Month: March 2018

flower lockets.

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Springtime in the Bay means a bounty of blooming wildflowers. Here’s an easy project that yields stunning results with craft supplies from your own backyard. My friend and I cohosted this craft for another friend’s birthday and everyone loved it. All you need: lockets pressed flowers glue cotton swabs scissors yarn or ribbon Press the flower petals The step that takes time is the pressing of flowers. I’m not sure if my method of pressing flowers is correct but it works for me. Pull off petals and place them on a sheet of paper. Do not overlap petals. Place another few sheets of paper on top, then stack (heavy) books on top. Check on the petals after a few days and change the paper. After at least one week the petals should be ready for this project. Protip: choose petals that will fit your lockets (or lockets that will fit your petals) if you would rather not cut the petals. Design and glue When it comes to glueing, less is way more. Once you decide …

carrot egg.

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This year’s Easter eggs are disguising themselves as carrots! Materials + tools: Orange yarn Green yarn Plastic eggs Hot glue Fork Scissors Step 1: Wrap egg with orange yarn. Work with the egg open. This helps with holding the egg and also ensures you won’t glue the egg shut. Begin by glueing the end of the yarn to the top of the egg. This will be the bottom of your carrot. Glue and wrap a coil then work your way up the egg. Once you get to the top half, continue to glue and wrap the yarn. Snip the excess yarn. Take your time with this process and glue little by little. Step 2: Create mini tassels or pom poms. Forks are great for creating mini tassels and pom poms. For the tassel, wrap the green yarn around the fork 5-10 times. Insert a 6-inch piece of yarn between the first and second tines and tie tightly. Remove yarn from the fork, cut the loops on the longer end and trim as needed. For a …

stop, body time.

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The Body Time warehouse sale! I come yearly to Body Time to pick up a scent refill for my Mom – her fave here is plumeria – but this was my first time at the warehouse. It’s apparently where all the product for the stores gets divvied up. I felt like a total insider. A lot of the stuff on sale was overstock or seasonal. Product was marked at least 40% off, and they had an assortment of furniture and display items, and other giftables. I almost purchased an uncut block of soap… I ended up scoring some mango fragrance, a walnut peppermint scrub, spray-on moisturizer, two heart shaped soaps, and two tote bags all for $20. My friend got all kinds of goodies, too, including this bird statue for $1. Odd, but awesome, and perfect for her garden. Warehouse sale much? Share below!

rope basket.

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I’m currently obsessed with baskets. I have a growing collection to hold my crafts, recycling, purses… You can use them everywhere. I decided to make my own with glass jars (from the dollar store), rope, and some hot glue. To estimate the amount of rope, I did a practice wrap around the jar and added an extra foot just in case. I ended up using 23 feet of rope for these particular jars. Start at the bottom of the jar and create a coil. Add a little hot glue directly on the glass and attach the rope. Then, add a little more glue to the glass and the attached rope to continue making a coil. As you reach the sides of the jar, continue adding glue to the glass and the attached rope and wrap the rope onto the jar. You can create handles, too. Make an arch, then add glue to the jar to attach. Do the same for the other side, then continue wrapping the jar. With any extra rope, you can create …

make.

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Earlier this week I popped up at the Museum of Craft and Design with my SF Etsy teammates as part of National Craft Month and the museum’s inaugural after-hours event “Make.” My booth above: I kept my display minimal for this show because there was a high chance of rain and I didn’t want to lug around too much stuff. To my surprise I got everything to fit in one carry-on luggage and a small tote bag. Winning! Fastest set up and clean up ever. Winning some more! My teammates’ booths below (left to right): Coffee n Cream Press by Leah Jachimowicz, Oodlebadoodle by Rebecca Saylor, and Matilda’s House & co by Anna Engstrom. Throughout the evening visitors could try their hand at the crafting stations including finger crochet, button and magnet collage making, and silk screening. There was even a make your own bitters station and a free photobooth. Plus, everyone got to enjoy the current exhibit. My booth was right next to the photobooth so a handful of folks got creative and asked …

the office.

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When your coworker comments on how much he loves The Office you throw him a The Office-themed birthday. Ovbi. Here’s what we used for inspiration… Photos of old people (from Michael Scott’s lecture on ageism), an acrostic using the celebrant’s name (like in Dwight’s performance review), and a PC birthday sign and sad balloons (like Kelly – or was it Kelley? – had for her birthday). This was not our typical celebratory decor so my team of decorators questioned my every decision, especially when I would say stuff like “You’re making it look too nice.” Also, do you know how hard it is to find brown balloons? (The answer is very.) As we were blowing up the balloons just slightly, one of the brown balloons popped. Right after I thought oh no, I immediate thought this is perfect!  A close of up of the photos of old things, including our celebrant! Kyle’s acrostic: And the icing on the cake (quite literally) – we wrote Lyle instead of Kyle because that seemed like something that would happen in the show. …

tinsel.

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Step right in to Tinsel in Berkeley! I frequently pass by this shop thinking I must go in someday. Someday was last Saturday, finally! Tinsel is known for their vintage trim so I was expecting to see lots of ribbons, tassels, and fun things for decorating. I was correct, but oh, there was so much to look at and my brain went into overdrive as I started to think about all the projects I could make with everything in the store. What an amazing collection of things on spools – fabric ribbons, metal ribbons… They had bottle brush trees (I love these things!) for every occasion. This handy passementerie (art of making elaborate trimmings or edgings) guide needs to be an art print. A wall of passements… If I was a master seamstress I would be ALL OVER these trims. Everything looked so elaborate, detailed, well-made. There were bins of vintage appliques, beads, charms… Spools in all the sizes… My family’s cigar company ;)…plus golden scissors… These flower middles reminded me of my childhood and …

beautiful bowls – part two.

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All weather is soup weather for this girl! It’s been a while since my last soup post, but you can bet I’ve been on a mission to find some tried and true soup spots that are mouthwatering, reliable (i.e., they taste just like your remember them to taste from last time), and well worth the price. Boat NoodlesLarb Thai Tapas in El Cerrito is one of my favorite places for quick, not fussy Thai food that makes you feel like you’re at a cafe in Bangkok. Get the boat noodle soup with the thick noodles (my fave!). The broth is rich and the meat is hearty. It’s got fried pork rinds, and liver upon request (though I haven’t requested this yet). Ask for the assortment of spices to please your palette and enhance the flavors of the soup. The marinated jalapeños will add heat and a vinegary punch. It’s the perfect lunch on a rainy day type of meal, and then you won’t be able to wait until you’re hungry again to eat the leftovers …

them youngins.

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Earlier this week I got to teach my felt succulent garden workshop to a group of high school students as part of their intraterm program. What a fun group of youngins and a fun week filled with self reflection and art exploration. I normally teach adult workshops; it was fun to hang out with the high school crowd (and realize how long it’s been since high school…). Not once did I hear a “I can’t do this” or “I’m not creative” which is what I sometimes hear from grown up groups. A huge reminder to just be in the moment and not fear a mess up or something not looking like what you think it should look like. Though they were quiet, they were sooo into what they were doing, playing with different designs, manipulating the materials, and creating some awesome pieces of work. Such a creative group! I wanted to share their process and projects because I was super proud of their work! Thank you to Rare Bird for inviting me to teach and to the …