DIY Wall Art

Hello Lu n' Am,

It's been a long time since I've visited you for a new post. I'm not even going to start with the excuses, lets just get to the post.

Martha Stewart of France has done it again.
Latest Project: Paint Samples on String inspired by boutique in downtown Knoxville:

-Cut little squares of colors (paint samples are perfect for this)
-Sew them onto a string,
-Hang them on from your ceiling or make a whole row of them.

Am and I have one of these fabulous decoration pieces hanging in our homes. I have zero sewing skills, but mom said this takes very little skills just patience, and the results are lovely!

and now I have a headboard for my bed. :)
Thanks mom!

Detail:
-Lu

Did I ever tell you about...?

...the fabulous purse and cards I received for my birthday from Lu and La Martha Stewart de France?

Miss Lu made me a quirky card & it came with a chai tea wrapped in sparkly packaging.


Mrs. Martha made a gorgeous purse. Not a tote bag this time, a real, fancy, purtty purse. And a card, of course.

The three of us have been sending cards to one another lately. And I have to admit, my cards are the least creative of them all. Here's a valentine's card from Lu and her beau to me and my beau:


Cute, right? And they were handmade!
~Am~

Green Decorating Continued

So last week I wrote a post about the fabric panels I made using two vintage patterned hand towels I found at a thrift store. Turns out I had two of them left and I asked my mom to make me a pillow with them. My mom, as we have mentioned before, is seriously a Martha Stewart.

And so now I have a matching pillow for the price of only 4 dollars (2 hand towels) and the pillow was already owned just not covered by such loveliness.

Merci Maman! :)
( I really need to learn how to sew)

And why is this worthy of sharing on Lu n' Am? because it only cost me four dollars, the help of a talented mother, and it is entirely made of reused materials.

decorating really doesn't have to be expensive or consisting of "new" everything...

and speaking of green decorating...this new blog is very worthy of a visit.
- Pure Green Design
("Pure Green is a blog dedicated to delivering green style to anyone, anywhere...")
do check it out!

-Lu

tis the holiday season!

(Martha Wreath Ideas)

It's the holiday and there is no better way of getting in the spirit then by making your own Christmas decorations. Martha Stewart of France and I have been making 3d paper snowflakes like mad crazy! They make a lovely edition to our Christmas decorations (especially since there hasn't been any real snowflakes thus far) and we will be using them next year and the year after that...
( How About Orange... = A wonderful blog full of tutorials and useful resources)

Making your own holiday decorations equals...

1. Quality bonding time with a loved one
2. A unique and personal touch to your home
3. Many Bragging moments when guest come in and say "oh my...these are lovely decorations!"... "oh why thank you...i made them" (shrugs)
4. Saves you from throwing your money towards excess Christmas consumerism
5. An Way of recycling materials, and reusing them next year.
6. Fun!

those are plenty of reasons to get crafty.

if you don't have the time this busy holiday. here is a wonderful secret to getting cheap, environmentally friendly (reused) decorations.....(drum roll)

Thrift stores!!!!!!!! At good thrift stores, and there are plenty out there, they have tons of decorations, some of them are really retro and "different". those are my favorites.

The interweb is full of creative people. Check out these links if you're in the mood for making some decorations.

-How About Orange (New fan of this blog...seriously it's worth the click)
-Martha Stewart (oh Martha, how we love thee, these holiday crafts are oh so nice)
-Craftzine (Instructions on projects are well explained,original ideas)
-Inside A Black Apple
(I definitely wont be buying those little to/from tags anymore, I will make my own, or just print some out on scrapped paper/reusable paper, some of these blogs are giving them to us as gifts! Inside A Black Apple has some really unique printable gift tags, just click on that link, you won't regret this click either)
-Craft Gossip (You'll find everything you hoped and wanted to find here)

Again, I am constantly amazed at all of the talented and creative people that are out there, and I am very thankful that these people are willing to share their creations with us and some of them even willing to share the secret to making these creations. If you have any Holiday decoration ideas or links you are willing to share with Lu-n-Am readers. comment away. It is possible to stay away from all of that excess Christmas commercialism and consumerism and still have a very wonderful Christmas.

-Lu-

Whoa!

I say whoa! because look who is updating for a change ;) Lu here, sorry for the lack of posts on my part, I have been a busy and diligent little student preparing for an art show in October and taking 18hours of classes. But enough excuses...cause non of them should count.

I've come to write about these lovely notebooks...that not only are cute, creative, and unique...but Recycled! and oh so easy to make.

