String Art: Otis the Owl

***Update: Otis the Owl Complete Pattern download is now available in my etsy shop, as well as complete kits that come with everything you need: Pattern, board, nails, string... you name it. Check it out here***

Hey, hey! So his name doesn't have to be Otis, I'm just a sucker for the whole alliteration thing... I'm excited to show you my newest string art design - this was a project for the winner of the String Art Giveaway I did on Better After a while ago.  The winner and I discussed all types of ideas, she showed me a board on Pinterest she had created that focused on many styles she loved.  She really wanted an Owl.  So I took inspiration from her ideas, and combined them into this:

I love how it came out! It was so challenging to figure out all the details (especially on the feathered chest) but it all worked out great - I'm happy, the recipient is happy, Otis is happy, we are all happy.  It's bigger than usual too, about 11.5" wide by 23.5" tall, and for a new trick I mixed some paint action in there. The wood was hand distressed using the Aged Wood trick from a while back. This one takes longer than usual, but so worth it.  Hope you like it!

I'm going to throw this design into the etsy shop, which you can access by clicking here or the My Etsy Shop tab above.

If you want to make it yourself, I have downloadable patterns & directions here, and complete kits here. 

Let's make it a good week ahead! 
     -Jesse 

Want to see other string art designs? Clicky Clicky....

Up next on the blog: DIY Floor Mirror - huge wood frame!

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DIY Concrete Firebowl

I've been majorly in the spirit of all things patio lately, after fixing up our front porch, to brainstorming space saving planters for our deck, I can't stop planning ahead for warm summer nights out there.  I saw these amazing do it yourself concrete fire bowls recently from the blog B3HD,  check them out:

Lookin' good fire-bowl....and YEA...  This IS a do it yourself project!  Ever worked with concrete? You're about to - this weekend you should get outside and make yourself a whole set.  Heck, make everyone a set. You just need some concrete, some bowls, and some time.  See the full tutorial on the awesome blog B3HD, and if you do this facebook me your photos! I get totally inspired to get to work when I see what y'all are up to..   This same process would make killer planters, don't you think?

Have a glorious weekend!
     -Jesse

Up Next: Meet Otis the Owl, my latest string art design. 

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Patio Progress: Building a Pergola

On Monday I showed you all how we kicked down the walls (literally) of our "unique" patio (click here if you missed that), and today I want to show how we polished that up:

Yay! I am happy. What used to be such an eye-sore is now becoming pretty cute... and while it wasn't hard, it was a bit time consuming - most of which was painting the existing structure. I was NOT about to take it apart just to paint it! So up the ladder I went.  Let's see, on Monday we left off at this point:

 

...and today will be picture-palooza (don't say I didn't warn you!) of the finishing touches.  After kicking the walls down, tearing off the plastic ceiling, and realizing that this would actually be a fantastic pergola... the new goal was cute-ification, which only involved a lot of paint & 2x2's.   Here come the photos!

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Patio Progress: Using Our Feet

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Since it's Monday, I figure I can distract you from work with an update on the front of the casa.  We've been really getting into the fix-up-the-outdoors spirit lately, and one of our biggest pet peeves about the front of the house was this outhouse style covered patio (original whiny post here):

I imagine the last owner wanted more privacy or something, but we are not like that last owner at ALL - so this thing had to go.  It started innocently, we went outside to do some basic yardwork, and as it always tends to go, we got majorly distracted.  Before you know it, we were kicking (yes, KICKING) the semi-rotten patio walls down.  It. Felt. AMAZING.

***UPDATE: See the finished patio here***

Our original plan (seen here if you are just joining us) was to maybe cut the wall in half, make a decent banister and a semi-enclosed patio.  Nope.  We just through it all out the window and decided to make a pergola-like structure, which completely by accident, now looks as if we have a front door!  Please folks, if anything, let this post inspire you to tackle these seemingly intimidating projects around your home.  This was WAY easier than we thought, and I wonder why we didn't do it first!

OK, let me show you the progress pictures of this rewarding endeavor - lighting was hit or miss that day, so please forgive my photos!

