Embellish

I grew up in an artsy-craftsy kind of family.
My grandfather was a commercial watercolor painter. My mother turned her love of quilting into a highly successful career. My grandma threw pots on the potter’s wheel for fun, and while other kids were playing video games, my two sisters and I were knee-deep in Elmer’s glue and sequins.
As I grew up, my interests changed slightly. I spent less time painting and more time writing plays, though in every theatre class I took in college, I was doodling designs for Banquo puppets in the margins of my notes. My roommate and I would craft handmade costumes and props, mostly for financial reasons (hint: it’s a lot cheaper to make a paper mache mask than to buy one.)

As an independent city gal, I’ve found ways to use my crafty-ness in the home, too. Now, I’m not a doily-loving, macrame-kleenex-box kind of crafter. I’m more of a let’s-reupholster-this-thrift-store-chair-with-velveteen kind of crafter. Either way, my early immersion into DIY has stood me in good stead as in every apartment I’ve inhabited.
And now, a few months from my wedding, my crafty background is helping out here, too. My save the date cards were handmade and I intend to create personalized gifts for all my bridesmaids, too. It wasn’t always easy to be a crafty kid: some of those video game players thought my puff-painted sneakers were pretty lame. But in life, there are countless opportunities to create and I’ve always found myself ready, hot glue gun in hand.

- Mary K. Fons

On a recent girls’ night out, I enjoyed my first limoncello martini, and I have been daydreaming about it ever since.  Nothing felt more like summer than sipping this sweet cocktail.

Limoncello is a sweet liquor made simply from lemons, sugar, water and alcohol. Widely popular in Italy, it is served as an after- dinner drink in chilled cordial glasses. Caravella is a popular brand sold in America, and offers many recipes on their Web site, www.caravellaus.com/html/caravella_cocktails.html.

Limoncello can easily be made at home. Once made, it is the perfect drink to serve to friends while enjoying the summer weather. Limoncello can be sealed in small glass bottles and shared as party favors, and small bottles can also double as place cards with personalized labels.

- Jamie K. Garcia

One of the best compliments I recently received was “I feel like I’m at Pottery Barn!” when I showed a friend my newly redecorated living room. I was so thrilled that I had pulled off my own design concept using new and old accessories.

I owe much of the credit to the design classes at Pottery Barn. I was able to recreate that “Pottery Barn look” from the inspiration and education that the decorating classes offer.
Complimentary classes are available once a month and themes vary with the season and from room to room. For dates and times, contact your local store or click here to be added to the email distribution list.
Each class is an opportunity to learn new design ideas and how to recreate that “Pottery Barn look” at home. Sales representatives are available to answer questions and provide ideas. Bringing in photos of rooms and projects is highly encouraged. I have found that the representatives are a wealth of knowledge and enthusiastic.

- Jamie K. Garcia

As someone likes to cook, I test and collect many recipes. In a short time, my collection has grown and I am always looking for a way to organize them. Finally, a solution!

Tastebook.com is a website that makes creating your own cookbook a cinch. Tastebook will allow you to select pre-typed recipes from several popular online websites like Foodnetwork, Epicurious, Allrecipes, and Cooking Light. You can even upload your own recipes and photos.

Tastebook starts at $19.95, which includes a binder book with section tabs and 25 recipes. Recipes snap in and out of the binder, so the author can order each recipe as he/she builds their cookbook over time. Each book can hold up to 100 recipes. Creating a Tastebook is a great way to organize favorite family recipes. Also, cookbooks can easily be reproduced, making this an ideal gift for family and friends.

- Jamie K. Garcia

A recent survey by GE reported that 80 percent of Americans prefer to spend their time, energy, creativity and money to improve the homes they currently live in rather than move. Almost all of the respondents (96 percent) said that they are interested in new, fun DIY ideas for home improvement/home decor projects.

Surprisingly to me, only seven out of 10 people said that they think of their home as an extension of their personal style!

Just doing a small poll of people in the different areas of my life, I found that figure to be much higher. Personally, I am very invested in the elements (cheap or expensive) I include in my home; I’m choosy when it comes to my space because my surroundings have a huge impact on how I feel. I have a ridiculous number of magazine stacks and collections, a bookcase that can’t even handle another paperback, and the majority of letters and cards I’ve ever received are tucked away in a special place. Why? Because they’re a part of me like the photographs of my loved ones on my dresser and window sill, the assorted sketches, drawings and paintings dotting the hallway, and the throw pillows and cozy, knitted blankets in the living room. It took me forever to find new bedding because nothing felt right, but when I finally saw my current bedspread, I instantly new it was perfect. I have a favorite cup and plate that rarely make it back into the cupboard after the dishwasher; they get used immediately and often. I still use a homemade windchime I received as a gift from a close friend almost 10 years ago. If my home isn’t comfortable, inviting and full of pieces of me, then it’s not really my home. Crafts and projects that I’ve done or that friends and family have given me have a spot of honor in their given room - those are items on display and are in constant use.

-Mary Margaret Murphey

I recently learned of a popular crafter’s website, www.Etsy.com. Upon exploring Etsy, I found an endless variety of handmade products for sale. Crafters from around the world are able to sell everything from handmade jewelry to handmade home goods on Etsy.
Etsy offers a forum, called “Alchemy,” for anyone looking for handmade custom pieces. For example, if you are looking for a custom vase for your dining room; you can post your request. Crafters from Etsy will begin bidding on your project, and you can select your favorite crafter to create your custom piece.
Posting your own crafts to sell is as easy as selling on Ebay. Crafters can also unite by joining groups, chatting and participating in online workshops.
Etsy is an invaluable site for inspiration. Do-it-yourselfers can peruse the site for ideas and examples the next time you are looking for the perfect DIY gift, party invitation or home decoration.

- Jamie K. Garcia

Someone told me a long time ago that if you like it, it matches.

I still come across these words of advice in style magazines from time to time and it’s my mantra when I’m channeling my inner DIY interior designer.

Now, this insight was never really true for me as I “decorated” my living spaces in college. As a cash-poor student, I was more focused on my studies and my, er, extra-curricular activities than my sense of home-furnishing style. Butterfly chairs, band posters and upturned milk crates did the job, made me happy, and didn’t require much thought or money.

Now at 28, I’ve developed and refined my style – and it ain’t bad, if I do say so myself. In the beginning of my journey toward nest fabulousity, however, I began to get worried. My tastes were clearly super varied – surely this was a problem. I like Versaille-inspired wallpaper in all its monochrome toile glory. I like striped wing chairs. I love bright hues like juicy oranges and emerald greens, but I like pale yellow, too. I’m a quilt lover, and East Indian accents make me drool. I can’t stand 1950s style furnishings, but I do have an adorable Formica-topped table. Surely, I’d have to pick one of these themes and stick with it, right?

Thankfully, that is so not true.

If you love, say an Oriental rug and a post-modern yellow-lacquered end table, you don’t have to choose one or the other. Your personality, your style, your vision will show through in all choices made in your home – that is, if you deeply love the pieces and you have at least one iota of actual style and taste. If you’re interested in Oriental rugs and post-modern end tables, this is probably true of you.

So as I launch into Project Nest these next few months – it’s a goal for me to have an inspired dwelling for guests that will be in and out of my home this summer and fall – I’ll cling to this piece of advice. Variety is the spice of life, after all, and yellow-lacquered end tables are just too fantastic to pass up

- Mary K. Fons