Here's a small round-up of goodies to make for your house. On your lunch hour, really, since a mid-century bench shouldn't take more than ten minutes to whip up. Ha. Have fun making!
DIY bunting tablecloth at The Sweetest Occasion
Abstract wall art by Oh Happy Day
Room dividing screen from Kootut Murut
Photo-dyed lace lampshade at Inkodye
Rollie Pollie beanbag chair by MADE at So You Think You're Crafty
Mid-century modern bench by Salvage Love
Today I'm sharing a project from Lisa Occhipinti, a painter, book artist, Etsy seller, instructor and author based in Venice, CA. Lisa loves rescuing discarded books and using them in her paintings and projects—including the sewing box project in her new how-to book, The Repurposed Library.
The Repurposed Library presents 33 items crafted from books: learn to make wreaths, vases, shelves, storage boxes, and more. If you get a kick out of watching people wield glue guns, check out the book's lovely trailer.
To learn how to make a sewing supplies storage box from an old book (choose a sewing book for maximum awesomeness), download the PDF instructions. The file is 1.3 MB, so be patient if it takes a minute. Go make yourself a sandwich and come back. Then keep your eyes peeled for an orphaned book that needs a new lease on life.
Thanks to the ever-generous citizens of the internet, we can learn to sew a whole crop of totes, pouches, and bags. Find free patterns and tutorials right here:
Boxy pouches made from a thrifted suit at See Kate Sew
Phoebe Bag from Artsy Crafty Babe
Nature Explorer Bag at Chez Beeper Bebe
Olivia Bag from Dixie Mango
Hip pouch by Daisie Janie
Madras summer tote from Noodlehead
Pleated tote by Artsy Crafty Babe
iPhone pouch from During Quiet Time
Denim tote at Between the Lines
If your apartment needs some decorating, you can't draw, and you're broke, consider chopping up paint chips. These are Glidden swatches from Home Depot made into a simple triangle pattern. I put it inside a mat and frame I already had, and it looks fairly respectable. Put anything inside a mat and frame and it will look respectable. Heck, you could frame a crumpled-up Kleenex and somebody will assume it's a very special piece of modern art.
To make this fancy paint chip art, cut swatches into triangles. I found it easiest to trim the swatches into strips first, then cut the angled sides using one triangle as a template.
I laid the shapes out in an arrangement I liked, then transferred them one by one to a sheet of paper cut to the size I needed. I ran the paper through my Xyron machine first to make it sticky, but you could also coat your paper with spray adhesive or attach your pieces with rubber cement or other adhesive.
Trim off any overhanging triangles, put it under glass, and you're done.
Some interesting do-it-yourself ideas from around the internet:
Chalkboard headboard by Fly Chicks
Mini laptop desk from Fresh Home Ideas
Chevron shoebox-lid wall art at Spunky Junky
Place setting table by KC and Sara via Apartment Therapy
If you've got paint chips sitting around begging to be made into something, try folding them into boxes for paperclips, thumbtacks, party favor candies, or tiny gifts. I made these from Behr swatches, available at Home Depot.
You'll need paint swatches, double-stick tape, an X-acto knife, ruler, and cutting mat.
For the box bottom, cut a 1/2" strip off each of the two rounded ends of the swatch. You should be left with a 5" x 5" square. At a point slightly more than 1 1/2" from one edge—about 1 17/32" if you want to be picky, but I just eyeballed it—score a line with your knife. Repeat on the remaining three sides. These scoring lines are shown as dashed lines above. Then cut out the gray shaded sections. This is what the box bottom should look like:
The box lid is constructed the same way. Trim a swatch down to a 3" x 3" square. At a point slightly less than 1/2" from one edge, score a line with your knife. Repeat on the remaining three sides and cut out the gray shaded sections.
Fold each sheet on the scored lines, bending flaps inward and securing them with double-stick tape. 
Continuing the "Wish I'd Thought of That" series, learn to make your own scratch-offs from Martha Stewart. I've seen several tutorials for creating scratch-off tickets using dish soap and paint, and always wanted to test it. At Martha, the mixture is applied to a save-the-date wedding announcement. To see the instructions, click here. (Note the tips in the comments, too.)
