Design*Sponge » diy

small measures with ashley: diy natural stress reducers

grace — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0000

[image sources, clockwise from top left: tongue in cheek, tourism bc, thorny pup at flickr, the daily green, join my candle team, prevention.com]

There are certain times in a person’s life that are characterized by stress. Waiting to find out if you landed that job you’re seriously hoping for. Going into labor. Wondering if the person you pine for returns your affections. Navigating morning rush hour traffic. Driving steeply, and precariously, downhill in the Badlands of South Dakota when your car’s brakes begin to burn and you find it very, very hard to keep from careening over a cliff (nothing like a cross-country road trip to provide a lifetime’s worth of thrills and almost spills!).

Lately, my life has been riddled with stress. It’s good stress, but stress, all the same. I’m closing in on the publication my first two books, I’m working through three days worth of photo shoots on the third, and I’m almost at the finish line of the fourth, due this coming Monday. I’m a bit stressed, frazzled, fatigued; so much so, in fact, that my left eye has been twitching, for, well, months. It has become my “tell.” If I reply when asked how I’m doing that I’m totally chill, feeling great, etc., and yet you witness my left eye twitch, you know I’m not giving it to you straight. The eye won’t lie.

To keep the right eye from also twitching, and to continue forging ahead until all of the jobs are done (as well as continue to be a lovable, compassionate, empathic, and engaged spouse in whose company my husband would like to remain-not to mention, be able to stay awake to make it all the way through Lost ), I’ve been partaking of a wide variety of do-it-yourself all-natural stress reducers. All of them tried-and-true, I thought that for today’s Small Measures with Ashley I’d share my tension tamers with you, in the highly likely event that you might someday encounter some stress of your own.

CLICK HERE for ashley’s stress relieving diy recipes after the jump!

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sewing 101: making a duvet cover

grace — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:00:46 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I never cease to be shocked at the price of bedding. And nothing sets off my “I could make that myself so much cheaper and better” instincts like duvet covers. It’s just a big flat case of fabric, yet even the simplest options easily soar into the three digits—but all it takes to make your own is a bunch of fabric, a few straight seams, and a spare afternoon.

Not only will going DIY with your duvet cover save you some cash, it’ll also allow you to custom-make exactly what you are looking for. What’s better than that? Let’s go! –Brett Bara

*if you missed any of brett’s sewing 101 columns this month, check out her archives: curtains, zippered throw pillows, ottoman slip cover

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

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diy project: ikea blankö woven jute table

grace — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:00:23 +0000

last week’s project really got me excited about woven materials. creating a simple weave is so easy (over, under, over, under…), but it creates amazing texture and a nice handmade touch. i spotted these new ikea blankö stools (so new they don’t seem to be online yet) in a gorgeous tomato red and an equally perky sky blue. i immediately felt inspired for spring, but i felt the stool could use some organic detail, and something to break up all the red. i bought a spool of jute twine at the hardware store and a few hours later…voila! i plan to use the stool indoors as a fun side table, but i think it would be equally appealing as outdoor seating. the weaving takes a bit of patience, but like most of my projects, it makes a good movie time activity (i watch waaayyy too many movies, i admit). have fun! -kate

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

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diy project: pinecone fire starter

sarah amy and anna blessing of bbbcraft — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:00:38 +0000

[today i'm thrilled to announce the the talented sisters from bbb craft, who had one of the most popular guest blogging stints we've seen at d*s, will be joining d*s as diy contributors! twice a month they'll share a project with us and we're so thrilled to have them. and a big congratulations to anna who just welcomed a new baby!]

we first spotted these pinecone fire starters at the cool UK site hen and hammock, and thought we would try our hand at making our own. they are so easy and satisfying to make, and by adding essential oils, like eucalyptus, pine, or cinnamon, you can make your whole home smell amazing and cozy. they also make a great housewarming gift, so we stamped muslin tags and tied them onto the wicks. even for those without fireplaces, they are a pretty (and prettily scented) decoration! -the bbb craft sisters

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

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from inspiration to reality

grace — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:00:17 +0000

i love wedding ideas that can carry on after the big day is over. so when abby at style me pretty sent over this beautiful shoot designed by viola at chewing the cud, i was hooked. as part of their ‘from inspiration to reality‘ feature (where vendors turn one reader’s inspiration boards into a real life photoshoot), viola created this dark and edgy, but romantic, display that features a non-traditional guest book. rather than having them sign pages in a book, guests would be asked to write well wishes on a butterfly and than adhere them to the wall to create a fluttery installation effect. what i love about this idea is that it doesn’t have to be for a wedding. it would be so much for for a housewarming party, birthday, or other celebration where guests might leave nice notes for the hosts. you could pin them to a cork board, frame them, or recreate this free-flowing installation on your wall. to see more of this shoot, click here to check out the full post on style me pretty (i love the black and white plates!). and to see more wedding-inspired entertaining ideas, check out once wed’s ‘beyond the big day’ posts here at d*s. thanks, abby! photos by blond tulip

diy project: sewing notions display art

Haylie Waring — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:00:34 +0000

[today i'm thrilled to welcome a few new DIY contributors to our team- starting with the lovely and talented miss haylie waring! i met haylie during my first trip to SCAD when she was still a student and have really enjoyed following her work ever since. welcome, haylie!]

