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Happy Monday: Cats in Rome and Kensington Palace on Instagram

Hip Hop Flamingo by Rosie Harbotte.

Someone needs to buy these Labyrinth door knocker earrings. Someone.

Four Disney artists paint trees in their own iconic ways. (<<< You need to see it!)

As a graphic designer, I get a lot of frustrating-yet-well-intended feedback from clients. This series of posters made me smile.

Did you hear? Bill and Kathy are on Instagram!

These Brooklyn home photos from the 70s are like the best decorating porn I’ve seen in ages.

Top DIY trends of 2015.

Texts from the Dashwoods.

There were some serious, serious feathers going on at the Miss Universe pageant last night.

A cat cafe just opened in Rome. That means we are all going to Rome. Pack light – leave room for pasta and cats.

Valentine Swap 2015

by aunt peaches 49 Comments

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Update Feb 5, 2015 Valentine Swap Participants*

1. Thank you for participating! I love seeing these photos of valentines on the move. More! More!

2. Emails with addresses went out on Feb1st. I sent hundreds of them which likely triggered some spam filters, so if you are still looking, *check your junk mail*.

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Attention handmade valentine lovers!
For the fifth year running I am inviting my readers to participate in the biggest, most snazztastic valentine swap of all! Last year more than 500 folks participated from all around the world. That means more than 1,500 Valentines were exchanged between total strangers. Wowza! This year I cut sign-up time to one week to ensure only the most dedicated Valentine makers would participate. It’s going to be nuts. Are you ready for this?

I know what you are thinking….

Gee, I love the sound of this valentine swap. How does it work?

Well friend, I am glad you asked. This is the nitty-gritty: You send three handmade valentines to total strangers = You will receive three handmade valentines from total strangers.

That sounds fun! Where do I sign up? How do I exchange addresses?
Good question. Let me break it down:

You fill out the signup form below before midnight on Jan 30.
You receive an email from me on Feb 1st with the addresses of three total strangers.
You send one valentine to each address you receive, no later than Feb 5.
You receive three valentines sometime before/around Valentines Day.

What sort of Valentines should I send?
Handmade! It could be a simple scrap of paper with a doodle from your kids, or a stitched up and sequined masterpiece. Adding some glitter or a buttons to a pre-existing valentines is OK too. Just as long as it has a handmade touch and can fit in an envelope, it’s game.

I’m in! What else do I need to know?

This exchange is open to anyone, anywhere, any skill level. No one is expected to buy anything except stamps (heads up: people who read this blog are scattered around the world, so we all might need to double up on stamps).
You are welcome to include a note inside your valentines with information about yourself, your blog/website/etsy business etc…but it is not required or expected.
This is not an advertising opportunity. This is just a simple way to exchange random acts of kindness and send some love out into the world. No Debbie Downers, por favor.
If you feel weird disclosing your name and address, I assure you I will not compile and use this information for any other purpose besides sending you valentines! PS: Please be sure to include your name. Some folks like to omit their name for privacy purposes and then the post office refuses deliver the cards, so just include your initials or nick name if you are uncomfortable with everyone getting up in your business.

I don’t like filling out forms, can’t I just reply in the comments or send you an email?
Nope.

What happens if I get busy and can’t send a valentine? Can I back out at the last minute?
Good question. If you back out before Jan 30, no problem. Just send me an email (the address will be in your confirmation email) — no harm, no foul. If you back out after Jan 30, that’s a problem. Your address will already be in circulation to three other people who will be sending cards to you. Those three people would be pretty peeved if they knew they were sending valentines to someone who was not holding up their end of the bargain, as would the three people who will not be getting your cards. So altogether, that’s six people who will be ticked at you. SIX. Do you really want to risk those kinds of karma points?

Is it okay to send my valentines after February 5? Or back out altogether?
No. It’s not okay. There will be 3 people who were assigned to receive your valentines and your lack of participation will ruin the swap for them. I am not okay with that. Also, people are very vocal about complaining to me about missing Valentines, so it is easy for me to figure it out who dropped the ball. And even if the recipient doesn’t know who didn’t send them a valentine, I will. And I’ll have your name and address.

*True story: There was one woman in Georgia who signed up for valentines two years in row and never sent any in return. Not one. When she didn’t respond to my emails, multiple emails, I sent her an envelope of hair. Just hair. No return address. I’m not sure if she ever traced it to me but I’m pretty sure that freaked her out. HEY GLORIA!

