By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

by Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

If you're not already familiar with the blog Craftynest, it's time to bookmark. Craft enthusiast and home makeover maven, Monica Ewing—who was formerly a designer here at Sunset!—publishes her creative projects every Wednesday at craftynest.com. Each idea is accompanied by expertly detailed instructions and step-by-step photos—true hand-holding.

In her own words:

My premise is simple: I think up something I need or see something I like, then figure out how to make my own version. I specialize in upcycling shabby and unwanted items. I don’t claim to be an expert or furniture restorer; I just love creating new things.

I love the salvaged window-frame-turned-mirror featured in the photo above. How-to here.

Also, don't miss her "for sale" section where she sells some of her projects through craigslist. (Every blog reader's dream, no?)

And for a little trip through the homebysunset archive, here are a few of my favorite projects that Monica created while at Sunset:

Sunburst mirror

Simple photo album

Ribbon wreath

Memory box tabletop

Keep it up Monica!

By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

I love (LOVE, L-O-V-E!) these chair makeovers featured on design*sponge this morning. I'm a little obsessed with remaking wood framed, fabric-covered-cushion chairs (as evidenced here and here), and these beauties are just my style. The simple unification of the different wood frames with a soft white paint, plus the four fabric patterns (in a unified color palette) makes the quad look like a true set.

Check out the full project here (scroll to bottom of post).

Thanks design*sponge!

By Julie Chai, Sunset associate garden editor

Growing up, we always turned off the lights when leaving a room, only did full loads of laundry, and turned down the heater at night. So I’m always aware of my energy usage, and in an attempt to consume even less, last year my boyfriend and I put on a water heater blanket, started hang drying clothes, changed most of our lightbulbs to CFLs, and installed dimmers on our most-used lights. We knew these changes would save energy, but were stunned to see our gas and electric bill drop by a third the following month! All from simple fixes we'd done in a weekend and that totaled less than $100. So when I learned about new home energy audit company HomeZ in Mountain View, CA, I was eager to see if they could help us save even more.

After analyzing a year’s worth of our energy bills, HomeZ reps Kate and Rick came over to perform the audit. They interviewed me about our usage behavior; assessed appliances, water fixtures, and electrics; and tested for building leaks. Probably the coolest part was the Blower Door Test—they sealed our vents then hooked up a giant fan to our front doorway to depressurize the house so they could measure how leaky it was. (I was especially excited about this test because, after several chilly winters of feeling like our heat was disappearing out of leaky windows, we were ready to invest in new ones.)

Most home energy audit companies I’ve heard of serve as both your auditor and general contractor for any services they recommend. HomeZ differs in that they perform your audit, then refer you to a selection of pre-screened service providers so you have a choice about who you work with. A HomeZ audit costs $125 plus $.10 per square foot (so $245 for a 1,200 square foot house), and they guarantee that they’ll find enough energy-saving opportunities to equal your fee or they’ll refund the difference. This year, they’ll also be offering landscape assessments to help you save water.

When Kate and Rick returned with a detailed report and action plan, I was thrilled to find that they didn’t think we needed new windows—that saved us thousands right off the bat. It turned out that the leaks they found came mainly from our electrical outlets (who knew?) and could be easily reduced by installing inexpensive outlet sealers and child-safety plugs that are available at just about any hardware store. They also recommended other simple energy savers like using smart power strips and turning down the contrast on our TV, and gave us advice about bigger changes we might make down the road.

Aside from being super informative, the audit was really fun and gave me a better sense of which changes can have the greatest impact. But the best part was seeing on our own utility bill that making simple, low-cost adjustments really can make a big difference.

By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

As you may have noticed, I adore calendars. There's just something about the lovely juxtaposition of graphic typography and loose illustration. Plus (shhhh): they're free artwork! When a month is over I'm not shy about tearing that month calendar page away from the remaining and cutting the paper into greeting cards, gift tags, or pieces worth framing.

I adore this idea we ran in the January 08 story about Seattle-based designer Herman Yu:

Do it: Carefully crop the month and type from the page, then center the calendar image in a simple frame with a mat.

Wood Gallery frames from Pottery Barn, $20 each.

Calendar by Herman Yu Design, $35.

By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

Once again we've updated the template for our "Family calendar" for 2009. (The story first appeared in our January 2007 issue).

Here's how to make your own:

Use old family photos to create a 2009 calendar with a vintage look.
1. Choose 12 seasonally appropriate images.
2. Take your images to a copy or photo shop and have them enlarged to 8 by 10 inches and reproduced in sepia tone.
3. Align 14 sheets of 11- by 17-inch card stock; drill a hole
through the center of the stack, about half an inch down from an 11-inch edge. Have the stack spiral-bound at the copy shop (ask for binding that allows you to lay the pages flat).
4. Download our 2009 template and print out the 12 months on stationery. Trim just inside the outer borders so each sheet measures about 5 3/4 by 10 inches.
5. Using acid-free scrapbook tape, attach the appropriate photo and calendar month to the bound 11-by 17-inch pages, leaving one page for the cover and one for the back.

