Now you can be Sustainable and Sauced at the same time . . .

Wine vending machines?  Yes please!  These machines now exist in French grocery stores. Bring  your own reusable bottles, or you can get one at the store. Pick your favorite wine red, white, or rosé and fill it up.

This concept was introduced by Astrid Terzian. She started this plan in fall 2008 to be both eco-conscience and thrifty.  Due to the fact that there is so much less packaging the wine can be shipped much more efficiently.

The first machine was installed in June 2009 at the Cora supermarket in Dunkirk and now they can be found in eight supermarkets in France.

Regulations permitting this will come to the US within a year. Word has it that the wine trade industry is working on this concept for the the US as we speak!

When times get tough, the tough find ways to reduce their cost of living.  One way to avoiding purchasing your daily lunch out at a restaurant is to do-it-yourself and pack a lunch for work or school.  There are other benefits to packing a lunch, such as the health benefits of knowing what is in your food, how it was prepared and where it came from.   Packing a lunch can be a simple operation if you don’t mind lots of PB&J sandwiches, but for the rest of us it’s nice to have other options.  I purchased these containers from Amazon for my son’s lunches, because he’s a huge fan of rice with soy sauce and I wasn’t sure how I was going to pack such a small quantity of liquid in the containers that I already had.  I am not typically a big advocate of simply throwing money at a problem, but when it comes to lunches having the proper equipment for the job is important, plus, come on, these little containers are so darned cute!  Keeping hot things hot and the cold things cold, using reusable, eco-friendly containers and trying to use containers that are BPA-free are all important parts to having a healthy, tasty lunch.

Here is a cool green option for lunch bags.  These lunch bags are made by Becky Striepe of Glue and Glitter. The great thing about Becky’s lunch bags, in addition to the obvious that these bags are stylish and cool, is that they come with silverware, matching cloth wraps to hold the silverware and this nifty eco-friendly, BPA-free container that has 4 removable containers within the container.  I have purchased this exact bag and can tell you that the quality is great.  If you are the crafty type and you want to DIY your own bag check out this book, in which Becky has a featured pattern.  Sewing lunch bags and other sewn accessories is really just one of Becky’s talents.  Another talent, well, really a passion of her’s is writing about green alternatives to everyday life.  You can find her writings at greenUPGRADER and Care 2 make a difference, where she writes about vegan recipes, green living and so much more.

Now I want to leave you with one final note for inspiration . . . a friend of mine, Cathy Pitters, of Bossa Nova Baby and Crafty Wonderland told me about this awesome site that has inspired her to make authentic bento lunches for her son.  It’s called Just Bento and it’s just amazing!  Every few days the author of the site posts different bento ideas.  If you get really inspired there are all sorts of other sites and stores out there with fun bento ideas including all sorts of bento accessories for making and carrying your bentos in.  Tah tah for now, I’m off to make myself lunch.  All this food talk has made me hungry!

by: jen

All local Portlanders know about Scrap, but in case you are not local or you live under a crafty rock let me tell ya.  Scrap is an organization and storefront that takes donations of unwanted and overstock supplies including paper, fabrics, tiles and resells these items at very affordable prices to the community.  Scrap’s focus is on environmental sustainability and community education.  Since they are a non-profit organization they must do annual fundraisers in order to maintain this fabulous business model.

This year their fundraiser is called “Incognito”,  a masquerade ball held at the Oregon Zoo Ballroom.  The night includes a silent auction, dinner, a Junk to Funk fashion show, live auction all with music provided by the Transcendental Brass Band.  This event is scheduled for Thursday, October 28th.

Best of all, Richard and I will be the emcees for the event!  We are really excited to use our crafty personalities for such a great cause.  We totally believe in Scrap and feel that their mission is the type of creative fundraiser that we can get behind.  To learn more about Scrap, their fundraiser, Incognito, or to get tickets, check out our links.  Hope to see you there!

We love a good margarita at DIY Lounge, but making them at home can be such a drag sometimes.  The neon yellow margarita mix you buy at most liquor stores tastes fake and making margaritas from scratch is an awful lot of effort (lime squeezing), which is both messy and time consuming.  This recipe is for those folks who love a margarita, but want it quick with no artificial flavors.

Have you heard of the Freshies line of mixers?  They are all natural cocktail mixers that taste great and are affordable too.  Most liquor stores carry them, but if yours doesn’t you can order their products online.  We’re adding a twist to our margaritas by mixing in some pomegranate juice.  Check out how fast and delicious this is.

Pomegranate Margarita:

1 cup of tequila
2 1/2 cup of Freshies Margarita Mix (add more or less mix depending on your personal taste)
1/2 cup of pomegranate juice

Ice
1 lime
Margarita salt for rim (optional)
Small glass pitcher

Pour first three ingredients into a small glass pitcher and mix.
Cut a lime wedge and rub on the rim of glasses.  Dip glasses in salt (if desired).  Garnish with lime wedge.  Pour yourself a delicious pomegranate margarita!

by: jen

Eight years ago when I decided to start a small creative business there was one regular craft show that happened a couple of times a year.  If you wanted to get your wares into stores through either consigning or wholesale accounts you had to do all the leg work yourself.  First, you researched which stores might be a good fit for your product, pounded the pavement, set up appointments, hoped the store owner was available and best of all, they would want to carry your work.

