So much about this picture makes me happy. This thick industrial felt bowl besides being my favorite of materials is very cleverly designed. With the help of some strategically placed magnates that add little pops of color, it can either be flat or bowl shaped as shown here holding this happy color yarn and the inviting wood (maybe bamboo) knitting needles. I wish I had such a nice place to store my current knitting project.
DIY Lampshade
I love love love this DIY lampshade by Carrie of Carrie Can for her sister. She takes an ordinary paper lampshade, and transforms it with tissue paper. The materials are dirt cheap but the result is wonderful! I am inspired to get started on a few lampshades of my own. You can find a full tutorial on craftster.org. And in case you are wondering the mural in the background was done by Carrie as well. Her sister is awfully lucky! Thanks for the inspiration and tutorials, Carrie!
Improved Candy Hearts
I am not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. At some point February 14th became the time for ridiculous mark-ups on flowers and candy that will be 75% off on February 15th. Yes, I am a jaded New Yorker. So sue me. I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the idea of candy hearts. I say the idea of them, because I don’t really love the taste. I do however love the taste of shortbread and the idea of spray painting cookies. If this sounds good to you, head on over to Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories (love the name!) because this is the post for you! Wonderful step by step instructions with pictures to make these adorable over-sized hearts. The geeky messages are a nice addition. Maybe this year my sweetie and I will spend some quality time together baking cookies. To me, that is the spirit of Valentine’s Day. via
Wow…
I heart these DIY shelves. As a matter of fact I heart just about everything about Stephen and Shauna’s home. Clean and simple with quirky accents (is that a porch swing in the bedroom?!) Wonderful use of colors, textures and patterns. I am definitely having home envy. M&I are in the process of deciding if we stay in our current apartment or look for something else when our lease is up in a few months. If we do stay then our place needs some freshening up. I am definitely going to be stealing a few color and decorating ques from this amazing apartment. You can see more of what they are up to on their blog Somethings Hiding in Here. Check out the house tour to see more amazing images. via
Orla For The Masses
If you are reading this for the hundredth time, sorry for the repeat. Orla Kiely is coming to Target. Yeah! Keep an eye out in the beginning of February. via
The Last Calendar You Will Ever Need
Photojojo posted a tutorial for this amazing DIY perpetual photo calendar. I love that you can use your own photos or photos that you find on the Internet (check the photographer’s copyright just to be sure it is ok). This is just project I need to get me out there taking pictures. I love to take pictures while I am on vacation but I never think to drag out my camera to photograph my own city. I love that this is something that could change over time. If you get tired of a number, or find one that is better, change it up. I just happen to have the fotoclips, I got them on sale at Urban Outfitters a while ago, and this is the perfect use for them.
Funky Cardboard Shoes
These shoes are fabulous! I love that they are made from such common materials but are so sturdy and chunky and funky! And they look really comfortable to boot! (Ha ha, I said boot.) I wish my foot was a size 9! I am not sure how well the cardboard will stand up, but they are just way too cool. via
Gift Ideas at Rare Bird Finds
I am always seeing great stuff from the folks over at Rare Bird Finds, but I have to say that the gift ideas coming into my RSS reader lately are both affordable and adorable. Something for everyone in your life. I already posted about the cute doggie scarf and hat and here is a lovely felt flower which has a pinback, but I am sure you crafty folk out there can figure out how to wear it in your hair. If you are looking for some inspiration for someone on your list at just about any budget definitely check them out.
Felt
While browsing around Supermarket I saw these adorable felted pin pods. The design and the color are just wonderful. So vibrant and rich. It helps that they are made of my favorite material in the world. I especially like the view of their cute little bottoms. I don’t think I could decide on just one! If I were more of a sewer I might consider, but $62 is a little dear for someone who hasn’t managed to sew a straight line in years. The felted bowls on her site remind me I have some yarn waiting to be knitted and felted into some bowl shapes of their own.
Dwell
I love Dwell Magazine. There is something in just about every issue that catches my attention and makes me happy we are just about in the position where we are thinking about buildings and how they will look. This issue had an article that was especially interesting to me. Apparently some crazy recent art grad decided to buy a house and totally redo it with the help of his dad. Oh and he did it all on a recent art grad’s budget. Lots of recycled materials, lots of thinking outside the box and lots of trips to the ReStore. Once the house was complete it didn’t seem right to plop in just any furniture so he designed and built pieces himself. Wonderful! You can check it out at Rural Theory, there is a PDF of the Dwell article and many more pictures. My favorite quote from the article is, “I didn’t want my Grandmother to feel like an astronaut when she visited.” I can’t wait to get to the point where M&I are picking out materials. Thanks for the inspiration, Blake!
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