Did you know that more than 96 billion pounds of edible food is thrown away in the U.S. every year? Creative and resourceful Merriment reader Sarah Roarty painted her own unique and unified set of dishware that focused on her love for food and interest in American Food culture.

Sarah shows that it’s easy to create a set of dishes of your own by simply picking a theme and running with it, creating this particular theme to remind herself and others to be conscious consumers every day. Often times we forget where our food really comes from and the journey it takes to get to the plate, so Sarah juxtaposed everyday signs with facts.

She used materials that most pottery studios have to create her dishware. Most people think of these studios as only being for birthday parties and showers but using your local studio is a fun way to create a unique set of dishware all your own without having to be a ceramics expert. All in all the process cost around $100 for a set of 12 dishes, which isn’t bad for a unique set of dishes that are dishwasher and microwave safe.

Supplies:

• Paper (for stencils)
• Sponges
• Pencil
• Brushes, various sizes
• Ceramic Paint
• Unfired plates and bowls (found at local pottery studio)

1. Gather all of the materials. Find a local pottery studio where you can buy most supplies, including the unfired dishes. A craft store will have brushes and paint as well, but getting supplies from the place you’ll be firing your dishes is easiest so you know your paint is safe and ready for the kiln.

Sarah took her dishes home instead of painting at a studio so she could take her time and do the painting at her leisure, but she bought materials from the place she would be firing them.

2. Create designs or patterned stencils on paper. The thinner the paper, the easier it is for the stencil to form to the dish (very key when adding a stencil to bowls). The more detail the stencil, the harder it will be to paint. Stick to more simplistic patterns if this is your first attempt. Sarah created her stencil shapes on the computer and printed them out but hand drawn shapes work as well.

Be creative with your designs. Think of a theme or pattern you would like to follow to make your set cohesive. The designs themselves do not all have to be the same (the more variety the better) but having visual links like a consistent color or symbols help unify the dishware.

3. Once your stencils are all cut out, place them on the bowls and plates and with a pencil, draw an outline of the stencil. The pencil will disappear once the plate is fired, so do not worry about marking the plate up too much.

4. Use the pencil outlines you just created on the plate to fill in your designs. Paint several coats on the plate for a more opaque result. Don’t worry about imperfections when painting, that’s what makes these plates uniquely your own.

5. Wrap the dried dishware lightly for transporting back to the studio. Take your plates and bowls back to the studio to have them fired. Make sure to specify that you want these to be microwave and dishwasher safe for everyday use. The usual pickup times are around a week. Enjoy your new set of unique dishware!

Update: This project was proudly featured in Time Out Magazine and at Chicagoist.com. Yay!

My friend Debbie has accumulated an enviable amount of stamps in her passport. Each year she plans a “big trip” which recently has meant China, Costa Rica, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary and Brazil.

I wanted to make a unique gift for Debbie’s birthday so I came up with the idea of a passport cover featuring the Chicago municipal flag:

• The three white stripes = North, West and South sides of the city
• The top blue stripe = Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River
• The bottom blue stripe = the South Branch of the Chicago River and the Great Canal
• Stars = Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the World’s Columbian Exposition and the Century of Progress Exposition

Ah, I get such a knot-in-my-throat sense of pride about Chicago. As a big 2016 Olympics bid supporter, Debbie gets it too. Happy birthday, Debbie …and happy travels!

You’re welcome to use these instructions and templates for free for your own personal use. Anyone using the template simply post a comment below or email me to track its usage.

Supplies:

• Kathy’s free star Chicago flag template (PDF)
• Cream fabric
• Light blue fabric(I used super soft fleece)
• Red fabric (small amount for stars)
• Iron-on craft weight interfacing
• White, red and light blue thread
• Rotary fabric cutter
• Clear fabric ruler
• Self-healing mat
• Good fabric scissors
• Sewing machine

Print out my free Chicago flag template and cut out the pieces. Iron interfacing onto the wrong side of your red fabric. Trace four stars with a pen and cut out.

Cut out the pieces using a rotary cutter, clear fabric ruler and rotary mat:

Cream outside: 12.5″ wide x 6.5″ tall
Light blue inside: 12.5″ wide x 6.5″ tall
Blue flag strips: 3″ wide x 1″ tall (cut two)
Interfacing: 12.5″ wide x 6.5″ tall

Iron the interfacing onto the wrong side of the cream fabric.

Fold the cream outside piece in the middle (above left), wrong sides together, and crease. Measure 3.5″ from the middle crease on both sides, fold wrong sides together, and crease. Fold the short left and right ends 1/2″ on each side, wrong sides together, and crease.

