Family Chic

Old lampshades are wrapped in fabric strips and transformed into interesting bowls.

Use old shades of your own or check out your local thrift store. Lampshades are usually available in abundance and for a very small price.

Using a heavy-duty wire clipper, cut off wire clips from lampshade. Rip or cut fabric into long strips (I prefer a torn edge for the texture and roughness it adds). Using a hot glue gun, glue end of fabric strip to the interior base of shade and start wrapping around entire shade. When you get to the end of a strip, glue it down and start with a new piece. Always begin and end your strips on the inside of the shade.

Place lampshade, with small end down, onto a thick piece of cardboard - trace and cut out a circle - this will serve as the base of the bowl.

Using this piece of cardboard as a template, cut out two fabric circles. Glue fabric to both sides of cardboard circle.

Using your glue gun, run a line of glue all around the interior, small end of the shade and press base into place.

You could line these bowls with a few sheets of wax paper, fill with home baked cookies and give as a housewarming gift.

My daughter's friend wants the pink one for her bedside table - perfect for holding hair clips and trinkets.

I picked up a few feet of the thickest rope I could find at Home Depot (about $3.00 per foot) and hot glued it to a soup can to create this vase.

An environmentally friendly children's room designed by Sabrina - I love her use of color and creative repurposing.

"A minute to learn - a lifetime to master." White and pumpernickle breads are used to create this Othello-inspired sandwich.

Use one slice of white and one slice of pumpernickle - apply cream cheese and jelly. Using a 1" cookie cutter, cut out circles. Thin carrot slices provide an edible grid.

Dark on one half, light on the other - they'll flip for this.

They're off! The summer passed too quickly for me.

These bags make gift wrapping easy and stylish -- we plan on using them to hold favors for my daughter's upcoming birthday party in the fall.

I picked up the white lunch bags at Target (in the food storage aisle) and the clear, pink book cover adhesive paper was $4.99 at CVS (in the school supply section).

Place adhesive paper face down and trace your object.

Cut out your shape and peel off paper backing.

Apply cutout to bag. The stickiness on this paper is quite forgiving - if you don't get your placement right the first time - you can easily reposition it.

To make the eyeglasses silhouette, I popped out the lenses from a pair of 3-D glasses and traced the frame. To cut it out I used an X-Acto knife and scissors.

If you have a child who is turning 5 - this hand design would be perfect for a party favor bag.

I wrapped a gift using a paper grocery bag. This paper was easy to work with - both malleable and strong. I was able to sew yo-yos out of this paper using a needle and quilting thread.

To make the brown paper bag easier to work with and give it a subtle, wrinkled texture - I balled it up a pulled it out flat a few times. This breaks the stiffness of the paper, making it softer and easier to shape. I glued the yo-yos to the package and wrapped it with waxed paper twine to add layered detail. I like to add various textures to monochromatic pieces to create depth and interest.

To make paper yo-yos I strongly advise using the Clover Quick Yo-Yo Maker - available in the sewing supply section of Michael's (about $9.00). Follow instructions on package - substitute paper for fabric. I find quilting thread is best for this project.

Love rocks. A recent trip to the beach provided us with these beautiful, worn stones. With the addition of a few vinyl adhesive letters - we created alphabet rocks.

We're having friends over for dinner tonight. Our plan is to scatter these around the table - spelling out words with these stones will provide entertainment for both children and adults as well as add a bit of natural beauty to the setting.

These stones are incredible to touch - the waves of Lake Michigan have worn them down into smooth treasures. They feel so good, they're hard to put down. We used vinyl adhesive letters from Office Depot.

Since I am using these at the dinner table, I wanted them to be clean. So, I boiled the rocks before adding the letters.

A circular grouping of flat stones make a natural trivet.

Nothing is more appealing to me than natural beauty.

I plan on letting each of our guests take a handful of these stones home with them as a pleasant reminder of our time together. Perhaps they will choose the letters that make up their name - or an inspiring word. I like party favors at any age - and something like this so easy to make and memorable.

It's not a shirt - it's a creative experiment. The famous "ceci n'est pas" works of René Magritte inspired the thinking behind this t-shirt project. I picked up a plain, black shirt at Michael's for $3.99 and created this simple design - mixing French and English for fun.

I cut off the sleeves and created an asymmetrical v-neck; with the leftover fabric, I created a few yo-yos to add embellishment at the shoulder.

"This is not a pipe." My inspiration - The Treachery Of Images, 1928-29 Rene Magritte .

To create this look, I stuck 1/2-inch adhesive letters (available at Office Depot) to the t-shirt.

Using a sponge brush, I applied a flat gold fabric paint over the letters.

After about 5 minutes, when the paint was dry, I peeled the letters off with tweezers to reveal the text.

My daughter likes it.

A live performance doesn't thrill the ladies like it used to...

My friend Courtney came over last weekend and prepared the most amazing dessert for us - grilled pound cake!

Grilling the pound cake imparts a wonderful toasted texture and flavor that is unexpected and delicious. Courtney topped two grilled slices with roasted berries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Start out by roasting berries on the grill. Make an aluminum foil packet by folding a sheet of foil (roughly 8"x11" in size) in half and folding over both sides - leaving the top open.

Rinse berries and pour into a bowl, add 1/4 cup of sugar, juice of half of a lemon, 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch and some lemon zest - mix together to coat. Fill packet with berries (we used sliced strawberries, blackberries and blueberries) and fold over top to close.

Place fruit packets on grill for about 10 minutes.

Place one inch slices of pound cake on grill until grill marks can be seen - do this on both sides.

Place grilled pound cake slices in a shallow bowl and drizzle grilled berry mixture over top.

Drop a scoop of ice cream on top and serve immediately. The flavor & textures are wonderful and sure to be a success at any get together.

Thanks to my good friend, Courtney, for inspiring this post!

Courtney - at work in my kitchen.