Wooden Bookmarks

I'll be teaming up with my friends at Blurb again, this time at the Brit+Co conference/festival Re:Make where I'll be leading a book craft at their booth. This part of the event features some incredibly creative makers showcasing textiles, housewares, jewelry and print work.  I had that in mind when I mocked up a few bookmarks made from ultra-thin sheets of birch plywood to test as a craft that festival goers can make while checking out what Blurb has to offer. They need to be easy, but they have to be good.  So here they are. Some are embroidered, some painted. I like the idea of gift giving a good book and a handmade bookmark; it's simple and thoughtful. I still read real books, because I like the weight and the way the paper feels in my hands, plus they make great coasters...

To make a wooden bookmark, head to a craft store and pick up some 1/64" thick birch plywood sheets, found in the woodworking/wooden dowel section.  Using a sharp blade, cut with the grain, into 6"x2" pieces.  I made these samples using a small hole punch dotted 1cm apart up each side of the bookmark and threaded a cross-weave down the length with embroidery thread, securing the ends with a knot and dot of glue.  To make the painted version, I used washi tape to mark triangles and painted with a coat of acrylic paint, allowing to dry for 5 minutes before removing the tape.  Both versions take about 5 minutes of work time to create.

The Days Are Long

The dog days of summer are upon us. Gone is the magic of school letting out, the first splash in the pool, and cool bite of a popsicle; we are now firmly in boredom territory. It’s time to get creative. So for today I’m giving you a real dog day project, using not much more than a little cardboard, some Scotch® Duct Tape, and a couple of old toy cars. I promise you hours of amusement and hands on fun. And wouldn’t you know it, before we started construction on the new deck, we made a little movie!



For this project we used:

A large cardboard box, cut into 5” wide strips
Scotch® Chalkboard Tape 
Scotch® Dry Erase Tape
Scotch® Tangerine Duct Tape and Green Apple Duct Tape
Scotch® Moving and Storage Packaging Tape
Scissors/ Box Cutter 
A piece of white chalk
A dry erase pen
Some string
2 bamboo skewers (or straws)
Small toy racing cars

We built the race tracks by cutting 5” wide strips of cardboard and taping them together with a little packaging tape. You can do this using scissors, but it is easier and faster with a box cutter(adults only!).

Folding the side of the track at about 1” in on either side provided enough of a lip to keep the cars on the track. To make the black track, we used Scotch® Chalkboard Tape. We secured the tape to the end of the track and one person pulled the backing from the tape while the other smoothed it along the cardboard. It was very easy.

Then Jasper hand drew the dash lines using white chalk. The Scotch® Chalkboard Tape was easy to wipe off when he wanted to fix some of the dashes. I made a little grandstand with a score-keeper that also acted as a way to stop the cars at the end of the race. The marquees are made using Scotch® Dry Erase Tape, and we used a dry erase pen to tick off the winner of each heat. It was easy to wipe away when they wanted to start the game over. To make the grandstand I folded a 5”x 24” strip of cardboard into a rectangle and secured it with a packaging tape. I cut 5” strips of Scotch® Colors Duct Tape to create a little underlay frame for the strips of Scotch® Dry Erase Tape for the marquee. I topped the stand with some flags made from Scotch® Colored Duct Tapes secured to a piece of twine, tied to a couple of skewers and taped to the inside of the box.

The boys hadn’t played with their old cars in months, but they were out on the track all day. At one point they took the game apart and made one long track and fashioned a tunnel out of another box and invented a whole narrative about their car world. They didn’t once mention how “bored” they were. A dog day success!

Want to see what else you can make with Scotch Colors and Patterns Duct Tape? Check out their Scotch® Duct Tape Pinterest Boards , Scotch® Duct Tape Facebook , and Scotch® Duct Tape Twitter pages for more project inspiration. 

I am proud to be a 3M- sponsored blogger, and, as part of my responsibilities, I get the opportunity to evaluate products from Scotch® Duct Tape. Opinions are my own and additional product used in the project were selected by me.

