Paper Flag Banner

A few days ago you saw my latest project with my home office and this cute little paper flag banner on my bulletin board. I've been so excited to put up this step-by-step project because I think everyone should make their own, because it's so fun and simple! My favorite part about it is that you can customize in just about every way to make it your own- I got a pack of "citrus" colored paper patterns from Joannes to create my flags, but you can pick from any type of paper, or even fabric, here are the supplies I used:

• Pinking Scissors
• Citrus Paper Pack (this was 4.5"x6.5" paper)
• Adhesive (anything will due, I used a double sided tape sticky thing, scientific, i know!)
• Ribbon 

1. Cut a square out of your desired colored paper

2. Fold that square in half (horizontally)

3. Take your pinking scissors and cut diagonally to create one side of your flag, then cut the other so yo you essentially have a really skinny diamond shape when you open it, or small diamond/flag when its folded over

4. Fold the flag over the ribbon (or whatever string type material you're using)

5. Open the paper up, so its a skinny diamond again, and put adhesive on both insides, then fold back and stick the sides together, and voila! 

TIP: If you're unsure how long you want your banner, you may want to cut out all flags first, then line them up on the ribbon and space them out evenly before putting the adhesive on, like so:

 6. Repeat with each desired paper color/design, until your banner is as long as you want it!

I chose to put my banner in my home office, but you can really use them in any location to spruce up your work space...or for a birthday, party decor, etc!

Home "Office" Makeover

A few months ago, I treated myself (aka spent my life savings, eek) to a new computer, and since then I've been wanting to create a special place for it. Since we don't exactly have room for an "office" here in our little cottage, I decided to make one. And by make one, I mean take over a section of our  counter/bar area that separates the kitchen and dining room. It has actually worked out quite well, but I wanted to do a few special things to make it more of "my" space (that Alex can use on occasion with permission, just kidding-kinda). Here's what I came up with:

The items are a collection of many different places, which makes it more special to me. Here's a run down of where I picked up these favorite knick-nacks, if you will:

-Jewel Case Calendar: This I purchased on our Girls Weekend 2012 trip in Cape Cod in a cute little boutique store, but the brand is Snow & Graham, and can be purchased many other places (like Pottery Barn)

-Chevron Mouse Pad: from an Etsy store (from Laa766 shop, found here)

-Bulletin Board: from Target

-Flag Banner on Bulletin Board: handmade, step-by-step instructions to come soon on this project :)

-Desk Organizer: Martha Stewart line at Staples...I could have purchased many more items but I controlled myself. The line is SO cute, I highly recommend going to check it out!

I'm very happy with how my home office space turned out, and plan to add/change things semi-often (i'm sure i'll get bored of a few of the items in a few months or so!)

Here's a quick snap shot of the before/after look:

Gettin' Crafty for the Kitchen

Since moving into our little humble abode, back in September, I have thoroughly enjoyed making it "our home". It has been so fun because this is the first time I [I mean, we ;) ] actually get to decorate our own place not just our one bedroom studio, if you will, at my sister's :). I can't wait for the day I get to conquer decorating a whole house...but for now the apartment is plenty. One of the places I've had the most trouble making feel homey is the kitchen. And by that I mean, I've been having trouble getting excited to cook and don't feel like it's my kitchen. I do love it because it's all white and easy to clean, but I wanted to add some color to make it more fun and add some personality. So, along came the "eat" frame project...

I've seen plenty of "eat" kitchen decor on Etsy that I love and could simply purchase-but what fun is that, right? I also get bored of things more quickly than most, so any time I can DIY and save some $, I'm all for it. So, I set out to Joannes to get my craft on & purchased the following [don't forget to use your Joanne's mobile app (nerd alert) I saved 50% on the frame, and 25% on my total purchase!]:

• white cardstock for the actual "art piece" (I got three pieces just in case my penmanship wasn't as perfect as I'd like to think)
• plain wooden frame
• paint (I purchased Martha's "pool" and "wet cement" colors, and was very happy with the way they came out)
• paint brushes

To complete this project, I painted the wooden frame with the Wet Cement paint color, then I just drew out the "eat" with a pencil on the cardstock, painted over it with the Pool color and voila:

In the "after" photo, you also see some new handy dandy dish towels I snagged during my last trip to Target for $4.99! 

There you have it, my speedy & simple kitchen craftery!