Design Mouse

10 Days of Holiday Crafts: Let it Snow!

I wanted to hang snowflakes above the entryway but I didn't want to put a bunch of holes in our wall. Since we have a lofted ceiling above the door, hanging from the ceiling was out of the question. First I considered using a piece of fat ribbon as a border to hide the top of the threads, which I think would work well if you have the right ribbon handy. I did not, so I turned to my Cricut. 

Here is what I ended up with: 

Each snowflake is tied with silver thread. The end of the thread is attached to the trees with blue tape. Then more blue tape is used to stick the trees to the wall. The only real trick is to keep the threads short where people will walk and around the vents. 

Designed Snacks: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I managed to get my paws on over 9 cups of pumpkin seeds after a carving party this Halloween. With such an abundance I experimented with a variety of flavors.

After rinsing the seeds, I put them on a lightly oiled sheet of aluminum foil on top of the cookie sheet. This worked well for the savory ones, but the sweet batch may have been easier directly on the cookie sheet since they stuck to the foil.

All seeds were toasted at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. I stirred them around half-way through. They have stayed crispy for two weeks (and counting) in these plastic containers.

Simply Salted. I toasted a large batch with just sea salt. I found that plenty of flavor stuck to the wet seeds without the need for more oil or butter. 

Ranch. I tossed 1/2 cup of seeds with a couple teaspons of ranch dip powder until they were well-coated. Even though they looked completely covered the flavor was not overpowering. These get quite a bit darker. (Back row, middle). 

Black Tea. Another 1/2 cup of seeds was tossed with a couple teaspoons of finely ground black tea. (I used a mortar and pestle to grind). I then sprinkled them with sea salt. I was excited about these but they weren't as strong as I had hoped. Next time, I would make sure the surface of the seeds was 1/3 to 1/2 covered by tea. 

Sweet & Spicy. These were a big hit at work. For these I used something along the lines of this recipe: 

 

1 TBSP Brown Sugar

5 generous dashes of cayenne pepper

5 dashes of Salt

1/2 c pumpkin seeds

I was pretty generous with the cayenne. If you make them too spicy you can always mix them with the Simply Salted seeds to tone them down. The sugar adds just a hint of sweetness to bring out the spiciness. 

Pumpkin Pie Spice.  These are the sticky ones so save them for last. They make great a ice cream topping! (Especially with pumpkin ice cream). The "recipe":

1 cup Pumpkin Seeds

1 Tbsp White Sugar

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Enjoy!

 

Wedding Decor: Invitations

I love all the coordinated wedding invitations I see online, but I didn't want to pay for custom invitations. Besides, I wanted the fun of designing my own.

I loved the poster-inspired invitation from The Spark Machine. So I borrowed that idea. For the main focus of the invitation I copied a stylized postcard from The Century Ballroom's New Year's party. Ryan and I took a lot of dance classes there, so it felt appropriate since it was an element of our relationship. Here is what we ended up with:

For the smaller graphic elements I downloaded some fonts from ScrapNFonts.

I created the whole thing using Adobe InDesign. I printed all the invitation components using coupons and rewards points at Staples. The gal working the print center let me come back and help her get all the color adjustments just the way I wanted them.

Ryan then helped me cut, round corners and score about 100 invitations.

He then helped me stamp the seals and matching envelopes. I glued matching labels in the bottom left corner of each envelope, covering up that rough edge on the lower stamp. 

As you can see from the pictures it was pretty dark while we were doing this. We don't get much light after 5pm in the winter around here. 

Our Wedding: Inspiration Board

Here are my inspiration board pictures. I still need to find some of the links to reference the pictures, but this is a good start. 

Headband from Anthropologie. 

Rings from tinytokendesigns on Etsy. 

Earrings from simonewalsh on Etsy. 

Button flower pins found on Paper Crave. 

Garter from The Garter Girl. 

 

Wedding invitation from The Spark Machine via Paper Crave. 

Illustrated centerpieces by Paperfinger spotted on Paper Crave.

Butterfly card from TimelessPaper on Etsy.   

 

Matchboxes from Lovely Package. 

Hot chocolate vials from Inspired Bride. 

 

Clothespins from Write.Click.Scrapbook.

Birds & hearts garland from Paper Acorn, seen on Inspired Bride. 

Star lights from IKEA.  

DIY Kusudama flowers and origami roses from Folding Trees (seen on Paper Crave). 

 

Pretty food flags sited on Eat. Drink. Chic.

Fortune cookies from Once Wed. 

Cupcake stand tutorial from Style Me Pretty. 

 

Fancy square cookies and white cupcakes found on Inspired Bride.  

Cupcake papers by Bake It Pretty. 

 

I ended up using the flowers from page 29 of Nonpareil Magazine Issue #1, too. 

Our Wedding: Theme & Planning

I designed and (with the help of friends) made all the decorations for our wedding last year. We wanted to save our money for the honeymoon and I love to craft things. I'll post details on all the handmade decorations over the next little while. 

