re: DIY or DIE (and apparently we chose die)

\\ Don, our painter, doing a better job of  painting straight lines than I would //

I guess first it should be announced ... we bought a house*! In San Francisco!

 *(And when I say house, you should know I mean small three bedroom apartment in a three unit building, and that sometimes when describing it I say "bedrooms" with air quotes because I know people with closets that are bigger than what we are calling a unit of living space).

Regardless, I love it, and I am so excited to move in and make it our very own home.

Luckily, the place is pretty move-in ready. I may not love some of the tiles in the bathrooms or the kitchen cabinets, but they aren't falling apart so I'm not complaining. Basically, we just had to re-do a small section of the wood floors and repaint to get it ready for living in. And, after evaluating the amount of work that was to be done, we opted to pay skilled contractors to do it all for us.

I think for Derek (the engineer/craftyman who is always working on something) and I (the person who worked for ReadyMade Magazine and owned the URL diy-or-die.com for years), the idea of not actually participating in the renovations in our new home has felt a little like a personal failure. Especially after the internet seems to be full of dramatic BEFORE/AFTER shots of people that toiled away on a project and by the sweat of their brow ended up in a beautiful, personalized space that cost a fraction of what the rest of us suckers pay someone else to do.

The reality of the situation is that at 7.5 months pregnant, I can't be around all the crazy chemicals involved with stripping wood or painting, and an aching back isn't the best thing for hanging wallpaper. And, let's be honest - if we really had to wait for just the weekends/evenings to work on things inside the house, our son would probably be 2 years old by the time everything was actually ready for moving in.

The stakes also feel a little higher in a place that costs as many hundreds of thousands of dollars as this apartment does. It isn't like taking a risk on sanding down an old table that you bought for $5 at the thrift store...it's wanting to make sure that someone removes the potential lead paint in the right way and fixes the cracks in the plaster that's been around since 1908. Suddenly, any ambition to do it myself is taken over by the desire to just make sure it is done well and done right.

I suspect that after we move in, there will still be plenty of possible DIY projects that will spring up. For now I can just enjoy the fact that we have 40 feet of wallpaper hanging straight in our hallway that I never said one swear word over. 

DIY: Scalloped Peter Pan Collar on a Button-Up

My first project from the famed craft suitcase was a cute vintage button-up that I wanted to dress up a little. I am always finding great vintage shirts in the classic button-up style, but there are only so many of those that you can own. So, I decided to keep the pretty checkered pattern and the buttons and add a new collar:


Materials & Supplies
* collar pattern (download yours here - formatted to print on a regular 8.5x11 paper)
* 1/4 yard of your fabric of choice (I picked a sturdy white cotton twill with some weight to it - you want it to be heavy enough to lay flat)
* one package of folded bias tape. I bought the 1/4 inch kind in matching white, but it could be fun to add some color contrast here.
* button up shirt (that already fits you well)
* thread


* scissors
* pencil & paper
* a sewing machine
* iron


1) Fold your collar fabric in half and line the edge of the collar pattern up with the folded side - trace it onto the fabric (please note that the photo shows the unfolded version of the collar pattern, but yours will look like half of that on the edge of the fabric). You'll need four of these collar pieces.

2) Cut the pieces out.You should have four scalloped collar cut-outs.

3) Sew along the scalloped side of the pattern, giving yourself a 1/4" seam. Don't sew up the straight edge of the collar. It should look like a little scalloped pita bread with an open top when you finish.

4) Trim the excess around the edges down to 1/8 inch or less. You'll want to trim the curves quite close to the stitching to get your scallops nice and smooth (I like a close trim rather than clipping and notching around the rounded edges to bend a little easier, but that is another option if you are worried about fraying).

5) Flip the collar inside out and press the seams down until you get a nice, smooth scalloped edge. Iron it good and flat.


6) Lay both collar pieces onto your shirt so that they sit nicely on the shoulders and barely touch in the front and the back (when the shirt is buttoned), then pin in place.


