Framed origami animals

I amused myself the other day by making some little origami foxes using this diagram by Mark Leonard, and a whale using these traditional instructions. (The website where I found the fox is apparently no longer active or I'd link to it.)


I thought maybe these animals need a place to live, so I made them each a habitat.


You can download and print these backgrounds, then glue your own origami animals onto them if you like. Framed, they'd be cute in a kid's room.

Download the woods.
Download the sea.

Print out the sheets and leave them 8 1/2" x 11" or trim them a bit to 8" x 10", a more common frame size. The animals were made from 6" standard-size origami paper. A full square for the whale and a half sheet for each fox. You could also shrink everything to mini size and make some little cards if you have nimble fingers.

Make large-format wall art from engineering prints

Engineering prints (also known as draft prints, blueprint copies or architect prints) are currently all the rage with home owners looking for cheap DIY wall art. The grainy, photocopy-quality prints have a sort of vintage-looking charm, and you can't beat the price! It appears that most folks are outputting their large-format photos, quotes, and chalkboard-inspired art at Staples for a cost of $3-$7. To make your own posters, check out these projects for tips:
Above, giant photobooth wall art at Luxe Chandelier
Below, blown-up photos of photos by Jabaay Ave
Also see how to send images to Staples for printing and make a big frame by Dear Lillie
And don't forget my favorite: Designs Editor's free camera images.

Decorating ideas using wallpaper

I've had wallpaper on my mind ever since Chasing Paper licensed one of my designs for their self-adhesive, removable wallpaper collection. I tried out one of the sample pieces on this TV tray. I might stick a chunk on the back of my iPad, too.

It's fun to think about ways to add wallpaper to a home without the cost of doing a wall or an entire room. The panels at Chasing Paper are 2 ft. x 4 ft., so perfect for smaller projects like these:

Source: Chris Everard

Frame out a large section of wallpaper with some crown molding.

Source: BHG

Cover a cart (or bookshelf on wheels) with wallpaper.

Source: House to Home

Stick wallpaper inside a bookshelf for a graphic patterned backdrop.

Source: BHG

Wallpaper a headboard.

Source: Chez Larsson

Give your stair risers some extra oomph. This is a Chasing Paper print.

Source: Aunt Peaches

Wallpaper your fridge. This is Chasing Paper, too!

Source: Waverly ad via More Design Please

Add pattern to the laundromat you manage.

Removable wallpaper from Chasing Paper

I'm pleased to announce a new print on a new product: removable wallpaper! Chasing Paper has just launched my Sunburst print in nine— that's right, NINE— colors in their shop.


I'm super excited. This stuff is like regular wallpaper, except it's self-adhesive and no paste is required. It's low-tack, so peeling it off won't harm your paint. (Or your 70s wood paneling.) Renters, rejoice! It's repositionable, so if you stick a piece on crooked or start putting it up on one wall and then decide it would look better somewhere else, no problem. Just move it. It's not contact paper; it's actually printed fabric and has a visibly woven texture so it looks richer than a wall decal. And it's wipeable!

Chasing Paper's wallpapers come in 2 ft. by 4 ft. panels, so you can buy a little for a small project, or a lot for a big project. Cover an accent wall. Or the inside of a bookshelf, or the top of a TV tray.






There's a bit of satin sheen to the paper.


I covered a plain white cabinet in my dining room.


Since I'm always skeptical about claims of durability, I decided to find out how easy this stuff is to clean. Let's pretend you accidentally throw some chocolate sauce at your wall.


It wipes off easily, leaving the wallpaper unharmed.


Let's pretend you accidentally run your wallpaper under some water. No problem. The ink doesn't run and you can dry it right off.

You know what that means. I have to put a wallpaper backsplash behind my sink.

DIY posters with cut-out lettering

I'm thinking of making a poster series of ridiculous song lyrics. The first one goes to you, Ke$ha. Next up, Katy Perry. "Baby, you're a firework." What, just one firework? "Boom, boom boom. Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon." A brilliant use of rhyme. Wouldn't a whole wall of these be comical? At least in my mind. And perhaps in the minds of some friends; you know who you are.

But really I just wanted to try cutting out some lettering like I saw in the branding for the Kröller-Müller Museum. Apparently theirs was rendered digitally using Cinema4D software. I went old school and busted out an X-acto knife.


