after last summer’s adventures in concrete, part 1, i really wasn’t interested in trying for a part 2. the majority of the pieces didn’t work, and it was so hot that day… i had miserable memories of it. but lisa wanted to give it another go, and when papernstitch posted a great cement/concrete diy round-up with 9 projects, i agreed to host another concrete pour.

so. all of the diy posts are very inspiring, and well written, but when it comes to concrete, there’s a huge variability in types and the diy posts never get specific about exactly what type/brand you should use. we added too much vermiculite to our batch last year, even though i thought we were following the how-to correctly. the night before our pour this time around, i found myself standing in front of 10+ types of concrete at home depot, with no clue which one i should buy. then our hero came to the rescue: anna‘s husband steve, who knows a thing or two about concrete (he made the concrete counter tops for both my kitchen and theirs).

here’s the secret to concrete success: non-shrink precision grout.

it doesn’t have large chunks of aggregate like regular concrete. it doesn’t shrink. and it dries/cures quickly. and yeah, steve was awesome and came up with the perfect concrete-to-water ratio that we used: for each pound of concrete, add 3 oz. of water. i mixed up our batches in a gallon bucket, with 6 pounds of concrete each time.

we mixed a few batches up, and the concrete had the consistency of mashed potatoes. once in the forms (dixie cups, yogurt containers, etc.), we tapped them against the driveway to encourage the air bubbles to rise to the top (and pop). by doing that, the surface of the concrete smoothed itself out. i really didn’t like the roughness of the top of the candle bases in concrete candle project post, but i really like the ones i made.

me scooping concrete into a cup.

freshly poured! we cut off the top half of spongebob square pants dixie cups and used them as the “inner” mold for the bigger items  (sour cream containers, small deli containers, yogurt tubs, etc.). we put rocks inside, to keep it from popping up.

i love the lines that were inside the wallaby yogurt container i used for the candle above.

anna’s sparkly toes! (polish chosen by her daughter)

kristin brought some containers that once held trader joe’s seaweed. they were fun to put votives into.

anna put tealights into the bottom of dixie cups, and then held them down with her finger as she added the concrete (to keep the candles from floating up). i did not put my finger on my tealights, and i ended up with 2 cups of concrete.

to recap:

• 1 50 pound bag of quikcrete precision grout
• mix 3 oz of water to every pound of concrete
• add more water if needed — the consistency can be between mashed potatoes and cake batter
• scoop concrete into container about 2/3 of the way full
• tap, tap, tap, and try to get some of the air bubbles to come to the surface
• then add your candle or “inner mold”
• let dry over night — we left ours outside on a summer night, covered with a sheet of plastic
• we used about 3/4 of the bag, between 4 of us, each making 4-10 items

now that we’ve figured it out, i plan to do it again! happy weekend!

when i was working on my ivar chair, i mixed too much paint so i dug out blocks i bought last may and started painting. this one is my favorite.

i try not to let the latest trends influence my work. i would like to think that i’m designing and creating goods that i would use/enjoy, regardless of “what’s now”. i was so proud of myself for not falling for the owl/log/mushroom fad of the mid aughts, but i am falling hard for geometrics and bright color palettes and hints of metallics (hellooooo, right here). i can’t resist!

last weekend i decided that i really needed to paint a chair in a sorbet palette. i picked up an ivar at ikea for $20, and over the last week i painted the chair pieces in soft colors (with acrylics). then i picked up some bronze to add a little pop of metallic. i debated painting every chair piece, and decided against it. this is my second ivar… i wrapped my first ivar in yarn last year. i don’t have room for more! i can’t keep up this yearly habit… but they’re so fun and easy to decorate:

monday fun: did you see my 3×3 interview on cargoh’s blog? i was asked 3 fun questions, and i sent them some photos (including one of me!) along with my answers, and they put together a really great feature. you have to see it!

i didn’t have a lot of creative time this week, but i did take a pink porcelain paint pen to a milk jug i purchased at target. think i’m going to put the half & half i use for my tea within.

happy weekend!

i like to give a handmade gift every year, and i really try hard to make it a gift that will get used. many of the things i’ve given to people in the past have been “stuff”… and i feel bad when people think they need to hang onto that stupid gewgaw that i gave them 14 years ago. so i lean towards edible gifts these days.

for xmas 2011, i made 2 batches of cherry & almond granola and “packaged” it in 3/4 liter mold jars from weck. i may have baked it a little too long, but it’s still pretty good and i’ll make it again for myself.

i like to give functional gifts, too. i gave a few people sake soak: a small bottle of sake and an orange, with instructions to draw a hot bath, and add sake and sliced oranges. sake is supposed to help moisturize dry skin, which i find hard to believe due to the alcohol content… but it’s still really fun to soak in sake with orange slices!

and i love it when i get yummy gifts in return: my sister also made cherry & almond granola (great minds?) and she gave me a jar full of cookies that she made. jenn made me magic salt (with garlic, sage, and rosemary) and now i put it on everything i make. and chandler sent me a jar of apple butter. i made scones last weekend and man, i had no idea apple butter was that good.

i’ve been feeling full and loved!