Even the artistically challenged can make modern, graphic artwork using office supplies. The red painting above is made with 3/4" round Avery labels and 1/4" tape from Office Max.
I used a 10-inch blank canvas from an art store, but you could paint this design on a piece of wood or spray paint it on metal, too.
If using a canvas, I'd suggest brushing a coat of Mod Podge or acrylic gel medium on first; it will smooth out the rough surface a bit so the paint will be less likely to bleed underneath the tape. When the surface is ready, arrange pieces of tape and stickers to form abstract plant shapes. Burnish each piece with your thumbnail to make certain it's stuck down really well. Paint the surface (I used acrylic) and remove the stickers.
Here are four sewing tutorials for bags, ranging from easy to "I'm sorry, what?" Take your pick based on your level of ambition:
Six-pocket bag at Better Homes and Gardens
Easy tote bags from Needle and Spatula
The Weekender from Weekend Designer
Cloudy Day appliquéd tote at Craft Snob
Today's project is a book strap. I must admit I sheepishly had to ask Lorraine how to use this fancy item: does one grab the long end of the strap and use it like a handle, so the book stack dangles from it like a dog on a leash? Or does one cradle the books in the crook of the elbow with the strap hanging free? Lorraine replied that both techniques are acceptable and suggests the dog-leash method can be "useful for fending off would-be assailants. Just swing and smash." Most excellent. For a book strap in use, look here. And with that, here's Lorraine.
The seats on our dining room chairs were peppered with stains and spills, having been sat upon by many humans consuming food. And this area of the house was clearly lacking orange, so I covered the seats with the Wildflower print from my Outside Oslo line.
These chairs are the Roger model from IKEA. Removing the seats was just a matter of flipping the chairs upside down and removing two screws underneath. The seats pop right off.
I layered the new fabric right over the old stuff and stapled it to the wooden underside of the seat with a staple gun. It doesn't matter how ugly it looks, because I have yet to meet a dinner guest who examines the underside of her chair. I placed the covered seat on the chair frame and put the screws back into the same holes. A quick and easy makeover.
I'm more of a jeans or shorts girl, but if you're into skirts for summer, check out these sewing tutorials. Here are options for little girls and ladies.
Left to right:
Full Skirt from Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing
Ballet Ruffle Skirt at Simply Modern Mom
5-Minute Skirt from Angry Chicken
Knot-Me Tie Skirt also by Simply Modern Mom
Socialite Skirt at Elle Apparel
Ruffled Skirt by Grand Revival Design
See this plastic picture frame? It was going to be a cute little desk frame for wallet-size photos, made with the plastic shrink film you heat in the oven. Except it curled up like a piece of bacon. Maybe Salvador Dali would have appreciated it, but I threw it in the trash.
An inkjet printable product gave me good results once before, so I opted to try the white, non-inkjet sheets made by Graphix (purchased at a local hobby shop).
I made a quick paper template to trace, sized 200% larger than the final frame would be. I traced it onto the plastic sheet and colored it with a permanent marker. Then I cut out the front of the frame, a piece for the backing, and a stand to attach to the back.
I baked the front of the frame for three minutes on a piece of cardboard with a sheet of parchment paper on top to prevent curling, per the instructions. Here's the before and after. Boo. This is what it looks like after I flattened the hot frame with a spatula. I tried another one and it was even worse.
Here's the back piece for the frame. It used to be a rectangle. I tried placing a thin sheet of cardboard on top of the parchment layer to hold it down during baking, and the plastic went crazy.
I plan to submit it to a modern art museum where it will fit right in with the rest of the objets d'art. This thing just went from a cheapo craft project to a sculpture worth thousands. Awesome!
I've seen photos created using a DIY camera trick and couldn't resist testing it myself. Bokeh is the term for the out-of-focus areas in a photo, particularly those little highlights created when photographing small points of light. Usually those highlights are circles or polygons, but it's lots of fun to make your own shapes.
