How About Orange

September 30, 2013

Fold an origami bulldog bookmark


I tried out this origami bulldog bookmark tutorial I found on YouTube. The doggie is designed by Christine Edison and demonstrated by Katrin. There's something very satisfying about taking a break from logos and brochures to fold a small square of paper into a thing!

I made the bulldog from a kraft paper envelope cut into a 5" square. The thicker stock was harder to fold, but I wanted the paper to be the same color on both sides. (If you use origami paper that has a white reverse side, you'll end up with a bit of white showing under the dog's nose.) The demonstration is easy to follow— happy folding!

September 27, 2013

Great upholstery staple remover


I wanted to take the fabric off the Craigslist chairs and see how tough it would be to recover them myself. In the past I've just used a screwdriver, but it can be a pain to work the tip under a staple. Frustration escalates until I want to stab the chair violently with the screwdriver, Psycho style.

My chairs have hundreds of staples hidden under single and double welt cord (which I've learned is usually hot glued on, not stapled, actually.) To avoid deupholstery rage this time, I researched online to see if there's a better tool for digging staples out, and found the DoubleRock staple remover. I bought one. It. Is. Fantastic.


All the staples hidden under here need to come out. Where are they?


The DoubleRock's prongs can wiggle under there and catch the staple, and then you twist the tool to pry it out. The nose of the tool acts like a lever so it's no sweat to raise the staple. Here's a nice YouTube video showing how to use this thing. I bought mine here at Amazon. I highly recommend it if you plan to remove lots of staples from furniture.

September 26, 2013

I'm addicted to buying lamps


Look what I found at an antique mall. These blue vintage pottery lamps jumped up and down and shouted "Pick me! Pick me!" as I walked past. I took them home where they became fast friends with the Abigail Loveseat. You can see they are destined to be together.


September 25, 2013

Free printable donut birthday card


This weekend I wandered around Cincinnati and had my first donut from Holtman's. It was fantastic. Today I spotted this very adorable donut balloon project at Studio DIY.

So I was inspired to craft a tasty, donut-themed printable. You could attach this birthday card to a box of donuts or mail a gift card along with it. Or pair it with mini donut sugar cookies using Bakerella's recipe, as a commenter has suggested.

Download the free PDF here.


September 23, 2013

"Taking care of business" desktop wallpaper


Need a motivating desktop wallpaper to kick off the work week? How about this one by letterer Annica Lydenberg (AKA Dirty Bandits), available here in multiple sizes for various devices. See more wallpapers created by artists and illustrators at The Fox is Black. Have a productive Monday!

September 20, 2013

Fun game: let's pick a parlor rug


I woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. So I made a super rough Photoshop mockup of the parlor and tested different rugs in it. The things in this room I actually own: the loveseat, light fixture (though it's not hung yet), curtains, and chairs (though they're not reupholstered to look like this yet). I'm on a blue kick because it looks good with all the brown woodwork, and I love bold graphics. A navy rug? But which one?

Above: it's loony and I love it! This rug has little orange squares in it which tie in with the orange womb chair in the adjoining living room. If we leave the pocket doors open and you stand in just the right place, you'd be able to see them both at once. But I think I'm too chicken to buy this one, and I wouldn't want the eyeballs of visitors to pop out of their sockets. Plus it's pricey.


Or take it down 6 notches and go with asymmetrical rectangles. By the way, I always first type "asymmetrical" with two s's and then it looks like ass and I realize something is wrong. (Just an aside. Or asside.) This rug is navy with a pale gray background like the walls.


Maybe stripes? A bold move. Navy and ivory.


Royal blue instead of navy, in a chevron.

What to do, friends?

Update: I've loved all of your votes and comments and thoughtful suggestions! I've decided on #3, the stripes, and I've ordered it. That one is by far the best price, too. But it turns out it's going to take 8-12 weeks to arrive. What, are the sheep not even shorn yet? So if I find something better in the meantime, I might cancel that plan and go with something else.

Update: And... I cancelled the rug. I don't want to wait that long. I'm plotting my next move.

September 19, 2013

My guest room decorating efforts


Our house has two finished attic rooms on the third floor (or crow's nest, as my pa has nicknamed this floor, and which has stuck). One is a guest room for empty cardboard boxes and things we don't know where to put yet. The other is a guest room for humans.

Our old living room rug got demoted and sent up here. As did our old bed and a spare duvet cover. Beige, ugh. That's a lot of brown, folks. No fun.


So I spray painted the faux wrought-iron headboard red.


I bought fabric for curtains that 1) looked happy 2) went with brown, and 3) went with red to tie things together. After hemming, I put the panels on curtain rods with drapery hooks so they'll slide easily. I used some IKEA fabric from my stash to sew a couple orange patterned pillow shams, and the pink cushion was a spur of the moment Amazon purchase.


We got this little lamp as a freebie from a furniture store, so I sprayed that, too. It was unsightly before — I'm not a fan of cheap, fake distressed stuff — and now it's slightly less ugly.


This end table was $10 from Craiglist and needs either refinishing or painting, a project for another day. But for now it's doing a fine job of holding up a $15 Craigslist lamp, which got a new embroidered shade from Target.


The chair should have a cute pillow, right? And the bed should have one of those fancy throws that goes across the foot like you see in decorating magazines or hotel rooms. It falls on the floor and you wonder where to put it, and it's totally useless? One of those. It would break up the beige desert. If I ever win the lottery, maybe I'll get one.

It's a simple room, but much improved from when Grandma G stayed here and it contained only an unfolded futon!

September 18, 2013

I couldn't resist


I hate Target. They put cute things in endcap displays so I'm forced to walk past and buy them. Orange mini duct tape? Into my shopping cart. Know what would look cute made from orange duct tape? A no-sew duct tape zipper pouch, tutorial compliments of As The Bunny Hops. Picture this: you get some rolls of patterned duct tape, and some buddies, and some zippers, and some cocktails (order optional) and make coin purse gifts for everyone you know. Yep.