DIY: First Day of Fall Wreath!

Fall is officially here! I've been waiting for scarf and boots weather for MONTHS, and even though it's still 80 degrees outside, it has not deterred me one bit. In order to ring in the fall properly, I decided to make a new wreath for the front door, inspired by this one at Paper Source. But instead of paying $20, you can pretty much make this from scraps you make have lying around the house. 

Here's what you need:

1. Cardboard for creating the wreath ring and the leaf template

2. Fabric and/or paper scraps (I used a mix of fabric, paper, pleather and felt)

3. Hot glue gun and glue sticks

4. Scissors

5. A pen

Optional Supplies:

1. Iron and starch

2. Feathers 

3. Stalks of dried wheat

I started by tracing a dinner plate onto the cardboard, and then a dessert plate inside that circle. I then cut around the outer line and the inner line to give me my wreath form. Then I freehand drew the leaf template and cut that out too.

Then came the tedious part. I traced the leaf onto all the fabric and paper, and cut out millions of little leaves. Okay, it was more like 100, but it felt like millions.

It's not important to have an even number of colors, I wound up using about 12-16 of each (I had 7 different fabrics). You can always cut more if you run out! My fabric was a little wrinkled, so I starched and ironed the leaves, folded them in half longways, and then pressed them again. The crease makes them stand up a bit, and gives the wreath a little more body. 

Next, hot glue your leaves, round-side down, to the outer most part of your wreath form, overlapping the sides just a bit. I tried to use every color equally, without it being too perfect or deliberate. As I went around, I incorporated the feathers and wheat stalks.

You should end up with three rows of leaves on the cardboard ring. For the fourth and final row, glue the leaf onto the ring about halfway up the piece of fabric (instead of on the round bottom), and then fold the round part around to the back of the form and secure it with more glue. This way you'll hide the rough edge of the cardboard. 

When you're all done with that, secure a loop of ribbon or string to the back of your wreath for hanging. Because my wreath is going to end up on a glass door, I finished the back by gluing a ring of the pleather.

I also added a bow to the front, to polish things off. And there you go! A super snazzy new fall wreath! Paper Source, eat your heart out!

DIY: Back to School Book Covers!

Confession: I am not actually going back to school. But I do miss shopping for school supplies - the smell of new binders, a fresh ream of college ruled paper, testing all the different pens to find the ones with the smoothest action... ah the memories. And perhaps this was a harbinger of my later love of paper crafts, but I always enjoyed making paper book covers out of brown paper shopping bags. 

It occurred to me the other day that just because I don't have any textbooks lying around, doesn't mean I can't dress up all my old paper backs with a little splash of color! So I hightailed it over to Michaels, carefully selected seven coordinated sheets of scrapbooking paper (59 cents each), and set out on the easiest project ever.

In case you don't remember how to do this, it's pretty simple. Here are the materials you need:

1. decorative paper
2. pen (I am using a metallic gold artist's pen, but you can use whatever you like)
3. scissors
4. a book

And here is what you do:

1. Trim the paper to remove any barcodes or other elements you don't want on there
2. Center the book in the middle of the paper (paper should be pretty-side down)
3. Make creases in the paper that align with the bottom of the book and the top of the book, so you're basically folding the paper lengthwise into three sections
4. Wrap the paper around the book, folding under the excess paper on the ends 
5. Tuck the covers into those newly created flaps
6. Write the name and author of the book on the spine, so you know which one it is

And this is what it should look like when you're done!

Now my little book collection is super adorable! Much better than the dog-chewed paper backs that I was too embarrassed to display before!

Now I can't wait to make over all my old books! 

PS Aren't my bookends adorable? I got them at Home Goods!

A Bitter Beginning

My very first strawberry has ripened! I watched it very carefully, not wanting to wait too long to pick it, in case it rotted. My friend Chris gave me the very helpful tip of putting some burlap over the soil, so the strawberry didn't touch the dirt when it got so heavy that it touched the ground. I watched and waited, and poked and sniffed... and finally I decided the time was right for picking...

Just look at the color! So pretty! I couldn't wait to bite into it, thinking that this organic, homegrown strawberry MUST be better than that store-bought nonsense. I sunk my teeth in, and my first reaction was "hm, this is more bitter than I would have expected." As I chewed, the taste in my mouth got more and more unpleasant. Finally I started getting hints of sulphur, and had to spit it out! I threw the rest of the strawberry away, and had to rinse my mouth out! Pa-tooy!

What happened?? Yahoo Answers is not extremely helpful, but it's possible that it's been too hot, or perhaps the plant didn't get enough sun when it was still in the store (this strawberry was already in progress when I bought the plant).

I'm really hoping that the next couple of berries taste better. If not, I might tear the plant out and start over again with something less disappointing!

