via www.designsponge.com

Anyone else remember learning to sew in Home Ec using paper templates with a spiral pattern (and shrieking as you went off course at full speed)?

Well, sewing on paper just came back in a big way. This is a cool improvised basket constructed from packing paper sewn into lengths with black thread.

via diygadgets.blogspot.com

Continuing my fascination with round things plunked in grout, this would be a great treatment for a basement bar top or even a backsplash.

Leah chose a few of my photographs from around the farm and we applied them to sanded plywood

Sometimes the transfers have raggedy edges but I kind of like the randomness.

via www.mandolinmosaics.com

I know, I know, I'm obsessed with coin flooring this week!  Amanda Edwards' stunning kitchen floor is tiled with pennies using black sanded grout. Then Amanda sealed it with clear polyurethane.  And this is only a sliver of her skill.  Lift your spirits in under 5 seconds; visit her web site to see the breathtaking stained glass works she spins from her limitless imagination. The colours and movement in her pieces will make you feel like you just took a vacation.  

via www.apartmenttherapy.com

After the penny tiling investigation (in the previous post), I discovered some long-suffering souls who figured out one way to solve the coin-embedding mystery in their bathroom renovation. Their step-by-step instructions are a testament to determination.

via www.curbly.com

It's gorgeous, even if it belongs in the curriculum of the Kill Me Now School of Decorating. So tilers, do you think they used black grout? Or did they use clear epoxy over the pennies?

This was one of the more successful Christmas presents Daniel and I made for our little friend Charlotte (3). 

We used poplar, small hinges and string.  

The red side of the easel is a chalkboard (homemade chalkboard paint, baby), the other side is a dry-erase board cut from a cheap 4x8 sheet of white bathroom paneling.

Charlotte's mum clamps newsprint to the whiteboard side any time Charlotte wants to paint. The easel folds flat for storage.  

P.S. I forgot to take step-by-step photos during the white-hot frenzy of creation so let me know if you want instructions and I'll build another.

via missmustardseed.com

Here's a brilliant idea from a decorator who hangs lots of curtains; make a template with pre-drilled holes.  Just flip the template to do the opposite side of the window.  Saves a ton of fussy measuring and speeds up the job by about 600%.

via makethebestofthings.blogspot.com

I've always used fish glue (from Lee Valley Tools) or 'mucilage' - the paper glue we used in kindergarten with the little slitted pink rubber top - to create crackled and crazed paint effects.  

The minor aesthetic problem with mucilage and fish glue (which, just FYI, smells like dead fish) is that they both give a very glossy effect to the cracks, which looks sort of cheesy on some projects.

Using white glue or carpenter's glue offers a much softer matte finish, as detailed on this lovely blog, Make the Best of Things. I love this girl's work and I never thought of doing a crackle finish on cloth. How cool. She gives lots of detail about her experiments in creating crackle finishes with different base coats and degrees of thinning (both glue and top coat). Give 'er a click, eh.

Choose from millions of high res shots or upload your own image to Ink Shuffle, a Toronto company that will print a custom mural for you.  And it's easy to remove if you want to replace it, unlike most wallpaper I have known.  Plus Ink Shuffle's adhesive won't damage walls.  If you're an artist, you can earn royalties by uploading your images.

Here's how to get your own DIY wallpaper.  Prices start at around $50 - an average wall costs around $250. Every order is custom sized to fit your wall.  (as big as 20x20 feet)

via www.improvisedlife.com

Roofing nails are the secret to these leather pulls.  Freakishly cool.

via thatslikewhoa.com

This is a great icebreaker for corporate parties or staid family reunions. Each button emits audio of a geeky swear. And the swears are British too, so they sound peri-Shakespearean.

...and it would be fun to use a colour other than black or green.  

So get a quart size can of flat paint in any shade you like (I used Olympic Premium Zero VOC because it dries in an hour, has no odour and carries a lifetime warranty) and pour the amount of paint you'll need into a separate container.  Then add unsanded grout powder (available in the tile aisle) with the ratio of 1 rounded tablespoon of unsanded grout to 1 cup of flat paint.  Stir it up well and then roll out 2 or 3 coats on the surface you want to transform into a chalkboard.  You can use a hair dryer to speed up the drying time if you're rushed.  Cool eh?  

