Put a wreath on it

This post is a little late in the day but I think as the prehistoric saying goes, better late than never!

I wanted to make a wreath for winter and on browsing found so many wonderful inspiration pics -

via i plan it right 

I loved the idea of a yarn wreath so here's what I did -
Step 1: I took a ready made foam ring and wrapped a long strip of batting around it so that it would be a little plush.
Step 2: I had some oatmeal colored yarn that I wrapped painstakingly around the wreath.
(Sidenote: This step took forever and a day and if I ever do this again, I'm DEFINITELY going to use a much thicker yarn - and take a picture of the process)

Step 3: Then to hide my mistakes (!) and jazz it up a bit I wrapped a ribbon intermittently around the wreath

Step 4: I then used a tutorial that I found online to make the felt roses that I simply super glued to the yarn

All done! :)

Second Side Note: Because its white I do think it looks a little too angelic but our home is almost entirely a warm palette and with the green and red tree beside it, I think it goes okay.

Eye Chart Art

If I knew a doctor's visit could prove to be such a design inspiration, I'd probably avoid them less!
These Eye Chart inspired posters and items are so cool, and seem relatively easy to DIY. When things are less crazy, I'm going to try my hand at that cushion cover.
You can make your own eye chart here.

via Apartment Therapy

via Cool Material

via Kara Paslay

via Nibs

via fiveftfour

via Artful Home

The Impersonating Place mat

In December last year, my sister and I were in Crate and Barrel shopping for some accessories for the house. I was looking for some cushion covers and our eyes were immediately drawn to what we thought were cushion covers but were actually place mats! I loved the colors and we quickly realized that with some rudimentary stitching and cushion inserts they could be cushion covers!
I don't think its an original idea because after a little googling I found that a lot of people had had the same idea - but its still a good one!
I think at some point I will replace the stitching with zippers so that the cushion covers are easily removable and washable.

Original Crate & Barrel place mat

Opening the seam of the place mat

Ta Da! The covers are in desperate need of an iron but I really wanted to get this post out!

Patterned Fingers!

This fellow has been sitting on our couch for over a week now (he moves around when we have company!).
I picked it up from Central Park weekend before last for a project I have had in mind.
I really enjoyed the movie '500 Days of Summer' and am at times in awe of the styling and sets in the movies (An Education = serious style envy). Anyhow, back to the point, I really liked Summer's room in the movie and this lovely origami crane plant.

500 Days of Summer

Something very few people know about me is that I kill plants. Not willingly, I really try, I water them, feed them and do everything according to the directions, I even speak to them but to no avail :(

I had a Jade plant, because my sister recommended them as easy to take care of and that actually lasted a few months, I was thrilled until one evening, I opened the windows to let some air in, and it was one of those evenings where the clouds are dark and heavy and there's this smell of impending rain in the air (which I love) and this strong gust of wind blew the pot out of the window. This is a true story. It then fell over 25 floors and I ran downstairs (I took the elevator but I ran to the elevator and from there) consumed with the guilt of having possibly injured someone and potentially killed the Jade plant. Fortunately, the tiny pot didn't appear to have hurt anyone, and the plant looked okay but I decided to give it away because I didn't trust myself to be as lucky a second time!

So that's how this crane plant came into the picture. I bought the origami paper from Origami Corner and while there are a ton of tutorials online, I used this one to make the cranes (it's in 3D and you can pause the video while you try and figure out that complicated fold!).

I really like with the way it turned out.

The vase is from Crate and Barrel, it is the large Akiko vase.

Also, after making some of the cranes, I really enjoyed the origami (it threw me back to when I was a kid and my mom would teach us to make all these lovely little things with colorful, patterned paper) so I made some more animals and birds for my adorable nephew in DC, he's not yet two, but I thought he might be intrigued.

A frayed knot!

I love looking through the pages of design*sponge, the site never fails to inspire me. Everyone on there is so creative and all of them have such beautiful homes! Coming from a Naval background, the study in our home always had a charming, nautical theme, so when I saw this tutorial on the site, I had to try it out.

I used 12 ft of 3/4' sisal rope and the people at the hardware store were very curious as to why I wanted it!

I broadly followed the instructions and tutorials on the website but didn't stuff the knot with anything. I am just using it to add some texture to a corner of our living room and didn't want to complicate the already slightly difficult knot. It took me a couple of tries (and a few rope splinters!) and I improvised a little with the knot but am happy with the results. I think I tightened it fairly hard and am hoping it stays, but at worst, I can always do it again!

Here it is sitting pretty atop some books -