DIY woven wine-cork trivet with loop hanger
Ten years ago, I made a bath mat out of wine corks. It took 175 corks, but I still had tons of them left over. No, I didn’t drink a ton of wine. In fact, I don’t drink alcohol at all. I gathered them from
DIY no-sew scalloped tablecloth
Many years ago, I bought white flannel-backed vinyl by the yard at Walmart with the intention of making a scallop-edged tablecloth for my round pedestal table. Fast forward past two moves and the sale of that table, and this fabric remained rolled up in a closet. I […]
DIY easy ribbon wreath
I originally made this as a Christmas wreath, but now that I see it again, it works just as well as a Valentine’s Day wreath. It’s the easiest project I’ve done so far.
Admittedly, it looks candy caney. But that’s the beauty of this project: You can choose any ribbons you want. […]
DIY fabric-covered box = recycling tote
Ever need something that you’re sure exists, but once you go looking for it, you come up empty? I searched for a bin in which to toss all my paper recycling (let’s face it: junk mail). And I wanted it to fit on the bottom pull-out shelf of my not-so-attractive-but-necessary microwave […]
DIY mitered-corner cloth napkins
When I needed cloth napkins for my Easter table setting, I couldn’t find any that looked good with the color palette. But I had the ideal fabric on hand. So I examined the perfectly mitered corners on my Williams-Sonoma napkins and figured out how to […]
DIY Easter tree, egg ornaments & garland
My grandmother and great-grandmother were both crafty. My great-grandmother specialized in tatting, crochet, and ribbon roses. My grandmother dabbled in many handicrafts, including painting china, sculpting clay roses, découpaging, quilling, welding, and making 3D pictures (I’ll teach you the latter someday). She even made adorable […]
DIY coffee filter snowball wall light
Lately I’ve been working with wire and wire mesh. First I made jewelry holders, then a jingle bell ornament, and now this decorative light fixture. I call it the Snowball light because it reminds me of the giant snowballs that terrorize Scrat, the acorn-obsessed saber-toothed squirrel in the movie […]
DIY chicken wire jingle bell ornament
When I blogged about my wire mesh jewelry holders with beads, I mentioned that I planned to make a Christmas ornament out of wire. Here it is. But instead of ¼-inch hardware cloth, I went with chicken wire. Apparently, it’s called poultry netting these days, but my family raised chickens […]
Carol’s DIY decoupage plates
Last week, I blogged about Carol Endler Sterbenz’s new book Homemade: The Heart and Science of Handcrafts. This week, I’m honored to welcome Carol as a guest nester! This decoupage plate tutorial is just one of the many fabulous projects in her book. Carol writes, “Of all the […]
Isabela’s DIY leather coffee sleeves + a giveaway
I am happy to present our next guest nester: my new friend Isabela! Her husband and I met at Sportivo Coffee Bar (which is now closed) in Redwood City, Calif. (I don’t drink coffee, but my friend owned the place, so I visited often.) Isabela makes these leather coffee sleeves, which […]
DIY studded tile mirror
I have a history with tile mirrors. The house in which I grew up had a rustic fireplace with 1970s tile mirrors glued to the wall above it. Painted in the center of the grouping of mirrors was a tall ship. It had a face. I swear I could see eyes […]
DIY riveted sheet-metal magnet board
This giant riveted sheet-metal magnet board was the centerpiece of my office makeover that Sylvania sponsored. And now I’m going to show you how to make it. This is the first of a few tutorials from the Sylvania Blogger Makeover Challenge. Next week, I will show […]
DIY handbag set: coin purse, tissue pouch, pen sleeve, eyeglasses case, business card pocket
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! This year I made myself my own Valentine’s gift. I loved the feel of this reversible fabric scrap that I got from FabMo. It’s woven but soft and thick like knit. The beauty of this craft project is it takes very little fabric. […]
DIY sheet music Christmas tree ornaments
Homemade ornaments are so much more fun, rewarding, and cheaper than buying them. Especially when they’re made of paper — in this case, sheet music. That’s why I included so many paper ornaments in my handmade holiday gift list. For this project, I made stars, but you […]
Fabric + pom-pom trim = DIY tablecloth
I own blue and white dishes. Normally this isn’t a problem — until I try to find a cute tablecloth that looks good with my dishes. Apparently, blue as a kitchen or dining color has been out for several seasons. The market is flooded with red, green, and aqua.
