Painted Plastic Figure Jar Lids

April 1, 2013 by mymateriallife

Until I discovered this beautiful blog post from Torie Jayne that led me to this image, I thought the best thing you could hope to make with a glass jar and a plastic figure would be a snow globe.  Now I’m not so sure.  This was a last minute Easter project for me, but you could make these lids/jars for just about any occasion or storage purpose throughout the year.  I tried making three lids, but this is the only […]

Categories: Easter, Kid Stuff, Miniatures • Tags: candy jars, easter, glass jar lids, glass jars, plastic animals

St. Patrick’s Day 2013

March 18, 2013 by mymateriallife

Clockwise from top left: Maybe this was overkill.  I thought I’d try a little food coloring in my recycled Irish bear snow globe. I am totally judging this book by its cover; isn’t it beautiful?!  I could not resist buying it when I found it at Recycle Bookstore in Campbell last week (though this one is new).  I just started it last night. A gift of Irish whiskey from our next-door neighbors. We enjoyed some in Irish coffee, but nice […]

Categories: Beverages, Celebrations, Miniatures, Other Holidays, Other Textiles, Reading Material, Sweets • Tags: green punch, lemon-lime kool-aid, st. patrick's day, whole wheat honey wafers

Valentine’s Vignette, Hearts, Flower

February 14, 2013 by mymateriallife

Happy Valentine’s Day 2013!  I had a few things I wanted to try this year, like the scene above.  Here you can see two more champagne chairs – one with a few beads, one without (the red cap is from a bottle of Lambrusco I bought to go with a pizza we had last week).  The table is made from one of those plastic things you find in your pizza box to keep the pizza from getting crushed and a […]

Categories: Embroidery, Kid Stuff, Knitting, Miniatures, Other Holidays, Paper • Tags: champagne chairs, crafts, diy, embroidery, knitting, miniatures, mobiles, valentine's crafts, valentine's day

Beaded Champagne Chair

January 30, 2013 by mymateriallife

Are you familiar with the champagne chair?  I learned about champagne chairs in the Design Within Reach catalog in the early 2000′s.  I even entered one of their champagne chair design competitions one year.  I hadn’t thought about them in years until I saw the magazine below.  It’s from the U.K.; I found it at Whole Foods before the holidays Finding that magazine was one thing that inspired the chair above.  The other was the book you see next to […]

Categories: Architecture, Finery, Miniatures • Tags: beaded champagne chair, chicago, colleen moore's fairy castle, doll house furniture, miniatures, museum of science and industry

Nutcracker Place Card Holders

December 22, 2012 by mymateriallife

These are inexpensive nutcracker ornaments from Michael’s that I turned into a set of place card holders with those miniature wooden clothespins that you can find at craft stores.  Such a snap to make; wouldn’t a set of these make a fun gift?  Crate & Barrel had some nutcrackers in white and silver and gold that were a little more expensive, but they’d make a beautiful set too.  I might see if they still have some of those at the […]

Categories: Celebrations, Christmas, Miniatures, Other Textiles • Tags: diy, glass mugs, home, ikea, marimekko, nutcracker ornaments, sugar swizzle sticks, wooden clothespins

Warning: Snow Globes Can Cause Fire!

December 7, 2012 by mymateriallife

Dear Reader, Have you ever been in just the right place at just right the time to allow you to avert disaster?  This just happened to me, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am.  I haven’t been home much this week and in addition to that, the weather has been mostly rainy or overcast, but today I had some time to spend at home and even though the sun is shining and it is a beautiful day, I […]

Categories: Christmas, Miniatures • Tags: fire safety, snow globes

Three Fun Finds

November 3, 2012 by mymateriallife

I can’t say I’m ready for the eggnog lattes that are already being sold in the coffee shops now that Halloween has come and gone, but this is a fun time to scout for new and interesting holiday items to use yourself or give as gifts.  I just found the Christmas tree fabric at IKEA the other day.  It’s fantastic, isn’t it?  That’s two yards draped over an Ektorp sofa.  I was just looking for a space in my house […]

Categories: Reading Material, Miniatures, Other Textiles, Christmas • Tags: anthropologie, gamago, ikea's textiles, maira kalman, margareta fabric, snowglobe salt & pepper, target, the elements of style

Preserving Summer Memories

August 18, 2012 by mymateriallife

Get it?  Preserving … the jam jar.  We visited Disneyland (again) during our Southern California trip last week and I was so disappointed in the standard-issue, half-dome snow globes for sale that I was inspired to look for some miniature figures so I could make my own.  The problem with the store globes is that they only had what looked like a flat piece of printed acetate to look at inside.  This works for those Danish float pens because they at […]

Categories: Kid Stuff, Miniatures • Tags: disneyland, homemade snow globes, snow globes

Favorite Party Favors

March 10, 2011 by mymateriallife

  When Samantha turned five, she had an Alice-inspired birthday party with four or five other little friends. Because the party was small, I was able to send these cups and saucers home as favors for the guests.  I bought plain cups and saucers for about $3 per set and decorated them with porcelain markers that I found at Michael’s. I’d been wanting to do something like this ever since I clipped an article from House Beautiful about 10 years […]

Categories: Celebrations, Kid Stuff, Miniatures • Tags: party favors, porcelain markers, snow globes