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DIY Stationery

Tisha Leung — 2011-01-20T11:07:00 00:00

Filed under: Fun Stuff, Crafts & Projects

Looking for stationery that's chic, unique and, yes, cheap enough to send to everyone you know? We've got the perfect DIY project for you.

Printing your own gift tags, stationery or postcards can be a great way to personalize your communication. After all, email is so very...cold. So here's one idea to get you started from Christine Schmidt's book "Print Workshop" with Pin-Prick Stationery.

Pin-prick stationery is so easy, it can be done right before you leave for a party! Photo: Douglas Adesko

Clever Point
Pin-prick stationery is so easy -- and so playful! Why not make some of your own? Fast and perfect for crafting dummies, this printing method gives cool relief texture to paper through embossing (pressing in) and debossing (pressing out). We even included a "Hello" and "Bon Voyage" template (see below) that you can enlarge or decrease to fit your stationery.

WHAT YOU NEED:
- Photocopy of a template or your own artwork
- Pencil
- Blank stationery cards and envelope
- Cardboard
- Pushpin

Print these out (below).

HOW TO DO IT:
1. Hold the template or artwork copy up to a sunlit window and trace with pencil.
2. Place the unfolded card face down on cardboard (A) and place the template, pencil-side up, on the card.
3. Holding the pushpin with your thumb and pointer finger, press it through the lines in the template (B).
4. Repeat until you have traced the template with pinholes.
Tip: If you find your template or card is moving around, secure it to the cardboard with drafting tape.

And you're done. Sophistication and savvy in less than an hour!

Pin-Prick Stationery reprinted from the book Print Workshop by Christine Schmidt. Copyright (C) 2010 by Christine Schmidt. Photographs copyright (C) 2010 by Douglas Adesko. Published by Potter Craft, a division of Random House, Inc.

Need more design inspiration? Check out our story on Fashion Designers' closets.

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Designing a Timeless Tea Party

Tisha Leung — 2010-11-10T11:38:00 00:00

Filed under: Kitchen, Your Home, Fun Stuff

Celebrating the beauty and elegance of the teapot through design.

What is our fascination with all things teacups, teapots and tea? Tea has been a part of our global fabric since its discovery in China 5,000 years ago, and it continues to be celebrated around the world: The Japanese tea ceremony is an art form, the English sit down to high tea daily. In the U.S., we sip it as the weather turns cool, and celebrate it in home decor.

An iconic symbol of tradition, the teapot's simple silhouette is used in wallpaper, fabric, stationery and light fixtures. Many of us collect tea pots and cups from all periods and in all sizes and colors at flea markets, and then we might even use them to make lamp bases or candleholders.

"Teacups are nostalgic," says Chilean artist Mariana Torcornal. "The idea of sitting and having afternoon tea seems like something from another era."

Original BTC hand-cast bone china lights are made in Stoke, England. The translucent teapots are hand-casted by the region's craftpeople, who have mastered bone china for over 300 years. $45-$64. Photo: Original BTC.

There is a strong sentimental value attached to tea settings, especially sterling ones, which are often passed down through generations. But even the simplest of teapots is often cherished, since making tea requires a certain level of ceremony; you pull out your favorite pot, boil the water, let the tea steep, relax and wait.

"Whether having a cup privately, hosting a small intimate gathering at home or taking part in an elaborate high tea at the Waldorf-Astoria, it is all about the ritual," says Keith Winkler, director of product marketing and business development of Replacements, Ltd,, a company that helps consumers find missing china pieces.

It isn't unusual to see teapots in a variety of forms -- I've seen teapots shaped to look like birdhouses, watering cans, vegetables. "They are often thought of as art or sculptures," says Winkler. "Teapots are very unique -- there really isn't one standard shape for them."

Thanks to Original BTC, you can pick up hand-cast bone china lights shaped like teapots and cups for $288 per piece (see above) at Anthropologie. They're a playful take on the timeless silhouette.

Left: Stationery from Felix Doolittle; Right: Artist Kolene Spicher offers an entire line of framed teacup paintings to fill an empty wall, $50 each. Photos: Felix Doolittle; Spicher and Company.

A cup of tea speaks to a simpler time, and that's certainly the feeling invoked by the Felix Doolittle stationery and Kolene Spicher framed teacup paintings (above) that we spotted.

It also awakens the senses, says Miriam Novalle, founder and CEO of T Salon, who runs tea shops in New York and Los Angeles. "It is the sound of the water bubbling to a boil, the transformation that happens when water hits the leaves, and the steam of the aroma that rises to our noses that eases us into our day," she says.

A few days ago, Novalle witnessed something touching in her shop. Two blind women walked into the tea shop with their seeing-eye dogs. They proceeded to pick teas based on the smell. It speaks to why tea is so special to us -- it can transport you around the world with a deep inhale.

