What's Up With Washi?

I've been out of touch. Out of touch, that is, with Etsy. For awhile I was on there constantly. Maybe it's because of Pinterest. Maybe it's because I am trying to be fiscally conservative! No matter the reason I think I need to get back into it. If you are not familiar with Etsy - well come out from under your rock! I mean really - it has grown soooo much since my sister and I "discovered" it years ago while searching for outlets to market our crafty wares. There is so much about it I love. It is really beautifully designed, managing to be both minimalist and chock full of information all at the same time. It pioneered some brilliant little widgets that really serve web marketing well. And of course there is the wonderful collection of artists who have made Etsy their home. Check out a few of my favorites: for charming handcrafted party and paper goods (including a fine selection of Japanese Washi tape):  Back to Zero and Sunshine & Ravioli; for artisan-style jewelry there's Artisan Look and Lavender Cottage plus these shops, featured above, for fashion, home decor and fine art.

Crafty Me: Covered Boxes Mean Pretty Closets

I posted a little taste of this mini re-organization project sometime ago. It took me a bit but I finally got to finish off the enhancements for my linen closet! You all know that I don't REALLY have any terribly messy closets or drawers. When I moved here I took the time to edit all the stuff that came with me and plan what, of the remainder, would go where. I ordered all the right shelves and organizers to put my plan into action. It wasn't until a few weeks ago, courtesy of Pinterest, that I began yearning, not so much for more organization in this closet, but for more prettiness!

My first priority was to cover the ugly storage boxes (on the floor in the before). I bought a few yards of solid, neutral duck and a fresh, modern floral that coordinated nicely with the soft pink paint I used on the closet walls. Next up: add bins to each shelf to help separate and contain all the linens. I hid those ugly rags in one, rolled the smaller hand towels in another and arranged washcloths in a third. Another little tweak required a wire shelf to separate the storage boxes on the floor so I can easily slide out the bottom ones. I added a wire under-shelf basket to maximize that space even more. Finally I re-thought how I folded the remaining pieces. I remember Martha Stewart's way of folding all her sheets in a set inside one of the pillow cases to keep them together but I never thought that made for a neat package. Instead I fold and stack the fitted sheet and pillow cases then wrap the flat sheet around them. This way they look great even when stored upright! Another helpful little trick is to roll instead of fold. This allows you, with a little bit of planning, to perfectly fill almost any size space. I even rolled bath towels and stacked them the long way - that's them to the right of the rag bin. They look good!

And there you have it: an organized, pretty - and best of all - stress-free, easy to use closet!

Crafty Me: Decor

First off - let me apologize for these pictures - it is so dang hard to get any kind of quality light in this room! I didn't get a handle on my photography this week but I did have time for 2 of my favorite things: a craft project and some new decor. When I moved into my condo 5 years ago I pretty quickly decided that I wanted a calming, serene, relatively dark monochromatic color scheme in the master bedroom. I painted all the walls a rich and neutral tan (Martha Stewart's Skylark), laid a very deep-tone, high-sheen mahogany floor and chose shades of dark cherry for all the furniture. I installed beautiful Dupioni silk floor length drapes (Pottery Barn's Clay) and bought a chocolate velvet tufted headboard (Ballard Designs' Squire) along with 2 different ensembles and about half a bajillion pillows for the bed. The only part of the decor that left me a bit stumped was the wall art. The ceiling slopes from the window wall at 8 feet to about 12 feet on the opposite side. The headboard is rather high but there is still enough space above to feel like it needed something. The most dire need was the wall over the vanity table which felt very empty. In the end I opted to fill the space with non-traditional decor. I found an elegant wall decal ("Everyday holds the possibility of a Miracle!") that perfectly fit the space over the headboard, preventing it from feeling either cramped or forgotten. Later, another installation - a flock of butterflies fluttering across the wall over the vanity and behind two embossed plaques - was inspired by a lovely stained glass piece I received as a gift {bottom, left}. Now, the last spot - on the 12-foot high wall - has finally been filled with a selection of fun chipboard signs I found at the craft shop. I bought a fleur-de-lis, the words "live", "laugh" and "love" plus a crown to top it all off {bottom, right} and painted them with the leftover wall paint for a subtle, relief look. I hit them with a soft spray of gold glitter paint so they catch a little light every now and then. I am really happy with how these turned out. They are just what I wanted: something that would be a little different, a little creative and thoughtful, but unexpected as well. Where do you look for inspiration when an odd space or a tight budget way-lays your grand decorating plans?

Crafty Me: I Love Labels!

