GUEST PEACE: DIY Nursery Letters

May 1, 2017May 2, 2017 | mel@apeaceofcreativity.com

When I found out I was pregnant with our little girl I was so excited to create her nursery. My husband and I have been married for almost 9 years so we had waited a long time to start a family. Needless to say, my Pinterest baby board was chockablock with fun crafty ideas.

I was inspired by some decorative letters I saw on Pinterest and I decided to replicate them adding my own flare. I didn’t want to make anything that would age too quickly so I avoided child-like designs. I really love the beautiful floral clothes from Anthropologie so I thought that if I could find some paper inspired by my wardrobe I could share with Indie a little bit of myself. There was, of course, only one place to look… Paper Source!

I love contrasting different patterns and textures in my clothing and I found these papers that captured exactly that. I spent an obscene amount of money on them but it was well worth it.

I bought the wooden letters from Michael’s craft store and was able to use their online coupons to reduce the price.

I drew around all the letters and cut them out which took forever. I used a regular glue stick to attach them and the good thing was, when I didn’t get the alignment right, the paper would peel right off without ruining.

My husband nailed them to the wall in the nursery. We didn’t go all the way around the room because I wanted to leave space for the canopy that I wanted to hang over the crib.

I am really happy with how they turned out, they go beautifully with the rest of the aesthetic. It was a lot of work but I am glad I took the time to do it. Indie will be saying her ABC’s in no time!

Samantha is from England but has been in the us for 9 years. She is a new mummy to her daughter Indie who was born in December, 2016. She has been an amateur knitter most of her life after her grandmother taught her at an early age. She loves crafting but struggles to complete projects. Samantha loves making gifts for friend’s kids and any time she completes a project she is very happy. She says that the best part about crafting is the relaxation it provides so she never takes any project too seriously.

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Yarn & Gold Hoops

March 28, 2017April 12, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

I am always looking for things to hang on the walls but sometimes a room already has too many frames or mirrors. The spot I was looking for needed something more organic with texture. When I saw the DIY Yarn Wall Art by Harlow & Thistle, I knew I had to give it a try. You can find the full tutorial here.

You will need:

Metal hoops
Yarn (in coordinating colors and textures)
Butcher’s twine
A good pair of fabric scissors to trim the bottoms
THAT’S IT!

I actually found these gold hoops from the craft store first, but picking out yarn textures and colors took me forever! There are so many shades of grey, khaki and white, finding the three that go together was challenging. The khaki and cream are pretty standard but I love love love the silvery grey bulky yarn I found. I love the texture and that it has a slight sheen to it.

Cut the pieces of yarn in 4 foot strips, and two at a time, looped them over the ring with the knot portion facing forward.

After deciding how far you want to go along the bottom of the ring, start on the second loop with the next color. I did the same with the khaki: 4 foot strips, bunched in twos and then looped over the ring, knot facing forward.

For the smallest ring, I wanted to try macrame. I used a tutorial by Parlor. Her illustrations made the process way easier than I expected. Next time, I would like to try it with string meant for macrame as the yarn was quite stretchy and the fibers did not give the knots the definition it needed.

I used cotton butcher’s twine to wrap all of the rings together and create a hanging loop as the yarn would not hold up all of that weight. To finish, trim the ends into whatever shape you choose! I also knotted the bottoms of the grey yarn as they were starting to unravel.

I love this because it was really easy and something different to add to your wall space! Every part can be customized to fit the look and feel of your home.

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Scrabble Art

March 16, 2017July 17, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

Looking for a really simple, easy but meaningful gift for the grandparents? When my husband was a kid, his family used to play Scrabble all of the time. I had seen large scrabble tiles used for wall collages saying words like “FAMILY” or “HOME”. I wanted to do a pared down version using all of the grandkids’ names.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase using the links below.

You will need:

Strong adhesive (glue gun, E6000, etc…)
Scrabble letters (Tally up how many of each letter you will need so you know how many sets to buy.)
Shadow box frame preferably with matting
Printed or colored paper for the background (enough sheets for a redo if needed, see below)

Lay out your “scrabble board” on your background paper with the mat board so you know where to center them. I took one of the letters I knew I probably would not use (Q) and drew a heart with a black sharpie on back.

One thing I always think about when using the grandkids or kids names is what happens when you know your family is still growing? That’s why this project is so perfect, because of how simple it is, it would be easy to pull off the letters and make a new one for additional names!

Edited:

We have a new addition to the family, my niece, Kelsie! We were able to find a spot for her without moving too many names around.

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Guest Peace: A Creative Space

August 29, 2016April 24, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

I share my home with my awesome husband, Ben, two gorgeous children, Jenson and Johanna, and my two hairy feline friends, Fluffy and Shiny. I was born and raised in Vienna, Austria, and moved to England to go to University, where I lived for 10 happy years and met Ben. We decided to move back to Vienna 7 years ago for various reasons, and we are so happy we made that decision! We both love living in this wonderful city so much.

I work for a non-governmental organization, and spend most of my weekends with my children hanging out in a park or lake somewhere. After hours, I am usually eating great food that Ben has prepared for me (he’s amazing in the kitchen!), drinking a cheeky glass of wine and watching Netflix with some embroidery on my lap. I try to make time to sew and draw as often as is humanly possible. If I could have one wish, other than the usual (end poverty, peace on Earth, etc..) it would be to have more time in any given day, or to not have the need to sleep (hmmm…., I love sleep, so scrap that idea). So if it could be arranged that a single day could be extended to 30 hours, and then the extra 6 hours could be used exclusively for creative and leisurely pursuits, that would be wonderful.

