The Violet Hours

1 Day 'til Christmas: Glossy Christmas Tree Trunk Stands

 

One of the best parts about living in New York City during the holiday season are the sidewalk Christmas tree vendors. Every few blocks, you walk through a tunnel of yummy pine air, over a temporary, trampled carpet of green needles. And you see people walking home with a tree slung over their shoulder, just ripe for the decorating. 

To give the tree it's best chance at a lasting through the month, the vendors will slice off the bottom of the trunk (kind of like cutting your roses before putting them in water). So the sidewalks are often littered with small tree stumps that are just tossed out with the trash. Tree trash is a crafter's treasure.

To make these lovely, glossy candle stands, I primed then spray painted pieces of tree trunk with bright spray paint, and then topped it off with a gloss varnish. (Here are the colors I used: Ketchup and Frozen Strawberry by Montana Gold, and Prussian Blue by Liquitex) Use these as place cards, food markers, candle stands, dessert stands...you name it!

Well, dear readers, this craft marks the last in my 10 day series of projects leading up to Christmas. I hope you were able to keep yourselves (and your kids) busy with creative pursuits over the last ten days. And if not, I hope you will pin them for next year!

Have a very merry and bright Christmas!

xx

6 Days 'til Christmas: Liquid-free Snow Globe

I don't know what it is, but everytime I see a glass cloche in a magazine or blog, I'm instantly attracted. I've yet to own one in my life, so I decided to make this festive little one out of a seltzer bottle. (Reminds me of this lovely bottle, no?)

Instructions to come later today...I promise!

String-Art Halloween Wreath

I have been known to love a wreath in my day, and more than ever, I feel that Halloween is a very wreath-worthy holiday. Now that my kids are of the Halloween-appreciation age, I'm so into making Halloween crafts (Full disclosure: I used to not be the biggest fan of crafting for this day!).

Like many other pinners on Pinterest, I am obsessed with string art! And I must say, it is so beyond fun to do. It looks hard and tedious but I swear to you it's not! Scroll down to read how to make this wreath and the super cute and friendly pom-pom spider!

What you'll need:

• 14-inch round foam wreath
• Spray paint
• Small black nails
• 3 colors of yarn (including black)
• Scissors
• 4 black pipe cleaners
• 1/2-inch white pom-poms
• Tiny black pom-poms
• Tacky glue

Make it:

1. Spray paint wreath and let it dry.
2. Insert 31 nails, evenly spaced, around the circle about 1 every inch.
3. Take the darkest yarn and tie it to nail number 1 (abitrarily chosen). Now loop the yarn around nail number 24 then to nail number 2 then to nail 25 until you have made it all the way around.
4. Take your next color and tie it onto nail 1 and loop it around nail 25, then 2, then 26, then 3, again until you have made it all the way around.
5. Tie your 3rd color to nail 1 and loop it around nail number 26, and so on. You notice that each level of yarn has created a narrower band around your wreath. Tie each yarn off on nail 1, knot, and trim.
6. To make the spider, wrap thick black yarn around your hand about 50 times and cut it from the skein.
7. Cut an 8-inch piece of yarn, slip the bundle off of your hand, and tie the yarn around the bundle securely.
8. Take all four pipe cleaners and slip them under the center tie and pull until they are even on each side.
9. Snip through all of the yarn loops, then trim the pom-pom until he is nice and round.
10. Glue small black pom-poms to white ones, and glue them in place as eyes. Glue spider to the wreath to cover nail number 1 where you tied off your 3 yarns.

 

Time to Decorate with Fruit

Yes, you heard me. And yes, you are reading The Violet Hours blog. I know, decorating with fruit may sound super grandma to you, but after you look at this post, your mind will be forever changed!

Oh Happy Day always gets it right, and this fruit balloon garland proves it. I'm obsessed!

I specifically sought out a pineapple wallpaper because I won't deny that I love it. And how perfectly crafty is this color-by-numbers one by Jenny Wilkinson found on Design*Sponge?

Call me crazy (Michael-husband, I hear you the loudest), but I could really get behind a glass fruit chandelier in my life one day. Found via Pinterest.

What is it with pears that make us love them so? I love all three of these lovely dolled up plastic pear crafts. Sources: Glitter pears, We Heart It; Chalk pears, The Empty Nest; Jute Pears, I Should Really Be Sleeping.

Oeuf never ceases to fail when it comes to their garlands. I'm in love with this crocheted cherry one.

If this pomegranate iPhone wallpaper were real wallpaper, it would be in my bathroom.

 

Almost as good as Willy Wonka's lick-able wallpaper, these bananas from Flavor Paper are scratch-n-sniff. For real.

Are you inspired now? But just pick one. You don't want your home looking like a giant fruit salad.

Time for Instagram Love

I am so not alone in my love for Instagram. It has definitely pulled ahead as my favorite form of social media. At this point in my life, I have time to look at pictures and not much else!

Some of my Instagram pics are among my favorite I've ever taken (like this one of my daugther Sommer at her first music class), and I'm desperate to free them from my digital devices and let them live in my world so I can actually touch them. Here are some great ways to do that...

LMNOP blogged about Origrami, a service that prints postcard-quality prints of your Instagram photos. And then packages them in that amazing box. I'm doing this. Even if I have to pay shipping from Australia.

