Heather Ross Prints

Several weeks ago I ordered a copy of the new Heather Ross Prints book. I eagerly awaited its arrival and no sooner had it hit my doorstep than it was unwrapped from its box and voraciously flipped through. The book features an extensive number of awesome DIY projects using Heather Ross' patterns in applications from wallpaper, and sewn crafts, to printables (yes there is a disc included with all the patterns and printables she uses). It's truly worth its weight in gold!. But what truly sold me was the portion of the book where Heather shares her design process, and gives a thorough Photoshop tutorial for those who are interested in learning. I literally could not wait to try!

Here's what I made. I first decided on a magic show theme, and after sketching up some ideas I followed each step in the book carefully (from raw sketching to Photoshop editing) until finally by the end of the day I had created my very own print!

I sent it off to Spoonflower to be printed onto fabric, and then just last week it arrived! Of course I had to make another print to go along with it since the first one was so fun!

I enjoyed the print making process so much and I hope I have a lot more time to work on learning the craft in the coming months.

Note: There were horrible lighting conditions when I took this photo. The actual fabric is much more vibrant and true to the original design colors.

If you'd like to see more of what you'll find inside Heather Ross' book, you can find a post about it on her blog.

DIY Mini Photo Ledge from Photojojo

In the Photojojo newsletter this morning, they shared this sweet little project for making your own Mini Photo Ledge. I love how simple this DIY is...and that it doesn't require any nails in order be hung on the wall! A perfect option for rentals and dorm rooms (and everyone else too)! Hop on over to Photojojo for the full tutorial. xo Ez

Psst...if you like this, then you might also enjoy my 10 Creative Ways to Display Photos roundup from last year.

DIY Easy Geometric Gem Clay Mobile

A couple weeks ago I posted an instagram snapshot of a quick little DIY Geometric Gem Clay Mobile that I'd made with the clay I had leftover from my DIY Clay Nursery Mobile project, and offered to share a tutorial if anyone was interested. Since several of you were, I've put together a quick step-by-step guide so that you can easily make your own. The process and techniques are almost the same as my previous DIY, so I'll be referring to that for most of the project. Grab you're supplies and let's start crafting!

Supplies needed:

• Rolling pin (the non-stick variety is preferable)
• Premier Stone Clay - available at craft stores such as Michael's or online
• Elmer's Paper Craft Gel Glue
• Metallic Pen-Touch Paint Pen by Sakura (extra fine point) | available at craft supply stores
• Craft knife
• Twine
• Freezer paper or waxed paper (to protect your work surface)
• Scissors (optional)

Cover a smooth hard working area with a piece of waxed or freezer paper (freezer paper, waxed side up works the best). Use your rolling pin to flatten your clay into a smooth disk. The finished piece should be rolled to about 1/4 inch thick. Use your craft knife to carefully cut triangular shapes into your clay (you do not need to cut all the way through). You can make this process more efficient by cutting multiple triangles on each rolled disk of clay (as seen demonstrated in the image above).

Now cut away the outside edges and separate each triangle from one another. Cut off the two corners at the wide end of the triangle (shown above). You can make the angle of these cuts as deep or as shallow as you'd like.

Dab your finger into a bit of water and smooth it along the edges of your shape. You can smooth the front and back as well. Use a bamboo skewer to make a small hole at the top of your geometric gem shape.

Make as many gems in as many different sizes as you'd like. For my mobile I used eight gems in a variety of sizes from small (around 3/4") to large (around 2").

Allow your gems to dry completely (24 hours is optimal). You may need to prop them up on their side against something so that air can circulate around them.

Once your gems are dry, you can add detail to them using a metallic paint pen. The following are the steps I used on mine, but you can draw inside your shapes however you'd like.

First start by drawing around the inner outline of your shape. then draw two short lines angled downward from the lower points on your gem shape.

Connect those two lines with a straight line across the middle. Where the first two downward angled lines ended, draw two long lines down until they meet at the narrow point of your gem.

Draw two short lines angled upward and out from where your last two lines started. Finish the design by drawing three straight lines within the upper portion of your shape...these should mirror the first three lines that you drew.

Hooray! Your gem is complete. Now you can draw the same design on the backside and repeat this process with all remaining gems.

To assemble your mobile place a small dot of glue into the hole at the top of your gem. Knot the end of a piece of twine and place the knotted end inside the hole. Use your bamboo skewer to press in and ensure that that the twine is fully embedded inside the hole. Lay your glued piece aside and repeat process with all remaining gems.

Tip: I kept all my twine portions long (around 26 inches each) until the very end so that I had the ability to arrange them at different lengths depending upon how they looked when strung together.

Once the glue has dried, arrange the gems in whatever order you'd like and tie all twine portions together in one knot to secure. Snip off any uneven ends.

Hang your gem mobile on a nail or with a piece of Japanese making tape!

Bonus idea: Pierce a small hole through the top of a clay gem while it is still soft. Once dry you can use it to embellish a gift. Just string the gem onto a piece of twine or ribbon and you're done, tie it to your present and you're done!

I hope you liked this sweet and simple project. If you want more, I invite you to check out all my past Creature Comforts' DIY projects right here. xo Ez

Pinterest Picks: 6 DIY Tutorials That Caught My Eye

Hi friends. Today I thought I'd share a little grouping of some of the great DIY projects I've recently spotted over on Pinterest. If you're the DIY sort, you can find a full board of mine on Pinterest wholly devoted to DIY tutorials and freebies right here. All my other boards can be seen here. xo Ez

1. Recycled Leather & Wood Shelf on Design*Sponge (via Naomi) | 2. DIY Hand-Stamped Fabric from Papernstitch (viaLuiza) | 3. Simple DIY Embossing Technique from Bookhou at Home (via Amber) |  Printable Articulated Strongman from Appracadabra (via Miss Lonny) | 5. Oversized Hand-Written Poster Project from Making Nice in the Midwest (via Meg) | DIY Sawhorse Desk by Besotted Brand Blog for Brooklyn Limestone (via me)

A Story About A DIY Table and Four Awesome Chairs

Hi guys. Sorry for the late post today. It took me longer than anticipated to write this up. Anyhow, as promised, I want to share some photos and a bit about the process of creating my DIY table...including some tips I learned along the way.