(i really need to start running regularly again.)

happy weekend!

dig out the decorations you’re not fond of anymore, and add gold spray paint.

about a week or so ago, i hosted a concrete pour. we used this tutorial from re-nest, and we were going to make a ton of gorgeous planters out of our yogurt tubs and ice cream quarts… but our day turned out to be a practice run.

we mixed the first 1/2 bag of concrete with vermiculite, using the ratios in the tutorial. maybe there’s different types of vermiculite? the only one that menard’s offered was meant to be used for attic insulation, and i don’t think it was the right type: it sucked the water out of the concrete, and prevented it from setting. days after the pour, the concrete/vermiculite mix was like wet sand, and the planters crumbled once out of the forms.

martha suspected the vermiculite was going to be problematic, so we didn’t add any to the last 1/2 of the concrete bag. we were a little more successful towards the end, but it was a really hot & humid day, and i felt like i was packing containers just so we could finish up and get out of the heat. i didn’t level off what i poured. the top photo is the best of my practice planters, and they may not stick around.

anna wasn’t able to join us, but her husband steve knows tons about concrete, and he recommended we also try quick-setting grout. we mixed up a bag of white, and didn’t add any extras. those planters turned out pretty cool! but i still need to knock out the dried grout from his mixing tub… this project can be icky to clean up.

despite the disappointments, we are going to do it again. both jenn and lisa had a few winners, and now that we’ve got some of the kinks worked out (no vermiculite! do it on a cooler day!) i’m chalking the pour up as a practice round and will try again before summer’s end.

when i saw blair’s yarn-wrapped hangers via readymade, i immediately added them to my mental to-do… but i wanted to go bigger. i knew i had a good stash of bright yarns left over from my felted bowl phase, and i pictured stripes on a stool or small bench.

i went to ikea, and i couldn’t find a stool or bench that i liked. i started nosing around the dining chairs, and i spotted ivar. it’s made of pine and cheap ($19.99). it wasn’t really what i was looking for, but i brought an ivar home anyway. last friday night i poured a big glass of wine, logged into hulu, and went to work.

i put the chair together but left the seat off so i could do the seat “base”. then i wrapped and wrapped, for hours. i wrapped only the horizontal pieces of the chair, as i wanted the wood to continue to be visible — i liked the contrast of smooth and hard to soft and tactile. with the first loop i  made a knot, and when i was ready to switch colors, i knotted the new color to the old, and wrapped over the tails. i didn’t use any glue — i wasn’t quite sure i was going to like the outcome, so i wanted the color to be temporary if i hated it.

but i love it.

2010′s holiday gift was vanilla sugar. i originally wanted to make lemon sugar, but i thought vanilla sugar would be easier for everyone to use. around the time that i was considering my gift options, the marvelous mary ann inquired about a goods trade, and when i realized she could make me tags that said sugar, i knew i had my gift.

to make: i bought a giant bag of sugar and 9 vanilla beans. i mixed the vanilla beans into the sugar and poured the sugar into slom jars from ikea. i tied the tags around the lid with divine twine, and there you have it, a sweet gift for the holidays.

happy weekend!

i’ve started to prep my holiday 2010 gift but i can’t show you yet, as most of recipients read my blog and i don’t want to ruin the surprise! so instead, i thought a little wrap-up of some of the things i’ve made over the last few years might spur a little d.i.y. creativity for you:

• vanilla extract
• spiced hot chocolate
• salt scrubs
• circle wreath
• decorated ceramics
• wine tags
• sea salt caramels
• sugar and spice candied nuts

i’m headed to manhattan today for a little shopping and to teach workshops at red bow studio. see you next week!

patricia at red bow studio recently sent me a couple rolls of rainbow tape, and i went to town on some plain kraft boxes… you can get your own jar of rainbow tape at the red bow studio etsy shop. i think i might skip wrapping paper this year!

start thinking about this weekend! some good local events:

