GUEST PEACE: Fabric Leaf Coasters

December 1, 2015April 12, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

Julie a fifty-something, married, full-time working mom of recent college grad Eric and college junior Ali. After two years, she is starting to discover some good things about the life of an empty nester: expanding from focus on the kids and career to her place in a larger world, with time to appreciate both natural and designed beauty. So she crafts and bakes now whenever the inspiration strikes…. why not?

I needed coasters for our high rise condo and have always liked fabric coasters. I searched online but couldn’t find fabric coasters that I really liked, so thought I’d try making some myself. I wanted to add an organic touch to our contemporary decor, so I chose to make coasters that mimic various leaves: maple, palm, gingko, etc.

1. Sketched a few different leaf shapes onto felt and cut them out.

2. Cut out a matching shape in a complementary felt color.
3. Embroidered the “veins” on the outward side of each felt leaf. I used both metallic and matte embroidery flosses.4. Hand stitched the two sides together (right sides out) and embellished with a crystal droplet bead for a little bling.
I love how they turned out! You can use different leaves or colors for different seasons. Or different holiday themes: Hearts, flowers, snowflakes, etc. Maybe even initials or words. They cost pennies to make and they’re both decorative and functional!

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A Hot Air Balloon First Birthday

September 28, 2015April 12, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

When my sister-in-law told me she wanted my nephew’s first birthday theme to be “Growing UP, UP, UP”, I was super excited. The possibilities with hot air balloons seemed endless. To start the process, I gave her a selection of color palettes and asked her to pick her favorite. I find that this is the best place to start. When you begin an event, you most always have an idea of a few colors you would like to use, but finding coordinated hues can be difficult. That is where searching color palettes online comes in handy and you can base the entire event off of an inspired palette.

For invitations, I like to incorporate a 3D aspect using foamy double-sided tape. In this case, I found mismatched prints that went with the theme and cut out number ones. Pair with red envelopes and they are ready to send! The other item that I was in charge of was the Happy Birthday banner. Using the same font from the invitations, I printed and cut out letter stencils on cardstock. Those stencils were used on a thick, red scrapbook paper.
For the bunting, I cut letter-sized, brown, kraft colored paper in half and created another stencil to cut out the triangular shape from the bottom. Punch two holes on the top and string! To add more color and make it a little more dynamic, I picked out 3 coordinating prints and 3 solid papers in the same colors. Having the color palette on my phone made it easy to make sure I was picking out the correct shades at the store.
Spray adhesive really worked best on this project as the craft glue was creating wrinkles in the paper. The party was at a beautiful park in the neighborhood. To separate each word on the banner, I used the extra invitations and as a finishing touch, added some red, burlap ribbons.
My sister-in-law created this adorable banner of all of the monthly photos using scrapbook paper and string to attach and decorate the baskets. In a stroke of luck, Oriental Trading Co. had these paper lantern, hot air balloons in the exact colors we needed. They really added to the space and were super easy to assemble and take down.
It was a beautiful day only made better by celebrating the very first birthday of the sweetest little nephew.

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Framing a Milestone

May 26, 2015April 5, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

Greeting cards…from birthdays, from showers, from graduations, stacked high in boxes, in the closet, in the garage, or not. Maybe they collect for a day or so and then find themselves in the trash bin. Yes, we have all done it with maybe just a little bit of guilt, or not.

The first Milestone Frame I ever did was after our wedding. This project lent itself nicely to this time as we had just celebrated a major moment in our lives and were beginning to build our home. The same goes for baby showers and first birthdays as the parents I know are always looking for ways to decorate the walls of the nursery. This current project is from the cards from Julie’s baby shower.
After gathering all of the cards from the occasion, I used a heart shaped punch to highlight certain pictures or patterns that I thought were interesting and in this case, cute! Sometimes, I find entire pieces of a card to incorporate, like the letters, the bear, and the duckie.
The best part about getting a card is the message inside. Before closing up the back, I wanted to make sure to preserve and include these well wishes.

