letter love

 inrednings blog

 french by design

 we made this

 

pinterest

 edies lab via etsy

Loving the big, bold letters popping up everywhere these days.

Metal, distressed wood, painted. Loving them all.

The bigger. The better. 

I'm dreaming of a big ass letter for our house too. 

And I know just the place to "find" one.

Are you there Dad? It's me, Kristi...

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diy monday

Or Tuesday.

I am a night time blogger. Which is not a great thing when you live hours behind much of the world. But you can do this yourself any time you please. Cause it's super cute. And can't get much easier. 

So go recycle some of those old t-shirts hanging out in the depths of your closet.  Or steal some of his. He won't notice!  

Detailed instructions and photos courtesy of method.

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diy pencil block

Well, technically you can do it yourself. I actually emailed my handy (and very generous) father and asked him to do it for me but...

There are several varieties of these sold on Etsy. For a boatload of money. I fell in love with the concept but was determined not to pay that sort of money for a block of wood. And basically, that's all you need.

You can simply buy a 4x4 and sand it down or you can plane a piece of wood to your desired size, which is what my dad did. My pencil block is spray lacquered but you could paint of stain it any color you desire. Do this FIRST. If you try to paint it after the holes are drilled the paint will just drip down into the holes.  Not pretty.

My dad put painters tape on one side of the wood and marked where the holes would go. He then drilled through tape. This helps eliminate any burrs or cracks around the holes. As far as drills go, a hand drill will work, but if you have a drill press that would (apparently) be a better option.  I'm not terribly well informed on drills but this is what the pro told me!

Be sure to measure the items you want to place in the holes before drilling.  You could use these blocks for pencils, markers, makeup brushes or even kitchen utensils.  But I personally found the rainbow of pencils the most visually appealing.  Now lets see how long they stay color blocked as photographed.

Happy crafting...

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vanity

Loving this reclaimed wood vanity table. It's a DIY project that seemed rather daunting at first but the more I stared longingly at it the more accessible it became.  And hey, I might actually apply make-up if I had a cute little table like this to sit at. Or not. But it sure sounds like a good excuse for a new project. Right? And it sure would look cute in the same room as this.

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dropping the yarn bomb

I'd never heard of the term either until I came across this post on facebook today. And I fell in love. Apparently there is an entire constituency of creative folks that make a habit of "yarn bombing" random city fixtures.  This subway work was done by the very talented ishknits.  I only wish I'd had that seat when I was riding the N & R back and forth to midtown Manhattan a dozen or so years ago. (Oh, and that she's come and yarn bomb our house next!)

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make a statement. with just three supplies.

Still not sure how I missed this here...

But I'm damn sure glad I found it here...

I've been walking around the house all day trying to figure out where it (or they) is (are) going to hang and what it (or they) is (are) going to say. 

It's a pickle.

Albeit a tasty one!

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sugar rush. and a happy thanksgiving.

Yesterday we expressed our deep gratitude on a tree. Today, we ate sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. Thanks to the lovely folks we blogged about here that gave us all the creative ideas that we so dramatically botched and blundered.  But we had a ball.  And that's truly what matters.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  And to all... a good night.

Kristi

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giving thanks

Our thankful tree. Not our idea. But our thanks. From Friends to Family. Books to Video Games. Chocolate to Chicken. We have so much to be thankful for.  So very much that the intended centerpiece is actually too large to fit in the center of the table. But that's a good thing.

We hope you are yours are as thankful as we are tonight.

Our inspiration for our thankful tree came from here... 

and was blogged about previously here.

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last minute thanksgiving crafts for kids

 turkey cookies by make and takes

thankful tree by make and takes

gumdrop turkeys by spearmint baby

clothespin turkey by black eiffel

personalized paper bag drumstick by black eiffel

corny necklaces by say yes to hoboken

Looking for some last minute Thanksgiving crafts to do with the kids today?  Since they closed schools this year (what's that about anyway?!)  Here are a few fun ones I found on various lovely blogs last night.  (But blogger was being a brat & wouldn't let me share them with you then so they are coming to you first thing this morning!)  Click on over to the original sources for full instructions... and Happy Thanksgiving!

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spooning

Do you not want to go and make some of these painted spoons for your kitchen RIGHT NOW or what? I just adore the simple whimsy created by Fine Little Day.  Thanks go to say YES! to hoboken for the introduction.  Now I just wish I had few more wooden spoons here. Anyone have some they want to unload?

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DIY alphabet stamps

This Valentine's Day inspired project is courtesy of Bloesem Kids and her guest crafter, Kristen Sutcliffe from New House Project. I think it's a great year round project for both kids learning to read and spell (my #1) and kids learning to write their letters (my #2). Want to see what she did with all this?  It's all right HERE for you.

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DIY terrariums

That's it.  I want a terrarium.  Or two.  Or six. 
The above images are all courtesy of Lori Marie at Pretty Little Things.
She did a lovely *terrarium madness* tutorial on her blog back in August with fabulously complete step by step instructions.  I love when she refers to the completed terrarium as "your very own portable world of enchantment".  Darling. 

I'll start my hunting and gathering of supplies tomorrow and will be sure to post the finished product(s) soon. 

Lori also recommended checking out Flickr for some additional ideas.  Which, of course, I did.  Here are a few of my favorites...

"teacup" by godzilla

 

"Mimi+Charlie's Homemade Tiny tiny lands" by mimip

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DIY dinner plates

I stumbled on this fabulous DIY tutorial on Bloesem last night. It is courtesy of 101woonideeen, a lovely website/blog from the Netherlands.  I'm not up on my Dutch these days (although my maiden name might lead you to believe otherwise) but Bloesem has the DIY steps all laid out for you in plain English. Take a peek. They are super easy and especially lovely.

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pretty little blocks

lena and lovely


the hello baby store


burlap and blue

Last night, while watching a Hallmark Christmas movie about giving ("watching" is used loosely here as my father and I were reading while my mother did the actual "watching"), my father had a revelation of sorts. This year he should use the piles of wood scraps in his shop to make Christmas gifts for less fortunate children. But what would he make? We tossed around a few ideas like planes, trains & automobiles but the missed the most glaringly obvious one...until now. Blocks.

So dad, here's the proposition. You make the blocks & I'll help with the pretty little designs. Deal? We've got a year...think we can do it?

The images of the sweet blocks above were taken from three different Etsy shops, all credited under their photos, and all absolutely adorable. I'd definitely give them a look if you're in the market for a handmade toddler gift. It's one I would have loved to receive!

jingle bells, jingle bells...

We were so inspired by lori marie's lovely glitter bells that we made some of our own. Mind you now, that the creative whimsy of a three & six year old is hard to contain so our bells are not quite as refined as lori's...but oh were they fun to make! Those are hers above. And here...are ours...