A Secret Beach & Decorated Pebbles

Dear Chicago House,

I took a mini vacation last week, blue sky, crystal clear water and not a soul in sight....ahhhhh.

If I told you this beach is 40 minutes from down town Chicago would you believe me? I have discovered a secret place along the shores of Lake Michigan!

Now I am not one to laze around on the beach sunning myself. For a start I burn at the drop of a hat and I get bored.

So I build things

and collect stuff like sea glass (ok lake glass in this case) and beautifully smooth pebbles to take home and turn into something pretty.

A pot of sharpies and a bit of creativity later and I have a selection of decorated pebbles.

These would be a great project to do with kids of any age.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Learning from the pros: how to overcome being green

My name is Alysha, and Im one of the new interns for the social media team here at Homesav. Ive just started this week, and Im already learning a variety of new things. My background is in technology and I am green to the world of interior decor I thought Homesav would be an interesting company to intern with because I want learn more about the goings on of a start up company and hone my social media skills. This week, I am in charge of the Twitter account, and I have been updating people that share a common interest or interact with us directly. As well, one of my tasks was to sit in on a Twitter Designer Chat, where professional interior designers would answer and discuss four questions. Heres a bit of what I learned during those 60 minutes:

1. Being green and eco-friendly is essential the design is growing in popularity and it benefits the environment

2. Think of new materials to implement green design try cork and bamboo

3. Using recycled materials adds a ton of character to pieces one person said that their trunk was made out of reclaimed railroad and that it has so much character

Now, bearing in mind these three points, there are always a few obstacles when trying out a new design. The challenge find green materials that are durable and good quality.

It was fun and fascinating working with Twitter, and Im moving into the world of Pinterest next week! Cant wait to explore the world of pinning!

Homesav is thinking about starting their own tweet chat. What type of questions would you like to see discussed?

Arty Farty Friday 14 and a secret message

Dear Chicago House,

I have a bit of a thing for intertwining shapes together and as well as producing interesting pieces of art, it is a skill that has served me well professionally.

• Getting paid for playing around with shapes and form: Check!
• Getting a US patent based on hiding messages in interlocking shapes: Check!

Here is an image from the Patent (United States Patent 5,479,507)

Can you guess what is hidden within?

This image hiding technique was used on all sorts of security print from American Express Travelers checks, to the certificate of authenticity that came with Microsoft windows and even on some currency.

Who knew Arty Farty Friday would turn into a pop quiz. I'd love to hear your guess...of course if you visit the patent all will become clear but lets face it patents are not the most riveting read!

( stumped all is revealed here http://www.creativeinchicago.com/2012/06/arty-farty-friday-15-and-secret-message.html )

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

A warm welcome to my new writer: Chicago Teen

Dear Chicago House,

So with Chicago teenager home for the summer I am letting her loose on this blog for the odd post, so it's over to her...let's hope she behaves herself! Please give a warm welcome to Chicago teen.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Hello to the enormous world of blogging!
So my mom's referred to me a few times in her blog, but I can't complain (I prefer to receive the credit for my random crafts.) Anyway, she has decided to let me start writing on Creative in Chicago, as I have a whole summer ahead of me. Although I can't promise to write every day (you all must be so sad, I know) I'll try my best to keep you all updated with our latest projects.




Here are some things about me:

• I am only a teenager.
• I get bored A LOT.
• I love art, but I hate being forced to make something.
• I am a strong believer in only making something that has a use.

....and I really don't know what else to write....

Looking forward to providing you with our latest and greatest ideas!

Chicago Teen

Marc Atiyolils From Drab to Fab Friday

Dear Marc:
My hubby trimmed our old oak tree in our front yard and we are left with a bunch of tree branches. Ive seen branches repurposed into an urn display on decks and in homes. How can I turn my old branches into a home decor accent?
Wanda

Dear Wanda:
I have been known to climb a few trees back in my day to build home decor accents. Some pearls of wisdom I can pass along to readers:

1. Make sure the tree is indeed on your property.
2. Italian shoes are not proper tree cutting attire. Fancy shoes get stuck in tree crossings.
3. Yell Timber! when a branch is cut and about to fall to the ground. Its fun and ensures the neighbours cat has had sufficient time to move out from where the branch will land.
4. Unless you are an experienced lumberjack, seek professional help. Mixing a ladder and a chain saw screams Emergency Room for the amateur DIYer.

