enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Category: DIY decor

  • an autumn mantle.

    Paul and I went to a local pumpkin patch this past weekend and picked out a big pumpkin for carving and a few smaller ones for decorating. I could have spent hours walking around (and bought many, many more pumpkins) but that's why I have Paul…he tempers the crazy. When we got home, I got…

  • material 13 of 27 / fabric into a triangle quilt.

    Hands down, this is my favorite project so far. Quilts are awesome. There are so many steps, but if you break it down each one is easy enough. And the errors somehow make them more charming. I am totally hooked on smaller size quilts (this is my third quilt, but first that's smaller than a…

  • material 12 of 27 / thread into wall art.

    Technically, I guess this is an "embroidery floss" project and not thread. But the good news is I'm the judge and I call fair ball. This adventure is about pushing my own boundaries and trying different craft projects, NOT about getting docked for technical merit. 😉 So far, this project has taken me the longest…

  • on our walls / creating graphic & simple art.

    Almost all of the art I have created for our current townhouse & past apartments has been of the simple and graphic variety. I have talked about this before, but while I love "abstract" art, all of my attempts to make something awesome and abstract have revealed it's so much harder than it looks. When…

  • whew.

    I spent today and yesterday in major reorganization mode. Not a box, drawer or shelf in my office was safe. I went through and recycled, trashed and piled for donations. I'd say I cut the "stuff" down by at least 30%. Biggest achievements – putting 600 old 4×6 photos into albums, removing the rug that…

  • our bedroom is decorated.

    Oh man, this room. It's been the item on my to-do list that I pushed back and back and back until finally, it started to look like we'd move again before this space became anything but a dumping ground for extra frames, curtain rods in boxes, random storage pieces and, obviously, dirty clothes. The number…

  • material 10 of 27 / ribbon into a dreamcatcher.

    Every since I found this gorgeous photo (and tutorial!) via Pinterest, I knew I'd be using "ribbon" to make a dreamcatcher. The other day, I found a gold hoop at Jo-anns and decided to make it happen. I took three differnent types of ribbon (all from Paper Source) and just wrapped them around the hoop…

  • material 9 of 27 / wire into a welcome sign.

    Turns out, a yellow HELLO is just what our entry way needed. This is TOTALLY not a unique project. (Type "wire + yarn" into Pinterest and you'll be scrolling for days.) But it was fun to do and came together quickly in an afternoon. I picked up thick, but easily bend-able, wire at Jo-Anns (in…

  • material 8 of 27 / paint onto a canvas.

    I am never in a million years going to be a real painter. I can't make paint look like anything other than paint. So landscapes, portraits, animals? All out. And abstract painting is incredibly difficult. I look at gorgeous abstracts and think to myself, "Oh, I can do that…" Then two hours later I have…

  • just for fun / ampersand pillow.

    I should put "complete three just for fun projects" on my goals list every month. I'm getting more accomplished in June than in the past three months, for sure. I feel like I've had this pillow on my mind for months – at least since I posted about this one from Crate & Barrel last…