Instead of waiting […]
The hats of Victoria: DIY paper silhouettes
This is the third and final post in my Victoria magazine series. As I mentioned in my last post, hats were commonplace in Victoria magazine. In fact, every issue included at least one woman wearing a hat. Below are some of Victoria’s […]
DIY tulle tutu pendant lamp
Ever since I spotted Swedish designer Jonas Bohlin’s tulle lamp in Gudrun Sjödén’s catalog last year (below), I’ve been dying to make my own. I finally did it! I started with Ikea’s Melodi pendant lamp, then added tulle. Never having attempted anything like […]
DIY giant craft-stick snowflakes
I could hardly wait to show you this Popsicle stick craft! These snowflakes are fun, easy, and so inexpensive to make. The smallest snowflake is 12 inches across; the largest is 24 inches. I had some rhinestones left over from my Christmas tree advent calendar, so I glued some at the […]
DIY salvaged wood pencil & pen caddy
I had a scrap 4×4 piece of wood sitting around and decided to put it to use. Drilling the holes in this desk caddy was a bit harder than it looks. This was my third try. It made me wish for a drill press. But, if you have a steady hand […]
DIY wine cork trivet
My sister Christy came up with this super easy idea, and I love it. Even better: I had all the supplies on hand. No, I don’t drink wine, but I have plenty of friends who do. They saved their corks for a big project I have planned. I could spare a […]
DIY starburst mirror
I am sorry for the suspense regarding my toolbox dresser project. I haven’t made much progress on it yet. In the meantime, I decided to make a starburst mirror. This project was a cinch because I learned from the mistakes I made on my sunburst mirror. The basic […]
Heika’s DIY hemp-string pendant lamps
Super talented Heika DeHart strikes again. These pendant lamps she made of hemp string are genius. Plus, don’t you love how they look with her wallpaper? Heika writes: “I fell in love with West Elm’s Abaca pendent lamps a few years ago but, as usual, my taste […]
Easy DIY pillow cover with zipper
I am redecorating my living room. Red has been lovely, but the colors of the sea are calling me. I like Ikea’s Fjädrar inner cushions (which are 20 x 20 inches), but none of Ikea’s pillow covers go with my new color scheme. So, using […]
DIY project: adding bamboo veneer flowers to Ikea Lack tables
Last year I fell in love with Jason Horvath’s Sakura table from Uhuru (below). It was out of my price range, so I decided to make my own version using some bamboo veneer a friend gave me and two Ikea Lack tables I […]
DIY faux-capiz-shell lampshade
Some of you may remember my first faux capiz shell lampshade that I made for Sunset magazine. It was originally inspired by West Elm’s popular capiz table lamp (below). I was going for the mod look, but multicolored just isn’t my style. […]
Heika’s DIY stenciled wall
The last tutorial that Heika is sharing with us is how she painted an intricate handmade stencil on her daughter’s bedroom walls. She writes, “This project was quite time-consuming, but the final product was worth all of the work. I made this stencil the same way I did […]
Heika’s DIY paper silhouettes
My friend Heika DeHart beautifully transformed her daughter’s bedroom. One of her handmade projects in that room were these stencils. And she’s sharing how she made them. She writes, “This was a simple, inexpensive project. I thought it would be sweet to have silhouettes of my daughter hanging on her wall but […]
Heika’s DIY stenciled dresser
Our newest guest nester Heika DeHart shared photos of her daughter’s bedroom, which was full of decor that Heika handmade herself, including this beautifully stenciled dresser. Now she’s sharing her step-by-step instructions for how she transformed the lackluster chest of drawers.
Heika bought the dresser at a university auction […]
Heika’s DIY little girl’s bedroom
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 with all of us. […]
DIY basket drawer unit
My brother and I custom built this unit. I couldn’t find the right piece of furniture that had small drawers and deep drawers. I found these Branäs baskets at Ikea, but Ikea doesn’t make a unit like this to hold them. So, I drew up the plans to build this shelf […]
DIY faux-frosted glass doors
I got this idea from the plastic adhesive window coverings that Sarah Gaffney used in Sunset magazine’s 2008 Menlo Park Idea House. The window coverings (see below) from British designer Emma Jeffs are sold by Design Public. Sarah wrote […]
DIY hanging postcard collage
Last year, I asked for suggestions on ways to display my postcard collection. Everyone had great ideas. But this postcard “tapestry” idea came to me, and I had to try it. It would also work well for photos or Christmas cards. You can easily rotate in new ones whenever you like. […]
Carving pumpkins with a drill
I’ve been dying to try drilling pumpkins for two years, and I finally did it. It’s fun, but after drilling three pumpkins, my hand got tired from holding the drill. But it was worth it. Those daisies are sitting in a jar full of water inside the pumpkin. How, then, did […]
DIY odds & ends rack
Everyone knows necessity is the mother of invention. But, I’m here to say that mistakes can also be the mother of invention. My first spice rack attempt did not go so well. I used an old sketch and didn’t double-check the measurements. Consequently, the rack was too small to hold […]
DIY spice rack
My old spice rack wasn’t cutting it. It only held 12 tins. I’m not a prolific cook, but even I quickly outgrew it. Still, I needed a compact storage solution because I share a small kitchen with my roommate, and countertop space is limited. I couldn’t find a spice rack to […]