Shades of Tangerine

Talk Nerdy to Me

2012-02-01T16:30:00.001-05:00

“A towel…is about the most massively useful thing aninterstellar hitch hiker can have.”

- from TheHitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

What do you get for that special friend that just gotmarried and loves weird, unusual things? Lovingly handmade repurposed robot dish towels and up-cycled space themedpot holders: function meets science fiction. Matt is one of my best and oldestfriends. We've known each other since middle school and been on all kinds of wild adventures! He recently tied the knot with his beautiful bride, Thea. I am so happy for them! Because the newlyweds live in Seattle,congratulate them in person, so I will be packing everything up and shipping itout to them. Here is a picture of thehappy couple. (On Halloween- this is not their wedding photo). It was stolen from Facebook, I hope they don’tmind…

My well loved-nerdy outer space t-shirt was the base forthese silly hot pads. I cut the t-shirt fabric and a piece of starrydark blue cloth into squares. Fun purplestitching binds it all together with a layer of quilt batting to protectfingers from hot pans. I was sad to seethe shirt go, but happy to give it new life.

My friend who works in a hospital occasionally brings me unuseditems that would otherwise be tossed. A favoritesalvaged treasures are these bright blue cotton towels. They come sealed (so I know they’ve neverbeen used) and are just the right size to be used as kitchen towels. Fabric scraps, embroidery thread, and blueink make up the robot and his planet on a string.

I discovered this funny image on 9gag.com and printed it ona card to go along with the gift. I think it complementsthis nerdy wedding gift nicely. Theteapot is from World Market and the measuring spoons fromMacy's.

Congrats Matt and Thea! May your marriage be as bright, breathtaking, and infinite as our universe!

Handmade Tea Bags

2012-01-31T22:52:00.001-05:00

Hot tea makes me happy. Drinking tea is an experience: there are so many different types- almost every culture around the world drinks tea. I love holding a warm steamy mug, enjoying the intoxicating flavors and aromas and hearing where in the world the tea came from. January is national tea month and I celebrated by visiting the loose leaf teastore with Patrick and picking out interesting new ingredients to make our own tea bags. We stopped by Global Infusion, (Patrick’sfavorite place ever) in East Hills. The eclecticlittle shop is filled with handmade treasures from all over the world (all fairtrade) and hundreds of jars filled with beautiful teas and spices line the wall. Patrick helped me choose ingredients, scoopthem into bags and weigh them. I love todrink tea, but don’t know as much about loose leaf teas as my hubby. Thankfully, the one of the owners was working behind the counter and was very helpful and informative. Ichose English breakfast black tea, dried berries, lemon peel and spearmint tomix and he chose sencha green tea, Siberian ginseng, spearmint and lemon balm.

At home, we combined the ingredients in two separate bowls. The different colors are so vibrant, especially the rich berries and bright lemon peel, and everything smelled incredible. One spoonful of tea filled each heat sealing tea bag. I bought a pack (I think there were fifty bags) from Global Infusions a few months ago for less than five dollars. If you aren't from this area, you can also purchase them online from frontiercoop.com. The opening of the bag can be sealed with just your iron at home, its very easy. Withmy fancy punch and a bird stamp (from the Goodwill, of course) I made tags and sewed them to the bags. Patrick's tags are white and mine are cream colored. Just likethat you can have your own handmade tea bags! If you don't want the hassle of making each tea bag, you can skip the entire process and steep the loose leaf tea in an infuser tea ball. Either way, I promise it will taste and smell a million times better than any prepackaged tea from the grocery store.

Sweet Snack Sunday ~ Sweetheart Trail Mix and Streusel Mini Muffins

2012-01-30T22:25:00.001-05:00

My hubby has a new job that requires him to take his lunchto work with him. He’s been a trooperabout eating leftovers and cold food, something I despise. Even though I am a pretty bad cook, I decided thateach week, I want to make a little homemade snack to pack in his lunches. EverySunday, I’ll find a new recipe for something fun and kind of healthy (that alsomakes five portions: one for each day) and if it works out, I’ll share it withyou! Today I made Sweetheart Trail Mix& Streusel Mini Muffins.

