Blissful Musings

It’s no secret that I love all things paper.  Paper crafts, stationery, letterpress, my cricut that cuts paper, paper collections and any sort of detail that involves paper.

Lately I’ve been wanting to create some sort of paper garland to decorate our home.  I know it’s often used for a party but, I think the right combination and placement can add some pop and fun to a room.

Paper Garland inspiration…

Even the spools are cute.  I think some layered strands criss-crossing over each other would be a fun backdrop.

Kristina Marie Etsy Shop via With this Ring

When the garland hangs straight down it creates almost a chandelier effect.

Eat Drink Pretty

This is such a creative idea.  Imagine adding it to a little boys room.  I love the simplicity of white airplanes, but coordinated colors could look just as good.

Smile and Wave

Bunting is so popular right now.  Ruffled Blog makes it easy with downloading your letters in different patterns.

Ruffled Blog

I adore this version of paper garland with the different patterns and how each piece fans out.

The TomKat Studio

Sometimes it’s not so much your DIY but appreciating someone else’s. I want to buy something from this shop, I just can never make up my mind which one.

Bookity from Etsy

Now I just need to get out my paper and start cutting away.

p.s. I start my sewing class tonight!! So excited!!

We are always watching HGTV, DIY Network and reading all the awesome home renovation blogs, but in reality many things do not apply to us.  We rent our home and size is not on our side.  One day, right?  In the meantime we need to figure something out.

Renting creates some complications.  The place is your home, but it’s not quite your own.  This means taking out walls, adding tile, making large holes, hanging new doors, and anything that is permanent or leaves a permanent “stamp” is off limits.  Even painting is conditional if allowed at all.

Our old place allowed paint, but the standards for the wall once the lease was up, left us being hesitant to bring out the paint brushes.  In our new SF condo we rent from a private owner and painting is off limits, in fact we got a better deal on the place because she didn’t repaint.  This left us with a black accent wall in the bedroom, but that’s another story.

How do you add style, personality and design to a rented home?  It’s a little bit more of a challenge.  Lately I’ve been keeping my eyes open for fun, home DIY projects that we can use in our rented condo.  (Really, they are awesome for home owners too though).

Wallpapered Bookcase by Pepper Design Blog

A wallpapered bookcase will add color and pop and is a great alternative to actually hanging wallpaper.  Also, it gives you an excuse to buy some fabulous wallpaper.  (Have you seen Oh Joy! is coming out with a design?)  Some paint can also achieve a similar effect.

Collapsible Storage Bakets by Sew 4 Home

Who can’t use some extra storage?  Plus if the storage coordinate with the room, you are adding style not an eye sore.

Coffee Table to Ottoman by Pepper Design Blog

A little more of a complicated DIY project.  However, I think it challenges you to look at pieces you may already have and how you can recreate them to compliment your home.

Fabric Drawer Liners by Mod Podge Rocks (and a fun new knob)

Another reason why Mod Podge is awesome.  Also, finding a cool knob can completely change the look of a piece of furniture.  My favorite knobs are at Anthropologie.

Summertime Wreath by Cartwheels in My Mind

This project is so adorable and full of fun personality.  I LOVE the flowers especially.

Paper Capiz Shell Chandelier by Design Sponge

The chandelier is just ridiculously creative.  It’s worth looking at the tutorial just to see how it all comes together.

Recovered Lampshade by Olive and Joy (via ish and chi)

I really want to try this project.  I love patterned lampshades and they always seem to be so expensive.  This seems like an easy alternative to get the same style.

Fisherman’s Orb and Vignette by Love & Lace

Stephanie and Love & Lace has seriously some of the BEST DIY projects.  Her home is amazing and I’m constantly in awe of her awesome ideas and style.  Plus, she is super sweet too.  I love the idea of creating a vignette on the wall with some DIY pieces and simple shelving.

The best thing about most of these projects is that you are creating pieces that have flexibility whether you are just rearranging a room or actually moving.  If you own a place and aren’t up for major renovations or projects these ideas will work just as well to update or refresh a space.  It’s investing in “mobile decor” that will travel when you move to the next place, move it to a new room or are setting up your first permanent residence.

Any simple decorating tips that are rental friendly?  What’s a favorite DIY “mobile decor” project you’ve done?

Also, check out this post from Ish and Chi for some more rental decorating ideas.

I’m going to the San Francisco Renegade Craft Fair this weekend and am SO looking forward to it.  I’ve heard about the craft fair many times but have never been able to make it myself.  Lots of amazing handmade pieces, crafty treasures and basically a live Etsy shop. Can’t wait.

Hoping to find:

Throw Pillows

Necklace to match a blue dress I bought recently

Prints/Posters

Hair Accessories

Candle Holders

Candles

Fun Home Decor Finds

Have you been to a Renegade Craft Fair?  What were your best finds?

{via Keep Calm Etsy Shop}

Remember when I told you that I bought a sewing machine?  Well, I’m sad to report it’s been collecting dust since we moved and I haven’t completed any new projects.  Life has just gotten in the way and then the overwhelmed feeling of where do I start?  I’m going to tell you where I’m going to start…

As I was doing my nightly blog read the other day I came across a Home Ec class on the Smile and Wave blog.  What, could it be?  An online sewing class?  Where every project is pretty much awesome?  Oh and I learn new techniques along the way?  I’m in.