Photo: Sarah and her family

The goal: to have a space that was exclusively mine. As a full time working mum, I really felt the need for a space where I could sit and relax and be creative once the kiddies were asleep. It had to be functional, yet Pinterest-worthy. And in this space I would be creative, I would have all the time in the world to create masterpieces, enjoy the quiet alone time I sometimes so desperately craved, all the while sipping blissfully on a glass or two of wine. Happy! I decided that the bedroom would be the perfect spot. We drove to IKEA and found some amazing grey geometric wallpaper, and this happy looking yellow chair, and table. It was lovely. And I enjoyed sipping my coffee in the lounge chair during the occasional quiet moment.

But it wasn’t quite the creative space I desired. So, for my birthday in April, I asked Ben for my very own desk. Off we drove to IKEA again, I love IKEA!

I decided I wanted a bamboo top rather than the standard white top. In our excitement, we bought it without measuring (helpful tip: always measure before you buy!). The bamboo top wasn’t wide enough!! But that’s okay because the bamboo looked way better than the white, so I just got Ben to “fix” it by sawing the trestle legs a bit. Photo Aug 28, 8 51 59 PM.jpg
This is the table all ready to go, I just needed to add some finishing touches (notice how we tackled this project with a glass of rosé on the go. classy! And there’s Jenson, making himself at home). While we were at IKEA we bought that plant (now called Agatha, she has since been relocated to the living room, where the cats take a nibble out of her once in a while… sad times), and we also bought that chair, but I think I would like to replace it with something else in the future. I’m not sure what I’m looking for yet but I’ll know it when I see it!

My brother recently bought a gorgeous house just outside of Vienna, and he found a bunch of old window frames in the basement that were used in the house originally. He was going to throw them out anyway, so I think I was doing him a favour taking them off his hands. Best find ever!
Photo Aug 28, 8 59 23 PM.jpg I was tempted to sand them down and paint them an awesome colour, but when I put them against the wallpaper I thought they looked awesome just as they were. They had a rustic charm to them. That decision saved me a lot of work, which meant more time for crafting and wine. Hurray! (There’s Ben again, doing all the manual labour.)

I slowly started to add more personal items to the area to make it a place that I would feel inspired and happy. There are two photos taken by Ben when we first moved to Vienna: he took the same photo over the Danube river for about a year and some of the results we just stunning; an old photo illustration that I had custom made for me back in my early twenties and a number of little cacti plants and other bits and bobs.

This space continues to be a work in progress. Eventually I want to add some shelving so that I can put the cacti and other more useful items on it, which will allow the desk to be a bit more spacious. I also want to add some extra storage to house my small fabric stash that I am desperate to transform into a LARGE fabric stash.

scarethread_11 I would also like to get a record player in the room somewhere. I’m in the habit of automatically turning the telly on in the evening, and then I inevitably find myself distracted by zombies or Tom Hardy, depending on what I’m watching. I think it would be lovely to listen to some records and fully immerse myself in my creative little space. I have my heart set on a Crosley X UO Sterling Vinyl Record Player in turquoise from Urban Outfitters. I think this would make the perfect Christmas present (she says with her fingers and toes crossed, hoping a certain husband will get the hint).

Thank you so much for listening! Sarah xxx

For more of Sarah’s creative adventures, make sure to follow her on Instagram! @scarethread

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Wedding Artwork

February 2, 2016April 16, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

It’s February and the month of LOVE. To express my love affair with metallics, each post this month will be a GOLD project!

We have a good collection of decor photos from our wedding taken by Karen Nakamura. I love that they show the thought and work we put into that day as well as the feel and ambiance of our venue. When we moved into our home from our condo, we switched to white wood pieces instead of dark. Instead of getting rid of this frame, I decided to paint it.

I found this paint at the local craft store and although I have never used it before, I absolutely love the color. It is more of a champagne gold than yellow gold and it has super tiny sparkles, just enough to make it elegant and dynamic without being too cheesy. I admit that I am not a fan of sanding. I did not sand this frame and instead just put the paint right on. It took about 3-4 coats to cover the black, but a little black still shows through which gives it a really interesting texture. I did gloss it, which took it from home craft project to something you could find in the store.

The frame hangs nicely in our master bath. You can see how different the color looks depending on the lighting and time of day.

Finding artwork for your home is one of the most challenging parts of decorating. I am always saying how I prefer things with meaning, things you already have access to, and things that bring such good vibes and memories to your home. What’s better than to use photos from your wedding or any happy occasion that you love to remember.

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Embellished Letters Part 2

August 17, 2015April 12, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

A good friend has been searching for art ideas for her home and after the Keira letters, I couldn’t wait to try another set. The biggest challenge in this project was choosing a style that was refined and contemporary for their home, which was a lot harder than letters for a little girl’s nursery.

The walls in their house are grey and I thought the black letters would give a nice contrast. I was lucky to find this set of scrapbook paper with mellow geometric prints in a neutral and grey color palette.

After tracing and cutting out the letters in scrapbook paper, I used spray adhesive to affix them to the front of the wood letters.

One thing I really liked about these particular letters were that they stood up on their own. This gives my friend some flexibility in where she can put them in her home.

Since the letters were already black, it allowed me to save time from not having to paint them and accented their depth.

With all of the fronts of the letters on, it was time to add some decoration. I picked up some paper daisies, pearls, white twine, and metal-like embellishments and the stickers came with the scrapbook paper set. Using craft supplies by Handmade Modern from Target, I painted the wood shapes gold and added some daisies and stickers.

For me, this project was all about simple elegance. I wanted it to look crafty but not kitschy, modern but not cold. Honestly, it was not easy to find coordinating pieces to meet this vision, but knowing my friend and her style definitely helped. The daisies instantly reminded me of her and I based my decor around them.