Trail Mix seemed like a safe project to start with, verylittle can go wrong with mixing things together. It wasa snack staple at my home as a kid, usually a combination of various nuts, raisinsand one sweet treat. My dad used m&m’s, but I used candyhearts. I mixed the ingredients togetherand divided it into five portions. It’sridiculously easy! All the ingredientswere purchased at ALDI:

- 1 bag sunflower seeds (5 oz)

- 1/2 can party peanuts (8 oz)

- 1/2 bag of whole almonds (12 oz)

- 1/2 box of raisins (7.5 oz)

- 1 bag of mixed fruit (6 oz)

- 1 box of candy hearts (1 oz)

The streusel muffins are actually a box mix from my

motherin law- a GIANT box of Cinnabon Streusel from Cosco. Since I don’t bake a lot of coffee cake (orreally bake anything, for that matter), the enormous box had been looming in mycupboard since Halloween. I experimented with the mix by making minimuffins in tiny valentines baking cups. Iused half the ingredients, mixed dried cranberries in the batter and added groundflax seed to the streusel topping to give the muffins more nutrition. I bakedthem for 15 min and threw a bit of pink food coloring into the glaze packet to make themfestive. They are yummy and adorable.

I stole my friend Crystal’s idea (from Pinterest)to divide all the food into plastic bags for quick lunch packing. I love looking at the things she has on Pinterest. She findssome of the greatest ideas to post on her boards, this one is good for children’slunches and husband’s.

My favorite things ~from Pinterest~

2012-01-28T15:40:00.001-05:00

Have you ever dreamed of having a place to keep all of your favorite ideas? If so, then you should check out Pinterest, my newestobsession. Do you have an account? If you are looking for fresh ideas involvingpretty much anything, then you will want one. Pin + interest = Pinterest, a website brimming with ideas of every kind: crafts, recipes, fashion and design. Members create boards with differentthemes and ‘pin’ ideas to them. I was overwhelmed by the amount of beautiful, fun, creative, just GENIOUS things I discovered: from homemade cleaning solution recipes to furniturehandcrafted from salvaged wood. The majority of ‘pins’ I collect and are design projects using recycled materials. Here are some of my favorite things, the world needs to know about them:

Recycled light bulb flowers

I Remember You....

2012-01-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

Remember buying new CDs?

I loved to read the lyrics to all the songs. I’ve been thinking about how we don’t havethat opportunity anymore because most music isdownloaded from Itunes. The lyrics werewritten out like poetry, almost separate from the songs. For this project, I sifted through old CDsand pulled out the cover booklets to rediscover songs that I liked. I read thelyrics and watched old school music videos on youtube. Hearing each song waslike a turning a key that unlocked so many precious memories: crushes,heartbreaks, time with friends. For amoment, I was right there in my childhood bedroom again reading those lyricsand fusing my feelings with the lines of the songs.

While listening to hours of nostalgic music, I used anx-acto knife to cut the covers into detailed images that mirrored mymemories. I worked on this all afternoonuntil my fingers were numb. In thepages, I wrote out bits and pieces from each song. More than just the song, I wanted to showwhat I was feeling when I heard it. Theantique paper keys on the cover were cut from the actual lyric pages. I sewed the book back together and here itis.

The Sketchbook Project travels around the country withthousands of books and sets up in museums. People can check out the books (similar to the library) and flip throughthem. Last year, my friend Jon checkedout my sketch books at the SXSW film festival. The artist picks a theme, pays the fee, and is sent any empty sketch book to fill any way they'd like. People come up with such different and amazing ideas, this is a really awesome project to be a part of.

This is the second time I’ve entered. Last year, I had so many ideas that I enteredtwo books. This time I struggled. Mytheme, “I remember you,” seemed so promising when I chose it, but the emptybook sat untouched on my desk for three months. To be included in the tour, all sketchbooks must be postmarked byJanuary 31, which was approaching rapidly. Yesterday in the shower, the idea to use old CDs came to me (thankfully,just in time). I’m so relieved to get itin the mail this afternoon. here are my pages:

Upcycled Doily Blanket

2012-01-25T22:58:00.000-05:00

In the hectic weeks before Christmas, I spent my preciousalone time curled up on the couch with a cat, eating cookies and looking throughthe bottomless pile of catalogs from my mail box. I was flipping through an Anthropologiecatalog when I came across this beautiful heirloom throw. -------------------->

The fragile, antiquefeel of it immediately caught my eye. It was gorgeous, but wouldn't it be even prettier if it was made from up-cycled lace and doilies? Because it was unique (and because I can never have too many blankets) I decided to make my own version. This project took weeks to create, but I amabsolutely in love with the finished product.

