{create} diy paper mache tray

Happy friday friends! Well, this week sort kicked my behind -- sooooo busy! So today I thought I'd share with you a quick DIY using paper mache! Did you ever do crafts with paper mache when you were a kid? I remember making this paper mache bead necklace when I was younger. It was all bright colored and crazy. I sort of wish I still had it :).

Last week when I set up my Thanksgiving table, I created a paper mache tray to use as a centerpiece. It's one of those great items that I can see traveling around our house. It was gorgeous as the centerpiece, above, and it looks great on our mantle, top photo.

I think it would also make a great corral for keys, phones, etc.

Paper mache is pretty much impossible to mess up, but above is a photo step-by-step. I started with a piece of wood, lots of newspaper and modge podge. I wrapped the wood with foil, because I was worried about the modge podge sticking to the wood and it worked great. The foil separated from the newspaper perfectly. Then I cut up strips of newspaper and started gluing them layer by layer to the foil-wrapped wood. I glued the first layer, let it dry for about 15 minutes and then kept adding layers until I was happy. I think I ended up with about 10. I let it dry overnight and then popped it off the wood. I trimmed the sides with scissors and painted the inside gold and the outside blue. Done! :)

I love quick, easy and inexpensive diy projects, don't you? :)

Have you ever created something with paper mache?

Have a great weekend friends!

**Update! I'm linking this post up to Beneath My Heart's November link party! 

{create} capiz pendant, how-to

Thank you for all the super sweet comments over the last couple days about my capiz shell pendant! It really is a lovely addition to our little eating nook.

As promised, today I'm back with an insanely detailed how-to for creating your own capiz shell pendant chandelier. This project is not hard, at all, but it is fairly time consuming. I learned a couple tricks along the way, so hopefully they'll make your process go a bit faster!

Start by prepping your lampshade, which serves as the structure of the pendant. I bought a pretty nasty shade at Goodwill for $2.99. Take all the fabric off, and then add a third tier. This didn't show up in any of the photos, but basically, you want to horizontally install a wire half way between the top and bottom. I simply wrapped my around each of the vertical strips to secure as I went around. Once that's all put together, coat the entire frame in white spray paint. This might be being overly cautious, but the *capiz shells* are pretty see-through and I didn't want the frame seen at all.

Next make your capiz shells. Friends, grab your favorite movies, turn on your favorite music and (I personally recommend) grab a huge glass of wine. This is where things get a little time consuming. To make your the circles, simply lay a sheet of parchment paper on your ironing board (or on a towel on any other flat surface), lay three sheets of wax paper, and then lay another sheet of parchment on top. Turn your iron to medium heat and simply iron the wax paper together. It doesn't take long for the layers to melt and adhere to each other, but make sure you get the sides/corners really good. The trick here is that you can actually do more than one *set* of these at once. I was ironing three of these sets at once. The heat actually penetrates all the layers perfectly fine, and makes this part of the process go much, much quicker. Ironed, the sheets will look like the photo in the upper right. At first I was annoyed about any perfections the ironing caused, but then I realized these imperfections give the shells a lot of character. Love that!

For punching out the circles, I purchased a 2-inch hole punch at Michael's. It worked like a dream. I found the easiest, and fastest, way to punch holes was the fold the paper, the hot dog way, into fourths, and then punch along that line. 

Now how you approach the project from here is up to you and your style of working. Some people might want to punch out all the shells before they begin sewing them together. I thought that sounded completely monotonous, so I punched some and then sewed those together, punched more, sewed more, etc. 

Regardless of your process, once you punch out the circles, sew them together using a chain stitch: simply thread the circles through the machine one after the other so their is no space in between. I tried this using white thread and clear thread. You could see the clear thread just as much as the white thread, so it's definitely not worth using clear (it's so hard to work with!).

A successful chain stitch will look this this, above. I chose to do 22 circles for each strand.

