You can do this too!

I've recently seen a lot of blog articles on how to make things in Pottery Barn catalogs. Just about every woman has a built in love for all thing Pottery Barn but almost no one has the budget to sustain such a passion. I scored through their sites and found products I thought were easily hackable. Here are some suggestions for doing them yourself. Now, if I could only find time to do them myself. Maybe after our house remodel... H'mmm, don't think that'll happen anytime soon.



I love the milk jug one and I bet if you are an antique/thirft store shopper you can find glass milk jugs to replicate this.

These are all floral related ideas. The topiary isn't difficult. Just get a styrofoam cone and use hot glue to bond moss and hollow craft eggs on it. Place it into your pot of choice.


The artwork is a little more tricky but if you are handy with a stencil, you can make it work. Paint a canvas in your color of choice. Use the stencil to sponge in the flower using a different color for each part. Pick a good color scheme using coordinating colors to the room it will be displayed in and alternate those colors between the canvases.


Their pictures were actually done with fabric. That might work if you are a sewer or quilter and have lots of leftover scraps. It much more labor intensive though, but it would be more whimsical. A good fabric stiffener and glue would be important.










See how to do this with a denim or any other shirt on Martha Stewart.
















For the experienced sewer (so not me), an old or thrift sweater can be repropused by using this idea also from Martha. I also found a great blog article on how to do this.


Ideas for using frames:




This can be done by finding a frame you like on the cheap (spray painting and glazing if if necessary).






Remove all the backing/glass and use a staple gun to put wire on the back. Hang and display your beautiful pieces of jewelry like artwork.






For this one, lightweight wood frames can be glued together to acheive this affect. I love how they can be grouped together or shown in different orientations as in these pictures for a different effect.























And finally a couple of artwork ideas...


I love love love this one :) Find a cute platter and get some chalkboard paint. Paint the surface and don't forget to 'cure' it by rubbing it all over with chalk before use. Plus you can make it BETTER by using your own paint colors and making chalkboard paint using the tips here.



The second picture is actually pieced and painted wood, but the idea would work great for leftover pieces of paper from scrapbooking.

This is Cool!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

My New Machine

It's here. It's finally here.

I think that calls for a celebration.

The store on ebay that I ordered my sewing machine from only ships Tuesday and Friday. Since I ordered by machine Wednesday morning, I (falsely) assumed that meant it would go out on Friday. I had it shipped to my hubby, b/c it was easier (for me ;-). Since Monday, I've been hassling my husband to check the mail room at his work. The poor man was hopelessly tormented for days. I finally got a shipment notification and tracking number Tuesday. It said expect a Wednesday delivery. You have not idea how many times I went to the fedex site to see if they had delivered it. I sent my husband like five emails too (make that six).

They went something like this:

Is it here? Is it? Is it?!!!!!

It’s still on the truck, but it’s on the way!

The fedex site says it’s still on the truck. I hope it gets there in time. They’ll send it back to the warehouse if no one is there to get it. Sighhh.

Did you get it? I show it was delivered at 4:16.

And when he balked at the weight:

You can do it babe. 26 lbs is nothing for my strong tough guy. You could lift it with your pinkie toe.

Hey, I can't help it if I choose a super man. It's his fault for being strong, not mine, lol. There is no way I could lug that thing down the three flights of stairs at my work (or the elevator, but who's saying...)

Later in the evening, I finally got a chance to break out the box in try it. It was pack in tons of styrofoam peanuts. I made a mess. While I was cleaning it up, my husband was busy [messing] with the machine and took it out of the case. He was excited as I was (maybe an overstatement but he's not saying :-).

I was up super late the night before. Yes, I know it was a school night. I totally need to be grounded and sent to my room...to sleep a long, long time. It was a for a good cause and a future post. I pledged to only play with it for twenty minutes before heading to bed. I mostly stuck to it. I'm very proud of myself.


I got it all set up on my coffee table. I know. I know. It's not at all an appropriate table. My back would hate me. It's a temporay make shift. My go to table, a tv tray isn't much better. I would love this cart.

It's fairly reasonable, but we have no space for it in our tiny apartment. None at all. Not to mention it's on sale for 3x more than my machine. That's a big no no in my husband's book. Believe me, I even tried. There are some things you just have to let go. I'll probably use my kitchen table for serious sewing time.

Once, I got it up and running, I used a trick my sewing instructor taught me to test it out. I used paper instead of fabric. That's right...run of the mill print/copy paper. It's a disposible, easy, and cheap way to practice. Try it sometime.

The new machine works great. I'm very pleased. Tonight, I'll go home and work on the bag I never got to finish. I might even make a second.