One might wonder why a person who lives alone would need to have labels on 3 little bins in their closet. I'm afraid I can't really come up with a good answer for that. I would just have to say that I love organization. I love when a plan comes together. And I love graphic elements, fonts and consistency. Yeah. Crazy. So I already had a beautifully organized master/walk-in closet with matching, padded, canvas and wood hangers; rolling carts full of bins and wire drawers; wide PVC hanger bags for holiday clothes and seasonal linens; a wide shelf full of covered totes for dust protection; plenty of hooks, a full length mirror and, finally, baskets for additional sorting of clothes meant for handwashing, dry cleaning or donation. Now comes the really crazy part: adding labels to my finely tuned closet system. {LABEL NUMBER ONE}...I have a little clothing quirk: I only wear long, dark pants. No skirts, no dresses, no shorts, no white slacks. I have multiples of all kinds of dark pants: long, black, dress pants; short, narrow-leg, brown pants; wide-leg, cropped black pants; loose, comfy, weekend, black pants...well you get the idea. Thing is in the morning, with my eyes at half-mast and the sun nowhere near flooding in my closet, it's kind of hard to figure out which is which! So I made a big, retro-style label for each hanger. Now I can know at a glance where to grab the one I want. Love this idea! {LABEL NUMBER TWO}...Next up: totes and bins. This was an easy fix now that I had the hanger label design in hand! {LABEL NUMBER THREE}...The last problem that needed solving: to launder or not to launder? I read many years ago that you actually prolong the life of your clothes and preserve their condition and shape if, in lieue of harsh cleaning after every wearing, you simply let them air out once in awhile. Now after every other use or so I'll hang  each garment on a separate hook overnight. In these cases I like to mark the hangers before placing them back on the rack to insure I don't pack or store the item before re-laundering. I customized some old business cards with my new design, cut each in half and punched a hole in the center of each piece - star-shaped just for fun! I keep a bunch of these in a bowl in the closet and drop one over the neck of the hanger when I put a lightly worn blouse or jacket back on the rod. And there you have it - a peek into an obsessive-compulsive's closet dream!

Crafty Me: More than Friends

C'mon, you know you want these! Did you go to camp when you were a kid? I did not. Did you have craft projects when you were in grade school? I did not. Did you and your BFFs share secret pacts and friendship trinkets when you were growing up? I did not. But then along came my BBF (best blog friend) Joy turning me onto this post at Honestly WTF and I was off! The hardest part was finding the Chinese knotting cord, which I ended up ordering online from the link Erica gave us. I already had these little silver bits from a past project. I only had to finish one before I got the hang of the right knot tension. I made 6 or 7 after that and all came out perfect! I love them - they are so cute and young. But they're still nice for us old gals - they don't look like we're trying too hard cause they're JUST FUN!

Crafty Me: Jars

Here's a fun craft project that I first found on Pinterest. It was posted all over the web but I ultimately tracked the link back to here. It's a super easy and quick project. The transformation from recycled jar to quirky vase or pencil cup takes only some store bought bottles of enamel glass paint. The best part, I think, is in choosing the colors. I started with one light grass green (middle) and one pale blue (2nd from left). I then mixed the 2 colors, sometimes with ivory, to get a nice range of related tones. Experiment with your paint colors and bottle shapes. I want to do shades of pink, coral and magenta next. These jars look a little country/salvaged and I kind of like the honesty of that. You could certainly do the same thing to store-bought clear glass vases and bowls and get a sleeker, more sophisticated look. That might be cool to try in elegant shades of gray with a little silver metallic thrown in. Directions: Working over a protective surface pour a generous amount of the pre-mixed paint into a clean and dry jar or vase. Carefully swirl the paint around until the vessel is fully coated. Pour the excess back into the paint container. For a neat and professional look make sure to remove all paint from the neck and top edge of the opening. Clean up any spills or smudges on the outside of the glass before the paint sets. Let the jars stand open and unused until all the paint fully sets. By the way I would not recommend using these for any food substance - reserve them for decorative uses.

Crafty Me: Decalmania

I am feeling the effects of a life without charm again. There have been few pretty things to capture my attention. I've not dived into my craft closet in oh so long. The daily grind, the rat race, the boredom of taking care of business each day, I admit, is getting to me. I am creatively challenged at the moment! My recent visits to Maine and Mass have tickled me a bit. I'm not quite ready to chuck it all and dedicate myself to a life in art (or craft). But I have found myself gettin' happy about some others' work. Bloggers have been all over these water decals for awhile but this post from the painted hive moved me to action! I am decaling my brains out....oh the possibilities! Get crazy along with me and download some of my pantry labels here and here.