Yesterday  my  "Arts & Crafts Style on the Cheap" was held at the Roycroft Copper Shop. It was a great morning. Attendees came from the Buffalo area but also from Washington DC and Canada’s Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Attendees learned lots of tips for developing the mission or arts & crafts style for their homes. One section was about "if you can only afford one item for that room" what should that be. Sound like a presentation you would like? Stay tuned for when this class is offered next.

I am excited to announce I will be teaching a class in a couple weeks called Arts and Crafts Style on the Cheap.

It will be held Saturday morning February 27, 2010 at the Roycroft Campus, East Aurora NY (about 20 miles outside of Buffalo, NY)

You will learn the elements of the Arts & Crafts style including color palette, furniture details, and how to accessorize. Because this can be an expensive style to decorate in, I will show you tricks to get a love mission styled home without  spending a lot.

Reservation are required. For more information and to register for the class go to: Roycroft Campus

I can’t wait to see you there. Be sure to bring your questions and photos of your room in progress

A week or two before Christmas, The Buffalo News published a great article on the latest trend in wall art. Vinyl graphics easily peel and stick and are a fun way to add punch to your home but can be peel off too.

In this article Home & Style editor Susan Martin quoted The Home Stylist.  Ms. Martin mentioned the last Junior League Decorators House where I had decorating a teen room using vinyl frames too.

Here are two rooms where I have used vinyl graphics:
 

 http://www.thehomestylist.com/slider-2/

http://www.thehomestylist.com/slider-3/

 Here is the article:

Just Peel and Stick

by Susan Martin, Buffalo News (12/11/09)

Remember when your mom yelled at you for plastering your walls, windows and possibly the living-room furniture with tiny superhero stickers?

Sticky, stubborn, unable-to-remove stickers?

Well, welcome to a very different world of creative wall art, where peel-and-stick and other wall graphics make decorating a snap and changing your mind even easier.While you can still have your superhero — a 5-foot-10 Spider- Man from Fathead, for example — today’s vinyl wall options range from sassy to sophisticated, and everything in-between.From wall decals to life-size graphics, these products offer an alternative to traditional wallpaper, faux finishes and stencils for jazzing up your walls.

The benefits?

*They are removable, with many repositionable and even reusable.

*They are designed to not damage walls (good for dorm rooms and rentals).

*They’re good for kids, who can help with the design. And since many decals and large graphics are relatively inexpensive, parents won’t mind replacing them when a child has outgrown them.

Local interior designer Sandy Nelson is a big fan.”I love them. There are so many designs and styles you can use. What I like about them is that you can make a space your own very easily,” said Nelson, who runs Designs of the Times.Cable home shows often feature vinyl wall art, and it has been spotted in magazines such as Dwell and Metropolitan Home.And no wonder.

“People have been getting into a more modern, architectural design style. They are getting away from the overdone, overly ornate,” Nelson said.

“People are so busy, they really need to simplify. They like to be surrounded by a clean, serene atmosphere. These vinyl wall graphics are wonderful because one big graphic can create a focal point and make a strong statement — relatively inexpensively. And you can change it up,” she said.

In addition to patterns, lettering and words also are available, so you can create any phrase or poem on a wall, added Nelson, citing www.wallwords.com and www.wonderfulgraffiti.com as two online resources.Dry-erase and chalkboard peel-and-stick sheets and panels are other popular options — especially for playrooms or kitchens.

Locally, Julie Dana also sees a place for these products in today’s home.

“They are great for placing art where you don’t have a lot of physical room, such as a hallway. They don’t take up a lot of room, like a frame would,” said Dana, owner of the Home Stylist and an interior “redesigner.”

“They also are removable so you can use holiday ones this time of year and then take them off,” she said.

Some are reusable; some are not, Dana noted, so it pays to read the directions.

(At Decorators’ Show House 2009 last spring — E.B. Green’s Wallace Estate in Eggertsville — Dana covered the walls of the Teen Girl’s Bedroom with vinyl picture frames she made herself, using a crafting machine called the Cricut, which is manufactured by Provo Craft. Like many other other vinyl wall products, the frames were repositionable.)

“The trend, for the most part, is the bigger the better,” Dana said. “Small little doodads can look like clutter, but a big, statement-making piece can bring the room together,” she said.

To apply, a clean, dry and smooth wall is recommended,but depending on the size and design, vinyls also can be applied to furniture and ceilings.

