a quick little question...

2009-09-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

Julie and I have picked up some previously used burlap bags from a local coffee shop. The problem is that these bags smell, and I mean they really smell. I've read online to air them outside, but that's not going to work out since we both live in apartments without balconies. Boo. Another thing I've read is to sprinkle the bag with baking soda, or soak them in vinegar and rinse off with water.

Has anyone had success with this?

Oh well, hopefully we figure something out for it because I'm all up for burlap pillows and whatnot, but not when it makes my apartment smell like a farm yard. Pass.

One object, endless possibilities…..

2009-09-02T06:40:00.002-05:00

Object: Starbucks store bought Frappuccino bottle

Like many of you out there I am addicted to Caffeine. At this point I am pretty sure that I can’t function without it. One of my favorite treats is the Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino that you can purchase at the grocery store. This particular drink comes in a nice thick glass bottles with a tin lid. I love the fact that they bare a slight resemblance to vintage milk bottles. (Country charm) Recently I have collected some of the bottles and decided to recycle/reinvent them. It is always fun to think outside the box……

First, I removed the labels and underlying residue (hot soapy water works well). Using a little bit of rubbing alcohol I removed the use by date. And of course I washed out any leftover coffee.

Then came the creative thinking….

A couple of the ideas didn’t require any modification to the bottles at all. Just remove the lid and they make a wonderful vase for wildflowers. The bottles are also a great storage solution for office/ art supplies.

They make fantastic gift containers for bath salts or candy. Add your own fun homemade label for a personal touch. You can even tie on a spoon on the side.

I also explored using etching paint to create designs on the bottles. I bought a very reasonably priced frosting kit at my local craft store, using painters tape I created a stencil for my pattern and I was off….. The results: fun and whimsical bottles. I should mention that I had trouble getting crisp lines around the edges and 2 coats of the frosting pain wasn't quite enough. Live and learn....

Other ideas to try…. Candle holder, sugar storage (etching the word sugar on the front would be super cute), lighting bug holder (with holes in the lid of course), display a sea shell collection with a layer of sand on the bottom of the jar. Use them to serve fun summer drinks in. Mix and match different heights for small collections on a table or window sill. If you are lucky enough to have a vintage milk crate, you could line the bottles up and add flowers to some, creating a fun country centerpiece. The possibilities are endless!!!

And don’t forget the lid…. Although it isn’t bad as is, you can always cover it in fabric, paint it, or just add a sticker to the top for a little added detail.

Heirloom crafts

2009-09-01T06:40:00.000-05:00

My Great-grandmother mastered the art of crocheting, unfortunately the past time stopped with her. Neither my mom nor my grandma learned from her*. Recently I have decided this is something I want to take up, but my great-grandmother has long since passed so I am on my own to learn how to crochet. I have bought a crochet hook, yarn and I have downloaded a very helpful and free! how-to manual online.

I have made a few practice attempts which are still not quite right. Although I think I have got the general stitching techniques down, I can’t seem to crochet a straight piece of fabric. Oops… Even my little practice squares seem to curve upwards. I am pretty sure this is due to not counting the number of stitches I made on the previous row and subsequently crocheting gradually shorter and shorter rows. But that is just my guess. So I venture on and will continue to practice until I figure it out. I find the challenge fun. I will keep you posted on my crocheting adventures….. In the mean time have a little chuckle at my blunders.

I think my husband said it best when he asked why I made such a small oven mitt and a one sided booty.

*Disclaimer: my mom did learn how to do one row of crochet but never learned how to turn the stitch and to create multiple rows, therefore she is no help to me.

warm and cozy purse

2009-08-31T20:23:00.000-05:00

In anticipation of fall fast approaching (sooner than expected in the Chicago land area) I started sorting through all of my sweaters. There is this one particular cardigan that unfortunately I have become a little to plump to wear anymore, yet I can’t bring myself to get rid of it. (What can I say I’m a sucker for toggle buttons) Just recently I decided it was time to do something about it…. instead of giving it away I choose to rethink it. Inspired by an article I read in Country Living Magazine. I decided to make it into a purse. This way I don’t have to completely give it up.

The execution was pretty easy. I just cut off the arms and sewed the body like you would a pillow, obviously leaving one side open. If you make the bottom of the sweater the top of the purse, you don’t even need to hem it! I added a wide pink ribbon under the buttons, for a little added detail. I lined the purse with some micro-suede left over from another project for added structure. The sleeves became the straps. All and all the process was pretty cheap and easy. I did screw one thing up though. I ended up putting the straps on last which was a mistake; it would have made more sense to put the straps on before I lined the purse so the connections was between the liner and the outside. But this is an easy mistake to go back and fix, so I am not too disappointed. It made for a great afternoon project.

More ideas…..It would also have made a great pillow or wonderful addition to an activity blanket for toddlers learning how to zipper, button, snap, and tie. (Just think of the many fun little images that could be hiding under the buttons for your toddler to discover) I am for sure all of you could think of tons of ideas as well. So don’t throw away those sweaters, start crafting!