Can I share pictures of the lovely valentines I made and received?
Yes. I would love that! We would all love that. Please post them on any social media platform using hashtag #auntpeachesvalentineswap. If you aren’t into hashtags, post the picture on my Facebook page. In the past, some folks have even become friends with the person who received their valentines. It’s pretty swell!

Can I request certain countries or areas of folks I want to swap with?
Nope. All assignments are made at random. FYI, in 2014, around 70% of participants were located in the United States, 10% Canada, 10% UK, the rest were scattered around the world. One year there were like 40 people in Bulgaria. It was pretty rad.

Can I skip the swap and exchange valentines with you instead?
As much as I would love that, you would end up with the short end of the stick. I don’t get to check my mailbox more than a few times a year, so I probably wouldn’t see your valentine until long after Valentines Day, which will make my response very lacking indeed. But, gosh, thank you for asking!

Can you tell me if my Valentines were received and what they thought of them?
No, sorry. I know we all love feedback on stuff we made, but that is the nature of anonymous swaps. We rarely hear back from the other person, and with hundreds of participants, I’m not able to act as go-between. This is another reason why I encourage everyone to post images on social media.

Okay, I’m in! Let’s get this party started!
Please fill out the form below ONCE. One entry per person, please. If you are singing up on behalf of a friend or family member with the same address, please use a different name. After you fill out the form you will receive an automated confirmation email. Important: Please be sure to check and make sure you recieved the confirmation email.

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Some photos from the 2015 swap…

Dip Dye Lampshade

by aunt peaches 7 Comments

I have a new decorating itch. It involves lampshades, fabric dye, and a garbage bag. Watch closely and you can see it in action…

A video posted by Peaches (@aunt_peaches) on Jan 17, 2015 at 2:52pm PST

Interested? Check it out over on ILovetoCreate.com!

A Cherry Blossom Wedding in Washington DC

by aunt peaches 13 Comments

The best part about running a craft blog is seeing what happens when people take an idea and make it their own. As fun as it is for me to create things, it’s far more rewarding to see others make those things in their own special way. Sadly, I hardly ever get to see the outcome. With that in mind, you can imagine how thrilling it was to see these images pop up in my inbox.

I mean…

Aren’t these stunning?

Stephanie, the bride, incorporated my cherry blossom coffee filter flowers into her Washington DC wedding. She used manzanita branches (Amazon) grounded in silver buckets (Ikea) filled with playground sand (Home Depot). Set inside a very swanky restaurant, they add just the right touch of color and festiveness. And, honestly, it’s Washington DC – what flower could be more appropriate than cherry blossoms?!

Seriously, y’all. She even made a photo backdrop to make her cute friends and family look even cuter. Look at that cuteness.

LOOK AT IT.

Stephanie, I am so delighted you were able to weave your creative talents into your special day (and if my tutorial helped in the process, even better!). Thank you so much for sharing this with me. Congratulations on your big day!

Hot Pink Geometry

by aunt peaches 4 Comments

Confession: It’s late January and I’m still not over Christmas. I don’t care if yesterday was MLK Day, I’m not past my yuletide cheer. The boxes have been put away for a couple weeks now but I set aside a few goodies to get me through the winter. Listen, a gal needs her sparkles!

I bought this chandelier (I call her “Mrs. Snow” because that isn’t creepy at all) three years ago. And as much as she makes my heart happy all by her sparky self, now seems as a good of a time as any to give her a modern makeover. Some hot pink geometric hemmili ornaments? Why the hell not.

When I made these ornaments last december for my funky junk tree, I assumed they would be hard to store and therby I might want to make enough to turn into a full scale himmeli (see the one I made in 2012) but then things took a different turn. As much as a love the geometric shapes on their own, I love them even more when mixed into something goofy and sparkled up.

To Make
Each ornament (lets call them that for now as I don’t know the correct geometric name) (feel fee ego chime in the comments if you know), requires 5 drinking straws and about two yards of fine gage wire. I have seem himmeli tutorials pop up all over the web the last couple years, and they are great, but they all use a needle and thread, which is awesome, but it will take you twice as long. Easily. Do yourself a favor and get some fine gage wire (mine here is a 28) you’ll thank me for that one.

