if you’ve been on our website lately you may have noticed these really cute little hand drawn frames that our graphic designers did. i love how they look, and then today i saw this post on design sponge and i was inspired! these hand drawn frames are a cute and cheap alternative to the real thing.
what you need: scissors, a glue stick, a black pen, paper and cardboard or a thicker type of paper (i used a manila folder).
i glued a piece of paper to the manila folder – this will be the frame – so it would be a little sturdier. take another piece of paper and fold it in half, then fold in half again, as pictured on the right. this is what you’ll use to make the frame shape.
the frame can be any shape you want – i wanted it to be round, so i used a paper plate and traced the edges onto the folded paper, about an inch or so apart.
cut along the black lines and unfold the paper to reveal the frame shape. tape it to the manila folder, or whatever you use, and cut around it so you’re left with your frame.
now for the fun part! put on some music and start doodling.
i used it to frame an image from our catalog and i think it looks really cute! i definitely want to experiment with this some more though – i think it would be really fun to do for christmas cards :)
i saw this on poppytalk today and i couldn’t resist sharing. did any of you guys ever make “god’s eyes”? i never have but they’re so awesome looking and simple to make. just tie two sticks together and weave the yarn around them, starting at the center – to see a quick tutorial on exactly how to wrap the yarn, click here. plus you can play around with the colors to get some really pretty combinations – they’d make lovely little table decorations or even christmas tree ornaments!
i also love the pieces of driftwood wrapped in yarn – it reminds me of this photo from our office that i posted not too long ago:
you may have noticed these lanterns hanging in our new university village store…they were made by one of our fp girls who works for our west coast display team, and she was kind enough to write up a little tutorial for the blog!
what you need: wire framed lantern, fabric scraps, trims, needle, straight pins, and thread.
lantern: the lantern we use is custom made in india. it is a simple wire frame with a mylar cylinder in the middle for good light diffusion (these lanterns are more about style than a good light source :)). with this raw form, fabric is attached.
i suggest going to a thrift store and looking for lamp shades with a wire frame and taking off the pre-existing fabric – the lamp shades you will find in a thrift store will be a more common kind of shade but the following sewing/ fabric assembling treatment will make it look much more enchanting and wild!
fabric selection: having great fabrics is the key to a great lantern! i had a lot of amazing fabrics and trims to choose from. i choose to mix sheer, vinyl, cotton, and decorative trims. you can find these trims and fabrics from any fabric district or thrift store, but the fancier more elaborate trims we got from India.
i suggest going to a large fabric wholesaler and digging through their bins of scraps. if you happen to be in los angeles, there is only ONE place to find trims: shana-tex!!! they have sooooooo many trims stacked in high piles which you have to dig through…but so worth it because you can get huge spools of lace, sequins, and bright colored trims for pennies.
if you aren’t in los angeles, look up your neighborhood fabric wholesaler or thrift store for great rare finds. i have used thrift store table clothes, eyelet linens, etc.
sewing/ aesthetic: i just pick out the scraps of fabric and trims that i like and begin placing them on the lantern. i prefer to start in the middle at the widest part and work out from there.
fold the fabric over a part of the wire form and do a whip stitch to hold fabric to frame and itself. from the FIRST piece of fabric, i placed another piece of trim or fabric. to keep it in place I used the straight pins and then sewed the piece of fabric. repeat this process and soon it grows into a solid lantern.
sometimes i worked in different areas of the lan-tern, but always made sure that the composition felt right and was well balanced. the look i was going for was a loose, organic assemblage of fabrics and trims….so, i just mixed sewing and tying ends in knots. the pictures tell this story. you will see sewn edges and knotted pieces. i even left holes in places to maintain the “loose” aesthetic :)
electrical hook-up: this is the easy part! i just bought a cord socket combo from home depot and threaded it through a hole (part of wire frame) and screwed in a light bulb.
how cute are these handmade fabric pumpkins?!? i love them and i want piles of them for my apartment. luckily there is a very thorough step by step tutorial on the thompson family blog if you want to make them. i will definitely be trying this soon!
so a couple of you have asked us how we get our models’ hair so relaxed, wavy and perfect… which is a great question. so i asked our hair/makeup artist deanna and here is her method! i tried it out myself and it works wonderfully…
first, slightly dampen hair with a styling spray – she uses bumble and bumble.
next, separate the hair into two pieces down the center. then separate those two into two. start with 2 strands, either the left side or the right of head, and twist the hair away from the face. then take the 2 twisted strands and twist them together. secure on top of head with a hair clip.
allow time to dry, then remove clips and shake out hair.
my boss has a sweater with patches on the elbows and i always thought it was the cutest thing. then i saw this photo a couple of weeks ago and a light bulb went on. this is an easy project!
what you need:
a sweatshirt or sweater that you don’t mind experimenting with…
fabric, needle & thread, scissors, safety pins, and something about the size that you want the patches to be. our visual display team let me use this scrap of pretty fabric, and i happened to have this free people sticker at my desk that was just the right size for the patches!