Cake, cake, and more cake.......

2009-08-26T20:03:00.002-05:00

You can always find a reason to make a cake. A meaningful cake always adds a special touch to a birthday, party, or just a plain old ordinary day. And when it comes to cake decorating, the possibilities are endless….

Recently for my friends 30th birthday she went all out and had a big bash on a yacht. So of course a cake was in order. I wanted to make her a bold, fun, and sassy cake (just like her). I went with polka-dots, feathers, and of course sparkle! To keep with the party theme I choose to decorate in shades of blue just like water. Plus she just isn’t a pink kind of girl.

For the 30 cake topper, I strung seed beads on wire and shaped appropriately. You can find directions from Martha here. The feathers were from a boa and I used real ribbon to trim the base of the cake.

If time is of the essence or you just can’t bake, consider buying a pre-made (always perfectly frosted) cake from the grocery store and add your special touches in the decorations. For instance for my friend Terra’s birthday I bought a devils food cake with Butter cream frosting from the store and topped it with bold sunflowers, blueberries, and strawberries to create a country summer look. The sunflowers and fruit represented her organic and natural side and the yellow reflected her bright personality.

So for your next cake adventure, explore. Think about the person and what they mean to you and try to incorporate that into the cake. And don’t be afraid to use non-edible items to decorate. Have Fun!

Additional ideas and images.....

Here a few snap shots of fun cupcakes I have made in the past. If you are looking for cute ideas I highly recommend the book Hello, Cupcake! By Karen Tack & Alan Richardson.

(Sorry about the picture quality the images are from my archaic cell phone)

Here are a few samples of cakes that my sister Jenny has made. She always has fun whimsical ideas....

Bachelorette party decorations

2009-08-24T18:54:00.015-05:00

My friend is getting married next week so she asked me to throw her a bachelorette party I was thrilled to put it together for her.

For the decorations I made the oft-mentioned tissue paper pom-poms from Martha Stewart in varying colors (white, pink, orange, green, and blue), you can find how to make these here. I hung these above the kitchen table along with garland made from yarn pom-poms and beads.

I used picture hooks to keep the garland suspended.

To make yarn pom-poms wrap yarn around your pointer and middle finger 75-100 times. Cut a separate piece of yarn, about 6" long, and wrap it around the yarn - going through your fingers. Cinch the yarn and cut the ends. For a larger pom-pom wrap it around 3 fingers 100-125 times.

I strung the pom-poms and beads using jewelry thread and a needle - next time I will use a clear thread. To keep the beads in place you have to go through the bead twice otherwise they slip all over the place. Be careful because they can become tangled quite easily.

A glimpse into my apartment

2009-08-19T22:11:00.011-05:00

My camera broke a while ago so I've been more or less pictureless for the past year or so. If it wasn't for photo-taking friends there would be no documentation of my senior year in college. Sad face.
Over time I've become accustomed to not having a camera, but just last weekend my boyfriend (Frank) forgot his camera here. Shame for him, but yay! for me. So I decided to take a couple pictures of my apartment's living room. It was the only room that was truly clean so that's why it's all you see - although there is a glimpse into the kitchen.

I live with my friend, Joey, and together we painted the kitchen a deep midnight blue with white trimming (it's an old apartment with all the amazing vintage details). Then a couple of months ago while he was away visiting his family I painted the living room and yellow/orange color called...I think...Mango Tango. I was regretting it after I initially painted it, but once it dried it darkened up and now I love it.

All of the wood furniture in the living room was handmade by Joey. His parents own a bunch of farms with an excess of old barn wood, so before we moved into the apartment he just decided he's make us some furniture and now we have some really amazing pieces.

Joey and I also like to dumpster dive in the alleys nearby and here is one of our favorite finds (left). 3 perfectly good windows that were left for garbage pick up! Now we have them hung above the couch (pillows from etsy shop Ellen's Designs).

So that's just a mini-tour within a remarkably long post.
-Meg

Craft Social

2009-08-17T18:25:00.007-05:00

Julie and I went to the Craft Social in Evanston this past Friday and it was amazing in all ways. The food was delicious - I ate something that was part smore and part brownie, which means it was like heaven in my mouth. I was super excited about the felt & button flowers and Julie was hoping to make something amazing at the Ink Blot t-shirt table. Turns out the ink blot project was a no-go for this social so while we waited for the felt & button flower leader to navigate through traffic we made some pretty adorable collage owls. Behold!:
After the owl making we returned to the felt & button flower table and it had already started, oops! So once we figured out what we were supposed to be doing we set out to make our flowers. The options provided were to make a felt flower and attach it to a floral stem or to make it into a pin. I was all geared up to making it into a pin, but then decided to save it and make it into a headband (although our leader, Emily, told me that it is perhaps going out of style - say it isn't so!). I haven't attached mine just yet, but I'm looking forward to wearing it. Here's my flower that I lovingly stitched together:

I'm a fan of the double button center.

