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GOOD T H INGS Fresh Ideas to Elevate the Everyday
DIY DÉCOR
INSTANT ART Scarves may not be the easiest accessory to pull off, but as graphic visuals in the home, they’re a no-brainer. Whatever style you love—Liberty prints; iconic Hermès designers; or retro, like these midcentury ones by Vera Neumann—simply frame and hang them individually or grouped by color or pattern (three behind a sofa looks nice). Then switch scarves with the seasons, or whenever you want to refresh your walls. THE DETAILS: HighlandHardware acrylic frame kit, from $73, highlandhardware.etsy.com.
PRO P ST Y LI N G BY SA R A H VAS I L ; FO R S I M I L A R V ER A N EU M A N N S CA RV ES, G O TO C O L L ECT EDA N D C O M PA N Y. E T SY.C O M
PHOTOGRAPHS BY AARON DYER TEXT BY ELENI N. GAGE
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Iron your scarves before framing them, and leave a twoor three-inch border around them for an artful mat effect.
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September GOOD T H I NG S
PERSONALIZE IT
Work Wonders You graduated more than a few years ago, but who’s counting? Don’t miss out on the best part of the back-to-school season: buying pristine supplies and customizing them so everyone knows that awesome notebook is, in fact, yours. Here are four easy, creative ways to spruce up the tools of your trade, organize your desktop, and get that hopeful brand-newbinder feeling all over again.
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SLEEK LABELS
PAINTED PENCILS
TAGGED TOOLS
BOUND BOOKS
Color-code notebooks with washi tape. Use different hues to indicate subjects (recipes, brilliant ideas), or write directly on the strips.
Marbleize them with two shades of craft paint and a technique that’s pre-K easy but AP-art impressive. (For the how-to, see page 123.)
If your stapler tends to walk away, borrow this art-student idea and paint matching icons that whisper, “Mine!” Use tape for clean lines.
To instantly identify notebooks on a shelf— and keep bindings sturdy for the long haul— run different tape designs along the spines.
Martha Stewart Crafts multisurface satin acrylic paint, in Lilac Cloud, $2.50 for 2 oz., michaels.com.
Recycled-paper binders, from $5 each, muji.us. MT Casa Moegi washi tape, $9, cutetape.com.
Muji recycled-paper notebooks, from $1.25 each, muji.us. MT masking tape, from $26 for pack of 10, cutetape.com.
General’s Cedar Pointe No. 2 pencils, $24 for 3 dozen, generalpencil.com.
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September GOOD T H I NG S PROVISIONS
Two-Way Sweets These snacks will satisfy any craving, whether you want a nutritious nosh or an OTT indulgence.
APPLE STRATA Slice an apple into four layers and spread on cream cheese drizzled with honey and granola, almond butter, and cream cheese mixed with shredded cheddar. Stack and serve. Eat in layers.
BANANAS-FOSTER MILKSHAKE Dip the rim of a tall glass in caramel sauce; put in freezer. In a blender, combine 1½ cups vanilla ice cream, ⅓ cup whole milk, and ½ banana; pulse. Sprinkle other ½ banana with sugar; brulée with a torch. Pour caramel down two sides of frosted glass; add a scoop of coffee ice cream. Drizzle with more caramel; crumble 2 pretzels on top. Pour shake into glass, leaving some room; pipe whipped cream on top. Finish with more caramel, bruléed banana, and 2 pretzels dipped in caramel.
A loop of sturdy rope will work just as well as leather.
QUICK FIX
Paper Trail For anyone who feels like a hot mess (or family of them) when rushing out of the house, this to-do list, hung by the door, will restore some sanity. String a strip of leather through a roll of drawing paper, ducttape the ends together, and hang it from a hook. To anchor the paper, drill an aluminum angle an inch wider than the paper into the wall (the nice folks at the hardware store can cut the metal and make the holes on either end). Print copper hook, $7, cb2.com. Tandy Leather Latigo cowhide strip, 72" by ½", $20, tandyleather.com. Melissa and Doug paper roll, 12", $5, melissaand doug.com. Everbilt aluminum angle, ½" by 36" by 1⁄16", $2, homedepot.com.
The metal ledge holds a pen and makes it easy to evenly tear off used paper.
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September GOOD T H I NG S
To showcase a few trips at a time, use boxes of different sizes and stack them on a low table.
CLUTTER CONTROL
Worldly Possessions To corral all the ticket stubs, sand dollars, and souvenirs carefully collected from your last vacation, consider these two options: If you want to display your treasures, line the bottom of a shadow box with a map of the place you went and arrange items on top. If you’d rather stow them, wrap the map around the lid of an acid-free box. Either way, your mementos will be protected, organized by location, and easy to find on your next trip down memory lane.
ONE IDEA, TWO WAYS
Glass shadow boxes, from $39 each, westelm.com. Lineco Museum Quality black drop-front boxes, from $22 each, aifriedman.com.
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