Left: Also available in fabric, sweet classic teacups adorn "Chartier" wallpaper from the Thibaut Classics Collection (#TC7243 in cream), $67/single roll. Right: Thibaut wallpaper, "Meissen" from The Gazebo Collection (#T7475 in black) is a study of teapots silhouetted against a black background, $64/single roll. Photos: Thibaut.

The tea cup is the subject of endless home goods, like the wallpapers shown above -- and endless art.

Chilean artist Mariana Torcornal investigates our emotional attachment to objects. She designs teacups made from 100 percent beeswax (shown below), calling them Beecups. While they cannot be used in the conventional way, their ubiquitous form challenges us to interact with the teacup in a way you normally would not. She says that people have used them as vases and as containers for jewelry or other small objects. Others have melted them or cut them.

But it's the simple silhouette that still inspires Torcornal to sit down with a cup of tea. Says Torcornal: "For me there is a sense of time, place and memory that is triggered by a porcelain teacup. It's so delicate, ornate, fragile. They evoke thoughts of Alice in Wonderland, grandmothers and old traditions that are slowly being replaced by time-efficient lifestyles."

"Teacups are nostalgic. The idea of sitting and having afternoon tea seems like something from another era for the generation of paper cups and mugs," says Chilean artist Mariana Torcornal. Beecups are available at Edgewater Gallery, $35 each. Photo: Mariana Torcornal.

For more great decorating ideas, don't miss:
-The Beauty of Mason Jars
-Unusual Uses for Velcro
-How to Use Wicker in Winter

If this is making you crave tea, check out our tea recipes from KitchenDaily!

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Bright Idea: Recipes (and Food!) as Art

Tisha Leung — 2010-11-09T10:12:00 00:00

Filed under: Kitchen, Your Home, Projects

Here's how to create a visual cookbook on your wall.

Illustrator Claudia Pearson loves food. She loves it so much, in fact, that she designs art inspired by it.

Food is a big part of our day to day lives, she says. We decide where our food comes from, how it's prepared, how to present it on the table. And Pearson, who values pure, simple food made from ripe and fresh produce, decided to translate her vision to the canvas.

Photo: Claudia Pearson

The idea came to her in an unexpected place. Pearson says she does lots of shopping at local farmers markets in Brooklyn, New York, where she lives, to prepare seasonally fresh meals for her family. In speaking to the farmers, she began feeling a connection to the food she purchased, and she began drawing and recording the seasonal produce she saw.

In collaboration with chef Sung Uni Lee, who runs a business to teach individuals how to cook, the duo created new recipes and illustrated them.

Photo: Claudia Pearson

And we love them: The bright colors, the focus on individual ingredients and easy measurements bring a certain charm back to cooking that is often lost in our busy lives.

Here's an idea. Use these simple and healthy recipe illustrations to create a cookbook wall in the kitchen. Pearson showed us what she did in her kitchen (above), and the cheerful prints made us smile.

For more information on the recipes, check out Claudia's blog. Purchase the art on Etsy; prints cost as little as $18.

And of course, if you're looking for more recipes, we must turn you on to our sister site, KitchenDaily!

Photo: Claudia Pearson

Searching for more great wall decorating ideas? We got 'em:
- Design a Montage of Mirrors
- Decorating With Family Photos
- Dishes On the Wall. Yes, Please!

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Map-Inspired Home Decor

Tisha Leung — 2010-09-14T15:33:00 00:00

Filed under: Design, etc, News & Trends

Inspirations often stem from unexpected places and things. Here, geography gets our design gears turning.

Most of us had our first geography lesson back in grade school. You may not remember it, but perhaps you recall the curiosity it piqued. Maybe you ran your finger along a map in your social studies textbook and asked: What does it look like there? It it hot or cold? What are the people like? When the teacher pulled down a flat world map, many students stared -- likely because, in an instant, they realized that the world is much bigger than they'd all imagined.

There is something about maps that get us going. And we couldn't be happier that many designers feel the same -- creating goods that bring this eye-opening inspiration to the home.

Eight black frames from Spicher and Company display this map of Venice, making art within art. Photo: Spicher and Company

Many of us still enjoy looking at (or framing) antique maps, and who isn't a little obsessed with Google Earth or their GPS? Maps don't only inspire us, they help get us from one place to the next. They literally and figuratively transport us.

"When I was a kid, I pored over issues of National Geographic looking at their maps," says Emily Fischer of Haptic Lab. Maps, she says, are never just about a place -- they're about politics, history and social studies. And that makes them particularly attractive in home decor. They can add texture and color and even inspire the senses. They make you feel something.

If you can't be in your favorite place in the world, Haptic Labs can stitch a map of it on a quilt so that you can curl up in your preferred destination. Washington, DC, shown above. Photo: Haptic Lab

Fischer plays into this nostalgia in her hand-stitched quilts (shown above), featuring maps of particular U.S. cities, including streets and landmarks. She'll even customize a map based on your childhood town or a specific swath stretching from, say, Union Square to Times Square in Manhattan, for example.

