Great crafting- gold doily pillow box

My weekly great crafting adventure features gift wrapping with some of my Etsy store items.

This great little pillow box is simply decorated with a gold doily. You could easily substitute a silver, white or black doily!

The best part of this design is that it is clean without a bow so it is easy to pack and carry.



Here's what you need:

pillow box
gold doily
glue
scissors

Start with peeling apart the doilies- they always come in sets of 3,4, or 5 sheets per group.

Cut the doily in half. The doily is symmetrical  so you can find the design on the opposite side and aim for it with your scissors.

Fit the doily over the end of the closed box.

Trim around the design to produce smooth edges that look intentional.

Fold the trimmed ends around the box and glue the trimmed ends to the box. Also, glue the edge of the doily to the edge to the box flap.

Finally the finished box, ready to be filled with your pretties!

Ready to pin the instruction? I've made it easy, you the image below to pin for quick reference!

Brassy- bad for your hair, great for your home

No one wants to hear that their hair in Brassy. But for the home, brass is hot! The current hot patina has a brown cast, but it can patina into some beautiful colors. My personal favorite is a purple-y taupe with the golden undertone. I have a great selections of types of tray, from ashtray to coffee table. All from Etsy! You can click on the word "Brass Tray" under any of the pictures to take you to the item to purchase!

Brass Mid Century Flower ashtray. The petals are removable for personal ashtrays! Crazy, but cool.

Mid-Century 10 inch brass tray, not too big, not too small!

                                  Brass Bamboo look tray 12 inches!



Huge 36 inch Moroccan Brass Tray. It is the perfect ottoman topper!


Patina, Patina, Patina! This is fantastic! 25 inch brass tray- love the colors.



Pretty vintage Moroccan Tray, 17 inch!

Want more? Click HERE to find all the brass trays you could want!

Hudson paints- just arrived

I am super psyched about the arrival of my new chalkboard paints! They are from Hudson Paints and I am sampling them for a larger project. Big box stores just do not offer the color array of this company... much less the good customer service and humorous names for the paints!

I cannot wait to get started on my sample boards and post my first project! The colors I have ordered are (clockwise) Genius Pink Genius, Sweet 13, and Hot Kolor.

The plan first is to create magnetic, chalkboard peg boards for my sister's sewing/workroom.  The original plan was for Christmas... but I could not pull it together in time. So, Birthday then! The bigger project is to create a chalkboard wall in a clients home!

fretwork - recycling great pieces

Fretwork is an easy item to recycle into the home. It is lightweight, decorative, and adds depth to a space from the age or patina of the pieces. Below are some great uses for fretwork that has been re-imagined into more modern spaces.



hotel room screen screens bath from bed



Fretwork as "shutters" from Elle Decor

Fretwork mirror from http://circawho.com/category/mythoughts/

DIY: Valentine's Doily tags

Doily tags are a steady seller in my Etsy store. They work well for gift tags on brown paper packages as well as place cards and wedding decor! They would be so cute as a garland mixed with doilies for a wedding or baby shower! Though I am happy to make them for you, you can make them yourself. Here's how!

Start with shipping gift tags, English 4 inch doilies, a bone folder, and envelope glue (or your preferred general purpose glue, Elmer's works too. It is just a bit runny). Optional equipment includes very clean slightly stiff paint brush and heavy items like bottles of glue, staplers, steel scissors, pattern weights, etc.

Begin by separating your doilies and removing any "chads" still stuck in the filigree  I like to use the stiff paint brush to remove the chads by pushing the bristles into the shads and brushing them off from the back. Once the doilies are separated, place the doily on the tag as shown below and fold the doily around the tag.

Using your bone folder, press a crease into the doily from the back. Use the flat part of the bone folder, so you will not tear the doily. I have shown my Martha Stewart bone folder, which has a sharp beveled edge. Other bone folders have a smooth bevel, which I prefer. However, this was the one close at hand!

From the back of the tag, you now have fairly solid spots to glue from. Place the sponge tip on the inside of the solid piece of the doily and then press the glued side to the tag. Repeat on the other flap. I like to lay the doily face down on my work table and weight the glued edges until they dry.

Now you are ready to use your tags for gifts, wedding notes, place cards, table number tags... you name it!

Want to pin these Instructions to Pinterest? Here's a quick step-by-step perfect for pinning!

Ghost chair- chair covers

Lucite chairs present a slight problem when you want to add chair pads, seat covers, or special pillows. Of course the ties, tabs, and fasteners will show. I have found some attractive and rather clever solutions! Check them out~

Great patterns shine with these chairs

Smart solution- ties just at the arms. Make sure the backing is dense, otherwise the back seat cover will sag.



Great image from Willow Home, lucite chair is made of sheer slip covers. Careful that the fabric does not abraded the chair from repeated or prolonged sitting.



The ultimate ghost chair chair covers, the Waldorf's dining room from Gossip Girl. Lovely matte gold silk with button tufting. I have tried... for many episodes... to figure out how they are attached. I have decided it is with super strong magnet, one of the chair pad tab and the other underneath the lip of the chair, making it almost invisible.
How do you think they do it?

Inaugural luncheon flowers in orange to pink

Inaugural luncheon flowers are fantastic!

