I find crafts and DIY-projects vastly inspiring. The creativity behind all the ideas is like brilliant sunshine to me! Best thing, you can soak up inspiration for your own unique project. Here’s a collection of a few of my favorites/thought nuts in this area:

| Distressed Folk Art Painting and Resolutions Subway Art (click for tutorials) by Lil Blue Boo |

| Cutout Mirror and Pom Pom Flowers (click for tutorials) by Poopscape |

| yarn pasted on balloon-lamp by Pickles |

| the painted globe by Abbey Hendrickson/Aesthetic Outburst |

Oh time flies…it’s November already! The 29th is the First Sunday of Advent. From that day, stars will hang in windows all over town to shed light in dark December days and recall the Star of Bethlehem. Here’s some particularly trendey Advent Stars to keep your Advent preparations going!

Geeta white/gold Starlightz from Men at Work | Folklore Advent Star made of pine shavings from LGM Produkter | Snow-white “The Star” from The Snowroom | Yellow star in traditional Indian design from Seagren Art & Living

But hey, why not do-one-yourself! Let’s re-use and personalize… Here is a great DIY-example, from the Swedish home decor blog Hemmariket. (The star is a contribution to the company Panduro’s ongoing crafts competition). Also, below, DesignTorget inspires with their kit “Starlet – make your own Star”. As always, creativity is the limit.

Lamps are the perfect DIY-projects. And vintage china is burning hot. As I reported earlier, nowadays everyone wants to take their daily (or in Henen’s case hourly) sip of coffee from a beautiful vintage cup. What could be more appropriate than to design your own vintage-china-lamp?

The most inspiring piece of cup-lamp I have seen is put together by Oddbirds (shown to the right). Oddbirds is a Swedish design group with a design philosophy completely in our taste here @ trendey. They say:

Nothing is sacred. Some might think it would be a shame to paint a Gustavian chair cerise and dress it with butterfly-patterned fabrics. But if we feel that is the right thing to do, that’s precisely what we will do.

Now back to the subject. At Country Living I found this great guide on how to make new use of mismatched china. Step by step, they let us know how stylist Paul Lowe turn a collection of castoffs into an Alice in Wonderland-inspired lamp not very unlike the Oddbirds-one. This version is tea, I prefer coffee. Here it goes:

First picture: A box of vintage china. In the guide I refer to, colour-coordinated, simply shaped teacups, pots, bowls, and saucers that would stack easily were chosen. 2. Organizing the spare parts. To create a balanced arrangement, the tip is to chose components that can form a pyramid – with large, heavy items on the bottom and lighter teacups up top. 3. Attach hardware. In this example the stylist filled the top cup with self-hardening clay. While the clay was still wet, he pressed in a socket-and-cord unit from Ikea and a harp from Lowe’s, an inch deep. He then let the clay harden for 24 hours. 4. Assemble it. Glue remaining elements together, let each piece dry for a minute before adhering the next. Paul in this example waited a day for the lamp to set, then he screwed a standard shade to the harp’s finial. The wiring of Paul’s creation doesn’t require any drilling, because the cord runs behind the lamp instead of through it. Keep the cord flush against the base with a few pieces of electrical tape, and then position the lamp against a wall. Extra tip: Sandwiching saucers in between the teapots and cups gives the lamp added stability. 5. Tada! A teapot lamp.

Pics and instructions: Country Living. If I misinterpreted their article and misled you, don’t blame Country Living. Thank me, for your overly oddish china lamp. :)

Many designers have jumped on the environmentally-aware bandwagon and some are designing the most beautiful chandeliers out of discarded every-day objects. How about this grand statement chandelier from en Pieza made out of Bic Ballpoint pens (!), or this chandelier from Josh Owen recycling used CD packaging?

Don’t they look the business?

However, since designer goods tend to come with big price tags, why not have a go at making one on your own? Take a peek at these two beauties below to get your creative juices flowing (Jelly Bowl Lantern by Madeleine Boulesteix and Milk Bottle Chandelier by Droog).

I particularly like the milk bottle one! Imagine that softly glowing over a rustic wooden kitchen table…

Hmm… time to raid some dustbins for unwanted treasures I think!