In this piece, the hearts took a very organic shape around the letters. In others, I have used a more structured form. On a side note, my favorite place to buy frames is IKEA. This is the Viserum, but I also love the Ribba and the Sondrum. The frames are classy, modern, come with matte board and are unbeatable in price!

For my nephew’s room from the baby shower.

As a gift or something you do for yourself, with happy occasions or even ones with grief, these Milestone Frames can serve as a constant reminder of all the love and support around you.

INSPIRED PEACE

Milestone Frame by April!

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Guest Peace: Boxes for Form and Function

May 18, 2015April 5, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

Lauren and I have been best friends for over 20 years and she is my “go to” person for any and all things crafty. Her technical mind mixed with a love of design makes for a beautiful and easy execution of whatever she decides to create. It only makes sense that she would be my first “Guest Peace”. I’m sure you will be hearing a lot more from her here!

About a year ago I finally decided to invest in a few of the brightly colored lacquer boxes and trays that I was seeing on all of the interior design blogs and magazines. But after looking around I realized that I could make them myself — in the colors and shapes I wanted and at a much better price! I had two small unfinished wooden boxes that I had saved from some of those lotion and body wash gift baskets that used to be popular, and I found another larger box at Michael’s. A few coats of spray paint and a couple more of clear coat transformed them into exactly what I was looking for.

The hardest part was choosing the colors! I decided on a deep blue for my living room where I wanted a pop of color but something that could shift with my mood and the seasons.

I chose black for the two small boxes. I knew I wanted one in my black and turquoise bathroom, and while I didn’t have an immediate plan for the other one, it’s found the perfect home sitting on my lime green vintage stove.

Even though I wanted the boxes as a decorative touch, they help me stay organized and corral bottles that would otherwise end up all over my kitchen and bathroom counters. They would make great housewarming gifts filled with new dish towels and fancy dish soap to make washing dishes a little more luxurious, or even a bottle of wine and cheese. The possibilities are endless!

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Memories of a Wedding…Dress

May 4, 2015April 5, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

On May 1st, my husband and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary! In honor of this special milestone, I wanted to share a way that my wedding dress has evolved since that time.

Around our one year, I cut my entire dress to shreds. No…it was not out of anger and YES…I was terrified to do it. What prompted me to do to such a thing was the thought of this beautiful dress stashed in the corner of our closet, only to gather dust and be forgotten. I wanted it to be a part of our everyday lives.

My dress, although simple, had delicate fabric and beaded flowers scattered along the skirt and train. They were a perfect part of the dress to display. For contrast and to make the embellishments stand out, I draped the ivory, flowered netting on top of a solid grey fabric. They were then framed and hung over our bed.

I think I can speak for most in saying that finding artwork for your home is really difficult. Ideally, you want something that both reflects your style and has meaning. This was a fantastic option to fulfilling both. Not only does this fit the look of our home, but when I walk into our room, I am reminded of our wedding day and how incredibly grateful I am for the last five years.

Wedding photography by Karen Nakamura

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5 Minute Frame

April 27, 2015April 5, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

A dear friend and colleague of mine will be a first-time grandmother to not one, BUT THREE grandchildren this year! I had been keeping an eye out to find frames to showcase all 3 grandbabies in her office. Nothing was striking me, and so, I decided that I should start with something simple and elaborate on it.

My original ideas were to cover the entire matte board in some sort of print or cut out large paper flowers and put in the corners of the frame. Going through my expansive collection of scrapbook paper to find inspiration, I came across a geometric pattern which happened to have wording applicable to the occassion.

I used the outline of the geometric shapes to cut out interesting patterns that could be glued right onto the matte board.

With minimal time or effort, this is a fantastic way to add a personal touch to your gifting.

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Embroidery Hoops

Image | March 30, 2015April 5, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

Mixing lace and fabrics of different texture, I created a very economical and beautiful showcase of embroidery hoops for the entryway. Simply stretch your fabric across the hoop and tighten with the second ring.

To create dimension, I embroidered our initial with metallic thread and made wool felt flowers.

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