Make Nerd + Craft Nerd = Awesome!

My husband and I collaborated to make some Christmas cards for our family this year. He saw the idea on Evil Mad Scientist. I think they turned out great (and so did everyone who was lucky enough to receive one)! My honey described the "how to", so check it out.

Mum's the word.

I was watching a Martha Stewart Christmas special the other day, and saw an simple and elegant way to spruce up your standard bow. I believe Martha referred to these bows as "mum bows" because they look similar to a beautiful mum flower. I tried to look for a link, but couldn't find one, so I'm making a tutorial for you. It's soooooo easy! Just follow along ...

1. You need some bows. These are fancy $1 store bows. I stuck mainly with the satin finish. If you do a metallic bow, it will expose both sides of the bow (just something to think about).

2. Pick your bow and cut each loop of the bow one time. Then, grab another bow and repeat.


3. Peel off the sticky side of one bows and stick it inside the other snipped bow.


4. Fluff, take a sip of wine, and you're done! A lovely little bow.


5. Add in some embellishments for an extra touch. I placed a simple button and a sparkly vintage brooch on some of mine. Here are a few examples to inspire ...

(I cut one bow, and then left the center bow as is).

Enjoy ...

Update: Craft it Forward

I've made a few more gifts for Craft It Forward, and I wanted to share them with you all. I have so enjoyed making goodies for people I love. I haven't stuck to one particular kind of craft. I'm trying to be inspired by things I already have on hand and something that I feel really speaks to the person I'm making something for. Check out my latest creations ...

The first piece was a necklace I made for one of my friends from college. She is a totally hot surfer chic ... and still is. The small dangling piece actually has some shell bits from the beach where we went to college.


The next piece was an adorable headband/hair piece. My friend always has very stylish do's, so I wanted to make something to accentuate her chicness. I found a plain brown headband and simply glued on some cute turquoise silk fabric flowers. Easy as pie, I tell you!


The final pieces were sent to friends in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington (*hopefully* they all arrived safely). These were some frames I had gotten a while ago at Target. I added some ribbon, vintage jewelry pieces, some rhinestones, and metallic tape to spice them up a bit. Then, I took some images from an Ann Traintor book I had, and KaBOOM! their gift was made.


So far, everyone has really enjoyed their gifts. I better get crackin' though ... the end of the year is quickly approaching and I still have a few more people to scratch off my list!

Happy creating to all ...

The Merry Makers

If you plan it, they will come ... and so they did. I sounded the horn for a monthly craft night, and several of my favorite ladies heeded the call. Here are a few pictures from our first gathering ...









I can't decide what I enjoyed more -- making time to do something I love, gathering with like-minded ladies, or the gabbing and gossiping. If any of you have been brewing on a similar craft night idea, brew no more -- JUST DO IT!

And to my Merry Makers, can't wait to see you ladies next month ...

Shout out to Cheap Chicks!

A dear friend started a blog called Cheap Chicks, which highlights a wide variety of thrifty finds. She posts great bargains from fashion to food to fabulous getaways! Most recently, she shared how to score a free SNUGGIE. Awesome! So go and check it out ... http://cheap-chicks.blogspot.com/

So this mushroom walks into a bar ...

I peruse design blogs on a daily basis, and I am constantly amazed by people's creativity and craftiness. But today I stumbled upon Paul Baxendale's blog, Finder Maker, and found something that made my toes curl with excitement!

Paul's latest entry is a step-by-step tutorial on how to make shelves out of mushrooms. He gives thorough instructions and provides detailed pictures to make this project something you can actually feel confident in tackling. Check it out!!

*Picture via Finder Maker.

Happy 4th of July

Parts of a whole

I will never ever ever again turn down a $5 bouquet of flowers at the grocery store. I will also never ever ever again put them all together in one vase. Talk about divide and conquer ...

Things to make and do

I've been on a "let's make stuff" kick recently. Here are the two latest creations ...

I made a wreath for the front door (at the "request" of my husband who said our current wreath was not "summery" enough -- who knew he was even paying attention). I wrapped a thrifted wreath in ribbon, added some "flower" buttons, and called it a day.

This next piece hangs in our kitchen. We purchased the large outer mirror at the flea market a few years ago. It was missing the center mirror, so we got it at a steal. Our original plan had been to make some kind of string art in the center, but that plan failed dismally. We later added the smaller center mirror (I think we found it at Target). This past week, we added on these vintage Christmas lights. The glow it makes is so lovely ... perfect for candle light dinners.


Well, I hope this was a great weekend for everyone -- mine was busy, but fantastic. I'll be posting some pictures soon of this weekend's adventures.

Happy creating to you all ...

"X" marks the spot

My darling husband showed me this earlier this evening -- no wonder I married this man! gslar.com is a website devoted entirely to locating garage/yard/estate sales in your area. Just type in a location, click on the markers to read a brief description of the sale, add the ones you want to your trip, and print out directions for your own thrifty excursion. Can it get any easier? Here's what I found in Raleigh for tomorrow. Holy shnikies, my Mom and I will be busy! Bring it on ...

Inspiration from odd places.

I meant to post this a while ago, but it's never too late to share. Because of her, and because of this, I went here, and now we have this. AWESOME.

