stay home & feather
New HQ means new door to wrap. The right choice was the door to the storage cupboard under the stairs. In prime position and full view of the entrance, it was the spot-on spot for our dose of holiday fun!
And easier than ever with a little help from this gorgeous gift wrap from Hallmark and Dollar Store ribbon.
Use the groovy nature of a real pumpkin to add retro-pop sophistication to your Halloween decorating…
As fun as the faux pumpkins were to decorate, it took a quick but significant transformation to make them acceptable holiday decor.
Not a real pumpkin… Bright and beautiful, and naturally one of our favourite colours, the right smooth and orange orb with the right gnarly stem can look so chic as is.
That doesn’t mean we want to leave well-enough alone. We have had such a great reaction to the decoupage mini pumpkin from last week, that we wanted to delve deeper, using a real pumpkin, and show you how…
First, start with a bright and blemish-free pumpkin and wash it well.
Then, prepare your decoupage materials. We returned to those stunning Marimekko Kurjenpolvi napkins we picked up from EQ3 on King St East and framed last week. At $6.95, even if you think they may be a bit pricey for a pack of paper napkins, they have already played triple duty around here.
A printed napkin really is the only way to go with this type of project – sheer enough to get the colour of the pumpkin through and adhere well to the shape. We even stripped these 3-ply napkins down to one ply to make them super-sheer, but be warned: this also makes them super delicate, so cut them out first.
Then, using a small paintbrush, brush your decoupage glue – we used Mod Podge – straight onto the pumpkin and adhere the bigger shapes you are working with well-spaced apart. These will act as an anchor to the overall design and can then be connected by the smaller clipped pieces as you go.
We went for a central garland design framed top and bottom by the natural and beautiful orange of the pumpkin.
Once all of the spaces are filled in, let it dry for around 20 minutes, then coat the entire pumpkin – decoupage work and plain pumpkin shell – completely with more Mod Podge. Use a small brush and short strokes to keep any damp decoupage paper from tearing.
This should dry completely within an hour.
Then simply slip it amongst your groovy pop-art homeware for a subtle and sophisticated swing at 60s Halloween decor. 
Fake festive gourds can be a fright as is, but they are the perfect canvas for some experimental makeovers. Elevate your Halloween decor with these three super easy tips to turn plastic pumpkins into a chic tableau…
The plastic gourd… an understandable seasonal staple and rot-free, long lasting alternative to its fresh cousin. Alas, as the art of the budget fake pumpkin has yet to amaze, the cheaper of the lot tend to look it…
But with a bit of paint and three super-simple ideas, take Dollar store gourds to the heights of gorgeous in around ten minutes!
Start with chalky black craft paint and give them the once over. Chalky paint (not chalkboard paint, but paint with a chalky finish), is now more widely (and affordably) available thanks to Michael’s Craft Smart range. It is the most matt and weathered of options and achieves a dusty, macabre look without any extra effort or paint effects.
Then, in order of ease:
1) Polka-dot your pumpkin. Take the office supply staple adhesive dots reserved for colour coding and go for it…
…for a fun and naive look that literally takes seconds.
2) Sparkle your pumpkin. Using adhesive glitter paper and a craft punch, punch up your plastic pumpkin…
…and add a bit of the disco-era divine while still looking slick. 
3) Decoupage your pumpkin. A few snips of a perfect print napkin – like the Marimekko Kurjenpolvi ones we framed last time – and some glue…
and your pumpkin will be enrobed in haute holiday glamour.
(We’ll be doing this method in more detail and on a bigger scale next time.)
Then simply mix your newly-transformed plastic buys into your everyday decor for a seamless way to show spooky holiday spirit.
Turn one disposable paper napkin into wall art and, at 34₵ per, even wiping your mouth with the rest will make your artistic ROI skyrocket…
We recently popped in to the beautifully merchandised King St East branch of EQ3 – the Winnipeg-based chain with a slick take on Canadian-made furniture –
as they complement their ranges with products from our favourite brand from other frosty climes, Marimekko.
And we were struck by how EQ3 had been ever so clever with a Marimekko napkin.
Marimekko Kurjenpolvi napkins had been framed as art prints throughout the store to showcase their simple classic frame range and they looked so good that we had to confirm it to be true with the helpful sales associate.
We love the Kurjenpolvi print in it’s other forms and colours…
…and the framed napkins made such a big impact on us that we had to buy a pack for a bit of experimentation.
Unlike our London HQ, our new Canadian office has a lot more wall space to cover. And with ‘budget’ as the watchword, $6.95 for a pack of 20 – around 34₵ per napkin – made this a no-brainer.
One was ironed for framing, as so,
and the rest will be used to elevate or next dinner party table.
Now if you want to cast budgetary restraints aside, EQ3 have done it before on their own blog, Inhabit, by upholstering a wooden frame with Marimekko fabric.
This does look amazing and you can really go to town by making up a frame to your specific dimensional requirements.
But for the cheap and easy option, the framing can’t be beat.
Trying to describe what is a fundamentally easy project in written form is so much tougher than showing you…
So, inspired to make your craft life even easier, we took our Make Mine Matisse project of mounting a printed image onto a wooden canvas panel and shot it for the screen. And because no one has a lot of time, we wrapped it up in around two minutes. And really, nobody needs more than two minutes of Elias…
With a strummingly lovely score by Rebecca Davies of Thickets and a strategic balloon drop, we are glad to have episode one out in the universe.
There are more Two Minute Tips to come, so keep looking out. And we are also taking submissions for Do It Yourself craft questions, so email us and we might use your craft-based queries for a future video…