I mentioned the part about tucking the wire tails inside if you want the shape to stand alone like mine. If you want to hang them from a tree or tie them together into a larger structure, go for it! Luckily, I didn’t have to tie anything onto the chandelier – I just slipped them over the bulbs and that was it. It may not look Christmas, but I can feel the Christmas, and that is enough to get me through January. That and Downtown Abbey.

Got the bug to make something awesome with straws? Here are the instructions for the decahedron himmeli I made in 2012. It’s a great way to kill an afternoon!

My Anti-Medicine Cabinet

by aunt peaches 2 Comments

Sponsored by Brother P Touch

I’d like to take this moment to come out against medicine cabinets.

Okay fine, I’m not against medicine cabinets like I’m against the holocaust, but I really dislike them. Sure, they made sense back in the day when people milked their own goats and a family of five shared a single toothbrush, but nowadays, even for the most frugal consumer, a teensy cabinet above the sink isn’t going to cut it. Uh-uh. I guess somewhere in the mid-50s residential builders started adding cabinets under sinks to provide “additional storage,” but you can tell that most 50s residential builders were dudes who saw little need for anything beyond deodorant and toilet paper (and that second one was questionable). Today, in the new millennium, at the dawn of a new year, when I’m joining the herd behind the third most popular new year resolution – to get organized, I’m going rogue. I have ditched the cabinet altogether and I have partnered with Brother P Touch to help me in the adventure!

As someone who lived in an old house with a small bathroom, adding cabinets or shelves wasn’t really an option. Luckily, I found this inexpensive kitchen rack at the hardware store (I think it’s meant to work as a pantry spice rack?), and a variety of clear plastic boxes and jars. Add some labels and BAM. More bathroom storage than I could ever need.

Yussss!

One Touch
As part of my post, the folks at Brother asked me to provide a list of organizing tips, but I’ll be honest, this is not an area where I can give advice. I’m not a naturally neat person. That said, even on my messiest day, I am always fairly organized because of these two words; One Touch. Nothing in my house can be taken out or put away with more than one touch. All I ever have to do is reach in a bin and pull it out. When it comes time to put it back, all I have to do is toss it in its spot. One touch. No shuffling or unboxing or unbuckling or putting lids on-and-off. One touch. This also means stuff gets taken out of it’s original packing; instead of keeping a bag of cough drops inside a box, I just remove the bag and the cough drops roam free –when I need one, it’s one touch to grab them. Same with bandaids, or rubber bands, or pill packs, or….whatever. And because everything is nicely labeled, it’s always easy to find what you need. If I had to deal with boxes with lids or zippered pouches or stacking stuff in place, the whole system would fall apart because I’m not fussy enough to deal with crap. Naturally neat people can cope with that stuff – it just doesn’t work for me. So I’m all about the one touch. Lots of labels, and one touch. I’m telling you, it’s a game changer.

One of things I like about massive organizing binges like this is you start to see patterns about yourself and your buying habits that you never knew. A week ago, I was at the drug store thinking I needed to buy mascara. Now I realize I already own 8 tubes of the stuff. So I can probably save that money and put it toward chocolate.

So, I don’t know if you have ever worked with label machines, but let me tell you something, they are crazy nifty. And they make it weirdly thrilling to start cleaning your house so you can reorganize and come up with stuff to label. Back in 2004 when I bought my first Brother P Touch (which is still kicking, btw) I got so excited that I started labeling everything in the house. There was literally a label on the television remote that read REMOTE. Did I think we were going to forget it was a remote control? Not sure. But it felt good.

As much I still love my original, this latest model is much more sophisticated. It does multiple fonts, sizes, capital and lower case letters, lines and boxes, even some cute little clip art. Muchos Niftotoes. For this project I stuck to the plain and simple, but I’m looking forward to the potential possibilities.

Also, I’m not sure when they started doing this, but it’s a big deal: the back of the paper is scored so you can peel away the paper and stick it down. Back in the day you had to mess around to try and peel it off, but now it’s super easy. This makes me want to label even more stuff. Don’t tell my remote.

Did you know January is National Get Organized month? This is to cater to people like me who hoard office supplies and look for new and exciting ways to use post-its! The folks at Brother P Touch are celebrating the occasion by giving away a label maker every day this month with a chance to win $2,000 to overhaul your space.

