Another fun freebie from Alma Loveland: a graphic you can download, print, and frame under glass in your kitchen, then use a dry erase marker to write your meal plans on it. The print will fit in a standard IKEA Ribba frame, or you can scale it to a smaller size if you prefer. A housewarming gift for a cook, perhaps?
Also check out Alma's fridge design, available in her Etsy shop. I have a weakness for orange refrigerators.
(Image by Alma Loveland)
A new issue of GD USA magazine, a free publication for the graphic design community, arrived the other day. On the cover was a paint chip ice cream cone by Matthew Sporzynski of Real Simple magazine fame. (See his paper sculptures for Real Simple right here.) These amazing paint chip creations are part of a Sherwin Williams ad campaign; view all the print ads here. I wonder if these are too awesome—Sherwin Williams might end up with a massive paint chip shortage as everybody rushes out and attempts their own creations. And by "everybody," I mean, um, me.
Here's an inexpensive, do-it-yourself wall art project from The New Domestic. Get a large canvas, mark off lines with tape, and fill in the gaps with paint. Modern and cool! See Nerissa and Peter's project take shape right here.
(Image by The New Domestic)
Filling up empty wall space is hard, especially when you're on a budget. I like this smart and cheap decorating solution: paint a color block behind shelves or artwork that's too small, and your room is instantly more interesting. See more photos of the top room at BHG.com. The bottom room is by Vanessa De Vargas of Turquoise.
Spruce up your Twitter page for summer with Ollibird's free seamless background patterns for websites and desktops. Fresh and fun with plenty of orange. Gotta love it.
Download the new, free font Geomancy from One By Four Studio. It's an art deco font that comes in Extra Bold and Hairline. You can even get crazy and layer them on top of each other. Geomancy is free for personal use; contact One By Four for commercial permission.
Put rolls of crepe paper to good use! Try out these tutorials for your next party. If you have tons of time on your hands, that is.
Make crepe paper balls of roses with House of Smiths. For extra help, see Filth Wizard's video instructions for forming roses.
You could glue those roses to a wreath form like Johanna did.
Make crepe paper leis at Dream a Lil' Dream.
Craft up some crepe paper medallions with Laurie at Once Wed.
Top gifts with crepe paper pompoms following Denise's instructions at Design Sponge.
Late Friday night I decorated a little bit for a Saturday morning reception at our place. I found some tissue paper in the closet and made flowers while watching Die Hard on TV. Pink flowers plus Die Hard = a good time. Here's a tutorial for making similar blossoms with napkins.
Ms. Eleanor Grosch's latest wallpaper for desktops and iPhones is right here. This time it's bikes. I think she should do Segways next. Followed by Big Wheels.
In honor of Father's Day, try a little napkin origami. Fold dinner napkins into shirts to create fun place settings. Note, however, that a recent study showed 7 out of 10 dads won't even notice. (Not really; I just made that up. But I think it might be true. Another study showed 100% of dads did notice money origami, though.)
Here's how to fold a napkin shirt. You'll need to press all your creases, so get out your iron. Or just use paper napkins and skip the ironing.
1. Place the napkin face down. Fold all four corners to the center. (My napkin wasn't quite square, so I had to overlap one of the flaps to achieve a square shape with nice corners.)
2. Fold the left edge to the center, then the right edge.
3. Turn the napkin over. Fold about one inch down from the top.
4. Turn the napkin over again. Fold each of the top corners diagonally inward to the center. This is the collar.
5. Lift each bottom flap and fold outward, making a crease that's roughly parallel to the collar fold above it. These are the sleeves.
Illustrator Helen Dardik has done it again: another printable book label, free for the downloading. Grab it right here.
Before: A super stylish iPad sleeve made from bubble wrap, packing tape, and one of the stickers that came in the box, created the night before I took our new iPad on a road trip. Yeah, it's pretty sweet, all right. 
After: I wanted a more... shall we say respectable?... option for the long term, so I bought this brown herringbone number
Have you visited Anna Graham's blog Noodlehead yet? If you like to sew things that are so cute you can't stand it, rush right over there. Here's her free tutorial for gathered clutches (also available as a PDF pattern with other styling options for purchase right here.)