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Mirror Makeover

Good day! Today I'm going to share a quick mirror make-over, this was a fast & fun little number.   I've done mirror projects before, (remember the teal mirror from way back when? or the Jade standing mirror/chalkboard?) but this one was hands down the easiest. Everything just went well, don't you love when that happens?

So fresh & so clean....  this project took, oh, a few hours? Majority of time was waiting for paint to dry.  Green is one of the major players in our living room, and I've always wanted to incorporate this one - it's "Meadow Green" by Rustoleum.  Yep - spray paint, you know I love it!

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9 Space Saving Herb Gardens

Hello! Been by your local nursery lately? Yep - the baby plants are arriving by the truckload and I want every last one of them to come home with me.  Every year since the dawn of time I've had a vegetable garden, and since we're in a new place this year, it's time to start fresh.  I'm not exactly sure what part of the yard gets the most sun, but I DO know that our front deck gets blasted for about 4 hours a day - which to me means it's begging for an herb garden.  Which, being right off the kitchen, will be extremely handy! So I've got a blank slate, and took a minute (OK, two hours...) to trudge through the internet and find some pretty neat planter ideas.  All of which either have DIY instructions (yay!) or could easily be figured out how to make. Here are my 9 favorites.

For me, vertical really gets my attention. I want maximize my planting space without sacrificing the whole deck, take a look at this beautiful planter wall that's been incorporated into a pergola:

Source: Susan Cohan Gardens

Or  how about something hanging? This example is for indoor plants, but I can see adapting this for the outdoors fairly easily. Longer pieces of wood to hold maybe 2-3 pots per shelf, and perhaps a way to anchor the bottom to the ground so they don't fly all over in the wind...

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How To: Reverse Tie Dye

Have you ever done tie-dye before? Most likely, but I bet you haven't done reverse tie dye..... OK maybe you have, but if so - then you know just how fun (and easy!) it is.  This is much much faster than tie-dye, and the results are just as cool.  Today, in the on-going (and almost finished!) guest room saga, I'm going to add a fun detail to the bed-scape, which I thought was a word I just made up to mean something like, "landscape of the bed" - until Google told me someone already thought of it and it means the exact. same. thing.  That's the catch 22 of the internet I guess.... oh well!

 

This is such an easy project, the part that takes the longest is waiting for it to dry.  Here's the finished product, in the practically finished room!

 So you want to make it? Simple! You'll need:

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Foodies: Asian Marinated Cucumbers

Friendly reminder: It's Friday....This, is a very easy, very simple recipe.  No cooking required, just ingredients, and they are done in under an hour.  You know - I buy cucumbers with the best of intentions, I love them - I swear. But it's a race with those things! You think you have time to enjoy them, then you go to grab one and it's gone mush... and, not to toot my own horn here or anything, but I eat a lot of vegetables, and these things still escape me.  The cucumber has been one of those vegetables (fruits?) I have to hurry & eat for fear of losing it - until now! I give you, Asian Marinated Cucumbers:

Japanese quick pickles, sesame oil pickles, I've heard a few names.  You've most likely had this as an appetizer in a Japanese restaurant or Sushi house, while you order.  They are delicious, and they are friggin' easy. 

I wish I had the time & dedication to pickle, really I do.  One of these Saturdays I'm going to set aside the whole day to pickling a million wonderful different recipes that we can all be amazed by, but until then, this is my stand-by.   As soon as I see my cucumbers threatening the end is near, I whip up a batch of these.  I've brought these to parties, and they've been a big hit.  Plus, you can add other vegetables: Bell peppers, shredded carrots, go wild.

Head over to Reckless Abandon for the full recipe, one of the great things about these is that they only get better as they stay in the fridge.

Enjoy!

     -Jesse

Up Next: We're gonna tie-dye, only....backwards....     

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Foodie Related Posts:

•  Easy Appetizers
• Gnocchi with Butternut Squash & Sage
• Pizza Rolls? Just do it!
• Avocado & Tomato Salad, with Jicama - surprise!
• Ciabatta Bread - this is easier to make than pronounce.

 Lovies!

