In celebration of my newest shop on Etsy, Ink Tree Printables, I'm offering FREE PRINTABLE VALENTINES! Click HERE to download a PDF with 5 little cute critter valentines, and 4 matching printable DIY envelopes.
EDIT: Now FREE PRINTABLE LABELS at WorldLabel.com!
Merry Christmas from Ink Tree Press! I hope you enjoy this free printable holiday card! Click here to download.
EDIT: This card will fit in a size A7 envelope, available at most office supply or stationary stores.
Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving full of love and laughter. I have lots of wonderful things to tell you!
First, I'm kicking off the holiday shopping season with a BANG and a BOGO SALE! I will not have another BOGO sale between now and Christmas, so now is your chance!
Please read my shop announcement for terms and exclusions. Lots of things included in the sale this time not previously eligible!
Second, an unexpected and delightful milestone ...
It feels like yesterday that I closed Orange Ink Studio and opened Ink Tree Press. It's been a wonderful first year, and I'm looking forward to 2011!
Next, I have to tell you about a wonderful opportunity presented to a handful of very lucky Etsy artisans, myself included. Etsy paired up with HGTV to create a holiday gift-giving program called '15 Fresh Handmade Gift Ideas' where they had 15 gift giving categorys, highlighting a number of handmade items from Etsy sellers, and also 15 DIY projects for handmade holiday gifts. While not all artists invited to participate were able to be featured on the show, you can see them on on HGTV's website RIGHT HERE.
And here is a little screenshot of growth chart with a gnome you might now!
A dear customer of mine, Kristie, sent me these photos of the STUNNING nursery she decorated for her son Lukas, who is due just about any day now. I was delighted when she said I could share the photos with all of you!
I love the blend of earthy nuetrals with pops of mushroom red and forest green. I was so flattered when Kristie said the inspiration for this whimsical space came from my own Woodland Alphabet and Numbers artwork. They look so nice framed with the brown mats, and look at the wee mushroom nightlight!
The cute little mobile that hangs over the crib was handmade by Kristie from felt, also inspired by the Woodland prints from my shop. The gorgeous tree decals on the wall were an awesome Etsy find. The curtains are semi-homemade, using green felt on a pair of white curtain panels, cut to look like grass.
Kristie cleverly upcyled an existing and less-than-cute bumper pad on hand into the fun red mushroom dot bumper pad you see just be recovering it with new fabric. And what cute fabric! Can you guess where you've seen it? It's from the Celebrate Seuss! line by Robert Kaufman Fabrics.
More delightful handmade goodies in this space are the fox and raccoon plush, handmade by Kristie. The owl was a gift from a friend, and Mr. Frog was handmade by Kristie's grandmother and he's been in the family for 30+ years. I love stories like that. A whole new generation will be giving Mr. Frog a lot of love.
One of the things I enjoy about this space is how cozy it looks, but still roomy. Some might not think to orient a crib on an angle like this, but the round rug anchors the placement of each piece of furniture and allowed for things to be pulled away from the wall, but still leaving an open area for plenty of baby tummy time and floor play with Mom and Dad.
And I saved the best for last ...
I am IN LOVE with this big log floor pillow, also handmade by Kristie. LOVE IT! You can bet your bottom dollar that I immediately begged for tips on how she made it. Here is what she said:
"I basically created a tube per the specifications I wanted, took some scrap linen for the ends and just sewed a quick "swirl" for some rings, tacked it all together and stuffed away! It was pretty darn easy! I wanted something that I and baby can lay on when we're playing on the floor."
The wood grain fabric she used is by Joel Dewberry, and alas is discontinued. Anyone have a lonely yard left? Send me an email! Maybe I will just have to design some wood grain fabric of my own. Coincidentally, Kristie is the person who first suggested I should turn my Woodland illustrations into fabric designs, so I think it's quite fitting that she should also inspire some new designs!
