Photo Negative Art

I've had a lot of time at home recently, so of course I've been feeling the itch to move things around, get organized, and redecorate. While going through a cabinet yesterday I came across envelopes and more envelopes of negatives from our wedding. I decided that with my 4 year anniversary approaching, it was time to let go of these negatives (from the disposable cameras on the tables at the reception). Honestly, I was never going to reprint any of those photos.

Right after deciding to throw them away, I had the idea to hang them in a glass frame in a window, and what better place to do it than in my "eclectic gallery" bathroom. I looked through the negatives to find ones that made me smile and would represent a variety of guests from our wedding. I then used the 2 pieces of glass and binder clip frame I had put together years ago as the frame.

I really love that I was able to repurpose those negatives into a cool piece of art, now I want to find more glass frames to hang in the upper part of the window!

Alphabet stencil

Recently I have gotten really excited about the idea of using alphabet stencils for projects. I love the idea of a simple initial on a table runner or cloth napkins, or stenciled words on clothes or pillows.

I finally went down the street to Flax last week and picked up two sets of stencils, 2" letters and 4" letters. I figured it was a good idea to have 2 different sizes depending on the look I wanted, and the size of my fabric of choice.

My first project, of course, was for my niece. I had a white bib from a past sample sale that I had planned on embroidering, but now that I see how quickly bibs get dirty, stained, and abused, I decided hand embroidering a bib would be a waste of time. Perfect for stenciling!

Yarn Octopus

When I got my August issue of Martha Stewart Living, I of course read it cover to cover, tore out the recipes I want to make, and folded down the pages of projects I wanted to do. There was a whole section on braids, including the yarn octopus shown above. It is a quick and easy project that I did while my niece was taking a nap.

First, I bought a small ball from the pet store around the corner (the magazine calls for a Styrofoam ball, but alas, no craft store in my neighborhood), and then I pulled out a ball of ribbon like yarn that I had on hand and knew I would never use for a knitting project.

The magazine calls for a skein of yarn which would have been easier to work with, as I had to unroll the yarn in order to get started. I tied the yarn in the center, pulled it over the ball, and tied the yarn again beneath the ball.

I divided the yarn into 8 sections, and started braiding. The braiding went pretty quickly, tying off the ends and trimming so none of the strings were too long. I did not get a chance to stitch the eyes on the head before Phoebe awoke and I introduced her to her new octopus.

If I were to make another one for a baby, I would cover the ball in fabric before covering it in the yarn, as Phoebe likes to pull at the yarn around the head, and I don't like seeing the ball underneath exposed. She doesn't seem to mind, and overall I think the project was a success!

Pick up the August issue off Martha Stewart Living for the full instructions and more braiding projects.

My Apartment

Since a few people have commented on AT that they would like to see more photos of my apartment, I will post some photos here for interested parties.

The apartment is a railroad apartment - a long skinny hallway that leads back to the living room and kitchen.

Entering the Front Door:

The front entry is a space that I've created over time. We recently made our house a shoe-less household, hence the sign for my husband. I also like to keep grocery bags here so I remember to grab them on my way out:

The Front Bedroom (we use it as an office/craft room), which I believe was the original living room because there is no closet. I have my collection of tambourines hanging (which I hope to add to) as well as my inspiration clippings:

Deciding what to do with the long hallway took a while, and I think it is something I'll continue to change over time. For now it holds some photos I took of Yosemite, a postcard collection of Picasso's bull fighting series, and some Marimekko panels I made. Yes, you'll find a lot of Marimekko in my home, blame it on my Finnish ancestry.

We have a split bathroom, and it is pretty hard to photograph since it is so small. You can catch a glimpse of the shower curtain in the above photo, and behind the door we've added a cabinet for some more storage. I love this space because it houses my collection of glass chickens. I've been collecting these and finally found a use for them, storing my jewelry, hair elastics, lipsticks, etc. I think this is the only thing worth photographing in there:

Next is the WC. Also hard to photograph due to its small size. Eventually I'd like to have a collage of art covering both walls of this tiny room:

I showed a photo of our tiny bedroom on AT, but here are some others so you can better see what is going on in there:

my aunt made the Marimekko wall hanging as a wedding present for us. This is my favorite print (the dish towel version is also hanging in the kitchen)

Close up of the area on top of the bookcase behind our bed. Family photos, felt basket of pillowcases, and a vase of flower pins I made.

