Don't wait until after you wrap...

To take pictures of your creations, as you'll inevitably forget to take them!

In a fit of creative fury, I put together a honeymoon pack for my friend's bridal shower. Their registry was boring me (love them, but who wants to buy sheets and slightly creepy silicone bakeware) so I got creative.

However, I waited until the last minute to do all my creating and was up until 2 am the morning of my flight finishing the details. But it was a hit! A beach bag personalized with their names courtesy of photoshop. Two coordinating visors with mr. and mrs. for the beach. A beach blanket for two with their new (for her) initials. Other cute beachy stuff. Made the uber-long gift opening session more exciting...there are only so many towels and kitchen gadgets you can ooh and ahh over.

The most exciting part of my project was discovering how to embroider on things you couldn't put under the machine, like the visors. I used 4 layers of water soluble stabilizer and stitched the letters using a heavy block font. After washing off the stabilizer, I glued the letters in place, complete with a heart shaped rhinestone for the period. They turned out super cute, if I may say so myself. Maybe I'll get lucky and Jen will send me a picture of them wearing them on the beach!

A much needed break

Nuf said?

Eco-friendly fixes to Craigslist finds

I love Craigslist. And thrift stores. And yard sales. And if I ever find anything good in my alley, I probably wouldn't be against dragging that home to.... My boyfriend is such a sport (he's into it too.)

Currently I have two lovely Craigslist acquisitions that need some lovin'. One is a lovely small sideboard with hutch. I've already decided they look better separated, with the hutch hanging on the wall. And I've replaced the pulls from a drab, ultra traditional brass to these lovely brushed nickel ones. Second is a desk soon to be vanity for the bathroom. Still looking for the perfect drawer pulls (I want recycled glass...hmmm...). The stickler is that both require a paint job to be perfect.

I stained an unfinished piece last year, and was completely put off by the awful smell and cleanup. Can't imagine what those VOC's (volatile organic compounds-aka the smelly stuff for the non-science nerds) are doing to our insides every time we paint/stain/recycle those thrift store castoffs.

Thus began my search for eco-friendly paints and stains. So far I found two companies that look promising. I'm going to try some of their products out and I'll get back to ya on how they stack up.

Company 1: Bioshield Natural Paints

They are one of the few places that have stains that seem to be more than just "less bad" normal stains. We'll see how they work, as the boy has them earmarked for his current reclaimed project (shhh, it's a surprise).

Company 2: Green Planet Paints

Ohhh, I'd love to try their clay paints for my next wall painting project. Soooo Pretty! I ordered some of their raw pigments to try in my new fabric printing endeavor, an alternative to commercial dye powders. I'm so excited I'm giddy!

In celebration of this green post, a pretty picture for your enjoyment:
Mmmm....clean air, clean water-I love the beach!

Cute Green Things

If you haven't seen it already, the Domino Magazine/Treehugger.com eco-decorating list is full of great ideas. I'd love to get my hands on some hemp/organic cotton fabric and print my own designs like this hand silk-screened beauty:

Mod Green Pod

Hand-silk-screened with water-based paint, this ornate organic cotton (perfect as a Roman shade) is as fresh as the brand-new firm that designed it.

"Grand Jubilee" $97.50/yard, modgreenpod.com for stores

Photo by domino digital studio

Oh, and how adorable is this dress:

BIG FLIRT

Vanessa Barrantes

Peruvian native Barrantes incorporates natural fibers—such as bamboo, which is antimicrobial—into her swingy dresses. Linen "Sophia" $198 lolaymaria.com

Turns out it is pretty easy being green after all! :)