After you've sewn your strands, it's time to start putting the pendant together. Simply drape your strands of circles over each horizontal row on your frame. When each strand is draped, there will be 11 circles on each side of the frame. 

And, just to give you an idea of how many strands/circles my light needed ... I counted for you! I thought it'd be helpful because I had NO IDEA how many circles this would take. My frame is 14 inches at the top (widest opening). In total, I made 120 strands to get as few holes as possible and the fullness I was looking for. You guys, that is 2,640 circles! Remember that glass of wine I mentioned earlier? Yeah. :)

Is is worth it though? Yes. As I mentioned earlier, this is NOT hard. It's just time consuming. If you love this light, the cost alone is worth it. I ended up spending $26 for the entire pendant, and that includes the lamp shade and FOUR rolls of wax paper. Friends, the inspiration lamp at West Elm is $259.

To hang the finished pendant, Chris simply installed three small hooks in the ceiling around an existing light, and we hung the frame from the hooks. SUPER easy.

I hope this tutorial helps! If any thing is unclear, or you have questions, just let me know. Make sure you check out the tutorial on Freshly Picked for some other tips and tricks. And, if you end up making one, let me know! I'd love to see your version :).

{create} capiz shell pendant (chandelier)

Have you guys heard about the Pinterest Challenge that Sherry from Young House Love and Katie from Bower Power are hosting today? 

I've been so excited for this party. You see, these ladies had the brilliant idea to challenge people to actually MAKE one of the many projects they've tagged in their Pinterest account. I, for one, have sooooo many projects in my *to make* file, that I didn't even know where to begin (are you following me on Pinterest? I'm here!) But this weekend I settled on a capiz pendant.

A little history: Chris and I have eyed the gorgeous capiz shell pendant at West Elm more times than I can count. Because, it's gorgeous, no?

So, when I saw a knock off one day on Pinterest, of course I repinned it. The knock off, friends, came from the Freshly Picked blog, and she constructed a capiz shell chandelier solely out of wax paper, thread and a lamp shade. Oh. YES. And friends when those three materials come together, gorgeousness such as this ensues:

And, a close up:

It's current home is in our eating area/nook:

 

I love that it adds a touch of glamour to the space. Especially next to the rustic farm table. The juxtaposition is awesome.

Previously, there was ceiling fan in the space. Chris was crazy ambitious yesterday and got the fan down before pictures, but trust me when I say, there was nothing to look like. In fact, here's a before:

It doesn't even matter that the fan isn't in the photo, because you couldn't see it when you were looking at the nook. The door way to the nook completely hid the fan from view. Not bad. Just boring. 

Now, from the kitchen, and even the living room, you can clearly see the light in all it's glory.

I'll be posting a tutorial next time. It's not hard, just a little involved, and I want to make sure I get all the steps down correctly for you. 

Updated 8/4/11: I've written a tutorial for creating your own capiz shell pendant (chandelier), and you can find it here.

In the meantime, head over to Young House Love, Bower Power, and Making A House A Home to check out all the other awesome Pinterest projects! And start pinning for your own inspiration boards :).

{create} chocolate peanut butter tarte

First off, thank you for all the sweet comments about my chalkboard vases! I keep moving them around the house because they look so good everywhere :). And along this line, I created a DIY project gallery this week! I've been wanting to do this for awhile. It's the spot to go if you'd like to make any of the projects I've posted here. I'll be updating it with all upcoming projects as well.

At some point, I'll make gallery for recipes also. Or, I guess baked goods would be more accurate! New here? I LOVE to bake. And today I'm going to have to demand that you drop everything and go make this recipe. It's that good :).

I've mentioned before that we're a gluten and dairy free household, but we're secretly in denial. We don't want our food (especially our desserts!) to taste gluten or dairy free. What's the fun in that? So it's my mission to find recipes that are amazing and everyone will love. This recipe had me a chocolate peanut butter. Uh, hello classic delish combo.

