Holiday Happiness

In going through my Christmas decorations, I was struck by how many of them were handmade.  I have ornaments made by me, my grandma, and my great-grandma, as well as a no-pattern-needed stocking, custom made by my mom!  My family is chock-full of creative women, and I’m so thankful that I had them to inspire me to craft and design throughout my childhood. 

The only reason I didn’t seriously consider being an artist as my profession was because sometime in elementary school I heard that artists were always “starving.”  That didn’t sit well with me.  Oh well.

When I was in middle school, I took one of those career aptitude tests and it said I should either: (1) go into agriculture, or (2) be an interior designer.  As a 7^th grader, I wasn’t all that into thinking about being a grown-up and getting a job, so I moved onto something else (i.e. watching “Boy Meets World” or practicing my hook shot with my dad).

Now that I am a “grown-up,” it’s so exciting that I get to be a creative little kid again and spend time every day making art in the form of home decor!  Turns out kid and pre-teen me knew exactly what would make me happy all along (well, except the agriculture thing).  

Oh!  And check out how well my great-grandma’s handmade ornament complements my holiday line!  We obviously share some fabulous design genes.  

 

Great-grandma's Ornament

Just a week and a half until Christmas and I’m feeling incredibly lucky to be loved and supported by such wonderful family and friends.  Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!

As my great-grandma used to say... 

"With Oodles of Love,"

Cheers,

Sara

My Frist Craft Fair

Since it was my very first craft fair, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I read all the Etsy Handbook articles I could find on the subject, and consulted with several craft fair vendor veterans.  Next, I got my extra supportive sister and hubby to help me out, and I was on my way!

The fair was in an elementary school, on the (wait for it) 3rd Floor.  Oye...  With one pain-stakenly slow elevator to share amongst all the vendors, we ended up taking many trips, arms fully loaded, up the flights of stairs.  And by "we," I mean my amazing hubby!  He claims he didn't mind since he's in a steps competition at work so he was thrilled at the 14,000 steps he'd taken by the time we had packed up after the fair!

I've been to a handful of craft fairs as a buyer, so color me confused at the huge number of little kids running (i.e. SPRINTING) up and down the aisles of vendors.  Turns out there was a children's event of some kind going on simultaneously on the 1st floor.  I was having heart attacks every two seconds as another 10-year-old came running over and grabbed one of my $48 hand-blown glass Swarovski crystal ornaments!  My choice not to have children was validated, once again.

Amongst the chaos of the kids, there were some really fabulous moments!  So many people stopped by and complimented me on my wine bottle pendant lights!  Such an amazing feeling to see others appreciating my designs.  :)

Thanks so much to my sis and hubby for their support in helping me make my very first craft fair a success.  Thanks to their efforts, I am now $8.00 richer.  Yeah... not a super profitable venture, but it was a great trial run.  I look forward to my next craft fair adventure!

Check out my booth set-up!!!

Check out the awesome Industrial Blush t-shirt my sister made for me!

Photographs by Grace Posluszny

OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

It's official!!!

I have a spot of my own in a brick-and-mortar store, POSH Design Center, in Norwood, MA!  Lighting, scarves, ornaments and wall decor - all are available for purchase!

I invite you all to come check it out and share in my excitement!  :)

Joining POSH Design Center, a Brick-and-mortar store!

Starting on Friday, December 6th, my designs will be featured at POSH Design Center in Norwood, MA!  I am very excited to join their design team.  Trying hard not to spill my wine as I do a little dance in my living room.  

I hope you'll visit the store and check out all the great designers (which after Dec. 5th, will include ME)!

Check out POSH's website and Facebook page.  

Looking forward to setting up shop and sharing pics with you all!

CHEERS!

DIY: Vase Scarf, Made from Recycled Sweater

My summer clothes are now safely packed away, and my sweaters and sweatshirts are making their annual debut!  In revisiting my winter wardrobe, I came across this one sweater dress that I bought two years ago, and still have yet to wear… Every time I put it on, I then curse the itchy wool, and stick it back in the drawer to try on again at a later date (and repeat the process of rejecting it). 

Instead of going through another winter of NOT wearing this sweater dress, I decided it was time to put it to good use, and get my craft on!  Drawing inspiration from Family Chic’s post, I pulled out my scissors and got to work in chopping up that beautiful sweater dress and made a set of coordinating vase “scarves.”

Like any little kid, my favorite part of this craft was going outside and playing in the leaves.  So many brilliantly colored leaves strewn about and just waiting to become Fall decorative spices for my project.  Reminds me of a line from “The Last Samurai,” when Katsumoto is looking at the cherry blossoms and he says, “The perfect blossom is a rare thing.  You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.”

I decided to vary my embellishments amongst the vase collection, so for one, I sewed a string of red cranberry garland, and on another I added one of my precious felt ruffle ornaments!  If you’re seeking some of your very own, to use as decoration on home décor, gift packaging, or your holiday tree, please check them out in my shop. 

Happy crafting everyone!

Sad to say goodbye to Halloween, but excited about the upcoming holidays! 

Check out my line of ornaments now available in my shop!  

DIY: Bifold Door Transformation for More Storage

I so desperately need more storage in my 1-bedroom condo!  I feel lucky to have 4 closets in such a small space, but seriously... why on earth do they all have BIFOLD DOORS?!  There's no way to utilize the backside of the door!  Okay, rant over.  Time to do something about it.  :)

Using DIYShowOff's tutorial as a start, I set off to transform my bifold doors into a regular one, so I could add some much-needed storage and organization to the back-side of the door.

Here's my starting point, a simple bifold door:

First, I took out the top wheel so the door was no longer connected to the track (my door doesn't have a bottom track, but if yours does, you'll have to take out the matching bottom connector).  

With this piece removed, the door flops around freely, held in place at only one end.

Next, you'll need a full inset cabinet door magnet and some mending plates (which can be found in a variety of sizes at your home improvement store; I went to Home Depot).

Then I traced the holes of the mending plate onto the backside of the door, so that the plate spanned over the crack.  The mending plates are what will keep the door straight, instead of folding in on itself.

I pre-drilled the holes I drew, and then screwed the plates in place.

I was so excited with my progress at this point, and went to shut the door... Of course, it was now too big for the space, so I had to make an adjustment by taking off the hinges and re-attaching the mending plates (new holes were needed), making sure to squeeze the doors together as much as possible, so there was no gap between them.  When I do this to one of my other closet doors, I'll be sure to take off the hinges before adding the mending plates.

I installed the cabinet magnet by pre-drilling into the metal track from the inside of the closet.  Screwed that in place, and then wiped it with a good glob of blue toothpaste.  You might not normally think of using toothpaste in home improvement projects, but I promise, this step makes lining up the other half of the magnet SUPER EASY!

I closed the door on against the blue toothpaste and was left with a beautiful glob on my door, exactly where I needed to attach the other magnet part.  I used a Sharpie to outline the toothpaste glob, wiped the paste clean, and then screwed magnet #2 in place on the door.

I found a $35 door organizer door organizer at Target and followed the instructions on how to mount it directly to the door.  Now it serves as an excellent spot for all those loose (and annoying) tupperware lids!  I took one of the single wires and bent it straight so I could slide a paper towel roll on it, then bent it back to install on my door.  The single wire might break over time, but I figured I'd try it out since the system came with 4 and I wasn't going to use any of them.  Why not give it a shot?!

Love that I still have space on my new shelves too.  I'm sure they'll be overflowing with odds and ends soon.  But for now, I'm happy in being just a little bit more organized!

Last step: I found a beautiful new knob at Anthropologie and popped it on my new bifold door!