Geometric lamp shade with tape

After swapping out this dining room light fixture for this one I love, our room got a lot dimmer. We needed extra lighting in a corner, so we bought a shelf floor lamp at Target. It was looking a little Asian, though, which is not part of the plan. So to distract myself from that, and since we're going pattern crazy in this room, I decided to give it a little sumthin' sumthin.' There are more than enough swirly lines in there already, so I made geometric shapes with this 3M 1/8" vinyl tape.


It's repositionable and removable for when I get tired of it.


I'm really pleased with how good it looks. You wouldn't even know it's tape until you put your nose right up there to inspect it.

Easy origami egg holders

These easy origami egg cups are folded from 6" squares of origami paper. They took me just a minute or two each, and any decorative paper will work. You could whip up a bunch and put one at each place setting for Easter brunch. Coordinate the paper colors with a flower centerpiece and wrap the vase with a strip of matching paper. See how to make your own with this video tutorial by YouTube user 1petiteSorciere. Cute!

How to make a folding camp stool

Here's the guest tutorial I mentioned yesterday: a DIY folding stool made from scratch! This project uses more of my new Arrow fabric and makes a great side table, footrest, or portable seat. Here's LiEr to tell you how to make them.

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Hello! I am LiEr and I write a craft blog ikatbag that is part fabric, part cardboard and, occasionally, wood. Today, I am happy to be here sharing how to make these little wooden fold-up stools.

I made these stools in Jessica's new Arrow fabric for my three girls, in two sizes. The smaller one is for my 6-year-old and the two larger ones are for my almost-8 and almost-10-year old.



They also make good footrests for the director's chair in yesterday's post.



Though they are meant for kids, they can easily be sized up for adults, too. The dimensions in this tutorial are for the larger stool;



to make the smaller one,



follow the dimensions in the diagram below. The hardware for both stools are the same.

We'll be making the stools in two parts - the wooden frame and the fabric seat.

Continue reading »

Director's chair in Arrow

Here's a fun project using my new Arrow fabric— a director's chair upholstered by LiEr Teigland of Ikat Bag. LiEr took apart this second-hand chair, made a new seat and back rest, and put it back together again, with a twist:


The pattern is reversible and can be flipped at a moment's notice! Yes. She's smart like that. I wish I had her brain.

This chair is perfect for fabric lovers, since it can display prints nicely and the fabric can be swapped out. It's also perfect for managerial types, since you can tote it from room to room, sit in it, and direct your minions to do as you wish.


To see how LiEr executed this chair makeover, read about it here on her blog.

Then come back here tomorrow for a follow-up guest tutorial, because LiEr just couldn't leave well enough alone and had to go and invent another awesome project using Arrow.

Purchase the fabric here from The Needle Shop!

How to make an industrial pipe floor lamp

I really have a thing for lamps. I roam thrift stores admiring them— the weirder, the better — and pause on catalog pages with cool fixtures. Today I'm happy to share a guest tutorial on how to make your own industrial-style floor lamp out of pipes. Set this baby in front of your exposed brick wall and sip a craft cocktail while you admire your handiwork. You built a lamp!



The how-to is by Matthew Lyons, self-proclaimed handyman and blogger for HomeDaddys.com. Here's what Matthew has to say:

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Like most red-blooded Americans, I love industrial pipe lighting. There’s a certain derelict nostalgia about lamps and chandeliers made from old metal plumbing that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and manly inside. Unfortunately, that feeling isn’t shared by my wallet.

I’ve been lusting after an industrial pipe floor lamp for years now but the price tags people attach to these things are utterly ridiculous. The majority of multi-bulb floor-length pipe lamps available online or in stores sell for $400 - $1,000. As a guy on a lower middle-class income with a wife and a kid to support, I just can’t justify spending that kind of money on what amounts to a few lengths of pipe, some wire and a couple vintage light bulbs.

So, considering how simple these things are, I figured I could just build my own pipe lamp for half the cost of buying one. Having never wired anything before in my life, I was a little worried how this project would turn out. Surprisingly, though, it was super-easy to make. The entire lamp can be assembled by hand like some sort of awesome adult Erector Set. As I predicted, the wiring was by far the hardest part of the entire build – but even that took less than two hours and I didn’t even set the house on fire when I plugged it in. This made my wife very happy.

Here’s how you can build one of these awesome industrial pipe lamps for your own house or apartment or office or whatever dark corner of your life begs illumination.

Continue reading »

How to make a decorative picture mat

I'm getting a huge kick out of this funny linocut of Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. The portrait is an original print by Nick Morley; read more about Nick's work here.

If you've seen the TV show, you know Sherlock is right at home amongst wallpaper, so I decided his picture mat ought to be patterned. I used a sheet of Rifle Paper gift wrap I got at Poeme, a charming little stationery shop in Cincinnati.

Covering a mat with paper is simple. You can cut a piece of chipboard to size and cover it, or cover an existing mat— one that came with your picture frame or a plain one purchased separately.


You'll need fancy paper cut roughly 1/2" larger than the mat, spray adhesive, and a scissors or craft knife.


Spray the back of the paper with adhesive and center the mat on it. Cut out the excess paper in the center of the mat, leaving around 1/2" to wrap around the edges.