That is why last night’s I Heart Art Mixer Match was so incredibly cool.  Think speed dating for artists, except instead of trying to get a date the artists were attempting to woo wholesale accounts with local store owners.

Artist (left) receiving feedback from local business owner Nicole Prevost, owner of Union Rose (right).

The event was put on by I Heart Art, which is a group devoted to advocacy, education and support for Portland’s vibrant community of makers.  This is a collaborative group between Etsy, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Museum of Contemporary Craft, and the Portland Etsy Team.

Store owner (left) meeting with Lea of LeaK Arts (right)

One thing that I thought was really interesting about this event was that there was a wide assortment of artists all looking to pitch their products to stores.  There were many new faces and many people who have been making and selling their product in stores for years.

New faces that are unknown to me.

Ordinarily pitching your work to anyone, especially a stranger, is a nerve-wracking experience.  As you can see this was practically a party.  I’m sure there were butterflies in the stomachs of some of the artists and yet this was an incredible opportunity for artists to connect with store owners, practice their pitch and grow their businesses.  This is one of the things I LOVE about Portland’s Crafty/DIY community – unique ideas and collaborations turning potentially painful situations into a good time.

More new faces.  I liked this shot because you can see the frenzy of store owners digging through this artist’s product.

In a perfect world artist walked away from this event with new stores to sell their wares, but in many cases it was just an initial contact.  A great way for stores to see what new locally handmade products are out there and for artist to have the opportunity to receive feedback about their work, their pitch and their overall presentation.

Left to right, Torie and Cathy owners of Crafty Wonderland meeting with the owners of Burdy Fly Away.

Not every artist had product that was a fit for every store owner.  In some cases when the store owner wasn’t interested in the product offered by the artist, so store owners gave constructive criticism with the goal of helping artists land that next wholesale account.  You could think of this as an opportunity for artists to have many informational interviews and brush up on their pitching skills.

Devi (standing) makes necklaces with bread tabs for charms, which are made of gold and silver.

In case you are wondering why the atmosphere is so unbelievably cool at this event, it was held at the Design Within Reach, which has some incredibly cool furniture.

Owner of  Moxie , (left) a local boutique in Portland, meeting with an artist looking to find some wholesale account love.

If you want to read more about this event check out  The Etsy Storque, Handmade in Portland, or The Garden of Leah.

by: Jen

Richard has been on vacation celebrating his Birthday, so there won’t be a vlog post this week.  Instead I’m going to show you what I’ve been up to.

Creativity isn’t tidy.  I am constantly surprised at the amount of mess that I can produce while crafting.  When I’m not working on the DIY Lounge TV show or on the DIY Lounge video tutorials, I’m making crocheted and reconstructed apparel and accessories under the name Knot Ugly Designs.   Right now I just have hats in my Etsy shop, but I make many other items, such as reconstructed sweaters, reconstructed shirts and I am working on a dress prototype right now.

I recently cleaned up my studio, which is a combination sewing studio and the DIY Lounge TV studio.  Something like a good old fashioned cleaning must be photographed because it might not happen again for a long time.  When you are creative you MUST live with a certain amount of mess, but here are some pictures of the momentary clean that is my studio.

The DIY Lounge sign is where the DIY Lounge TV studio is.  At the left is where my sweater collection lives.  I will cut the crap out of these sweaters in the very near future.

Here’s another perspective.  You can see the bathroom off to the right.

Here’s more sweaters that have been cut up, but still have a lot to offer, so I keep them for the next project.  I have them hung on a rolling rack with a lower rack set up so I can see all of my sweaters at a glance.  Off to the right you can see my sewing studio.  I’m not totally done decorating in there so I will leave that to photograph for another day.  Trust me, I don’t judge anyone else’s creative mess, but remember a little cleaning every once in awhile can really help keep you on task and can allow for more creativity.  Not to mention finding those items that you put in a that safe-place-so-you-would-remember-where-it-is-later and then promptly lost, or maybe that’s just me.

by: Jen

This is the perfect top for a cool summer day.  It’s made from a fleece sweater and a t-shirt that were old and tired. I put some pizazz back into these items by reconstructing them into a perfect fitting halter top.  One of the benefits to making a halter top out of a thick stretch material like fleece is that you can create a top that can support your chest even if you are larger chested and looks very flattering as well.  If your chest is smaller or you don’t need as much support you can make this top out of a long sleeved  t-shirt.  This top will also be designed to fit your shape.  You’ve never had a halter that fit you so well!

Supplies:
Long sleeved fleece sweater  (you can use a wool sweater – cotton sweaters will lose their shape and won’t work)*
T-shirt *
Sewing machine or serger
Fabric scissors
Straight Pins
Measuring tape
Buttons (I used 7 buttons, you pick how many you want)
Fray check

* You must use stretch fabric for this project.

