Making Your Own Stamps

Stamps are so useful but can be quite expensive. Making your own stamps is simple and cheap. Though it takes time, and the stamps are less durable than traditional rubber stamps, creating custom stamps is worthwhile and gives you the same results as expensive store bought stamps.

Supplies:

• Pencil
• Sheets of crafting foam found at HobLob and the like
• Craft or utility knife
• Cardboard or scrap wood
• Glue
• Paint or stamp pad

Start with a simple sketch of what you plan to do with your stamp. I think bold, simple shapes work best with this kind of stamp. Draw the outline of your stamp on a sheet of craft foam. The foam sheets are very cheap, only 99 cents a pop. Sometimes it's helpful to color in the area you will be cutting out so you can keep it straight in your mind.

Next, cut out your stamp shape with a craft or utility knife. Sometime you may need to round out edges with scissors. Glue onto a piece of cardboard or wood using a sturdy glue. I've found Alene's to be a nice choice. Avoid hot glue as it might make your stamp sit unevenly on your piece of cardboard. Cutting your cardboard or piece of wood into a nice, square piece will help you keep your stamp level on the wall [as in, as opposed to a circle or roughly cut squiggle shape that would make it very hard to tell if your stamp was turned up or down or crooked.] For a large pattern, glue several small shapes together on your back piece.

To use your stamp, either press down onto a traditional stamp pad or apply a layer of paint before pressing firmly on a flat surface. If you're stamping on fabric or walls with a lot of texture, you will likely need to use a thick coat of paint. For smoother surfaces, a thinner coat will suffice. After using, and especially before starting a different color, wipe your stamp clean with a paper towel and let dry.

Creating your own stamps is a great way to make your own wrapping paper, stamp a neato pattern onto a wall [like the bows in my small bathroom], or fashion unique fabric.

Keeping a Design Folder

Here's some advice. Keep a folder (be it physical or computery) of all of the things you love. I save pictures of furniture, wall treatments, clothing, graphic designs, desktop backgrounds, artwork, all sorts of jazz. It doesn't matter if the shelving from a recent edition of Martha Stewart living costs $2, 650. Keep it. Why? Well....

For starters I think the easiest way to figure out your design style is to collect an assortment of pictures and pick our similar items. I think you'll start to see a trend toward certain colors, time periods, and patterns. And, I think it's much easier to decorate when you have a good idea of what you're going for.

Also, if you want to recreate a particular room, it will be much easier if you have something tangible to look at to pick out your copy-cat items. If someone else is going to make something for you, having a picture will also make it bookoos easier for them.

Lastly, whenever I get in one of those moods to think about decorating or creating something, I love to look through pictures of things I love. It helps to get my mind running on the right creative track.

-Carly

Bow Madness

Once, when I was flipped through the tv guide, I saw a show called Bow Madness. I thought, "This sounds like the kind of show for me!" To my disappointment, the show turned out to be about hunting with a bow, not adorning myself and home with beautiful, lovely bows. I do love bows. They ride the line of ultra feminine and just-enough-edgy. I have plans to print a bow pattern a la wallpaper in my small bathroom, but for now I'll just purchase this delicious (and on sale!) dress from UO. Be sure to enter in FALLFORIT to skip out on the $10 shipping.

A Fold Away Desk

In need of a very temporary work space because your kitchen table is occupied? I was tonight, and with an accounting test to study for and guys taking over the house to play poker I needed a quick solution. What did I use? An ironing board. Mine has an adjustable height so it sits tall for ironing and shorter for studying. Mind you, it's not the sturdiest of surfaces, but it is long enough for sheets of paper, a notebook, and a textbook. When you're done, tuck it away under a bed or upright in a closet. Even if you don't iron a thing, it's always nice to have another lightweight multi-tasker.

Check out these links for three more ideas for your ironing board.

• As a buffet table substitute.
• Incorporated into your decor.
• A lovely and artful shelf.

Wallpaper Listings from Design Sponge

If you're smitten with wallpaper like I am you can indulge yourself in this smart listing of wonderful wallpapers put together my Design*Sponge. I've already decided some of the Walnut Wallpapers will hang in my next house!

Frosted Window Film

Over the summer I had my husband install an old door to replace the awful 70s door that led from our kitchen to our garage. I wanted to add some character to the kitchen, and this was a quick way to do it. The new door has a large window of glass. I liked that I could see into the garage and let in a little more sunlight from the tiny garage window. After a while though, I started to hate that I could see so well into our ugly, messy garage. Today I decided to fix that with a little frosted window film. [Kindly ignore the lack of hardware in the picture.]

