Invitation mayhem

I've been having a really hard time deciding on the style of our wedding invitations. If you've hung around me at all I am probably the most indecisive person you've ever met. I might even be the most indecisive person on Earth. I take a half hour to pick an entrée and after ordering, instantly regret my decision. It's a wonder I'm getting married at all, really.

And it certainly doesn't help my situation that there are 10 billion fun, amazing, out-of-the-box invitation ideas out there. 20 years ago there were about 5 options. It would have been so much easier if I had gotten married in kindergarten... It is going to be impossible for me to choose just one, but here are a few of the most inspiring examples I've come across so far:

Simple screen printed card - realsimple.com

Stamped vintage postcard save the dates - intimateweddings.com

Personalized, hand-painted whimsy - rifledesign.com

The wedding is at an old inn on Cape Cod and any of these would work. I think we'll end up doing a combination of all three...somehow. Help!

- Jaimee

Saving Summer - Canned cherry tomatoes!

Last weekend Josh and I traveled to Duxbury, MA to visit his great aunt Helen and help her with some seasonal yard-work. Now, Helen is no spring chicken but she is still an avid gardener in the summer months. One of our chores was to clean out her sizable vegetable beds in preparation for winter. Among the spent pepper, onion and carrot plants were these GIANT tangled cherry tomato plants with stems as thick as my wrist. They still had dozens of green cherry tomatoes attached, but it was too late in the season for them to turn and Helen didn't want them. So I took them!


I had been planning on pickling my own home-grown tomatoes, but my one tomato plant produced four measly fruits and it really wasn't worth the effort. I returned home with a bag-full of green tomatoes ready for canning. Unfortunately, I have zero pickling/canning experience. What did I do? Googled "how to pickle tomatoes," of course!

After scanning half a dozen recipes I came across one from Plate to Plate that recommended using your finished pickled cherry tomatoes as a garnish in MARTINIS! Well, needless to say, this is the recipe I decided to use (slightly modified) for my own tomatoes :)

I made two batches. One I cold pickled, which means they go directly into the refrigerator and keep for about two weeks. The other I canned and stored and should be ready in six weeks.

image from www.platetoplate.com

I see quite a few "summertinis" gracing my glass this fall...

Bottoms up!

Weekend Project: Garden Makeover

Josh and I have had this decrepit garden space in the corner of our back yard since we moved in last September. It has remained untouched for nearly a year. FINALLY we found ourselves with some free time and started digging. One Sunday, two trips to Home Depot, ten bags of dirt, a dozen or so plants, two 'abandoned' pallets, and one giant blister later, we now have a new garden and a few homemade window boxes!

Summer Swooning

Been busy getting engaged!

The ring is a 1920's estate piece we found on Cape Cod.

Go Love!

<3

Swan Chair: before & after

[click image to enlarge]

Springs are no joke, this chair took FOREVER to finish. What is frustrating about the upholstery process (for beginners anyway) is that when you start the chair you work slowly and meticulously - so much so that once you reach the finishing stages, which are the most important ones aesthetically speaking, you are so ready to be done with project that you end up rushing through the rest and making tons of mistakes...

It's fine though. I finished a project, a very difficult project, so I have to give myself a pat on the back for that. And I must say, on that last day of work it was a relief to finally sit in the chair and find it to be pretty darn comfortable.

Bound for Brewbound

Brewbound is a new beer tourism company created by microbrewery supporters Joshua Pratt and Matt Kennedy. They load up a bus-full of people and travel from brewery to brewery experiencing the greatness that is craft beer. Matt, a graphic designer, came up with the logo you see on the left.

For Brewbound's maiden voyage, which took place on March 13, 2010, Josh and Matt wanted to do something special for attendees. I have access to a laser engraver (yes an actual laser!) and suggested making customized cork coasters with the BB logo and trip info. This BB trip was to Portland, ME and Jeff Rowe, a Boston-based artist came along to play a few songs at each brewery. The coasters were a hit! The image on the right is an example of what the final coaster looked like. Pretty neat eh? And because the image is burned on, the coasters smell like campfire!

Check out pictures and footage from the first ever Brewbound adventure at brewbound.com or on facebook. If you'd like to order some custom cork coasters, email me at jaimee.w.baker@gmail.com.

Great Etsy Store: Love ♥ Nostalgic ♥ Whimsy

go to lovenostalgicwhimsy

A friend of mine showed me this neat Etsy store. The creator of lovenostalgicwhimsy gives ordinary objects entirely new and unexpected uses. From chicken wire display frames to suitcase medicine cabinets, she has a gift for seeing the potential in otherwise overlooked items. Very inspiring stuff! She also has some great vintage items for sale. Check out her store here.

As it turns out, creativity runs in the family, because her Mom, sister, and daughter all have Etsy stores too!

