materials for making

A Messy Scrap Ribbon Collection Inspires Delights and Inventions

By saving bits of ribbon and string, I’m not just recycling them to use on other gifts; I’m collecting a beautiful materials to use for all sorts of applications…

Cool, Graphical Masking Tape Decorations for Walls, Cards, Wrapping

“I haven’t done a thing to get ready for the holidays” is an echo I’ve heared from many people I know. No matter. There’s always ways to festive things up at the last minute, with whatever is on hand.

Brian Eno’s Early Handwritten Oblique Strategies Cards Inspire Our Own

Brian Eno’s original set of handwritten oblique strategies cards designed to break creative impasses made us wonder about making our own…

Your Clothes Embellished with Simple Stitching

Over at Kleidersachen, we occasionally spot boldly stitched clothing that makes us wonder why we don’t take a need and thread to our clothes more often to jazz them up.

Otto Zitko Makes Me Want to Paint on the Walls

Even though I will never have the mastery of Otto Zitko’s wondrous scribble-scrabble, I wanted some of the experience of it, so I figured out how and when…

2 Ideas To Evoke Charming Wabi-Sabi in Your Space

Tiny Japanese restaurant Davelle employs inspired tricks to create a “bright and thoughtful little world” and a lovely feeling of wabi-sabi.

Simple Ways to Create Private Space with Fabric Room Dividers and ‘Slung Cloths’

The quest for a calming, private space can feel like an impossible dream, particularly for those who share tight living quarters. Here are some ideas…

Make Your Mark with Sculptural Drawing Chalk

Designer Nikolas Bentel designed the ultimate chalks for sidewalk graffiti and chalk-board painted wall decoration. Each one is a little sculpture onto itself with which you can draw parallel lines, dots and circles.

Simple Furoshiki Cloth Becomes a Carry Bag, Apron, Kitchen Towel, Scarf…

This useful little video and chart demonstrate ways of using furoshiki cloths — large multipurpose squares of cotton fabric — to make carry bags, aprons, more…

New Washi Tapes Transform Space with Morphable (or Removable) Designs

This 2-minute video shows just how liberating and morphable a room or design created with washi tape can be. Nitto’s new Haru tape is pushing the possibilities of washi tape.

Re-envision Broken Things As Newly Useful Ones with Memories (Su Tung Po)

Some of my favorite tools are broken ones that I’ve re-envisioned, turning their flaw into an often-cool looking virtue, with memories.

Makeshift Mortars and Pestles Make Sublime Walnut Pesto (and Other Delicious Things)

Although a real mortar and pestle is a lovely tool to have, you can achieve their rounded flavors and elemental textures with makeshift ones. Take this Walnut Pesto, for example…

Simple Effective Way to Dampen Irritating Vibrations

Our ever-awake world is full of machinery creating disturbing vibrations (and sleepless nights). After much trial and error, here’s the most effective way we found to dampen them..

Snow Day: ‘Why, How, Whence Such Beauty and What the Meaning’ (Mary Oliver)

When I went into the blizzard sweeping the East Coast, I was surprised to find so many people hanging out or happily at work on all sorts of creations…Mary Oliver’s poem came to mind.

Use Empathy and Observation to Find Simple Solutions (Mileha Soneji)

Designer Mileha Soneji loves to create innovations that aren’t dependent on technology, like the two she created for her uncle with Parkinson’s using a unique approach we can all employ…

The Rocks I Use Around My Home are Really Ancient Artifacts

Seth Boyden’s charming video, An Object at Rest, has changed the way I view the nearly two dozen rocks and stones I use around my space.

Salvaged Marble and Stone For Tables, Shelves, Backsplashes…

A budget apartment overhaul by a Brooklyn design student reminded us of the great design possibilities inherent in salvaged cuts of marble and other stone.

Free Downloadable Coloring Books from the World’s Great Collections

This trove of free downloadable coloring books from museums, libraries and universities around the world amplify the powerful the practice of coloring.

Big DIY Linen Projects and Room Dividers + Where to Find the Extra Wide Linen to Make Them

In our age of diminishing spaces that have to serve many purposes, linen projects like room dividers, curtains, draped slip covers and spreads hold many possibilities. The logistical question: where to buy really wide linen?

A Strong Sugru-like Adhesive You Can Make

Designer Stephen Johnson’s colorful adhesive dough prototype will bond all sorts of materials, including wood, glass, stone and metal and is strong enough to bond furniture parts together. We wondered if we could make some ourselves…

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