My sweet mother (Martha Stewart of France) has made me several of them, and I have used them for study notes, journals, and even sketch books.
All you need is...
Paper scraps...and we can find those everywhere...just look around a printer- discarded printer paper is perfect, just use the clean side! take your old notes from last semester, who needs to remember about that geography chapter on soil...(my mother has now turned this chapter into a cute recycled notebook)
Some staples ( if you want to sew yours with cute string...go for it! the quick way is staples.
One sheet of prettier paper for the cover. (you could use a collage, some of your old art, patterned paper, old calendar photos...be creative this will be your cover.)
and last of all some clear duct tape to reinforce the side.
and voila!

Photos and examples from our beloved Etsy. Don't feel like making your own, Subu's handmade recycled notebooks, journals, books, and notepads are awfully cute.
~Lu

Save, Reuse, & Improve

So I figured it was time to get off my "gorgeously green" kick for an entry and share some simple but creative ideas and projects for the week.
My mum, the one and only "Martha Stewart of France" has been working on a new project this week. She saw this in a magazine and absolutely loved the idea of turning old & cheap silverware holders into jewelry boxes to hang on a wall. get creative with it, paint it, collage the inside (Lucienne used some extra wallpaper she had)...add the hooks where you want them, she is going to add some chicken wire for the top part as a way of holding her earrings.
Results (& still unfinished)=

I was cleaning my room yesterday, and decided it was time to do something about all of these books, cell phone & charger, glasses of water....laying all around my bed.... things that should be on a night stand or in a shelf by my bed.Now, these items are in this empty wooden wine crate I found laying in the garage that is now my nightstand/shelf.
save these...save and reuse & improve. why not paint it to match your decor? something I may just do to mine..

and last but not least, if you're in the mood for making your own furniture and are looking for some simple but modern plans & ideas. I found this great website through Apartment Therapy. This offers furniture building plans for a very small fee (4 to 5 dollars at the most)...So if you're looking for a weekend project and a new coffee table..this is the site to visit. PlanCanvas

ps. I will be MIA for the next week. on vacation
-Lu

Bake & Impress

Bread is... "green" - (according to this)- It provides more food energy than any other type of food compared to the resources required to produce and deliver it to the consumer. But.... it is even more delicious and environmentally friendly...if you make it yourself. So save yourself a trip to the grocery store, a few dollars a week (it all adds up quickly), and impress your family & friends with this scrumptious recipe.

Introducing: "A Lesson on Bread with La Martha Stewart de France" because yes...i guarantee the real Martha does not make bread THIS good. ; )
Believe me this bread is sexy, it's tasty, and it's easy to make...

Ingredients:
1. Bread Flour (4 cup 1/4 )
2. Salt (1 tsp 1/2 )
3. Yeast (1 tsp 1/4 )
4. Sugar ( 1 tsp)
5. Water (1 cup 1/2)
____________________
- Mix all dry ingredients. If you own a kitchen aid mixer (lucky) it's easiest to go ahead and mix the ingredients in the mixer's bowl

- Slowly stir in water. If you do not have a kitchen aid...work the dough with hands.






-Gather dough into a ball and place in center of mixing bowl. Place a cloth over the bowl and let it sit for a good 20-30 minutes. *if it's hot outside, use this to your advantage and place bowl on table outside. The dough will rise quickly!


-Once it's risen, start kneading! The video bellow is a good example of how to knead bread...once you've finished the kneading and shaped your bread (you can braid it *like the one pictured above*, cover it and let it sit another 10-15 minutes.






-Meanwhile...Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
- For the golden look..."paint" the top layer of your bread with water.
- You can add seeds/seasoning on top if you want. (Lucienne likes the poppy seeds & sesame)
-Bake bread for 25 minutes, and you're finished!





Hope you like!
-Lu-

The No-Plastic Revolution continues....

The many reasons of never ever using a plastic grocery bag not only include helping your environment, but also being able to use....reuse &...use again...and continue using one of these instead:




My sweet mom, Lucienne, also known as "La Martha Stewart of France" due to her incessant creativity and masterful skills has been busy sewing these three bags. These bags are patterned after your original grocery store plastic bag & made of recycled fabric including one of my very very old "old navy" sweatshirts. Props to this webite: Craftster.org-tutorial for giving mom very good directions on how to create these lovely bags.

and if you think paper bags are better like I did...you may want to take a look at this:


Video brought to you by Pretty Green. If you don't have the sewing skills...like myself, or you don't have a Martha Stewart in your family...just check out these lovely bags from Pretty Green.
-Lu