Bridal Shower Favors - Succulents in Painted Vintage Wooden Spools

I know, I know...this is supposed to be a jewelry blog. But on occasion, I get a little carried away with other crafty projects and I like to share them. My latest endeavor was inspired by my sister's fabulous wedding color palette, her love of succulents and a Maine yard sale score of 25+ vintage wooden thread spools with great old labels.

I will also admit that I've been slightly obsessed with Best Made Co.'s painted axes for quite a few years, as well as Norquay's (suspiciously similar) gorgeous artisan painted canoe paddles which appeared on the market last summer, so this idea of handpainting something wood with fun, striped colors has been floating around in my head for awhile.

First, I got out my ancient acrylics from art school (amazingly, they're still good!) and mixed colors until I got a perfect match. The wedding colors are inspired by the USA and UK flags (she's American, he's from Liverpool), but toned down a bit. So instead of straight up red and blue, they're closer to poppy and turquoise. The gorgeous invitations were designed and letterpress printed by Paper Parasol Press.

I cut thin strips of masking tape and used them to section off stripes on the wooden spools, then painted areas of red, white and blue. Once the paint dried, I taped new stripes and repeated to achieve the effect of multiple stacked colors. No two spools were exactly alike. Some even started out with really unique forest green wood, so I kept a little of that in for variety. I finished each spool with a clear varnish to seal the wood and protect the paint.

Next, I made my way to a nearby garden center and selected the tiniest succulents I could find, being mindful to select varieties with small root structures so they would fit inside the tiny spools.

After that, I used a drill to enlarge the spool holes slightly (although I had purchased tiny succulents, the roots were still too large for most of the spools). I glued tiny pieces of wooden dowel into the bottom of each spool to act as a stopper. Then I used a chopstick to carefully layer some dirt into each spool, gently nudged the roots down into the holes and filled in the area around each one with more soil. Special thanks to Donni, who blogs at The Magic Onions, for providing some planting tips! I do not have a green thumb at all.

The finished product was too cute for words! I was really happy with the way these turned out. That said, they were a bit underwhelming on a large table...I'd probably recommend placing each on a small plate or printed paper coaster if you have the time and budget.

How To Make a Halloween Costume Without Leaving The House

If you know me or have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I have dreams of becoming a flight attendant someday. While those plans simmer on the back burner, I can at least pretend to have my dream job because it's Halloween. And everybody knows you can be whatever the f*#% you want to be on Halloween.

But the problem is I'm lazy and I'm indecisive (two qualities that would probably make me a poor flight attendant). I've been hatching costume plans for a month, but haven't loved any of them enough to actually get my act together. I waited until the last minute, and now I'm scrambling to figure out what to be for a neighborhood Halloween party.

Luckily, I possess two qualities that WOULD make me a fantastic flight attendant – I am quick on my feet and I am resourceful. I decide to create a costume out of nothing the day of the party and challenge myself to not spend a dime or leave the house. 

By scrounging around my closet, I pull together a somewhat-convincing retro flight attendant costume. I grab a navy blue pencil skirt and white button down shirt. My small collection of silk scarves includes a red, white and blue number that will help pull the whole look together. I even find my childhood button collection (I collected just about everything when I was a kid, and yes, I saved it all) which contains three sets of airline wing pins. Score!

But I'm missing one key component of any realistically retro flight attendant getup. A pillbox hat. After some Google searching, I learn that a pillbox hat is fairly simple to make. In one tutorial you can even start with a cereal box, but I'm not feeling quite that ambitious. Also, I don't want to sew. I look around the house until I find a hat-shaped sugar container that's almost empty. Thanks, Domino®! I transfer the remaining crystals to a bag and proceed to cut the plastic container in half using a combination of X-ACTO® knife and scissors. Be careful if you do this! I also used a hair dryer to soften the plastic a bit and get those weird "handle" curves out of the structure.

I find one of my husband's old shirts in our Goodwill donation pile and take scissors to that, cutting a strip that will wrap around the outside of the sugar container form.

I locate an old mini glue gun and a huge bag of glue sticks I bought years ago ("These are so cheap! I'm sure I'll use them for something someday!"). Well, that day has come. I fire up the glue gun and secure the shirt fabric to the sugar container form. I glue the bottom edges under the form, and the top edges down to the top. 

Once that's done, I grab a cereal box and cut a round top from the thin cardboard. I glue more shirt fabric to the top of the cereal box circle, tack the edges underneath with more glue and affix that to the top of the hat. It's all coming together now. But it's so plain. Clearly something is missing. 

I raid more drawers and come up with a navy handkerchief that I don't mind sacrificing. Cutting a strip of navy fabric and gluing a nice dark edge around the bottom of the pillbox helps finish the look and makes the hat match my skirt better. Done!

My husband was even happy to play along as my disheveled, weirdo traveler — a creepy passenger on my flight. He wore a wig and his own clothes, and tucked a passport in his pocket to complete the theme.

Picnic Arts + Music Fest is Tomorrow

In case you’ve been living under a rock, I’m here to tell you the 4^th Annual Picnic Music + Arts Summer Festival is tomorrow! This is my third year participating and I am excited beyond belief. My booth is across from the Info booth. Mention that you saw my blog post or that you follow me on Facebook or Twitter for a 10% discount off your Lofted Designs purchase! 

Original screenprinted posters by Kris Johnsen will be for sale at Picnic!

Here are the basics:

Tomorrow (Saturday, August 27^th)

Rain or shine

Lincoln Park (corner of Congress Street & Franklin Arterial)
11am – 6pm

There will be live music! (view schedule)

The forecast is looking great for daytime outdoor activities, but I encourage you to come early! Before the good stuff is sold and before the weather possibly turns in the afternoon. 

This event it juried and pretty darn selective, so you are sure to see the best of the best here. This isn’t your grandma’s craft fair. A list of vendors can be found here. 

Here are some links for additional info:

Facebook page 

Twitter feed

Also, don’t forget about the HillyTown Official Afterparty at Geno’s! Facebook event page 

Come on out and have some fun before Hurricane Irene puts you on house arrest. Hope to see you there!