Review: Uncommon Goods

When Uncommon Goods asked me to collaborate with them I was instantly excited! I already knew a little about their mission statement and products, but still found some pleasant surprises as I learned some more about their company.

They seem to run an honest and inspiring business, and they offer a very large variety of fun items; which makes Uncommon Goods a wonderful place to shop for yourself or for pretty much anyone you could possibly know. You can browse by category, do a keyword search or use their handy pages for gift ideas. Check out this page for lots of birthday gifts. It includes items to brighten up a home or wardrobe, and nifty things for people into science, sports, music or cooking. There's also a huge section for personalized gifts, which you can find here. Or -and this is very helpful as it's often the trickiest!- you could look here to find something nice for the men in your life. Handy, right?!

Since you're following my blog, odds are you're a fellow owl-loving lady with a fondness for jewelry and a knack for crafts. If so, I think you'll love the three items I'm reviewing today as much as I do... So let's get started!

I knit a lot, so it's quite surprising I did not yet own a yarn bowl. They have always intrigued me, so I was very excited to try this owly one. It is beautifully crafted, and nice and heavy so that it doesn't slide as you pull yarn from it.

It was very safely packaged and came with business cards and information on the artist who made and designed it.

Next up is this fun necklace. It's beautiful, quirky in a mature way, and even gilt/dipped in 18 and 22k gold. I find the color wheel matches basically anything I throw at it, and it makes even the most basic outfit instantly look creative.

I am equally smitten with the clever packaging!  It scores 10 out of 10 for sure! I loved the glass jar and the way the necklace was presented inside. Even the illustrated tag is cute. Yellow Owl Workshop definitely knows their stuff!

Lastly, this felt succulent garden seemed like a great substitute for the real succulents that didn't survive their stay with me... I don't exactly have a green thumb. I am, however, good with crafts, so I was excited for this DIY kit!

It's a fun concept and the instruction booklet was wonderfully clear. It's mostly a matter of assembling things, but you can still make a bunch of creative decisions with the chalk details and final placement of the succulents.

The one issue I had was that it didn't stick together very well. Double-sided tape just wasn't strong enough to hold the foldable box together (hence the gold washi tape you see in my picture), nor keep the succulents stuck to the bottom securely. But it's nothing a little glue couldn't fix. Despite that minor issue, I actually enjoyed it a lot. The rolling of the succulents, the coloring with the chalk, and finally figuring out what composition looked best. It was fun and I like the result!

A Few Notes on Sustainability:

Now, I'm very passionate about going "green", love to support independent artists, but also really like the service and security of established companies. Uncommon Goods incorporates all three into their business! They value sustainability, in every sense of the word. They work with artists and small manufacturers, use recycled and organic products whenever they can, support non-profit organizations and are all about fair and long-lasting relationships. They even give back to the community by inspiring and helping their customers donate some old things to Goodwill.

Final Verdict:

I loved collaborating with Uncommon Goods! I found them to be a very transparent and warm company. There is a personal touch to everything they do, and a definite sense of community. They even have a blog where they feature their artists and lots of different kinds of employees in interviews with pictures. It's a business I feel very good about working with. And, as you can see, the products I received were absolutely wonderful too!

P.S. I received these items for review, but was encouraged to share my own opinions and experience.

For Your Next Project: Love Book Folding

If you love the idea of book art, but find it daunting to figure out how to design a certain image, you could actually buy patterns for it. LoveBookFolding on Etsy sells digital patterns so you can turn your own old books into pieces of art!

They come with printables so you can accessorize your project or spruce up those end pages with any color you want!

There are a bunch of owls available, as well as plenty of other animals and designs to cut and/or fold. The shop owner is even willing to do custom work, should you have something else in mind or want something personalized.

If book folding is something you want to learn more about, be sure to also visit the Love Book Folding website as it has much more info and even some tutorials!

My Tukoni Owls

Tukoni Tribe is a shop I always keep my eye on, as it only ever sells beautiful and cute things. Some time ago I bought a brooch of a guitar playing creature (that I somehow still haven't posted about!) and of course I also ordered the owl stickers.