Yep, I signed up.  For an awesome class taught by the lovely ladies of Smile and Wave, Freckled Nest and Courtney Janelle Sews.

Do you want to sign up too?  We can support each other along the way.  I’m looking for others to turn to when I inevitability get confused and start to create havoc on my sewing project.

Here are the details and part 1 of the 26 projects.  Here is part 2.  Looks awesome right?

Who else is in?

I recently saw this tutorial from Hazelnuts (via Indie Icing) and was instantly loving the adorable custom mug cosy!  How cute is that?

Adding it to the must have list for sewing now.  I’m getting out my sewing machine this weekend for some projects and I might be making use of this tutorial.

Any recent tutorials you have found and added to the to-do list?

How was your weekend?  I was busy, but had lots of fun catching up with friends and family.  My brother is currently a student at the college I went to, so we got to go back to visit him and pretend we were in college again.  While I don’t want to go back, I do miss the fun and seemingly carefree days.  Anyways…

I finally caught up on some blog reading over the weekend after being very behind and found few party details I loved. I saw this party on Hostess with Mostess and thought it was so cute.

How can Curious George and this colorful party not make you smile!?

Sweet Tooth blog featured a fun DIY cupcake bar.

This would be a great way to have a fun dessert display without spending the money on fancy cupcakes and treats because your guests will decorate them for you.

Create special invites for a tea party by painting with tea. Love the soft and thoughtful tone of these invitations. Want color? Use colored pencils instead.

This DIY fun was found on Sweetest Occasion, with DIY tutorial originally on Creature Comforts.

Happy Monday friends!  How was your weekend?  Were you out and about or relaxing?

Remember when I told you I bought a sewing machine?  And that my experience is at level 0? Well, the weekend we bought the machine I decided to make a pillow.  Really had no clue what I was doing, but with help from Mark we figured it out.  Please note, this is the most basic pillow ever.

As I was trying to learn to sew, I didn’t take pictures of the process.  Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to when I don’t have to concentrate on just sewing a straight line.   Basically I chose 2 fabrics and then also used muslin as a liner for the inside to give a more polished look.  The muslin was by suggestion of the woman in line with us at the checkstand.  We went home, sewed the pillow and then stuffed it.

After stuffing the pillow we tried a by hand blind stitch to close it, but it didn’t look great.  Then we decided we should try a zipper.  The zipper didn’t look great either.  So, we went and found a zipper tutorial and then tried again.

Still following?  Yes, there were 3 versions of this pillow before we finished.  Oops.  I promised that I’d show you the real projects even if they weren’t perfect, right?  We just kept making it smaller since it started off rather large anyways.  Below are the pictures of version 1 and 3.  Version 2 didn’t get a picture.

Here is the front of the pillow on version 1.

Obviously I wasn’t ready for this picture, ignore the awkward face.  You can see how we used brown fabric on the back to match the details of the fabric on the front.  You can also see that the seams aren’t perfectly straight.  Some of that is due to stuffing though.

And here is our final version sitting in its new home.  2 versions later it’s much smaller than what you see above.  What do you think?

The pillow isn’t perfect, but I’m happy with it.  It was a good first project to get the idea of how to use a sewing machine.

What I learned from this project:

• Making bobbins
• Threading my sewing machine
• Sewing in straight lines
• Adding in a zipper (sort of, need some improvement in this area)
• That stuffing can look really weird sometimes and I want to try pillow inserts

Well, that was the first project.  I found a bunch of patterns on sale for $1.99 for pillows, aprons, purses and other fun things.  My next project will be using more of a specific pattern to create something.  I’ve also seen lots of fun ideas on some sewing/craft websites and blogs.  Suddenly I’m much more aware of any project that has a sewing machine involved.  Any fun sewing tutorials I should know about?

Happy Friday!  What are your weekend plans?

I’ve recently discovered all the Gawker Websites: Foodgawker, craftgawker and weddinggawker.  I realize I may be a little behind, but I have so much fun browsing all the inspiration from 3 of my favorite topics.

In honor of St. Patricks Day I thought I’d post some green favorites. I linked back to the original sources that posted to the gawker website.

I just love making and eating cake balls. Bakerella’s blog is constant inspiration, I always look forward to her next post. Did you hear she has a book coming out!?!? Anyways, I thought these cake balls made by Gourmet Recipes were so fun.

Need just a hint of green so you don’t get pinched? Lovely necklace by Etsy Seller J Frances Design

Etsy Seller Ira Grant has this green purse to add a pop of color to your outfit.

JL Designs seriously has the most incredible creations for her events. This one is from her own wedding. Go look, you’ll be in awe.

Gotta love Martha Stewart and Rebecca Thuss. Found via The Cinderella Project

It’s St. Patrick’s Day. We need a 4 leaf clover. This yummy one was made by Homemade by Holman.

Have you been gawking at foodgawker, craftgawker or wedding gawker? What’s a favorite go-to website for inspiration?

