Today, I am going to share a technique with you that is beautiful, inexpensive and green called Furoshiki, which is the Japanese Art of gift wrapping. Recently, I loved learning Furoshiki, and I think that you will love it too. Yes, that is a bunny package, which kind of reminds you of origami, right? 

I found that Furoshiki technique works will with small rectangular or square boxes. The box is usually placed in the center of the diamond. 

If you are eager to get started with Furoshiki, ​then here is a video that you can watch showing the technique. 

I had a smooth experience with last minute shopping and finding cool gifts this year. Tomorrow, I am going to share a last minute gift guide for your holidays! Surprisingly, I found almost everything at 2 stores and 1 online retailer. This picture is a sneak peak of what I found!

If you try this out, I would love to see your pictures on Instagram, so be sure to tag me!

If you liked reading this post, then think you will enjoy my DIY Greenery Wreath tutorial. 

The holidays are just around the corner and this weekend it really sunk in! Today, I will share with you some of my favorite products for makers, along with who won the anniversary giveaway at the end of this post!

While I like to get out, stroll and shop for gifts, I do not enjoy that anxious feeling that creeps in while, I am inside a too crowded store. Often our toddler starts loosing patience (understandably), so when we shop, we try to make it fun! I try to limit our shopping trips to around 1-2 hours, and work in activities that he will find fun too, like visiting the koi pond, a trolley ride, and of course a snack by the water fountain. With all of these activities worked into the mix, I usually make it out of our local shopping center with only 1 purchase in hand (if I am lucky). More and more, I find myself shopping online and I also love to make gifts handmade for the people I love. I am pretty selective about what I buy as I prefer to give only things that I think people will really use and enjoy. Has anyone else read, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up?

I doubly enjoy shopping at local craft fairs and events that support small businesses and artists with their endeavors. So this year, while making our family wish lists, I decided to put together an online gift guide for the artists and DIY lovers in your life. All of these products and supplies, I have personally used in my DIY projects this year, so I can vouch for them!

Today, I am sharing my favorite selections for designing textiles. The second row is specifically dedicated to Shibori designs, which hold a special place in my work. I recommend this starter kit for Indigo Dyeing, as it is how I got started, and now I have moved on to working with a fructose vat.

As many of you know, I have maintained a woodworking shop for years. I am a big fan of woodwork and home renovation too! I enjoy products designed from sustainably harvested hardwood. I even design my own coatracks and walnut mirrors. A surreal moment for me was when the Sheraton hotels purchased my walnut coatracks for every suite in their Mountain Vista Villas in Colorado. Below, I have listed some of my favorite tools and products that I use daily in my workshop. 

I hope that you find this gift guide for creatives helpful and motivational, whether you are a maker yourself or shopping for one.

Last but not least, the winner of the Shibori Tea Towel set is: Richard L! Congratulations and thanks to all who played along. I enjoyed hearing about your year-long goals. I love getting to know more about you and what you are up to!

Last Thursday, I shared some exciting news! I announced that I would be participating in the One Room Challenge as a guest participant along with over 200 designers across the country. Awesome, right?! 
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Lucky for me, I stumbled upon this challenge when I saw a designer from my Children's bedrooms board had participated in the past. It was a timely discovery as the challenge dates synced up perfectly with our room design timeline. 

We promised ourselves that after the weather cooled down, we would re-organize his space and return all of his toys to the room, as they are currently scattered around the house in our living room and bedroom which is driving us, (me) crazy!

We decided to do a twin bed with a trundle, so that family can still come over and spend the night. Our current guest bed is a queen, so our goal is to open up the floor space in the room by using a space saving bed. 

We are probably going to keep the white dresser, which is bolted to the wall as-is. To the right of the dresser, you can see the corner of my husband's desk. He often works from home and this space doubles as his office, when he does. As you can see, we have a lot going on in this space! One day, in the not so distant future we hope to have a 3 bedroom place, but for now, we will just have to get creative with the space we have. 

One thing that I kind of like about this room is the nursery bookshelf that we made using photo ledges from IKEA. It is actually an inexpensive and low profile way to display a variety of books! We may keep that part the same. 

We did decide, which bed to order. I have a feeling that some of you will be very excited about the one that we selected, while others might be disappointed? I asked for your opinion on my Facebook page and on Instagram and the vote was split about 50/50. Many of you made very good points about each product board, which made the decision that much more difficult.

Since, the new bed has already shipped, you will be finding out about that selection soon! ​I will say that in a way, I took your advice. On another note, this fan needs to go! Unless anyone has a creative way to update it? If you do, please share in the comments. 

Last, but not least, I will tackle paint selection, lighting, and visual accessories like photography. 
I plan to share those things all Week 4...

Then there will be only 2 weeks left to install and full style the space. You can follow along the One Room Challenge with me every Thursday. 

I look forward to seeing what all the other designers are up to this week. If you would like to see Week 2: Product Boards or Week 1: Inspiration Boards, you can take a peak!