In my mother’s lexicon, we call a gallery wall “The Smithsonian Institution.” The best gallery walls tell a story about the people they surround, like a museum of lives. They can seem tough, but I’ve found nine steps to making a wall pretty and personal. This is the gallery in our upstairs loft, which my [...]
I like to make nailhead pumpkins because when they’re finished and I walk by, I can greet them: “Hello, stud.” This year, I had a request for more studded squash from a reader and came up with these towers — a fun and fast project. You need pumpkins and nailheads. I like to use faux [...]
I’ve been saving my favorites for October — there are enchantments and sweaters and leaves all wrapped up in just that very word. Today is October, and I’m just glad. (Glad like Anne of Green Gables – remember her gladness musings?) And October is for pumpkins, of course. Today projects are inspired by Kelly Wearstler, [...]
This high-fashion pumpkin has a Valentino stole: My mom dreamed of a pumpkin inspired by the Valentino’s cascading rosettes and ruffles we’ve been lusting after for a few years, so she twisted some fabric into rosettes (mix a few fabric textures), and added feathers and bits of lace. Try this rosette tutorial if you’d like [...]
The reason I had black paint in my life to begin with: I wanted to makeover my laundry closet with huge black and white stripes. Tyson went out of town . . . again. I got out the black paint . . . again. (Where will I attack next!?) My hair, apparently: It’s possible that [...]
My mother and I have a penchant for white marble sculpture — anything that looks like it came off of the David, Venus di Milo, or escaped from the Louvre. Either we have romantic, Renaissance leanings or we think that filling our homes with the ideal human form could help us lay off the chocolate. [...]
On Labor Day, my mother and sisters came over to help me enact all of my pumpkin dress-up fantasies. Many hours, a bag of candy corn, and a six trips to the craft store later, we had 42 tricked-out pumpkins to welcome the arrival of September. (And hello, gorgeous.) Today, inspired by the contents of [...]
Who is the first person who decided to sell orchid arrangements held together with pink butterfly hair clips? I would like to know. But a $12 orchid from the grocery store is still a beautiful thing, and I have a few easy tricks for making it look like a $90 orchid from those flower shops [...]
At my house, books are important, but I hide the books that don’t match my house. I have closets, boxes, shelves, and steamer trunks full of brightly colored volumes. (If a book is white, black, silver, gold, gray, leopard-print or ivory, it is allowed to come out to play.) This is absolutely odd, I realize. [...]
I’ve been making keychains inspired by the genius Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook — a Mesa girl and now a big deal NYC blogger. I suppose “inspired by” is a generous term. I’ve been copying her tutorial outright and with glee. This is a 15-minute craft that costs little and provides infinite gratification. I [...]
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