Project: vinyl banner shopping bags

My best friend bought some bags that I just LOVED, made from recycled vinyl banners. I remembered that my parents had some banners at home (don't ask why), so I was able to make these for me! Yippee! I love them. I ran out of vinyl for the handles so I used the material from an old roller shade. Unfortunately, the shade material was too old and brittle to last very long, and one of the handles broke after several months of use. Good to know... Fixing it is now on my to-do list.

Project: Recycled sweater sheepdog

Ok, it is supposed to be a dog, but everyone thinks it's a lamb... He's made from an old Banana Republic sweater, a little felt for the ears, some recycled cord from shopping bags, and bits of leftover yarn from my knitting.

Project: poplar pet gates

dining room/kitchen gate

BEFORE: hallway barricade

When puppy Jack first came home, a couple of wastebaskets in the doorway were enough to keep him in the kitchen. Very quickly though, two serious barricades of random stuff were necessary to keep Jack penned in. Yuck. I considered buying baby gates, but the options out there were so horrible (or they looked passable, but were too expensive to buy two), I decided to make my own. We had leftover poplar from our window sashes project and while searching online, I serendipitously found this. Perfect(!), although my gates would be much smaller in scale to fit the doorways. I also had constraints with the direction in which the gates could swing. I decided to forgo the caster (as much as I love casters) because my floors are fairly uneven. It was a bit hard to find hinges that would work for me (thanks finally to OSH!), and a latch that I could attach to the outside. Then I had to meet T's perfectionist-engineer requirements. But all in all, I'm very happy with the results. And having a clear hallway again, PRICELESS!

AFTER: hallway/kitchen gate

interfering with the work

yum, let me chew on this!

Home made toy planters

This made me smile. 
Make funny flower pots 
with random house/garage junk.

It could be a good rainy day project with the kids.
Via Instructables.

Vincent van Duysen

I'm a big admirer of Vincent van Duysen's ceramic containers. I love the organic combination of wood and earthware. Maybe someday the budget will allow. For now, it's just nice to see them when they do pop up in magazines and blogs.

Nerdy Knitting Project

My friend L. found this hilarious dissected rat on Etsy by CraftyHedgehog. It totally cracked us up and I found it so clever and adorable that I just had to re-share.

wall decor

I'm adding this to my reference portfolio of cool wall ideas. From AT. I only like the paint job, not the whole burlap/plaster business. The raindrops would be so cute in a kid's room.

Cycle Chic

Found this new (to me) blog Copenhagen Cycle Chic. It's full of cool pictures of commuters on bikes in Copenhagen. In the snow. In the cold. Whatever. Makes me want to use my bike a little bit more but alas, I'm just not that coordinated. BUT if SF provided this:

I would DEFINITELY bike more. 

Why are clever things like this only found in Europe?

More from PB

Do we like this, the Calhoun pendant? I'm trying to imagine it in my kitchen, over the breakfast table... Hmm, it's not too expensive...

I like the general look of this flatware too. I guess it's time to stop into a store and feel their weight in my hands.

Accordion light

I'm not usually a fan of Pottery Barn, but they have a couple cool things in their new catalog. For my ever-so-slow bathroom remodel, I've been looking for new lighting. This accordion sconce would look neat over a mirror. But I'll keep looking until I find something a bit more affordable!