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I saw this idea over on Pinterest and fell in love. Take any plain dish – and turn it into a personal gift or work of art 🙂
Actually I think the one in the pic has poetry written on it – or it might be Edgar Allen Poe (The Raven?). But no matter. Â Buy a simple plate at the thrift shop. Write your favorite muffin recipe around the edge using a Sharpie.
Then bake the plate for 30 minutes at 150 degrees in your oven (or more – I’ll doublecheck on that). Presto! The writing is permanent.
Then bake the muffins, load the plate up, and take them to your sweetie or favorite neighbor as a gift.  You get to show off, you get to play with a new art form, and your sweetie gets his (or your) favorite  muffins.  This is a win!
P.S. And of course, what a darling way to make a personalized gift for someone special. An anniversary gift for your fave couple – with their names and wedding date. A birthday gift for your mom with a quote she loves. You get the idea!
P.P.S. Oops! I almost forgot to give credit! I couldn’t find the original source – but it was first pinned by the beautiful Marissa Villasana on her ‘Crafty’ page – and she has some wonderful ideas over there to check out!
I found this idea recently and I just love it. This could be wallpaper, carefully applied – but it’s not. It’s a stencil. And you can do it yourself 🙂
To make it even better, the stencil pattern is FREE! It’s from All Things Thrifty – a do-it-yourself and thrifty blog with tons of good ideas, tutorials, how-tos, and pics. Scroll down the page I’ve linked, to see this particular wall pic – but read the whole page to get lots of inspiration and ideas. AND she has a tutorial on how to make the stencil!
Now, I happen to love the one she shows in this pic – that it’s asymetrical, that it’s turquoise, just because that’s a great color, and it’s in a mostly white room – but those are details that appeal to me. Of course it could be in exactly the color you need – in whatever configuration works for you.
Yes, you could use wallpaper to achieve this look, especially if the background color of the wallpaper matched your own wall color. But you’d have to buy a whole roll of wallpaper (probably), in the exact right color, and, well, think how much better to just Do it Yourself.
Especially with a free stencil pattern. And a tutorial. And spending practically nothing. How cool is that?
So today I’m talking paper again – and a couple home-made gift wrap ideas I think will offer you some inspiration.
Do It yourself Gift Wrap Idea Number One
I love this one! You could use a store-bought doily, and that would be lovely over kraft paper, or fabric, or a plain box. Or instead of a doily, cut out a snowflake like you used to do when you were a kid (basically fold a piece of paper over and over and then cut out various shapes, and then unfold). Use a piece of colored or patterned paper and you’ll have wonderful homemade ‘lace’ like this one. It looks wonderful, and it doesn’t cost much (or anything, if you use old magazine pages or whatever you have around the house) – and it’s fun and individual.
and
Do It yourself Gift Wrap Idea Second Version
Now that is fun! Take any gift box, or a cereal box turned inside out, or a recycled box rescued from your local UPS store or printer. Find some markers or sharpies or paint brushes in your craft cupboard – and draw some pictures! If you have to paint or draw over some printing already on the box, so what? That could make it even more fun. If you’re not a great artist – so what? Draw circles or stars or just add scribbles with lots of colors. Ask your kids to draw their favorite pictures. (Okay, maybe put newspapers down on the kitchen table first.)
I’m sorry, Hallmark Corporation or whatever company it is these days that manufactures wrapping paper – but these are much better. They’re ecologically smart, they don’t cost much – and who has bunches of extra cash these days? – and even more important, they’re made with love and they’re PERSONAL.
Isn’t that what gift-giving is supposed to be about?
P.S. Oh! I must give credit where it’s due. I found both of these wrapping ideas – and more yummy ones to explore – over at Going Home to Roost, a wonderful blog full of do it yourself ideas, and recipes, and gentleness and healthy ideas and, well, it’s a lovely blog you ought to read.
I know, I keep talking about white rooms – I’m not a purist, truly! I just like the clean feel – and a white room is such a great canvas for whatever personality you add to it.
I just saw this room
at Apartment Therapy.
I love the room! It’s not “grand” – it looks luxurious but partly that’s because it’s not cluttered, and because it has white sofas – but if you look more closely at them, they look to me like they might be do-it-yourself projects – those could be mattresses. And loose slipcovers like that? Entirely washable.
I think I’d replace the little occasional tables, or put a glass top on them – I’m too much of a klutz, I’d drop little things through the wire (if that’s what it is). But that maybe just me.
Look at the ceiling – that too could be a DIY project. Add some scuzzy 2x4s you got on sale or from a reject pile – then paint the whole ceiling white. Instant atmosphere. And it doesn’t hurt that the view through the windows is of the Aegean Sea (I think this apartment is in Greece?)