7) Cut the shirt along the collar line, You'll cut the existing collar clean off.


8) While it is pinned, sew the collar to the shirt in a simple stitch all around the neckline. Above the buttons you will have some raw edge that the collar doesn't cover - I bent that raw edge over to make a little triangle and sewed it down.

9) Cover the raw seam with the folded bias tape, leaving an unattached foot or two of length on each side of the collar that will become your collar stays.

10) Sew the bias tape, covering that raw edge up for good. Sew little square edges of contrasting shirt fabric onto the ends of your stays for a cutesy finale.



Tadah! You've attached a new collar to your button-up.

re: Dead Heads

I usually lean toward Halloween costumes that are clever or topical instead of particularly gory, but this year we got an invitation to attend a party dressed as a dead luminary, and it seemed too great of an opportunity to miss dressing up as someone who had the misfortune of meeting a somewhat bloody end.


Of course, we couldn't be completely non-clever, so we technically went as Dead Heads (of State). Derek was Abraham Lincoln (complete with bullet wound to the temple), and I was Cesar (stabbed in the back).



Doesn't this look like the kind of party you'd like to attend? I'd love to eavesdrop on whatever Che, Joseph Smith and Abe Lincoln might possibly discuss at a candlelit dinner party.





And, since everyone seemed to want to know exactly how I got a knife to stick so convincingly out my back, I'm including instructions in this post so that you can do it yourself some time.

HOW-TO
Step-by-step instructions on making it look like someone stabbed you



You will need:
Knife with a relatively thin blade! (that you don't mind cutting the tip off of)
Thick plastic cutting board (we cut ours smaller with a hand saw)
Rope/string
Clothing you don't mind cutting a hole into or getting bloody
fake blood

Tools:
Drill
Two vice grips
Open flame (like your stove top burner)


Step 1: Break your knife

This was surprisingly easy. Having a husband meant for me means having tools at my disposal that I never knew existed. Derek took a pair of vice grips, put them on either side of the knife where we wanted it broken, and then just carefully bent the blade it until it snapped.

We tried this on two different kitchen grade knives, and they both snapped cleanly, and really easily.

(But, this is also the point in the tutorial where I still tell you to do this under adult supervision, wear proper eye protection, and that I don't take any responsibility for flying knife bits in your home)


Step 2: Stick the knife in the plastic board

Hold the tip of the knife in the flame of your stovetop until it is hot enough to melt plastic. (Be careful if your knife is all metal not to let the whole thing heat up and burn you).

Take your small plastic cutting board and stick the knife in slowly, and at whatever angle you'd like for it to appear it is coming out of you (we angled the blade up a bit). Try not to wiggle the knife around or it will make the hole loose and come out. We managed to stick ours straight into the plastic, and when it cooled it was in there tight, but you could always reinforce with hot glue or something if you felt like your knife was loose. You just want it not to be falling out of the cutting board.


Step 3: Attach the harness

Drill a hole in each corner of the cutting board (you can also do this before you stick the knife in the board if its easier) and loop your string through each side so that you can wear your knife board like a backpack.

At this point, I was just wearing an undershirt. Put on the knife harness, and tie it tightly so that it doesn't move. Then you'll want to get whatever clothing you are using as your bloody overshirt out. Cut a thin slit in the fabric for the knife edge to go through. Make sure everything sits naturally, and that now it looks like a knife is sticking into your back.

Then add the blood! We got some costume-grade "bloody scab" makeup that stayed red and chunky looking all night, but dried and didn't permanently stain anything. You can be as tasteful or as bloody as you'd like in this step.

Voila! You now look like a mean girl has had her way with you.

disclaimer:
In the end, you do still have a real knife (albeit one with a broken tip) tied to yourself, so be careful out there, ya'll.