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Spotlight: Bird Murals by Tobias Hall

I'm so excited to share this artist with you today!  I was recently lucky enough to stumble across the website of the freelance illustrator & designer, Tobias Hall.  Oh man - I'm in love with these birds!  The colors are fantastic, and the geometric take on these cranes is so unique, and a style I'm really diggin' lately. I love how some of the angles suggest wings & other features of the bird, they almost remind me of Origami...Anyway, I'll let them speak for themselves; see more of his work here.

Tobias is the in-house designer for Zizzi Ristorante in London, and is responsible for this stunning mural.  I love the colors especially, and hey - check that table out there! The meadow green cane back chairs with the two shades of green against the wood....   totally speaking my language here.  Would you say those are a twist on a chevron pattern? I wonder if he did those too....regardless, look at how well the room comes together:

Head over to Tobias Hall's website to see more of his work.  I would love to have some of his artwork in our home!  Those patterns are so inspiring...I'm gonna marry these birds.

You can follow Tobias on Twitter by clicking: Tobias Hall 
Or on Facebook: Tobias Hall

What do you think?

     -Jesse

Up Next: Extremely easy & fast pickling recipe - sesame style....

Let's keep in touch: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Subscribe & of course, Email me.

Related Spotlight Posts:

• Spin Art 
• Kaleido-trays
• Cross Stitch Furniture - you read right...
• ZNAK Tear off Wallpaper
• Articipe: Turning Recipes, into Art!

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DIY: Message in a Bottle & Aging Paper

"Sendin out an S.O.S." - hehe,  now you're going to have that song in your head all day, like I did.  Your welcome! So, this is easy. It shouldn't really even be a tutorial, but what the heck - perhaps you don't know the art of aging paper, in which case, I can tell ya.  Write a message, age it, and throw it in a bottle.  Simple enough, right? Perfect lil project to get your crafty self all warmed up & ready to take on bigger things. It's easy, fun, satisfying - that's what I love about these mini projects.  So - the guest room is beachy-nautical, and I know I said I wouldn't go over the top with the theme, but I couldn't resist this. Theme or not. It's just cute:

***UDATE: Guest room? Check.. See the full tour here*** 

Yo-ho, look what we have here. Isn't that cute? Yes - yes that Charles Shaw wine, the infamous "Two Buck Chuck" which has actually gone up to $2.50.  Only the finest for me and my messages.  Truth be told, I don't know a thing about wine - and anytime someone tells me important information about some, you can see it going in one ear and out the other.  My brain just doesn't have a file for that info. Wait I'm wrong - I can tell you whether it's red, or white. Or if it's not wine at all. That's about it.  Now ask me what's the best paint & finish for your project & I'll talk your ear off... but I'm off topic.

As to "Annual Message" - well, these messages clearly aren't going out to sea, so who are they for? Us. I wanted to write my future self a letter about what we're up to, so I had a few sips of the wine (don't wanna waste it!) and wrote a two page letter about how things are here.  My goal is to read it eventually, in at least a year, and then do it again.  Yea, yea, super cheesy - but I love that kind of junk.

Wanna make these? Let's do it!

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How To: Built In Shelving

***UDATE: Guest room? Check.. See the full tour here*** 

In our guest room, the backside of our wall heater juts in about 4" inches to create this "interesting", off-center box that leaves most people wondering why it's there.  My goal? Disguise the heck out of it.  I showed you a few days ago the driftwood mobile that has helped so much, and today I want to share the details of that loverly shelf back there.  Here's my dilemma & solution:

Hooray! I'm done.  When I first saw this odd area I immediately thought shelves, but I didn't want to have to deal with installing a ton of shelves & L brackets one by one, so I thought up a built in look.

This was fairly easy to make, and will be pretty straight forward in the directions. Don't be fooled though, give yourself a free day to work on this, so you have time for all those little bumps & snags that love to pop up mid-project.  You'll be glad you did!

Read on for the basics of building a custom shelf.