And then there was cinnamon...

2009-08-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

Project: Handmade Soap
Reference: Martha Stewart’s Craft encyclopedia
Difficulty factor: 6
Cost: approximately $60 (with plenty of supplies left over - the majority of this is initial cost)

We are pretty excited about our first attempt at soap making. All in all it was pretty successful. Being novices at the craft we chose to use Martha Stewart’s directions on soap making. Our intent was to follow the book verbatim to achieve the beautiful soaps pictured in the book. Unfortunately, when we dove in we discovered the directions were not very precise on the portions of ingredients. So Martha, if you are reading these our suggestions would be to add more specific quantities to your recipe. (Yeah right, we wish Martha was reading this!!!)

So the experimenting began. Our favorite formula became 3 white glycerin blocks and 2 clear with a touch of natural honey to achieve a warm oatmeal like color. From there we added blueberry seeds, apricot seeds, and oatmeal to add textures to the different soaps. We also added essential oils, such as honey-almond and lavender.

And then there was cinnamon….. The book displayed a beautiful translucent crimson red cinnamon scented soap. We both fell in love with this look and decided to duplicate it. At first everything was going wonderfully but then we added the cinnamon and the mixture became a sewage brown color, nowhere near red! It did smell wonderful, though. So we forged on and decided to try it again but this time we added a small amount of red and yellow food coloring. This resulted in a pink flesh toned color or as Meghan so genuinely refers to it as, “the color of puke”. Both end products smelled great but neither looked very appealing. We are going to keep working on this one…. We will keep you posted.

Overall the process was pretty simple, it involved microwaving the ingredients stirring in the additives and pouring into greased molds. Once the soaps hardened (overnight) we embellished them with different styles of wrapping. These will make great gifts! And between the styles of molds, additives and presentation the possibilities are endless. This is definitely something we will continue to explore!!! So give it a try and let us know how it goes!

Julie and Meghan

Handsewn Business Card

2009-08-13T07:59:00.000-05:00

Julie and I are going to the Craft Social in Evanston this Friday so I decided (rather last minute) to make handsewn business cards. I came up with this idea on Tuesday and printed out the labels last night so it's been a mad dash to finish them. I'm only making 15 since I'm not the quickest with handsewing. My goal is to finish them by tonight so I don't have to do it during lunch tomorrow. (Dream big!)

Here's how to do it:

Materials:

Printable Linen Fabric

Decorative Fabric

Needle & Thread

Directions:

Cut the fabric backing/border into the size of a business card - 2" x 3 1/2". You'll need 2 per business card.

Make the labels sized at 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" to give them a 1/4" border. Print them on printable linen fabric and let the ink dry. Cut out the labels and set aside. You should get 15 labels per 8 1/2" x 11" sheet.

Pin the linen labels onto the center of one of the fabric pieces and handsew around the edges.

After making a few of them I got lazy and stopped pinning them, which resulted in a couple of labels being sewn on a little crooked and thus decreasing the border width when I trimmed them. Oops.

Sew the the piece you just made onto another piece of the fabric, printed side out. Trim the edges and you're done!

Easy peasy.

-Meg

edit: If I make these again I think I would make the font size for the website larger or a different style so that it's a little more clear.

2009-08-09T20:52:00.000-05:00

Hi. I am Julie,

Ever since I can remember I have been trying to make something out of nothing.....

I love refurbishing furniture and finding new uses for things I already own. I dabble in cake decorating; love party planning, decorating my apartment, and helping friends decorate their homes. As far as crafting goes I love exploring my creative limits by indulging in all different medias. In my mind everything is worth a try at least once.

Style wise I tend to be drawn to modern country. Think barn yard accents with clean lines. And if it is not modern country, I prefer a softer feminine vintage/ shabby chic style.

This becomes a little interesting when you consider the man I married likes clean simple, modern minimalism. Secretly, I must say I enjoy the challenge this brings (just don’t tell my husband though).

Thanks for checking in. Come back soon and read about our exploration in homemade bath products…

Introducing...Meg!

2009-08-08T18:12:00.000-05:00

Hello all, I'm writing the first post from my tiny apartment bedroom on what feels like the hottest day ever. Julie and I decided to start a crafting and design website together when we realized our mutual love of all things homemade, vintage, repurposed, and Martha Stewart-related.

I am a full-time landscape designer - working on mostly residential gardens, but occasionally assisting in other landscape realms. When I'm not designing or researching city codes I am usually crafting (mostly hand-sewing) or reading blogs about crafting and design. I'm an avid dumpster diver and some of my favorite things have come out of the back alleys near my apartment.

I'm not sure if I have one specific style since my tastes range from the wildly colorful to more muted pallets. I like shabby chic and modern minimalism. I'm working on balancing all these things together, but in the mean time I'm enjoying the hodge podge of my living conditions (except for the mouse in my kitchen, which is bothersome).

Come back soon and meet Julie and read about our craft adventures!
-Meg