The Gourd In The Glass Jar

Should I say "The gourd cloche"?

Or better yet "The gourd terrarium"?

No matter how hard I try, it seems impossible to come up with a good title for this post. Friends, this is the big reveal to yesterday's post and its burning question. How to decorate with a gourd that has pointy bumps on each end and doesn't want to stand upright?! It upsets my OCD... So my solution was to put it in a bowl full of gravel. Even better, I put the gravel in a big empty glass jar (recycled, of course - see it here full of paper-whites) and then I put the gourd on top of the gravel. It doesn't stand vertically, but it's enough for my design sensibility.

The gourd in the glass is now good enough to star in a pretty fall vignette. If you're not sure where to start in creating a vignette, click here to see my tutorial on how to make a balanced vignette following a few simple rules. As you can see in the first pic, I chose natural elements and neutral colors for the arrangement. We've got everything: wood (the desk, the blank Russian doll), glass (the jar), metal (the vintage can), wax (the candle), ceramics (the mushroom salt shaker). The whole thing forms an "A" shape, for instant eye attraction. The whole thing is sitting pretty on the desk. So I created a vignette inside a vignette!

Talking about personal history, almost every single item in this pic has a special meaning to me, so I love it even more:

- Let's start with the desk: my dad bought it for me when I was 9 and I've had it ever since.

- The round brown sign was written freehand by my sweet Ana from Uituka, who is a master of typography. Don't ask me what is says, because we wanted to say "Division of labor" but in the end she came up with this untranslatable joke in Romanian.

- The blank Russian dolls are a birthday gift from my friend July. I've wanted a blank set for ages and even found some good deals on Amazon, but now I can't to paint them!

- The succulent is a gift from Sigrid's mom, from the most beautiful autumn garden I have ever seen "live".

- I stole the vintage tin can from my grandma, it was a tobacco box from the 1930s.

- And I saved the best for last: in the last pic you can see my cat Anais hidden inside the desk box. She does that to protect my cards and illustration from fading, right?

Spring Storage In The Home Office

Storage, storage, storage! Use simple cardboard boxes to keep stuff under control!
Spring brings the joy of new life and new beginnings. After crawling under the bad February weather, I now feel full of energy. My heart beats faster and my head of spinning with new projects for the home. But for every new project I need some supplies, so I gathered up the origami paper, colorful yarn, foam core, glue sticks, Fimo clay, fabric scraps.... boy, there was a mountain of supplies on the home office floor! So I took the cardboard storage from the hallway and moved it into my creative space. The warm weather means we don't need storage for hats, scarves and gloves, anyway!

I'd like to share a few tips for setting up a storage area: 

1. Make it look slim. If you remember my previous arrangement in the hallway, there were 4 cardboard boxes. Now I only use three of them, because I don't need them all and the whole thing looks less bulky this way. 

2. Set up a color mode. In honor of the new season (and because I'm not a big fan of brown, anyway), I wanted to celebrate with a few green accents. I just added the lime apple lamp and the green houseplant. Instant color boost in a few seconds!

3. Balance the setting. The way I stacked the 3 boxes was a little unbalanced, leaving me with a bland area to the left. I just added these thrifted animal paintings that were already in the room (as you can see in this post) and the storage area came together in perfect harmony :)

Update: the pring storage system has been featured at What About Co, 504 Main, It's Overflowing, Too Much Time, Bowdabra, I Should Be mopping The Floor, twelveOeight, The NY Melrose Family, The Life Of Jennifer Dawn, A Diamond In The Stuff, 52 Mantels and Suzy's Sitcom. Thank you so much, this really made my day!

        

I've Got The Chills, Baby

The weather is no longer warm and I've got the chills. Out come the sheep skin pillows and the crochet blankets. The light colors are perfect for a winter mind-set, although I can't smell any snow in the air. Not yet. Perhaps for Christmas.... and until then, I've got a whole month of gift wrapping to do. Not because I have to, but because I love to!

Autumn Colors On My Desk

Keep all shades in earth tones and accessorize the home office corner with bold shades of crimson red  - real Autumn style, which will boost up your energy level, in order to develop some amazing DIY projects. Add seasonal pine cones decorations. Don't forget the creative essentials: a dreamy poster, a sweet little furry companion and journals for writing and sketching. Those little 4 drawers can help you organize your craft supplies: pretty papers, ribbons, yarn, glue sticks, scissors and cutters, crayons, paint jars, brushes, tape and your entire eraser collection (if you've got one, like I do). 