Faking It: 10 Tips on Making New Homes Look Old

Originally from myhomeideas.com found by me via apartmenttherapy.com

I found this post very helpful. My current residence is a recently (within the last 10 years) updated duplex rental. I have trimless doors and windows, odd wall cutouts and builder grade cabinets. Major changes are usually strictly prohibited in rentals, but this Apartment Therapy post offers some great tips, such as changing out hardware and lighting fixtures, on creative (removable) workarounds.

Swan Chair: 8-Way Tie

springs before ties

springs after ties

This process is nicely explained by upholster.com:

"To refurbish springs, the upholsterer re-attaches loose springs, replaces any if necessary, and re-ties the entire set, one by one. Each coil is sewn to the webbing... then tied to the coil next to it. Each row of coils is then tied front to back, side to side, and diagonally two ways, 8 in all. And all are tied on exactly the same level to make a symmetrical, even suspension for the most comfortable seating."

What upholster.com doesn't tell you is how painful it is! My advice to anyone tying springs for the fist time: Wear gloves. The hand discomfort is similar to tightly lacing up skates or boots...48 times. By the end of my 8-way tie I had gashes on both of my pinkies and blisters on every other finger. My battle scars. On the bright side, all of the hard stuff is behind me. All that's left is padding and fabric!

Recycled Pillow

You might recognize this fabric from my latest chair project (see New Project: Swan Chair!). I think it's a great vintage pattern and was really hoping I could fix the chair springs without having to strip it off. But the material was just too old and worn to stay. It pained me to remove it, which I did tack by tack. I think it took me a whole class.

I've been carrying the scraps around for a few weeks now, unable to to think of something to use them for so I wouldn't have to throw them away. Finally, I decided to make the previous chair owner a little memento. I picked up a little pillow at Building 19 for $1.35 to recover. With no sewing machine available I had to hand stitch. It is a little rough around the edges but I think it came out great!

Cats in Trees

PetTreeHouses.com

Doubles as a decorative house plant. I want one! You can browse these unique, unnecessary, totally desirable pet homes at PetTreeHouses.com. Via ArchitectsSchoolsBlog.

Confections as Art - by Amy Stevens

I was browsing EyeBuyArt.com ("because art makes life better") and these fun pieces caught my eye. They are from award-winning photographer Amy Stevens' Confections collection. I wonder if Amy eats the cakes after she takes their picture...

101 Dizzying Spiral Staircases & Twisted Architectural Art Photos

Via WebUrbanist

New Project: Swan Chair!

[click image to enlarge]

[click image to enlarge]

Semester two of furniture upholstery at the BA&CE. During my first semester I accumulated a few diy duds from family and friends. This unique fowl-inspired chair is one of them.

Steve Madden 'Tuxxedo' Flat

Unfortunately for me, this shoe style only looks good on people with tiny feet. For all of you lucky small-footed friends, click here.

Central Square Chair Sale: before & after

before + after

It took seven three-hour classes, but my first chair transformation is complete! Overall, it was a very fulfilling experience. Not only do I have something to show for my efforts, I gained a greater appreciation for the craft of upholstery, a better understanding of why furniture costs so darn much, and I have a fully stocked tool box!

The chair has been dubbed "Princess Chair" by my roommates and no one sits in it except the cats. It's not perfect, but my next one will be ;)

Central Square Chair Sale: 21 Hours

double welt trim

The last step of the upholstery process was adding double welt trim to cover the staples. There are other trim options, such as home decor gimp, decorative tacks or single welt cording, but I think double welt was the right choice for this chair. Plus I learned how to use a sewing machine in the process! I took two pieces of welting cord and stitched strips of my fabric around them. It took a few tries...luckily I had plenty of extra fabric. After the trim was finished I simply hot-glued it over the staples. Piece of cake.

How they do it in Sweden

I just came across this Swedish apartment on Living with White (original post from desire to inspire - Aug '09). At first glance it looks like your standard sterile white on white modern design. But as you delve deeper into the design the space becomes increasingly warmer. What the apartment lacks in color it makes up for in the spectrum of fabric textures, furniture styles, surface materials, accessories, etc. It transforms from a cold, standoffish showroom into a comfortable, friendly home right before your eyes! Please look at the rest of the photos at either Living with White or desire to inspire and tell me if you agree.

Blue Birds

The company I work for has a webstore called CAD Garage. This week we decided to set up a twitter account for the store. Twitter is great! Not only can I do my job using poor grammar and incomplete sentences, I get to make loads of little bird buttons!

Harwich House

For New Years I spent the long weekend at my parents' house on Cape Cod. It is one of my favorite places on Earth. The house sits on one of the hundreds of charming little ponds found in the middle of the "arm." Everything in the house is second hand. All items were either bargained for at a flea market, purchased at an estate sale, or found at the dump and painted. Everything is painted white. There is no plastic anything. You'd think Cape Cod isn't an ideal winter vacation spot, but the house is just as wonderful in the winter as it is in the summer. These are a few of my favorite little spots around the house.