Category Archives: Art

“Uncork” Wine Cork Frame

I hope you all had a nice weekend!  I had to work on Saturday so my weekend was a fun but brief one day thing. However, we did manage to fit in an easy little DIY project that is perfect for a wine lover!

This project was so simple.  I found a set of these “Uncork” greeting cards at Michaels a while back in the dollar bin and fell in love!  We have had one of the cards on display on our bar/microwave cart in the kitchen ever since but we have been meaning to frame it. I remembered that I had a spare 5×7 Ikea frame ($2.99) that I bought ages ago and an extra wine-colored envelope from Laura’s bridal shower invitations.

I cut the envelope to size and mounted the Uncork card to the envelope using photo stickers.  You could put this in the frame and be done… super simple!  Or you could take it a step further like we did by adding halved wine corks to the frame!

Using a utility knife (or something similar), CAREFULLY (watch those fingers!) cut 7 corks in half lengthwise.  The fun part is acquiring the 7 corks… that requires drinking 7 bottles of wine! :)

Rough up the front of the frame a tiny bit with some sandpaper so your glue will stick better.  Lay out your pattern and use a glue gun to attach your corks to the frame. And there you have it, a wine-lovers frame with delightful vino-themed DIY art!  This project would only cost $3.99 but it was free for me since I already had these things in the house!  Can’t beat that price!

Speaking of all things wine, check out our Zinfandel grape plant’s progress.  Remember when we only had one purple champion grape?  Now they are all purple and looking great… like REAL grapes!  So excited! :)

Etsy Project Update!

Some of you may be wondering why the number of posts about DIY projects has gone down in the past few months.  Well, you are about to see what has taken up all of my remaining time and energy on work nights and weekends: Etsy projects.

Sure, I love doing them but I love the blog more.  I was feeling a little stretched for time so decided a couple weeks ago to stop taking string art orders and go on a bit of an Etsy hiatus until life gets a little less busy.  I am just finishing up the remaining couple of orders this week but I thought I would at least share my hard work with you.

I know I make money off of Etsy but I get much more joy out of the blog and working on projects for our home and for friends & family.  Perhaps in the fall I will be able to find some time to take custom string art orders again.  Until then, you can always check out my DIY tutorial and make one yourself! :)

I made these for a coworker as a gift for her friend’s bridal shower. He is from Oregon and she is from CA. The best part is that they were used as table decorations at the shower since they were the wedding colors!

San Diego, California

Dornod, Mongolia

San Miguel, El Salvador & the Bay Area, California

Cayman Islands

This one was made for a customer for a customer’s best friend’s wedding. The celebration was a destination wedding in Oliveto Lucano, Italy. Can I come too!?

This one was made for a woman to give to her best friends, who were adopting a boy from Ethiopia (thus the pastel blue)! How adorable is that?! I really enjoyed making this one, thinking of the little boy looking at it when he is older. :)

So, you can tell I have been a busy bee. Only two to go but they are very similar to ones you have seen so I won’t torture you with any more string art for a while. Now I just need to figure out how to spend my newly-free time. Oh, who am I kidding… my plate is so full that I will probably STILL be stretched for time.  Oh well.  I love being busy! :)

You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Grey

This Saturday I have big plans to spend some time giving the edges of our bathroom walls a little paint TLC while Walker helps a friend move (I know, I know… about time already!). But in the meantime, adding the Beatles art has really made me feel better about the room’s progress. I have had another art idea for a while now and could finally make it a reality now that we have our paint color on the walls.I love this song… my mom used to sing it to me every night before bed. :)

It seems like a perfect expression to brighten our grey bathroom! And it only costs $1.40 to print on card stock at Kinko’s.  We are going to get a white frame with a white mat (Ikea, here I come!) and hang it in the open space above the new towel bar.  After this weekend’s paint clean up and towel hunt, I promise to post some “after” pictures of the bathroom, including the framed print on this post.

Lastly, because I love you all so much, click here to download the PDF of this print so you can enjoy it as well!  WOOO FREEBIE!! :)

 

P.S. To those of you who wish this was spelled “gray,” too bad. I like the -ey spelling better. And it’s free so you can’t complain too much! ;)

 

P.P.S. I am hanging out with a bunch of ladies at a tea party hosted by Louise at Laid Off Mom today.  Go check it out and you will see my favorite tea cup that once belonged to my grandparents! :)

Erika

I’m Erika, an interior designer with an aesthetic that is a mix of California Bohemian, Mid-Century, and Scandinavian influences with pops of fun color and loads of natural materials. Plus plants, plants, and more plants!

My sweet family (Walker, Juniper & Hank, as well as pups Arlo & Guillermo) just reloacted from Los Angeles, CA, to Lincoln, NE. We would love for you to follow along with us on this journey!

 
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