Now that you have mastered your Timber cutting skills, we will put your new skills to good use in creating a fab DIY tree urn for your garden.

Supplies:
- Tree branches
- Outdoor white primer aerosol paint
- Silver outdoor aerosol paint
- Black outdoor aerosol paint
- Black urn
- Large rocks
- Saw

Step 1:
Cut branches from a tree in various sizes. The project can be completed with one large branch or multiple smaller branches.

Step 2:
Prime and paint the branches using silver or white aerosol paint. Let the paint dry before continuing to the next step.

Step 3:
Spray the tips of the branches with black aerosol paint.

Step 4:
When the paint is dry, place the branches in an urn of the appropriate size and proportion. Lay large rocks at the bottom of the urn to keep the branches in place.

Step 5:
Voila, your old branches have been transformed into a work of art for your garden.

PatioDecor Source Information:
Black Lounge Set with Ottoman: Canadian Tire
Patio Table, Dining Chairs, Arm Chairs and Red Throw Cushions: Jysk

3 Reasons Why You Should Tweet

Hey there!
Laura here, another new social media intern at Homesav! As an interior design student at Ryerson, Im incredibly excited to be a part of the team! Ive already learned so much in my three weeks here. Ive had a chance to try out Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter which is a totally new world for me!

Last Tuesday, I participated in the Interior Designer Chat on Twitter in celebration of its second anniversary! The IDC is a weekly forum for designers, decorators and other industry members who ask and answer several questions on a given topic over the course of an hour. It was my first time being a part of the conversation, but it is easy to see why theyve been going strong for two years now. Many commented that the IDC is a valuable resource for learning about new trends in colour and materials, as well as best business practices online and offline. The success of this online community is truly a testament to the engagement of the design and decor professionals that make the IDC a wonderful resource for sharing, learning and networking.

On the theme of online communities, check out these fun products inspired by social media:

1.Emoticon Shower Curtain Makes me smile!

2.Twettle designed by Ben Perman and Murat Multu, instead of whistling upon boiling, this teakettle connects to Wi-Fi and allows users to access their tweets with their morning cup of tea!

3. Sitchtagram make custom pillows from your Instagram photos!

Quirky? Cool? What do you think?

Have you been introduced to the other new social media interns yet? Check out Alysha and Shereshas posts!

Strawberry Protectors

Strawberries

...but sorry they aren't edible.

We found this great idea from a Facebook post recently, to paint a strawberry pattern on rocks. Apparently, if you place them around your strawberry plants, they will prevent birds or other annoying pests from stealing your strawberries before you can. I don't exactly know how this works, but we decided to give it a try.

How to make some bird repelling strawberry stones:

1. To start off with, select about ten smooth, strawberry shaped stones.
2. Make sure you have purchased, or already own, outdoor acrylic paint in red, black, white, and green.
3. Set up a work area, with a few thin paint brushes, a cup of water, some newspaper to cover your table, and a few paper towels to dry your brushes.
4. Paint one side of your stone with red paint, but be sure to leave the stone showing through in a leaf pattern at the top. Leave it to dry.
5. Once the red paint on the first side has dried, flip it over and paint the back side red, filling in all unpainted space. By now the only bare stone showing should be a leaf shaped pattern around the top of your strawberry.
6. Now that you have painted the strawberries red, paint the top side of the leaf pattern you left at the top of your stone green. Leave it to dry then flip the stone and paint the other side.
7. Now, mix some white and green together to create a tint of your previous green, and highlight the leaves by painting short stripes and a dot in the middle. Remember to wait until one side has dried until doing the other.
8. You're almost done! It's time to use black paint and a steady hand. Make sure you are using a thin brush and paint the seeds which are tear shaped( NOT CIRCULAR, try not to make that mistake)randomly across the stone, then leave it to dry and paint the other side.
9. Repeat with all stones.
10. Yay you finished! We would love to see some pictures, and we'll include them in this post if you email some to us.

So how was it? Too hard? Easy? I'd love to see your opinions on this little project!