The actual article was about (drum roll here) concrete floors. Yes, this one too – including the “rug”.
There’s a companion article with tips on how to paint a concrete floor.
All this is do-it-yourself on a big scale maybe; but it’s also useful and affordable and hey, don’t you love that room!
I just wanted to point out something you probably know already – the great finds you can score at Craigslist. If you’re in the U.S. – and a lot of cities worldwide – there’s a local craigslist, or close to “local”. And if you’re shopping for goodies for your house – you really ought to check it out before you go and pay Retail!
For instance – here are a few goodies I found today in my local CL. If I were Seriously Shopping, and not just looking around, I would call the owner to check any of these out!
 
They’re asking $75 for the table and five chairs. $75! And that bench has lovely bones, I think. They’re asking a whopping $20.
 
The patio set? The owners mentioned the chairs need new cushions (or covers) and maybe a coat of paint too. But hey, they’re asking $50 for all the pieces shown. And the sofa? It might not look as good in person, or it could be all smoky-smelling, or torn up and down the back. But it might be as good as it looks. And doesn’t it look good? They’re asking $150. Might take less 🙂
Yes you have to inspect your purchase carefully, and not be afraid to say “Sorry, don’t want it.” But sometimes you really will want it – and you might get a great deal!
PS You are also Going Green – you’re reusing and recycling, and maybe rethinking too 🙂
I saw this fabulous idea over at Daily Decorator:
Such a fun and potentially interesting textural idea! They embellished a simple Ikea lamp with buttons – on the inside of the shade. So, this is my “inspiration pic” – all you really need to see 🙂
However, if you’d like to be thrifty (okay, thriftier) and even more do-it-yourself, and hey, even use recycled paper – you could make a lamp and/or lampshade yourself. Check out the instructions for this neat lamp(shade) from Instructables:
I love that you can make a lampshade (safely!) out of paper – and of course you can make it specifically to fit any lamp or any corner of your home. And decorating the inside of the shade, to provide a bit of extra texture or visual interest – that makes it truly yours. That’s what decorating your home is all about, isn’t it?
(and not spending a lot of money – that too!)
Instructables is a great resource you should check out anyway – they have so many how-to’s over there and they work.
I told you I was going to re-visit the Decorating with White idea. Probably many times. It just happens that I ran across an example on Apartment Therapy (yes, I do love that site!) that gives a better example than any words can do.
Here we have your basic wood kitchen cabinets – before:
and after:
Yes, it’s a wonderful kitchen anyway, much nicer than mine. But still. Look at the difference!
Like I said (or thought) – a picture’s worth a thousand words. And paint is cheap. They didn’t even change the hardware! (They did take down the wallpaper though – and may I say, Yay!)
Think about using white!
I just thought I’d give an update, a peek at some of the goodies I have in my Etsy Shop. I love these little sparklies – and I hope you will too 🙂
And – just a little hint and self-promotion combined – you know Prom Season and Mother’s Day is coming.
Do it yourself and save money!
PS If you’re getting married? You can easily make your own bridal earrings, just as an example. They’ll be sparkly, they’ll be beautiful, and you can save your money for your wedding or your party or your honeymoon!
Woo hoo! I just got a new shipment of vintage glass jewels AND now I have silver plated settings in my Etsy jewelry supplies shop. Take a look at a few of these new (vintage, old unused stock) pretties!
Crystal Vintage Glass Jewels – 14mm x 10mm Oval Jewels in Silver Plated Settings
Deep Pink 11mm Jewels with Light Pink Swarovski Crystals – in Silver Plated Settings
Sheer Pink Vintage Glass Pear Jewels in Silver PLated Settings
They’re sparkly – and fun – and affordable – and make wonderful gifts, for your mom, or your girlfriend, or for bridal jewelry – or hey, for yourself. And did I say sparkly? Yes!
I found this great example of a folding table – use it when you need it, then fold it back against the wall and use it as a picture frame!
Folding Table – found at Geekgirlfinds Blog
The exact method of how to make the table (it didn’t even occur to me that maybe you could buy it!) isn’t given – but if you look at the pic you can see pretty clearly how it could be done. Use piano hinges on the edge of the table that’s supported by the wide wall cleat, and the two upper hooks could swivel to support the table – or picture frame – when it rests up against the wall. Play around with ideas, you’ll think of easy ways to do it.
It’s the idea that’s super valuable. Make a table (top) that’s just the size you need, sand it, paint it, and use the legs as your picture frame. Graphic, cool, and it wouldn’t cost much. Great for when you just need a table sometimes – and you want to make it work graphically for you, the rest of the time!
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Coolness
DIY
Eco friendly
Gardening
Home Decor
Indie / Design
Thrifty
vintage
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