The Home Show tour continues…this time I’m heading back to the East Coast to one of my all time favorite cities: Boston.

I’ll be teaching a fun interactive workshop on FRIDAY, MARCH 2nd and SATURDAY, MARCH 3rd at the New England Home Show at the Seaport World Trade Center.  If you’re in town, come check out and learn:

–Simple Ways to Recycle your Trash into Beautiful and Functional Treasures

–See a Before and After Slide Show of Celebrity Homes I’ve Decorated Using Eco Methods and how You Too Can Get the Same Look

–And Win Eco-Friendly Prizes… 

Hope to see ya there.   Loved seeing everyone in San Mateo last week… thanks for the questions and creative ideas!

Good morning, all!

So, a few months ago, I posted this idea about taking a cheap, very-thin plastic shopping bag and recycling it into a plastic flower.

Well, over time, I’ve been perfecting and practicing to make the project a bit more exquisite and not so haphazard (see the other post. 

This morning, I think I’m finally happy with the end result. 

You take a grocery store bag and fold it in half and then fold it again half.   You run a piece of tape then around the middle.    Grab some very sharp scissors and trim off the top and bottom of the rolled up plastic bag, cut a few snips into the middle and then fluff.  Voila!  Plastic flower.

I think you could make a few of these and float them in water as a centerpiece, too.   Just no lighting candles with them!  Plastic burns!

Time to tackle your junk drawer!

Grab all those stray buttons and turn them into decorative thumbtacks.

Just use a strong adhesive—like Krazy Glue—to glue the flat side of thumbtacks to the underside of decorative buttons.   Allow to dry completely and then poke notes, photos, memos, whatever onto your message board!

You can also use colorful pebbles, foreign currency, seaglass and even wine corks!

One of the best steals I ever found at a flea market were three spools of ribbon for $1.   These were vintage ribbon that had, like, 100 yards of ribbon per spool.    Over time, the colors faded a bit, but now the soft color of pinks, purple and gold are perfect for wrapping up gifts.      You can see the three spools of ribbon in this pic; they’re on the bottom left.

A quick weekend idea:   Run a heavy-duty string (like this wax-coated hemp string) through the middle of all your ribbon.   Nail or screw to the sides of a window either a heavy-duty nail or eyelet hook; tie the string into place and hang in place.   Now whenever you need ribbon, you can just pull directly from the spool.    It also just looks cool when the light shines through.

(PS-I may have reposted this photo… I’m in San Francisco right now at the home show and I’m a bit tired….so my apologies if it is!)

In Kaight, I spied this great idea that you can either by in their store or attempt to make your own.

Take a plain key ring and attach some vintage-y items to it: a chandelier crystal, an old key, a locket, charms, whatever.

Instant, charming, old-fashioned keychain.