In Illustrator I typed out text using a bold font. (Novecento Wide, bold —free!) Then I outlined the text with a thin stroke and flipped it backwards. This way the printed outlines won't show on the front of the piece. I printed it on cardstock and cut along the outlines, avoiding the highlighted areas above. The left edge of each character isn't cut and acts like a hinge.


I flipped the paper over and bent the letters up, like opening little doors.


I liked it layered on top of a sheet of neon red paper.


And of course orange is always an excellent choice. You could make a series of cut-out posters and group them as wall art. Or make greeting cards with short phrases on them. To make the letters show up, fold a piece of colored paper in half, the same size as your outer white folded card, and insert it inside. Keep it in place inside the white card with a line of glue along the fold.

You could also try cutting shapes out of colored paper and layering white behind it. I opted for cutting into the white, since cast shadows show up best on light colors.

Any suggestions for more silly pop song lyrics?

DIY woven paper flag garlands

Remember Paper Matrix, the team behind those amazing woven paper hot air balloons? Now you can download templates for making fancy woven paper bunting. I love the scalloped ones. Head over and grab the PDFs!

Jonathan Adler and Pantone at JCPenney

JCPenney is getting cool. They've got Jonathan Adler! I came across this announcement and got excited, then found this bedding on the website by Googling. Google sent me to the Happy Chic Katie duvet set and I starting clicking on related items. Ironically, typing "Jonathan Adler" into the search box on JCP's home page didn't yield any product results.


I'm guessing more items from Jonathan Adler's budget-friendly Happy Chic collection will appear online soon.

JCP also has Pantone products (thanks for the tip, Courtney). As well as collections from Michael Graves and Bodum, the Danish design firm. As part of a desperately-needed effort to reinvent themselves, JCP plans to open a collection of affordable designer shops and home goods boutiques inside their stores. Has anybody spotted these collections in their local JCPenney?

I haven't been to one since Christmas, where I saw those dog collars with ribbons I designed and picked up a really cute $15 blouse.

Oscar party decorating

If you need a quick DIY decorating idea for an Academy Awards party, you might like Ty's film-wrapped candles. This project uses old negatives wrapped around flameless LED candles. (Get them 3 for $1 at Dollar Tree.) Me, I'd be tempted to wrap film around the outside of glass candle holders and use real tea lights inside. I know you oughtn't, since film is flammable (as folks aggressively pointed out in the comments on Ty's project) but I like to live dangerously. I've got a million tea lights and zero LED candles.

Update: I wrapped some photo negatives around a glass votive holder and put a real candle inside to test it (see image). Burned it for over two hours. The glass got lukewarm to the touch, but nowhere near hot enough to melt anything. The glass was pretty thick, so that helps. I'm not telling you to do this. Don't sue me if you start your house on fire. I'm just reporting my experience; do with it what you will! And never leave a burning candle unattended.

DIY geometric felt heart garland

I had some stiffened felt left over from this box project, so I cut out some quick, freehand hearts with an X-acto knife.

Geometric shapes are trendy right now. So are ubiquitous chevron patterns, but polka dots are going to overtake those zig zags soon, mark my words.

But back to the felt. E-Z Felt is stiff and sturdy, and about $2 a sheet at my local craft store. It's very forgiving to cut, since any slices that accidentally overshoot the corners of a cutout won't show.

Stringing these hearts on twine is easy since they're full of holes. Really big hearts could be used as trivets or coasters, too.

Make a wall of paper hearts

I like 3D paper things, and multiples of things, and Valentine's Day.

The other night I made these paper hearts while watching TV. You could stick them on a wall or door temporarily, or glue them to a board permanently to make a 3D wall poster. They'd be cool to attach to presents, too. Surprise somebody with an explosion of hearts!

These are made from traditional heart shapes with a slit cut partway down the center. Cut your own hearts freehand, or print and cut out the shapes on the template I made, which might be faster and uses fewer brain cells.

Download the page of hearts here.

To make a flat heart into something three dimensional, roll the inner edges of the two arcs toward the back with your fingers to get the shape started.

Then add a bit of glue or double-stick tape along one edge. Pinch the two edges of the heart together from the back, forcing the center to naturally pop up.

When the edges are glued together, the heart looks 3D.

I used bits of double-stick tape to secure mine—a speedy method—but a few of the hearts popped apart within a couple days and had to be re-stuck. Glue holds better, I found.

Once you get the hang of it, you can bend that paper to your will and make dozens.

Then stick a flock of hearts to a wall with loops of tape or poster putty placed at the bottom point on the back side of each shape.