oh, what a staple gun can do.

before: square bulletin board covered in cheap fabric for $5 on the clearance rack at hobby lobby

after: cute little clip board for hanging/displaying earrings, or any other small lightweight thing that could be attached to paper and clipped on!

how to: I cut neutral cream-colored fabric to size (with a little extra to wrap around the edges) & stapled it in place on the back edges. I used two pieces to make sure the old brown cloth didn’t show through, & realized right afterward that I probably should have ironed it first. The trick here is to stretch it nice & tight before stapling, & to use lots of staples to secure it. then I stretched lengths of green ribbon across, eyeballing a generally equal distance between them & stapled them to the backs too. i used an iron photo easel to make it stand up on the table. done & done!

before: shabby chic style tabletop floral birdhouse fence thingy (maybe supposed to be used as a background for indoor plants?) for $4 at goodwill

after: tabletop hanging necklace display for craft shows!

how to: I started by removing the little birdhouses & attached grass by unscrewing the poles & gently pulling them out. Then I used a little green paint to dab over the little painted flowers to make it more leafy & less floral, & painted the pink ribbon detail into two green leaf details. i also dabbed on some green paint over the gray checkerboard edges. i added a few little nails into the top of the display (corresponding with each fence point) to hang the necklace hangtags. add the necklaces & presto! show-ready! I really love how these two cheapies transformed, & was really excited about how much they added to the look of my craft show booth! i’m getting there, slowly but surely.

craft show woes.

{this post could alternately be titled 'when the going gets tough, the tough use a bedsheet for a tablecloth'. which is what i did!}

it seems like every time i prep for a craft show i have some crazy story to tell, beyond just my usual procrastination and resulting late-night preparations the night before. my husband's favorite one to tell is how the night before my very first craft show i starting pricing my products at about midnight. of course, by pricing i do not mean writing a price on a sticker and sticking it on the item {oh no, for that would be way too simple}. i started tea-dying and hand lettering each tag to be different with a price and a small item description. when at about 1 am the tags were dyed but not dry enough to start lettering them, i sat dabbing them with paper towels and then trying to dry them with a hair dryer. at about 2 am, i gave into the 'you are a completely crazy woman' look my sweet helpful husband was giving me, and finally went to bed.

oh, perfectionism.

luckily, the two days leading up to this most recent craft show were not as dramatic or eventful. this time it was just a complete and total breakdown of my sewing machine, and some unpleasantness that looked and felt suspiciously like pink eye in my right eye. i tried to prevent the late-night before getting up at the crack of dawn for the show by staying up as late as i needed to on thursday night instead of friday {the show being on saturday}, but as it was, i still didn't finish several coasters and my new shop-name banner i had planned to, due mostly to the broken sewing machine.

it all ended up working out fine- i had enough product to fill my booth, and was really happy with how it looked. i feel like each show i've done has moved me a little bit closer to how i've wanted it to look all along. even though the sales were quite a bit disappointing for this particular show, i did get some good feedback on my display and product, which is good. and, i remembered to take pictures!

designer's downtown market, july 2009

my happy little price tags! {not too elaborate this time}

since i had one borrowed folding chair and nowhere for my husband to sit {he came to help me set up and then stuck around long enough to bring lunch! best husband ever!} he also ran out to target to get us a second chair. they were so affordable he got two, knowing how much i love a matching set! and in green, to boot! what a good man...

i also have to give him a big huge, official, blog thank you for all the help he's given me recently. i have a big exciting change in the works for this blog that i'll be unveiling very soon, and he's been instrumental in helping me work though all the details. he is so much more creative than he lets on! thanks so much, babe!

all in all, i must say my favorite part of the day was when we got home, took all the craft stuff out of the car, then immediately loaded it back up with stuff and headed to the beach for a few days! we're here enjoying sand and surf {and naughty fried seafood} but spotty internet, so it may turn out to be a little vacation from all things technological as well. have a great week!

cookies + cupcakes

happy fourth of july!

leave it to a former senior art director at martha stewart {and current book/stationary designer} to come up with one of the most genius cupcake ideas of all time {not to mention a truly beautiful blog}. each cupcake with a cookie on a stick sticking out of it? yes, please! why is it the most simple ideas that are always so gorgeous and lovely {and delicious, in this case!}? trademark example of the wonderful-ness of martha, thanks to the amazing designers behind her branding. awesome!

{just because she worked for martha stewart, i can almost forgive her for her photos being so perfect, and for the general "i should be making things more" feeling i get from reading. ps- i do realize and apologize for so many scrolly little parenthesis for just one paragraph}.

because wipes should be pretty too!

today i finally worked on a project i've been wanting to do for quite awhile now! i was really itching to do something to this plain ol' little disposable-travel-wipes case, which was so plain it was almost sad! i figure if it's something you're going to use every day, it might as well be pretty. i don't know, i guess there's something about that wide expanse of plain whiteness that makes me want to break out some paper and glue....

diaper wipes travel case tutorial

you will need:

• plain plastic travel wipes case


• scissors


• patterned cardstock (just a scrap!)