I first made this recipe one night when we had my parents (the ultimate test) over for dinner. They LOVED it. So we made it for friends. Who, of course, loved it. But it was when my dad requested that I make him this tart, instead of a traditional birthday cake, for his birthday last week, that I knew it was time to share it with you guys.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

Adapted from Healthy Indulgences

Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Crust

• 1/4 cup crunchy natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons beaten egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup blanched almond flour, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons honey

Chocolate Filling

• 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or chips
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons organic unsalted butter
• 3 egg yolks

Method:

Peanut Butter Crust

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Melt peanut butter and butter in a heat proof bowl. 
3. Stir in vanilla, egg and honey.
4. Add dry ingredients and stir to form dough. It'll be sticky.
5. Press the dough up the sides of a 9" tart pan.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. At 20 minutes, turn off the oven and do not open the door. Leave until ready to assemble.

Chocolate Filling + Assembly

1. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 1/4 cup coconut milk, honey and salt and simmer on low.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the rest of the coconut milk and cocoa powder. This helps the de-clump the cocoa powder. Add the mixture to the saucepan.
3. In another separate bowl, separate the egg yolks, and slight beat with a fork. Add 1/2 cup of the warmed coconut mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly and then add the egg mixture back into the saucepan.
4. Keep whisking. Cook for 3-5 minutes over medium-low heat stirring until mixture coats the back of a spoon.
5. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter until butter is melted.
6. Remove your tart shell from the oven, and pour chocolate filling in almost to the brim. 
7. Cool tart uncovered in the freezer until the top becomes firm. Transfer to the refrigerator and cover with plastic wrap.

Note 1: When you get to the assembly step, you will have filling left over. This is a very good thing. You can do two things. 1. Pour into ramekins or muffin tins and freeze for snacks. 2. Pour into ramekins and put into the refrigerator for pudding snacks. Either is awesome.

Note 2: This dessert is best accompanied with Bailey's. Be warned though: this is not for the weak of heart. :)

I learned this weekend that my aunt doesn't like chocolate/pb combo? What you say? Yes, we all said that too. So my question for you is: what's your favorite chocolate combo? What's your least favorite combo? Mine: I LOVE chocolate mint, but HATE chocolate/fruit anything. :)

{create} chalkboard vase

Update 8/2/11: I'm submitting this post to the Pinterest challenge, because before Pinterest was all the rage, I had this little project tagged on the site to remember to actually make it. And sure enough, a few weeks later, I actually did! I can't say all my *to make* projects have been successful, or even attempted, but I do love this one. Thanks for stopping by! And, if you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, I can be found here. 

Happy Monday all! Did you have a good weekend? I missed you all on Friday! But, the sun was out, the temperature hit 65 degrees in Portland and, considering this was the first nice AND warm day we'd seen since last October, I didn't have it in me to sit in front of a computer. So I went outside and played instead and it was completely lovely :).

Today, I have a fun do-it-yourself project to share. A couple weeks ago I saw that Terrain is carrying these adorable chalkboard vases:

I immediately thought: um, I could make that. Do you guys do that? I do it ALL. THE. TIME. In fact, that thought keeps me from buying a lot of stuff, even though I usually never do make said item. So, I guess that's my internal budgeting feature kicking in :). BUT, I LOVED these vases and I did actually make my own.

I think they turned out super cute, so I wanted to share a quick and easy how-to + couple ideas how to use them, so you too can have cute chalkboard vases this spring.

First, I gathered a few glasses, jars, wine bottles, etc. that we had lying around the house and gave them a good washing.

Then, I coated them with an oil-based primer. We haven't had the springiest-spring (see first paragraph), so I went with a brush and paint route, rather than spray paint. Either would work for this project.

For paint, I grabbed a couple Martha Stewart sample pots from Home Depot and painted a few coats of each on both the outside and inside. I really like the look of the painted inside and outside of the vase.