Lay out the stars and stripes on the right side of the cream front. Using your sewing machine’s zigzag stitch to sew down the stripes first, then the stars one at a time.

Sew the light blue inside to the cream outside, wrong sides together, using a 1/2″ seam and leaving one of the short ends open (above left). Cut off some of the fabric bulk from the corners, turn right side out, and iron. On the open end, turn the cream and blue under 1/2″, tuck inside and pin.

Make it look nice by topstitching close to the edges using cream thread on top and light blue in your bobbin. Fold in the left and right flaps so they’re 3.5″ from the middle crease, then pin and sew along the edge (right on top of what you just topstitched using cream thread) to secure the flaps.

Slip your passport inside and head for O’Hare.

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and pattern for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!

Anyone who works in the Fulton Market area on a windy day can attest that Chicago’s long standing candy and chocolate history is still thriving. For his sister’s recent Chicago weekend visit Joseph Dombroski planned a sweet creative activity: a self-guided tasting tour of top downtown Chicago chocolate emporiums.

Supplies:

• Free chocolate scorecard template (rate by appearance, taste and texture)
• Roughly $30 per person for a taste at each place
• Something salty or savory to snack on when tastebuds need a break
• Bottled water
• Walking shoes

Print copies of the free chocolate scorecard template and choose places to visit. Joseph created a downtown tour but there are many small neighborhood venues to consider as well (Coco Rouge being one of my personal craves).

With the exception of Blommer’s it’s a fairly short walk between the places listed below (Prefer to outsource? Chicago Chocolate Tours provides guided tours for individuals and groups).

Blommer’s, 600 W Kinzie
Leonidas, 231 S La Salle
Hannah’s Bretzel, 180 W Washington
Macy’s (for Frango’s), 111 N State (lower level cash registers)
Fannie May, 343 N Michigan
Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge, 520 N Michigan (1st floor)
Vosges, 520 N Michigan (2nd floor)
Teuscher, 900 N Michigan (5th floor)

Once at a location select your chocolates, nibble and rate your finds. Colorful commentary from Joseph’s tasting highlights and low points after the break.

Places Joseph and his sister visited

• Blommer’s, 600 W Kinzie
  • Had samples in small buckets
  • Good for bulk chocolates or chocolate-covered treats
  • Chocolate-covered cookie dough balls (doesn’t taste like cookie dough immediately)
  • Toffee-dusted pretzels (only a slight hint of Toffee), chocolate is decent
• Leonidas, 231 S La Salle
  • Casaleo: delicious, nutty flavor; soft chocolate praline inside; similar to Kinderjoy
  • Delice: like a gourmet Almond Joy with smoothness that sticks to your teeth
  • Irresistible White: good white chocolate, but strawberry cream is somewhat overpowering
• Hannah’s Bretzel, 180 W Washington
  • Chocolate-covered graham crackers have a hint of honey
• Sweet Factory, 100 W Randolph
  • Not worth visiting again
  • Chocolate-covered raspberry gummy bears taste just like they smell—bad
• Macy’s (for Frango’s), 111 N State (lower level cash registers)
• Fannie May, 343 N Michigan
  • Toffee Bark is good for nibbling
• Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge, 520 N Michigan (1st floor)
  • Cool place to relax after walking around downtown
  • Tea-flavored chocolates are a specialty
  • Chai spice was wonderful wintry warmness with a cooler inside bite
• Vosges, 520 N Michigan (2nd floor)
  • Friendly service: small glass plates for in-store tasting (asked if we wanted them for here or to-go)
  • Barcelona Bar has hickory smoked almonds that add a bit of savory
  • Saffron pralines have spiced endnotes, but the sugar crystals are what sets the texture of this chocolate apart
• Teuscher, 900 N Michigan (5th floor)
  • Friendly service
  • Champagne truffles are unique and light

Places not visited, but considered

• Hershey’s, 822 N Michigan
• Ghirardelli, 830 N Michian
• Lindt, 845 N Michigan
• Godiva, 845 N Michigan

I made these three kitschy CD mixes to thank my friend Amy for letting me stay at her place for the first few days of my week in NYC.

Back when I was a kid, my dad handmade wonderful miniature farmland model worlds. I can still remember him individually painting figurines and gluing on grass and shingles. Last trip home I snapped buckets of great detail miniature farmland shots, not really sure where or when I’d use them. But Amy and I grew up together in Indiana so I thought they were the perfect covers for her CD tunes.

