I’m getting ready for a little holiday party at our house this weekend, so that means pulling out my go-to party accessories like this little vessel I made and used as a candle holder for my birthday party. Or, you might also have spotted it in my studio on Design Sponge where I used it as a pencil cup.  Now, I am putting it to work as a bar accessory, holding the printed straws that are a must at every party, right?

Supplies needed // 1: Simple drinking glass (I picked up mine at the 99 cent store). 2: White spray paint (make sure to get FLAT paint. That is what makes it look porcelain like). 3: Gold leafing pen (also by Krylon, find it here)

Instructions: 1: Spray paint the glass. (two coats worked form me)

2: Starting at the top, press firmly on the very tip of the pen to create a small dot. 3: move the pen over about 1 cm and place another dot. It’s nice to do it freehand so that it doesn’t look too perfect.

4: Continue all the way down the vase (I left about an inch at the bottom of free white space to anchor the pattern). That’s it! and you are done. Easy peasy right?

Images by sarah sherman samuel

Our curtains were another full family DIY session (like the flooring and the bedroom ceiling, which you can see here and here).

Supplies needed for the curtain rods:
2 ten foot lengths of 1″ steel pipe
3 floor flanges
2 elbow joints
1 T joint (I don’t really know what that is called but you can see it in image 4)
matte black spray paint
12 screws

We bought the pipe at our local “Do it Best” hardware store (image 1) and they cut the pipe down and threaded it to our exact size requirements. Rupert and I painted them (image 2 – 4) while my mom sewed the curtains (the fabric being re-purposed from my Smilebooth background I made for my 30th birthday… remember that? If you didn’t catch it the first time you can see it here), and finally my dad installed them, using the T joint in the center to connect the two pipes (image 5) and the elbow joints at the end to attach them to the floor flanges, securing them to the wall (image 6).

To see all the cabin progress head over here.

Catch a photo of my mom deep in thought over sewing the fabric into curtains after the jump. :) Read the rest of this entry »

We tackled a little DIY wallpaper project last trip so things are actually starting to look a little something like my bedroom plan here.

I have been holding on to this Cole & Sons wallpaper for almost 5 years now so it is nice to finally have the perfect place to put it up! I know it has been seen and done many times before but it really is just soo good that I don’t mind. :)

The process of putting up the wallpaper was easier then you might think. My mom assisted me, and we had it up in no time (well, almost… it took us a couple hours), and it turned out great. It is amazing to me how big of a difference it makes in the room. If you ever feel like taking this on yourself there are some great detailed instructions here. Or, if you are like me… I like to hear the steps boiled down to the very basic before jumping into a project.

So, see how I did it after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

You may recognize these big bad bows from my 30th birthday party. Since the feature on 100 Layer Cake and the photos I posted here, I have received a few inquiries on how to make these oversized fascinators (or fantasticles as Rupert calls them). So, here is a quick & festive DIY project to adorn your noggin at your next party.

Supplies needed: • 1 sheet of 8.5 x 11″ heavy weight cover paper • 4 sheets of 20 x 30″ tissue paper • 1 plastic headband • washi tape (I got this gold striped one at Urbanic) • scissors • double stick tape

Instructions:

1. Take 2 of the 4 sheets of tissue paper and fold them in half to measure 15 x 20″. 2. Pull up one corner and gather the tissue to midpoint. 3. Pull up the other side and gather to meet the first corner. 4. Repeat for the two remaining corners gathering all corners to midpoint as shown.

5. Wrap tape around the gathered ends making sure to secure all of the edges. 6. Repeat steps 1-5 on the remaining sheets of tissue paper to make 2 halves of the bow. 7. Overlap the two taped ends of the bow halves & wrap tape around to secure together. 8. Now, add the headband. Secure by wrapping the tape around and around pulling taught as you go. (9 & 10 are optional but I found this strengthens the bow and keeps it up right) 9. Cut a mini bow shape out of the heavy cover stock that mimics the shape of the bow. 10. Use double stick tape to attach it to the back.

Now put that puppy on your head because you are ready to party!

DIY images: by sarah  // Party images: by Smilebooth

Being a U-shaped kitchen, we had to do just a little tricky work to get the countertops to look seamless. We started with two 96″ butcher block countertops from Ikea. Once we cut the piece out for the range we were able to take the remnants from that and frame out either side of the sink. The edges of the butcher block come beveled so where the two pieces met up we had to carefully cut the edge off and then with a little glue and  clamps… voila, a perfect seam.

Here is a peek at the flooring while we were putting it in. After scraping off all of the old floor tiles and laying down the underlayment, the new floor went in relativley quickly.

This photo perfectly illustrates what any onlooker would see at any point of the day on our recent trip to the cabin. I wasn’t kidding when I said we made a lot of progress or that we worked until we couldn’t move and this is a glimpse into how it happened. At the moment this photo was taken my dad was busy putting up trim while my mom was painting and all while Rupe and I were putting in the floors.

 TA – DA! and they are done. While it is in need of a major clean up job (as is every other surface in the cabin), at least it is all in.

To see the old floor check here and to see the full progression of the cabin so far, look here.

I am back in LA now, but about a half an hour before I had to leave to get to the airport we put on the very last piece of siding! So that checks a big project off of our lists. Now, you will still have to IGNORE THE UGLY COLORS because we have to paint it all, but at least the hardest part is over. Hopefully it will get looking something more like my rendering soon.

You can see more of the progress here: old siding, without siding, and putting up siding.

P.S. we also replaced the patio doors. The old ones were so rotted that the glass had slipped down into the door leaving a nice 2 inch gap for that warm michigan winter weather to get through.

My parents and I put a big dent in the siding work today. Here are a few photos of my dad and I hard at work. I am drilling the holes and spacing out the siding, while he is cutting the pieces to size and hammering them in…some good quality father daughter teamwork.

We jumped right in this morning…my dad tore off all of the old nasty siding while my mom and I tackled painting the ceiling. After one coat my arms and neck feel like they are already going to fall right off. I realized today that my 60 year old dad has way more stamina then me!

So here is the cabin without the siding and with just the tar paper…an improvement over this already. Next is putting up all the sheathing and then the new siding, and THEN finally, we get to paint it. I seriously can not wait to get rid of that maroonish-redish dried blood color.