Drawing On The Wall

It's amazing what a little paint can do to quickly transform a space. This week I slapped a few coats of magnetic primer and chalkboard paint onto a floating wall that divides our kitchen from the living space, a wall we will be tearing down sooner or later.

Here's what it looked like when we bought the place(so clean, and horribly dull). We will be knocking down both this wall and the refrigerator wall to completely open the house. 

Currently, the cheap flat paint on the walls is covered in hand prints and wow, the multiple floor types drive me pretty batty. While this will all go when we remodel in the spring, painting "the great divide" chalkboard black and styling this inexpensive white shelf has created additional storage for frequently used housewares and a space for the kids to draw all over the wall, especially for my preschooler, Wylie, who likes to practice his W's.

To season the chalkboard wall, I first rubbed it with the side of a piece of chalk and then erased in circles with a felt eraser. I wanted it to have that lived-in look right off the bat. For this 10x10 project I used 2 cans of magnetic primer, which is oil based and messy to apply, leaving the walls a flat black. I then gave it a single coat of chalkboard paint which ended up being one can. For under $50 we went from sloppy and dirty to a beautiful, styled mess, something I can live with for the next year. 

 

Sticks and Stones

You've got to tear it down to build it up.  This has been my mantra for the last few months, and it applies to more than just my new house.  I've taken a break from regular blogging to focus more on the redesign of our top floor and outside space, and to work on the next big thing for Poppy Haus, something I'll be announcing very soon... Another reason I've backed off is that since moving here I've struggled to find a way to decorate. It seems pointless when I know that so many of the walls will be coming down. I hesitate to paint, because I want to see the new space before deciding on colors. I want this new home to feel open, and I want to bring the outside in. I've found myself collecting little bits of inspiration and putting them in bowls and jars strewn about the house. Just last weekend when we were hiking in the Russian River, I gathered a bunch of lichen covered sticks that somehow made their way here. I love having flora tucked on bookshelves, pinned to the walls, mingling with books and art. So for now I'm keeping it simple and white, and I'm letting the plants take over while I work it out. And today I'm sharing a little ditty on how to make an air plant wall piece from some freshly gathered lichen covered sticks. xo

Spritz the air plants with water once a week to keep them happy...

The Lounge Act

We are a family of loungers. Busy bodies when we have to be, at the end of the day, or on a lucky weekend we can be found lazying around on our bellies reading magazines (or Star Wars books), stretched out on our backs across the couch watching television, or in a lounge chair, and now our hammock, doing nothing but staring at the trees. When our extended family comes to visit they lounge too. Loungers I tell you. For this reason we require, and acquire a lot of pillows. When we moved, I packed two XL boxes full of throw pillows and 2 over-sized bags of bed pillows, with no assigned beds. I was about to donate most of these guys, when it occurred to me that they would make perfectly good stuffing for floor pillows. 

Lounging opportunities in our backyard

I made a prototype using two 2x3 jute/cotton area rugs and two king size pillows. Jute can be really soft, but it weathers well, so it works as an indoor/outdoor material, and both are breathable, making it more comfortable than a synthetic outdoor textile, perfect for our cotton rope hammock. To make your own, here's what you'll need:

Start out by making a pocket. Match the rugs together, good sides out. Using heavy duty thread, and an embroidery needle, make 1/2" hand stitches along one length and two sides.  Insert pillows, position and pin along the opening, starting in the center, taking care to align any pattern. Carefully stitch closed, starting at one end, removing pins as you go. That's it! 

Food and Flowers

Every week I pick up flowers at the market. Just as I would replenish the fruit bowl, I make a fresh arrangement for our table.  Right now I am loving proteas.  They are beautiful, weird, and they come in the colors of summer, something that I am really looking forward to.  I thought I might start an occasional series that pairs food with fresh flowers- starting this week with a little Cinco De Mayo flair, because Mexican food goes so well with pretty flowers. For this week's recipe I give you spicy sausage tacos with a simple slaw. This recipe is very flavorful, and so quick to prepare, making it perfect for a week night meal or party food. Happy Weekend!

