ruby and caroline has signed up to participate in the lovely package exchange over at oh, hello friend! Stay tuned, more to come later this month.

OK, so I know you are thinking, um, I know how to tie a bow….

But! Here’s a simple decorative bow that looks great on gifts, wreaths, and other big impact items. And you don’t have to really tie a thing.

Remember how I snatched up a wreath from Target for like $8 and dressed it up a tad? Well, here’s a close up of that wreath:

That bow? It’s not a bow! Here’s how I did it:

First, take a ribbon – I find that a fairly thick (2-3 inches wide) ribbon works best. You probably want to cut  a length of about three or more  feet of ribbon to do this. Once have the ribbon cut, fold it back and forth in lengths of 4 to 8 inches. You’ll want to make sure the size is in proportion with the wreath you’ll be putting the bow on.

After you have the ribbon folded as seen above, you can tie one end of it like this:

And then you just fasten it on a wreath with some wire.

Any bow tying tips you’d like to share?

Chrissy and I are working on a bunch of ideas for our shop, and we’re just thrilled that the holidays are right around the corner. We’ve seen a ton of things we love, and we’re brainstorming on items that are infused with sassy California attitude.

So as a little preview, here’s something we’re working on:

Stay tuned next week when we reveal what we’ve been working on!

The other day I was at good old Target and noticed that some of their decorative fall items were on sale at 75% off. I paused my cart in that area and was delighted when I saw the lovely hydrangea wreath I’d been eyeballing a couple of weeks before. At about $8.00 I was ready to take the little pretty  home.

While I wasn’t quite sure where my new wreath would go, I was also pretty excited about putting some final touches on the wreath when I got it home.

Here’s what it looked like when I got ‘er home:

I decided that I wanted to add a little “welcome” pumpkin, and a bow to spruce up the wreath. I unearthed some ribbon I had at home, and used some copper wire to attach the ribbon and the pumpkin to the wreath. Here’s the before and after of the entry way with it’s spiffy new $8.00 decorative touch:

Happy Fall!

paula and i have spent quite a bit of time discussing how we want the packaging for our cards and other products to look. first impressions have a big influence and when our customers receive their cards, the packaging is the first thing they will see.

there are still a few adjustments to be made, but overall i am pleased with the result. the cards are wrapped in vellum paper and tied with green and white baker’s twine. there is a tiny tag attached to the twine. i wasn’t sure if i wanted to do craft paper or vellum, but in this case in like how you get a sneak peek at what is inside the package. i would like to make some tags that have our logo and etsy address on them.

stay tuned because we will soon have a new round of cards up in the shop.

Last weekend I was looking for a festive way to dress up the mantle. I wanted something that said “Fall,” but at the same time reflected the sandy fun of the beach. Enter the seashell votive wrapper!

To start out, I found a bunch of items I already had on hand in my apartment. Here’s what I grabbed:

• a glass votive from Ikea
• seashells
• an empty paper towel roll
• a thick linen ribbon
• a decorative pair of scissors and a regular pair of scissors
• some tape (regular and double sided)
• glue

This is a simple project, and one that would be super easy to duplicate in your own home. It has lots of possibilities for decorating, so here’s the breakdown.

The basic idea of the project is to create a simple wrapper that sits around the glass votive holder.

First, take the empty paper towel roll and cut it in half, length wise. Next, you’ll want to take the two pieces of paper towel and cut them down one side.  This should give you two pieces that both look a little like this:

Once you have two pieces, both cut down the side, place the tubes on either side of the votive, making sure they overlap. You should not see any glass peaking out from the paper towel roll. It should look like this:

Tape the sides so that it the tube retains the correct size around the votive. Once the tube is taped, take a pencil and trace around the bottom and the top of the votive.

After you’ve traced the outline of the bottom and top of the votive, remove the glass. Take your decorative scissors and cut off the top portion of the taped roll. You’ll want to be careful and cut a good half inch below the line you’ve traced so the detail of the decorative scissors can be seen once you place the wrapper back over the glass. Then, take your plain scissors and cut along the bottom portion of the roll.

Now glue the sides of the roll together, at the place where they overlap. Let them stand and dry for a bit.

Lastly, add the decorative band. I used double sided tape to attach the linen ribbon to the roll, and then glued two seashells on to the ribbon, one across from the other. Here’s the finished product, along with a couple of other possible ribbon options:

Be sure and use the self contained votives with these (the little ones that come in a plastic or metal base) so that you don’t have a fire hazard at your swanky event. This would be a simple yet elegant idea for a baby/bridal shower or another event where you want to coordinate colors with your decor. How can you see using this idea in your home or at your next party?

A few months ago, I found a chair on the cheap at a used furniture store. I knew I loved the shape and size, and that it would be a great addition to the apartment. I snatched it up at $40 without really knowing what I’d do with it.

Here she is in the living room the day I brought her home, check out the skirt and burnt orange color. You can see some of the damage on the bottom right of her skirt.

Later, I picked red and white botanical print with clean lines to reupholster the chair. Now, I’d never reupholstered a thing in my whole life and this was the first time I’d sewed anything in years!  I ended up making a large pattern by tracing the outline of the chair onto newspaper. Then I gave an inch leeway on all sides so I could allow for the seam. I trimmed off the skirt, and then got sewing.

Here she is, recovered with her new look:

Next, the chair and the corner needed a few updates. This corner is in my bedroom, near the TV and across from the bed. I’m trying to create a “cottage” look in the room, inspired by Layla over at “The Lettered Cottage.” I want to give the room a fresh, open, airy feel to it. I’m relying on a mostly white palette, with red as the major highlight color and pops of yellow. Since I love the beach, I’m also pulling in organic seaside inspired pieces.

Here’s the corner as of this afternoon. I created the pillow by covering an outdated pillow with a tea towel I got for $1.50. The pencil starfish were ordered online, and I hung them with raffia I had in the house.  The candle holder came from Goodwill, and cost $4.50.

What projects have you taken on recently?

i am working on a few designs for a new client and thought i would share my progress so far. the request was for something nature-like – with trees and branches. my progress so far includes some simple (one-color) versions of each of the trees and branches, and then more detailed (multi-colored) versions. i also decided to throw some grass in there, since it seems so fresh, clean and inviting. i am hoping these designs can be used for many purposes for my client and i might just add them to etsy. stay tuned!

Thank you for stopping by Ruby & Caroline!  Paula and I both hope you will enjoy your time here and find many interesting and inspiring things.  Also, stay tuned as we will soon be launching new products that will be feature here and available for purchase on etsy.

You can read more about us here.