You'll need a DSLR camera and a lens with a large aperture. I'm definitely no photography expert, so refer to this good article for info about lenses and settings for taking shots with bokeh. I used my Canon Digital Rebel XSi with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens (this is my only extra lens; it's relatively cheap, lens-wise, and I love it).
You'll also need a piece of black paper, pencil, scissors, tape, and a craft knife or decorative paper punch.
Cut a strip of paper long enough to wrap around your lens. I made mine 10" x 1.5". I put a strip of tape along the entire length of one edge so it would be easy to peel pieces of tape off this smooth area, just in case I wanted to switch my shape cutouts later. Wrap the paper strip around the outside of your camera lens to form a cylinder and secure it with tape.
Then set this paper tube on a piece of black paper and trace around it. Cut out the circle. This will be the cap on the paper tube that fits over your lens. Use a paper punch or Xacto knife to cut a hole in the middle of the circle. Make the shape somewhere between 1/2" and 3/4".
I used a knife to cut a cloud, asterisk, and tulip. Tape the paper circle to the tube to form a cap that will fit neatly over your lens.
To test this little project, I needed some tiny points of light, so I threw some Christmas lights on a clothes rack (in daylight, but nighttime shots are cool, too). Then I fitted my paper cap over the lens and made sure my aperture was open as far as it would go.
Focusing on my finger held right in front of my camera caused the background to go out of focus. I moved my finger away, took the photo, and got this:
Success! 
Putting an object in the foreground is fun, too. I totally amused myself and recommend you try this.
Sew Mama Sew has posted a tutorial by the super clever Lorraine of Ikat Bag today—how to sew a little zippered wallet that unfolds into a bag. Like a transformer. It's an Autobag, or maybe a Recepticon. Thanks for featuring my fabrics, Lorraine!
P.S. The Needle Shop, who manufactured my latest line, is now offering Outside Oslo fat quarter bundles. Get small pieces of all the prints as a set right here.
P.P.S. Sorry to the nonsewers for all the fabric-centric posts lately. I'm always a little giddy after a new line comes out!
A project by Carol Zentgraf for the Creative Home Arts Club uses fabrics from my first line, Modern Flora. Get the instructions for making this bookshelf cover right here. (The bottom of the article shows more photos and figures mentioned in the directions.) I'm not one for putting skirts on things, including on myself, but I can see how this would be useful if you need to hide a lot of unsightly junk or perhaps small children.
I love to peel and stick things. Especially orange things. Here's an easy way to customize plain ceramics: apply decorative tape in colors that match your home, your party decorations, or your current bouquet of flowers. Dress up inexpensive vases for DIY wedding table centerpieces or showers. And when you get tired of your design, just peel it off.
Stick tape onto a piece of wax paper and slice it into thin strips to make asterisks or bunting strings. Cut the other shapes off tape rolls with a scissors. 
Sources for pretty masking tape include Happy Tape, Cutetape, and Ginko Papers.
Ages ago I bought a package of crepe paper (like this—the folded sheets, not streamers). An impulse purchase simply because... it was orange? The other day I finally made some flowers with it while watching way too much HGTV. These will be nice gift toppers, or maybe I'll do more and make a wreath.
Materials:
Sheet of crepe paper
Small piece of cardstock
Scissors
Glue (I used Aleene's Tacky Glue)
Toothpick
Cut 12 circles from a sheet of crepe paper, any size you like depending on how big you want the final flower to be. I accordion-folded a strip of paper and cut multiple circles at once. No need to be too precise; freehand circles will do.
Orient each petal so the grain in the paper runs vertically. Apply a bit of glue at the bottom of the petal and pinch it to create small gathers. When the glue has dried, press both thumbs into the center of each petal and stretch the paper to curl the edges inward, forming a bowl shape.
Cut out a small circle of cardstock (about the same size as the petals before you shaped them.) Glue five petals around the outside edge. Then stagger four petals inside that ring, followed by three petals in the middle.
To make a center for the flower, cut a small strip of crepe paper and fold it in half. Cut notches along one long edge of the doubled paper to make fringe. Roll the fringed paper around a toothpick and secure with glue. Finally, glue this piece into the center of the flower.
