Time wasters: Oscars edition

Thank goodness it's Friday. If you need to kill a little time waiting for the weekend to get started, try these Oscar-related quizzes:

Guess the dress: Identify the actress wearing each gown.

What's Your Red-Carpet Style Personality: Find out which celebrity is a match for you. Apparently I am "Jennifer Lawrence aka The Sexpot Next Door." Yep, that's me.

Test your Oscar knowledge: The Chicago Tribune's annual trivia quiz.

Which 2014 Best Picture Nominee Are You: A crowd pleaser or an indie darling? I got Her. "At your best, you’re quirky and charming. At your worst, you’re a real downer to be around." Fabulous.

The Oscars: Can You Complete the Speech? Fill in the missing words.

And don't forget to download your printable ballot and bingo game for Sunday's telecast. Have a fun weekend!

A website that teaches you how to knit

Sheep & Stitch is a freshly-launched website that teaches you how to knit using video tutorials and simple patterns. I don't know how to knit, but if I wanted to learn, I think I'd start here. The site is clean and pretty with lovely, cohesive photography and a simple layout. Follow the knitting map to go from a person who knows nothing (me) to a person who can make a sweater. More patterns, videos, and goodies are coming soon, so sign up for the newsletter if you want to be alerted. I love how-to sites, and this looks like it'll be a good one.

Free font: Akura Popo

I've gotten a few requests for the name of the main typeface I used on yesterday's Oscar bingo cards. It's Brothers Regular, available from myfonts.com for $49. If you're looking for something free that has similar 19th century squared-off properties, try Akura Popo by Twicolabs Design. It's fair game for personal and commercial use. Akura Popo is more condensed and you'll have to do some manual kerning, but it might come in handy for your craft beer and banjo night invitations. Get it here.

P.S. I almost hit the publish button without noticing I'd made an unfortunate typographical error on "Popo." I have corrected it.

2014 printable Oscar bingo and ballot

[To join the bingo mailing list for future years, sign up here].

My 2014 Oscar ballot and bingo game are done! Get set to enjoy Sunday's Academy Awards with friends. It doesn't matter if they watch movies or know who the actors are; anyone can play bingo and it's a good excuse for a party.

Download the Oscar ballot PDF
Download the Oscar bingo PDF

Save the PDFs to your computer, open them in Adobe Reader, and print.


To use the ballot: print one for each guest and have them mark their predictions before the show starts. The person with the most correct guesses wins.

To use the bingo cards: 20 different game cards are included in the PDF. Print out the number of pages you need for your guests. Then fan out the sheets, close your eyes, wave your hands over them, and put your finger on a card. This one is meant to be yours. Your party guests can fight over the rest of the sheets, but they're not going to win. You are. As you all watch the telecast, the first person to mark off five squares in a line wins. It could be a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line. (This year I removed the center "free" space to make you work a little harder.)

Movie theater gift cards, boxes of popcorn, candy, or little Oscar statuettes from a party store make good prizes.

Has anybody tried to play with friends long distance? You could each claim a page number to print out and then text or tweet each other when you get a bingo.

Like every year, a disclaimer: Maybe someone will get a bingo ten minutes into the telecast, or maybe your group won't have a winner at all because my psychic powers have failed this year. Best of luck!

P.S. If you like Oscar bingo, you might also like my Christmas Hallmark Movie Bingo.

Easy woven origami bookmarks

I made these simple little woven bookmarks during my lunch break. Follow the directions at make-origami.com. I cut two 3/4" wide strips from a piece of 8 1/4" double-sided square origami paper and taped the short ends together to make a long, skinny strip. Then I followed the directions.


Easy and cute.

Stocksy: better stock photos?

Designers and bloggers in need of realistic stock images, have you checked out Stocksy yet? I looked it up after seeing an ad in HOW. I use Getty and iStockPhoto (owned by Getty) constantly as sources of images for clients, but finding realistic-looking photos can be a challenge. Plus they're criticized for paying photographers next to nothing. Stocksy apparently pays 50% of the purchase price back to the artist who made the photo— an improvement, offers relatively inexpensive pricing to those of us buying, and the images seem much more authentic. I suppose they'll have their share of women laughing alone with salad, but maybe the women are more likely to look like your neighbor or the owner of the hipster knitting shop down the street instead of a phony model.* The search function isn't as sophisticated as the Getty sites and the image library is smaller, but I'm going to start shopping here.

*Getty's Lean In collection is a huge leap forward in depicting women; check that out, too.

Tricky trompe l'oeil pillows

These photo-realistic throw pillows are whimsical and fun. I'd be curious to see how the three dimensional illusions hold up in person, but they look very cool in photos. Maybe we should try a DIY version– take a photo, print it on transfer paper, and iron it onto fabric. Or for higher quality, print the fabric at Spoonflower and sew it into cushions.

