Painted Wooden Spoons

Inspired by: Painted Wooden Spoons by Milk Farm Road >> Reality: hand-painted Ikea wooden kitchen utensils 

From Inspiration to Reality is a series depicting easy DIYs based on super expensive cool stuff. I really liked these $30 wooden spoons that I spotted on Pinterest, but with a 50 cent pack of wooden kitchen utensils from Ikea and some creative mixing of acrylic paints, we have the same effect, but for much less. :) Try it yourself! -Amina

Painting is a process.

Over Christmas break, I decided to finally repaint my room at my mom's house. I wanted to do a gray-blue but my mom tricked me into going bluer than I wanted, so I repainted a lighter color the next day. I really wanted a color that I could use as a good backdrop when I photograph stuff for my shop, so I just painted the walls I normally photograph on. Also, did you know that cats are natural born painters?? Mine definitely are. - Amina

Project 400 Square Feet

I am embarking on a new project this winter break - to decorate and fix up my apartment. I live in a small one-bedroom apartment with my boyfriend that is a little over 400 square feet. We have been there for about a year and a half, and although we're in the final stretch of our time there, I'm in the mood to change up the look a little bit. Above is the inspiration board for what I'm looking to do, all links and pics courtesy of Pinterest, of course. 

Bedroom: our bedroom closet is about 3'x2' so I'd like to put in a sweet little clothing rack to put all my nice clothes on. The shelves for shoes and hats and such make it even more perfect for our tiny place. Then, I'd also like to make a nice sweet quilt for our bed. We have a white blanket that I'm about ready to say good-bye to. I made myself a blanket a long long time ago and I'd love to try it again!

Living Room: I like the idea of fabric storage bins for blankets and pillows, but they also are great for clothes - me and Brad only have one 3-drawer dresser, an extra clothing storage bin and that tiny closet, so I'm going to make a few bins to go on our bedroom shelf for extra clothes. 

Kitchen: I want to make cute placemats that say "NOM NOMS" over and over again and napkins like above that say "YUM!" I think they'd be cute. And then I love these wooden utensils - it would be easy to do that to a few cheap Ikea ones and the potholders - easy peasy with the tons of scrap fabrics that I have laying about. 

I did a few posts about a few rooms in the apartment over on my old blog, but things have changed a lot since even back then, so I'll probably post new ones soon enough. 

Keep up with the project this coming month! 

Picture creds: 

wardrobe // quilt // fabric bins 1 // fabric bins 2 // knitted throws // napkins // wooden utensils // potholders 

A New Shirt! (& DIY)

My latest wardrobe addition/new lovee. I was totally inspired by this Vain and Vapid shirt but am obviously poor and pretty decent on the sewing machine, so made it myself for about $10 with remnant fabric from Jo Ann and thrift store upcycled wool for the sleeves and details! 

Here's the basic concept for constructing this shirt - sew along the dotted lines in the diagram  and remember to cut two pieces for the main body of the shirt, two of the bottom pieces and fold the fabric in half when you cut the sleeves! It's not a complicated shirt for a person who's just starting out to sew and should be a fun simple sew for those more experienced sewers. So, get ready - let's sew!

The easiest way to do this (and the way I still sew) is to lay a shirt that fits you well (in this case, a loosey goosey fit) on top of the fabric for the new shirt and cut along the seams of the old shirt. (Don't cut up your old shirt though!) For this shirt, I recommend cutting two inches wider than the seam of the pattern shirt. This shirt's trump card is in its boxy/bagginess so it's much better to go big than to have to quit and go home.

If you're up for the challenge, a more detailed post is on my other blog, Of Cats and Crafts, so check it out for a little more guidance. Questions? Post 'em in the comments! & good luck! -Amina

A Green Holiday

Source: witanddelight.tumblr.com via Amina on Pinterest

I've been really inspired by green this holiday season. Like a heather green. It's such a deep color, and together with brown, they make a really sexy combination. This picture and pallet is inspiring all my holiday packaging this year. Everything has to be in green fabric with brown kraft paper and decked out with pine cones (or some other reusable way to wrap presents). It's a shame that on Xmas morning my family throws out a bag or two of wrapping paper every year, and I know we aren't the only culprits.

So my plea today is to give Mother Earth a chance this holiday season. It is the greatest gift for all of us; a lessened impact means a greater future. In this season of over-consumption, which is a large part of the reason for the wreckage of the Earth, make a few conscious gestures to either buy sustainable products, wrap sustainably, buy from the most sustainable method of production of all - the craftsman - or even become the craftsman and make gifts for your loved ones yourself! Nothing more can express your care for others than that.

Later on in the season, I'll be posting gift wrap ideas, but for now while you're on your own, try using recycled wrapping paper, cotton bags, wrapping with fabric or even using reusable shopping bags! Themes are always fun to work in. & Stay tuned!

November Calendar Inspiration

This photo: October Browns by Knitting Iris (here via Flickr, discovered on Creature Comforts)

Every month I put together a little calendar to go in my planner. Lately I've been into graphic designs and I fell in love with the circles and colors of this picture. I love the texture of wood. I always try and trick my boyfriend Brad into grabbing big tree trunks off the side of the road so I can make things with them. :) I have a great stump my mom got for me that I use to decorate with at craft shows and I dream of making coffee tables and end tables and lamps with other stumps.

Making these calendars have been a really great exercise in breaking down images and the world in general. It comes down to looking at shape and color at a very basic level. Here are the designs I've done so far. Start keeping your eyes pealed for more with my 2012 calendars, coming very soon!!!

Check out the printable DIY for these calendars that you can find >>here. 

Enjoy! & let me know how it works for you! ;) -Amina

My Planner

This is my super awesome suede covered planner. All DIY from the planner, the book pages, the calendar and the cover. :) One of my favorite things.

I've been really into graphic designs and the November calendar is inspired by a picture of a pile of wood. Check for a calendar DIY post soon. :) -Amina