A Post-Turkey Return

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Didn't get the chance to post last week, since I was running around prepping for (and ultimately enjoying!) the holiday. Lots of fun crammed into the last 5 days or so... I'm still trying to recover! Not only did I have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, I played hostess for our 5th annual "friendsgiving" on Saturday, aptly titled Thanksgiving 2 (or T-Givs 2 for short). Flaming marshmallow drama aside, it was a wonderful time spent with my favorite people, sharing my favorite foods.

The photo above is of a little arrangement I put together for the celebration, inspired by found items from the Fall. Shadow boxes and floating frames were used to display various nuts, cinnamon sticks, leafs, feathers and a few fabric scraps that tied in with my palette. Glass bottles wrapped in twine held branches and floral stems, while pine cones and mason jar votives punctuated the display. For the focal point, I affixed unfinished wooden letters (custom made by woodenletters.net) to a 24" x 36" canvas and propped up the number 2 in front for added dimensionality.

I didn't document my work in progress, but everything here is easily DIY-able! The bottles did take a while to wrap, but I love the way they turned out. Super cheap to make, and the end result is something that I'll get a lot of use from! All of the frames will also be recycled for other projects, or become a part of everyday décor.

Did you host your own holiday get together? What are some of the things you did to dress up the room or table? Feel free to share pictures if you have them!

DIY: Ruffle Embellished Cardigan

Yesterday we tweeted about a cardigan-centric post from You Are my Fave, which featured this photo of an embellished sweater from J Crew . The ruffled beauty is unfortunately sold out, but that shouldn't stop you from re-creating the style with pieces from your existing wardrobe!

This old tank and cardigan have fallen out of  normal rotation - the tank is a little short, but I love the pattern and couldn't bear to part with it in my most recent purge.  The sweater? Just a big bored with it.  Feeling inspired, I decided to combine the two into something new!

I thought this shirt would make a great ruffle for two reasons: 1. it's a cute, neutral color and pattern and 2. the soft jersey knit material will hang well and can live without a hem. First, I split the shirt down it's side seam. Luckily for me, the lace trim was only on the front, leaving a nice open area on the back for me to trace my first ruffle.

The first strip I cut was for my larger, bottom ruffle. I measured the fabric out to remain 5" wide from start to finish. The second ruffle was cut out of the front of the tank, on the bottom half. This second strip  started out at 3 1/2" and tapered off to 2"at its end (about 18" long). I wanted this strip to have a narrower end so that my top ruffle would have more defined layers. 

Thread a needle through the top hem of your ruffle, folding the fabric back and forth (like a paper fan) as you sew. As you pull the thread, the fabric should gather and start to ruffle. I used a regular thread, but I'm assuming this would work even better with an elastic.

With a steam iron, I carefully pressed my pleats to form sharp creases in the fabric. Easier said than done, but the results came out great! Now, lets fold these bad boys into their final ruffly state...

1. Start with the small tapered ruffle, laid out flat

2. Fold the top half of the ruffle down over the bottom half, with the reverse side of the fabric showing

3. Fold the remaining bit down, print side up, to form a wedge shaped piece for your top ruffle

4. Next, lay the larger 5" ruffle out on a flat surface

5. & 6. Fold ruffle back and forth in a zig-zag to create alternating layers of patterned and reversed fabric

7. This is what my completed bottom ruffle looked like when I was done folding.

8. Once you've laid out both ruffles, pinch the folds and discreetly sew each layer to secure.

9. Here are the finished pieces! I decided not to sew them together, in case I wanted to use the top or bottom ruffle separately on another garment.

10. Use a safety pin to secure the bottom ruffle to your cardigan. You can also sew them on, but I wanted the option of removing them before laundering as well as using them as embellishments elsewhere!

DONE! Pin the top ruffle in place and VOILA! A magical creation, all your own.

Only took 2 hours, and it didn't cost $118 from J Crew. Score.

Redddddd This!

Lisbeth Zwerger is my favorite illustrator. She. Is. Amazing. Please buy all her books so she never stops. One of my favorites is her Wizard of Oz. There's a full spread of the characters in a field of red poppies that is so beautiful and whimsical and strange. It makes me want to live in her books.



Clockwise from top left
Dress from Alberta Ferretti's Spring 2010 show
Embroidery from Neville Trickett's Flickr
Red Hunter Wellies from Shelba's Flickr
Old Red Hat letterpress pieces
Hoboken Pie Store
Thank You card from Pop + Shorty
Martha Stewart butterfly straw toppers
Living room from stylist/textile designer Marieke van Proosdij
RedruM photo frames
Ulrika May pillows

Origami Folds

I really loved the composition of this photo by Snorkiesnork on Flickr (via oh joy! ). Not sure what the image is from, but the colorful cranes are adorable and seem especially fitting for an outdoor party. I think it's the bright assortment of clothespins that really seals the deal-- regular wooden clothespins wouldn't make half the statement!

