My DIY: Book friendly wallet clutch

At long last, my current version of a DIY book clutch.

This particular DIY is inspired by Kate Spade's book clutch, which is $325. Mine cost basically nothing, and, most importantly, no actual books were harmed in the making of this clutch.

This clutch allows you to make a fully customizable cover - your favorite obscure book without cutting up your favorite obscure book.

On the down side, it's a wallet clutch, which means it holds only wallet things - money, credit cards and papers. No room for lipstick.

The shell of the book is made from a DVD case.

You will replace the DVD title cover with your own custom "book cover." To do this, you will need a high resolution image of a vintage book cover that is at least 11 inches by 7 1/4 inches.

If you can't find one online, you can scan a favorite book or download the cover I used, which is available here. (I chose The Great Gatsby for its Long Island association.) Print it and trim to fit inside the clear sleeve of the DVD case.

Using a razor blade, cut out the ring that holds the DVD in place. You can also cut out any clips or tabs that you don't find attractive. (I kept some since I can clip papers to them.)

Trim some black velvet (or black felt) to fit inside the case.

Glue the fabric to the inside of the case.

Glue a 4 1/2 inch diameter mirror (such as from an old compact) into the depression where a DVD would normally go.

Glue a fancy button to the edge of the case as a faux purse latch.

As an option, you can sew or glue pockets and holders.

Look smart while carrying your coupons, gum, wads of cash and Metro Card. Make a different book for every outfit.

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DIY ikat fabric

Artist and fellow Brooklynite Ren Ariel Sano didn't want to shell out $50 for ikat fabric, so she made her own using white muslin, RIT dye, bleach and a squirt bottle. Get the full how to at her blog Semi. Clever girl.

Got a DIY to share? Link up at my Inspired blog party. (Scroll to the very bottom of my very long post.)

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MY DIY: Anthro-inspired ruffled scarf

For all you lovers of pink out there (and I know there are a bunch of you), an extremely easy hot pink ruffled scarf to brighten your winter.

The complete tutorial is available at Dollar Store Crafts (the scarf is made from three plain Dollar Tree scarves). No sewing machine required.

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DIY trellis stencil

Danika Herrick over at Gorgeous Shiny Things just revealed her fabulous DIY inspired by Quadrille's Trellis pattern.

Not only did she paint her own wallpaper, she made her own stencils to do the painting.

Get the whole how-to at Gorgeous Shiny Things.

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DIY art with kids' drawings

Items needed:

• multiple white frames from Pottery Barn, IKEA or similar
  
• plain paper
  
• box of crayons or markers
  
• one or more small children

From Velvet & Linen.

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My DIY: No sew faux fur pillow

While other people were building entire beds, I hide some stuff in the name of decorating.

This faux fur bolster is a cape I thrifted. I loved the silver-grey color of the fur, but unfortunately the cape was sized for a linebacker, and I never got around to altering it. It took up too much space in the closet, so I folded in the collar, rolled it up and pinned it. You could do this with that fur fabric you've never done anything with.

Voila. Free fur pillow. For more faux fur projects for people who actually sew, check out Burda's roundup.

In other news, we completely rearranged the living room, which is a big exciting deal when it's practically your only room. (And, due to the wonders of blogging, I know it was almost exactly two years ago this month since we last moved our furniture around and then did it again a week later.)

It also allows me to highlight my beloved media cabinet, which Mr. Bromeliad made a couple of years ago, just so you know we do serious DIYs also. Sometimes. At least every few years. Or at least he does.

I puffed up our sagging sofa pillows without buying any pillow fill. I have a vast collection of unused but somehow valuable throw pillows. I stuffed one throw pillow inside of each sofa pillow and rearranged the loose fill around it. Now all four sofa pillows are fluffed like new, and I gained about two square feet of storage space where the throw pillows used to be.

I love the new room arrangement. The room feels bigger even though there is more in it. Now it just needs something rustic on top the armoire and some more lighting and some art on the wall and, oh, some throw pillows. Maybe a little one on that chair made with this fabric.

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DIY bed and wall stencil

My bloggie friend Caroline at The Feminist Housewife MADE this bed and stenciled the wall.

Get the bed how-to here and the stencil info here. (The stencil itself came from Sunny's Paints.)

I'm now too ashamed to post what I made this weekend.

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DIY Moroccan pendant

I think I need to try this one, or a version of it.

From Instructables with a pdf pattern and everything.

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DIY rosette quilt

If you get snowed in and the power goes out, you may want to consider making your own Anthropologie Rosette Quilt like the ladies at Kojo Designs.

It only takes 56 knotted squares to make a king-sized quilt, a project that should last you the entire winter. Or more.

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DIY trays

Rebecca Robertson, decorating editor for Martha Stewart, made these trays from baking sheets sprayed with adhesive and covered in fabric. Wallpaper or vinyl might work, too.

Get the complete how to at Martha Stewart. From Strictly Simple Style via Green Street.

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My DIY: Rope necklace at Dollar Store Crafts

For those of you following along with my month-and-a-half long obsession with ropes and knots here and here, finally there is a DIY project.