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Feeling seasonal stress already? Relax. It’s supposed to be fun, remember? Just in case that wise yogic counsel didn’t induce calm, here are three ways to instantly dial down the holiday pressure.

Give gifts that encourage family togetherness. Nothing says downtime like a couple of movies in a row on a snow-soaked afternoon. Choose a family favourite, such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – just out in a collectible box at HMV  — and add a classic, such as West Side Story. 

Foodie Blues?

Enough with all the cooking already!  Stock up on high-quality prepared foods from a specialty retailer like M&M Meat Shops. Pop their frozen pot roast in a slow cooker, which will produce a delicious cooking-all-day aroma (nudge, nudge) before adding veg and — if you like — a splurt of red wine. Serve with a pre-mixed salad and artisanal bread. For dessert, pull out M&M’s mini cream puffs, Nanaimo bars and tiny, perfect fruit tarts. When folks compliment you on the meal, sigh with exhaustion, daintily wipe your brow and say they were worth every ounce of the trouble you took. 

Be a Pig Hero

Remember what it’s really all about, and make a donation on behalf of someone far, far away whose life isn’t as blessed as yours. Consider, for example, World Vision, which partners with local communities in developing countries to improve lives.  A donation of $50 and a family receives two hens and a rooster; $40 buys a pig. The bonus here – you’ll raise a smile when you tell folks you gave pigs and poultry as presents this year.

I had a young friend draw directly onto t-shirt transfer paper using a Pilot rolling ball pen.  Then we cut out the drawing, turned it upside down and placed it on a 4-inch ceramic tile, then applied a hot iron to the back of the transfer.  

After we peeled off the backing paper, we had a perfect image on the tile surface. We put some parchment paper (the silicon-coated paper used for cooking) over the image and reheated it for a few seconds with the hot iron just to smooth a few bumps in the plastic transfer film.  Looks pretty cool right?  Which of your relatives wouldn't love a set of coasters from a budding cartoonist?  

You can also use crayons and markers to create images but be careful not to tear the delicate surface of the transfer paper. Also, Sharpies don't work very well - they blur and run under the heat of the iron.

TIP: Apply felt dots to the back of the tile to prevent sharp corners and edges from scratching delicate surfaces. 

This technique also works reasonably well with photographic images printed on t-shirt transfer paper using an inkjet printer.  Make sure the tiles are grease-free by wiping them with a little rubbing alcohol before applying the transfer.

via www.home-dzine.co.za

Wow, check out the beds, benches, racks, tables and even wall paneling! Most pallets are made of hardwood, so with some sanding and a bit of a linseed oil, they clean up to rustic chicness.  

via www.forbes.com

When a Forbes reporter says "This is one of my favorite products," you gotta get some! (I got my first Sugru the day they launched in 2009. They sold out in one day.)

via www.etsy.com

And just who wouldn't be attracted to a guy with a wood basket for his bike? And if he made it himself, even more points. And if a girl made it for him, he must be well and truly loved.

Here's a little preview of photo blocks made from poplar.  

via sugru.com

The folks at Sugru are running a special; you get a 4th pack when you buy 3. In case you haven't heard of Sugru, it's a fantastic, moldable silicon compound that cures to a semi-flexible toughness and it bonds chemically with so many substances that you will be hard pressed to find anything you can't fix or improve with Sugru.  It's the perfect antidote to the culture of obsolescence!  Sugru comes in black, white, green, orange and blue, and you can blend colours to get a huge range of shades.  I always have some in my purse, in my make-up bag and in my toolbox to mend or append anything made of metal, plastic, stone, leather, ceramic, glass, wood and fabric.  Cures at room temperature to waterproof, dishwasher-proof, freeze-proof ruggedness.   

A fantastic book from a lovely craftsman, Chris Lubkemann, who uses hand tools, imagination and savvy 3D aptitude to make stuff with that forever quality.  

You can see a project excerpt over at the Craftzine blog.

MFA Thesis Gallery Exhibition - Christy Oates from christy oates on Vimeo.

via www.eieihome.com

A new way to build cool furniture - drink wine!  Is this not the coolest chair ever? (It has no lumbar support but you can just upcycle all of the corks into a cushion.)