I've always loved origami. Cheap decorations, good for killing time in a meeting, and if you happen to get really good at it, you could always try your hand at recreating some of the gorgeous items below. The paper lamp shade and the earrings are my personal favorites, along with the sadly-still-just-a-concept paper crane tea bags. I'd absolutely love to make a quilt out of squares like the ones from Hanna Nyman and Marie Dreiman! Maybe when I retire..

Clockwise from top left: 

Folded "Propellerheads" paper tesselation from EricGjerde's photostream on Flickr 

DIY paper table lanterns by Design*Sponge (simple tutorial)

Origami print tumblers by soule on Etsy via Apartment Therapy 

Large white pendant shade by Claire Norcross for Habitat (£65.00)

Lucky wheel origami earrings in funnysky's Etsy store ($5, hundreds of other origami items!)

Structured origami skirt in purple from Topshop ($80)

Silver origami windmill necklace from Origami Bijou ($60)

Folded fabric for a Bogesunds Vaveri tradebooth by Hanna Nyman and Marie Dreiman 

Hand-folded origami dish from EndemicWorld ($145)

Paper crane origami teabag design by Natalia Ponomareva via Emily Chang 

Origami table design by Matthias Demacker for van Esch

Fowl Friends

Even though the fall is creeping in and the mornings are freezing in my apartment, an (seemingly) invisible bird outside my window insists on waking me up instead of letting my usual alarm clock do its job. Don't birds migrate south in cold weather? What happened to this guy and why did he get left behind? Maybe I'll try to catch him and domesticate him. OR I'll just look at these lovely curiosities on boxes from Lyndie Dourthe! Amazing!


Clockwise from left
Rotulos Roura company owl in Barcelona via Whorange
Paper mobile from Sandra Juto
Owl Plushie from Night Owl Papergoods
Birdhouse dolls from Tamar Morgendorff
Owl painting from Andrew Holder
Owl Book End from Chatchada
Godzilla Grows Feathers matte print from Charmine Olivia's Etsy
WAWAYA owls from Gnip
Bird Sketches paper print from dolangeiman's Etsy
Owl candlesticks from Laura Walls Taylor's Etsy
Cardinal garden bell from The Gardener
Bird Mobile from Grayhood
Lacy Bird bowls from Prince Design UK's Etsy
Amma maternity stationary from Beastpieces
A Simple Bird from BROOKLYNrehab's Etsy

Animal-style

Not so very long ago, Twitter changed its default avatar from 'anonymous silhouette' to 'perky bird'. I am now a chipper little chick! It got me looking at my walls and jewelry box and realized I have a few of my own wildlife-inspired pieces of my own. Not only that, I been gravitating towards more things beastie in general.

Also, click here to follow Mismatchérie on Twitter!

Clockwise from top left:
Invisible Dogs from Improv Everywhere
Whale Pitcher from Jonathan Adler
Vintage Ram Pin from Purple Daisy Jewelry
Halloween bird masks from Whip Up
Vintage chair from Hazel & Hunter
Porcelain plate from Studio Violet
Autumn Bird barley candy from Fancy Flours
Bulldog print from The Little Friends of Printmaking
Emily Anderson's home and whale pillow on DesignSponge
Autumn Bird barley candy from Fancy Flours
Owls from Matt Pugh Design
Hedgehog cupcake from Martha Stewart
Ark textile pattern from Rilla
Elephant Bank from Cross Design
Modern Wilderness Rhinos from A+R Store
Gold deco Snake bangle from Luxury Vintage
Enchanted forest rings from Soop
Mini Pink Leopard Bronzing Powder from Too Faced

Button Bonanza

Well, I'll have to admit, this is an  extremely literal interpretation of the above photo from Chris Glass, but I couldn't help myself! Buttons are cool.

I hardly ever bother incorporating buttons into my crafts, but it's clear that I should! All of the ideas below would be simple to recreate with your own personal touch. I especially love the button hair pins: bobby pin + button + hot glue = super cute! You really can't argue with such a cheap and quick way to jazz up your everyday accessories. 

Check out the links for tutorials and more button-centric inspiration!

Clockwise from top left:

Vintage button earrings from edithandlulu's Etsy shop ($12)

Handmade crochet headband with button accents from brokenhallelujah's Etsy shop ($10.50)

Button Hairclips photo from Flickr, DIY tutorial on Martha Stewart's site

Candy buttons tutorial with cute printable labels for gift-giving, Bake It Pretty blog

How-to: Colorful button bouquet from American Crafts Studio

1940's Vintage necklace with French China button from Bumbershoot Design's Etsy shop ($23.50)

Herringbone stripe button purse from Nonsuch's Etsy Shop 

DIY tutorial for personalized shrinky dink graphic buttons at Oh! I like That!

Letterpress stationery with scissor and button pattern from Letterpress's Etsy shop ($4.00)

Making a button clock article from Martha Stewart

Plus, check out this book of neat button crafts by Susan Beal (Amazon)! Oh the possibilities..