"The quilts are meant to be heirlooms telling stories about places and narrating very personal memories," says Fischer.

But there are a number of ways to incorporate witty lessons in cartography into your decor. Here are a few of our faves.

Photo: Michele Verian, I Want One of Those

The measure of a good cartographer? Attention to minute details. The design is in the details of this product too. Don't just place any old globe in the study, use your imagination and fill in your own demarcation lines on this chalkboard globe, $450.

Forget hanging up a map and sticking push pins into all of the places that you've been. With My Scratch Map, you scratch off the areas as you visit, and keep a visual diary of your adventures.

Photo: Kate Mathis

A clever take on the classic postcard. Mail a Mapnote ($4 each) featuring various city maps with your handwritten regards on the reverse.

Photo: pizzolorusso.com

Step on it, wet it or twist it, you can't destruct Crumpled City Maps. Crumpling conveniently into a tiny pouch, they're perfect for getting around a new city and then repurposing into souvenir placemats once you're back home.

Photo: Domino magazine

Interior designer Sheila Bridges poses in front of a 7' x 9' framed vintage map of New York State. It's one of my favorite images of maps used in a home.

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Flea Market Finds Done Right

Tisha Leung — 2010-09-03T08:53:00 00:00

Filed under: Design, etc, Furniture

The key to living with your collectibles isn't knowing what to add -- it's knowing when to subtract.

Left: Michelle Long's bedroom is a haven of white with pops of color. Right: A curtain tie-back from earlier days finds a new home. Photos: Michelle Long, Karyn Millet courtesy of The Well-Dressed Home.

Is it possible to dress a home in flea market finds yet avoid a hodgepodge of mismatched styles? Absolutely, says Michelle Long of Bohemiennes, an Etsy shop offering "vintage style for modern living." Michelle collects and sells home accessories and clothing -- some vintage, some antique -- and has surrounded herself with these treasures for years. How does she do it? With a simple five-step system. She invited us into her home -- a lesson in flea market finds gone fabulous -- and offered the following tips.

1. Be Realistic
Like the boxer Rocky, get into the right mindset before heading into the ring.

"Vintage items are rare and often one of a kind. So, when you see something you like, grab it," she says. But be realistic about the amount of time or money you want to put into whatever it is you're buying.

"It doesn't take long before you'll have a house or a closet full of projects that you'll never get around to," advises Michelle. Furniture restoring is especially labor intensive and time consuming. You are usually better off buying a restored piece or one with imperfections that you can live with -- or even love.

Left: A grouping of Michelle's favorite ironstone plates and silverware are hung together for simple visual interest. Right: The living room has a vintage woven trunk functioning as a coffee table and storage space. Photos: Karyn Millet courtesy of The Well-Dressed Home.

2. Group Stuff
When decorating your home, groupings of objects related by shape, color or even theme make a statement.

"It sounds counter intuitive, but to avoid clutter, buy a lot of whatever it is you like. Displaying in groups helps keep your house from looking itty-bitty." In other words, it's okay to collect random items, as long as you have an end purpose for them.

A functional vintage free-standing unit (left) and glass containers (right) add a bit of character without trying too hard. Photos: Michelle Long

3. Use Your Stuff
Another tip to remember is that your home lives around you, you don't live around your home. A house full of unused objects feels stuffy.

"Don't save your vintage things for special occasions. When you use your old things you don't feel weighed down by them. That goes for vintage clothes too. Wear them," says Michelle. Old things may require a little special care and handling but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying them.

Use an old bookcase as a shabby chic display unit (above), or pack vintage glass containers with silverware (above). Pick up an old basket at the local flea market recently? Give it a ubiquitous use, like holding a few similar-sized plants (below).

Giving a ubiquitous item, like a basket, a role in your home prevents it from being forgotten and relegated to the basement. Photo: Michelle Long

4. Don't Be Afraid of White
The modern feel of Michelle's home also comes from her theories on the color white.

"I love living with white," she says. "A white backdrop makes the oldest, dustiest and most rustic of objects feel fresh and modern. It's also so much easier to clean white fabric." When she has to clean her white fabrics, she uses Oxi-Clean and then lays the fabric on the grass.

"I don't know why but there's something in grass that helps get out stains," she says.

Everything has its place in the living room with simple textiles and decoration. Photo: Karyn Millet courtesy of The Well-Dressed Home.

5. One Piece Can Make a Room
Michelle's favorite room in her house is her kitchen.

"I love our kitchen for one reason - the old wicker couch. It's a gathering spot where everyone who comes to our house -- dogs included -- seems to gravitate towards, especially when the big French casement windows are wide open so the breeze comes in." Check out Michelle's antique and flea market finds at her Etsy shop.

Looking for a flea market near you? You may be lucky enough to live near one of our top five favorite flea markets in the country.

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