A peek at what’s out there:

*WallPops, a popular line of peel-and-stick wall art from Brewster Home Fashions, includes dots, stripes, paisleys, hearts and zoo animals in its collection. Dry-erase sheets also are available. Check it out at www.wall-pops.com, where you will find retailers from whom you can buy or order.

*Target sells packages of self-adhesive, removable and repositionable wall decals for children’s rooms that coordinate with its bedding, priced $12.99 to $14.99 for a package of about 50 decals (hearts, flowers, robots, etc.).

*Jo-Ann fabric and craft stores and its Web site sells a line of “Hip in a Hurry” vinyl wall graphics in an assortment of sizes and designs, including words and phrases. A 35-inch high faux chandelier is regularly priced at $39.99. A 4 1/2-inch butterfly is less that $3.

Michael’s, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, college bookstores and other retailers sell various products as well.

Besides stores, there are many, many online resources for vinyl wall decals and graphics.

Photo wall murals are another option. You can see photomurals, which you paste on walls, at www.brewsterhomefashions.com, for example.

Another Web site to check out: www.muralsyourway.com, which sells vinyl or canvas photo murals in various sizes, priced per square foot. Prices begin at about $175 for a 4-foot by 6-foot vinyl mural.

Especially popular for 2010, according to one trend forecast: bold geometric patterns, edgy, urban graphics and Asian-inspired prints, as well as nature and travel scenes.

Still curious?

Here are some other Web sites to check out for wall graphics: www.whatisblik.com (billed as “wall graphics for the commitment- phobic,” also sold online at Barnes & Noble, Urban Outfitters and elsewhere); fermlivingshop.us (options include big wall stickers designed to look like a bar code, housefly or fingerprint — and that’s just for starters); www.pbteen.com; www.urbanoutfitters.com (decals and murals as well as cloth tapestries, etc., with some sold in stores as well).

Other sites worth checking out include www.mycurlycue.com, where you will find stickers and graphics for kids, college students and others, and www.fathead.com, a popular line of vinyl life-size sports stars and superheroes.

But the options go beyond that.

You have to love the faux fireplace from Fathead, which you just peel off the sheet and stick on the wall. Write the folks at Fathead: “The visual warmth of this fire will be the focal point of any room. You can get the beauty of a fire without all the work and mess!”

Again, you can even move it and reuse it. Way to confuse your guests!

As you have seen from previous posts, I recently volunteered at Extreme Makeover Home Edition when it came to the Buffalo, NY area.

One of the rules when you sign up as a volunteer is "NO CAMERAS". I certainly understand that because if all the volunteers brought a camera you would get nothing done. So…true confessions…I took a few discreet photos with my camera phone. PLEASE don’t tell.

Yeah – I know they are not the greatest photos but they are taken on the sly remember?

The "blue shirts" (aka volunteers) finishing the demolition of the house. See the camera above them?

More blue shirts pulling the salvage materials out of the way.

Ty talking to the family on the video camera.

See Paige wearing a pink hardhat and vest?

I hope to have more sneaky photos later. Be sure to check back.

This week the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was in my town, Buffalo New York. If this wonderful event comes to your area and you are thinking about volunteering, here are a couple pointers for you: 

This week the TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was in Buffalo, NY. Buffalo is often called "the city of Good Neighbors" and the proof is the Buffalo show has had more volunteer sign ups then in any other city in the county. The extra workers meant that extra properties, not just the selected TV house, can have mini-makeovers. In the surrounding blocks; yards were raked, porches were painted, and new roofs put on. This neighborhood had definitely seen better times and finally got a much deserved boost.

I was fortunate enough to help them on Monday. I was assigned to the "community revitalization team". Yes, I raked lawns and scraped old paint off a house. I was a part of something that could possible turn that whole area around. The team I was on was proud to do this work and felt great about our contributions.

Not to diminish this part of the day in any way but…

A little before lunch our group was asked to be extras in a scene the on-site director was shooting. In the scene, Ty Pennington was demonstrating how a piece of furniture will be made and included in the new house. They blocked out the scene, rehearsed, tweaked, and re-shot the scene a couple of times. In two of the takes, Ty was standing right beside me! Yep – I was elbow to elbow with him! And yes, he is as energetic and goofy as he appears to be.

In case you didn’t know – No, he does not do a lot of the physical manual labor but he did seem to know a lot about the woodworking and creative process that goes into creating a room. (above photo not taken by me)

With all my luck, my part will be on the cutting room floor but that’s OK. Helping the area, assisting those who need help and just being part of this terrific program was enough for me.

It was a great day. I definitely plan on going back later in the week. I’ll keep you posted.