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i made an advent calendar this year so that i don't miss the season.

each box holds a surprise. 

a treat. chocolate is usually involved.

or an activity. something seasonal.

cheers

in my fridge...

...these monster eggs are cracking me up + keeping me smiling

A Slipcover: The Easy Way

I decided the other night at 9:30 that I was tired of my rusty-yellow Victorian chair and wanted to cover it with a slipcover. My goal was to add a bit more coolness to the room. Our wooden floors add quite a bit of warmth and I wanted to tone it down.

I set to work making one with a large oatmeal-colored heavy canvas drop cloth that I had. They are very inexpensive at the hardware store and the heavy-weight canvas is similar to upholstery fabric.

I documented the process as I went along. I am not very talented in the sewing department so I used a technique I learned about a while ago. It is fairly easy for a slipcover but you need a lot of fabric to drape over your chair. I think the traditional method for making a slipcover includes lots of measurement-taking and pattern-making which is too difficult for my novice skills. Here's how I made a slipcover the easy way:


Drape material right-side in over chair and pull it flat along the seat and back.


Pinch the excess fabric together where the seams on a slipcover would be(just guess) and pin where the seam would be. Keep going. You may have to redo seams as you go along and re-figure your method. I had to pleat fabric along certain parts of the chair, such as where the arm meets the back to make it work.


Cut off excess fabric from the seams that you pinned. Adjust the pins as needed to keep the fabric taut.


When all seams are pinned and trimmed, cut off the excess fabric along the bottom. Make sure that you leave a few extra inches for folding over and hemming.


Carefully pull the slipcover off the chair and sew along the seams that you pinned. Sew the hem on the inside of the pins.When all the seams have been hemmed, remove your pins. Fold over the bottom of the slipcover once and then again so that the raw edge is hidden. Pin along your fold and then sew the hem.


Flip your slipcover right side out and pull it over your chair. Voila!

My slipcover is less than perfect but I am happy with it. The imperfections work with the slubby natural-colored canvas. It has an organic feel and is a nice contrast with the dark carved claw feet.

Plant Pole

We had an old floor-to-ceiling pole that we used to hang our bikes on and white porcelain drop pots from IKEA that we used to hang utensils in our previous kitchen. Since we no longer needed these for their original purposes, we decided to repurpose them. We placed our pole by a sunny bedroom window, filled our pots with plants, threaded them with twine and hung them up. I love how they turned out and how they liven up the space.

in stock

craig and i collaborated on some jotters

find them at design collective

hurry! they are only there until our move...1 more month
and thanks to all who have been snappin' 'em up

Anniversary Waltz

I came across this Swiss Thorens music box carousel for free. I fell in love with the children dancing and the mushrooms(by their feet-hard to see in this photo) and the lovely tune. It plays the Anniversary Waltz. I didn't care for the style it was painted in(here's what it looked like before) so I added a few coats of flat black spray paint and voila! Then I played it for our anniversary and we maybe pretended we knew how to do the Waltz.

a beetle shirt

last week we screen printed wee beetle shirts for 2 wee ones

the hens + potting adventures

For the past few months I have been taking a beginner ceramics class at Northern Clay Center. I have slowly learned how to throw on the wheel and trim bowls and cylinders. Class is coming to a close much too fast. Just when I'm really getting a hang of it the clock is running out. It has been fun to try something new and meet new people. I will miss spunky Kate and Manhattan Kim and lots of other peeps who made the class the mix that it was. Everyone has been so friendly and kind.



These are two of the first pieces I threw and glazed, which husband sweetly named 'the hens'.

I started out by making little cylinders, but the tops were dreadful, so at the last minute I created little spouts. The shiny white glaze pulled iron oxides(I think) out of the clay during firing and left tiny green speckles here and there. There are little indents in the glaze from my fingerprints and the bottom is ever so slightly indented, with a heart carved in it, but not trimmed, as I didn't yet know how to trim when I made them and the bottom wasn't really thick enough to remove clay anyhow. Now they are wonderful little creamer or maple syrup pitchers and I love the imperfections and the story that accompanies it.

My fabulous teacher Kate looked at the hens and told me that in some cultures imperfections in ceramics, and lots of other art, are highly prized. The imperfections show the handicraft that went into each object and tell a story. They are regarded as life's little miracles to be cherished. So true.

on the front door

found items reminding us of fun times together
greeting us since last fall

Inspiration Board

This is our current inspiration board. We simply removed the print from a hefty black frame(spray painted at an earlier date) and started taping our bits and bobs(with paint-safe tape, of course) on the the wall to inspire us.

Many little bits carry their own story. Some were obscurely found, some remind us of happy times and people we love. Our board changes a lot, as we are always adding to it. It looks different now than when I snapped these photos a few days ago. It always makes us smile and reminds us to be grateful. Sometimes we just stand in front of it with our arms wrapped around one another and look and smile.

A GOOD DAY TO YOU Card

This is a card-in-a-box collage I made recently for a friend with print media and driftwood pebbles.

furoshiki

Furoshiki is a traditional Japenese wrapping cloth used for bundling and transporting. How pretty do gifts look wrapped up like this? And it's reusable. Absolutely no waste.

This is a great guide for different wrapping methods.

{photo via chewing the cud}

{pronunciation here}

lemon drop wishes

I put together this fun lemon drop card for a friend's birthday with a craft box, vintage print media and lemon drops.

circuit earrings

I made a new pair of earrings this weekend. I threaded beads onto an old circuit(the bottom part) and then looped it onto an ear wire. Voila!

five alive

a weekend project
two found new homes with friends
three are with me

assateague mobile

We visited Assateague Island in the off season a few years ago. It wasn't swimming weather, but we had the beach almost to ourselves. We walked for miles collecting shells and snapping photos. The sky was a magnificent blue and the sun warmed our faces. We met a few fishermen. We saw a few wild ponies.

I used some of our small shells and a piece of driftwood to make a mobile when we arrived home. It has been hanging in our living room since our trip, reminding us of that adventure together.

diy snack bags

I made these über-simple snack/sandwich bags out of an old raincoat. They have an old-school fold over flap. The best part—they are water proof, so you can put sliced fruit, veggies or whatever, without getting the rest of your bag sloppy.