Here’s Mum sewing a pillow closed for me, with a smashing hot pink manicure.

Here’s Mum beautifully side-lit while she continues to sew a pillow closed for me.

And here are the finished products, that I swear I worked on, too.

See? I’m holding them. Proof that I contributed. I did.

And here’s Mum holding the baby whose room the pillows are now in.

Here’s Evelynne laughing at the joke she just told Mum.

Here’s me holding Evy (my niece) whose room the pillows are now in. Aren’t babies fun? Evy’s going to love her Aunt Amy.

(She has lots of this to look forward to.)

Oh! And the pillows. I think they turned out pretty fun, too. For the small one, I cut the front off a favorite tee I ruined with a snag. And for the petal pillow, I followed this tutorial from Cluck. Cluck. Sew.

I’m a big fan of Ikea cork trivets, because with a little coat o’ paint and a fun pattern, they add great pops of color to a table setting. They come in a pack of 3 and I usually pick some up every time I’m in Ikea, because I like to have them on hand when inspiration strikes.

I’m also a big fan of mid-century modern design, and after combing through a California-style mid-century book I checked out from the library, I found some patterns I wanted to try for the trivets.

These are the concrete block sunscreens that inspired the design. Cool, right?

Here’s what you’ll need for this project:

1. Cork Trivets

2. Acrylic paint (yellow doesn’t show up so well on the cork)

3. Paintbrush

4. Drawing paper or cardstock

5. Scissors or an exacto knife

6. Pattern inspiration

Once I was satisfied with the pattern I had drawn, I cut it out and arranged it on my first trivet.

I painted around all of the edges first,

and then removed the paper and filled in the rest of the paint. I changed the placement of the circles and lines to add a little variation on the next two.

Now I’ve got some colorful trivets that will add a little mid-century flair to the dinner table!

Scarves, beads, bracelets, … FLOWERS! I now have 12 wearable craft flowers bookmarked, and counting.

I made the blue and yellow flowers at a crafting party hosted by the lovely Robie Dodson. Everyone else was making adorable felt-applique monsters and owls on kiddie clothing. But me… I made something pour moi.

And since Angela is my accessories mentor, I made some for her.

They’re so simple! Just cut circles out of felt in decreasing sizes, tack them together with thread, and embellish!

Buttons, beads, interesting stitching with embroidery floss.

Then I just stick a safety pin or bobby pin in the back, and call it done.

Accessorize shirts, so you look good on the phone.

Clutches because your friend Sara did it and you thought it was cool even though the only casual clutch you have is too busy for more bling. Or is it?

Necklaces, because six strands of beads and chain are never enough.

Hair-dos, so you look like you made some effort even though you didn’t shower much less fix your hair.

If you think these are fun, here are all the flowers I’m going to make some day. And then I’ll wear them all at once.

Tattered flowers

Leather flowers

Leather flower necklace

Dahlia flowers

Ruffly scrap flowers

Party flowers

Synthetic Rose flowers

Ribbon rosette flowers

Full ribbon flowers

Scrap ring flowers

Linen flower headband

But my fridge was therefore lacking in magnets.

I went to a “Make-It Monday” party months ago, hosted by the lovely Robie Dodson of So Sew Something!, and we made covered buttons. Okay. I have to tell you I wasn’t convinced about the covered buttons. What am I going to do with covered buttons? Give them to grandma? But my skepticism was short-lived. I LOVE COVERED BUTTONS! My favorite use for them — magnets. In fact, I went out and bought supplies to make more.

You can buy a covered button kit for, oh, $2 in almost any craft section (bought mine at Walmart), along with a pack of magnets (Hobby Lobby) for $2.

First, decide what tiny little part of the fabric design you want to show up on your button (this is the fun part… one print can look totally different depending on how you position it), and cut a square twice the size of your button.

Hold the button on the fabric, and push it into the handy-dandy rubber button maker from your kit.

Trim off extra fabric so there’s not too much bulk for the back to fit on. I left about 1/4″.

Use pliers to pull the pin off the button back (you need a flat surface to glue the magnet to). I find that if you pinch the pin sideways between like pliers, like so, it’s easier to pry off.

Fold the fabric into the center and pop the back on until it clicks in place. (I put a dab of hot glue first to make sure the back stays put.)

Hot-glue the magnet on.

Finished! Cute, no?

Use your adorable magnets to put your birthday card from your grandma on the fridge. Right next to the one your friend Sara made for you.

And to stick the Groupon that’s about to expire on the fridge so you don’t forget to redeem it.

Then go crazy. You can put covered buttons on rings, bobby pins, barrettes, push-pins, paper clips. Or, of course, use them as real buttons to add some flair to a cardi, a DIY-headboard, or that re-upholstery project that requires matching buttons for tufting. I love tufting.

First there was the quad-burning curtain rod install.

And the drill bit I got stuck in the wall.

Then there was my magic act of turning one piece of fabric into two (cutting it), then turning it back into one (sewing it right back together). Sewing straight lines is easy. Measuring is mind boggling.

At least I had my “Concentrating” face on.

It’s very akin to my “Stop sketching so we can go eat dinner” face. I perfected that one on the husband when we were in England.