Baker's Twine seems to be popping up everywhere these days. I must admit that I'm drawn to its simple beauty. Whether wrapping a package, hanging tags or ornaments, or creating a handmade garland, it's a nice change from plain thread or ribbon. It has a kind of homey yesteryear feel to it that I love.
I think I'm kind of partial to the red, but baker's twine is popping up in a whole rainbow of gorgeous colors. I was sucked in by the 'ooooh pretty' factor of this sample pack and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival:
I think 120 yards will last me quite some time! I think I will use it to make some pretty hang tags for my new fabric line and probably will wrap packages with it during the holiday season. At around 12 cents per yard, it's not a bad price for such a color sampling. If you're looking to use baker's twine for your business and would like to buy it in bulk, you can find it at wholesalers such as Country Clean Paper Supplies for as little as $8.95 for a 2-POUND cone .... that's 3,400 yards of twine for less than 1 cent per yard! Their colors aren't quite as yummy, but you can get your basics like red, green, blue, and brown. I was also delighted to discover Divine Twine, a biodegradeble and earth-friendly 100% cotton baker's twine option made right here in the USA. Oh how those colors make my heart pitter-patter!
My oldest is almost 3 and has been showing interest in pretend play more and more lately. I knew she would love a play kitchen, so I started shopping around. I loved the idea of her having a wood play kitchen. Something sturdy and attractive that would look nice in her room or whatever corner of the house it ended up, would withstand the test of toddlerhood, and live to be passed on to her younger sister, and eventually another lucky little would-be Chef someday!
Unfortunately, many of the wooden play kitchens are a bit outside the budget I had in mind. I did some searches on the web and came across a number of amazing and beautiful DIY play kitchens. Ohdeedoh.com is always featuring unique and creative DIY projects, and their selection of articles on DIY play kitchens didn't disappoint! Between Ohdeedoh and Flickr I found a lot of inspiration. This beautiful play kitchen was my favorite and ended up being the model for ours, with some slight changes.
GATHERING MATERIALS:
After our supplies were assembled, I measured and drew out the hole for the sink, which my sweet husband cut out with our jigsaw, and also the holes drilled for the faucet. No pipes to hook up here, just drop it in and screw in place. A little bit of silicone caulking holds the sink in place. Meanwhile, I rounded the corners of the backsplash board, sanded, and painted.
Next was box assembly, using L-brackets and screws. I left an overhang on each side to add shelves and hooks later. All of the box sides were the Ikea Rast night stand pieces, so already cut and sanded. The top shelf was a 1x12 pine shelf cut to length at the hardware store and sanded by me, and the bottom was a scrap of wood we had in the garage that my husband cut.
We then traced box assembly onto the backsplash board, pre-drilled some holes in the back board, and screwed to the box assembly. We also measured the opening for the plexiglass on the oven door and cut with a jigsaw, then sanded smooth. The oven door is one of the Ikea Rast pieces. ALL of this we managed to accomplish while our kids (2 girls under 3) were napping. Super parents!
Later that night after the girls were in bed we headed back out to the garage to finish things up. Using scrap pieces, we put in a shelf for the bottom of the oven, cut the oven door to size, and installed with hinges. The plexiglass is held in place using industrial strength indoor/outdoor double-stick tape.
Finishing touches are the knobs for the stove, coasters-turned-stove burners glued down, towel-bar installed, some shelves on the left side cut from a remaining Ikea Rast plank, and my AH-HA use of an old shower caddy on the right side for storage.
I used a scrap of Heather Bailey Pop Garden fabric to sew a curtain for the sink area, but still need to run out and buy a little tension rod. For now, it's stitched and hanging on the towel bar.
Otherwise, we're DONE!
It's so cute! And I'm so proud that we hustled and got it knocked out in one day, even though we stayed up a bit later than usual. I'll have to take some photos of the girls playing with it. They LOVE IT.
I still need to add up my receipts, but I think we spent around $100 on the project, not counting the play food. Most of the play food is Melissa & Doug.
Recent Comments