Learn how to make this rope necklace with my tutorial at Dollar Store Crafts. (The necklace is made from Dollar Store jump ropes.)

More stuff coming soon.

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In My Mailbox: Great DIY Wreath Ideas -- for the Holidays and Throughout the Year!

Every once in a while, I discover something really fun and worthy of sharing ... and it's 
often tucked inside an email!  Today, I'd like to share more than 30 wreath ideas 
-- for all seasons -- collected here by Online Certificate Programs. I pulled some wreath ideas from that site, DIY (do-it-yourself) pages, as well as from some some very creative and talented bloggers. Enjoy:

Fake grape bunches make up the body of this almost-edible wreath. Add artichokes and asparagus to the top for a bow that's sure to draw visitors' gaze and tempt their tastebuds. (http://www.diyideas.com/quickprojects/Accents/wreaths_ss19.html)

Funky Junk Interiors created this memory wreath. She decorated it with her 

dad's tie clip, an old photo of her mother . . . items that recalled fond yesteryear memories.

Designer Eddie Ross took a wire hanger, a glue gun, sparkling ornaments . . .

and voila -- he's now got a beautiful and very festive door. 

Visit his site for complete instruction.

For instruction on how to do your own wonderful

 fresh cedar monogram wreath, visit Dittle Daddle.

Lots of ribbon turn this door into a festive welcome.

Visit Kristen's Creations here.

Ever wonder what to do with those old and growing collection

of holiday cards? Well, how about turning them into a door wreath?!

"All you need is a round die-cut capable of punching out varying sizes, plus scraps of scrapbook paper or card stock. Simply cut around the patterns and designs on the paper (such as the snowflakes we used here) and glue or tape the circles together in a wreath shape."

 (From http://www.diyideas.com/quickprojects/Accents/wreaths_ss12.html)

"These cattail tops, fronds, and ornamental grasses can be plucked from the great outdoors or from your local crafts store. Instead of a wreath form, we constructed a base from corrugated cardboard cut into a circle. Working clockwise, we glued grasses around the center point of the cardboard, taking care to overlap and hide the cardboard. The larger cattail accents on the outside of the wreath are poked into the corrugated layers of the cardboard and secured with a dab of glue."

(ttp://www.diyideas.com/quickprojects/Accents/wreaths_ss13.html)

From: http://www.hgtv.com/handmade/apple-holiday-wreath/index.html

Materials and Tools:

sheet of plywood
jigsaw
green exterior spray paint
100 3-inch galvanized nails
hammer
heavy-gauge wire
sturdy picture hangers
holiday greenery
20 lb. of apples
holiday bow

Steps:

1. Draw a 24-inch circular pattern onto plywood, cut out wreath shape using jigsaw. Sand any rough edges.

2. Before continuing, add sturdy picture hangers and heavy-gauge wire to back of wreath.

3. Randomly hammer 100 3-inch galvanized nails into wreath form.

4. Spray paint the plywood and nails green.

5. Skewer the apples onto the nails.

6. Fill the empty spaces with greenery.

7. Add a decorative holiday bow.

Love Where You LIve


p.s. I just visited 6th Street Design School, where Kirsten had assembled a nice group of hand-made wreaths -- all from Etsy. Here's the link, if you'd like to see those.

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My DIY: Make a pleated collar from a boring fleece scarf

I was home with a sniffle this weekend so finally got a chance to do some DIYing to the effect of turning everything I hadn't been wearing into a scarf.

A white pleated scarf has been on my To Do list ever since seeing this Chanel ad featuring Lily Allen and some unattractive luggage. But look at the collar. Cutifuls, right?

Disney at Ruffles and Stuff did a great version of this collar awhile ago but I wanted one more wintery and scarf-like. Meagan Tintari also did a summery version of this type of scarf at Love Maegan. I kind of ripped off her tutorial.

The brilliant part of this (if there is one) is that I made it from two cheap boring fleece scarves I thrifted at different times.

I cut about two inches off the width to make them about 10 inches wide.

I hacked off the fringe and sewed the two short ends of the scarves to make one long one. (You'll need three scarves to make it long enough to be more of a scarf and less of a collar.)

I folded pleats about an inch or an inch and a half wide.

I ironed the pleats as I went.

This is what the two scarves look like at this point.

Feed the pleats through your sewing machine and sew a straight stitch down the middle.

Fold the scarf in half and neated up the pleats. Sew a second seam about an inch from the first, sewing the two layers together.

Your scarf is done. Wrap it and hold with a pin, ribbon or your own special je ne sai quoi.

If the scarf feels like it's a little too much (e.g. Bozo-the-Clown-like) trim a half inch or so off the ruffle.

Do you have any inspirations or projects to share? Link up at the November Inspired blog party before it's too late.

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Arty smarty

Dollar Store Crafts recently featured my Dollar Store Abstract Expressionism project.

Heather, the queen of Dollar Store Crafts, earlier made this Mark Rothko look alike pictured above, which is a great project for adding a little color to your interior. Get the full how-to at DSC.

Momma of Two at My Search Within did her own black and white abstract expressionist work inspired by mine. There's a lot of energy in that painting, don't you think?

Have you ever DIY'd your art?

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