1. Remove sleeves of fleece shirt where the sleeves and the body connect.

2. Cut sleeves up the side along the seam, where the side seam that makes the sleeve a tube and lay it out flat.  Remove all of the seams so only fabric is left, no stitching.

3. Hold the wider end of the sleeve at the base of your breast and wrap it around your neck.   This is half of your halter top’s top.   Cut away extra fabric at the small end of the sleeve that goes past the middle part of you neck.  It’s easiest to do this while looking in a mirror.  Add a 2 inch  seam allowance at the top or the bottom of the sleeve, you can adjust this as you work on the piece and shorten it if you want to.  Hint: if the halter top’s fit is  a little tighter then it will be a perfect fit with better support.  Now cut the other sleeve the same as the first one you just cut.

4. Next we want to decrease the size of the narrow end of the sleeves.   This is the part of the halter that fits behind your neck.  It depends what you like, but a halter that is wider at the back of the neck provides more coverage and looks very elegant.  Don’t go wider than 7 inches at the smallest part of the sleeve, if you do go wider it may be too bulky around the neck.

5. Set aside the sleeves and get ready to work with the body part of the sweater.  Cut away any extra parts of the body of the shirt, removing the neck, sleeve holes and cut off the bottom seam, so what you are left with is a tube.  Hold the body part of sweater up to your torso in front of a mirror.  You want the tube to be long enough to go down to where you want it to hit, for me that was the middle of my hips and to extend to the underside of your breasts.  Cut away extra fabric and use straight pins when needed.

6. Now hold the tube A.K.A. the cut up body of sweater up to your torso again.  Use pins to mark and cut away extra material from the sides of the shirt so that the lines of the top match your curves of your torso below the breasts.  No need to add a seam allowance.

7. Put away the tube and get ready to work with the t-shirt.  Hold the t-shirt up to your chest just below your breast.  Place a pin at each side of the shirt where the sides of your body are.  You want to cut a band as wide as your body is under your breasts cut this piece 6 inches long. Cut 2 of these at the same time then cut 2 more.  Now that you have 4 pieces that is as wide as your chest and 6 inches long, fold 2 of the pieces in half, so the piece is as wide as your chest and 3 inches long and do the same thing with the other side.  The reason we are using t-shirts that are 4 layers thick is that we want the piece under the breast to be strong enough to help support your chest.  Now pin these pieces together, cut off 1 inch from one side of the folded in half pieces.  Then sew each of the pieces that are folded in half to each other creating a smaller tube.  This will be the band that goes under your breast.  It needs to be the tightest part of the top because it will help support your chest.  Because we are working with stretch fabrics this won’t feel tight.

8. Pick up all your cut pieces and move to the sewing machine or serger.   I used a serger for mine.   If you use a sewing machine use the overlock stitch.  If you don’t have a modern sewing machine you can use a zigzag stitch set on it’s longest stitch length, but this will have a rougher look.  Stitch the sides of the tube.  Then pin together the small band to the tube and stitch these two pieces together.

9. Pin the narrow end of the sleeves together and then sew.  Wrap around your neck and position over chest, wrong side facing up.  Decide how much cleavage you want to show and pin the wide end of the sleeves.  Add an extra inch in length because once this top is on your chest will pull the cleavage line down.  Now stitch where you have pinned.

10. Pin the wide part of sleeves to the top of the band.  Decide where the middle of the band is and line that up with the part you stitched on the wide part of the sleeves then once you’ve pinned the sleeves to the band, stitch.  This is the time to adjust the neck of the shirt if needed.  A snug fit in the chest will provide better support.

11. Stitch the bottom of your top.  If you are using a shorter sweater or top you may not need to remove the seam at the bottom from the original top.  You can also leave the original seam on if you want a longer shirt or possibly a mini dress that is super short.

12. Sew on your buttons where you put in that cleavage seam.  Now test out your top.  It should be a snug fitting, supportive hott halter top!

Next week I’ll show you that chair that I’ve been working on . . .

by: jen

OK, so I’ve finished the loveseat small-scale upholstery project, but now I’ve got the upholstery bug!  I want to do another project.  This one will be a much smaller project.

I have this old chair that was made over by someone (not sure who.  It was a hand-me-down) with fabric and staples.  This is an option if you don’t have sewing skills, but if you have some very basic sewing skills you can easily do the tutorial that I will be posting next week.  It is a chair make-over with a cool embellishment detail.  Here is the chair before the makeover.

While I plan and scheme on how to make this chair into a utilitarian piece of art, let’s make some cocktails! Not everyone loves tequila so here is an alternative to the tequila sunrise.

Vodka Sunrise

2 oz Vodka
4 oz Orange juice
1/2 oz Grenadine
Maraschino cherry

Mix vodka and orange juice in a glass with crushed ice.  Pour grenadine over the ice for the sunrise effect.  Add a maraschino cherry for garnish.  Enjoy!

Look for my chair upholstery make over on the blog next week and don’t deny your DIY!

by jen