1. Succulent by Plantillo.
2. Chesterfield sofa by Morondanga
3. Oak tree by Nicklas Gustafsson
4. Geogami by Snurk
5. Art deco detail by Tammy Winand
6. Pug by Benwinewin
7. Leaf by Plantillo

We gift wrapped the dining room

The dining room wallpaper is finished. It almost killed us, but we prevailed. Remember when my plan was to do just an accent wall? After living with it for a couple weeks, we decided the rest of the room looked too stark and incomplete. So we bought more.

We painted the white ceiling light gray and added paper to the other walls. It took two Saturdays and a couple late nights after work to do the remaining three walls, because we are possibly the slowest wallpaper hangers in history. And one of us is an annoying perfectionist. This room has two windows, a fireplace, and five doors to maneuver around, with rosette blocks that stick out on the corners just to add some extra pain and suffering.


Painting the ceiling was a challenge since we didn't want to get paint on the wall that was already done. I had nightmarish visions of turning it into a Jackson Pollack mural, so we tried to tape a plastic sheet over it. The painter's tape wouldn't stick on the painted walls, however; the plastic was too heavy. Alex had a roll of plastic film from work, so we decided to try that, thinking that taping up strips would be easier since they'd be lighter. To our amazement, the stuff clung to the wall with static electricity alone. This discovery was the greatest moment in our entire project. We couldn't stop high-fiving. It was how Ben Franklin must have felt.

With a tiny brush I carefully painted the ceiling along the edge of the wallpaper, and then the rest of the painting was easy. We didn't spill a drop on the plastic. Figures.

Then came the marathon wallpaper application, and here we have it:


It's cozy and pretty and dramatic. I love it. I'm more of a minimal girl at heart, but in a Victorian house, you have to have some fun.

For Valentine's Day Alex bought me flowers that match the paper. That might seem like no big deal, but God and I both know how much he detested doing this project with me. Trust me: that gift was an amazing act of self-sacrifice.

A more modern light fixture is in the works, along with some artwork and a painted dresser. We're coming down the home stretch in here!

P.S. The paper is Sophie Conran's Balustrade in Claret. It was on sale when I bought the second batch, so if you need to have some, maybe a discount will come along.

DIY papercut greeting cards with template

I wanted to make some cards that would be simple to cut with an X-acto knife, and straight lines are the fastest. So I made a template for an outer frame to cut from card stock, and then set up some interchangeable messages that can be printed on colored paper and inserted for various occasions.




To make your own, download the PDF with the cover template and messages, then print out the pages you need. If you prefer to use a digital cutting machine, the .dxf file (cover only) might work for you.

Download the full PDF here.
Download the .dxf cover here.

Cards are 5" x 7" and fit on an 8.5" x 11" sheet.


To cut the cover for the cards by hand, print the cover template on regular computer paper. Tape it to a piece of sturdy card stock around the edges to hold it in place. Using an X-acto knife and a straight edge, cut along the lines through both sheets of paper. I cut all the long lines first, then went back and cut the short lines.


Remove the computer paper and pop out the pieces, freeing any stuck bits with your knife. Then score the card along the center and fold in half.


Cut a printed insert to size, fold it in half, and stick it inside the cover with a line of glue or strip of double stick tape along the top inside back.

Happy Valentine's Day, and have a lovely weekend, all!

The parlor has light!

Fiiiiinally. I ordered this light fixture from Joss and Main in September. The glass shade arrived cracked, and it took the manufacturer a couple months to send a replacement (J&M's customer service people were very responsive and helpful; it was the manufacturer's issue). Also the fixture was listed as having sockets for six bulbs, but ours only had four. We worked on getting the base with six for a few months since that's what was advertised, but ended up being shipped a duplicate part for four bulbs. And at that point we gave up. Sunday this beauty went up on the ceiling.


Turns out four bulbs is plenty in this room and we're glad the base doesn't hold six. We'd probably have to wear sunglasses.

This sale has popped up again at Joss and Main for another 20 hours, I see, so if you find yourself needing one of these, see the deal here. The manufacturer is ELK Lighting and their name for this fixture is the Preston 6 Light Pendant.

Next we want to make over that fireplace. Give it a tile facelift and hook up some gas. We want fire! You can picture it, can't you? Let me help you via Photoshop:


We haven't looked at tile at all; we're still trying to figure out the cost of producing flames. But while we're playing in Photoshop, let's decorate some more. A plant? Bigger art, maybe? (Oops, I covered up the brass lady accidentally.) Some coffee table stuff like bloggers put on their tables for photos, and then clear off and pile their remotes and magazines back on after the picture is taken? Yes.

2014 Oscar bingo is coming soon

I've been getting gobs of email asking if I'll be making Oscar bingo cards again this year. You betcha. This will be the sixth year. I'm collecting info on the 2014 ceremony and will make up the cards a week or two before the show. There will be 20 different cards again, plus a matching ballot guests can fill out before the ceremony. (See the 2013 set here.) I'll post the free printable PDFs here on my blog.

To be notified when they're ready, add yourself to the Oscar bingo mailing list.

Update: Bingo is ready! Grab it here.

Fun facts: Over 1,000 people have signed up, and last year the bingo was featured on LIVE with Kelly & Michael on TV. So I'd better not screw it up.

