Free Mason
A collection of all things pretty, with mason jars being the guest of honor. The way I see it, mason jars are everywhere around us, so why not make the most of them? With so many unique ways to do so, the options are endless!
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
A collection of all things pretty, with mason jars being the guest of honor. The way I see it, mason jars are everywhere around us, so why not make the most of them? With so many unique ways to do so, the options are endless!
Thursday's Randoms
Apple + Smoked Mozzarella Calzones? YES, PLEASE! These sound like the most delicious things ever. You probably don't even need desssert after snarfing down a meal like this. That might be a lie though, you always need dessert. Via here via Sprouted Kitchen
Today might be the perfect day to actually sit down and start learning how to embroider. I have all the supplies but have not had the patience. It's a cold, rainy day and I am not at work - so why not? Via My Different Strokes
I love Pinterest for so many different reasons. Seeing genius wrapping ideas such as this is just one of the many things that Pinterest does to spark my creativity. Via here via Design Sponge
I am lusting over this dress hardcore, people. With all its shine and beauty, what's not to love? The color may not be that flattering on me, but that's ok. They have it in navy, too. Oh Free People, I love you.
Can you imagine spotting a bearded fellow wearing this and not swooning? That's just me? Okay, whatevs. But I would love to see my man walking around in this Mt. Rainier Design Inyo Jacket. Too bad it'll never happen - the price tag is $685! And I thought North Face was pricey!
This is all my heart yearns to do - but alas, it is cold and rainy. No autumn picnic in the works for me. But perhaps this weekend I could make it happen. I mean, afterall...a very sweet lady recently gifted me with a vintage picnic basket and a perfect plaid blanket. It needs to happen! Via
What's inspiring you today? And how have your weeks been? I've got a free day today, so ready or not...here I come!
Friendship Jewelry
I've seen a few posts here and there about friendship bracelets - something I had nearly forgotten about in all the years since I actually wore one. My curiosity was piqued; nostalgia was calling my name. So after ReadyMade suggested to me on Facebook to make a friendship bracelet, I said what they hay and went for it. After a few fights with my cat, I was underway. Seriously, if you have a cat, he will pounce on you over and over again while you've got that embroidery floss in your hands. Trust me.
Anyway...it was as easy as I remembered and in no time at all, I had made myself a cute friendship necklace. I'm still in the process of creating more at different lengths like they suggest. I've also added some washers to the mix since we have a ton to spare. I'm hoping for an end result of multiple necklaces at various lengths in an assortment of colors, like the last image. We shall see...
Here are the word-for-word instructions taken from honestly...wtf, originally seen here.
To make a 2-tone necklace, cut a long piece of rope and wrap two different colors of embroidery thread around its own bobbin. Tie a starter knot along with the two colored threads you are using, leaving at least 3 inches of slack, Tape down the slack to a flat surface or safety pin it something that will help keep it in place (feeling nostalgic yet?). Lay the color that isn’t being used (shown here in purple) in your left hand, along with the rope, and hold them taut. Take the active color (shown here in red) in your right hand, pass it over the rope, loop it under and back through the opening. Pull up and to the right to tighten. Repeat the knots until you are ready to switch colors
To alternate colors, simply put the inactive color (red) in your left hand and the new active color (purple) in your right. Repeat the steps.
Once you’re done knotting, add a few nuts and/or washers to the necklace. Undo the large starter knot and tie both open ends together, creating your very own friendship necklace! Trim any extra rope and tread. Continue making necklaces at different lengths, using any color combination…in our opinion, the more the better! Easy enough, right??
* All images and text from Honestly...WTF.
Anyway...it was as easy as I remembered and in no time at all, I had made myself a cute friendship necklace. I'm still in the process of creating more at different lengths like they suggest. I've also added some washers to the mix since we have a ton to spare. I'm hoping for an end result of multiple necklaces at various lengths in an assortment of colors, like the last image. We shall see...
Here are the word-for-word instructions taken from honestly...wtf, originally seen here.
To make a 2-tone necklace, cut a long piece of rope and wrap two different colors of embroidery thread around its own bobbin. Tie a starter knot along with the two colored threads you are using, leaving at least 3 inches of slack, Tape down the slack to a flat surface or safety pin it something that will help keep it in place (feeling nostalgic yet?). Lay the color that isn’t being used (shown here in purple) in your left hand, along with the rope, and hold them taut. Take the active color (shown here in red) in your right hand, pass it over the rope, loop it under and back through the opening. Pull up and to the right to tighten. Repeat the knots until you are ready to switch colors
To alternate colors, simply put the inactive color (red) in your left hand and the new active color (purple) in your right. Repeat the steps.
