Hi everyone! Bet you thought I fell into a hole somewhere. Nah, just job hunting now that I’m done with school. Anyone want to hire me? :) Anyway, I attended the San Francisco International Gift Fair last Saturday, and I ran across these flower-covered paper lanterns at the zappobz booth. I begged to take a [...]

I planned to make a flower-covered paper lantern for months. Not until I found a white poinsettia garland at a Michael’s after-Christmas clearance did it become a reality. Normally, I’m not a fan of fake flowers, but I think this is a great way to use them. I had some leftover pom-pom fringe, so I [...]

Here’s a last-minute idea for us last-minute gift wrappers. I felt guilty about discarding those round, sturdy cardboard canisters that hold nuts, cocoa, and other foods. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think they can be recycled (aluminum + cardboard?). But they definitely can be reused! Here, I covered them in gift wrap [...]

I had a box of 1000 craft sticks and no idea what to do with them. I wasn’t about to start building 1980s Popsicle stick jewelry boxes. I eventually came up with some Christmas ideas. This advent calendar is my first craft stick project. I’ll post my other ideas next week. The advent calendar is [...]

I know: Monica, you need to get your seasons straight, right? I’m celebrating Spring in November because I couldn’t wait four months to share these beauties. Besides, red and green makes it almost Christmasy. I’m sure you recognize this window that used to be a mirror. I decided I had too many mirrors in my [...]

My friend Julie inspired this idea. She framed some fall leaves in a large clear acrylic frame. I loved its simplicity. These Coach picture frames that I received as a gift years ago were perfect for spelling out a word. I had five frames, but I was set on spelling hope, so I added a [...]

Some of you may remember my first faux capiz shell lampshade that I made for Sunset. I was going for the mod look but didn’t quite pull it off. Then I discovered, after two years of use, that the colored rice paper fades badly. The white circles still look beautiful, however, so I decided to [...]

My new friend, Heika DeHart, shared these images of her daughter Aspen’s adorable bedroom. Nearly every decoration in the room was created from scratch by Heika herself. My favorite project is the stunning dresser. I loved the result so much, I asked her to share her instructions. She tells how she made her own stencils, [...]

Got drawer pulls, pants hangers, and photos (or your children’s artwork) lying around? With a few supplies, you can hang them on the wall in minutes—and easily swap them out when the fancy strikes. The best part is drawer pulls look like antique picture hangers—for a fraction of the cost. And the girls? Three of my [...]

Our first guest nesters! Jessie and Dee Lorimer gave me the instructions to make these adorable accordion-style books. They’re a little more complicated than my bound books, but they don’t require any specialized tools or supplies. Plus, they’re well worth the effort!