More creative ways to use labels…

An InLinkz Link-up

Things and Doings

by aunt peaches 16 Comments

Listening – For a long time there I loved Pandora, then she was replaced by her step brother, Spotify, but now Spotify is dead to me and I am loving his much-cooler cousin, Songza, an online collective of curated song lists. And yup, it’s free. On your computer or as a phone ap. What’s different from the others? Instead of searching by an artist name or genre, you pick out a mood and Songza plays you a soundtrack. Even better: they don’t use algorithms, they use real people with great taste in music. This is like that year in your 20s when you had that friend who made really good mix tapes but then they moved to Ohio and you went back to listening to Gloria Estefan. Listen, that was NOT okay. Well, your friend just moved back in town and they are making mix tapes for all occasions! Some of current favorites of mine; Vintage Soul Dance Party, Dancing Queens of the 70s, Cool and Canadian, Classic Biker Bar Rock, Andy Warhol’s Record Collection, Whip Smart Women of the 90s, Peggy Olseon’s Bohemian Awakening (just search “Mad Men” for all kinds of fantastic treasures). Songza is going to change your life. You’re welcome.

Reading – All the Light We Cannot See, a historical novel set in WW2 Europe, and I’ll admit, is not exactly my genre. I’m not big on long novels, especially long novels with Hitler, but you know what? It sucked me in. The writing is good. The descriptive qualities are superb, which I cannot help but attribute to the author empathizing with one of his characters – a blind girl. A French blind girl. This book is like one of those recipes I read on paper and think “Yeah, no thanks.” but then I put it in my mouth and think “Oh hell, yes!” It’s a good one.

Loving – I’m loving the idea of highly decorative envelopes peppered with vintage stamps and stuffed with simple stationary. Wouldn’t that be a fun addition to your mailbox? Especially with the annual Valentine Swap coming up (stay tuned for something next week) I have mail on the brain!

Wearing – These pants. Holy cats, Y’all. These black fleece pants are a game changer. They were a Christmas gift and all my other pants are getting jealous because these babies have been on constant rotation ever since. These pants look like regular black yoga pants but they are the warmest, snuggliest, amazing pants in the history of Pants Town USA. They are not cheap, but Eddie Bauer has some good sales so hang in there. Prepare yourself! Everybody knows fleece is warm, but it also gets staticy and picks up hair and stops feeling soft after a couple round in the wash, right? Yeah, no, these pants don’t do that. Water and snow and stuff just roll off. Indoor, outdoor, or under other pants as long-undrewear, I’m telling you, these pants.

Watching – I’m over-the-moon-and-back thrilled that Transparent was a winner at Golden Globes because that will mean more people will watch it and then I will have more people to discuss this show with me. Yes, because I’m selfish like that. Transparent is complicated and weird and confrontational and sometimes it made me really, really uncomfortable. But isn’t that the hallmark of good TV? When it makes you uncomfortable but you still want to know what happens next? I like to think so. It’s is the story of a fractured family, each member more compellingly flawed than the next, and oh yeah – the dad decided at 60something that he wants to live as a woman. He is a trans parent. Get it? That said, and given the title, the show is not about a man’s transition to another gender; it’s about a series of conversations between interesting people with complicated histories and the issue of gender is just one of the characters. It’s on Amazon Prime, which is new to me, but they have some great stuff on there (Alpha House’s newest fan here!). I got rid of cable last summer but I’m finding tons of treasures on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon (and saving lots of money too). Winter is long, though – so you have any reccomendations, I’m all ears. Homegirl loves her TV time.

Come on in! Craft Studio Video Tour

by aunt peaches 39 Comments

There is something seriously wrong with my inability to think in white rooms. I know some people can only be productive in a space that is clean/white/empty, and that’s great for them, but it doesn’t work for me. At all. I need a space that is “tidy-enough” to function, but messy enough to think. I need a cave of color and pattern. Textures. Photos. Sparkles. It’s as though be surrounding by things I affiliate with certain thoughts allows my brain some extra capacity to spend on new thoughts. New ideas. New room to absorb information. The stuff on my walls and in my drawers isn’t so much clutter as it is off-site brain storage.

As part of their Maker’s campaign, Michaels asked me to show you guys where the magic happens. Well folks, here we go!

That chair right there with the cardigan on the back – that’s where I sit typing this blog post right now.

Whoa – this got meta real quick.

Running theme in this room: easy-access drawers and tubs with labels. I’m not at all a neat-nick, but need everything to be labeled. This makes things easier when I go into a cleaning frenzy – there is no reorganizing or hunting around or shuffling to fit like objects together. Everything has a place because everything is labeled. Boom.