I’m always cold, so I prefer my blankets to be functional. After a few weeks of hunting, I found a very warm woven throw for the base. Thestack of doilies and lace took weeks to collect from thrift stores, and some hadto be bleached to remove color or stains. When I felt good about the amount of ancient looking doiliesand lace stockpiled on my desk, it was time to set them on the blanket andstart sewing. They were arranged and rearranged numerous times before I was happy. One solid piece of lace with a tear drop pattern became the focal point. I cut it into four different shapes and used them to bring the smaller doilies together.

Anthropologie's version features heavy crocheted roses, but I wanted mine to feel light and contrast with the thick fuzzy blanket. By sewing different styles and colors of lace into little roses, depth and texture were created. Sewing the details by had took a lot of patience. I was constantly finding excuses to take a break or put the whole thing away for a while. I worked on it often and finished it today. The result is a sweet, delicate blanket featuring a variety of upcycled pieces of lace and fabric. I was concerned that I would be afraid to use it, but that is not the case. I'm sitting on the floor wrapped up in it right now and I couldn't be happier.

My first sewing expedition was clothing for my Ken doll. Iwas five years old and very proud. The material of choice was a sock that lost its mate in the dryer, andthe outfit looked a lot like a sleeveless one-sie for grown men. It was hideous,but I was hooked. I would love to tell you that my skills and style have matured,but I guess miss matched socks and recycled doilies aren't too different…

Call of the Wild

2012-01-24T19:42:00.002-05:00

Last week, I finished reading Jack London’s Call of the Wild. The story follows Buck, a sled dog, and his journey through the deep Yukonwilderness. Before bed each night, I set down my book, closed my eyes and driftedto the wintry northern woods. I imagined cold air, still and perfectlysoundless, except for ice crunching under my feet. A clear and bright skyilluminated the snow covered trees and my breath. Millions of gleaming starsand a full, heavy moon glowed along with the electric current of the auroraborealis and I felt like the only living creature for miles. The feeling has been lingering all week, callingme to watch the stars at night, walk on the trail, and to create things that tellof wilderness and winter.

To makethis cozy arm cuff, I decided to try something experimental. I poured a little bleach in a cup and used a brush to “paint” tree branches on the navy blue fabric. This technique worked flawlessly; the color liftedimmediately from the cloth and there was no bleeding or smudging. I’m very happy with how crisp and bright theylook. The three wooden rectangle shapes and the button loop arerepurposed from an old belt found at the Salvation Army. The "belt" actually consisted of two leather cords and nine of the wooden squares. It caught my attention because I think its similar to the traces worn by sleddogs. I am overlooking the fact that it was designed for a lovely lady with Blossom's style to wear in 1992 over her denim jumper. A moss colored vintage button secures the cuff and at the last minute, I decided to add a tiny dog on the inside. Chunky, rough looking jewelry isn't normally what I'm drawn to, but I like this feel for the winter accessories.

Inelementary school, my weekends were filled with trips to the library on my bike,reading everything I could find from Encyclopedia Brown to books about magictricks. In high school, I enjoyed reading thought provoking literature, such asTo Kill a Mockingbird and Shakespeare –but I only read required books for classes. In college I read Cliffs Notes, and now it seems like my reading is limited toinstructions, recipes and emails. Lastyear I made the goal to read more books. I have (veeeery slooowly) been workingmy way through the The Observer's list of The 100 Greatest Novels of all Time. Call of the Wild is the ninth book I’ve completed. I’m now reading Jane Eyre and consider myself 10% finished with the list.Yaaaay! Each book gives me new ideas and inspiration with a fresh outlook on my art, relationships and surroundings. I'm happy to bring reading back into my lifestyle and excited to see where it takes me creatively.