Once you’re done knotting, add a few nuts and/or washers to the necklace. Undo the large starter knot and tie both open ends together, creating your very own friendship necklace! Trim any extra rope and tread. Continue making necklaces at different lengths, using any color combination…in our opinion, the more the better! Easy enough, right??
* All images and text from Honestly...WTF.
Knock Knock!
Who's there?
Sherwood.
Sherwood who?
Sherwood like to be your valentine!
Yesterday afternoon, I hunkered down with cheese and crackers, water, all of my crafting supplies and a curious cat. I began crafting some handmade Valentine's for very special people! For some reason, Valentine's Day really brings out the crafty side of me. For the past several years, I've brought out the pink and red construction paper, glue and scissors and have created a special card for my sweetie. It's the only time of the year that I really ever do this - I just love cutting out hearts and having an excuse to do so. This year, I wanted to send some to Kansas to three little cutie pies. After searching for inspiration, I stumbled upon these gems and decided to copy but with my own spin.
I used pieces of my 2010 calendar that I couldn't bring myself to throw away, some leftover yarn and construction paper. I wrote silly messages on the back, similar to the knock knock joke above. For my nephew (who always rolls his eyes at these kinds of things) I gave him some advice:
What kind of flowers do you never send on Valentine's Day?
Cauliflowers.
He'll be rolling his eyes for sure.
These were a cinch to make - I whipped up 4 in an hour or so. It also helped me familiarize myself with crochet a little more, even if it was basically just a chain stitch all the way around...
Wednesday night was a fun night that I made fun cupcakes for. They were super delicious and very Valentine's Day appropriate...
(I apologize for the terrible, no good, very bad picture quality)
While they may not take the cake for best decorated, the decorative sugar really did make me happy.
What about you guys - does Valentine's Day bring out the crafty side in you? I'd love to hear!
Sherwood.
Sherwood who?
Sherwood like to be your valentine!
Yesterday afternoon, I hunkered down with cheese and crackers, water, all of my crafting supplies and a curious cat. I began crafting some handmade Valentine's for very special people! For some reason, Valentine's Day really brings out the crafty side of me. For the past several years, I've brought out the pink and red construction paper, glue and scissors and have created a special card for my sweetie. It's the only time of the year that I really ever do this - I just love cutting out hearts and having an excuse to do so. This year, I wanted to send some to Kansas to three little cutie pies. After searching for inspiration, I stumbled upon these gems and decided to copy but with my own spin.
I used pieces of my 2010 calendar that I couldn't bring myself to throw away, some leftover yarn and construction paper. I wrote silly messages on the back, similar to the knock knock joke above. For my nephew (who always rolls his eyes at these kinds of things) I gave him some advice:
What kind of flowers do you never send on Valentine's Day?
Cauliflowers.
He'll be rolling his eyes for sure.
These were a cinch to make - I whipped up 4 in an hour or so. It also helped me familiarize myself with crochet a little more, even if it was basically just a chain stitch all the way around...
Wednesday night was a fun night that I made fun cupcakes for. They were super delicious and very Valentine's Day appropriate...
While they may not take the cake for best decorated, the decorative sugar really did make me happy.
What about you guys - does Valentine's Day bring out the crafty side in you? I'd love to hear!
Weekend recap
{image}
This weekend was really quite lovely. Despite the winter blues (which are about to worsen by a lot, considering we're going to be pounded by a "potentially life-threatening" blizzard tomorrow) we got out and about and enjoyed ourselves. Some highlights include ::
- Friday night dinner + drinks with BK at Rootstock where we sat at the bar and had help in choosing the best bottles of Greek and Spanish wine. Not to mention all the help picking out food. What an incredible menu - and I'm a vegetarian!
- A post dinner + drinks couple of games of Euchre with the Hinshaws. Always delightful! And I can't believe how soon we'll all get to meet Peanut!!!
- A Saturday afternoon trip to Home Depot to cut and purchase some pieces of wood to try and recreate this. Afterall, we do have a mirror about that size unframed...
- Saturday evening dinner + nerd games with the Chwaliszs. Gin-soaked raisins are the best thing to bring out during winter nights like that.