Those white tubs in the middle — this hold all of my craft paints, which is great, but I need a new system. This set-up was great when I was using the paints once a month, but I have recently gotten back in the painting groove and I’m rifling through them once a day. Looka here!

This binge started when I was painting gift bags for Christmas. Now the bug done bit me and find myself looking at flat surfaces and wondering what it would look like with turquoise polka dots.

So. As you can see, I’m keeping my paint situation busy. If anyone has any ideas on how to keep little bottles of paint organized without a lot of patience or wall space, holler.

This is the right side of my desk. Now, I know what you are thinking, “How can I get two possums to hang above my desk at all times like that?” and you would be right for wondering, because, obviously, everyone needs two possums.

And this is the left side of my desk. For a while I kept my client files in a tub over there but Lolabelle took over. Please note, I bought her that enormous cat tree on the left, which she won’t touch, so I gave in and just put a bed on my desk. Now she sleeps there all day. Sometimes she’ll wake up in a huff and bark at me long enough to pick her up for a cuddle, but mostly, it’s her sleeping space. Do you know how hard it is to be productive when someone is sleeping 14″ from your face?

This here is my pride and joy. I used to keep all my beads and crystals in little baggies, but then one day last fall my electricity went out and in a thrilling rush of anger driven organizing, I shifted everything into these little wall-mounted tackle boxes. Now I am using these items far more now that I can see everything at once. Love that!

Speaking of things I love…

This is another new-ish edition. It’s a wrapping paper rack (you can buy at Michaels (it looks like they are out of stock online at the moment, but I saw a hole stack of them at my local store last week!)). This is super handy. And honestly, past the holidays, it’s not like I am wrapping gifts all the time, but I use all these items for various projects and this stuff can be cumbersome to store in drawers and such. Keeping everything vertical, visible, and accessible in one touch (<<<that is the key for me), makes it that much easier to use what I have, instead of going out and buying more. It’s an investment. And I love it!

And, because because because because becccccccccause sometimes photos don’t cut it, I did a little video. This is big. I NEVER DO VIDEO. But yesterday I recorded it with my little phone, then edited and uploaded it all by my little ol’ self. You guys, I feel like a warrior. Or a wizard. Or a tech guru. Okay, I haven’t decided yet, but you have 12 minutes to kill and want to take an action-packed craft room tour, click play.

Please note, this is my first video ever. Like ever. Keeping sound and focus on point is new to me, and I’m crazy awkward on camera, but if y’all like this stuff I hope you will tell me so I might spend some time improving my skills. This is a new year and 2015 might be the year I finally conquer my fear of video. Stay tuned.

Thanks for dropping by and taking the tour! If you like seeing where creative people do their business (not that business) check out what’s going on with the other Michael’s Makers.

An InLinkz Link-up

Do-It-Yourself Home Textiles with Fabric Crayons

by aunt peaches 5 Comments

Most of you don’t come here to discuss Jamie Lynn Spears’, “totally unplanned,” Red Sonja style knife moves at a Lousiana pita shack (which is a shame because I would like to discuss this AT LENGTH) – so here is a pillow I made out of crayons and white cotton. That’s it. Crayons + Fabric + a quick hot of the iron and it looks like I made my own fancy fabric by drawing circles on circles on circles…until they started to look like a microscopic view of bacterial growth. I know. Isn’t botulism pretty? Read about how you can make your own over at Pentel.com!

Happy Monday: Cat People and Oregon Trail

by aunt peaches 2 Comments

These portraits of crazy cat people are incredible (read: making me jealous).

Here are 15 parties to throw for no reason in particular. The Crock Pot Cookoff party sounds especially appealing to me right now, how about you?

Here are some podcasts to fill the void Serial left in your life.

The Sony security hack sucked for a lot of reasons, but it may have opened the door to equal pay for women in Hollywood (starting with one massive raise for Charlize Theron). Give ’em Hell, Charlize!

What if guys acted like girls on Instagram?

They made a Lady Violet cake to celebrate the return of Downton Abbey. All I want to know is who got dibs on the eyeballs.

You can now play Oregon Trail (and a bunch of other oldy-but-goody MS DOs games) online, for free. You’re welcome.

I bought this women’s book and it is changing my life.

The Season 3 House of Cards trailer came out and I am now counting the days to Feb 27.

This cashier is the cutest thing since kittens.

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