DIY

DIY garlands + vintage clothes

March 10, 2014 by Angela

If you’ve stopped by E. Magnolia Vintage any time in the last week, you’ll notice that our shop looks amazingly different than it used to! While it’s always fun to find new places to shoot our vintage clothes, my past-roommate/friend/co-owner Charity and I both had a vision for our shop that can be summed up in just a few words: clean + pretty with a creative (and in our case, DIY) flair. I visited her in San Diego a few weekends ago to bring our vision to life, and here’s our exciting new look:

I’m beyond happy to say that some of our new pieces are going quick and I’m even more excited to say that we’re still not done! This whole month we’ll be getting our shop up to speed, and soon we’ll need to have another photo shoot. There’s even talk of adding a few handmade goods into the mix–all in the same sweet, romantic, and carefree style of the clothes we choose.

If you’re wondering how to DIY your own photo shoot, head over to West Coast Whimsy, where Charity wrote about our process in turning her living room into a one-day creative studio. Check back this week for the how-to on this tissue paper tassel garden–it’s super easy & I’ll be making another one for my apartment.

Have you turned your home into a makeshift photo studio before? I’d love to hear about it 🙂

All photos by Charity or I. Shop East Magnolia Vintage here.

DIY confetti monogram wall art

February 19, 2014 by Angela

This year I’m happy to announce that I am contributing DIY posts to a few new sites! One of those is the lovely blog Bright, Bold & Beautiful, which is dedicated to home design, entertaining, and inspiration. My first post is this DIY confetti monogram wall art I made from tiny hole punch circles. Head over to BB&B to see the how-to, and let me know if you are inspired by this print to make your own!

Spring crochet

February 17, 2014 by Angela

Happy Monday! Lately I’ve had nothing but spring on the mind, so I’ve been crocheting with bright colors and ribbons and soft wool yarn. New hair clips and headbands are coming to the shop, too. What are you doing to get ready for spring?

Quick DIY Valentine’s Day heart centerpiece

February 5, 2014 by Angela

Valentine’s Day is such a fun holiday to me because it’s sweet, simple, and all about spreading love. I don’t think about it as necessarily a way to be romantic or get gifts from your s/o but a really great excuse to tell someone you care, appreciate their friendship, or just wear glittery pink hearts in your hair! I picked up these cute Valentine’s themed pipe cleaners at Joann fabrics after Christmas and couldn’t wait to think of a project for them. The other night I remembered I had ’em and was feeling crafty but impatient, and yet another Quickie DIY was born.

For this impossibly quick centerpiece, all you need are the pipe cleaners and a vase. I chose a skinny glass vase that I had painted gold around the rim–which I suggest you try if you love gold because it’s been my go-to for centerpieces in every season!

Just twist the tops of the pipe cleaners into a loop and form it into a heart. Repeat with different colors and different sized hearts. And you’re finished in under 5 minutes. A record, yes? I may just keep these handy little pipe cleaners in my kitchen drawers if I ever have company and no time for a cute tablescape!

DIY art gallery wall reveal + tips

February 4, 2014 by Angela

After living in my cozy little apartment for 8 months, I can finally say—my art gallery wall is finished! This wall is a huge open space right above my couch (purposely left out of these photos, the cats have really done a number on our perfect Craigslist find!), and stretches into the dining area. The wall is super long, but I really wanted it to fit well above the couch. For a while, it was only half done—but I’ve added a few amazing pieces to my collection, which I’ll talk about today! If you are starting a mini art collection like mine, there are a few places I’d recommend for awesome prints—check them out below:

Independent gift stores: Most of the tiny cards that I displayed are from an adorable home shop in Burbank, CA, that features handmade art and gifts from different indie sellers. I fell in love with the California, bird, and butterfly-themed prints, and added them to my wall last to tie everything together. The large butterfly poster was for sale at a vintage and art boutique in Bellingham, WA, for only $5—but I’ve seen it multiple places. Small specialty shops are such a great way to get when you have something in mind like filling an art wall—but no idea where to start.

