Baby Boy's DIY Decorations

I just finished helping my cousin with a little DIY for her son's room (more on that later) but here are some of the other options we were looking at.... 

1) Fabric Banner - This would be a simple sewing DYI, and you can use all those extra fabric pieces! Alternatively Baby Bump has a great selection...

Baby Bump Bedding

2) Talk about another simple DIY - I love this IKEA hack - Spice rack to secure book shelf! (this would also work great in my trailer). A little paint and attach to the wall. 

Via - Here

3) This one is a bit far fetched (aka more work and skill), but because I love wood walls. I was trying to create accent wood wall. This one is adapted from the talented Vintage Revivals who used this technique on her trailer floor. I would see attaching this wood pattern to a thin piece of plywood and then attaching the plywood to the wall. I think a narrow column of this would look great and not overpower the room!

Via Vintage Revivals

Not what it seems

I love the idea of masking appearances. When I say that I feel as if I am admitting to a horrible vice because masking appearances seems to hold such negative connotations. But deep down I don't think it is all that bad. Moreover, I believe that being honest about having layers of disguise is more honest than saying that one doesn't have any, because, let's be honest, we all have little secrets!

This week, on Design*Sponge, I saw two (here and here) wonderfully crafted masks, which I immediately feel in love with. Both are items that have been on the top of my brain as of recent and it seemed quite timely that I should stumble upon them now...

Via Design*Sponge and Hither and Thither

The first one is the BookBook sleeve from Twelve South. This computer sleeve looks like a vintage piece of literature, not an expensive laptop and is a lovely commentary on the evolution of visual communication. It's quite ironic that the definition of social status, source of all knowledge and highly regarded hard cover books of yesteryear, which were so carefully stored and revered are now being used as a disguise for today's truly sought after item, source of information, definition of social status, the MacBook. The suggestion that an 'old piece of literature' is a deterrent for thieves is probably making Shakespeare roll over in his grave and Steve Jobs break out in song. Needless to say, these merge old and new words quite perfectly in my mind and lend to a perfect masking of appearances, not to mention that they are beautifully crafted one of a kind items that I'm sure will spur many random discussions!

Via Design*Sponge and Hither and Thither

The second item is a DIY and expands on one of my most performed DIYs (this or something like it!). It's a hidden jewelry box which is perfect for me, with my adverse reaction to clutter, yet my desire to own more jewelry is a perfect merge. I think with this solution I can now have one of these in my room! Now to find the perfect frame and piece of art!

Via Design*Sponge

A quick follow up on my comment on loving masked appearances, what I really love the most about them is the slow unraveling of the truth, and the wonderful surprise once you find out what's below the mask! It's really that element of surprise that gets me every time! (I'm not a master of deception!)

Wrap me up and loop me around....

I totally forgot about my love for afghan's until I came across this post.....

All images via Smosch

My great-grandmother used to make afghans, so we have a few back at my parents home. They are all made with a black background, and until I saw this one, I thought that was the only way, but I love the white, it is so fresh! Oh, I wish I had an afghan of my own - I love looping the knots over my fingers and toes when I curl up on the sofa. These blankets got me through a lot of sick days...

The talented Sandra from Smosch recently finished hers (as seen in the images). I would love to be able to do this one day.... I wonder how much time it took...

Messy Boots

As the rain poured down yesterday I went rain boot shopping with one of my friends. I must admit, it is surprisingly hard to find a good pair of rain boots in this wet town! Well that is, it is tough to find a good pair that does not have a nauseating busy/tacky pattern, are not more than 100 dollars (come on they are rain boots after all!), do not have heals or aren't some drab cold weather colour. We didn't have any success yesterday, but it did remind me of this great project posted on Apartment Therapy Boston last week on how to manage your wet and muddy boots once you seek comfort in your cozy abode.

This DIY is simple and cheap. Katie, the mastermind behind this idea explained that she took two unrelated IKEA items and put them together to form a boot tray. She used the lid of the"Ladis" plastic storage bin and some shiny garden stones. Together they became this innovative, easy to use, and smart looking boot tray!

This will give me one less excuse to not fulfill my new years resolution!

Wrap It Up and Cut It Out

If you are frantically wrapping gifts such as I am - here is a quick and easy wrapping solution, especially if you have just run out of holiday wrapping paper like me!

via Bugs and Fishes by Lupin find the image here

Danish Christmas

I'm entranced with the Berzant family's organic and minimalistic holiday house. The rooms only get a slight rustic holiday dusting of decor without jeopardizing the original calm and crisp essence of the black and white space.