Happy Halloween!

re: DIY with Vintage Records

I've been busy crafting with vintage records! I made a record sleeve bunting and some vintage cake plates from old records for Animal Head Vintage's first ever pop-up shop.

The decor was perfect for the shop, but I think they would also work if you were throwing a vintage or music themed party as well:





If you'd like to make your own, instructions have been posted as the latest DIY project over on Oh Happy Day:

DIY Record Sleeve Bunting

DIY Vintage Record Cake Plates

**

All Photos by the lovely and talented Robyn Kessler of Verité Photography.

DIY Dinner Party - Test Your Tastebuds

For my latest party post over on Oh Happy Day, I decided to embark on a little adventure in food.

For this event we pitted some of our foodie friends against one another in a "TEST YOUR TASTEBUDS" dinner party. Nobody knew what food was being served, so each course was a surprise as it came out. Guests were given cards to keep score on, and got points based on how many correct ingredients that they could identify in each course. We served a cheese plate and a three course meal in Jordan's studio:




It was fun to see everyone taking their time eating each bite, trying to figure out what each of the different tastes were (and trying to sneak peeks at their neighbor's sheet).

At the end of the evening we tallied our scores and the winner took home a Tartine gift certificate! It'd be easy to scale this party down and just do a cheese plate for your guests - you'll be surprised how hard it is to know what your food is made of!

Get the full story and more photos over at Oh Happy Day.

******
All pretty photos are by Robyn Kessler of Verité Photography for Oh Happy Day.

The fancy food was prepared by the talented Tom Call and helpers on a tiny cooking stove in the back of Jordan's studio! If you would like to try some of Tom's cooking without the tastebud trickery involved, check out his fun n' fancy pop-up dinner events in SF and SLC.

If you find yourself in the Bay Area and want to "test your tastebuds" without doing any of the prep, keep an eye on Maverick's semi-annual Mystery Dinners or the Punchdown's blind flight challenge.

DIY Party: Glitter Confetti Eggs

I'm a longtime fan of the parties thown and featured on Oh Happy Day, so I am so glad that Jordan asked me to add a few of mine to the mix on a monthly basis.

We posted the first party today - a DIY Glitter/Confetti Egg Game!

Confetti eggs (aka Cascarones) are like mini pinatas for your head. Traditionally, hollowed out eggs are broken over the head of a friend, showering them with confetti....and supposedly good luck (but definitely confetti).

We decided to shake things up in our hunt this year by turning it into more of a game.

Fill most of the eggs with confetti (in our case, Fruity Pebbles), but - one of the eggs in the batch is filled with gold glitter, and whoever ends up with the head full of glitter gets an awesome prize (besides all the good luck they have coming to them).




Full party instructions can be found on Oh Happy Day.

(special thanks to Robyn Kessler of Verité Photography, whose magic photo fingers managed to capture minuscule pieces of flying confetti and glitter, and her husband Shawn who knows things you wouldn't suspect about glitter and fruity pebbles)

re: Holiday One-Upped

I can't believe we are only a few days from Christmas already. Derek and I have been so busy trying to make our little apartment more like home and finish other projects over the past few months that we haven't even had time to send out Christmas cards or get a tree or any of the other things that make it feel like the holidays. Our one attempt at festive decor was this lovely paper wreath that we didn't even make ourselves - we had to win it during a homemade white elephant gift exchange.

Still, we came home and dutifully placed it on our door. Festive!


The next day, we opened up our front door to find this staring at us from across the hall on our neighbor's door:


Another paper wreath! But one that is much larger, and appears a little more complicated to create than ours, and with fancy writing and intricate ruffled trim in the middle. What are our neighbors trying to do? One-up our only attempt at holiday decor?

Well. If they are into showing me up, I hope they try to beat us in the "bring some homemade holiday treats to your neighbor" game (because some chocolate chip cookies sound really good to me right now).

For those of you that want to try your hand at one-upping us some more, you can find tutorials for making your own paper wreaths from old books here.


Happy holidays!