Office Minimalist: how-to

Showing posts with label how-to. Show all posts

garden boxes

Posted by Mr Wong at 4:10 PM 0

For Easter this year I made each family a little garden box full of herbs planted in these vintage boxes I picked up at the flea market. I sent the Chicago Burches all the fixings in the mail, but put together everyone else's to give to them on Easter. I lined the bottom of each box with some kind of moss-something-or-another from Baker Nursery (sorry, I can't seem to remember what it was called, but the wonderful folks at Baker will surely know what you need...).

Then I simply filled each box with dirt and planted all the herbs side by side...

I think they turned out so sweet and everyone seemed so excited about them. Don't you think this would be the best present to give someone as a housewarming gift? I know I would love it...

driftwood boats

Posted by Mr Wong at 4:00 PM 0

Last week while I was in California, I spent a good amount of time collecting driftwood on the beach. I brought an entire basket home and decided it would be fun to make boats out of the different pieces. After making two one evening for myself, I thought it would be a fun project for all the kids to get involved in, so I set up a table in the backyard on Easter with all the supplies and everyone had a wonderful time making them. And, I must say, I think they all turned out amazing.

I gathered sticks from my yard to use as the masts for the boats and drilled holes into the driftwood, so it would be easy to stick the mast right in and secure with a little glue.

Everyone cut out their own sail template based on the size of their driftwood and mast and then cut the sail from any of the fabric scraps I brought out for them to use. Everyone embellished theirs differently with fabric, trim, stamps, etc. We twisted eye hooks into the mast and sewed the sail to these little hooks. And there you have it. An easy, lovely and highly satisfying craft project.

And, I must add, they look awfully cute sitting around the house...

It was a great outdoor project that the kids from 3 year old Finn to 13 year old Peter and all the way up to the adults, all seemed to enjoy.

Peter certainly got the most creative with his. He even gave it a test drive in the pool and it stayed perfectly afloat...

Let us know if you try one of your own! We would love to see how they turn out!

summer revisited, part 3

Posted by Mr Wong at 3:36 PM 0

This summer my wonderful and talented friend, Krista, made me this beautiful garland of origami sailboats. I realize, at first glance, it seems very summery, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided it could easily be transitioned into a holiday garland. Glitter the edges of your boats and write things like peace, noel and joy across each one. Or, even better, make one as a gift for a friend and they can hang it up long after the holidays have gone. Tie in a little "merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream" and give it to a special kid for their bedroom. There are lots of variations and I am sure some of you could come up with even better ones. Just put it in a cute little homemade bag and you have a thoughtful, perfect gift...

I decided to ask Krista's daughter Maddy to put together a little "how-to" for us and here is what she came up with...

Supplies:

Step One:
Measure a rectangle on your piece of paper (any size, depending on how big you want your boat), and cut it out.

Step Two:
Fold your paper in half, top to bottom, one time.

Step Three:
Fold both your top corners in to the middle.

Step Four:
Fold the bottom edge of you paper up, as shown. Flip over and do the same on the other side.

Step Five:
Open your paper up into a hat (look, you've already made an origami hat!). Bring the outer corners of your hat together and press into a square.