Jungle Kids Art

I am a hopeless thrifter - I admit, so shoot me now! I rarely buy something new, but every once in a while the thrifting fever hits me and I go running around town, hitting every second hand shop that I know of. My storage is full of old lamps in need of some serious TLC, queer tableware, crooked stools and little boxes (which I am gonna restore - someday soon). This time, I went out there and got back with a set of four jungle scenes. There's the giraffe, the puma, the elephant and the black and white zebra.

Until they will get a new use, they are sitting pretty in my craft room. I don't actually like the designs - well, except the elephant family at the water pond, they are darlings and I also love the turbulent reddish color and the composition. Anyway, my grand plan is to use those square canvases for a higher purpose. Maybe a stencil project? Maybe a neon craze? Some mixed media 3D art? We'll see about that.

Meanwhile, I've paired the jungle art with a pink Lucite coffee table and some nesting art albums in complementary colors. Please notice Chagall, my favorite visual artist since childhood <3.... The kids theme works great next to the faux wallpaper. There's something charming about bicycles and giraffes together, I must draw them someday :) And for a complete mix and match, I added a 3D puzzle of the London Bridge (thank you, Roxy!) and a crochet wooden stool made by yours truly. Long live the eclectic decor style!

Washi Tape Mood Board

This super-easy project was completed in less than 30 minutes. So easy and such great satisfaction! I keep telling myself "Why didn't I do this earlier?!" I remember the mood board in my old room, back at my parents' house. A constant source of dreams and untold stories. So why should we be afraid to have a mood  board in our adult home? I think that everybody should have one. Like I do now, in the home office. 

I didn't have time to take any pics for a tutorial, but this is basically what I did:

1. Cut a wide circle in a foam sheet. I used a hula-hoop to trace the outline and an Exacto knife to  make the cut. 2. Spread the prints onto the circle randomly. 3. Use washi tape to attach each print on the mood board. For a final touch, I also covered the circle outline in washi tape.

The mood board puts a smile on my face, every time I go to my desk area. If you haven't got one already, get your washi tape and make one right now!

Mad Hatter Home Office

So many friends ask me where I get the inspiration for my colorful decor.

I'll tell you my secret: DECORATE WITH A SONG!

Please press play and read the rest of the entry while listening to this song :)

I was listening to this "Who The Fuck Is Alice" parody and the child in me instantly thought of the one Alice I love. It's Alice In Wonderland, my second favorite story book when I was just a little girl.

I felt inspired to make a little cheery home office in an unused corner of my home, using the Mad Hatter poster that I already owned.

The Mad Hatter's ginger hair was the same color as in the song's video - so I naturally went with a black and orange color theme in order to spice things up. Needless to say, I just used items around the house and didn't buy anything new for the home office corner.

The Moroccan leather pouf was in the bedroom, the orange Tam-Tam stool and the crazy golden hat were in the happy entryway. I've had the sad little ceramic mask since I was 18 and it follows me everywhere I live. The cute little white lampshade is thrifted and it just sat around the house.

One little thing: I like to place a mirror next to my notebook - so that I can have a magical window while I'm endlessly surfing the web.

That's it, folks! I think the song is over by now, and so am I.

Crepe paper bunting

Step one: Come back late from work, tired, angry and stressed out. Look for something pretty to rest your eyes upon. Crepe paper! My favorite media since kinder-garden :)

Step two: Remember the slogan from one of your favorite blogs: "Go Do Something!" (and the blog is Dos Family). Make a bunting! Yay! Cut little triangles from assorted crepe paper.

Step three: Apply glue onto the thick side of the triangles, choose a happy colored yarn and start putting everything together.

Step four: Call at wonce "Cat Services" for a feline companion, to help you make the crepe paper bunting.

Step five: I finally made two buntings, because I like overlapping stuff. A lot. Put it on the wall temporarily, to see how it looks. Go to bed happy and relaxed.

Update: Click here to see what I've really done with the bunting...

Home office sneak peek

Aaaaand... pink is back in the game! I haven't got anything interesting to say tonight, I'm just browsing on the web. Just showing off the pink Azalea and the fuchsia Cyclamen in a girl-friendly environment :)