DIY Turban Headband

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DIY Turban Headband

Headbands hurt my head.  It's a lesson I have to learn over and over again, because I love the way they look. I have amassed a collection that are, for the most part, relegated to face washing or the first 15 minutes of an outfit. The only way I can get away with a headband is if it is loosely fitted, with an elastic band around the back; a style that is usually only found in the little girls section.  After spotting something like this at Anthropologie, in a material that was a little too fancy for my taste, I set out to make my own, using the last of the scrap fabric from a long ago favorite dress. I can't wait to wear it this summer, hair down, up in a pony tail, or over the forehead, turban style. This tutorial is based on my own medium noggin size, just adjust the measurements to fit your own head properly.

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Little Love Letters

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Little Love Letters

For some silly, self-imposed reason I feel a little obligated to hand make the school valentines we give out. If I'm being completely honest, this is not really my thing. Last year we did get pretty into it making mustaches and lips on sticks, but usually I go for a paper heart with some glitter and call it a day. Valentines kind of stump me...having boys makes it even harder, because they don't want anything too cute(pink is cute, love is cute). So for this year I'm going a little artsy, making a school of fish with heart shaped tail fins. I totally swiped the "school of fish" concept from a snack valentine I saw on Pinterest. My valentines are so easy to make I think they hardly warrant a formal tutorial.  All you need to do is make a template of a fish body, use the template to make the bodies from red card stock, cut out hearts from tissue paper (this pretty design is from Target), and print out or write the "our school is cool" tagline on the back. Dust your hands off, you are done, my friend. xo.

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Young Makers: The Tapestry Project

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Young Makers: The Tapestry Project

I'm currently toying with the idea of offering an indie crafting class for the pre-tween set. I imagine it to be a time to work on projects like string art, sculptural/3D pieces, and paper lanterns, and naturally we would also talk out the world's problems while we craft. I had a couple of little ladies over last weekend to work on one such project that I designed to share over on Playful Learning today.  After learning how to make my own simple loom for a weaving assignment in a textiles class, I decided to try it out as a kid's project, as the materials and technique are really quite straightforward. I was joined by 4th graders Ella and Amelia for an afternoon of weaving, here's Ella's finished tapestry...

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A Little Something

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A Little Something

I will be headed on the first plane out of Oakland tomorrow morning to join in on the festivities at Alt Summit in Salt Lake City.  This will be my second time at the conference, and I get to go with Blurb, so I'm feeling pretty calm considering I don't know anyone really all that well.  I found the right dress to wear to the "Green" party, I've got my outfits packed, my seminars picked out (this will be the year of video!) and I finally seem to have kicked my wicked stomach bug.  After I hit the publish button on my last post, I stood up, got super sick, and went to bed for 20 hours.  I didn't know if I'd be able to get this one last thing done, but sitting and painting is actually really relaxing. Along with my business cards, I will also be handing out these little painted birch magnets as little takeaway to remember my blog by. I wanted to do something that would relate to my new book, which features projects that re-imagine simple materials into something useful and pretty.  To make your own follow the tutorial below. See you at Alt?  Come say hi! My name is Heather, and  I look like the silly girl up top without the paper crown and glasses.  

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Bright and Beautiful

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Bright and Beautiful

I promise this is not evolving into a party blog...I'll leave that to the experts. My dear friend Coco is having herself a little party this weekend to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her 30th birthday, and her husband Jim asked me to help out with "the look". Coco is a natural beauty, she is kind, sincere, and a appropriately goofy. When we lived in Montclair (Oakland), we were their down-the-hill neighbors, our kids are friends, and we spent several days a week at each others houses. Our moving away was pretty hard on both of our families, so we were beyond excited when Jim took a counseling job at the junior college up here - they'll be our neighbors once more this summer! Right around the time we moved, Coco bought the supplies for us to make one of my paper lanterns together, but we never got around to it, so I'm surprising her with this gilded version for her birthday. The party is at Campovida's Oakland tasting room, a reclaimed wood and brick clad space, located near Jack London Square. I went for a Kate Spade inspired palate of gold, fuchsia, royal blue, and teal. I found these sparklers in the same colors for a little late-night fun, and we're doing a photo booth including big white C O C O prop letters set against a pretty gold sequined backdrop. The be-tasseled lantern will hang prominently with more draped garlands and some giant clear balloons filled with gold confetti placed around the room. To make the paper lantern watch this video tutorial, glue in a second layer of smaller papers, and apply multiple light coats of gold metallic spray paint, and check out the how-to for tassel garland below.

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