The first step for me was to determine the theme and how we wanted the wedding to feel. Since this was a celebration that centered around the two of us I focused on showcasing our relationship. Ryan and I both wanted the wedding to be fun, joyous and to focus on the celebration.

With those things in mind I set a timeline. We chose a wedding date that would be best for our honeymoon and that would line up with Spring Break for some of the family. I knew the planning process would not be fun if I worked on it for the whole six months leading up to our wedding. And I didn't want to miss my favorite time for celebration, Thanksgiving-New Year's.

Prior to Thanksgiving I focused on finding a venue and creating/sending the invitations. I selected colors by combining things in my craft room until I found something I liked. In the end, my favorite paper ended up being the guide to my color choice. I created the color card below in Adobe InDesign and modeled it after the Inspired Bride, which has wonderful color combinations. 

The only other thing I did was gather ideas for decor. Emails about the wedding cease between November 18 and January 2. By the time I started up again I was re-energized and all the separate ideas I gathered had time to blend together and become my own. 

Next post: My Inspiration Board

 

 

Wire Beading Technique

I tried my hand at a different kind of beading during craft day today. I used wire to make all the loops and even the clasp for this necklace. It looks tedious but it is the perfect craft for meditating or talking with friends as you do it. I will definitely be making more! 

You can see the individual beads at the top of the picture. I threaded them on wire and created the loops. In the middle are the double-loop links. At the bottom I connected beads with the double loops. I know this will also look good with fewer beads and more wire, especially if the beads are bigger or brighter. 

I like the extra contrast the colored wire adds without having the extra weight & density from more beads. 

Materials:

• Amethyst Beads
• Garnet Beads
• Colored Beading Wire

Handmade Glass Pendants

Now that I am done with school and have a little free time on my hands, I got busy making things again. My most recent discovery was these fun glass pendants. I actually bought the supplies close to a year ago (from this etsy shop). It was even easier than I expected when I finally got down to it. There are five basic supplies you need:

1. Glass
2. Paper
3. Glaze
4. Bail
5. Glue

The paper is where it gets fun. You can just find pretty papers (like most of the examples in my first picture) or you can get artistic and decorate your own. Since they are only about 1 inch wide, you don't have to be too artistic. I used watercolor pens to create the background on the tree silhouette then stamped over the top with black ink. Easy peasy. I love being able to capture bits of my favorite paper, too. I feel this will help me let go of some I've been hoarding...

The steps for creating a pendant are as follows:

1. Select/decorate paper
2. Cut to size (too big is better than too small, you can always trim later)
3. Put glaze on rough side of glass
4. Press glass lightly on paper, aligning your image
5. Push down so glaze covers the whole image (do this after you are sure the image is where you want it)
6. Be patient while glaze dries
7. Trim any excess paper and use nail polish or sandpaper to clean up excess glaze
8. (Optional) Brush the back with glaze to seal then be patient again
9. Glue bail on back
10. Hang around neck 

Here are the first examples with the bail:

And here is another batch that I made today. I am currently at step 6 - Be patient. 

Today in a Sentence

I am participating in #Trust30, an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. I'm a day or two behind, but who really cares?

Prompt #2:

Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence? Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day.

Life is more interesting when I am specific. 

 

The Performance

            I practiced my piece several times in the morning and dropped anything that I couldn’t naturally remember. I only really dropped a few lines, but it helped when it came time to do my piece. I didn’t notice myself searching at all for what to say next – it just kept flowing.

            We had a whole lot more energy at the beginning of class that we normally do. Dragging furniture around helped work off some of the jitters. We ran through the transitions one last time and then opened the doors ten minutes before the show. We ended up adding chairs – at least 40 people came and only a few left after the first act. And that was reluctantly, only because George wasn't quite ready to answer questions some of the themes the second act might bring up for his kids. 

            Since I was in the second act I watched everyone with sheer glee. I grinned like a fool the whole time – so proud that other people were able to see the performances. I don’t know what it was – more practice, the added energy of having the audience, luck – but we saw the best version of every piece. We knew when people ad-libbed or dropped a line, but I’m sure the audience had no idea.

            Time rushed by during my piece. I was trying to speak faster, more naturally, but even with that I felt like I must have missed an entire paragraph. I didn’t. I can understand why people do this – it is quite a rush. 

 

Celebrating

I'll have a more detailed, reflective post tomorrow, but for tonight all I can say is...wow! I am full of pride and joy and just feel like hugging everyone. 

Pride - for all of the people who did their pieces in the showcase tonight - George and George, Jon and Jonathan, Priscilla and Sarah and Ryan and Cameron and Krista. Wow. I literally sat grinning through each piece so amazed by how wonderful it was, even though I've heard many of them close to a dozen times. I watched people in the audience moved to laughter and tears, heard their gasps and the silence when they were holding their breath for the actors. 

Joy for being part of a group of brave and inspiring people. And for hearing people share their stories with each other, learning more about complete strangers than they probably know about some of their friends. 

This makes me so excited to continue working with story - the potential is staggering.