good morning! i thought i’d kick off today with this beautiful new “jilly” rug from angela adams. i love the seaweed-green and “late afternoon-inspired” color palette angela uses here and can’t wait to see this in person at the design shows this spring (i also love her forest rug, bottom right). angela’s new rugs will be available in 6 sizes and 2 colors ranging from $349-$1,950. click here for more information and to shop online.

it’s been such a pleasure having the bbb craft sisters on the d*s guest blog this week. today they’re closing their series with a post on needlecraft. there are gorgeous votives, bangles and baby gift ideas, so click here to check out the full post!

this is the second installment of jewelry storage projects, and this version is for people who love to show off their sparklies. i was very inspired by the lovely bust statue in this article from an old copy of the sadly discontinued blueprint magazine, but i wanted to create something a little more compact and modern. once i found the right silhouette and created a template, this was pretty easy to complete. i painted this version in a clean, simple white, but you could really go crazy with this: bright colors, stained wood, fabric, you name it. have fun!! -kate

CLICK HERE for the full how-to (including a standing and wall-mount version) after the jump!

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Six more weeks of winter, blah, blah, blah. One morning last week, New York awoke to a surprise snow storm after several heavenly days of non-freezing temperatures. It could have been a heartbreaking reminder that we’re still in the dead of winter but instead, I decided to make this F.U. winter wreath. Wreathes are a touchy subject. Evergreens are nice at the holidays, but feel out of place after the main event is over. Fake flower wreathes send terrified shivers down my spine and dried flower wreathes aren’t too much better. Yet, as winter lingers on, I feel compelled to gussy up the front door, pseudo-spring style. Wild and branchy wreathes, devoid of the terrifying “country” connotations, are a much needed reminder that winter will soon be on the way out. -amy m.

CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump!

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for me, homemade valentine’s gifts are always the best. baked goods, little notes, something cut from paper- those always take the cake in my book. if you’re getting crafty for someone special in your life, kathleen at twig & thistle has a great new (free!) downloadable valentine’s bag design that you can download, print and use to deliver your gifts. her designs are always so sweet- click here to download and celebrate someone special in your life.

if you’re looking for more great valentine’s day crafts, avis at avie designs has a great cut paper card tutorial on her site. inspired by papel picado paper cutting, avis created some great designs you can use for cards this february. click here to check out the full project!

it’s diy day at d*s so i couldn’t resist sharing this fun doily pillow tutorial from rachel at smile and wave. i’ve still got a boatload of doilies left from a failed wedding project so i’ve been looking for something fun to do with them, and this project is perfect. rachel has posted the full step-by-step instructions on her site, so check them out here and make your own doily pillow.

and just for a little extra morning eye-candy: beautiful new work from alice stevenson. click here to check out her latest illustrations online and here to check out new releases on alice’s blog.

i’ll admit, i’m not really a bike-riding girl (i’m a little too scared of nyc drivers). but if i was, i would totally rock one of these matching seat and handebar bags from beatrice holiday. beatrice holiday owner alison franson uses quality vintage upholstery and vinyl fabric to create matching seat covers, basket liners and handlebar bags. i know the matchy matchy look may be too much for some, but i can’t imagine how any girl’s bike wouldn’t look cuter with a seat made from vintage fabric. or maybe that’s just the fabric lover in me. either way, the day i buy a bike, it’s getting one of these seats. click here to check out beatrice holiday’s full collection and shop online. thanks, alison!

ps: the bbb craft sisters are tackling stitchcraft today! click here to check out their pretty stitching projects!

good morning! my stomach is already starting to rumble as i finish coding today’s guest post from the bbb craft sisters. today they’re turning their crafty focus to food-related gifts/projects. they’re sharing ideas for homemade granola, teas, pickling supplies and potted planting gitft so click here to check them out on the guest blog. granola for breakfast is sounding really good right about now…

today i’m thrilled to welcome a very special trio to the d*s guest blog: amy, sarah and anna blessing. the blessing sisters run a beautiful site called bbb craft where they share their love of handmade skills like knitting, needlepoint, crocheting, paper arts and collage. in addition to their work with a retail shop in santa monica and chicago, the blessing sisters spend their spare time creating lovely things and sharing them on their website. though i enjoyed growing up without siblings, when i hear about sisters, or any family members, joining together to create something special like this i’m always happy (and a tiny bit envious) that they let people like us in on their fun. so i’m thrilled to welcome amy, sarah and anna to the d*s guest blog this week where they’ll be sharing all sorts of crafty ideas.

today the bbb craft sisters will be focusing on nature-crafts, like these beautiful pinecones, coasters and branch lighting. click here to check out their full post and more great nature-inspired craft ideas.

Whether planning a luxurious gala or putting together an intimate surprise dinner party, it’s usually those special people around us that make the impossible possible. Taking the plunge and opening our own business this past year required not only a serious commitment from us, but we find that we rely on our family and friends on a weekly, if not daily, basis. We’ve been lucky to have the unending support of an amazing extended network at every turn. Right now we feel especially grateful to our support system as we are working (about twenty-five hours a day) to get our new shop open in San Francisco!

Our situation is not unique: all the small business owners we’ve spoken with lately, many for this column, all cite their friends and extended family as being an important part of their ability to make things work day-to-day. Lucky for us we have lots of talented people close by who have not only given us unending moral and real support, but who also have nurtured our skills and talents.

Like so many of us, Alethea’s knitting skills were inherited from the ladies in her life. One of her favorite childhood memories is of visiting her grandmother in Australia and being slightly amazed that two little plastic sticks and some colored yarn could make such fantastic things. Her grandmother’s hands moved lightning fast, delicately holding the needles as the yarn passed through her fingers. For Alethea’s 10th birthday she got the treat of picking out a pattern for a sweater that her mum and grandmother would knit together (a really hip one- gray wool background with 3 large turquoise blue diamonds across the front). Years later when she broke her ankle and was stuck in bed for six months, Alethea decided it was finally time to become a knitter too. Her mum came over with some metal needles and a large ball of practice yarn and she began to learn.

Thanks to the teachings of her mum Kay and Aunt Libby, Alethea’s knits have become a part of Studio Choo arrangements. The ladies got together on a recent afternoon to sip tea, swap skeins and make cozy knitted sleeves for some simple vases. Little wooly sleeves would do us all a bit of good through January and February as the storms kick up and the sun is scarce. Here’s a pattern for those wintery months when even the flowers need a Snuggie. These sleeves require elementary knitting skills are perfect for adding some texture and warmth to winter arrangements.

CLICK HERE for the stitch pattern (and more pictures!) after the jump!

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every week i pour through our before & after submissions and get excited about the scores of upholstery and paint projects people have done. but when i see something like this in my inbox, my excitement meter goes off the charts. inspired by bddw’s captain’s mirror, d*s reader lucy gunawan decided to get crafty and convert an inexpensive clock into her own do-it-yourself captain’s mirror. the concept alone is clever, but the fact that she busted out a reversible leather trim, grommets, and a gorgeous hanging peg takes the project to a whole new level. i am in awe of the finished products- they are gorgeous.

as if this project wasn’t inspiring enough, lucy was kind enough to share her detailed project steps for creating the look in your home. so let me be the first to say “thank you!” to lucy for sharing this gorgeous project and the steps for recreating the look in your own home. thank you, lucy!

*stay tuned for a new we like it wild post at 2pm (studio choo is teaching us how to knit plant cozies!)

CLICK HERE for many more images and the full how-to after the jump!

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