CasaSugar

Steal of the Day: Grosgrain-Ribbon Roman Shade

CasaSugar — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:00:00 -0700

If only PBteen offered more colors than pink, purple, and blue, it would be my favorite resource for steals! This Grosgrain-Ribbon Roman Shade ($14-$16, reduced from $79-$89) is classic, chic, and absurdly cheap. It's a sheer organdy shade, so it doesn't block out all of the light, but we're not mole people, so that's fine! It has a wooden handle that pulls the panel up, which is certainly a step up from your average plastic mini blinds! I'm not so keen on this pink, but it would be fairly simple to iron a different grosgrain ribbon on top of this teeny-bop color. What do you think?

Steal of the Day: Garnet Hill Ribbon Shower Curtain

CasaSugar — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:00:48 -0800

Who says shower parties should be reserved for brides and mommies-to-be? You can have your own party in the shower with this festive Garnet Hill Ribbon Shower Curtain ($54, reduced from $78). Made from streamers of vibrant grosgrain ribbons, this shower curtain has all the celebratory style of a b-day fiesta, short of a piñata. Choose from a bright multistripe palette or cool blue sea glass stripes, or use both and throw a wild and crazy bash every time you lather up. Why not drink and rinse while you're at it? A glass of wine in the tub never hurt anyone.

DIY: Halloween Ribbon Wreath

CasaSugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:15:21 -0700

You might not be the type to go all out this Halloween with cobwebs, fog machines, and yard decorations that heckle at passersby. But you can still be festive with a simple yet darkly gothic wreath. Wreaths are the ultimate non-decoration for any festivity; they're not fussy or complicated but they do give your front door some holiday curb appeal. To make this black grosgrain ribbon wreath from The Long Thread, all you'll need is a 12-inch foam wreath form, 24 yards of 1 1/4-inch black grosgrain ribbon (yes, that's a lot of ribbon!), scissors, and a measuring tape. To learn the steps, read more.

Here's how:

To begin, cut your ribbon into 45 to 50 16-inch pieces, and one piece of 48-inch ribbon.
Tie one piece of the 16-inch ribbon in a messy knot around the wreath form by folding right over left twice, pulling in the opposite direction.
Continue this until you've tied all the small pieces of ribbon, pushing them close together in between.
The wreath should be full; if not, cut and tie more small pieces of ribbon.
Now, tie and knot the long piece of ribbon around the wreath, leave a long loop and tie another knot at the other end.
If there are any frayed edges trim them, and make sure the ribbon pieces are relatively the same length.
Now, hang the wreath!

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DIY: Oilcoth Placemats

CasaSugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:00:52 -0700

Since the grass is green, the weather warm, and I recently broke out my bikini, Spring picnics in the park are constantly on my mind these days. PartySugar has me covered with a delicious Spring picnic menu to fill my belly between rounds of Frisbee and catch, and I came across a wonderful DIY for cheerful placemats to go along with her all-American apple pie bar and fried chicken recipes. The no-sew DIY is just too cute to resist, and easy as apple pie bars, so I had to share.

Supplies:

Oilcloth (15-x-12 inches per placemat)
Grosgrain ribbon (18 inches per placemat)
Scissors
Craft knife
Pinking shears

To learn the steps, read more.

Here's how, from Make Grow Gather:

Cut the oil cloth to 15-x-12-inch rectangles (or whatever size you'd like).
Cut the grosgrain to 18-inch lengths per rectangle.
Trim the edges of the placemats with the pinking shears.
Halfway down either the left or right edge of each placemat, make a small incision with the craft knife (about the width of your ribbon).
Thread the ribbon through the incision that you just made.
With the placemat pattern side down, lay down your napkin and silverware (or plasticware) on top of it, and roll them up.
Then, wrap the ribbon around the roll a few times and tie a bow. Toss them in a your picnic basket and you're good to go!

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The Fourth DIY of Christmas: A Dartboard Numbers Ornament Wreath

CasaSugar — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:00:06 -0800

Welcome to the fourth project in my 12 DIYs of Christmas series! You know me: I love DIY projects. But I'm such a homebody that I try to avoid driving to the crafts store at all costs. So I decided to be eco-friendly and make my Christmas wreath this year from things I already own - one of them primarily being the wire numbers from a dartboard. In secret, I'm a bit of a dart shark and I found these white wire numbers headed for a landfill, so I decided to make them my own. As it turns out, they do a great job of keeping the ornaments in place. This project requires practically no craft skills, so if you have an hour (tops), it's an easy project for anyone! Obviously, you can personalize the palette to fit your tastes.

Supplies:

Dartboard numbers (or 16-18 gauge craft wire)
Tinsel (3 to 4 feet)
Masking or duct tape
Ribbon (about 4 feet or more)
Ornaments - I used vintage ones with floral wire attachments instead of hooks; these are best. 15-30 depending on size.

To learn the steps, read more.

