no paint artwork in 15 minutes

Simple white canvases above my bed.

I never really thought too much about these canvases until my cousin mentioned they were his favorite pieces of art in my apartment.

"Art?"

What was once an unsuccessful attempt to make jewelry displays later became an inexpensive way to fill the space above my bed. Nevertheless, I will accept the compliment and now I am excited to share this simple no paint project (read: apartment friendly).


I bought two $22 primed canvases from Blick, a spool of textured charcoal thread, and a foot of charcoal starched linen-like fabric. I cut the gray fabric into 14-18 leaves for each canvas and cut a small slit in the center of each leaf to make room for the thread.

Then, I wound the thread across the canvas front to back about 12-20 times, threading leaves as I went. Once I was out of thread or liked how it looked, I cut the end and knotted it to the first thread. Done.

Can this even count as a project? Seriously?

There are a million ways this could be evolved into even more elaborate artwork. If anyone tries this project, please send me a picture to post!

before and after: medicine cabinet

Part of my quest to live with intention includes living in a beautiful space. This is not a terribly difficult feat for me considering I share a 353 square foot studio with my boyfriend. Less space = less to make beautiful. One of the best and most recent improvements has been my fresh flower revelation. But this weekend I got antsy. I needed a new project and my web wandering led me to the most miraculous medicine cabinet I have ever seen.

Inspiration Medicine Cabinet photo found at Apartment Therapy

Resting my eyes on this image inspired me to take action. Below is what I have looked at every morning and evening. For 547 days.

Hers and his medicine cabinets. Gross.

So I headed over to Target this weekend and bought a $10 roll of contact paper. I was a bit disappointed by their selection (polka dots weren't at the top of my list), but I settled upon a natural cork contact paper that resisted mold and mildew (read: bathroom friendly).

Complicated tools for Project Medicine Cabinet

Once home, I measured the cabinets and cut the contact paper to size. It took about 20 minutes for the whole project (most of the time was spent cleaning the glass shelves).

1. Empty Shelves 2. Cork lined shelves

Painfully beautiful medicine cabinets

Now that the project is complete, I cannot believe I put up with that ugly sight for so long without taking action. Next up: disguising the bathroom's "Jamaica." Don't ask. Once the situation is under control the story will be told.