This project was a mishmash of two different DIY table tutorials that I fell in love with — this DIY Table from Stylizimo and this version from Our Vintage Home Love. I went into this with very little knowledge when it comes to building things with wood, and while the end results are probably far from perfect, I love my new table...wonkiness and all.

Here are some of the process shots I took and shared over on instagram with detailed notes on each step:

• The total cost for supplies for this project including the wood (not including the legs) came to $140. I purchased everything (except for a power drill/screwdriver and leather work gloves that I already owned) at Home Depot (I'll include a full list of supplies at the end of this post). The great thing about their store is that they will cut the wood you need to the exact size specifications that you want for no extra charge. Note: You do have to buy the wood at the cost of the full board regardless of what size you have it cut to. That is probably a no-brainer, but I didn't know that until checkout. For my table I had five 2x8 untreated boards cut to 6' each and then two 1x4 boards (thanks Chris for the updated info) cut into 4 portions of 3' each (I only ended up using 3 of them). The table legs are from IKEA (purchased online) and including shipping came to $40.
• I was so glad that I purchased an electric sander. It would have taken me weeks to sand the boards down by hand. With the sander it took me two afternoons (it was also blazing hot outside, so I probably could have done it easily in one afternoon if it had been cooler out). I followed the sanding grit recommendations on Our Vintage Home Love, and it worked really well.

• I found sanding to be really enjoyable (maybe I'm a bit nutty). Seeing my finished and oh-so-smooth boards all stacked up and ready to be made into a table was really satisfying.
• I wanted to achieve a similar stain on my table that Stylizimo did on hers, but wasn't able to find the brand that she used. Fortunately after a bit of online research I discovered that Minwax makes a grey stain that looked like a decent match. I stained and waxed according to the directions on Our Vintage Home Love...but only used one coat of stain (left on for the minimum amount of time) and did not sand after staining. The end results are probably a bit more grey than I would like, but I do think it has a really nice aged wood look...which is what I was going for.

• A note about staining and waxing...it is really messy (and stinky), so be sure work in a ventilated area, wear proper work clothing, and protect the surface you are working on as well. I had grey stain leftover on my legs and toes for days (most of it came off with nail polish remover thankfully).
• Once the wax was dry my daughter helped me bring the boards inside and we laid them out to be assembled. Unfortunately I quickly discovered that the screws I'd purchased were not long enough, so I had to run out and get longer ones. I decided to use my support boards in three positions across the bottom of the tabletop. They are arranged with two of the boards at 9" in from the ends, and the third board centered between those (at around 21.5"). The finished table top is pretty heavy...so you will definitely need assistance to place it on the legs. If I were to do this all over again, I might try thinner boards (although it seems like those might warp easily over time).

Another note: I was overly-excited about having the table set up in my house and made the mistake of bringing it in directly after the wax/stain had dried. The fumes were so overpowering after an hour that we ended up having to take it back outside for another two days so that it could properly outgas. Pew!

Here are two peeks at the underside of the table. You can see that I got a little bit excited while using the power screwdriver. It seemed safer to err on the overzealous side...I definitely don't want one of these boards coming off on my legs while I'm eating breakfast!

When selecting boards it is also a good idea to visually inspect each one before having it cut. I didn't happen to notice that one of my boards was super rough and chipped along the edge and it was quite the task to sand it down. I actually like the aged effect that it has going on, but I thought it was worth mentioning incase you want something a bit smoother.

And there you have it. A very labour-intensive DIY, but one that I am extremely happy with. I can't really even describe how gratifying it is to sit down to a meal at a table that you personally created and worked so hard on! Definitely worth $180 in my opinion!

Ohhh...and the chairs! I spotted these White Tabouret Stacking Chairs from Overstock.com over on Pinterest, and at $180 for 4 chairs (and tons of positive reviews) I couldn't pass them up (plus it was only $2 for shipping). They are surprisingly comfortable...the curve of the back is just right, and are a great weight and size. The only negative I have to say about them is that one of the chairs has plastic shipping material melted onto the leg and we are having a hard time getting it off. I'm sure this has more to do with the scorching 115 degree temperatures we've been having (probably hotter in the back of a shipping truck) than anything on Overstock's part. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to remove it with some special cleaners and a bit of elbow grease.

DIY table supply list:

• Five 2x8 boards cut to 6' in length
• Three 1x4 boards cut to 3' in length
• Ryobi Sander
• Sanding paper in 220 and 150 grit (make sure you have plenty on hand)
• Leather / cloth work gloves
• Rubber gloves (for use while staining/waxing)
• Drop cloth (I used a plastic cloth because it was the most affordable option)
• Clean cotton rags (you will need quite a few)
• Tack cloth (a sticky cloth sold in the painting section, used to pick up fine dust particles before staining)
• Wood Screws, 1-3/4" (as you saw earlier...I used a lot)
• Power screwdriver
• Paintbrush - I used a 3" brush made for use with stains
• Minwax Wood Finish in Classic Gray 271
• Minwax Paste Finishing Wax in Natural
• Vika Lerberg Trestle Legs from IKEA 
• You will also need some sort of a sawhorse or raised work surface that can get messy when sanding and staining. I used an old desk (for the sanding portion) and two scrap blocks of wood (for the staining portion).