Till another project

Chicago Teen

Why Eating Cake Is Good For The World

Somewhere at the cusp of the century, something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue transformed into the never ending pursuit of something harder, better, faster, stronger. There are passionate devotees in both camps time tested simplicity and modern extravagance going head to toe, shaking fists and calling names. But who said you need to choose? Id like to think that everything new turns out to be a well-forgotten past. We know all too well, its an overwhelming world out there especially where wedding planning is concerned, but were here to give you glimpses of hope and sunshine. Today it comes as Lisa Marie Hart, an artist whose original tea stands appeal equally to the vintage aficionados and contemporary fashionistas.

A successful writer and editor, Lisa Marie started designing tea stands part time. She likes to say: Sometime passion finds you when youre not looking. Her initial hobby turned into a specialized shop with a fun name of High Tea for Alice. Why Alice, you ask? Its another inspiration of Lisa Maries work. Poor girl, she told me, She never got to enjoy her tea party amidst the craziness of Wonderland. I like to picture her sitting down to a table filled with our stands piled high with treats and finally enjoying her tea.

I had never heard of tea stands before, so I asked Lisa Marie to start with the basics. She explained that the concept of a tiered stand is nothing new. But many of themmade with white china with a few flowers on themtend to be boring and old-ladyish. I wanted mine to be anything but! My whole goal was to created stands so beautiful that it would keep people up at night dreaming about them I wanted to use rich gold and bright colors and make them really exciting, even to people who never would have dreamed of owning one. Materials used in the final product come from all over the world. Lisa Marie hand picks china specifically for each individual piece. A perfectionist, she makes sure every stand is one of the most beautiful tea and cake stands in the world to someone who is going to love and use it for many years.

Lisa Marie confessed that she absolutely loves weddings When two people are truly, madly in love, it shows in the details, even without trying too hard. Having run a wedding website, she prefers not pay attention to the trends in the industry. It is easy to lose the reason behind the wedding and get completely overwhelmed with details. The best weddings are those where the couple is so in love, the details hardly matter, she told me. I really applaud couples who find ways to incorporate touches into the wedding that will be used later in various facets of their new life together. This can take time, but I believe its well spent.

Lisa Marie brings back the sense of wonder and whimsy. In the world where everything supposed to be better, faster, and stronger, Id like to think that we also could fall down the rabbits hole into the Wonderland and take time to pick out something old, something blue, something that years from now would allow us to take a moment and enjoy.

Spiraea Add Color in More Ways Than One

Spiraea are low maintenance shrubs which can be used in borders, as foundation plants, or in cottage gardens. They are attractive individually or in groupings. I love this display of three very different spiraea. The leaf color varies from a green, a blue green and a yellow while the flower color varies from a pink, white, or rose-red.

All are fairly drought resistant once established and like full to part sun. Shearing off their early summer blooms allow the shrubs to produce a second flush. Birds and butterflies are attracted to the tiny blossoms that grow in flat umbels as wide as four inches.

A heavier shearing during the winter months produces a more compact structure that sets blooms on the new growth.

The tallest, spiraea bulmalda Anthony Waterer, grows to 3 to 5 feet and has the red flower and bluish- green foliage.

'Anthony Waterer'

'White Gold'

Spiraea japonica White Gold grows to 3 feet and has white flowers and bright yellow leaves which mature to gold.

Spiraea japonica Little Princess is the smallest of the three growing only to 2 3 feet and not as wide as the others. It has pink flowers and green leaves.

What a wonderful combination!

Tags: blooming now, landscape design, spiraea

Planting Between Bricks

I finished the brick pathway through my garden last fall. (Thought Process in the Garden May 21^st blog) The winter rains kept washing away the sand between the stones. This will continue until the sand settles and some type of plants, hopefully not weeds, colonize the sand. I decided to help out the process.

I wandered the groundcover and Stepables area of the nursery for plants that will tolerate foot traffic and do well in sun/part shade. I came up with a number of different plants.

Corsican mint and Elfin thyme are very low growing plants that smell good when walked upon. Creeping speedwell will do well in part shade.

Red Leaf Sea Thrift and Old Gold Rockcress both grow about 2-4 tall. I put these in the edge bricks, not down the main walking path. Old Gold has a variegated leaf and will stand out for that reason. Sea Thrift has a really nice pink flower that stands about 6 tall; a little tall for stepping stone plants, but worth it for the color.

Pink Texas Scullcap (scutellaria suffrutescens) grows to 5 tall and would be good for the edges of the pathway as well as fragrant Alyssum.

