a peek at a book : The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer

I've been a fan of Emily's of The Black Apple ever since I saw her whimsical portraits in her etsy shop. She also shares my strange adoration of conjoined twins (more on that later!) When I saw this book by her in my local Paper Source, I flipped! I thought I would give you a peek inside what a gorgeous world Emily has created. The first part of the book introduces characters/dolls from a traveling circus and has different outfits for each. The second part instructs you on how to make paper dolls of your own creation and the third part gives you ideas on what you can do with and to add to your paper doll collection. Enjoy!

Did you play with paper dolls when you were little? I did but I've never made my own and this book has completely inspired me to try it out!

Project Restyle I

This lampshade is sooo old. So is the lamp, but at least it still works. The lampshade has gotten burnt and the ribbon that wrapped around the top of the frame actually came unglued, probably because the bulb wattage was too high. I used an old pillowcase that had a small stain on it as the fabric and glued it onto the frame with a hot glue gun. (I took off the old fabric first.) I then added some teal leather cord on the bottom as a clean cut trim and tied some extra on in the middle. It looks cute and girly and goes well on my nightstand.

Fabric Flag Banner DIY

via weheartit.com

I've been loving all the fabric flag banners that seemed to pop up everywhere. I love them as home decor, in illustrations, everywhere! I knew eventually I would make my own and finally I got around to it. This is how I choose to make mine, which looks very "homemade", but that's what I was going for.

You will need:
Fabric scraps
Twisted Yarn (Ribbon would also work)
Needle and Thread

1. With the fabric scraps, cut out two of similar sized triangles. I cut mine using slightly different sizes, which makes it more crafty-looking.
2. Arrange the fabric in order that you would like them to appear on the yarn/ribbon. I used a pale color scheme and alternated yellow fabric backgrounds with white ones.
3. Decide the spacing you want to use between each flag. I left about 5 inches between my 5'' long flags. If you like the way closer spacing looks, go for it.
4. Sew by hand the flags onto the yarn/ribbon. I put my yarn in front of the flags to create a cute border on top.

5. I used thumb tacks to put my yarn into the wall just so I knew it wouldn't unravel... because the twisted ones can untwist themselves.
6. Enjoy!