The Trapeze Planter

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The Trapeze Planter

Plants are trendy right now, I'm just saying. Inspired by the current interiors of Anthropologie, the amazing San Francisco oddity Paxton Gate and this recent tutorial from Emily Henderson, I've been trying to incorporate more houseplants as decor into our front room.  The space is flooded with natural light, just perfect for green plants and my brown thumb. Today's DIY was a freebie for me; we had all the materials lying around, including these small coconut fiber pots- meant for planting directly into the ground.  As succulents and cacti don't require much watering, you can use these containers as decorative pots for indoor use, just remember they will break down if they are kept damp. 

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Pin It, Pin It Good

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Pin It, Pin It Good

In my next few DIY posts you'll see a theme: wooden craft/art store basics. I am as much a sucker for balsa and plywood as I am for paper lanterns, air plants, and poppy red.  These wooden things (pegs, beads, dowels, decorative objects)are usually found on special in a bin outside the store, or with all the woodworking supplies. For today's DIY I took a very inexpensive 7" tray and using some scrap fabric, I made a simple, clean-lined pin cushion for my sewing projects. One problem I run into when I'm sewing is when advancing the fabric and pulling the pins out, I tend to toss them on the table haphazardly and they fall all over the floor. With this tray cushion, a simple 3M command strip will attach it to the wall, so I can have it right at arms length in front of me, off the table, and away from the project, which sure beats the old tomato cushion. 

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Four Quarts Of Fun

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Four Quarts Of Fun

Last October we hosted a pumpkin carving party at our house and served a boat load of apple cider. It came in these glass gallon jugs.  Instead of tossing them in the recycling bin we stripped their labels, washed them, and tucked them away for some future use.  Since recently pulling them out for Jasper's birthday lemonade, I've been staring at them, thinking they could really be something. So I did what you do in this situation, and glued a bunch of rope around the glass, and sprayed the cap red. It's really so simple, but I kind of just love it. While you can't run it through the dishwasher, the rope is treated, so it can be easily wiped off and submerged in water.  Now what to fill it with...

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The Paper Lantern

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The Paper Lantern

I leave for vacation today, and will return to the blog in Mid-July.  I thought I'd leave you with a new video post, this time a project. My paper lanterns have been featured on Design Sponge, in magazines and at Alt Design Summit, but believe it or not, I've never done a tutorial here on Poppy Haus! When I started showing my projects, I didn't know that I needed to include tutorials. So, I made a short video to show you how I make a basic lantern. You can use any size white paper lantern, any size cupcake liner. If you want, you can layer the larger papers with a striped mini-liners to add dimension, or try using french pastry papers. 

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The West Wing

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The West Wing

When we moved here, one year ago this week, the boys began to share a room and eventually took over the entire corridor off of our kitchen which includes a playroom and their own bathroom. I decided to move Wylie into a twin bed straight from the crib, and created a little bunk room for them so that their visiting cousins and future sleepover buddies could spend the night. With one year under our belt I hadn't totally finished putting together their sleeping quarters, and I've been feeling a little guilty about it, so this week I put on the finishing touches and moved a few things around to make it more complete. Here's the quick tour... 

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