Supplies:

• Kathy’s Farmland CD Template (Adobe Illustrator, 83MB; images of moonshine still, swing and garden embedded)
• Blank CD-ROMs (I got 50 CDs for $12! :: Memorex 700MB/80-Minute 52x Data CD-R Media (50-Pack Spindle))
• Photo paper (I like Canon matte but you can also get glossy)
• Rotary Paper Trimmer -12” (30cm)

First I selected songs and burned them onto blank CDs using iTunes. See my song choices after the jump.

Then I selected three farmland images: moonshine still, swing and garden. I then set up a 5″ wide x 4.75″ tall Illustrator file, but if you don’t have Illustrator you could just use PowerPoint. Then I typed in the song titles and italicized artists in yellow, keeping it simple with the Myriad font.

I printed them on matte photo paper give the covers some weight. I cut them using my rotary paper trimmer and slipped them inside the CD cases.

If you’re using my farmland CD Adobe Illustrator template it will be a breeze. Download and open the CD template. Change the songs to match your tunes. Print. Cut using the rotary paper trimmer. Insert into the CD cases.

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and images for your own personal use. Contact me for any commercial, distributed or published use.

See which songs I picked for Amy…

Skin Is, My :: Andrew Bird
Young Folks :: Peter Bjorn and John
Fire Eye’d Boy :: Broken Social Scene
Ice Cream :: New Young Pony Club
Dimension :: Wolfmother
Annanas :: Tosca
All Fired Up :: Interpol
Pieces of the People We Love :: The Rapture
Has It Come to This? :: The Streets
Phenomena :: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
City Lights :: Husky Rescue
Tangent :: Beth Orton
Bad Dreams :: Lyrics Born
Mr. Bitterness :: Soul Coughing
Chicago :: Sufjan Stevens
These Things :: She Wants Revenge
Obstacle 1:: Interpol, Live at the Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
Honey :: Tosca
Someone Great :: LCD Soundsystem
Wallace :: Drive By Truckers
Orion :: Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Emily Kane :: Art Brut
Fluorescent Adolescent :: Arctic Monkeys
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi :: Radiohead
On :: Bloc Party
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa :: Vampire Weekend
A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left :: Andrew Bird
Oh My God :: Kaiser Chiefs
Something About Us :: Daft Punk
Grey :: New Young Pony Club
Reckoner :: Radiohead
Hang Me Up to Dry :: Cold War Kids
Steady As She Goes :: The Raconteurs, Lollapalooza 2006
I Will Survive :: Cake
Indra :: Thievery Corporation
The First Song :: Band of Horses
Staring at the Sun :: TV On the Radio
Blood :: Editors
Stairway To Heaven :: Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Reminiscing :: Little River Band

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and pattern for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!

My first custom Blurb.com hardcover book arrived in the mail and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out.

My coworker Mandy first told me about Blurb.com’s powerful, professional bookmaking software publishing service. While I’ve used Shutterfly’s custom books in the past I was intrigued by Blurb’s promise of bookstore-quality books and affordable pricing. So I decided to finally free my wedding pictures from their CD-ROM prison and give it a go.

What do you think of the finished product? Personally I’m really happy with it, especially for the price …I got a whopping 106-page 11″ x 13″ book for only $74.95! The paper quality is decent, the provided layouts give you lot of control, and the shiny custom cover is a nice touch.

Here are some tips I learned while logging the, uh, dozens of dozens of hours using — and sometimes fumbling through — the Booksmart software to create my book:

• Pick the largest photos spreads your photos can stand. It’s a coffee table book, so let your photos shine.
• Play with the full bleed picture layout and ‘center align image (don’t crop)’ button to create a letterboxed look.
• Collage pages look best if you use it on both the left and right pages of a two-page spread.
• Avoid putting small photos on two adjoining pages. Instead, put small photos on, say, the left side and then one large full-bleed photo on the right.
• Mix photos of people with photos of close-up details or landscape vistas for a professional look. Avoid too many photos of people in any one two-page spread.
• Use the zoom tool to narrow in on cool details.
• Mixing black & white and color photos can look really great, especially when mixed across a two-page spread.

Update: Love the idea but no time to make it yourself? Mandy Cornwell is offering her album creation services at Your White Album. Mention you read about it here at Merriment and get a $10 coupon off your custom photo album under 160 pages and a $25 coupon off 160+ page books.

So I was pretty excited about the success of the campfire coffee insulator wrap and decided to make a monogrammed one for my sister Krista.