I held onto them until I found the absolute perfect place for them, which ended up being my wardrobe. I have one of those big Ikea wardrobes, very plain and very white. It looks so much cooler now that it has a row of owls on it!

Anyway, the stickers (sold as two different sets) are still available in the Tukoni Tribe shop, as is a poster of the same design. But there are some other owl items too. And all the other creatures are definitely worth checking out too!

Sweet Paul Headphone DIY

Every once in a while I find a DIY that is simply jaw dropping. And these embroidered cherry blossom headphones that were featured on Sweet Paul definitely did drop my jaw. And made me want to make my own pair pronto!

I'm a bit hesitant to try this, as I don't want to mess up any of my headphones, but I think I might take the risk if I have an eligible pair. I know I have one with wood print somewhere and I bet that would look really cute!

The DIY doesn't really come with step-by-step instructions, but it seems pretty logical. Let me know if you decide to give it a go too, ok? I'd love to see it!

Owl Things Considered

The embroidery kits by kirikipress are really something special! I just love they turn illustration into amazing objects. And not just that... Michelle, the owner, made very cute and clear DIY kits with them, so you can make them yourself.

The box shows a difficulty level from 1 to 3, which makes it easy to pick a perfect gift for your DIY-diehards as well as your not so creative friends. Or if you yourself are starting out, you could even make your way through all three.

As you can see, there are amazing owls available. But there are also other animals to choose from. Like foxes.

If you loved these pictures I suggest you visit kirikipress to see the whole collection. I bet you'll be favoriting them all...

Owl Things Considered

A while back Donkey & Friends' DIY lamps caught my attention. I really loved all their creatures, but the owl was my absolute favorite of course! So today, when it went on sale over at Fab I jumped at the opportunity and ordered one.

I'll have to assemble it myself when it arrives, but I'm looking quite forward to that. And though you can also use it purely for decoration, I will definitely use it as a lamp.

You can order one here if you want one as well, or you can get a fox, or a cat, or a bunny. And even a donkey or a penguin!

-You can also get them here at Etsy when the Fab deal ends!-

!CLOSED! Giveaway Time! -> Cute Memories

This might turn out to be a very lucky day for you! You'll have a very good chance at winning some lovely owl goodies, because I can make three of you happy with some amazing printables from Cute Memories!

Cute Memories is an adorable shop on Etsy that sells lots of cute printables and digital DIYs. As you can see I've had the pleasure of trying some out today. I assembled the cute owl boxes and made a bunch of lovely gift tags with the clip art. The quality is great and that means you can print them out as big as A4, or size them down to whatever size you feel like.

I can't wait to try lots of other things with them!

And so can a few of you, because here's what up for grabs:

 Just fill out the rafflecopter below to be in the running for some of these owls:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Andrea's Owl Brooch DIY

Surprisingly there's only own guest post on owls, but maybe that's good because I don't see how any other owl could've topped Andrea's tutorial!

You're probably tired of people saying that Autumn is their favorite time of year, so I'll get it out quick--I love the cripsy yellow leaves, the blustery wind, a warm bowl of soup and a cup of tea in the afternoon, a warm scarf, and all the fall colours. In fact, since we've already had a forecast for snow in NY, it's all come and gone a bit too quickly. Anyway, I was really excited to make something for Laura's Autumn Party so here are some Blue Eyed Owl Brooches! -0v0-

I always buy up craft supplies when they're on sale and couldn't resist the Fimo section this time. You only need a few simple supplies for this easy Owl Brooch DIY.

I molded the clay into an owl shape with my fingers and thumbs until it looked like this.

Then paint a few layers of paint and add a nose, eyes and some feather details.

Wear these with your favorite Autumn colors and you can even add an owl mask.

Sarah from One Owl Please has a wonderful free printable owl mask available. So if you still need a Halloween costume or you like to dress up all year round, this is perfect for you!