Miniature Guest Room

2012-01-22T23:33:00.000-05:00

To me, working with my hands is as vital to my body as waterand shelter. I itch to make things. My fingers are constantly in motion: tearingpaper, twisting my hair or fiddling with my jewelry. Building creates an outlet for that energy,even if the things I make are pointless. That’s how I feel about today’s project. Motivated my success a few days ago in thejunk basket, I took on the rest of my apartment. I hunted for materials that could inspire mein making other miniature items. Underthe bathroom sink sat a grimy travel case full of old, half used make up. A handful of the compacts, jars and brushes weremagically transformed to fashion this little guestroom where any tiny visitorwould feel welcome.

I believe every room needs a big mirror on the wall toreflect light (and allow you to check your teeth for food). This sparkly mirror is half of a compact. To dress up a cheap mirror, the plastic outeredge must be concealed. Mine is layeredin shiny sequins. Almost anything smallcan convert a compact into mini wall art: shells, ribbon, flowers, even stones.

A basket of extra pillows and blankets adds coziness. Braided ribbon was wrapped around a jar toform this chunky woven basket. The blanketswere cut from fabric scraps, and the pillow is a worn powder puff. Puffs could also double as throw pillows for ateeny bed, but make sure to clean them well or powder will be everywhere!

I love the simplicity of this little night stand tray. It was pulled from an eye shadow set withpliers. The scalloped metal top of aChristmas ornament rests on a button, creating a miniature candle holder. Two Perler beads make a candle with wire fromthe ornament as a wick and tiny green seed beads add color. My favorite detail is the little key charmfrom an old necklace.

The jewelry stand was complex, but definitely worth theeffort. I started by pulling bristlesout of a makeup brush. I glued the brushinside a plastic cap, attached the arms of the stand (cut from bobby pins) and addeda heart charm with hot glue. Then, theentire thing was painted black and left to dry. Single earrings, bits of chain and random beads come together to createthe collection of pretty jewelry that adorns this stand.

Squirrel Appreciation Day

2012-01-21T19:57:00.000-05:00

January 21 is Squirrel Appreciation Day! If you are a close friend of mine, then youknow about Macy, the squirrel I feed on my porch. Macy has the fluffiest little squirrel earsI’ve ever seen and eats sunflower seeds right out of my hand. Today’s project is dedicated to her: asquirrel feeder make over.

The current feeder is a silly metallic plastic jewelry box purchasedat a barn sale in Wayland. I keep it outside next to the sliding door so I candrop in a handful of seeds without putting on my shoes. The remodel will include a tiny roof toprotect food inside from the elements and a ring for hanging the feeder whenthe snow is deep. I used a wire clothes hanger,three tile samples, a brass ring and E-6000 glue. After clipping the hanger, the pieces werebent into a support for the roof and a decorative section to attach thering. One tile was cut with an x-actoknife forming triangle side pieces and combined with the other two, creating awaterproof cover. I finished it off withfancy nuts from the grocery store in place of the usual sunflower seeds.

I’ve been told plenty of times not to feed wild animals, butMacy and I have a special bond. When she scampers up the building to my porch,I love watching her almost as much as my cats do. Even though she probably won’t care too muchabout the new feeder, I’m excited to see her reaction.

If you want to make your own squirrel feeder, here are some ideas:

http://www.homeandgardenideas.com/outdoor-living/outdoor-decor/deer-feeder/how-build-squirrel-feeder

http://www.luxuryhousingtrends.com/archive/2007/08/build-your-own-4

http://backyardspacesblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/squirrel-feeder.html

Junk Drawer Miniatures

2012-01-20T17:56:00.000-05:00

In the corner of my studio is a basket of random odds & ends with no home, like a junk drawer. While cleaning this morning, I decided that today's challenge will be to use some of that junk to make miniature things for a doll house sized living room (I love anything miniature). The couch is actually from a doll house, and the little dog is a Monopoly piece. Putting the miniatures together was ridiculously easy and made a bit more room in my junk basket. Here's what I used:

Four robin's egg blue golf tees stand as legs for this mini end table. Because they are from a yard sale, I don't know anything about the company that stamped its phone number on them. Ten Scrabble pieces glued to cardboard create a wooden tabletop. If you want a tiny dining table, this could be made with twenty five pieces instead of ten.

A tiny plastic cherub figurine adhered to a button forms the base for this lamp. The shade is blue paper cut from a shopping bag with lace wrapped around a juice bottle lid. To prevent the lamp shade from covering the figurine's face, two little beads are glued to its head adding height. Vintage lamps remind me of my Grandma Patterson's beautiful old house in Oxford. The rooms were filled with treasures like this.

