10 May 2011

Hunting & Gathering


Hello Lovelies!
I just made my own terrarium and
realized how easy the process was,
so I'm making a few more.

I also liked how I was able to use
a lot of stuff from my recycling bin:

Bottles and jars make splendid vessels.

Paper and plastic containers come
in handy when scavenging for
items to put inside the terrarium.

Plastic utensils for digging up sand, dirt & plants.
Chopsticks to help assemble things inside
the glass containers.

Now that we've got the tools, let's hunt and gather!

It's a good thing sunny skies and warm
temperatures are upon us.

The backyard, neighborhood park and
beach are great places to explore.
Just some of the things I found:

Twigs...

and rocks...

and tiny plants like ferns & moss.

And how about this cute soda bottle, huh?
I cleaned it inside and out & removed the
sticky label.

Fashion a funnel out of paper and slowly
pour in some sand and pebbles.

Add the plant and anchor the roots
in the sand & between the pebbles.
{Chopsticks come in handy for this!}

Add a generous spritz of water
from a spray bottle, allow to sit
overnight and replace the cover.

TADA! A handsome terrarium if I do say so myself!

09 May 2011

A Terrarium How-To


This week's post is something new I learned.
I found it so TADA! that I had to share.

Again we go back to my favorite store, Anthropologie,
where they had two workshops for Earth Day 2011.
The first was "Crafting with Cork" and
the other, "Terrarium How To".

Jojo Agatep was our terrarium-guru.
He has a background in the medical & insurance
field, but he decided to follow his passion of
combining nature and art.
And with jaw-dropping results!
Here are samples of his work:




Gorgeous right?!
Jojo is the creative arm of The Slug and the Squirrel,
a dreamy studio stationed in Philadelphia.
You can get these one-of-a-kind creations
through their shop or on Etsy.

But you can also make one of your own!

Here's what you'll need:

A clean glass vessel {a good way to turn old jars, bottles &
vases from blah to TADA!}, a cover to fit the vessel
opening and some river stones or garden rocks.

You'll also need small plants {with the roots intact}
and moss.

You may add sand, pebbles and drift wood {sourced
from the park or the beach}.

On the right are some of Jojo's tools of the trade,
but no need to invest in these. Reuse old household
items like spoons and screwdrivers.

Step 1: Think of composition and scale.
To add height to your terrarium,
use twigs or drift wood.

Jojo recommends holding the container in
one hand as you build, rather than
having it sit on a surface.

Step 2: Add the rocks, pebbles or sand.
Move around or push into place
with a pencil.

Step 3: Add the plants, tucking the roots
in between the rocks and wood with
the aid of long tweezers or a pencil.

Use the "less is more" principle here.

Step 4: Add water using a spray bottle.
Take it easy on the spritzing -- you
just want to add enough moisture,
not a pool of water.

Let this sit uncovered overnight.

Step 5: Once you are pleased with how
your terrarium looks, put on the lid.

Jojo makes a permanent seal by
attaching the lid to the vessel with
silicone glue similar to this; hot glue
is another alternative.

The beauty of closed terrariums like this one
is that they are a self-sustained environment.
They hardly need any watering or maintenance.

The workshop was hands-on so we got to
make our own and bring it home.
Here's the terrarium I made.
TADA!


06 May 2011

Roller Coaster


We made it to the end of the week and
I myself can't wait to start the weekend.

But before I do, here is a final idea
to turn old cork from blah to TADA!

Here are coasters my husband owned when he
was a bachelor. We still use them for everyday,
but when we have friends over, we break out
the leather ones or the ones made of glass
that we received as presents. {Not really
to show off, but when else would
we use them, right?}

I thought these coasters made of cork
were becoming too blah.

So with a needle and some yarn,
I turned them into TADA!

I think these are ready for sun-shiny weather
and outdoor meals.

Oh by the way, here's another TADA! idea
for blah wine corks:

Roll excess thread or yarn around each cork and
put these in a box. For current sewing projects,
use the end as a pin cushion. This keeps
needles sharp and also prevents accidents.