• willow house holiday craft fair: join me and many other talented artists for a cozy craft fair. treats will be served. friday, 3-8pm, willow house preschool, 5617 24th avenue south, minneapolis
• no coast craft-o-rama: the craft event of the season! friday, 3-8pm and saturday 9am-5pm at the midtown global market, minneapolis
• art at ramsey 16th annual holiday art fair: over 70 local artists. saturday, 10am-5pm at ramsey junior high, 1700 summit avenue, st. paul

don’t forget: 20% off your entire order in my etsy shop, until midnight this friday. use coupon code BLOGLOVE.

jenn and i chatted about carving eraser stamps months ago… she even bought us each a few to carve. and they sat in my drawer until last weekend.

painted fish studio doesn’t have a symbol/mark/picture as part of its identity. i prefer the simplicity of a logotype (a logo that consists of typography only). but i thought it’d be fun to carve a few fish that i can use to use when i mail packages, or to decorate notes and tags.

and by having a few different fish, i can pick which fish i want to use based on how i feel that day… modern? traditional? playful?

i used the same linoleum cutter that i use to carve blocks, and i didn’t take any photos while i was working on them. but if you need a tutorial, geninne‘s got an amazing one here.

i bought a package of air hardening clay for the last pARTy, but we didn’t use it. last week i rolled it out, and made stars with a cookie cutter. after a few days of drying, i strung them together with some jute twine. they have the satisfying clink of real terra cotta, but i’m not sure how they’ll hold up to april showers…

i hope you had a good easter weekend! despite feeling a little under the weather, i enjoyed a beautiful easter sunday with kristin‘s family… a little wine, yummy food, happy children, an easter egg hunt, good company… and she sent me home with some of the eggs she dyed with silk ties. i had never heard of it before, but googled it and found a how-to from martha stewart. it seems such a shame to crack them open, but i do need to eat more protein for breakfast…

i also had a little pARTy on friday, and i’ll have those photos ready later this week. happy monday!

when i travel, i save all of the ephemera i collect: receipts, ticket stubs, transportation passes, museum guides… i bring it all home. i usually don’t do much with it, but i recently made a few trip journals with ephemera that i brought home from my trips to new york and seattle.

keep reading, and i’ll show you how to turn this:

into this:

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my christmas gift for friends: homemade vanilla extract.

last october, i bought a giant bottle of vodka and 6 long vanilla beans. i cut a slit in each bean length-wise, put the beans in the vodka, and then let it sit in the basement. i ordered glass bottles online. i printed on label stock, and punched out the labels with one of my paper punches. a few days before christmas, i divvied up the extract amongst the bottles with a funnel, and added half of a new vanilla bean to each bottle.

i first made my own extract way back in 2001, using a tip from martha stewart’s living mag. another tip from that issue: add a vanilla bean or two to your sugar jar. because really, nothing smells better than vanilla!

christmas. just 2 weeks away. really?!

friends are coming over tomorrow for an xmas pARTy. we’ll be making wreaths, 12-month organizers (photo above) and i’ll have text blocks available for journal making. since you all can’t join us, here are some of my favorite make it posts from the last 2 years of painted fish studio… there’s still time to whip up some handmade gifts!

• wine tags
• beeswax candles
• spiced hot chocolate
• snow globes
• sea salt caramels
• origami trees
• sugar-and-spice candied nuts
• salt scrubs

happy weekend!

a few weeks ago molly sent me a link to a really cool wreath. oooooo… circles… as i contemplated the price, it occurred to me that i could make my own, but with paper instead of metal. i just needed to figure out what the base of the wreath would be. i poked around in a few craft stores, but i didn’t find anything that i thought would work well with paper. it hit me when i opened the cupboard above my stove and saw my paper plates: perfect.

make your own circle wreath by following my quick and cheap tutorial after the jump!

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i luuuurve making my own soap. well technically, i don’t really make it, i just mix together a glycerine base and essential oils. but making it myself (and knowing exactly what i’m sending down my drain) is so satisfying. monday night i made this batch with french green clay powder and lavender oil.

you can get all of the supplies you need at most craft stores and by searching online. my favorite place to order from is majestic mountain sage. i’ve posted about making soap before, you can read all about it here.

my friend jackie came over on a recent friday night and we wet felted scarves. we used our wool roving from last spring’s wool dyeing pARTy, and the wonderful marian’s (of floricita) wet felting tutorial.

we laid out our roving, about 6 feet worth each:

then sprinkled it with hot soapy water and worked away with bubble wrap to felt the fibers together:

i can picture long tables in my backyard, on a warm summer saturday afternoon, with my friends working away, felting wool. each with a glass of white wine. i’ve already emailed the fabulous birdie to see if we can have another wool dyeing pARTy this spring. she’s on board! then we felt this summer. whaddya say, girls?