Etsy: Duh. For a while, I thought my wall would be entirely Etsy, but I’ve managed to branch out (I’m adventurous like that). Etsy has, of course, one of the largest selections of art, design, and typography prints (and original art) that you can find online, straight from the sellers.

Tiny Prints: Yep, this 5×7 postcard-type print and glittery gold background is from the customized greeting card website! I got an idea to customize a card and make it into a piece of wall art when I noticed you could totally change the text on their holiday cards. This one was a New Years card, but I uploaded my own photo and wrote “hello, 2014—with love, from California” as a tribute to a new year in my new city! The back features a cute sparkly diamond design, so I turned one of my prints around and layered them on top of each other.

Thrift stores: Is there a shopping trip that can’t be completed at a thrift store? I truly don’t think so (though the above options are acceptable replacements). I thrifted the small botanical art print (center) from a vintage field guide long ago (you may remember my photo backdrop wall) and still have tons of pages to work with. I absolutely love thrift-shopping for paper supplies (more on that later!) because even if you only end up with one book, you instantly have hundreds of pages to work with. This United States map was from a 1940s atlas. I personally wouldn’t have wanted to tear pages from such a unique book had it not already been destroyed by the thrift store (insert angry rant about how some thrift shops insist on writing prices directly on the cover and pages, not to mention stores that actually staple their price tags to the clothing!…ugh). I took a pink pen and marked our journey from our college town way up in Washington all the way down to our trip to San Diego last year, and now our home in LA! Can’t wait to connect the dots next time we move.

Artists/Businesses Featured (besides thrifted or DIY):

Have you posted a home tour on your blog? I want to see it!

Easy crochet infinity scarf pattern

January 23, 2014 by Angela

This post is KIND OF a milestone in my crafting career. Today, I am posting my first-ever crochet pattern! I have a little secret with crochet: I never read patterns (let alone write them!). All my designs are made through a process of trial and error (and error) until my scarves are the right length, coffee cozies the right fit, flowers are the right size, etc. When I first started crochet, I learned from watching instead of reading, and simply never thought much of the fact that I don’t follow patterns. Lately, I’ve started to read a few good crochet books and learn from other artists, too. This scarf pattern may seem TOO easy to even be a pattern, but then I remember trying to teach my sister crochet–it’s very hard if you are totally new to needlecraft!

I love crocheting infinity scarves. I always keep a few in my Etsy shop, and I love seeing how other people layer them up for winter. There are a lot of infinity scarves and patterns out there, but one thing that separates my scarves from most crochet is this: they’re really, super long. Unravel one of my infinity scarves and it can rival you in height (or me, I’m pretty short). I love the cozy look of wrapping a scarf around (and around) and throwing it over a sweater. So, I made a variation to share today, of one of the simplest designs you can do in crochet. This one is a moderate length compared to a lot of my others, so feel free to keep crocheting that foundation chain for a longer scarf than the one here. I currently have about three on heavy-rotation each winter :).

For this pattern I used double crochet throughout, a super large hook, and a yarn needle for weaving at the end. I love using large hooks because you get that chunky knitted look. Here’s the how-to:

*worsted weight acrylic yarn, 2-3 skeins, or about 380 yards.

*size N hook

*large yarn needle

TO BEGIN.

Chain until scarf is 84″ in length (or your desired length)

This is what it will be around.

Turn, insert the hook into 3rd chain from hook, and double crochet in each chain across.

Turn, chain 3, and repeat. Repeat until you have 7 rows of dc.

Optional: crochet a border around the scarf in either slip stitch or single crochet – most of the time I find it looks uniform enough not to need to do this, but it can add more of a finished look.

Fasten off – leave about 8″ at the end to sew the scarf together and weave in.

Sew it together with a large needle. Make sure it hasn’t twisted and is all facing the same direction. Weave in the other end and make sure everything is secure. There you have it! Wrap around two or three times depending on the look you want. Store it lying flat to prevent excess stretching.

Let me know if you will give this crochet scarf a try 🙂