Happy St. Patty’s Day! Any fun plans? Or did you celebrate over the weekend?

I’ve been using Mod Podge (or decoupaging) as long as I’ve been crafting.  I remember using it back in elementary school and I still think it’s a necessary supply to have in your DIY/crafting kit.  The first year Mark and I were dating we did handmade gifts instead of buying each other expensive gifts since we were poor college students and just liked the challenge of creating something special.  Probably 80% of the gifts I made that year involved Mod Podge on some level. Anyone can use Mod Podge, it’s easy to figure out with the only risk being a bit of messiness and sticky fingers.

Needless to say, I like Mod Podge. Awhile back I found a crafting blog, Mod Podge Rocks that was devoted to the love of Mod Podge and featured endless amazing projects. Mod Podge isn’t just for your elementary school homework project, it can be used to create all sorts of amazing pieces for your home. I thought I’d share a few inspired projects I saw to either convert you to being a “Mod Podger” or just give you some extra ideas if you already are a convert.

I loved these Tree Canvases I saw on a recent post fromSimply Modern Mom via Mod Podge. Something about this project is so simple but charming.

Take something old and make it new. I think the tray originally from good will is the perfect example of creating something special out of nothing.

We’ve been needing some new coasters and I like the idea of how you can incorporate color with these. I do question how long-term they’d last with water rings. Anyone try this before?

Here is another great idea for simple and affordable art. How many times have you seen beautiful tissue paper that will inevitably be thrown away after it’s used to wrap a gift? Here is a way to make it last.

While this would be great for your home, I think this fun silverware holder would be perfect to make for a party to incorporate a specific color or theme.

And last is one of my favorite Mod Podge projects I’ve seen.  Featured on the Martha Stewart show, you can find instructions here. (found via Mod Podge Rocks)

By the way, I’m not in any way sponsored by Mod Podge or receiving credit for this post.  I just like it.   I have an upcoming project of my own that will involve Mod Podge.  Hopefully I can finish and share with you soon.

Do you Mod Podge?  What’s your favorite “go to” crafting supply?

This weekend I bought a sewing machine! What’s my past sewing experience? Well I’ve sewed a button and when I was 13 I vaguely remembering sewing a bag at some club. Basically what I’m trying to say is that sewing is completely foreign to me and I have no clue what I am doing.

So why did I buy a sewing machine? I had seen first hand from my MIL how useful such skills could be as she adjusted/embellished clothing, added details to curtains and helped me hem pants for my short legs. Still, I wasn’t very interested in learning to sew for whatever reason. Well in recent months I’ve been admiring the sewing abilities of these lovely ladies and started contemplating that maybe it could be fun. I saw more and more inspiring projects out in the blog world and got a little curious. I looked into taking a sewing class a month or 2 ago, but then found out I had to own a sewing machine. There was no way I was paying $500+ to try a new hobby and learn how to sew. I got over sewing fast.

Fast forward to this weekend. I have been itching to bust out my Yudu and screen-print some place-mats, pillows and other fun items to add some decor to our home. I also wanted to get back into my crafting that has been on hold for the most part since the wedding. As I went shopping for the perfect place-mats, pillows and other materials I was dismayed to find that they were all either too expensive or just not good material for screen printing.

We went to JoAnn’s to buy some cheap material that I could test print on, before printing on the actual supplies that would cost us money if I screwed up. (Which in past Yuduing experience, there will be one or two mess ups at first.) Once we were there we somehow ended up in the mini sewing machine shop within the store. DUN dun dun. After some debate over the pros and cons we decided we should seriously consider buying one of the machines. I’d be able to create all those things I wanted to craft, it would be useful and mostly I wanted to learn the skill. Well, we found an affordable machine and decided to go for it.

We ended up buying a basic Huskqvarna Viking that was $150. How was it that cheap? Well there was $100 sale and then you could get an additional $100 by turning in an old sewing machine. Obviously, we didn’t have an old sewing machine. But, we did buy a $14 hand sewing machine in the store and turned that in for the $100 credit. Yes, it was still in its box when we turned it in.  Awesome.

Funny fact? Mark actually can sew and knows how to operate a machine really well. He grew up as 1 of 3 brothers with a single mom. My MIL taught the boys to sew so that independently they could hem pants, fix buttons and do other basic things with the machine and by hand if needed. In fact when we were first dating and visiting my family, Mark successfully sewed my younger brother a Popeye costume for a school dance. Yep, he is one talented guy. With his sewing knowledge, Mark was able to figure out that it really was a good machine and that it included all the necessary things like feet, stitches and other stuff that I didn’t understand as I stood by and smiled while he talked with the salesperson.

So that my friends is how I ended up as the proud new owner of a sewing machine. Now I just have to learn how to sew. I already completed one project and will show you the results in another post along with some plans for future projects. In the meantime I’m planning on taking some classes and am scouring the internet for sewing blogs. I promise to be honest and show you all my projects even if they are total failures. Just don’t laugh at me too much.

Do you sew? Any advice, tips, inspiration or blogs you can send my way?

What’s a new skill you want to learn?