Outfit: Mask: One Owl Please Dress: Self-Made Autumn Dress Belt & Shoes: Vintage Tights: We Love Colors

Thanks so much, Laura, for having me on your wonderful blog!! xoxo

Now you're probably already familiar with the PaperSparrow blog and shop. If not, head on over there because you are in for a real treat! Andrea also happens to be the Queen of Blog Parties and there will be a Amelie themed party on November 9th, don't miss it!

Suki's Applique Tutorial

Suki is always busy with wonderful projects and I'm so pleased she came in today to teach us how to make an amazing Autumn themed embroidered appliqué!

First of all, thanks so much Laura for hosting this glorious Autumnal blog party!

Did you ever think that all those plain onesies in your little one's wardrobe (or all those plain t-shirts in your own!) were just a little bit boring? Well, here's a simple way to liven them up and make them look altogether more personal and delightful. And it's easy too: I'm no sewing expert so you can be sure that if I can do it, it's pretty simple!

My Autumnal inspiration came on a walk in the park with my toddler. He found an acorn on the ground and held it up to me. I realised it was the first one he'd ever seen. The leaves on the oak trees are just starting to turn golden yellow, while some rusty ones lie on the ground.

You'll also need some card (I use old cereal boxes) or paper for the template. You can probably manage without the embroidery hoop, but I am new to embroidery and find it makes it much easier. They are very cheap and can be used over and over.

I drew my own templates as you can probably tell! You can find lots of inspiration on the web and there are even free templates to be found and printed out if you prefer.

All those glowing leaf colours made me think of the bright colours in my collection of Japanese fabric scraps. I found these in Paris on a trip last year. I use a mixture of vintage/recycled and new fabrics in my projects. I cannot resist buying new fabrics but I try to buy scraps and off-cuts that need using up! Appliqué is great for using up small scraps of material.

There are various different types of "no-sew" backing to create iron-on appliqués. At the moment I'm using bondaweb. The instructions on the packet are really easy to follow. Just remember to iron it onto the "wrong side" (i.e. back) of the fabric.

After cutting out your appliqué shape, you peel of the backing paper to reveal a nice sticky coating ready to attach to your onesie or t-shirt. Do this with all your shapes.

Yay, this is the fun bit! You can see it all coming together! If you're adorning a onesie, make sure the design is on the top half so that it can be seen if the little angel happens to be wearing trousers (pants) or a skirt. Now you just need to...

...iron down those shapes under a damp tea-towel. Isn't this a lovely old tea towel by the way? It's been in the family for many years. Remember it because at some point I'll be sharing a project using some of my old worn-out owl tea towels!

This is where the image takes on definition and shape. You can use embroidery to "draw" lines that bring the leaf and acorn shapes to life. I used brown thread and a small backstitch and 3 threads (embroidery thread is usually 6 twisted together), to give a well-defined, quite solid line. I used very short stitches to help me go round the curves more easily.

I think that it was important to have a well-defined line to make the shapes "pop" over the printed fabrics. If you used plain fabrics, I think a big, gappy running stitch could look good too.

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If, like me, you're an embroidery newbie or novice, I highly recommend this post on the Ais for Ampersand blog, by Mel from Thrifted. It's a brilliantly clear and helpful introduction to embroidery! It was quite slow doing all the stitching but I found it a relaxing thing to do in the evening.

(A final note: since there will be a fair bit of thread and knots at the back, you might want to consider stitching on some scrap fabric or backing behind the appliqué on the inside of the garment, to help it withstand washes/wear & tear etc. and also to make it nice and comfy. I haven't done this yet - I was too eager for the trying on session!)

And there you have it: an Autumnal upcycle to give new life to plain clothes! All you have to do now is find a cute model to show it off ;)

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p.s. many thanks to Josella of Tack-O-Rama for the 1950s-style Pacifico font (by code.newtypography) I used in the images for this tutorial. You can download it for free, here, along with lots of others.

If you're a fellow owl lover, you'll really enjoy Suki's blog The Owl Club. Though it's not just about owls. You'll get spoiled with all sorts of great posts about cute things, amazing collections, movies, books and crafting projects. So head on over there!