Happy weekend folks and to all the moms
out there -- HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

05 May 2011

Alphabet City


Thanks for visiting my blog today!

I don't know if you noticed, but we've seen the use
of the alphabet as a quirky design element.
Take these for example, found at

Letters made out of fabric, mirror, wire & wood.
They're fun to spell out names, initials or
favorite words.

Inspired by this idea, I'm turning these old wine corks...

...from blah to...

...TADA!

Simply connect the wine corks together
using hot glue and allow to dry for a
few minutes.

Make one letter or more and use as an
accent on a desk or wall.

Have a great day!

04 May 2011

Wall Art


Hello & happy Wednesday!

This week, it's all about cork.
I know you've opened more than a bottle
of wine and wondered what you could do with
the cork instead of just throwing it away
{what a blah}.

Well, each wine bottle you open is related
to a happy gathering. Why not save the
corks as a collection?

TADA! Make your own wall art by
filling a shadow box with your collection.

Here's what it looks like up close.

You can make your wall art as big {or as small}
as your cork collection.

By the way, I wish I could say I made these,
but I didn't. These works of art can be found
in New York City's Chelsea Market.

03 May 2011

Crafting with Cork


For Earth Day, the Rockefeller Center Anthropologie store
in New York City had these pretty windows {more here}:

Thousands and thousands of old wine corks were used.

Aside from just drawing visual interest,
Anthropologie also wanted to create awareness
that cork is a champion for the environment.
Cork is 100% natural, renewable, recyclable and
biodegradable. It also curbs climate change by
restraining 9 grams of carbon dioxide.
Hooray for cork, right?!

As part of their Earth Day efforts, the store also
had workshops like "Crafting with Cork".
I eagerly signed up!

Here are some members of the store's display team who
headed the workshop. Nature is one of their sources of
inspiration and they use a lot of recycled items for
their window displays. Don't they have the coolest job?

We assembled in one corner of the store...

...and witnessed how cork can turn from
blah to TADA!

We were each given a paper bag with filled with little
disks made out of cork {old wine corks sliced with a
blade}. Each paper bag was sealed using a needle.
To start off the project, we were also given these
little cork circles {made from 6 disks sewn together}.

We were free to choose thread color and
different colored cork disks {dyed with Rit}.
Thimbles were also on hand to help us
get the threaded needle into the cork.

Most of us got so involved with our project.

We made more cork circles and connected these
together with needle & thread to create anything
from a coaster to a trivet!

Here's what I made.
Not quite a heart-shaped trivet, but I've included
the vintage year of some wines {ex. 2006, 2007, 2008};
these years being memorable travel years for me.

You can do the same by saving the wine corks
of the year you graduated, were married,
had a baby, had a promotion or other
years that you consider TADA!


02 May 2011

Pop the Cork!


Happy Monday Everyone!

I'm sure many of you have marked special occasions
with a bottle of wine or Champagne.

When the bottles are empty, they're easy to recycle.
But what about the cork?

One option is to drop these off at a cork collection box
This non-profit environmental organization is also
committed to zero carbon foot print, thus in-store
drop off (instead of shipping) is encouraged.

Another option is to use these corks for crafting.
Let me show you how with a trip to
my favorite store:

For the entire month of April, many Anthropologie branches used
cork as part of their window display to show off cork's
versatility and also to celebrate Earth Day.
And that's one of the reasons why I love this store!
Recycling is at their very core.

Cascading cork.

Cork linked together as strands & chains.

Swags of cork.

Bending towers of cork.

This reminds me of a fisherman's net or a flying carpet.

Balls made out of cork.

More than 30,000 pieces of cork were used to create
these displays, can you imagine?!

Once the window displays are broken down, all these cork
will be returned to the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance
for their Cork ReHarvest program. These will no longer
be used for new wine bottles, but will be ground up
to be used for other cork products (ex. floor tiles).

Tomorrow, another crafting idea with the
help of the Anthropologie display team.
See you then!