Spicy Sausage Tacos (3)

6 corn tortillas
2 fully cooked sausage (I used Trader Joes new Korean Style Chicken)
2 cups shredded cabbage 
1 tsp minced serrano or jalapeno 
1/4 diced red onion, plus a few thin slices for garnish
1 lime, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
1/2 avocado, sliced
cracked sea salt

Slice the sausage and sear over medium-high flame in a frying pan until firm and charred on both sides.  In a mixing bowl, toss together cabbage, onion, lime juice and sea salt to taste. Warm tortillas in a pan (dry) on stove top to soften and bring out flavor.  Double tortillas and portion slaw and sausage and avocado slices, garnishing with slices of red onion and lime wedges. Serve with an ice cold Pacifico (obviously).  

Now for the flowers...

I put this arrangement together using a proteas and green snowballs, both found at my local Trader Joes.  Proteas will last up to two weeks with a a fresh cut of the stem and plenty of water, so I'll just switch out the snowballs when they start to wilt. Cutting the stems at different heights gives this simple bouquet some dimension.

 

Class Is In Session

Today I will teach my third Indie Craft Lab class! I settled on a paper and string theme for this semester to test the waters working with 4th-6th graders on a variety of Poppy Haus inspired projects. The end goal is for each girl to have several handmade pieces to fancy up their bedrooms. So far we've made the cupcake paper lantern, a striped drinking straw sunburst mirror, and this week we dive into string art. I'm amassing a collection of tiny hammers and brightly colored glue guns, and I'm learning how to pace the class, and how to best present a project to a group of eager crafting tweens. Honestly, it's pretty awesome.  

Here is the prototype for today's string art project, the girls will be making their names- I made "Happy" because I can't seem to get that song out of my head...

Materials/Tools:

5x12x.25" pine craft board (or thicker)
3/4" brass tack nails
Light weight crafting yarn
Tracing paper 
Masking tape
Hammer

First you'll need to make your letter pattern.  Print out and trace or freehand your word. Place on the board, straighten, and secure the paper to the back side using masking tape.

Hammer the tack nails in at corner point and fill in where needed to create a frame for the string to wrap around.  Secure tacks, but do not puncture the back side if possible.

Remove the masking tape from the backside and carefully tear away the paper.

Make a loop knot and secure the end of the yarn to a corner nail.  Trace around the nails with the yarn, creating the out boundary of the letter, then weave in a diagonal pattern, framing any interior letter detail in the process. Secure the end with a second knot.

 

Wall Mounted Pinch Pots

Our new house is white walled, and I'm kind of loving it. I like the idea of bringing in little pops of color with art and accessories. I can easily swap them out when I want to change things up. Because our upper level has great light and beautiful tree-filled valley view, I really want the interior walls to come alive with flora to mirror the outside. I even bought a few large Shane Powers ceramic wall pots from West Elm for hanging ferns on the stairwell wall (me and those ferns). Using these large pieces as a point of inspiration, I made some tiny versions with polymer clay to hang in smaller spaces, like the bathroom, or over a bedside table. I think the granite pots look like river rocks.
 

After the pots are oven-baked, they can hold water for itsy bitsy flower arrangements. I scavenged these blooms from around our wild backyard. Slowly, we are making our new house our home! For the full tutorial read below.

Wall Mounted Pinch Pots - you'll need at least 2oz polymer clay per pot, and some 3M adhesive tabs for hanging.

Roll polymer clay into an egg shape.

Push the center to about 1/4" base thickness.  Then slowly open the bowl up.

Continue to shape the bowl until it is about 1/4 thick throughout,

Flatten one side to create a surface for hanging.  Bake on a wax paper covered baking sheet at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, until clay is set. 

Allow to cool completely before handling.

Apply an adhesive back, designed to hold up to 1 lb.  I used 3M's removable picture hanger, trimmed to fit. 

check out the 1968 counter top!

For maximum adhesion, hang and allow to set to the surface for up to 12 hours before filling with water and flowers/greenery.