I adore how the original open and airy feel isn't lost, and the decorating effortlessly blends into the base decor, while still adding holiday warmth. I feel like I have been exposed to a new form of holiday decorating and I love it! The idea of decorating using the same principals already in use throughout your house is genius! I can't believe I have never thought if it before. Now it would just seem wrong to have an elaborate and intricate holiday decoration scheme in a modern, minimal setting, wouldn't it?

The Christmas tree is my favourite element in the house. Why must we kill trees just to have them in our house for a few weeks? It would be great to be able to pull in a potted tree from the yard every year (until it gets too big!) I think next year I will decorate one of my larger tropical plants for a lighter twist on the holiday tree!



I love this cloth advent calender. I was never a big fan of them, they all seem cheap and cheesy but this one is super cute! (and so is the little blond boy!) I also love the basket of antlers and greens, so unusually festive!

Its amazing how the one star in the window can add the holiday touch for the whole room. Talk about minimal decorations! I love it!



The home-made organic approach to the decor elements gives the feel that you are in a cabin outside the city. Just the thought of escaping the hustle and bustle increases my relaxation 10 folds!


You know that I like to decorate tables (as mentioned here and here) and this one has left me in awe. Simple, natural, rustic, and inviting.... perfect!

Is the decoration on the table for the holidays or year round? I love that I don't know....

The Berzant family house was featured in Bo Bedre and I found it via NestledIn

Photography by Martin Solyst of Erik Bjorn & Kompagni

A Table Centers From Leftover Decorations

Lately I have written about table settings here and here. And when I was home my mom had me make a center piece for a dinner party. What I had to work with were decorations from years past and random household items....

I didn't have too much instruction, other than it should be simple, allow enough room for serving trays and it shouldn't be too tall. So late Monday night I tackled it and here is what I came up with.

Now if I could only take half decent pictures to better show the centerpiece!

Simple Centerpieces

I love to entertain - I inherited this love from my mom who is a superb hostess. We had many dinner parties at our house when I was growing up, and my mom would always do all the prep herself. On top of it, she has this amazing ability of making it all look so easy. Unfortunately I didn't inherit that part. I am always a basket case by the time guests come over that it always overshadows the point of the night - to get together with friends and ENJOY each others company. So here are some super simple, yet beautiful centerpieces - one less thing to do before the guests arrive!

Maura Mcevoy via Real Simple

Joanna Henderson

Deirdre Roodney

Sara Essex

Anita Alero via Real Simple

Sara Essex

Sara Essex

Remember the Magnets

I love great magnets - they are useful and beautiful! And, if on your fridge, they are inevitably viewed (along with all the photos) by all of your guests!

Via Marimekko

Below are the magnet creations of two Etsy artists....

Marajane01

panAsh

sjrr4

Ticklebuttons

Although with all of the ideas for magnets, I would have to have a fridge like this one by Vodafone, which is outside the Heathrow airport.....

Via Cherryflava

Sharpie Creations

can I use sharpies on a daily basis at work, how lucky am I?!? I would have to say they are probably my favourite writing tool...Below are some more creative ideas for sharpies.....

Revamp -

My friend had a pair of black boots that were looking kind of tired, then a few days later they looked amazing! I ask her what she did and she said "sharpied them". Apparently she just took a sharpie to it and spruced it up a little! The key is to evenly cover the whole boot and then apply some black shoe polish to make it look more natural!

Refinish -

I just love this armoire by Anne James, as seen on Haute*Nature, and since I love black and white, I thought it would be great to do this to one of my pieces at home but with just a black Sharpie - I would make sure to get ones with different pen tip thicknesses in order to mix it up!

Via Haute*Nature

Wall art -

Who needs wallpaper when you have a sharpie? As seen on Design*Sponge, you can create your own wall texture with just a flick of the wrist, or rather several flicks! It would work great with a stencil, since you won't have to worry about it leaking and ruining the pattern!

Via Design*Sponge

Shirt options -

Since sharpies don't wash out - they are great for making shirt designs - you can create your own drawing on a plain shirt, add a little something (such as an environmental slogan) to an already designed shirt, or try this modern twist of TieDye.

Via about.com

Buy less, DIY more.

I am feeling rather uninspired these days and not from lack of inspirational material; Desire to Inspire, and Apartment #34 have been posting some lust worthy items fore sure! It is just that maybe it doesn’t feel right to lust with the economic turmoil. So I tried to remedy this by looking for some fun DIYs and before and afters on Design*Sponge. And so it is a few DIYs that have started to lift me from my inspiration dry spell and I will share today. Hopefully these can be incorporated into my imaginary living situation to be described next week!

So enjoy these DIYs

The wood clock from Design*Sponge

Design Sponge

I love how this rustic clock can still look crisp clean and modern. I would probably put more numbers on the clock than just 12, but I just love the idea.