This acorn topped mini lantern was put together using two buttons as the base. Two segments of wire bent into a U shape and glued in the acorn top produce the frame. White Perler beads beads give the effect of mini candles. This lantern only had space for one. To make the little lantern more elegant, it is crowned with a pearl sewing pin snipped short and pushed into the top.

Natural sea shells in a pretty bowl look nice in any room. The base of my teeny bowl is an ivory colored tie tack (I think that's what it is, anyway) and a large matching button. I collected the little shells in Florida a few years ago during spring break. All of the items have been sitting around for months, nothing was purchased for this. The challenge of using whats on hand is a fun creative exercise. Try it for yourself and post your pictures of the miniatures you come up with!

Block Party

2012-01-18T22:12:00.002-05:00

Today after work, Justin and I met at the Goodwill to huntfor art supplies. We didn't find too many useful materials, but I did find a bag of Nano Blocks! If you aren't familiar with these adorable bricks,here’s the scoop: They are mini building blocks (Similar to LEGOS, but evensmaller) made in Japanthat are now sold here in the United States. This evening, I sat in the living room assemblingand reassembling teeny, angular creatures and houses. Construction sets have always been myfavorite things to play with, even as an adult. I want to use this post to showyou some of my favorite building toys that are great for grown ups.

This Taxidermy Deer LEGO Kit was designed by David Coleusing already existing LEGO pieces from the LEGO store and othersuppliers. His details are perfect and Idesperately want one. The unofficial kitsells on his website, http://shop.davidcole.me/,for $28. Because a few of the pieces weredifficult to locate, some kits include gently used blocks. You can also order fox and bear kits for acozy LEGO winter cavern.

Another LEGO kit on my wish list is Fallingwater, aminiature LEGO model of the Frank Lloyd Wright home in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. A few years ago, I was actually able to walkthrough this incredible home built over a waterfall. I fell in love with the fusion ofarchitecture and nature. Fallingwater isone of eleven sets in the “LEGO Architecture Series” including the FarnsworthHouse and the Seattle Space Needle.

Building toys are not just for boys. This pair of earrings has been in myEtsy Favorites for months. The set ismade with two translucent turquoise LEGO “gems” set in sterling silverrings. Casey Doyle, the designer, hasthem for sale in his Etsy store, http://www.etsy.com/shop/jcaseydoyle,in a variety of colors.

Secret Book Safe

2012-01-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

I have always wanted to make one of these! This worn, water damaged book was discovered at World Mission Thrift for .75 cents. After being read (it took me a loooong time to finish this one), it has been collecting dust in my living room book case. Its too ratty to donate but I hate to throw anything away. Today this book has animportant new purpose: guarding secret treasure. Almost anything could be tucked inside thislittle catacomb, from money and jewels to candy or incriminating photos.

To make this book safe I used: an old book, felt, x-actoknife, and an index card.

Using the index card as a guide, I drew a rectangle on the first page of the book and cut out a block of pages with the x-acto knife. I removed about a ½ inch of pages at a time. If you can get your hands on them, a metal ruler and clamps come in handy to cut straight lines and hold the pages in place as your cavity gets deeper. When the hole reached the back cover of the book, I used a cardboard strip to rub quick-set epoxy on the sides, binding the pages together, and added a line of hot glue in each corner. The epoxy was a mess and I now realize that I didn’t need to use it. In the future, I would stick to just hot gluing the corners. To hide imperfections caused by hacking out pages with a blade, I lined sides and bottom of the hole with felt.

Secret passages, mysterious artifacts, and hidden treasurehave fascinated me ever since I watched Alicein Wonderland as a little girl. I dreamtof finding mysterious magical routes to other places and searched for valuableshidden in the tree trunks behind my house. I’ll most likely show the book safe to everyone that comes over, so Idoubt it will stay secret for very long.

Just place the book safe on your shelf; no one will suspect a thing- hidden in plain sight!