Or maybe you want a little zippered pouch with a key ring. Tutorial here.
Maybe you want that zippered wallet to have some adorable detailing. Tutorial here.
Or maybe you want to sew a bike basket, a diaper keeper, a mail organizer, or a host of other useful things listed on Anna's blog. Go crazy.
To see the lovely things others have made from her tutorials, like Yellow Poplar's pouches above, visit the Noodlehead Tutorials Flickr pool.
One of the strangest time-wasters ever: Simon Panrucker's beans game. Smash screaming baked beans with a click of your mouse. Um, happy Friday.
Pattern Cooler is a site offering dozens of repeating patterns you can color, scale, and download. Use them for computer desktops, Twitter backgrounds, blogs, websites, and more.
I have strawberries on the brain at the moment, and these felt versions are totally adorable. Get a tutorial for this chocolate-covered strawberry from Honey Girl Studio. (Look out! There's music, so hit mute if you don't want your boss to catch you skulking around the internet.) 
This bowl of strawberries has downloadable instructions right here by Mr. Monkeysuit. Or get another free pattern here at Lit'l Brown Bird.
If you'd rather not stab your finger with a needle because you like paper cuts better, try folding origami strawberries like these from Flickr user N'omettre Rien. 
Panda Snacks made an insane cake with them. You'll need some strawberry origami folding paper, available here at Etsy. This video shows how to fold them.
As I was preparing this post, a strange thing happened. I took a break to poke around YouTube, curious to see what the music artist Marina and the Diamonds looks like, since Are You Satisfied and I Am Not a Robot recently infiltrated my head. The first video I clicked was this. Are those felt strawberries attached to her shoulders?!
The Victoria and Albert Museum has created an online patchwork pattern maker that might cause quilters out there to jump up and down. (I'm not a quilter so I'm still seated, but somebody can let me know if this is useful.) You can upload an image and convert it instantly into your own quilt pattern. Have fun playing! Thanks for the tip, Cindy.
I like simple, brilliant ideas. Check out Brittni's pretty dry erase board solution: fabric framed under glass. Let's all kick ourselves now for not thinking of this sooner. Read more about it here.
Many of you are familiar with the project-making, snack-eating, meet-and-greeting event that is Craft Social. Our original planning team, with the exception of Amanda Edwards, has retired from the job after producing three of these megaparties. Now I'm delighted to announce that Amanda is taking the reins and adding even more fabulousness to Chicago Craft Socials. In the past, we gave you some food and hoped you didn't poke your eye out with a scissors. Now you get food and cool free stuff, plus the usual awesome projects to attempt while you try not to poke your eye out with a scissors.
Learn more on the blog, get event details, and register here. The Craft Social is next Friday, June 18, in Evanston.
If you need to download and print a freebie greeting card, Canon's Creative Park has over 600 options in both letter and A4 sizes. I'm not a fan of teddy bears and tea roses, but some of the cards feature delightful illustrations. Canon, keep recruiting talented illustrators, please! Especially those of the quirky variety.
Moms, if you're looking for a little craft project to do with the kiddos, try making a print-and-assemble Father's Day card. This lion family is cute.
Select colors you like and dislike in this quiz. Then all sorts of data about your personality will be revealed.
An excerpt from my profile: "You are 54% extrovert and 46% introvert. You are dynamic, your actions are only directed by your own will and you know how to lead people. You are also able to have an in-depth thinking, you think before acting, and you know how to communicate your knowledge. Finally you are a manager and a structured person, you know how to take into account the needs of each person while leading them towards the set goals." If it's on the internet, it must be true.
Designed by Pablo Impallari, The Lobster Font is a charming script you can download and use for websites and publications both personal and commercial, according to its SIL Open Font License. Learn about ligatures, terminal forms, and the labor of love embarked on by type designers, plus get the latest version of Lobster right here. Thank you, Mr. Impallari.