- A Sunday afternoon date which included brunch at a very cheap diner in River East (all the cool places were jam-packed), 2 attempts to go see The King's Speech (the 1st attempt put us in the very, very front which was waaaaaay too close to the screen - literally half of the screen was blacked out for me we were that close, so we high-tailed on outta there and exchanged our tickets for the next showing). We had the best seat in the house for the 4:30 showing and absolutely loved every. single. minute. Please go see if it you get the chance. It's an incredibly superb film that definitely deserves the Oscar.
Carnation Cones
These carnation cones from the February issue of Martha Stewart Living are so simple and sweet. They have to be about the cutest party favor or small token of friendship I've ever seen! They're so easy to make - just print off the template here, twist into the shape of a cone and secure the stem of a carnation inside!
PS - these remind me of a construction paper flower bouquet that my bff made me one year. I still have it even though it's been smushed in a box during multiple moves since she gave it to me!
Bloomerie
I'm so into the designs of all these fabrics from the Etsy shop, Bloomerie. They are a mother-daughter team based out of Virginia who are both avid sewers. How cute is that? I've often thought about teaming up with my mom on some things and these two are making me think about it that much more. I also love how it says this on their great blog - We’ll be here to help you bloom creatively. I'm no sewer, I sucked at the sewing portion in Home Ec, but seeing these fabrics makes me wish I had it in me to be half as talented as my mom is or my grandma was!
Knitting inspiration
I'm stepping my game up folks. I have my second knitting class tomorrow morning and I'm going to learn some key information so that I can knit, knit, knit all winter long! I can't wait!
Yarn pom-pom garland
After seeing a few awesome how-to's for the garland, I finally got around to making us one. But since I've already made the pinecone garland, this one ended up wrapped around the bottom of the tree. We ran out of tinsel when decorating and I was personally afraid that Gus would attack the tree every chance he got, but the little meow-er couldn't be bothered.
I learned how to crochet a chain (super easy) and tied the yarn poofs onto the chain ::
Because we knew it would look kind of silly being mismatched like that, I tried to drape it over our tripod lamp but it looked kind of dorky ::
So it remains on the tree for now...
Also, the cookies turned out great. I had zero patience for dough-chilling yesterday so I opted to use this recipe instead.
Don't they look delicious? We've each eaten about 4 each and counting.
Wreaths
{image}
{image}
{image}
I've never been one for wreaths. For no reason in particular, I've just never gotten into them. But that's all changed. I don't know if its blogging - that's opened my eyes to the kinds of wreaths that are out there that stray far away from your typical one, or if it's being married and domesticated or just more grown up or what. Aren't these fantastic? I especially adore the last one - created by Laken at Farmhouse. So colorful and rustic - which means naturally I adore it!
What are your thoughts on wreaths?
Knit Wit
So yesterday morning, I took my very first knitting class at Sister Arts Studio in Lincoln Park. I had so much fun! Over the last month and a half, I've taught myself the knitting basics by watching videos recommended to me and "Teen Cafe" on YouTube - pretty helpful once I got past the whole cast-on debacle. So since I wasn't sure if I was doing everything right and I had no clue how to read patterns, I opted for the personal project class to get some one-on-one time with an expert. Not only do I knit correctly (patting my back here) but I was praised for the progress of my project which I thought was entirely way too difficult for me to even think of starting at this point. When I decided to knit, I was inspired by this blanket pattern by Patons and thought that "easy" meant easy for someone who has no clue how to knit. BOY was I wrong! They make beginners patterns, Meagan. Remember this.
Ann at the studio helped me decipher the complicated pattern terms, taught me how to slip stitch and then guided me row by row until I could just repeat the pattern over and over again. I only had one color of yarn so it didn't have the same effect but I learned new things, made good progress, was applauded by the other knitters and gained a whole lot of confidence along the way. That's the thing about me and my mom's side of the family. If you tell us we can't do something, we're that much more determined to do it just to prove you wrong. Even though nobody told me I couldn't do it, I wasn't exactly too sure of my abilities so I pushed myself harder. It may take me all winter and spring but I'm going to complete this afghan whether my fingers fall off or not!