"Jack Lucky Floral Design is getting the honor to arrange the flowers for the inaugural luncheon for the sixth time," according to WUSA9 news.

from EPA

from Reuters

The flower arrangements include- orange Free Spirit rose, according to WUSA9. These roses are know for  undulating petals and bi-color yellow to pink coloration. Also included in the arrangement is Ranunculus, also in orange. The ranunculus are also bi-colored and create a lightness to the arrangement.

This is arrangement is an easy one to use as a guide for your own easy arrangement. Start with a base of the same flowers, in this case the open roses, and choose a flower similar in color to add. The secondary flower should rise about and inch to two inches above the base flowers. The tonal quality of the arrangement is modern and the flower choice provide the sophistication. My favorite part is that the flower buds provide the greenery in the arrangement, thus no extra greenery is needed!

Design through the lens of the inauguration

What can we learn, design-wise, from today's inauguration? Many things as it turns out.

Home design patterns are emerging into the clothing realm. Love the slight sparkle in the ikat patterned coat with the open weave silvery shimmery scarf.

From CNN video feed- Myrlie Evers-Williams

Great color comes in shades-
The Obama ladies shades of purple ensembles are a triumph. It speaks to unity of the two main political parties, how colors presented in three shades always go together (where as two colors often look "off"), and the contemporary nature of crisp colors.

The first family in pretty colors

Lastly, continuity. The act of the inauguration is an act of continuity and teaches us that all projects are a journey. Design is a journey, it doesn't end, but is flexible, fluid, and require a bit of paperwork. :)

Layered rugs

I have always loved the look of layered rugs. It always brings me back to this image from art history class of the Ottoman/Turkish king sitting, high above people, on stacks of red rugs. I am bringing this concept to a client project I am working on by using with Flor carpet tiles for a contemporary twist on an old concept.

Here are some great inspired images of layered rugs!

My foyer with a mix of weaves, patterns and styles.

from Design Sponge layered rugs in New Orleans

From Web-stagram by Kim Childs- great use for small rugs you love... but are just too small!

From Ella and Louise

From Pinterest- it was pinned off an Urban Outfitters website.

Suzani pattern- still can't get enough!

I love them, want to see them everywhere, love the patterning and the colors. Here are some pillows to easily adding to your home's wardrobe as well as some vintage pieces and a stencil... in case you fancy going all out!

Here are some faves! Please click on the links to shop this look.

From Sew Susie Designs on Esty

From Material Recovery on Etsy

From Sew Susie Designs on Esty

Not traditionally a suzani, but offers that feel from Royal Stencil Designs on Esty

Beautiful silk piece from Uzbekistan from Ruslan Khamidov on Etsy

Great pillow from Uzhandicraft on Etsy

HOLA- veggie box

HOLA- handmade, organic, local, artisan

Today's HOLA is this week's veggie box from Moore's Farm via Freshfully!

Last week's box yielded some great recipes and I am hoping for the same this week.

Here's my box!

What I really like about this Moore's farm box in the note included in the box with a list of everything in the box and recipe resources. Such a nice touch.

Clock wise starting at the pecans this box includes:
Pecans
a bell pepper
"mixed roots" - sweet potato, yukon gold potato, two turnips
6 local apples (no wax and nice sized)
bonus Collard green
bag of kale
and red leaf lettuce

My plans?
Apple brown betty with the apples and pecans
Cooked collards, roasted sweet potato and chicken
Green salad with red leaf lettuce, tomato, bell pepper and roasted pecans
Roasted roots and butternut squash with red leaf lettuce salad

Check out my Pecans and Paleo tab above! I have started chronicling the recipes I am working on and they include recipes for the CSA boxes.

Snow days- the rare snow in "Southtown"

Today was a rare snow day in the Deep South. I live on a ridge and the snow was lovely- both falling and fallen! Like all snows in the south, it was gone before sunset.

Snow days give us time to stay indoors and plan, think, and make decisions... with a lovely and exotic view.

Happy snow day.

Popular on Pinterest this week

This was my most popular pin this week!

I'm not a food pinner, but this was too cute!  Enjoy my new favorite heels! These are the cutest cupcakes!

Aluminium of the 1960's- in full color

Vintage aluminium clothespins from
LittleBeach Designs on Etsy- already sold. See more below.

       Though the buzz word with the business men was "plastic" in the 1960's, the hot item for women was anodized aluminum.  The home was still the woman's domain and she was exercising her rights to choose. She choose color, crisp primary colors like only anodized aluminium can offer! Anodizing is an electro-chemical process that took the light weight silvery material and transformed it into vivid color. And because of the shine of the aluminum the colors were metallic in a way. And, though not as strong as steel, stronger than ceramic and much liht weight than both. It was the perfect material for partyware and came if an array of party colors.

These vintage clothes pins reminded me of my childhood and going to a neighbor Eva Mae's house, who has grandchildren my age, to play and she would pull out her multi-colored tumblers and fill them with liquid that seemed exotic in those glasses, but was probably just Kool-aid.

Here are some great 1960's anodized aluminum item from Etsy. Please click on the link in the caption to take you to the item.

clothes pins from Avericia

buttons for Fagin's Daughter

Mid Century Modern tumbers from Glamour Girl Antiques

Bowls from Soogees

expanding files from HabitusVA

Coasters from Four Proffitts Vintage