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Decorate with Driftwood

***UDATE: Guest room? Check.. See the full tour here*** 

So as most of you know, we've been tying together the details of the new-ish guest room (as seen here) - trying to keep it beach inspired & nautical without pulling in an entire harbor's worth of boats & life preservers. We've done the Cyan Night-stand and the Jute Wrapped Chandy... and I thought the perfect touch to hide this weird corner would be this awesome driftwood mobile:

Ta-dah! I love it. See the issue was, well- it was only my weird issue, really - that strange corner there and the double light-switches.  We couldn't just get rid of it because on the opposite side is our wall heater, so - disguising it became the new goal.  I built that shelf to the right (Come back Friday for a tutorial!) to try and cozy it up a bit, and this driftwood finishes the job.  

 

Pardon that grey paint there, we got impatient and wanted to see the color. The whole room is getting the grey treatment any. minute. now.  Isn't this mobil great?! I've always loved the look of stacked driftwood, here's a flashback actually - I did a yard installation at our last house that involved rebar & stacking driftwood, get a load of it here - forgive the terrible picture sizes, arrangement & editing - it's from when I was a baby blogger!

Long live the close up shots, they never get old.  Now, I've always dreamed of making one of these for years but I did NOT make this beauty.  Two reasons: 1) I don't live 2 seconds from the beach anymore and 2) out of curiosity I was browsing this etsy shop and man oh man.. I just went for it. So glad I did, Brent custom made this one for me to the length I needed, and it was here so fast.  Way to please my impatient side, Brent!

Seriously though, hop over to Sunset Driftwood on Etsy to see the crazy creative things this guy is doing with sticks that wash ashore.  Love it!

Thanks for reading, until next time - Fair Winds! And other nautical expressions...

     -Jesse

As promised, up next is the tutorial on how to build that shelf in the nook there.. clicky clicky.

Let's keep in touch: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Subscribe & of course, Email me.

I love that you've kept reading, here's some more links for ya:

Jute Wrapped Chandelier Tutorial

Cyan Nighstand - you can do this, guaranteed.

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More String Art Tablets: Wrap it up

I'm the type of person that tends to start a lot of projects at once, and then get sidetracked and start more, to the point where I have to really be strict and stick to a list just to finish everything up. I get excited, and motivated, can you blame me? Everything seems like "oh this will only take a second" and it actually takes a few days, or more...

Ok after reading what I just wrote, it's decided - that's my goal this week, wrap up all these random projects.  I have a folder of literally 200 pictures of these random projects, waiting to be cropped, edited & assembled into posts. That being said - some of you may have seen a recent tablet order I finished up, if not - take a looksee:

This was a mega-order. Four tablets. 23 letters.  A LOT of string......

This was for a customer's 4 boys....

The colors are so fun - came out cute! It's so funny, I love trying out new projects or ideas that I have, and when I think it's 1) something others might enjoy and 2) something I wouldn't mind making more of, then I pop it the shop. You never really know what will be a success and what will sit there, but these string art tablets have taken off. I've been so flattered & excited to make them for people's homes, and I haven't lost steam on them at all, each one is still exciting.  Plus - sometimes I need a break from perpetual home improvements to just work on a satisfying project.  Know what I mean?  Here's one from a few months ago that never got posted (see!? time flies....)

 Love that blue stain! Hard to tell in the photos, but it totally shows the wood grain.  And actually, the person who ordered this one chose 4 different shades of white for the letters, but on the blue your eye just groups them all into one color.  Learned a little tip there....

If you're interested in ordering a tablet or want to discuss a new project with me, I'm always accepting orders - keep in mind I need about 2 weeks (usually less) to do a custom job start to finish.  Check out examples in my etsy shop: here.

Alright, what are your goals this week? Do you make endless lists like me, only to stray away from them? I've got clipboards & to-do lists for days... days that I don't have - heh....

Do something you love today, hope you are having some spring weather in your area! Warm rain over here, it's so nice...

     -Jesse

Up Next: Let us decorate with wood that washes ashore... driftwood mobiles baby!

Let's keep in touch: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Subscribe & of course, Email me.

Want more? Here are some related moments on the blog:

New Designs: Owl String Art Tablet

My favorites: Mod Patterns

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