first i used a sharpie to trace around the edges of the sticker on the fabric, and then cut out the patches being careful to cut right inside the marker line.
next i pinned the patches onto the elbows of the sweater and tried it on to make sure they were placed where i wanted them to be. keep the safety pins in as you start sewing so the patches don’t move.
i sewed them on by hand yesterday at work and it only took about an hour – i think sewing while listening to music has got to be one of the most relaxing things ever :)
and voila… cute elbow patches that breathe new life into a plain old sweater!
as promised, the lovely ladies of free people austin lamar have provided step by step instructions on how to put in these rad feather hair extensions! i’m so bummed i didn’t know how to do this all summer long!
step 1: pick anywhere from 3-5 feathers. you can buy the feathers at some hair salons, or order them from etsy.
step 2: pick a small piece of hair- we suggest either under a layer of hair on top, or a small piece of hair underneath, right by the ear.
Step 3: if you don’t have a fancy tool, you can just take a piece of fishing line and loop it! then place the hair extension bead through both ends. you can find these beads at any beauty supply store that carries hair extensions.
step 4: pull the small piece of hair that you selected through the loop.
step 5: move the bead up the fishing line and onto the piece of hair.
step 6: pull the hair through the bead completely, and make sure it stays about an inch from the scalp.
step 7: take your cluster of feathers, and make sure every feather makes it into the bead!
Step 8: once you make sure all of the feathers are in, you can trim any of the excess that is sticking out of the top of the bead.
step 9: take pliers and squeeze the bead until it is completely closed.
VOILA!!! you have beautiful feathers in your hair!!
now if you want to take it a step further, put some feathers on both sides of your head and put your hair into a french braid:
peace of cake ;)
*update*
to remove the feathers you can just pinch the bead with pliers in the other direction to open it and they slide right out. or after a week or two they might slide out on their own.
the feather can get wet, washed, brushed, blown dry and straightened! you can pretty much just treat them like your own hair.
kaitlin, a sales associate at our roosevelt field mall store in NY, uses old free people catalogs to make these awesome notebooks and frames! i keep all of my old fp catalogs and use them in collages, but i might have to try this instead…
i love her collages! thanks so much for sharing kaitlin :)
i love yoga, and when i first started going to classes i realized that i needed a case to carry my yoga mat to and from the studio. i went to a few different stores and found the cases to be way too expensive when it seemed like something i could make pretty easily using supplies i already had at home. turns out it was!
all you need is fabric, a needle & thread, measuring tape, scissors and your strap. for fabric i used an old tapestry and for my strap i used a soft belt (the kind that you tie, without a buckle) that came with an old pair of pants.
unfortunately i did this a while ago so i don’t have photos documenting the process. but basically what i did was rolled up my yoga mat and measured the length and the circumference of the mat. i added on a few inches to both the length and the circumference to be safe, and then cut the fabric to that height and width.
next i folded the fabric in half, with the patterned side of the fabric on the inside, and sewed the side and bottom together – leaving the top open. then i turned it inside out so the pattern is on the outside and the extra fabric and stitching is on the inside.
for the top of the case, where the opening is, i folded the top edge of the fabric a couple of inches on the inside, so there was a double layer, and then did two rows of stitches about an inch apart. next i strung a shoe lace through, in between the two rows of stitches, creating a drawstring for the case.
now for the strap! i kinda did this my own way. i cut two small holes near the top of the case and two near the bottom, put the belt through and knotted it. some may want to sew the strap to the case but i found this works just as well and was probably a lot easier :)
i’m really happy with the result :) i’ve had it for a few years now and it has held up really well!
more styling inspiration for you today! we had our stylists demonstrate four ways to wear the lace mock neck top – one of our favorite layering pieces for fall and winter. featuring our lovely web merchandiser as model :)
look one:
the lace mock neck adds a touch of sexiness to a casual look of jeans and a plaid button down. i love how our stylists layered two plaid shirts to get a mix of prints! perfect the look with a pair of rad platforms :)
this look was all of our favorites :) pair the lace mock neck with a maxi skirt, tee and biker boots for the ultimate casual cool outfit. isn’t that necklace amazing too?
the last look is all about the layers – a lace maxi dress over the mock neck top, the striped tee to dress it down a little, a tweed jacket and over-the-knee boots! she looks amazing.
with today being the first day of fall, these table arrangements i saw on design sponge – using straw flowers and heirloom tomatoes – felt really appropriate as today’s DIY. the colors are gorgeous!
the top two photos are my favorite- i would just leave the flowers and tomatoes like that as table decorations! for instructions on how to make the flower garland, check out the tutorial here.
one more really cool fact about the wedding i posted about yesterday? the invitations contained wildflower seeds! the paper can be planted, leaving guests with a patch of wildflowers to serve as a beautiful reminder of the occasion. such an amazing idea.
check out the website where they ordered the invites here.