The 2014 Oscars air March 2 at 7e/4p on ABC.

Can I ask for feedback from those who use them? I always design the sheets in black and white with no bleeds so they won't suck up an entire color ink cartridge. Do you like them in simple B/W, or would you prefer a fancier design in full color?

Quiz: What's your design aesthetic?

This fun visual quiz at BuzzFeed will label your design aesthetic for you. Click your favorite image in response to questions such as "Where would you put that tattoo" and "You have 10 minutes at IKEA. What do you buy?" The quiz determined I have the aesthetic of a "Scandinavian Design Blog." What's your style? Take the quiz here.

Mini DIY washi tape Valentine notes

I was inspired by Patricia's post and Ellie's business cards to make some tiny Valentine's Day notecards using washi tape and baker's twine. These little babies are 2.25" square. To make your own using tape (or decorate however you like), download and print out the blanks I made:

Notecard printable PDF

Print and cut out the cards, then align a couple strips of tape on the front and trim off the edges.


Use a 1/8" hole punch or scissors to notch the edges to keep the twine in place.


Wrap the cover with twine, tie, and write a scandalous message inside. Make mini envelopes out of coordinating paper if you're feeling ambitious!

Free font: Blenda Script

If you're a fan of Pablo Impallari's ubiquitous Lobster typeface, you might like Blenda Script by Seniors Studio. It's an experimental font inspired by Lobster and comes with swashy OpenType alternate characters. Blenda Script is free for personal and commercial use.

(P.S. Is Lobster the new Comic Sans? I don't think so. But this cracked me up. If only there were a mustache on it.)

Free, printable Valentine's Day cards

Here are a handful of nifty Valentine's Day cards posted around the internet. They're all free to download and print.
1.) Hand-lettered cards at A Pair and a Spare
2.) Simple love notes at She Knows
3.) Typewriter Valentine by Kiki and Company
4.) All You Need is Love notecard from Design Corral

Faux tin tile fireplace makeover

Mission accomplished! The antique spinach dip tile on the dining room fireplace has been successfully disguised with removable panels. Apologies, Rookwood fans. But don't despair. If someday you buy this house from us, you can pull off these sheets of embossed thermoplastic and the spinach dip will be yours to enjoy. Yum.

I used Fasade backsplash sheets for this makeover, which I first saw in a rack at Home Depot. They're lightweight, easy to cut, and since this isn't a working fireplace, they're not going to melt. After gleefully hatching my plan, I contacted the manufacturer to see if they'd send complimentary tiles for this experiment in exchange for reporting on the project (success or epic fail). Score! So a huge thank you to Fasade.


Fasade panels come in different sizes for walls, ceilings, and backsplashes in a variety of finishes and designs: modern, traditional, and industrial. I chose from the traditional category to match the look of the mantel, and selected the pattern with the smallest repeat so that more than one square would show along the sides of the fireplace cover. Traditional 6 in Brushed Nickel was my pick (the left-most swatch in the Before photo and the top swatch above).


I measured the swatches and determined that each repeat is a 3" square. I made a quick diagram in Illustrator to see how many 18" x 24" backsplash sheets I'd need, color coding each panel to show where the leftover cutouts could be used. Six sheets would do the job.


Supplies included a cutting mat, utility knife, ruler (this plastic quilting one didn't slide around as much as my metal cork-backed one), tape measure, kitchen scissors for trimming off extra bits, and a Sharpie. I hung the panels with a combination of poster putty and self-adhesive foam tape.

Removal instructions on the mounting tape state that brushing rubber cement onto any left-behind goo will make it easy to rub off the sticky residue with your finger. So I'm confident these will come off without harming the tile.


Each panel is covered with a protective plastic film you remove at the end of the job. I marked my cuts on the film with a Sharpie, and after the film peeled off, no markings showed on the final panels. For each cut, I scored the panel by sliding a utility knife along a ruler a couple times. No need to cut all the way through— just bend the panel back and forth along the score and it will snap apart.


The fireplace required a ridiculous number of cuts in the floor panels to get them to fit around the mantel pillars. I drew a diagram on paper for those and labeled the length and placement of each of the dozen-or-so cuts needed for each piece. They ended up too snug in a couple spots so I trimmed off bits with a scissors until the panels fit.


Tedious but worth it.




Once all the pieces were cut to size, I peeled off the protective films and stuck the panels to the tile. In a couple spots the old tile was sunken in, so I built up those areas with poster putty. I put small pieces of foam adhesive tape in the corners of each panel and one or two along the seams. Fasade panels are designed to overlap one another at the edges, so I made sure to apply the panels in the right order.


So much better! (Hey look, there's the head.) Next project: more wallpaper. Why stop with just an accent wall? We're going to cover the whole room. It's going to be crazy and wonderful. Or crazy and terrible, which is a distinct possibility, but we're going for it. If you think this is a bad idea, don't tell me. I'm sure I've already had every thought that has just flitted through your mind, and then I squelched them in my enthusiasm for making a room that is unlike any dining room I've been in before.