Disaster Watch 2013: Cutting Edge Controversy

As the time nears for some sort of ground cover in the World's Worst Backyard, I've found myself embroiled in some kind of lawn-based controversy. I call it a "contro-grassy." Just kidding, I never called it that until just now.

Anyway, I've been leaning toward just saying sod, because of the instant gratification of it all, and was only wondering whether I should install it myself or pay the sod suppliers to do it. But in the back of my mind I was tempted by the more inexpensive option - grass seed.

I've heard that grass seed is difficult to grow (and I have never successfully grown something from a seed - ever), but now that I have sprinklers on an automatic timer, I'm thinking how hard can it be? As long as I can keep Daisy off of it, isn't it worth a shot? We're talking 7 cents a square foot, instead of $1.50 for installed sod.

Which brings me to the contro-grassy (it's catching on!). I was watching TV last night, when an infomercial came on for a product called Cutting Edge. No, it's not the knives that cut through soda cans. It's a special variety of grass that puts down crazy long roots, and therefore is more drought tolerant, and hardy. It also only grows to 2-4" high, so you don't need to mow as often, if ever. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Actually yes, Garrett noticed that one of the images on the infomercial was photoshopped (and badly) but that doesn't mean it's fake right? Maybe they just didn't get a good picture? RIGHT??

I decided to do some research, and there are several types of grass seed out there that claim to grow drought resistant, no mow lawns. They have mixed reviews, no one can definitively say they are good or bad. So I signed up with a forum called The Helpful Gardener. They have a thread about Cutting Edge grass, and the webmaster is actually offering free samples to those who want to try it out for themselves. 

I'll let you all know how it turns out. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

Veggie Garden!

Ever since my dad and I built our redwood planter, I have been itching to fill it up with something fun. This weekend, I finally had my chance!

I realize it's a little late in the season to plant a vegetable garden, but I am hoping our mild California weather will trick the plants into thinking it's still spring time.

I planted seeds for lettuce, scallions, bush beans, and zucchini, which were all part of an "easy to grow" farmer's seed kit. Not willing to trust my future salads to my notorious brown thumb, I also planted a few things that had already been started - basil, strawberries, beefsteak tomatoes, and dill.

All of these plants required "semi-moist" soil (how can you judge if something is "semi-moist"??), but the rosemary plant I had required "arid" soil, so I planted that in a separate pot. I am sincerely hoping that "arid" means I can forget to water it, and it'll grow anyway.

TIL: How to Clean an Oil Painting

It's the first Sunday of the month, and normally that means you can find me at the Pasadena City College flea market. However, on those occasions when I may have had a rousing Saturday night on the town, and require a little Sunday sleep-in, I make do with the Melrose flea market -- closer to home and lasts until 5 pm. Today was one such day.

The selection is a little different at the Melrose Trading Post (not as much furniture, more clothes and new, handmade jewelry and art), but you can usually find a little something to take home. I fell in love with this traditional oil painting...

Not my usual style, but who doesn't love a good Horse & Hound painting?

Of course it was super grimy, and I had no idea how to clean an oil painting. I had a feeling my usual all-purpose go-to product, Fabulouso, would not be recommended by museum curators everywhere. WikiHow to the rescue!

Turns out I already had everything I needed... Just some cotton swabs and my own spit. Sounds gross, I know, but at least it was basically free. You just moisten the Q-tips in your mouth (keep a cup of water nearby, to keep your whistle wet), and gently dab away. 

Look how much dirt is on those things! It took about an hour, but eventually I ended up with a clean painting and a stack of disgusting Q-tips.

I can't wait to find the perfect place for my newest little treasure!

UPDATE: Apartment Therapy just did a little recap of Los Angeles area flea markets! Some of my favorites are highlighted, check it out here!

Disaster Watch 2013: Redwood Planter

Hope you're not too addicted to my Backyard Disaster Zone tales of woe, because they are rapidly approaching an end! Last weekend, my dad and I (with the help of Jose from Home Depot) installed a brand new sprinkler system in the backyard! Huzzah!

Next major step will be sod, but there are a few little plantings I want to get done before then. And my dad (God bless him, he just has a way of creating more work for himself) had the brilliant idea to add a raised redwood planter along the walkway to Garrett's studio. Genius!

Through some divine DIY karma, the planter area was exactly twelve feet long. Which meant that we were able to buy twelve foot boards, and not have to cut anything other than the sides. We decided to make the planter eighteen inches deep, basically just for logistical reasons - we would be able to get eight pieces out of one board, so we made our planter four boards high. Bringing our grand total of materials to just nine 12 ft redwood boards - everything else we already had on hand.

Now, I realize this view of the backyard isn't exactly inspiring, but let's take a moment to ponder where we came from...

We've come a long way, baby!