So not only was I completely inspired to continue knitting yesterday but thanks to Stephanie from Bird on a Wire, I found an incredible Christmas craft to make that was easy and completely my kind of style. So I immediately ran to Joanns, returned some other yarn I had bought and exchanged it for some StitchNation yarn in colors I like and I'm going to dive in to making some other stuff while I work on the blanket (thick yarn, thick needles = quick project, right?!). I also bought pinecones and after I go get this cavity filled in an hour and a half (yikes!) I'm going to get to working on the garland ::
I don't even have a fireplace! Hah!
And maybe I'll do some knitting so that I can get good enough to make something like these for a special lil' baby due in February ::
or these ::
Happy Thursday!
Crafty question...
Anyone know how to update really horrid picture frames? Let me be more specific...
Yesterday, I got down to doing some serious bedroom re-modeling. I got inspired by some neat door knobs from Anthropologie (I can't find the exact ones online, probably because they were in the sale, but when my bedroom ends up looking fabulous, you'll get pictures!).
I have some big nasty plastic frames that hold a couple of big fin de siècle prints. They're simple black and plastic and I hate them. I've looked for new frames and either nothing's the right size (the prints are from the UK, so they're a little different to the sizes you typically get over here) or anything that is the right size and that I like, I can't afford. So, I'd like to update them. They're too big for the prints, so I was thinking of doing something inside the outer edge of the frame - ideas, please!
I'd really appreciate the input of all you crafty folk, so please get your thinking caps on and let me know what you think.
Thank you :-)
Yesterday, I got down to doing some serious bedroom re-modeling. I got inspired by some neat door knobs from Anthropologie (I can't find the exact ones online, probably because they were in the sale, but when my bedroom ends up looking fabulous, you'll get pictures!).
I have some big nasty plastic frames that hold a couple of big fin de siècle prints. They're simple black and plastic and I hate them. I've looked for new frames and either nothing's the right size (the prints are from the UK, so they're a little different to the sizes you typically get over here) or anything that is the right size and that I like, I can't afford. So, I'd like to update them. They're too big for the prints, so I was thinking of doing something inside the outer edge of the frame - ideas, please!
I'd really appreciate the input of all you crafty folk, so please get your thinking caps on and let me know what you think.
Thank you :-)
Fire up your printers!
Today I was on the lookout for a fun printable to-do list so I can put it on my fridge and hubby and I can stay on top of things this year. Unfortunately I didn't find the perfect template (yet), but I did find some great resources online for pretty printable stuff.
vintageprintable.com has some beautiful prints that would make great greetings cards, découpage, or excellent gifts if you put them in just the right fancy frame.
Their selection is huge, but their galleries are arranged by topic and color, so you can narrow down exactly what you're looking for.
Plus I just can't say no to a website with a baby tapir on their homepage!
On aprintaday.com you can find some fabulous downloads for notepads, calendars, gift-tags and all sorts. I love this site.
It's definitely not too late for this calendar, either.
I'm inspired to get crafty :-)
Pictures c/o vintageprintable.com and aprintaday.com
vintageprintable.com has some beautiful prints that would make great greetings cards, découpage, or excellent gifts if you put them in just the right fancy frame.
Their selection is huge, but their galleries are arranged by topic and color, so you can narrow down exactly what you're looking for.
Plus I just can't say no to a website with a baby tapir on their homepage!
On aprintaday.com you can find some fabulous downloads for notepads, calendars, gift-tags and all sorts. I love this site.
It's definitely not too late for this calendar, either.
I'm inspired to get crafty :-)Pictures c/o vintageprintable.com and aprintaday.com
Any ideas?
I've had some good ideas for albums to give as gifts this year (see here and here for some suggestions), but I'm leaning towards buying them as mp3s because:
1. it's greener, and
2. no one listens to CDs any more. Also,
3. it's so near christmas, I don't trust they'll arrive on time
4. plus it's cheaper, so I can buy everyone more music!
So for all those great reasons, I don't think it's a faux pas to give people music this way.
But: how do you present someone with a gift like this? Can anyone think of any cool creative ways to actually "give" these albums to people on the day? Idears, please.
1. it's greener, and
2. no one listens to CDs any more. Also,
3. it's so near christmas, I don't trust they'll arrive on time
4. plus it's cheaper, so I can buy everyone more music!
So for all those great reasons, I don't think it's a faux pas to give people music this way.
But: how do you present someone with a gift like this? Can anyone think of any cool creative ways to actually "give" these albums to people on the day? Idears, please.
LinkWithin
Posts