Altoid Tin Chocolate Box

2012-01-15T09:35:00.000-05:00

Craig, a friend of mine on Facebook, posted a message about“paying it forward”. In the message,Craig promised to pay it forward in 2012 by hand making something for the firstfive people to comment. The idea was soinspiring to me that I wanted to repost it and come up with something tomake. With Valentine’s Day right aroundthe corner, I’m craving sweets. For thisproject, five empty Altoid tins were given an old-fashioned makeover and filledwith cute homemade white chocolate candies. The results are mouth-watering and adorable.

I started by cutting pages from an old piano music book to attachto the lids of Altoid tins with spray adhesive. The flowers and pearls (both scrap booking supplies from the goodwill) witha tiny gold bow add a hint of vintage. Parchmentpaper and pink tissue were cut into strips to line the inside of the boxes and protectthe candy. Making the chocolate candieswas fun, but challenging. I separated candy hearts into two bowls:deformed/unreadable and normal. Thenormal hearts went face down in the mold; the other hearts went into mymouth. Using my fondue pot, I melted thechocolate and spooned it into the molds. The chocolate was messy, napalm hot,and took forever to harden, but tasted delicious.

I loved putting these little boxes of chocolate together andI’m really looking forward to sharing them with five of my friends. Startingthe new year by paying it forward gives me such a good feeling, and hopefully somegood karma.

Dinosaur Party for Grown Ups

2012-01-14T15:47:00.001-05:00

If you are an adult and love hokey things, then this is foryou- a dinosaur cocktail party! Each of the dinosaur accoutrements you see weremade from things found in my overflowing stash of craft supplies and junk. I love weird, unexpected things, and can’twait to surprise people with a party dedicated to these extinct animals!

The coasters were created with Perler beads from the clearance shelf at Toys R Us (flash back to fourth grade summer camp). Online, I found hundreds of Perler bead patterns to follow, but none of them really caught my eye. Basically, I just moved the beads around on the base until I found something I liked. After fusing them together with my iron, I added red felt to the bottom. The felt will keep moisture away from surfaces and, personally, I think it gives the coasters a ‘classy’ feel.

Wine charms seemed to pop up at almost every party I’ve been recently. Mine were constructed by poking a hole near the edge of four red plastic game pieces and adding tiny jewelry hoops. The section encircling the wine glass is a bit of wire twisted into a ring with the ends pinched back. The pinched ends hold the charm and beads in place along with protecting the user from scratches and snags. Shiny dinosaur confetti in different colors glued to the game pieces makes each charm different. This amazing confetti was discovered last spring at the Discount Warehouse, looking as if it was straight out of a Hallmark store from 1990. Unfortunately, the Discount Warehouse went out of business after a few months, I wonder why….

Who could resist an appetizer served on a fancy dinosaurcocktail pick? These picks were my favorite items to make. I started by filling asheet of yellow garage sale price stickers with dinosaur drawings. Using a handful of ordinary toothpicks fromthe grocery store, I added a bead to the end of each one, leaving about ¼ inchof the tip exposed. Yellow dinosaur stickers were placed over the tip back toback.

Love Pink

2012-01-13T10:11:00.001-05:00

Packaging is a passion of mine. Whenever things comebeautifully wrapped, they just seem so much better. Under my bed is a Tupperware box filled with papershopping bags and tissue because I have a hard time throwing them away. Some ofmy favorite packaging is the striped bags and girly pink tissue from Victoria’sSecret. I have been working on a creativeway to recycle them for a while. I lovethe little balls covered with flowers that people hang to decorate and wonderedif I could make them myself with roses made from the tissue paper. This is the result: delicate pink rosepomanders (the official name for these flower balls) to hang in a doorway.

I cut my stash of pink tissue into strips then twisted it intolittle roses. Twenty six roses were attached to a 1½ inch Styrofoam ball,making the finished product about six inches in diameter. A twist-tie hot gluedto the Styrofoam ball makes a great loop for a hanging ribbon. I untied and ironed the ribbon handles from VictoriaSecret bags to make the bows. Twistingroses was very time consuming, but otherwise, this project was surprisinglyeasy. The pink is such as sweetcolor. When looking at them, I thinkabout cake or candy. It’s great thatsomething so pretty can be made out of materials that normally end up in thetrash.