Supplies:

• Cardboard coffee insulator to use as a pattern
• Patterned fabric
• Blue lining fabric
• Printed letter from your computer
• Thick, crisp ‘hat brim’ interfacing (1/8th inch or so thick)
  
• Regular interfacing, medium weight
• Therm O Web HeatnBond iron-on vinyl (optional)
  
• Blue thread
• Blue double fold bias tape
• Blue embroidery thread

Just like the campfire cozy using your cardboard coffee insulator as a pattern cut out the patterned fabric, blue fabric, interfacing, and vinyl. Print your letter on your computer printer. I used Arial Black because it is nice and thick. Cut it out, then cut a square of blue fabric and regular interfacing and iron it on.

I’m even more of a fan now of the iron-on vinyl. Follow the package directions iron the vinyl onto the patterned fabric and the square of blue fabric. Trace your letter onto the fabric and cut out within the lines so that no black appears on the finished letter. How you affix it on is up to you. I chose to embroider ‘x’ stitches to appliqué it on. Mine were a bit sloppy but overall I think it looks cute.

Sandwich the 1/8th thick insulating interfacing (it’s your ‘cardboard’) between the patterned fabric on top and blue fabric on the bottom. Sew binding tape on the top, bottom and sides. Sew bias tape on the sides, folding down a bit extra on both tops and bottoms. The trick is to fold it before you affix it; that way there are no raw edges. Shape it into a wrap and sew back and forth for security across the top and bottom.There you have your monogrammed coffee cozy. Hope Krista likes it.

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and pattern for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!

While I’m not a particularly heavy coffee drinker I’ve been known to enjoy my soy mint mocha from time to time. If I buy coffee once a week I’m using 52 of these little guys. Buy coffee every workday and it skyrockets up to 260. Ouch.

Reduce, reuse, recycle …and show some personality to boot. I made this cozy campfire coffee insulator out of some felt and old fabric scraps.

Supplies:

• Cardboard coffee insulator to use as a pattern
• Khaki fabric
• Red fabric
• Red, yellow, orange and brown felt
• Thick, crisp ‘hat brim’ interfacing (1/8th inch or so thick)
  
• Therm O Web HeatnBond iron-on vinyl (optional)
  
• Red thread
• Red double fold bias tape
• Orange embroidery thread

Using your cardboard coffee insulator as a pattern cut out the khaki fabric, red fabric, interfacing, and vinyl. If you choose to use vinyl you will avoid some potential coffee stains; following the package directions iron the vinyl onto the khaki fabric. Lickity split.

Your interfacing should be about 1/8th thick; it’s almost like flexible fabric cardboard. Get the good stuff so that you can be sure it’s insulating. Sandwich the interfacing between the khaki fabric on top and red fabric on the bottom. Sew binding tape *onto the top only* for now.

Cut out three flames in different sizes plus two logs. Using three strands of embroidery thread handsew the largest flame onto the khaki fabric through the interfacing but not the red layer. This will make sure your stitches don’t show on the finished wrap. Repeat for all three layers of flames and the logs. I made my flames stick above the top; I think it’s cuter and more fun that way.

Sew bias tape on the bottom through the khaki, interfacing and red layers like you did the top. See now how your flame stitches are hidden? Sew bias tape on the sides, folding down a bit extra on both tops and bottoms. Now shape it into a wrap and sew back and forth for security across the top and bottom.

Voila! Campfire cozy coffee!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and pattern for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!

This is the detail that got the most comments from my wedding guests. My friends said it was ‘typical Kathy’ to personalize even the bathroom towels.

But this crafty activity is something you can make for a number of special occasions — housewarming, baby shower, birthday gift paired with your favorite luxury scented liquid soaps and lotions — or just as an everyday treat for yourself.

Supplies:

• Cotton hand towel; be sure to get one with large enough ribbing
• Strip of fabric or velvet ribbon wide enough to fit your towel’s ribbing
• Lightweight fusible interfacing (optional but recommended if you are using thin fabric; you’ll need less than 1/8th yard)
• Orange thread (for top thread)
• White thread (for your bobbin thread)
  

Measure your the width and height of your towel’s ribbing. Add 1/2 inch on all sides; cut out fabric and interfacing. Iron on interfacing and fold 1/2 inch down on all sides to make crisp edges. Appliqué it onto the towel using a tight zigzag stitch like I did or any other decorative stitch. I recommend using colored thread on the top that complements your fabric (I used orange) and thread that blends into the towel on the back (I used white).

Tip: If making guest towels for weddings be sure to make extras so your venue manager can freshen it up throughout the night.

Don’t feel like making it yourself? I’ll do it for you. Just contact me and allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.

Like this theme? Then try our sewn poppy fabric invitations, sewn return address envelopes with custom stamps, table numbers, ring bearer pillow, place cards, sewn zigzagged programs, menu, reserved signs, whimsical flower garland “altar” and bridesmaid’s handbags.

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and pattern for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!