Tom's side of the bed. There is a door behind the table that leads into the shower room -we have closed it off because we needed the space, and hung art to help minimize the odd look of a door. The sheepskin rug we got about a year ago, and it is so wonderful to step on that softness every morning and night. There is one at the foot of the bed for me to step on too.

Close up on part of the bedside table. I LOVE monkeys, so these are a few of my little guys. We have many little toys around the house - wind up toys in the kitchen, legos in the bathroom, plastic animal noses in the living room, etc. They make me laugh.

You all have seen photos of the living room, but I'll give another one (one that you haven't seen) just to help the flow of the apartment:

I thought maybe some close ups would be good too:

This is what I have on top of the fridge. (The fridge will hopefully be an armoire one day). I have a thing for jars, as you can see here. Also, my test tube set was one of my favorite purchases from a thrift store in Michigan.

The mirrored lazy susan on top of the heater was given to me during a staging when the family was cleaning out the house getting it ready to sell. Sometimes it sits on the kitchen table, but I've been liking it here. The vase in back on the tray houses the animal noses I mentioned before, and the cluster of straws on the right have felt mustaches attached, made by my sister for my 30th birthday celebration.

Finally, the kitchen. AT showed the main photo of my kitchen where you can see the collection of eggbeaters above the table, but here's one more so you can see the wall by the table. You can also catch a bit of the gorgeous, lush view we have of our neighbor's yards. It is really lovely sitting at the table in the afternoon when the kitchen is sunny:

That's it! Thanks for checking out our place.

Tool Belt

Look at me go, posting 2 days in a row! (and rhyming!)

Last week I finally had the chance to make a project that I found online and have been dying to try.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-tuesday-tool-apron-from-sew-what-bags-4498/

It is a fabric crafting tool belt, made for one of my friends for whom we had a "tool shower" during her bachelorette party.

The pattern I found online only called for one row of pockets, but I figured that the more pockets the better on something like this. It was easy enough to add more pockets, after adding the first row of pockets, I simply stitched along the same lines with a smaller strip of fabric to add the next row. The last row (flower fabric) is simply divided into 2 pockets, best for larger or bulkier items.

I had a lot of fun picking the fabrics for the tool belt, knowing that I wanted to use shades of blue and many different patterns. The bride to be was very pleased with the final result, and I was glad to see that it did in fact fit many tools.

Fabric Ball

I'm back, dear reader! I apologize for the long hiatus, but things have been busy starting my two new jobs. I will try to make an effort to post more often, as I have still been busy with my design/crafting life, and want to share the fruits of my labors here.

On that note, I wanted to share my craft project for the day, a fabric ball for my little niece! My sister has mentioned that Phoebe would love a ball, so I turned to the internet for a pattern to create a ball for her.

I came across a great pattern here http://www.purlbee.com/fabric-beach-balls/ that I was happy to try.

I made the smallest ball size, as Phoebe's hands are still very small, and used fabric scraps that I had on hand. I can't wait to see her play with it - hopefully this afternoon!

Saturday Projects

I've had a very productive Saturday, and I'm so happy to finally post again and show off the fruits of my labors.

I recently got a a Martha Stewart email newsletter showing tons of sewing projects for the home as well as clothing. This plastic bag organizer interested me since my bags have been out of control underneath my sink. This organizer was really easy to make and I'm happy with the results -both the look and function. Check it out hanging in my pantry:

Here is Martha's link for the how-to: http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/sewing-projects-for-the-home#slide_20

Next up was a folding chair upholstery project I've been wanting to do since seeing similar chairs at Anthropologie. I decided to use more red Marimekko fabric for this project to keep a cohesive look in my kitchen. I started by cutting a piece of 2" foam for the seat and wrapping and stapling batting around it.

Next I cut a piece of fabric to the right size, ironed out the wrinkles, and started stapling it on -sides first. I cut the fabric long enough so that one piece wrapped all of the way over the top and bottom, with the seam at the back of the seat on the bottom. I then hot glued a piece of red ribbon over the stapled seam on the bottom of the seat.

Next up was the chair back. I had a piece of 3" foam that was the right size so I used that, and again wrapped it in batting and stapled in place. Once again the piece of fabric was long enough so that it wrapped completely around the chair back, with the stapled seam on the back. I used the same red ribbon to cover the staples, shown below.

Here is the final product in the kitchen, shown with my kitchen chairs. I can't wait to cover my other folding chair in a different Marimekko red fabric.