materials for making

Floating Blossoms in a Tiny Indoor Pond (Su Tung Po)

Photographer Maria Robledo inspired us to copy the lovely pond she improvised for fallen blossoms culled from her garden. A perfect accompaniment to this Spring poem by Su Tung Po.

Bring a Little Piece of Nature Into the Home, Heart, Day (Yoko Ono, Max Lamb)

It usually takes just a shift of orientation, or your usual route to work or the store, to work some living trees into your day and heart. Here’s some inspiration from Yoko Ono and Max Lamb…

White Sneakers are Your Blank Canvas for Graffiti and Dalmation Spots (DIY)

Like many white things, plain white sneakers are a blank canvas just waiting to be embellished with permanent fabric markers or paint. Here are two favorite iterations for summer.

Ephemeral Curtains and Room Dividers Strung on Wires Are Easy to Do

In these images of gauzy curtains hung on simple wires via Clothier Aurelie Lecuyer, the lack of an imposing curtain rod achieves a pleasingly minimalist and ephemeral quality that’s easy and inexpensive…

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.

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