Category: DIY

  • Simple Quilted Coasters

    Lately I have been awful about working on projects. I started a jacket a month ago. It has been sitting on our dining room table in a stack of pieces all that time. I’ll put  a sleeve on, and then take a sleeve off. I’ll top-stitch a hem, and then rip it all out. It’s…

  • Salvaged Wood and Steel Pipe Table

    Two years ago, after a particularly uncomfortable dinner we hosted with eight people smashed around our small table built for four, we decided we wanted a great big salvaged wood table. We looked at styles we liked, developed plans for the perfect table, got chairs as gifts from our parents to go around said table,…

  • Box Bag Tutorial

    One of my best friends just had baby number two. Baby number one is no longer a baby, but is still young enough to be a bit confused by all the change going on around her and so I wanted to make something special for her. She is into organizing, stacking and carrying things with…

  • Vitamin C Serum

    I come from a long line of soft-skinned, creamy-complected women. As a kid I used to sit on the arm of my great grandmother’s cushioned chair, my body curled along her left side and head rested on her shoulder as I listened to her read to me. I’d absentmindedly play with the silky skin that…

  • Coffee Sack Window Box Liner

    A few years ago we tried to make our tiny garage look less like an afterthought and more like part of our yard. I made curtains, hung terracotta pots and planted flowers in a window box with a coconut fiber liner. Then the squirrels promptly took over. They churned up the soil and all the…

  • DIY Shampoo

    Yes. That’s a bottle of homemade shampoo shining like a beacon in my windowsill. It’s only special because it took me so long to find the right recipe. Little by little I’m trying to replace all of my health, beauty and cleaning products with things I make using only natural ingredients. After I successfully made…

  • DIY Deodorant

    If 14-year-old Claire knew I was now making my own deodorant she’d be appalled. There was a day when I couldn’t get enough of the aluminum-based stuff. I’d reapply at least six times a day, worried that there wasn’t enough I could possibly do to cover up the smell of being human.  I was definitely…

  • Leather Wallet

    When Christmas rolled around I decided Regan needed something as manly as he is. So naturally I made him a cowboy wallet. This tooled leather is really terrific and I know it’s been in my employer’s stash for years, just waiting to come out again for the perfect project. She’s made her fair share of…

  • Chunky Seed Stitch Cowl

    This Christmas my little sister asked if I would make her a chunky winter wrap. My search for patterns didn’t yield what I was looking for. They all seemed a little stiff and used such thick yarn that each stitch seemed to be bursting. I like any type of knitted wrap to have a good…

  • Painted Plywood Floors

    Last week we embarked on refinishing our kitchen floor. This week I’m happy to say that the end is in sight. As soon as we sand and repaint the woodwork, and put down new trim, we’ll be set to officially close the book on this experience and find something else in our home to tackle.…