All worth it had this:

…turned out better than this:

Puny, flimsy curtains. Great fabric (recognize it?); stupid curtains.

They don’t have much weight because I just used a light-weight quilting cotton, plus I was too lazy to line them. So I don’t like the way they hang.

And the ones above the sink look cuntry (I’m picky about curtains and pretty much only like to-the-floor panels). And they’re narrow (full would look better), because I only had so much fabric. Stupid curtains.

Next time, Mom, will you make them for me?

Here’s da rules:

• Don’t spend more than $2 per person.
• Buy something for everyone.
• Wrap them haphazardly (which took training… I really wanted to put everything in nice neat boxes with decorative bows).
• Jam them in the appropriate stockings when no one is looking.

Then on Christmas morning we take turns opening our two-dollar treasures, and trying to guess who they’re from.

Well, this one was easy. Last Christmas the aforementioned super-swell husband gave me the world’s tiniest canvases, and I knew right away they were from him. Okay, actually, I can’t remember if I guessed him right away. I may have guessed my sister-in-law. But the canvases were from my husband because he’s swell. They’re so tiny, I just want to pinch them and hug them and love them and keep them forever. So cute! Now what the heck do you do with two-inch canvases?

I saw this design on the tag of a shirt and thought it would make perfect tiny art. So during a painting date with my painting buddy, Naomi, I daintily brushed on the flowers.

Then I created a background to pull them all together by wrapping fabric around cardboard from a box of Honey Bunches of Oats (Love that stuff. With almonds.).

Then I just hot-glued the little suckers straight to the background.

I used plain straight pins to tack the whole thing to the wall above our trusty key hooks (using my trusty girl-hammer).

Something sweet and small like this would also be great above a light switch, but since that’s my new favorite place to hang things, I’ve pretty much used up all that real estate around here.

For a while now, I’ve needed more space on my walls surrounding my desk for notes, inspirations, and photos that have been piled up for ages. I had a lovely Decoder Ring print hanging in the space above my desk since I moved into my house, but I recently acquired a much-needed drafting lamp that covered about half of the print, so it officially became time to move the artwork and create a practical, yet visually appealing version of a bulletin board. Corkboards are great, but I wanted something that would add a bit of color and would fit well into the wall space left by my monstrous lamp.

I decided to create a series of panels out of paper that would allow me to attach items to it via paperclips.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Thick paper (watercolor or cardstock)

2. Watercolors, paints, markers, etc (optional)

3. Exacto knife and cutting board (optional)

4. Flat push pins

5. Jumbo paper clips

6. Your photos, notes, postcards, magazine clippings, etc – whatever you need to post on your wall!

First, I painted a plaid pattern with watercolors. I knew I was going to cut the paper into strips, and most of the paper would be hidden with my notes and pictures, so I didn’t worry too much about what it looked like. I just wanted pops of color. You could also buy colored cardstock or color thick paper with markers or map pencils – it’s completely up to you!

After the paper dried, cut the paper lengthwise into 8 strips. I made 4 rows on my wall connecting 2 strips to give it a bit more length.

I bought flat, white pushpins to mount it to the wall. I also found some jumbo paper clips at the grocery store (these were seriously the biggest paper clips I’ve ever seen!). I thought the oversized clips added a bit of visual interest up close, and are so thin that they almost go unnoticed from a distance. They also don’t seem to bend the photos (or put holes in them like those pesky push pins!). I also used an exacto knife to cut some of my clippings, because I can never cut straight with the scissors.

I then hung my photos, magazine clippings and (in my case) some vintage typography to the paper panels. I liked that the vintage type clippings added some consistency to the “bulletin board” so it didn’t look like an overwhelming mish mash of unrelated items. This is just a suggestion, and I say make it as mish-mashed as you like.

The final product created a clothesline effect on the wall. I think it works well with the space, and finally gives me a place to display important items that were piled up on my desk. The pictures and papers are also easy to change out, adding to the functionality. Hooray for an organizational victory!

The old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” still rings true, especially in the DIY world. Lately I’ve found more hidden treasures hiding out in old book stores and thrift shops, and they have made wonderful inspirations and/or materials for a few recent projects. Here are a few examples of some one-of-a-kind books I’ve come across and the projects they’ve inspired.

Oh, and did I mention, they were cheap?

Book #1: Poetry Book

The other day I came across this old poetry book at a thrift shop filled to its capacity with haphazardly stacked records, old toys and trash-to-treasure knick knacks. The book’s lines were printed on hand set letterpress. The pages were yellowed and soft from age. It was a beautiful book, but instead of taking it home and treasuring each hand set page, I began to find lines in the poems that felt significant and meaningful on their own, apart from the context of the poem… and ripping them out of the book.

But don’t worry, it was all for a good cause. I liked the torn look of the paper; it seemed to fit the feel of the melancholy, yet hopeful words of the poet. So, I took the torn poetry lines, mod-podged the back of them (with just a little bit of glue), and placed them on brown paper cards. I let them dry and then painted over the poetry paper with watercolor.

There ended up being a lot of negative space on the cards, but I like the simplicity of them. I think the weight of the words did quite more than any more paint or drawing of mine could add.