The log candle holders - here and here

This idea originally came from my mom, who found a log on the side of the road and dragged it back to our cabin. She explained to me her vision – to have the log standing on its end, and to have 3 large diameter candles sunk into the the top of the wood (by drilling out holes). She would then leave it outside as and light it when we had guests coming over.

Gathering Moss

Unfortunately my dad, not knowing this idea threw out the log, and so the project was never completed. However it had me thinking, has anyone else done this? I searched a bit online and found these two DIYs; they aren’t quite what my mom had described, but still a great idea!

DIY Network

The rustic chandelier

The Chandelier Blog

This appears like it could be a made for minimal effort and skill (which I like!) but still have make a great bold peice! I wonder how it would look with branches that still have the bark on them? And what would it look like with LEDs? Or with fern leaves hanging outside? The posibilites are endless!

Do you notice a trend with these DIYs? They relate to a post I am working on for next week... stay tuned!

Easy Eco Mondays

Little addition for the rest of summer - a weekly post to plump up the conscious part of Free Form. Easy Everyday Eco Ideas.

Since moving into the new apartment I have noticed a rusty - orange residue (sometimes slimy and always smelly) between the tiles in the shower. I don't know exactly what it is, but I am taking a guess that it is Mildew or Mold. So how do I get rid of Bathroom Mildew and Mold naturally?

Eva Maienchild over at Do it Yourself wrote a good article on Natural Household Cleaners for Everyday Chores

To summarize her article, for Mildew (and also an all purpose cleaner) mix:

1/4 cup baking soda (or 2 teaspoons of Borax)

1/2 cups white vinegar

Via Blabble

I would consider reading up on Borax a little more before using it, especially since I was told to lay out Borax when we had some ants coming in our back door at my last house.

If what we have is Mold then mix:
2 parts water
1 part Hydrogen Peroxide (check out its many benefits)

The greatest part about these things is that they are super simple, and I don't even have to spend a cent! I might have to buy a good brush to get into that depression between the tiles however...... I wonder if there are any bamboo brushes out there?

Hanging Jewellery

Storing jewellery is difficult. My necklaces get knotted, I lose one earring to 'the void', while other earrings cling to on another and rings get scraped and bumped around at the bottom. However I love my jewellery, and wouldn't leave it for all the tangles in the world! Thanks to a Style and Home magazine and my friend Megan, I managed conjure up a plan to banish the jewellery box blues.

Below is an image of what I did. Super simple, since my crafting skills are still novice at best! Sorry I don't have any real before and during photos...

Need:

• Paint
• Cork board
• Wallpaper sample (you can usually get a large sample if you look interested)
• Wood Glue
• Exacto knife and cutting surface

Steps:

• Paint the trim of the cork board (I sprayed urethane on the trim as well it because the paint was water based) I would also paint a little bit of the cork around the edges, in case you cut your wallpaper a little bit too small
• Measure and cut the wallpaper to the inside of the trim
• Glue wallpaper in. Make sure to remove any bubbles, or wrinkles. Make sure to get the glue all along the edges of the wallpaper to prevent peeling too.
• Let dry
• Add pins (see top left corner for two that I added) in desired places, attach to the wall and hang jewellery.

Pretty simple hey?

If you want to add some detail, you can add some string or ribbon which can also make it easy to hang your earrings.

Wedding Wood

So my cousin's wedding is coming up this weekend, and I am stuck on what to get her for a wedding present. She has registered at The Bay and Home Evolution, however I don't know if my budget reflects my desire to get her something "just so". I really want to find something that comes from the heart, is compatible with her soon to be kitchen design theme, is useful, and will be used.

I looked over her registration at Home Evolution and she has chosen very simple, classic white tableware. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing! It means that nothing I give her will clash, but I have a feeling that she has a colour scheme in mind, but I am not going to know what that is.

So here is the best think I can come up with: A cutting board. It sounds lame when I say it like that, but I was thinking of getting a handmade cutting board that you can sometimes get on Granville island. The pieces of wood are original and have interesting knots etc... I headed down there to find my man, but I found out that he is not around for the next few months!!

Up a creek, I needed a plan of action - and I made one: I am going make one. Initially I just thought about going into the forest and finding a dead tree and hacking it up. But I think that is a little beyond my abilities, not to mention illegal in most places and unpractical (since I would also need a professional wood kiln.I followed a lead to go look at Lee Valley however they didn't have anywhere near the wood I needed. They would have the tools, if I were to do something special. I then stumbled upon the Vancouver Wood Arts Society website and emailed the President Jeff Trigg, where he directed me to Windsor Plywood, my new favorite place. The people in there are great, and it seems so low key and relaxed. I would be hanging out in there this weekend if I wasn't going home for this wedding!

So I now have 4 x 1 x 18 inch boards that I need to sand, glue together and make pretty by Saturday. Wish me luck!