A little over a year ago, I made an ornament for Boy’s sister using ribbons from her wedding and her wedding program. This year, though I sadly couldn’t attend the wedding, I have the pleasure of making a similarly styled ornament for my lovely cousin and her lovely now-husband.
For a rough cut on how I made this (though you can probably figure it out from the photo), check out this post for the K & A wedding ornament.
So often, crafting is about finding someone else’s project, loving it, and recreating it in your own way. In this particular case, my sister-in-law had attempted to purchase a dinosaur-themed birthday banner in girlie colors for my niece’s 1-year and 1-month birthday party (yes, we did celebrate one month late). Unfortunately, the Etsy vendor said she simply couldn’t get it done in time for the event.
Sister-in-law emailed me with the photo of the banner she had wanted and asked if I could help create something similar. Since I love all things crafting and I have a Silhouette Cameo cutting tool, I knew it would be a snap.
In this particular case, some sleuthing (i.e. Google image searches) showed that the dino designs actually came from the Cricut Create a Critter Cartridge.
Now of course, I have a different cutting machine so I couldn’t buy that cartridge. But I am pretty handy in Photoshop and was able to create similar designs for the dinos to cut out on my Silhouette. I made the body of my brontosaurus face the other direction and gave her a longer tail…you know…for more realism… And here’s how it turned out!
I’ll come clean. The first time I heard of pop-up dinners in white was on Top Chef. The next time was in a Groupon for Le Diner a SF. I missed the window to buy the cheaper tickets so one day, I found myself on the Handmade Events website. It was there that I learned about the PopUp Wine Country dinner in white. I had to go.
The concept was so alluring. You sign up to get the email updates. Then one day, they start selling tickets. But all you know is the date and that the dinner is happening “somewhere in the Sonoma wine country”. Then on the day of the event, you get another email disclosing the location. Hundreds of people descend on that location at the specified time, dressed in their finest white, armed with their best table decor, and equipped with their tastiest provisions and friends. You bring everything you need for your little party, other than the table, the chairs, the music, and the location. Another thing that jumped out was that it was a leave-no-trace event. Guests are encouraged to use real dishes, real knives and forks, and to take any trash and recycling they generate back home.
So the idea was hatched. Our party of four would be me, Boy, my brother and sister-in-law for some sibling good times. But that’s just where it started.
Crocheted towel holder from Little Birdie Secrets
I will admit, I love me some Pinterest. The DIY section is pretty much the only area I’ve ever ventured into but all those pictures are a fun way to get inspired for the craftiness. I recently came across a pin for this crocheted towel holder (pictured left). It caught my eye because our oven handle is so close to the oven door that you can barely get a tea towel to hang there. But! With a tea towel holder ring, I knew that problem would be solved. Not to mention, it’s pretty darn cute. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to crochet. So I decided to make up my own knit pattern to look similar and function identically. Continue reading
Earlier this month, Boy’s sister tied the knot. It was a beautiful wedding. It took place in Portland, right along the river. Boy’s sister was a gorgeous bride and her fiancé was a dashing groom. Their wedding colors were white and teal. There were white ribbons draping the backs of the chairs…and I stole one. That’s right. I stole one. It was after the ceremony and I had gifting in mind.
As Boy was in the wedding party, he was gifted a monogrammed pocket square which was tied up with a teal ribbon. Once he had opened his gift, he didn’t need that ribbon any more. So I stole that one too.
After I got home and ordered some clear glass ornaments
I started with the program…
And now I have 5 more glass ornaments, so more of these to come after more weddings!
From Country Living
Though I don’t live in the country by any stretch of the imagination, I do enjoy fantasizing while looking at the lovely, rustic photos in Country Living.
One photo in one particular issue recently caught my eye. And even though we live in the city and Boy’s hats aren’t nearly as charming as the ones they used for their photo, I thought, “Hmm…I could do that.”
The issue was that we have a lot of baseball caps. To have easy access to them, we had them stacked and hanging from two large wall hooks. It kept them out of the tiny closet and was functional enough but it definitely wasn’t attractive.
One of the first things I ever pinned on Pinterest was a key holder made out of a small ornate frame.
At the time, I had been living in my apartment for about a year and a half and still didn’t have a proper place to keep my keys. Needless to say, that made for a lot of “I can’t find my keys!!” moments. Then one day, I went to the Treasure Island Flea Market. There I found the perfect small ornate frame for this project.
I love bottle caps. I admit that I collect cool ones – ones with owls on them, ones with funny sayings on them (like the glorious ones from Magic Hat Brewing featured in our pictures), ones which are pretty colors. Until now, however, the caps have been sitting in a bag in my closet. Waiting. Waiting…
I also love magnets. Because they’re neat. And they hold photos on the fridge. So we put those two together – and kablam – bottle cap magnets.
Becoming Crafty 