Book #2: Tip-Top Beauty Book

On a recent trip to Salt Lake City, I found this book while perusing through Sam Weller’s Bookstore. The cover was cheesy, but that can often be an indication of something awesome inside! The book contained drawings of ladies with mod hairdos from the 1960’s. They reminded me of my mom’s old Barbie and Midge dolls I used to play with, and I immediately knew that they would make quirky silhouettes for screen printing.

I picked my favorite girl, traced the picture and made a screen (for more detailed instructions, see How To Screen Print, Easily).

I loved the Pink Ladies look of the silhouette in the corner of this tank top, and I plan on using this screen and others I’ll make from the book on cardigans, clutches and bags!

Book #3: 2009 Bollywood calendar booklet

After living in Central Asia for almost 2 years, I developed a fondness for anything Bollywood. So, when I found this little gem in the book section at Goodwill, I snagged it, not exactly sure what I would do with it.

There are about 12 Bollywood poster images and movie stills in the calendar that waiver between beautiful and painfully corny. My first use of the book was to make a bon-voyage postcard for a friend moving overseas.

With the suggestion of another friend, I decided to make the motorcycle drivers 3-D to add a bit of interest. I cut out the drivers and glued down squares of cardboard underneath them to make them pop off the page a bit. It’s really simple but, I’ve got a quirky card to send to a friend that I guarantee you won’t find in a store! I can use the other images for more cards, a collage project or to cover a journal.

So, don’t overlook the book section when you’re thrifting! Your next DIY project could be waiting for you on the shelf!

Stashbusting: Busting one’s stash; getting rid of the clutter that is one’s fabric stack. I learned the term over at Dollar Store Crafts, and thought, “I’ve got some stash to bust.”

I have a bunch of fat quarters from a project that never happened, so my pickins were none too slim. I decided to make a flowering fabric collage.

It’s really quite simple.

1. Wrap a canvas with a solid fabric (lest your collage look downright psychedelic) for the background, and attach with staples on the back.
2. Cut out leaf shapes in increasingly larger sizes (I started with 1/2″ long, and increased each by another 1/2″).
3. Dip the back of each leaf in mod podge.
4. Press on.

That’s it! (Tip: I did find it helpful to do a test run of the layout with paper before I started.)I like how happy the piece turned out to be. And for fall and winter, it wouldn’t take any time at all to create another piece, perhaps with cooler colors. Plus, my new art gave me the perfect place to hang the jar cozy my friend and guest contributor, Sara, made for me! Aren’t they a nice pair?

Speaking of stash-busting, you may also like these: my bird and leaf silhouettes and vine collage, both with free pattern downloads.

Note: If you liked the video soundtrack, you can download the song free right here.

I’ve always loved the idea of screen printing, but the machinery and expensive emulsions have kept me at bay. However, when one of my very crafty roommates, Sarah, introduced me to a simpler way of screen printing, I couldn’t help but give it a try! I’ve been really pleased with the results and now I’m more inclined to screen print a gift rather than buy something at the store. My most recent screen prints are pictured above. The Austin, TX screen was made by Sarah (she took an antique stamp and increased the size on a photocopier) and I made the bird screen from a freehand drawing.

What you need:

1. A wooden or plastic needlepoint hoop
2. Mod podge
3. A semi-porous fabric like chiffon
4. Sponge brushes and a very thin paint brush
5. Screen printing paint
6. An image to print (for this technique, it works better if it doesn’t have a lot of detail)
7. A piece of cardboard big enough for your image to fit
8. Clothespins
9. A shirt, bag, pants, shoes, clutch, whatever you want to screen print!

How it goes:

1. Start with drawing or photocopying a simple image that you want to print.
2. Place the image underneath the fabric and trace it with a pencil.
3. Place your fabric in the hoop.
4. Mod podge around the traced image. Make sure everything that you don’t want printed is covered with a thick layer of mod-podge. You don’t want the paint to seep through the holes in the fabric.
5. Let the mod podge dry completely. After its dry, you are ready to screen print!
6. Place your cardboard underneath your fabric, pull tightly over the cardboard and secure with clothespins. If you’re printing on a shirt, make sure the cardboard goes inside the shirt to prevent bleeding onto the back of the shirt. *Note: I recommend testing your screen on a piece of junk fabric before you print on your “final product” material. I made some revisions on my bird after the first test.
7. Place the screen on top of the fabric. Hold securely with one hand and paint with the other. Make sure that you make blotting movements with the brush, not painting strokes. Its easy for the paint to slip underneath the mod podge and produce unclear edges. Use as much paint as you desire. If you want a “worn” look, don’t use as much paint, but if you’d like your image crisp, make sure and fill in every part of the image. Pay close attention to the edges and make sure you have painted them thoroughly, as this will create clear edges.
8. When you are satisfied with the amount of paint, lift the screen directly up off the material.
9. Let the material dry and then go over the screenprinted image with an iron to seal it in (its good to put a dishtowel in between the image and the iron).

It may take a few tries to produce the results you’re looking for, but keep experimenting and creating new prints. It’s super rewarding and lots of fun!