macra-mazing: vintage macrame plant hangers
I’ve been obsessed with macrame for a few years now, ever since I lucked into two vintage macrame lawn chairs (FOR FREE!). There is something about macrame that screams 1970′s to me — in a good way — like reruns of “Three’s Company”. Maybe I’ve always wanted to be Mrs. Roper… So now, you’ll find me thrifin’ in a floral caftan (not really), scouring the aisles for little pieces of fiber-woven nostalgia, notably plant hangers. I scored the lovely jute number you see in the photo for 3 dollars, bagged with a larger unfinished hanger. Thinking that it may be a good source, I searched Etsy for more and found quite a few lovely examples, like this and this. But honestly, I had no idea that vintage plant hangers would fetch $20+, so I guess the next step would be learning the craft. This vintage leaflet looks like a good resource: and for the bargain price of $3.25. Have you ever worked with macrame? Any books or tricks of the trade you can share? — Megan B.
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steal this idea: embroidery hoops as quick frames
The world often likes to remind me how amazingly small it is — for example, I found one of my favorite reads, Picnics in the Park, through our comments here. Greta is a regular reader here, and after reading (extensively, and with delight) through her blog one day, I recognized her and her insanely cute kiddos as some of my favorite customers from my previous workplace, some two states away!! I’m so thrilled to have re-connected with her, and am thrilled even more each day to read about her lovely life in my ol’ beach town.
Greta constantly floors me with her creative solutions for decorating on next to no budget. This week’s post on her arriving-any-day new baby’s nursery is of course no exception. She quickly whipped up a garland from a photocopied IKEA napkin with fabulous results, but I was most impressed with her picture frames: embroidery hoops! She simply glued her postcards of choice to sturdy cardstock, and then glued that to the back of the embroidery hoop. To hang, she glued a hoop of bright colored raffia to the cardstock, and tacked it to the wall. Amazingly simple, yes? And I love the art she used, too. If you like what you see, be sure to do what I do — read everyday to find even more inspiration! — Megan B.
weekend diy: dress up vases!
I saw this posted on a cute blog last week and I was totally struck by what a great idea it was. Check out these small single-stem vases … can you tell what they are made with? With balloons and votive cups! Genius! Camilla over at Family Chic came up with this idea: just snip off about 1″ of a 12″ balloon, then slide the cut balloon over the votive cup. Presto — a modern vibrant bud vase! I cant wait to try this idea out at an upcoming shower I’m throwing. Thanks Camilla. — Rebecca F.
Photo credit: Family Chic
help! i need flower suggestions for diy centerpieces!
Imagine this: You’re planning a bridal shower brunch for 80 (yes, 80) guests. The invitations have been sent, the favors ordered, the menu set and venue booked. The only thing that remains in this large-scale production is deciding on and making the centerpieces for the tables. This is the dilemma facing a good friend right now, and so I’m looking to you, dear readers, for a solution. Flower arrangements can be expensive so we’re searching for some creative ideas that we can execute ourselves on a manageable budget. We’ve been looking into big, scene-stealing flowers, like peonies and hydrangeas, which might be able to do the job of bigger bouquets with fewer stems. I’m also intrigued by the idea of Martha Stewart’s paper flower tutorial as a craftier option but please, weigh in! Have any flower suggestions to share? Know of a great, executable centerpiece strategy you could pass along? Sound off in comments! — Sarah C.
steal this idea: diy reed scent diffusers
Looking for a fabulous-yet-frugal gift for the moms in your world? Something easily thrown together in minutes with things you probably have around the house? Well, then let me suggest these DIY reed scent diffusers — they are way cooler than the ones you see for $15 each. I’d been thinking I should make my own ever since I saw the first crazy-expensive air fresheners in a specialty shop years ago. They just looked TOO SIMPLE. So this year, when wracking my brain for mom’s day gifts, I remembered my stash of used SanBitter bottles, and decided to give it a shot.
I did a bit of Googling to see how it was done, and I found this post from Young House Love in 2009, but I was disappointed to see that they had just used Mrs. Meyer’s Household Cleaner as their scent (nothing against Mrs Meyer’s — I SWEAR by the lavender products). I wanted to custom-blend my own scents. Thankfully I found this helpful post at TipNut to help me make my own uniquely scented gifts. I used a mix of grapeseed and sweet almond oils as my “carrier oil”, added a splash of vodka to help it diffuse, and my favorite essential oils, gave it a shake — and BOOM. That’s it.
What you will need:
Bamboo skewers
small bottles or narrow necked vases
vodka
essential oils
grapeseed or sweet almond oil
Trim the pointed ends off the skewers with wire cutters or sturdy kitchen shears. To mix the scented oil, measure out 1/4 c grapeseed/almond oil, add a splash of Vodka and 12-20 drops of essential oil. Shake. Pour in your vessel (no more than 3/4 full), add the skewers, and flip them a few times to start the diffusion more quickly. Favorite scent combinations are grapefruit & sandalwood, lavender & clary sage, and black pepper & palmarosa. Have you ever made them? Share your results in the comments! — Megan B.