If not already removed, take the dartboard wire numbers round off of the board.
Reattach the wire loop with a bit of tape. If you don't have dartboard numbers, shape craft wire into a circle about (18 inches) and tape the two ends together.
Begin attaching the ornaments by wrapping their floral wire attachments through the numbers themselves. This will keep the ornaments from sliding around. If you only have ornaments with hooks, you can use those plastic bag twisties or even take to attach the ornaments to the wire frame.
Now, thread the tinsel around the wire frame, under and over the wire around the ornaments, as if you were sewing.
Cut a length of ribbon and tie a bow to the top (#20) of the wreath. I used spare pink sheer and thin velvet ribbon I had around the house. But if you want something more voluminous, try using grosgrain or wide velvet ribbon.

See a few close-ups below and a photo of a dartboard below if you're totally confused about where to get the numbers! I actually just bought this dartboard pictured for only $8 so it's totally affordable, and you can always put it back on your board once the holidays are over.

View 3 Photos ›

DIY: Ribbon Trimmed Lampshade

CasaSugar — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:00:17 -0700

A painless way to personalize a plain, big-box retailer lampshade is to trim it with a bit of grosgrain ribbon. The small change will not only make an otherwise boring shade distinctly you, but it can help bring together the mix of colors in your room. You can choose to run your ribbon across the top of your shade, top and bottom, layer ribbons to cover the entire shade . . . the possibilities are endless!
Supplies

Grosgrain ribbon
Plain lampshade
Fabric glue
Clear nail polish

To learn the steps, read more.

Cut your ribbon about an inch longer than the circumference of your shade.
To prevent fraying, paint each end of the ribbon with the nail polish.
Apply the fabric glue to the back of your grosgrain ribbon.
Run the ribbon along one edge of your shade to adhere it.
Smooth out air pockets, bubbles, and wrinkles as you go along.
Make sure the ribbon looks straight, and then overlap the extra inch or so at the end of your ribbon onto the beginning part.
Repeat as you like on the top or bottom edges.
Fini! How's that for a small change?

Source

DIY: Scrabble Coasters

CasaSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:15:29 -0800

If the words "Triple Word Score" mean anything to you then this project is for you. You can put a retired Scrabble set to work by recycling it into coasters. If you don't want to part with your beloved Scrabble set, you can purchase batches of Scrabble tiles on eBay for little more than five bucks.

Supplies:

Scrabble tiles (64-100 for a set of four)
Cork board or cardboard and felt
Hot glue gun with glue sticks
Mod Podge or a stronger sealant (polyurethane)
Grosgrain ribbon (the width of a Scrabble tile's height)

To learn the steps, read more

Here's how:

Take out a pen and paper and brainstorm some four- or five-letter words related to drinks (wine, cafe, pinot, etc.) that you'd like to use on your coasters. Play with their configurations, and come up with a blueprint for your letter arrangements, either 4-x-4 tiles or 5-x-5.
Measure the dimensions of your square of tiles, and cut the corkboard or cardboard accordingly.
If you're using cardboard, cut a piece of felt to the same size and glue it to the cardboard base.
Glue your Scrabble-tile arrangement to your base. Let dry.
Seal the top of the tiles with Mod Podge. Let dry.
Glue the grosgrain ribbon around edge of the coaster. Let dry.
Uncork some vino and drink up!

You can also purchase new Scrabble tiles from Hasbro, but it's best to recycle! Try thrift stores, yard sales, and eBay for vintage ones.

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Steal of the Day: Pottery Barn Kids Thanksgiving Leaf Garland

CasaSugar — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:00:11 -0800

I think garlands are totally underrated. They only seem to make an appearance on Christmas fireplace mantels or at the birthday parties of five-year-old girls. It's totally discrimination. I think we should welcome cute garlands like the Pottery Barn Kids Thanksgiving Leaf Garland ($39.99, reduced from $59) into our homes whenever possible. The festive garland is made of felt leaves on a grosgrain ribbon. So much easier and safer than pricking your fingers sewing hundreds of pieces of stale popcorn together for hours on end, don't you think?

How-To: Make an Easy Message Board

CasaSugar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:45:49 -0700

Tired of corkboards? Can you not even stand to think about a whiteboard? Then try this alternative to message boards.

Simply hang a cord from one end of your room to the other. You can use something practical, such as picture hanging wire, or something more fanciful, such as grosgrain ribbon. Now, clip on some clothespins, and you're ready to go. Secure artwork, bills, messages, and to-do lists from your message "board." It's a fresh take on an old necessity.

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Love It or Hate It? Felicitous Fish Chair

CasaSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:00:19 -0700

Known for its colorful, busy, hand-painted designs, MacKenzie-Childs isn't what I would call my personal style. However, I can endure it in small measure, such as one of the company's small ceramic plates. But I find the Felicitous Fish Chair ($1,850) - which is upholstered in striped silk, embellished with a grosgrain ribbon button and copper leaf, stain, and hand-painted accents, and uses two polka-dot fish as its backrest - a little over the top. What do you think?