I bought my film at Lowe's for $18. It can be a bit tricky to work with, but once you get the hang of it the film glides on. Read the instructions carefully, as they actually help you work with the film. They are serious when they say to clean your surface really well before applying the film. It's easy to cut. The hardest part for me is cutting in a straight line.

Instead of doing a full sheet of film, I decided to do horizontal stripes that would still allow me to peek into the garage. If you're thinking, "Carly, there's no way I can cut those lines straight and it will bug me forever," then just opt for something a little more abstract like wavy lines or angled lines. That may be an even better match for your style.

I cut my film into 4 inch widths on a craft board with one of those wheel cutters. It was pretty easy, though I will admit my cuts are still not super straight. I applied the film leaving a quarter of an inch gap. The instructions call for a squeegee, but I didn't have one. You know what works just as well? A bowl scraper. Instead of paying for a $8 squeegee that I might not ever use again, or more likely ever be able to find in my garage again, I used a 60 cent bowl scraper that I already had. I am very pleased!

The bonus of this film is that it's removable. It's also not that expensive and the roll is big enough to do several projects. I also used the film to cover up the window in my small bathroom. The view before was a sad look at our neighbor's unpainted window trim. Now it's a soft glow of light and added privacy.

Fireplace Seating

Our house has a lovely fireplace, but during the summer what is a fireplace really good for? We have friends over constantly; our house is the go to place for movies, game night, and [somewhat dreadfully] football games. We may need to seat 15 people at a time, and a couch and two chairs just doesn't cut it. So, I opted to put our fireplace to good use and make a padded cushion for the bricks that extend out around the hearth. I even had all the materials on hand to do it!

You'll need construction foam board. This is CHEAP and keeps the project lightweight. Though if you already have some scrap MDF or plywood, use it. Cut the foam board to the right size using a utility knife. You may have to cut on both sides depending on how thick your board is. I had to cut a little notch out of the side that butts up to the fireplace for mine to fit.


Now add a layer of foam, then batting, then fabric on top of your board. Try to avoid seams. When you can't, alternate the seams of your foam and batting so there isn't a big valley of a crease in the middle of your cushion. I had to sew two pieces of fabric together to get a piece big enough for my cushion.

And what, pray tell, will you use to assemble all of these bits together? Duct tape! The foam board doesn't take kindly to staples; they will fall right out. Screws or nails are tricky and will mess up your fabric. So, use duct tape to tape all along the edges. I finished off my short end sides by folding the fabric just like wrapping paper over a present and taping in place. It doesn't look very pretty, but that doesn't matter because it will be on the bottom of your cushion. Your cushion shouldn't slide around on your fireplace, but if it does you could use pieces of velcro to keep it in place.


Sha-zam. Your cushion is ready to go. If you are a super sewer, you could just tape the foam and batting in place and make a big slipcover for your cushion. When finished your cushion is very lightweight and easily portable, so you can store it under a bed or upright in a closet while you're using your fireplace.

This may not be as comfy as a couch, but it certainly makes good use of the space and provides an additional four spots in our living room.

Estate SaleTomorrow, Friday, and Saturday

For all those who are local, there is an estate sale this weekend at 536 N. Lynn Avenue in Republic. I'll be there tomorrow to check out the shoes and clothing. Estate sales are the place to go for vintage finds at super great prices. You can also sign up to receive emails about future sales.

King Arthur Flour

If you're an avid baker, or just enjoy collecting kitchen gadgets, take a look at King Arthur Flour. I was turned onto this 220 year old company by fellow baker and friend, Gill Crunk. I ordered a catalog and was delighted to turn through pages and pages of legit baking pans, special ingredients, and seasonal recipes. The fall catalog just came in today and I've already torn out several pages of gift ideas (some for me!).

Blogs = Time

I don't want to sound like a wimp, but being a full time graduate student, working part time, running a household, AND writing a blog takes a lot of time. So, when laundry is piled high and there's accounting homework to be done, my blog doesn't take top priority. I have made several plans for upcoming posts though. Here are some things to get excited about...

• My first Artist Interview.
• A cushy seat that makes your fireplace surround double as extra seating.
• Adding flare to photo mats with a sewing machine.

Kindly,

Carly