i heart DIY

First things first, i just wanted to share this little bit of goodness with you, my favorite flower the peony. They always put a smile on my face :)

So yeah, holy moly. I have been on a little sprucing up kick lately. Not so much cleaning just making. it's been fun and exhausting but SO worth it. Especially when the end results are pretty :)

Have you ever tried a DIY project? I have always seen projects that seemed pretty cool but never really "made" any of them. So now to my adventure of DIY'ing.  If you bear with me i will now proceed to indulge you in the very long winded story of it :) why? well my little r is asleep and i have time ;P

ehem...

I have an addiction. i'm kind of a compulsive fabric buyer. i like it. i buy it. mostly thrifted because it's super inexpensive. And mostly linens. but i think some people ( mr.handsome) would say i'm a hoarder of fabric. i have shelving full to the brim with fabric. color coordinated and everything. i'm a clean hoarder :) hahaaa!  anyhoo. i also might have 3 large plastic bins of fabric. and also sorted and folded by color. so so pretty. and all mine. and i'm weird.

so the handsome man asks what are you collecting all this for? i'm like "you know, for when i learn to sew." that's always my excuse. i don't know if you know this about me but i'm a sewing school drop out. :( it's all because of morning sickness. yep. While I was pregnant with little r i had a pretty bad case of it. and my morning sickness wasn't just in the "morning" but aaaalllllll day. ew. anyway. I lost the will to learn and lost the interest in actually following through and finishing the class.

well I was tired of saying someday. and i was tired of all the white on white pillows on our sofa. i googled a simple pillow case how- to- tutorial and happily came upon this wonderful tutorial.  oh my goodness i actually made the black & white stripe + yellow floral + yellow & white  + mini small gold & silver plaid pillow! girl. i don't even know. it's like i got all martha stewart on my living room. I also made the white pillow case with the XO applique. I cut an IKEA pillow in half ( for some reason this pillow case never fit right) to better fit another pillow. Now the question is "can i fit another pillow on this sofa? I think so :) lol!

quick question: Do you sew? If so, which sewing machine do you use or recommend? I'm on the hunt and would love your thoughts :)

There's Nena, my sewing machine, she's getting a bit old and needs a break :( Anyhoo, back to some more DIY projects!

next up, i totally went crazy making terrariums ( see the window sill in the second photo) they are so addicting! Well i for some reason had the urge to "make" my own clay pot. ( crazy right? i'm not a potter! ) but decided once i saw this beautiful post to make a few cute mini clay house pots.  I have made 4 little houses so far. Although they aren't perfect, they are my wonky little houses and these succulents love their new homes :) This is what i do while the baby naps lol!

i had just a teensy itsy bitsy bit of clay left and found the perfect project for it. A mini geometric clay plant pot. THE cutest thing! It's super teeny tiny and why am i squealing?! oh geez i'm a nut.

and since i was on a geometric kick i found this super awesome paper polyhedron craft. I just printed the template onto different color cardstock paper + cut + paste = love. i love the rainbow cube too :)

Plus this new die cut print in the shop 

put it all together and ta da! awesomeness.

this wall was my fathers day installation art card to mr.handsome from little r and me :)

check out that belly button. adorable.

stop it. so cute :)

I love making our home pretty for these 2 handsome fellas. I know it's not always in their taste but it's all made with love :)

And before i forget, a sweet question to answer from my dear lovely friend Valerie :)

"I guess my question would be about craft vendor booths/tables - do you have any ideas on setting up one that would make someone stop in their tracks and come over? :) I'm going to be signing up for one this summer and have never really figured out how to get a dynamic display going! It's tough! I just love yours! :) "

Hi ya Valerie :) I have to admit, setting up a booth is pretty daunting. I have to thank Mr.handsome for being a strong supporter of our lovely booth both in craftsmanship & in macho strength :) I say this because I've never set up our booth alone and don't see that happening either. I'm cool with that :) Our booth requires a lot of set up ( a backdrop + a long table + 1 large wall for hanging merchandise (made by mr.handsome :) + 2 chairs + 1 big box full to the brim with tons of product )

1. I would decide what is doable for you + your mode of transportation: what fits in your car and what is physically possible for you to carry? all of our stuff fits strategically packed into our small Matrix & the Mr. can carry it. hahaa :) It's ridiculous once the car is packed and we look like we are in the circus lol! But it works! Keep this in mind as you figure out the following. 
2. Branding + payment.  Signage is super important + business cards + your logo/shop name on every single thing you are selling. I have been to several booths where i cannot find either a business card or the price & name of a shop marked clearly on the product. It's always good to have your items clearly marked for your customer to easily purchase and take home with your info. For payment we have been using Squareup (love it) + cash ( bring plenty of $1's + $5's and $10's. Also, don't forget bags for your customers to take your product home (fill it with a business card and we like to add a free gift with every purchase, a sheet of our cute heart stickers.
3. Make your items accessible & organized. Since we have so many little items this is a bit tricky. I have to depend on a lot of little baskets etc to help sort our product for our customers to browse through. I try to add height and depth by using books & boxes. This makes it easier for people to scan & see everything.  
4. Above all, Be friendly :) not weird. i mean this in a nice way. i give people there space. i say hi and smile like this --> :) but way cuter. jk. ;P I wait for them to ask questions. i don't stare at them to see what they are looking at. i've been to several booths where i feel SUPER uncomfortable when the seller is just staring or has to explain everything they are selling for 30 min. It just makes me not want to buy anything and get the heck out of there. have i mentioned i think i might be socially awkward? Don't get me wrong! i do have fun meeting awesome people that "Get" my shop. It's like we're long lost friends. Girl i could talk about my paper crush allll day :) lol! 
5. I think decorating our booth is the last thing i think about. i know our booth will probably never win the most beautiful booth but i love it.  In our current booth, I went with a crisp white linen for our table cloth ( from Target ) and added handmade white fabric yo-yo's & vintage buttons to the centers. To add depth & texture to the booth background i added the HUGE paper pin wheels to our backdrop. it's my favorite. it's like a happy shop party :) 

Thank you so much for your beautiful comment Valerie and all the best with your plans for your upcoming booth! I know it's going to look lovely! Hope everything goes smoothly and lots of success to you :)

sigh... i'm tired of typing.  and you are probably tired of reading. so lets call it even :)

happy DIY'ing to you and go try something new!

xo

-d