By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

First: I'm not condoning the use of paper bags. Whenever possible, chose reusable: keep a few in the trunk of your car (I like the brown-bag sized ones they sell for 99 cents at Whole Foods), or have a fold-up one handy in your purse (I like Baggu bags that fold up super tiny).

Second: If you find yourself with a paper bag or two (when purchasing more than your reusable bags can carry, and your market is out of stock on the reusable supply), find a way to make use of them.

Yes, I'm the crazy green type that feels guilty carrying a plastic bag out of the drug store (would rather awkwardly stuff everything into my jacket pockets) or a paper cup out of a coffee shop. I've got to practice what I preach, right?

So last week, finding myself in the above said situation, and inspired by Katie Chamber's "Gift tags from TJ's bags" idea over at Ink and Post, I got creative. As little holiday gifts for some friends I bought a bunch of Seeds of Change organic chocolate bars (1% of net sales supports the cause of sustainable organic agriculture worldwide) and dolled them up. I simply cut up the paper bag so that the holiday graphics became a little bar wrap I could write on. I then gave it a little gold glimmer touch with a clip of ribbon, secured with tape on the back side.

So easy! New years eve party gifts??

Check out more of our reuse wrapping ideas here.

Seen sunset.com lately? The website recently got a makeover and came back fresh and revamped with cool features like our new "Backyard TV" video series showcasing quick home, garden, and cooking projects with our editors.
New videos will be added soon!

By Kathy Brenzel and Mercedes Feller (owner of Tiller Digs in Corte Madera, CA; 415/927-1266)

"I especially like simple, monochromatic wreaths made entirely from one material and accented with a satin ribbon for hanging," says Feller. Fragrant bay leaves and sculptural oak branches are among her favorite indigenous materials. The effect is fresh and welcoming — seasonal decor that showcases the bounty of the landscape.

Step 1: Gather the greenery

Choose long-lasting materials that grow in your area — cedar or Douglas fir in the Northwest, spruce in the mountains, or pine in the Southwest, for example.

Feller's favorites, in order of preference: eucalyptus (it stays fresh-looking the longest), oak (for its branches), bay, and magnolia.

For subtle accents, she uses berries, seedpods, and herbs. "Rosemary grows almost wild in our area," she says.

Step 2: Bundle the foliage

Cut greenery snippets about 6 inches long, then gather them into 10 to 12 small but full bunches.

Wrap the stem ends of each bundle tightly with 24- or 26-gauge paddle wire, available at craft stores.

Step 3: Attach bundle to ring

Feller prefers 10-inch wreath frames, called clamp rings ($2.99; save-on-crafts.com or 831/768-8428); they're strong and have 10 evenly spaced clamps to hold bundles of greens in place.

Secure one bunch at a time, closing the clamp over stem ends with your hands or a pair of pliers.

Step 4: Work around the ring

Continue attaching greenery, one bunch at a time, to the ring, moving in one direction around the circle.

Each bundle should slightly overlap the previous one.

Attach ribbon or raffia for hanging the wreath.

Resources: Mercedes Feller's wreaths are available at Tiller Digs, Corte Madera, CA (415/927-1266; no mail order).

There's more in the garden blog!
How to host a wreath-making party
Find a wreath-making workshop

By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

Considering the mere fact that I'm a home and design writer known to produce craft projects, at a recent pumpkin-carving party the expectations for photo-worthy designs was particularly high. Of course, when I show up with a box from the office labeled "pumpkin carving tools" I'm not doing anything to help sway the assumption that we're about to make martha-stewart-style art.

Fortunately, my handy box of tricks included numerical stencils from last year's pumpkin house number story, so when asked "what should we design?" without any illustration books in sight (and embarrassed to recommend anything traditional like smiley faces; I'm supposed to have advanced style after all) I was pleased to suggest house numbers to keep my friends Eliza and Larry's doorstep aglow for the week of Halloween. They were thrilled—thank god—at the idea. I described it as pumpkin carving for adults—part utility, part craft.

First, Eliza and I gutted the pumpkins, saving the pumpkin seeds in a bowl to roast with olive oil and salt a little later.

Next, we cleaned the pumpkin’s surface and taped the numbers of Eliza’s home address to the flattest side of the pumpkin.

Then came the surprise master carver. Though I was a little concerned about how small the numbers appeared when I removed the stencils (last year's project used much larger stencils; one number per pumpkin), Eliza's boyfriend Larry (who by the way gets mad props for just being interested to partake in our project at all) was called in for precision work (first with an exacto knife; then—carefully—with a small hand saw). I have NEVER seen such craftsmanship! Larry’s an industrial engineer whose job, I imagine, necessitates attention to detail, so his expert carving skills shouldn't have been surprising at all.

What he doesn't know yet is that I'm trying to think up a creative way to pitch him the idea of working for me the next time my editor calls for October story ideas.