If you'd like the full history of piggy bears, please email me, and I'd be happy to share. Be on the look out though, piggy bears are lurking everywhere ...

What to do when there's nothing left to decorate? Re-decorate!

We've been in transition for a while. It all started with a couch -- a red couch, that I just couldn't pass up (it was $50). And with that, came a whirlwind of change. I could shoot myself for not taking before shots, but I'll share the final product with you.

First, the living room. We painted it a golden yellow (it was a sad pale pea greenish color). I changed out the curtains and added in the most comfortable couch I have ever sat on.

Next on the list -- the office. We moved the couch from the living room into the office, added three new bookcases (two large ones with glass doors and small one off to the side). We also moved the dreaded treadmill upstairs. That was a feat! Let's just say it was heavy as hell-o and I was crying by the time it was all done.

Finally, we put on our brave faces and tackled our basement. Half of our basement is home to my husband's man lounge -- complete with pool table, full bar, dart board, etc. The other half is now an organized space full of basementy-items, a work table for my husband's nerdery, and home to my thrifty finds that have not quite found a forever home.

And so there it is. Several weeks worth of reorganizing, rearranging, and redecorating. Phew, I'm spent (and so is my sweet, sweet husband who patiently participated in all of this).

Happy creating y'all ...

Pay it forward ...

A friend of mine tagged me in a very fun game ... a chain letter of sorts. But, instead of sending a letter, you promise to send a handmade goodie. I couldn't resist! I posted this on FaceBook, but thought it would be fun to share it with some of my blogging buddies. Here's the scoop ...

This is a crafty game in which the first five people to respond to this note will get something made by me! This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:

* I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.

* What I create will be just for you! New! Not something I made previously and have just laying around.

* It'll be done this year (2009).

* You have no clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something over the internet.

* I reserve the right to do something extremely strange and/or cheap.

* I may well do more than 5 random creative acts if more than 5 people want random creative things.

What's the catch? Simple really -- in return you need to post this text into a note of your own and make 5 things for 5 others (and tag me so I know you didn't cheat!).

All right, let's get to making ...


Here's my first creation. I went through a couple versions, but ended with something I really enjoyed making. I haven't made something in FOREVER, and I forgot how therapeutic it can be to get down and dirty with some hot crafting magic. I hope my friend likes it!


Also, I'm including a sneak peak of one of the great finds (the gold arch floor lamp = hotness!) from this past weekend's yard sale adventures. I went home to visit my family, and found myself up and out EARLY Saturday morning with my Mom and Sister. We had a great time. I promise to post more pictures, but I have to get them from my Mom -- I forgot my camera. You won't even believe the new kitchen table I found ... aww yeah!

Hope all is well. Happy creating all ...

I won! I won! I won!

I can't remember how I stumbled upon Two Dog Pond (perhaps it was by way of Lisa's RetroStyle) ... but I'm glad I did. Rachel, the owner of Two Dog Pond, creates beautiful soldered glass pendants, and holds weekly contests to connect a clever saying with one of her images to make a final product. If your saying is picked, you receive a pendant with your cleverness written all over it! How cool is that??

Two weeks ago, the image I saw in Rachel's contest reminded me of me circa 1984. My parents used to tease me about how much I pouted, and the little girl in the picture had that same sass and pout that I do did. So, I entered my saying -- "Princess Pissy Pants." And I WON!

Thank you so much Rachel -- I LOVE IT! Be sure to stop by and play round or two with Rachel ... you could walk away with your own lovely pendant.

A Thrift friend = A Forever friend

One of my dearest friends from high school is here for a weekend visit! It was only natural that we found ourselves wandering around a few local thrift stores. Is there anything better than thrifting with a long-time friend? I believe not.

We reminisced about spending many of our days in high school scouring local thrift stores for cool "old man" pants to wear -- a trend that has since faded. Now our eyes are peeled for furniture, art, knickknacks, as we both have houses to decorate. Regardless of what we are looking for, our love of thrift remains!

The pickin's were slim this weekend, but Julia scored a BEAUTIFUL sewing machine. Check it out!

The husband doubted my ability to find a user's manual for the machine -- silly silly man. Within five minutes, I'd found Julia two manuals to get her started on her own sewing journey. I am so excited for her! I can't wait to see all the beautiful things she creates ...

A tisket. A tasket. A stair step basket.

Confession: I have wanted a stair step basket since seeing one in my high school sweetheart's house back in 1996/97. What makes me laugh most about this, is my sweetheart's house only had like 5 steps, but his Mom still had one of these baskets and I *LOVED* it.

Fast forward to this past weekend when Jen and I were touring the Raleigh flea market. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, and then I saaaaw her staaaanndding theeerree. Sorry, I love the Beatles. On a table full on random stuff, there was my stair basket. It was kind of like love -- it came to me when I was not looking for it. Here's a before shot (well, after I cleaned it up a bit).


As lovely as it was in its natural state, I wanted to give it a little punch. I grabbed an old scarf, some card stock, and an old mini Japanese print calendar. And, TAA DAA ...

Happy creating my friends ....

PS -- While admiring my new basket, I looked up to see Maple-girl carefully watching over me. She seemed generally pleased with the basket. And, we called a truce -- she promised not to eat it. However, she could not vouch for Franklin gnawing on the basket. Keep your fingers crossed!