Make diagonal slits to the inside corners and trim the outer corners at a 45 degree angle. Don't trim right up to the edge of the mat; leave enough extra paper to equal the thickness of the mat board so no board is exposed when you wrap the corners.


Bend the tabs around the board, sticking them down.


Put the print, mat, and frame back together and hang.


Sherlock must reside in the parlor, of course, where he'll scowl at me every day and make me happy.

Removable wallpaper in the bathroom

Here's a look at our upstairs guest bathroom. Last night I covered an accent wall with removable wallpaper. I love it!


This bathroom has a peculiar layout. You walk in past the shower stall on the right, and when you hit the sink, you turn right to get to the toilet. Which is under a lovely arch at the end of a passage that is almost long enough to feel like a hallway. The paint color in there doesn't bother me (hard to capture in photos under electric lights) but that wall under the arch was begging for something interesting. I considered these drops wall decals at Walls Need Love, but after browsing their site some more, I was taken by the Waves of Chic print. Nice and watery for a bathroom, and I can't resist a pattern.


The kind folks at Walls Need Love sent the product to review. Cute packaging, eh?


Like the Sunburst wallpaper I designed last year, this paper is essentially a giant self-adhesive wall decal, and it's easily to peel off and reposition. Unlike our dining room wallpaper, the traditional kind, it was easy to put up by myself. Much to Alex's relief, I'm sure. The material is Fab-Tac, which is a textile coated with an adhesive on one side and backed with paper you peel off.

I measured the wall and cut a length of paper that would leave a little extra overhang at the bottom. I peeled off about a foot of backing from the top of the piece and stuck the paper to the wall along the ceiling. I held a level to the right edge to test the straightness (the corner was a little wavy and unhelpful, so a level worked better).


After a couple tries I had it, and then it was just a matter of peeling off the backing paper gradually while smoothing down the paper with the tool provided.

I cut another piece to place next to the first panel, overlapping the seam by a quarter inch to match the pattern.

Then with a craft knife and straight edge, I trimmed off any overhang that wrapped onto the adjacent walls and baseboard.


This stuff is really forgiving if you accidentally get it stuck to itself. I had a crumpled up ball of excess sticky paper I'd trimmed off the baseboard and wondered if I could untangle it. Yep— with patience you can straighten it back out, and since the substrate is fabric, it doesn't show any crumple marks in the pattern.


Now I just need an awesome picture to hang above the toilet, and we're in business! Or rather, people can do their business.


A huge thank you to Walls Need Love for making my bathroom cuter! Check out their other products: besides wallpaper and traditional decals, they offer anatomy prints, map stickers, and adhesive taxidermy, too. You know you need a buffalo head...

Liquid gold leaf on paper

I tried painting yesterday's Liquid Leaf on paper to see what would happen. It creates a lovely metallic lustre.


Liquid Leaf does soak through paper a bit, though. I tried spraying a sheet with a quick coat of clear acrylic sealer first to see if that would help, but it didn't change much. Still, it's no problem if you want to paint some prints for framing or paste the gold-painted paper onto something else.

Experimenting with liquid gold leaf

I'm still shopping for enormous plants, but in the meantime, I operated on some lamps.

You know how IKEA's model living rooms always look so inviting because there are little light sources everywhere? Or in movies, the libraries and dens are always so cozy? Lights on the bookshelves seem to add a lot, so I was determined to put some on our shelves in the parlor. Like a less glorious version of this.

I shopped online a bit, and brass picture lights are expensive. So I bought a couple of these NON lights from IKEA. But I wanted them brass or gold to go with the parlor light fixture instead of the silver color they came in.


I considered spray painting them, but was worried about the paint making a mess and going inside the lamp's little holes. It seemed easier to brush them with something, so I tried out some Liquid Leaf I bought at Michael's. Sort of like gold leaf in a jar.

I shook up the bottle to mix the paint and then brushed it on with a small craft brush. Because the lights were very slightly textured (they're plastic), it adhered beautifully. Brushstrokes evened out and disappeared. It was like brushing on fingernail polish, and smells the same, too. In minutes the paint was dry to the touch. In an hour it was hard and set.


The coverage from one coat was almost enough, but I put on two for good measure.

I cleaned my brush with mineral spirits— not sure what you're supposed to use, but that worked well.

This color is Florentine Gold, which is more coppery than straight-up gold. The store was out of bronze, which would have been nice, but I'm pleased as punch. You can't even tell I used any from the little bottle, so there's plenty left to gild Alex's computer when he's not looking. Now I just need to put up the lights!

DIY pots for small plants

On the subject of house plants, have you seen these sweet tutorials for small pots? Above, tiny polymer clay faceted pots at Merrypad.


Face pot at Dream Green DIY and brass pot with spray painted stripes at Little Green Notebook.


Cement pots with gold leaf at Ruffled and DIY book planters at Green Wedding Shoes.

Cute, all of 'em!

A website that teaches you how to knit

Sheep & Stitch is a freshly-launched website that teaches you how to knit using video tutorials and simple patterns. I don't know how to knit, but if I wanted to learn, I think I'd start here. The site is clean and pretty with lovely, cohesive photography and a simple layout. Follow the knitting map to go from a person who knows nothing (me) to a person who can make a sweater. More patterns, videos, and goodies are coming soon, so sign up for the newsletter if you want to be alerted. I love how-to sites, and this looks like it'll be a good one.