• a paintbrush


• pen or pencil


• decorative scrapbooking rub-ons


• something to scrape/rub your rub-ons with (although they usually come with a popsicle stick for that)


• modge podge or some kind of decoupage glue (i like to use matte perfect paper adhesive because it makes such a nice, pretty, non-sticky finish)

step one:
open the little circular wipe-dispensing part and trace around as much of it as you can. you may need to use the edge of the table to make it lay flat. mine had a slightly raised edge that if i pressed it down on the paper, it left a slight indented ring that i could use to complete the outline of the circle.

step 2:
cut out the oval and trim the edges a little at a time until it fits perfectly into the little opening. glue it into the spot with a light layer of glue/adhesive, being careful not to glue any part of the opening closed!

step 3:
cut out and arrange the rub-on shapes or letters without removing the backing yet. move them around and get the placement perfectly where you want it. you can even cut some of the designs apart & mix & match them. try it out a few different ways & make sure you like it.

step 4:
when you decide on the design you like best, remove the backings and scrape/rub carefully to get the design to transfer. know that it might take a lot of rubbing! what ended up working the best for me was to use the back of a slanted pen cap. very gently peeling back the paper the design is on as you go (careful not to rip/break the design though!) can also help.

step 5:
when it's all done and looks how you want it to, use the paintbrush to paint a light layer of the modge podge or adhesive over your design and over the paper circle in the middle, again, being careful not to glue closed any openings that make the case functional! after the first coat dries, you might want to add additional coats until the edges of the rub-ons feel smooth.

and done!

tuck it in your bag and get ready to hear "where did you get that?" every time you whip out your wipes on the go!

all in all, i spent about $7.50 on this project, here is the breakdown:
-$3.50 for the wipes case full of wipes (huggies- you can keep refilling it)
-$1.99 for each of the 2 sets of rub-ons (if you can get away with only using one set the cost here would be even less! i think a monogram would be super cute too)
-already had the glue, scissors, paintbrush, paper scrap, and adhesive.

because an octopus wouldn't do.

ever since having kenna, i've thought that if we have a boy next, i'd like to do his nursery in calm blue sailboats with a nice little accent of whale. because what maritime adventure is complete without a bit of whale sighting?

insert "whale of a... (good idea, fun time, etc.)" joke here.

but nautical things seem to be all the rage right now, and believe it or not {and here's something that seems really strange to say} a quick etsy search revealed that there are LOTS of cute whale things out there! it seems that whales are no longer relegated to men's embroidered shorts while on vacation on cape cod, but have entered the realm of super cute, especially for baby! hmm, maybe i am thinking whale with a touch of sailboat after all...

1. notecard by moonmum

2. onesie by veryKIKI

3. carved name stamp by cupcaketree

4. appliqued pillow by seamsewswell

5. cross stitch kit by andwabisabi

6. wood puzzle by usnavyretiredvet

7. diaper cake by tushiesnterrycloth

8. chalkboard by suddenly,it's real!

and maybe since i got the "k" necklace to wear for kenna, i might get a little whale to wear for a little boy! love love love it. and that little whale piggy bank on top of the diaper cake? :::swoon:::

silver necklace by silversparrowdesigns

a tad obsessed.

so you already know i'm a tad obsessed with cupcakes.

i finally settled on a theme {of sorts} for kenna's first birthday party! admittedly, i still have about 5 months to plan for it, but hey... i like to be prepared. and i loooooove cupcakes {and imagine she will to!} it all started with my default colors, pink and brown. i discovered a gorgeous patchwork happy birthday banner thanks to meringue designs on etsy, with an equally gorgeous pink tablescape that had me at the pink juice boxes:

{photo: deep thoughts by cynthia}

and then my love of cupcakes took over. my hope is for the party to look something like these:

{photo: goody blog}

and just for fun, some normal-sized ones and itty-bitty ones like these!

{photo: chotda}

{photo: martha stewart}

{photos: kumquat cupcakery}

{photo: jules cupcakes}

{photo: bakerella}

and maybe some party favors if i get super ambitious:

i'm so excited to put all these ideas into practice! hurry, up birthday!

epic fail.

even the most experienced, admired, successful crafters sometimes have "duds" or "fails"... projects that seemed like great ideas at the time or that veered a little too far off pattern or that were born of no pattern whatsoever to unfortunate results. i've of course had several over the years! i looked through some older posts looking for pictures of them, but it seems that i've either avoided or destroyed all the photographic evidence! however you want to label them, they can be frustrating... seemingly a waste of always precious time and materials.

but, when you put them all together from multiple crafters in one place on one website...

pure. hilarity.

they simply call it: craft fail.

i literally laughed so hard i cried.