Recycled Paper Roses (DIY)

2012-01-12T10:13:00.000-05:00

I found pictures of paper roses in a waiting room magazineand became determined to make my own. Witha little experimenting and a lot of patience, I figured it out! The result is a crafty way to recycle almostany paper into beautiful, delicate little roses. So many things can be enhanced by them:wreaths, place cards and even jewelry. I plan to use mine in place of bows on agift.

Here’s what you will need:

*paper

*scissors

*hot glue gun

1. Cut a 5 inch circle out of your paper and a 1 ½ inch circle from the scraps. The do not need to be perfect, slight imperfections make them look more natural. Start at the edgeand cut a spiral out of your circle. Youdon’t want a perfect spiral; by making it have skinny & fat parts, you willadd variation to your rose similar to petals.

2. Roll up the outeredge of your spiral (about 2 inches). Thiswill be the center of your rose.

3. Add adab of hot glue to the center of your small paper circle and attach the rolledup end of your spiral. Slowly wrap thespiral around the center adding tiny dabs of glue to keep it in place. Try not to wrap your paper tightly, as it mayrip. If it does, just add a dab of glue,stick the new end of your spiral on, and continue.

4. As your spiralgets shorter, your rose will start to look like it is blooming. When yourspiral is completely wound (or when you decide the rose looks complete), sealthe edge with glue and trim the excess paper from your base.

You now have a beautiful, delicate paper rose!

I used old book pages, but you could use anything you have:

Sheet music

Scrap booking paper

Used gift wrapping

Magazine pages

Letters or cards

We have a Vision…

2012-01-11T23:54:00.003-05:00

While visiting my amazing Aunt Jennifer in Washington DC a few years ago, I discovered her visionboard in the living room. She had imagesof all the things she dreams of and wishes for herself in the future. Everyday, she looked at the board and visualized herself achieving those goals. She is one of the most energetic, motivatedpeople I know (she's my hero). I love her positive energy and am in awe of everything she has accomplished. If it worked for her, I figured that it could work for me, too. I have been making my own vision boards ever since.

Tonight, Molly and I decided to make vision boards for the newyear. We found a stack of magazines andset up in the dining room while our husbands played Call of Duty. Two hours later, the table is buried in stacks of paper and empty tea cups, our hands are covered in glue, and we each have a new board full ofinspirations. I have a long list of goals forthis year; it took mad Tetris skills to fit all the pictures on my board. I envision myself saving money, spending timewith friends and family, enjoying nature and finding time to work on artprojects. Molly and I discovered that we have many goals in common. We both want to eat healthy, find our passion, andtry not to hate winter so much. As we constructed our boards, we even came up with afew new ideas for our future, like taking a road trip to New York this summer. Looking at it gives me energy. My board is going to hang next to my bed. That way, every morning I will bereminded of what I want for my future. (My board on the top, Molly's board below)

Storybook Charm

2012-01-10T21:47:00.003-05:00

Since I started reading The Help last week, my mindhas been in the 1960s. Vintage children’s books call to me, bringing mentalimages of little Mae Mobley toting them around her house. A small collection of ratty, well-loved story bookssat in my studio until this afternoon. Ifound a tin box of clear glass stones at the Goodwill and decided to make magnets. Glass magnets are a fun, popular craft I've seen often on Etsy.com created by gluing images to the back of clear stones andadding a magnet. All the supplies werehere but the magnets, so I made tiny pendants instead.

I found little illustrations in the books (manly birds and flowers) to glue to the stones with silver bails on the back. Scrap pages with old school images of characters like Snow White and Bambi were salvaged to make matching tags for each pendant. They are so cute. I wonder if projects similar to this were popular in the 1960s. I can imagine housewives like Elizabeth Leefolt sitting at her dining table cutting up magazines to make magnets as gifts for friends.

Painting Party!

2012-01-08T19:42:00.000-05:00

My good friends Justin and Molly came over to paint today. Each of us had our own mission for the afternoon: Molly is painting a baby gift, Justin’s artwork will go to his brother, and I fixed up a old mirror. We sat around for hours telling goofy stories, painting and listening to music.

Working in a group is so motivating, like having a work outbuddy. By making an event of this, we wereable to set aside time just for art - something that normally falls to thebottom of our to-do lists. The exciting project ideas that we've had for weeks,or even months, finally became a priority today. I really look forward togetting together to do this again. Thereis a great energy that comes from doing what you love while surrounded bypeople that are also doing what they love!