 

I love the way A Beach Cottage arranged Instagram photos of a beach vaca on a wall in the shape of a heart. Because face it, who doesn't love the beach? And Instagram. So if you are a shutter-happy photographer on one subject, this project will visually link the imagery and colors nicely.

 

Seriously, this is a dream of mine: a huge frame with hundreds of Instagram photos. If only I had the wall for it. Found via Because I'm Addicted.

 

Young House Love framed their Instagram photos in jewel cases. Always a fabulous, photograph vehicle. (PS...I'm so proud to share a book publisher with them! How on Earth did that happen?)

Time for the Color PINK

I was driving to Michael's the other day, and heard a fascinating report on NPR. The author of a new book called Drunk Tank Pink, Adam Alter, was discussing with Ira Foster how hidden currents, from reactions to color to our attraction to certain letters of the alphabet, affect our behavior and thoughts in significant ways.

The term "drunk tank pink", I just learned from this website Color Matters, is the name that was given to the color that was used in jail cells to calm violent prisoners. It was discovered that this hue (R:255, G:145, B:175) had a calming influence, even affecting a person's heart rate, but could then create adverse effects after about 15 minutes of being subjected to it.

Then there's the story about the head football coach at the University of Iowa who painted the opposing team's locker room pink to weaken their performance on the field. Rumor has it that the visitors would cover everything with newspaper as best they could before entering the locker room to derail this bubblegum assault.

So naturally I began to think about pink in a new way...little girls clothed in pink, sleeping inside pink walls, chewing on pink plastic giraffes. Do we push this pacifying color onto them or is it a biological attraction? 

A few years ago I blogged about this project by South Korean artist JeongMee Yoon on Parents magazine's Goodyblog. Starting with her 5-year old daughter Yoon conducted a documentary-esque study of children and their possessions. She orderly arranged their belongings, from clothing to pencils to books, in their bedrooms. The resulting photographs are astounding. The diptych is of a set of twins that both started out in the pink world, and then went their separate ways to pink and purple.

I am usually not drawn to pink for my 1-year-old daughter Sommer and much of what she wears is hand-me-downs from her brother (she survived the winter being mistaken for a boy in a navy-blue coat). I'm curious to see how it all shakes out; if one day, she'll be fighting to paint her half of the room blush or bashful.

Time for a Toddler Bed (literally!)

I pinned this photo from a French blog a while ago as aspiration. This is my goal for how I want my kids' room to look. Loose, fun, casual. I'm on my way, for sure...we have a knitted bunting, a mushroom table lamp, a poppy, apple green side table, cool wallpaper from Fine Little Day...and now, we have a toddler bed.

Yes, Oliver has graduated, and thank goodness! Poor Sommer has been waiting for her fashionable, Kalon Studios Caravan crib for months now. We got Oliver the Gulliver bed from Ikea; now I just need to hack it a little bit to give it some European style. I wanted something simple that could compliment the Caravan, but at a lower price point. I plan to style it like a little day bed, and honestly, I can't wait to start pinning textiles.

Tonight will be the first night as a big boy. Must mark it down in the calendar.

Time for Map Crafts

I'm so attracted to maps, both for the actual use (navigation) and for their design and craft aesthetic. Obviously I'm not alone in this, as maps have been decoupaged on everything from coasters to lampshades. But these crafts, like this amazing map dress by Elisabeth Lecourt, are taking maps to new destinations...sorry, it had to be said!

This looks crazy hard I know, but I think the artist just covered this cardboard deer head in maps. Love. Found via Babble.

 

This could be a very cool abstract embroidered design, but it's actually the Paris Metro system. By Needle & Compass on Etsy.

 

I love the link between transportation and navigation with this folded paper map boat by d. Sharp Journal.

 

A travel scrapbook made with map pages? Yes. Found via Scrapbook.com.

 

Ok, so I'm ending with the decoupaged map chair found via Pins for Your Home because I just love it.

Time for Spring Break Staycation Activities

If you are about to embark upon a week of kids at home (aka wild abandon) for spring break, maybe a few of these 10 ideas from my recent Mom.me story will inspire you! (And while you're there, check out all the great things that Mom.me has to offer!)

Missing the beach in a bad way? Bring it home with this easy homemade recipe of flour and vegetable oil.

 

Too cold for a backyard camp out? Instead, camp in with a homemade tent in the living room!

 

Are Legos getting old? Try building a tower with marshmallows and toothpicks!

 

Download scavenger hunts for the grocery store, the mall, and traffic to keep your kids busy while you run errands!

Check out the rest of the story on mom.me!

Time for Pom-Pom Bunny Crafts

It doesn't have to be Easter to get the hankering to craft a bunny. But you do have to have pom-poms on hand to make any bunny craft worth his weight in carrots. Whether it's the whole body, the tail, or just the nose, listen up: pom-pom(s) required. Here are some of my faves...

 

This cutie-patootie little bow-tied cupcake topper bunny by Oh Happy Day is just the perfect amount of cute.

 

Not for the faint of craft, this pom-pom bunny by Jennifer Murphy is lovingly described in 18 "simple" steps.

 

Sweet and simple...I'm in love with this book-page and pom-pom bunny by Dekotante Rock My Home.

 

Just the noses...that's all the pom-pom you need to give these envelope bunnies a soft touch. By Martha Stewart.

 

What a clever little party favor! Give your Easter guests a pom-pom necklace buy displaying it as the tail of a paper bunny. By B. Jane Brewing.