Design^Sprout | Your Guide to Green Design

Sometimes we all need to ward off evil spirits

   I have always always loved tales that involved cottages found off the beaten path - either in a deep dark forest or on the end of a long dirt path at the edge of a forgotten meadow.  The kind of cottages that contain gnarled old women who offer advice of the most unusual sort and are surrounded by wild and useful old gardens and oftentimes a tree (just as gnarled as the dweller) clanking with bottles and charms meant to ward off evil spirits.

 

   I thought if I had my own bottle tree, it would be tucked into some corner of my lawn, and while no one would probably come seeking advice from my house, at least I would have such an interesting (and protective!) tree.  One month ago I bought a house with absolutely no trees on the entire lot.  On a tree-lined street no less!

  While I am stymied at the moment in my desire for a witch tree of my very own, I still had to share my adoration of their beautiful oddness.  I must say I prefer those that involve actual trees over the ones made out of iron rods, but they are all charming in their way.  Plus, it gives you a reason to re-use pretty bottles instead of tossing them all in your recycle bin.  (And some of us go through many, many wine bottles).

So if you have a witch tree/ bottle tree of your very own, take a moment to share some pictures with those not-so-fortunate... pretty please.

Photo Credits: Ken Rockwell, lifeonflower, and Taggart

 

DIY - Frame it, Frame it Good!

   

     Welcome Guest Author The Conflicted Thimble! I have been a follower of her inspiring blog for quite some time and she was kind enough to offer up this artsy (and cheap!) idea to spruce up a boring bathroom!

   So typically galleries sent out postcards to alert their adoring fans of new artists and shows.  Being that h is an artist, and he has shows, and most of our friends are artists, and they have shows, and this has been going on for oh, about four years now; my collection of postcards has become, how you say, excessive.  overflowing really.  So... in an effort to add some pizazz to our generic, white on white guest bath with large-boring-mirror syndrome, I added a frame. 

     As you can tell, there are some gaps.  this is mostly because I haven't found just the right postcard to fit in each place.  The best part of this frame is every time I pop in the guest bath, I remember the show, the artist, and (of course) the art.  Like the one below:

     This show was curated by a good friend who finds art in pop culture. such as the phenomenon of Britney Spears.  So his postcard was a prescription bottle. 
     I love how it changed the entire attitude of my guest bath, and that it cost virtually nothing!

     DIY at it's best!

                                                                                                    

DIY - Recycled Ball-of-Yarn Hanging Screen!

   Organization - it eludes me every time! But occasionally happy accidents occur - while sorting through my Buenos Aires pictures and trying to organize them enough to form some sort of interesting post, I ran across these inspirational photos from the recycler's paradise SCRAP in San Francisco.  I'd totally forgotten about this fantastic, whimscial screen and how easy it was to re-imagine- lucky find!

The oh-so-simple instructions!

1.  Gather together as many spherical objects as you want for the size of your screen. When making mine, I used old Christmas ornaments but I'm thinking styrofoam balls or old tennis balls would work as well.

2.  Find about 3 yards of yarn for each ball. I found a ton of short yarn lengths discarded in a bag at a local thrift store.

3.  Take the beginning of your yarn piece and secure into the ball with a straight pin.

4.  Start wrapping! Try and cover all of the color underneath.

5.  Secure end with pin then pull a little yarn over top of pin to cover.

6.  Repeat for as many yarn balls as size screen desired.

7.  Using a long upholstery needle and fishing line (clear plastic and very strong thread) secure a knot at one end and thread balls through las though you are stringing cranberries. Depending on what type of ball you used as your base you may have to drill a hole for your needle to pierce through.

8.  Have wooden dowel cut to your desired screen width.

9.  Secure end of ball line to dowel.

10.  You may want to repeat this same process for a few of the horizontal lines so they are not flailing loose.

11.  Viola! Use a room divider or funky curtain!

Felt you should see this!

     Yeah, it took two weeks. Yeah, it's completely useless. I don't care. I love this totally handmade, green and plush Nintendo system. Designer blueblythe from craftster.org felted the material then hand-sewed and embroidered all the details.  She even made interchangeable Duck Hunt and Super Mario screens for the television. Definitely ranks right up there as one of the most enjoyable wastes of time I've ever seen.

Silhouettes - sometimes an outline says it all!

    So, you love your pet. No, you looooove your pet. You heart you pet. You cuddle your pet. You speak in high pitched voices and baby talk while your friends shoot you looks as though you've lost a marble. Still, you don't consider yourself one of "those people".  You know, the pet-obsessed freaks who have matching outfits and photos of cats lining their bedroom walls.  Well, welcome to my boat. While looking for a way to display my maternal (some might say obsessive) love for my dog Winnie, I came across the idea of the silhouette portrait. Simple, graphic, stylish.
     They work for your favorite rock stars, children, classic chairs, 70's activists or anything else you can dream up. Yeah, my friends still think I'm a freak but at least now they compliment my artwork. :)   
     Get DIY silhouette-making instructions on the really cute blog More Ways to Waste Time. 

     Get a custom portrait of your favorite baby from Etsy seller Misscrowland.

     Crow coasters, Custom Kids, and Cameo Portrait are all for sale on Etsy.

     Click for links to these funky earrings and gothic sparrow necklace.

     These custom, decreasing-in-size profiles are such a cute family idea!

     Custom couple portraits are a really unique wedding gift. Adding a little lace doily to this classic cameo gives it more interest while complimenting the graphic.

 

DIY - Recycled light bulb hanging vases

         

These hanging lightbulb vases are so charming and ridiculously easy. Grouped together they make quite an elegant statement!

              

Step One:  Using fine-tooth metal saw - gently saw the bottom of light bulb. Pull out the fillaments.

Step Two:  Using a hand held drill place metal against some scrap wood and poke two holes opposite from each other.

Step Three:  Lace thin wire through the holes and tie off at desired legnth. Fill with lovely blooms!

        

Also makes cute salt and pepper shakers. Most soda caps are the correct width for a top. Just fill, poke holes and enjoy!

Share on Facebook