Since I already put the path in, I now had to put the 4 plants between the stones. Not an easy job. Heres what I did.

I took the plants out of the pots and took off all the dirt. When the plant could be divided, like the

Corsican mint, I cut them into smaller chunks. I had to dig out the sand between the stones, carefully tuck each plant in and cover it with the sand. A chopstick or screwdriver helps to tuck the plants in between the stones. Water is going to be really important for these plants this summer, but luckily weve had lots of rain so far.

Where I had a larger root ball, I looked for larger gaps between my bricks. This worked for me since my brick pathway was very casually put in and some of the bricks had corners chipped off leaving larger gaps.

So far everything is thriving and starting to grow larger. This winter less sand will wash away!

Tags: bricks, step stones, stepables

Japanese Aralia

The photos above were not taken in a tropical rainforest. Surprisingly enough, they were taken in our shade house here at Farmington Gardens. The name of this plant is Japanese Aralia or Fatsia japonica.

This evergreen shrub really stands out with its distinct glossy leaves that can grow to be 16 inches across. When grown in a mass planting, it really brings the feel of the jungle to your own backyard. It also works just as well as a specimen plant, providing year round interest. For a shade plant, Japanese Aralia is quite versatile and can even be used as a houseplant.

Incorporating Aralia into your shade garden is easy, as it meshes well with most shade garden staples such as; Ferns, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Hostas and Hellebores. If youre not already out digging a hole to make this wonderful plant the latest addition in your garden, here are a few more of its excellent qualities: It produces drumstick-like flowers that have are very science-fiction in appearance. The foliage is perfect for unique cut-flower arrangements and will last weeks after being cut. To top it all off it requires no pruning or maintenance.

Mature size: 5-8 ft high x 4-6 ft wide
Sun Exposure: Partial sun to shade
Growth Rate: Medium

Thinning Apple and Asian Pear Trees

Apples before thinning

Apples after thinning

At this time of year you are likely experiencing June Drop. Dont worry! There is nothing wrong. The fruit trees are naturally losing any unpollinated fruit. We have to continue this action by thinning even more fruit from the tree and that is a job I really have a hard time doing. More is better, yes? No! I have learned this the hard way.

Why thin fruit from the trees?

• The more fruit on a spur, the smaller the fruits are at harvest.
• The closer together the fruit are, the less air circulation and the higher likelihood of disease and insect problems like codling moth.
• The heavier the total amount of fruit on a branch, the more likely the branch will become weighted down and break.
• Thinning the fruit encourages the tree to produce fruit every year.

The best method for a home gardener is to pick the fruit off the spur with a twisting snap motion. Pulling them off might break the full spur and you would lose that grouping of fruit. You could also choose to use small clippers.

Look at each cluster and remove all but the largest and healthiest apple. Then visualize the size your apple grows. Any other tiny fruits near it which would interfere with its growth should also be removed. Basically, leave one fruit every 4 6 inches.

Asian Pear before thinning

Asian Pear after thinning

With Asian pears, it is slightly different. It is preferable to keep the middle fruit on a spur. That means, if there are 5 fruits, remove the bottom two and the top two, leaving the middle one.

Now is a good time to do this while the fruits are tiny and the tree has already started the drop. It will have the rest of the season to put energy in to producing fruit of a good size and quality.

As an aside, dont thin your cherries. Enjoy every single last one of them!

Tags: edible gardening, fruit trees, What to do in the garden

Arty Farty Friday 15 and secret message revealed

Dear Chicago House,

Swirly whirly, it is Arty Farty Friday so here are some water color twirls to celebrate.

But enough of this nonsense and lets get down to revealing the secret message I had hidden in last weeks Arty Farty that featured intertwining shapes.

Remember this

Well if reading the patent was not your thing (and no one would blame you for that...they are so.....YAWN), here is the answer.

VOID VOID VOID VOID.

Did I have you all stumped?

This patented method of hiding messages was used on all sorts of security documents to create anti counterfeit features. I can't tell you how it works..I am sworn to secrecy.

Here is one I designed for the Microsoft certificate of authenticity.

It is not the sexiest of design features but that is not it's job. It is there to make counterfeiting the document more difficult.

Who knew design could be so science geeky!

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Arty Farty Friday 16

Dear Chicago House,

Look into my eyes...

I have a bit of a thing about the spiral, I think it is the perfect shape.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX