Craft of the Month: Paper Heart Garland

There’s nothing wrong with running fresh greens down your stair rail or filling bowls with ornaments, but we’re trying to find a new way to decorate for the holidays, and today’s Craft Of The Day fits the bill. This paper heart garland is unexpected, simple to make and can be paired easily with other items to create a festive atmosphere. Added bonus: you can personalize the paper you choose, making this craft perfect for Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s.

What You’ll Need:
Decorative paper (double-sided if possible)
Stapler
String
Scissors
Hole Puncher

How to Make It:

1. Cut the paper into 1-inch wide strips. (Each heart requires at least seven strips).

2. For the layered effect, cut two strips to a shorter length, two strips to a medium length, and leave the remaining three as is (two of these will be the outer-layer of the heart and one will be the middle piece). If you want more layers, cut two more strips down to a different height.

3. Lay the strips on top of one another. Start by grabbing the middle strip, then take the two shortest strips and place them on either side of the middle strip (make sure the same decorative pattern is facing out). Do the same with the medium strips and again with the longest strips. (In the end, you will have a pattern like this: long-medium-short-long-short-medium-long).

4. At the bottom, staple the pieces together.

5. Starting with the smallest strips, fold each piece inwards towards the middle strip into a heart shape. Staple one layer in place before moving on to the next.

6. When you’ve finished folding the heart layers, punch a hole through the middle strip and run a string through the hole, tying a not on either side to prevent slipping.

7. Make five or six more hearts, add them to the string and hang the finished garland on your wall.

Adjust Euro hinges Door alignment trick

Adjust Euro hinges Door alignment trick

Adjusting cabinet doors with European hinges is as easy as turning a screw or two. Hinges like this one adjust in three directions; others adjust in two. If your door is crooked—not square with the cabinet—fix that first, then raise or lower it to the same height as adjacent doors.

For crooked doors, adjust the side screw on one hinge, which moves the door from side to side. It’s a trial-and-error process. Make a small adjustment, then close the door to check its position. If the door is higher or lower than adjacent doors, loosen the mounting screws on both hinges, raise or lower the door, then tighten the screws. Place a straightedge across the door top or bottom to make sure it’s level with neighboring doors.

If the door sticks out too far from the cabinet or the hinge side brushes against the cabinet when you open the door, adjust the depth screw. Some hinges move the door as you turn the depth screw; others require you to tap the door in or out and then tighten the screw.

Door adjustments aren’t as easy if you have traditional hinges. If your doors are sagging, first try tightening the screws. If the hinges are bent, replace them if you can find a match.

Guide to Creating a Traditional Kitchen

2011-11-05

Don’t confuse a traditional kitchen with Old World or country. Although, like the latter two, the traditional kitchen design style is “warm and classic,” with elements of English and French taste, “the colors are different,” says Mary Broerman, a California-based interior designer who owns MDB Design Group in Altadena.

Instead of the brighter blues and golds you’d find in an Old World design, the traditional kitchen incorporates soft, muted colors: creams, whites, taupes, light grays or greens.

Part of its charm, like country, is that it brings the outdoors in, so patterns can include fruits, flowers and butterflies. You can mix and match. It’s a design that is open to interpretation and appeals to all ages and personalities.

How to Get the Look
To create the traditional look, here are a few tips:

• Clear the kitchen space of furniture that has no defined period style or ornamentation, and get rid of contemporary or modern pieces that have simple, straight lines. Replace this with a few period pieces that you love and build a design around those by adding molding and cabinet door trim that fit this particular style. Then mix that with compatible pieces from other periods for an eclectic blend.
• Consider using a pattern when designing the flooring, such as a basket weave or random pattern with wood. If it’s stone, such as limestone, the irregular shapes of the natural stone itself can help create a more natural look and feel to the room. Or, mix a darker stone, such as slate, with limestone, in different sizes, and lay them down in an irregular pattern.
• Create a breakfast nook by the bay window with a wooden table and bench seats with chairs on one side or both ends. Look for furnishings with carved legs, columns and turnings.
• Use fabric to bring color into the room. Pick nature scenes for curtains and cushions and mix them with stripes, not geometric shapes or designs, which do not fit well with this style.
• To create focal points wherever you look in the traditional kitchen, have fun with the knobs on cupboards by choosing different designs, shapes and colors for each door panel. Stagger the height of the cabinetry. Mix and match wood stains or paints.
• Avoid streamlined hardware. Choose faucet fixtures and other hardware, such as light fixtures, that have shape and detail.
• If you can afford to leave these out, skip anything made of lacquer, veneer or laminate.