Old Cards = New Tags

2012-01-07T21:12:00.000-05:00

Finding cards in the mail box is one of my favorite parts ofthe holidays. Well-wishes, family photosand lengthy notes connect me with people I don’t see often enough during theyear. When the magic of the season dies down,decorations are stuffed into boxes and dragged out to the garage. What happens to the cards? I keep mine for a while, until something else needsthe space. At some sad point, theyusually find their way to into the trash. This year was different; my husband found a solution. In a Natural Awakenings magazine that heswiped from the tea store in East Town,was this “Tip of the Month”:

“Don’t throw out all those holiday cards you received this year. Instead, cut them up around the

pictures and nice phrases and use them as gift tags for next year’s holiday gifts.”

My collection ofcards produced about 3 dozen unique tags. Birds, animals and ornaments in a variety of styles were cut and glued together. Each tag is a little different. A sheet of sticky foam dots helped me add dimensionto tiny details and my fancy hole punch created a place for the ribbon. Next year, when I bring them out to wrapgifts, I will get to enjoy them all over again.

Message in a Bottle

2012-01-06T16:52:00.000-05:00

Today’s post is dedicated to one of the most entertainingguys I know: Mitch Salzman. He is mycoworker and a very creative artist. (This is us: dressed up for 80s night)

Every day for year, Mitch found an empty Jones Soda bottle,filled it with something intriguing (such as candy hearts, sand, or toys) and snappeda photo. He posted the pictures daily on a blog, http://www.jonesaday.blogspot.com/,with a short note explaining the chosen objects and where they came from. JonesSoda features a different image on each label, all provided by their customers.I love to see how he used labels to set a theme for his bottle, deciding whatshould go inside. He found trinkets, food, nature, even science experiments tofill the bottles.

These are a few of my favorites. The first bottle has a childhoodphoto of Mitch and his siblings that was actually chosen by Jones Soda for thelabel! The next jar is filled with dog hair scrounged up around his house; disgusting….butcreative. The last bottle is perfect. Used artillery shells make such a greatback drop for the patriotic dog on the label.

After their moment in the lime light, the bottles retire tocustom shelves built along his bedroom wall. He is thinking of doing thisproject for another year, and I hope he does.

Junk Mail

2012-01-05T20:11:00.000-05:00

One look at my overflowing recycling bin this morning, and Idecided that the mission of the day would be to give some junk mail new life. Idug out a few fliers, envelopes and pages from an old book along with a bag ofsparkly sequins from an estate sale.

Using a technique everyone is good at ~making paper snowflakes~I sat on the floor with hot tea, scissors and a glue stick and set to work. Because the pages are from a grade school bookabout Michigan, a majority of thetext is related to cold weather on the Great Lakes. Thefinished result is 8 delicate, winter-y note cards with dimension and a varietyof interesting textures. When I look at them, I imagine sitting nestled up in awarm cozy chair reading a good book on a cold, blustery Michiganwinter day.

We now have new mail made out of old mail!

Christmas Candy

2012-01-03T21:45:00.000-05:00

Today I am feeling grateful for handmade Christmas gifts. Seriously, nothing is sweeter or more sentimental. I am the lucky recipient of the most amazing home baked cookies, candies and tea. I love it, they make me giddy. I am also in love with all the goodies found for me on Etsy (thanks, Patrick). We really made out this year, I feel very blessed. Even the cats are running around with new handmade toys.

If you are one of the people that made things for me this year: You are awesome and you inspire me, thank you!

Cute as a Button

2012-01-02T22:58:00.000-05:00

These barrettes were handmade today especially for Bridget (because she is growing out her bangs). The cheerful little buttons were rescued from thrift stores, and the tag was once part of a children’s board game. They are easy to make with just a little glue and some hair pins from the craft store!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T15:41:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my New Years Resolution: To do what I love and to share it with you!

My goal is to be inspired every day this year, to create, and to inspire others.

My passion is treasure hunting; finding old and useless objects and giving them new life. I adore the challenge of transforming worn, outdated, broken bits and pieces into unique new items that make people happy.

I’m excited and nervous to share my projects with you, but very much looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.

Thank you so much for visiting!

I hope you can be inspired to do what you love this year, as well!

Love,

Heather