Due to the lack of space in my studio, I am constantly forgetting what notions I have packed away in my organizer containers that I keep hidden in a storage closet, or up on my highest shelf. When you don’t know what is in those containers, it is hard to know where to begin, and I am often tempted to just go out and buy more supplies. This DIY project is the solution to that problem, and it seconds as art work on my work-space walls. I have used “swatches” of ribbons and buttons as an example, but this can also be done with beads, fabric and decorative papers to make it easy to keep track of your materials on hand. I have provided you with two 8×10 design templates to use for your own collection.

Other useful tips: If you don’t like the idea of wasting your precious notions on the swatches, you can always scan ribbons, papers, and fabrics. While the buttons can easily be removed and used for a project. Also, I like to tag each board with a number that will match up with the storage container where you keep your coordinating back-stock, so things are easily located. -Haylie

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

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we like it wild: shamrock badges

grace — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:00:28 +0000

Aside from the obligatory pint, we’ve never been quite sure what to do on St. Patrick’s Day. Since most of us just aren’t a green plastic bowler hat bunch, we decided to do some serious brainstorming in order to come up with a bit of wearable green that suits our particular tastes. While visiting North Beach’s Washington Square Bar & Grill last week legendary barman Michael McCourt poured us a couple of “lady’s” pints (a half pint) of Guinness to help us get our creative juices flowing, chatted us up about the comings and goings of the neighborhood, and even offered to wear a little of our green himself.

Until recent decades, St. Patrick’s Day was little more than a saint’s day observed only in Ireland. Mike told us growing up there in the during and after World War II, St. Patrick’s Day meant the bars would be closed and there may be a big soccer match to see but the raucous celebrations we associate with today’s St. Patrick’s Day were unheard of. After some investigating we found that some other traditions of the holiday had been lost over time. In previous centuries people made paper badges decorated with crosses and shamrocks to mark the day. Gradually, badge and ribbon making lost favor and most people chose to wear a shamrock in their lapel for the saint’s day, and now…the green carnation. According to Mike, it was a real religious and nationally observed saint’s day, “Until Budweiser realized there was money to be made,” he laughed.

We decided to bring a little bit of finery back to the St. Patrick’s Day celebration by making a shamrock badge (inspired by the idea of Victorian lapel vases) to wear while partaking in our lady’s pints next Wednesday. We happened upon a stash of miniature medicine bottles at a flea market recently that have been the perfect vases for our tiniest flowers in the shop and were a perfect fit for clover (bonus: these bottles are spill proof!). The shamrock is a symbol of Ireland and the holy trinity, but the same clover is a native species on most continents. It usually sprouts little white flowers and is used as a ground cover for areas where little else will grow. Due to it’s tenacious spirit, clover is also considered a weed by many, but how many weeds can say they have their own holiday? Our yards are completely over-run right now with yellow oxalis; the shamrock look-alike we used in our bottle.

CLICK HERE for the rest of Studio Choo’s shamrock badge project (including step by step how-to photos) after the jump!

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made with love: catnip mouse

grace — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:33 +0000

Some people are born cat people. I wasn’t. It’s been a slow process but I’ve finally come around to loving cats, especially since I inherited two in an awkward post-breakup situation. Even though my kitties are the ultimate scaredy cats, they love toys. Ever the doting mom, I like to use up my extra fabric scraps by making catnip mice. Warning- whenever I stepped away from my crafting table, the cats would jump up and hide my mouse before I had even finished. Brats with a capital B. -amy m.

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

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sewing 101: ottoman slip cover

grace — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:00:49 +0000

If you’ve got a boring old ottoman hanging around, or if, like me, if you happen to find one of those plain cubes on sale, it’s easy to recover with a custom slip cover. This is another fantastic way to bring some fun textiles into a room with a project that you can sew in an afternoon or less. (I swear!)

This slip cover uses only basic straight seams, and I’ll show you the trick for getting nice, sharp 3-D corners. So let’s get started! –Brett Bara

*click here for more of brett’s sewing 101 columns!

CLICK HERE for the full ottoman slip cover how-to after the jump!

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diy project: woven cork ikea skala tray

grace — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:00:30 +0000

ikea really does have some amazing finds! while i do love some of their more unique, signature products, my favorites are the very plain, simple accessories; they allow you to customize them in so many ways to fit your own style. they beg for hacking! i’ve had my eye on the skala tray ($14.99) for a while. i love its clean form, and at first the simple beech wood was appealing to me, but when i brought it home i found it disappeared among the more eclectic objects in the bedroom. with a cork roll and some spray paint, i have made a totally transformed tray that is perfect for my bed activities: reading, snacking, drinking tea, using my computer – i admit that i have a tendency to set up camp in bed sometimes. if serving yourself tea in bed isn’t your thing, you could also hang this tray from a ribbon and have a message board! this project takes only an hour or so, and is great for a rainy, snowy day. have fun!! – kate

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

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