DIY Pottery and Tea tasting, paper flower garlands

A few months ago I was standing in line at a craft supply store when I met Krista, of Krista Moll Photography. She was holding a stack of blank brown paper bags, and since the line was about 40 people long, I asked her what she was using them for. Her answer: a tea tasting event! I was intrigued. Turns out that Krista recently started conducting tea tasting events paired with yoga, and was planning a tea + pottery event! I started following her on Instagram and the rest is history. 

Click to read on about the pottery we made from clay!

Painting an upholstered chair

I've been on the hunt for a wingback armchair for years now. One with perfect bones, a light grey color. I decided to give this tan wingback armchair (gifted by a neighbor cleaning out their shed) a makeover. Although I've sewn a new cover for a square-shaped ottoman before, I decided that sewing a cover for this wingback chair was one DIY project that I did not feel up to, despite watching countless tutorial videos.

Instead, I decided to paint the chair instead to give it a new look. First, I cleaned the chair thoroughly with a spray bottle filled with water, dishwashing soap, and vinegar, scrubbing carefully with a brush, and then I cleaned it with vodka, which removes odors and is a trick that many professional upholstery stores use. I let it air dry in the 98 degree Durham heat and then set to work painting!

Before and after applying chalky paint!

Read on for the tutorial.

Twine-wrapped monogram door wreath

It's been awhile since I've posted! With Andrew on an away rotation for his residency, it's actually been harder to stay motivated, eat something besides frozen pizza for dinner, exercise and blog more regularly. This past week my neighbor took me under her wing and taught me how to knit and how to make organize handmade soap. That gave me the little kick I needed to get going on some craft projects! P.S. I now have newfound respect for anyone who knits because it took me FOREVER to knit 4 rows...

I recently made a twine-wrapped monogram wreath for a friend who just bought a new house. Surprisingly, wrapping the twine around the cardboard took longer than I expected. I finished playing 3 Settlers games while hot-gluing the twine to the letter. My husband pointed out that I trailed small bits of dried hot glue all over the Settlers game pieces. Oops. And sometimes I was in the middle of wrapping the twine, when it was my turn to roll the dice for my turn. Needless to say, Andrew ended up rolling the dice a lot for me.

Click below for the tutorial for the twine-wrapped monogram!

Embroidery hoop & modern calligraphy

I finally took the leap and tried embroidery + handlettering as a Christmas gift for my friend K, who teaches workshops on mindful brushlettering.

 I was worried that the letters would turn out all shaky or crooked but am pleased with the final result! K had mentioned that the combination of embroidery with calligraphy has been a rising trend this year. I've been practicing brushlettering with brushes, Tombow dual pens, and Daiso pens recently, and Andrew also gifted me with this calligraphy set that I'm excited to try out soon.

 Mindfulness is a practiced discipline of just noticing and describing events so as to process them more carefully instead of automatically repeating a script or mantra. The Mindful Brain, by Dan Siegel

Click below for the tutorial!

Personalized wood slice ornaments with calligraphy

Now that I've given all my Christmas gifts away, I can finally post them up here! When I asked my sister what she wanted for Christmas, she told me, "anything you make!" She is my biggest fan and I love her for it! I decided to make her a personalized wood slice ornament because she really liked the monogram wood slice coasters I made for my brother-in-law.

I also made my friends a personalized ornament for their first Christmas together as a married couple.

For my friend's daughter. They ended up using this to label the door to her nursery!

Click below for the tutorial!

DIY Pallet Bench

After 11 months of storing a pallet in our garage hoping to make it into a DIY project, we finally bit the bullet and made it into a bench for our front porch!

Click below for the tutorial!

DIY Tutorial: Wood Branch Slice Monogrammed Coasters

My brother-in-law is getting married this weekend and I decided to gift the newlyweds with monogrammed wood slice coasters!

My friend Alex helped me slice the logs. He was quite the trooper because it took us several tries to a) find the right size log that didn't have cracks and b) he did all the slicing while his wife Kristin held the log steady and closed her eyes because she didn't have extra safety goggles. Do as I say not as I do...wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from flying pieces of wood!!

 If you don't have wood logs/branches laying around and/or a saw, you can buy wood slices here.

Read on for the tutorial below.

DIY Letter Decor

I've longed to make letter decor for awhile now, and the perfect opportunity arose when I threw my coworker and friend B a baby shower! I love it when my friends announce their baby name ahead of time because it enables me to go all-out in personalizing their baby gifts and baby shower decor. B chose the name Luke for her baby boy. 

It took Andrew a long while to guess what I made these letters from....cereal boxes! We kind of have a problem in our household, AKA consuming mass quantities of cereal--Honey Nut Cheerios, Frosted Mini Wheats, and our favorite, Honey Bunches of Oats. In college I used to eat cereal for breakfast, afternoon snacks, and midnight snacks. Basically, we have tons of cereal boxes, and I finally found a way to upcycle them!

Read on for the full tutorial!

Gardening tool organizer from upcycled door

One year ago my husband and I moved into our townhouse in North Carolina after driving all the way from Saint Louis, MO. We miss Saint Louis and our friends there dearly but have been adjusting well to life in beautiful NC. One of the perks of living in a townhome community where the builders just recently finished constructing the last row of houses is that they have extra unwanted leftover pieces of wood, like this pantry door which has a crack through the side (not pictured below). 

My poor husband had to endure this old door sitting around in our garage for several months before I finally came up with a way to upcycle it: organizer for our gardening and grilling tools! We now store this garden organizer in the patio for easy access to all the tools we need.

DIY Wooden Bicycle Sign with Brushlettering

Time for another collab with Karmomo! This collaboration includes brushlettering calligraphy + upcycling hardwood flooring.

Bicycling is one of the few ways of exercising that my husband and I never get tired of. We used to live by Forest Park in St. Louis and really miss being able to bike directly into the park from our apartment and the scenic trails (with live horses, huge fountains, and free museums!).

So it only made sense that I jump on the bicycle-art-trend and feature a bicycle somewhere in our living room, which is sadly lacking in art. My fireplace mantel has been looking empty since we moved in, and we decided that a DIY wood (pallet-esque) sign would fit perfectly. It just so happens that we have a few pieces of hardwood floor left over from our new hardwood floors. I love upcycling! And not having to stain wood ourselves!

Sneak peek of K's beautiful calligraphy!

Read on for the tutorial! 

DIY Tutorial: Personalized wedding dress hanger

It's June, which means wedding season has begun! I love making bridal shower gifts and one of my favorites is this personalized wedding dress wire hanger. Pictured below is the first one that I made a few years ago.

        

Read on for the tutorial!

DIY Personalized Baby Hat

When I found out that one of my best friends was having a baby boy, I was elated both for her expanding family and for the chance to finally use my Pinterest board that I'd been adding to for the past few years! I decided to create a simple personalized baby cap with their last name, "Baker". Here's the tutorial below!