Two months ago, I met up with my blog friend Cristin in San Francisco to catch up and do a little shopping on Fillmore Street.  It’s so nice to meet up with a pal who speaks “blog” and loves great design, and we had so much fun together!

That day we happened to visit the Jonathan Adler store, where I spied the Mykonos placemat and instantly fell in love with the gray and mustard yellow Greek key fabric.  We discussed its awesomeness over lunch and coffee. 

I could only justify buying one, so I bought it with the intention of making an accent pillow.  After some thought, I decided it would be better put to use to line my gray West Elm lacquer trays I bought a year ago.

The other day, I finally got around to combining the two, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how this simple DIY project turned out!  Adding pattern to the bottom of a tray, whether with fabric or paint, is the simplest way to transform a solid color tray into a statement accessory.  

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Hello everyone, happy Monday, and I hope you’re all finding ways to stay cool in the sweltering July heat!  Today is the last of the Fair Weather Forum summer link parties, and the topic is ‘Gardening’.  I had big plans to build a planter and feature it today, but life got in the way, funny how that happens!  Maybe later, maybe next year, who knows!

Instead, I opted for a simple art project with a few stems from the one single fern growing in my yard.  My backyard gets mostly afternoon and evening sun, which is great for grapes but not so good for shade loving plants.  However, I do have one small fern plant tucked underneath our deck, and it thrives there year after year. 

I’m fixing up our guest space since we’re expecting a lot of visitors this upcoming tasting season, and I love bringing the outdoors inside.  I was looking for an inexpensive way to create some simple and unique wall art, so I decided to flatten and preserve some of those fern fronds from our garden, and frame them behind glass.

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I once fell in love with a rope bowl, it was by David Stark for West Elm.  Sadly that awesome rope bowl is no longer available, bring it back, bring it back I say!   My latest crafty project was inspired by that bowl and I believe has something to do with my fixation on neutrals with layers of texture.  In fact, I think I need an entire Pinterest category devoted to it. 

I’ve had that rope bowl on my mind for many months, so I snagged a cheapo metal bowl from a craft store on clearance a few weeks ago, plus a couple of rolls of sisal rope from my local hardware store, and then got crafty with my glue gun. 

How to Make a Sisal Rope Bowl:

Grab yerself a vessel, whatever you like.  Aluminum handled bowls like this speckled one (reowr) work great.  Also grab a dozen glue sticks, your trusty hot glue gun, and 50 to 75 feet of sisal rope (mine was ¼ inch thick).

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I have a confession to make, I am crazy about Japanese washi tape.  So much potential for cuteness in one little roll, I am smitten!  I was browsing Etsy a month ago and stumbled across Pretty Tape.  It was then that my love affair with this charming crafting tool began.  I ordered a few rolls with plans to use them on birthday or holiday gifts.

With the washi tape and some white ceramics, I also made some fun fireworks vases for the Fourth of July.

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Happy Monday everyone, hope you had a fantastic weekend!  We built a 12’ x 12’ cabana on Saturday on our patio and I can’t believe how great it looks!  I’ll show you the whole space later this week, I’ve just got to pull it all together and snap a few pics. 

We spent Sunday in Sonoma, lounging in the Plaza, bliss I tell you.  Balmy and perfect.  The kids ended up a little bronzer and we had a relaxing time, strolling around and popping into a favorite tasting room.  I meant to write about this lavender wreath last night but then got caught up in past episodes of Million Dollar Decorators and could not avert my eyes.  Some peeps are very self absorbed and completely out of touch!  But it makes for great television, I admit I am hooked. 

There are few things in the garden I love more than lavender, so last week I harvested a few plants and crafted a front door wreath.  Here it hangs from my trusty Command hook, so natural and fragrant.

For a simple summer wreath like this one, you’ll need a craft floral ring, floral wire, wire cutters, ribbon, and clippers for your stems (not shown).  I used the 18” craft ring, which requires lavender from 3-4 mature plants.  I imagine you could make the 12” version with 2-3 plants.  Be sure to cut the lavender 12-15” from the top.

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