Then I just taped off where I wanted the chalkboard paint and painted two coats on each bottle. Make sure you read the directions on the chalkboard paint. It gave very specific dry and re-coat times. I was a little worried about pulling the tape off, but it came up great and neither the background paint or the chalkboard paint chipped.

So once you've made the vases, what can you do with them? Here's a few ideas:

1. Use them as a centerpiece.

Put a couple sprigs of flowers in each vase, group them together and you have an arrangement that's both springy and graphic.

This is how my vases are currently hanging out in our kitchen.

2. Place settings

I would love to use these as place settings at my next dinner party or family holiday gathering.

Each person could take their own vase and flower home, which would be an adorable gift to give your family and friends.

I think this idea would also work so well for wedding place settings/favors. They were incredibly inexpensive to make -- especially with the *recycled* glass. And, I, personally, would love to take something like this home from a wedding!

3. Give away to friends to brighten their day.

I've surprised a couple friends with flowers over the last week or so. They're a great *happy new home*, *thanks for inviting us over* or even just *happy spring!*

How would you use chalkboard vases?

{create} fabric silhouettes

Remember how I tend to ignore trends? This is another instance. I love silhouettes.  I've just never figured out where I could fit them into our house. Until recently. Since I *finished* our bedroom, I've been looking for something to put above each of our nightstands. I just had no idea what I was looking for really.

I mean, technically, the bedroom was great! But for some reason those two spaces were really bothering me. So I decided to put silhouettes above each of our nightstands ... you know, to designate a *his* and *hers* side of the bed :).

So I whipped up these babies in an afternoon.  Silhouettes are usually made with paper, but I wanted to add my own spin on the traditional silhouette and decided to make them out of fabric. I love fabric and stitching and think it adds a little more dimension than paper. Plus it's a great way to use up fabric scraps.

And here's the same space after they're hung! I love it. And I can finally let the bedroom be *done*. You know, for now :). I am still thinking about curtains for the windows ... but that's a story for another day.

Want to know how to make your own fabric silhouette? I know the answer is YES! :)

First, gather all your supplies. You'll need: silhouette pictures, paper, fabric for the silhouettes, background fabric, thread, Wonder Under (this is a link to A LOT of the stuff ... you can find it at your local craft store for less quantity and therefore less expensive) or your favorite fusible web, foam core and frames.

First, take a side photo of your head. I blacked them out because I wanted to play in photoshop one day, but since you're actually transferring them to fabric it isn't necessary. Print and carefully cut out.

Next, take your Wonder Under and attached the fabric to the sticky side.  If you haven't used Wonder Under in the past, they actually give very specific directions on the roll for how to best use.  Next, trace your paper pattern onto the backside of the Wonder Under and cut out the pattern.  Take the paper off the back side of the Wonder Under and iron your silhouette to the background fabric. The Wonder Under is great. It keeps your two fabrics in place when you're sewing, and it keeps the cut edges from fraying. Fraying can be great in some projects, but you don't want something as intricate as a face fraying. You could chance looking like you have booger hanging out your nose. Bad news.

Next using a straight stitch, trace around the outside line of the head. I used yellow thread for the contrast. The best part of this is you don't have to use your sewing machine. I default to my machine, but I had to go so slow that it actually probably would've been quicker to hand stitch. Use whichever you're more comfortable with.

When you're done, you're silhouette will look like this. Except with your or your loved ones head, not Chris'. :)

And now for framing. Of course, I have 45 empty frames in my basement, so I grabbed two of the same size. Then I cut two pieces of foam core to fit the frame.

Then wrap your fabric around the foam core, as you'd wrap a gift. I've found that tape actually secures the fabric incredibly well. But, of course, now that I've discovered my staple gun, I'd probably use that next time. You know, just for fun.

Once up, I had a hers ....

.. and a his.

And art that adds a great amount of loveliness to our bedroom.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'd love to hear .... what are you up to this weekend? We'll be working on our girls and boys projects. Of course! :)