Fair Trade - Trend Zone at FORMLAND FAIR 2011

In August 2011 I made a concept and decoration - job for Fair Trade, at the FORMLAND FAIR 2011 (Denmark). The job was to make a Trend Zone to show off the product range, in a nice way. Due to the ethnical and diverse look on the products, the Trend Zone became an inspiring stand with a cool and edgy look.

The (Fair Trade) christmas tree was surrounded by hand beaded stars, hanging from the sealing. And the tree was decorated only with bracelets in light color tones. 

All the "gifts"underneath the tree, where products from Fair Trade´s nice and wide product range. Here you could find something really nice for every person in the family.

CONSCIOUS CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

I want to make a blogpost today about conscious christmas-shopping.

Christmas is known to evoke good will in people. We often get reminded through television, different campaigns and medias, that many humans are in need, in hunger and people die every day. These types of campaigns effects us in many ways, and of course we want to help by donating or doing what we can, in real christmas spirit.

The thing is, it's not only in december people are in need and it´s not only now you can make a difference.. I want to suggest an easy way for you to make a difference. By consciously buying FAIR TRADE-products as this year's Christmas-gifts to friends and family, you can actually make a difference without even making a big effort.
Fair Trade is all about... Surprise - surprise.. Fair trading! It guarantees that some of the world's poorest farmers and workers get a fair price for their products, regardless of what happens on the world market. Fair Trade also takes into account the environment in production, where approx. 75 % of the products are organic. The farmers and the workers get a fair trade bonus that they together decide about what to use on in their local society. It can for example be used to build a school or establish scholarships etc.

The range within FAIR TRADE-products is quite big, and with lot´s of categories from x. children toys to life style products or food.

I have collected some of my favorite FAIR TRADE-products, as inspiration for your Christmas Shopping.

Take a look at some of the links I found underneath, and shop consciously this year!

www.just-business.dk/
www.earthdivas.com/
www.fairtradebutik.dk/
www.husetvedhavet.dk/
www.fairplay.nu

Christmas inspiration

The first of the four sunday´s before Christmas Eve is well over with. As tradition is, I´ve started decorating my home for this years Christmas. I have decided the color scheme for this year, and it is dusty blue, white, silver and in general the light colored tones. This is due to the "grey" winter in Denmark. I think the winter here is kind of depressing and dark, and therefor I would like to light up my evenings this december with the light tones.

After decorating the living/dining room, I took some pics for you guys.
I really hope you like the style! Some of the things you see is home made, so if you like something in particular let me know (and maybe I mite give you a treat for Christmas)... ;)

Storage bag

A little Wednesday "Do it yourself" - tip from me to you.

If you lack a basket or something to store your candle lights, knitting - stuff etc. in, this home made "storage bag" is the perfect thing for you.

I have made this out of four pieces of fabric which all where "left overs"from other projects.
The idea came because I wanted to give our friends a personal gift for their house warming last week.
It´s the perfect gift. You van fill the bag up with different things like a bottle of wine, some chocolate, candle lights etc. It´s all up to your imagination.

I have tried to make a guide of how you can make your own storage bag. Please let me know if something is unclear or its hard to understand.. :) Thanks.

Have fun!
M.

Paint your doors

If you have a boring facade on your house or an entrance that could use some colors, and you're in the mood for some quick changes - PAINT YOUR DOORS - in nice, happy and soothing colors.

I have found some inspiration for you.

Remember to think carefully about the color you choose. If you pick the wrong one, it can start to irritate you instead of making you smile. I would advise you to pick a color thats not too sharp. But we all have our own color preferences, so listen to your gut feeling. It's probably right! It can also be a good idea to paint the doors in your house in different colors depending of the room. But remember to choose the same color nuance, so it´s not too confusing for the eyes and your mind.

Here you can see some color samples (they are very useful in situations like this).

TIP!
Pick the color you like and all the colors at the same line is in the same nuance. It's that easy!
By using this method (and your gut feeling) you often get colors that goes with each other.






TIP!
You can also make a color testing, if your not sure about the color(s) you chose. Find a piece of plywood in a good size (or something else) and paint it in the preferred color. Put the sample somewhere in your house, so you see the colored plate as often a possible. If the color feels good, then it´s a good choice for you. I will say it again; always follow your gut feeling when it comes to colors. 


Buy a bucket of paint and start painting your doors.

IN THE MOOD FOR PAPER CUT's

It's a saturday misty afternoon and I have the cradle for inspiration.

In my search for inspiration I found this beautiful paper cut bird. Such a nice handcrafted piece of work! 

Check out these nice vases. They are made of as metal plates and they are so decorative. I think they could be a really nice addition to this years neutral colored Christmas decorations. Buy them here: www.amazon.com/tordboontje

1. "Liberty bird" by Andy Singelton. You can see more projects by him here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysingleton/

2. "Thinking of you" vases. 

3. "Until dawn" curtains. 

Both projects by Tord Bontje. See more projects at http://tordboontje.com/.

I'm going to find my scissors and start cutting away. Have a nice saturday everybody. 

Love M.

Lamp shade Inspiration

A NEW LAMP SHADE MADE OF MY OLD SHIRT

I had this lamp that I wasn't to fond of. It was boring and white with a cheep look, and showed no soul/personality at all. I new I wanted a new shade for the lamp, but I couldn't find anyone that I liked in the stores. 

When we were moving from Kolding (a small town in Jutland) to Copenhagen, I had to clean up in the wardrobe. I found a lot of old stuff which we donated to the local Second Hand Shops, there among shoes, clothes, interior stuff etc. But I had a hard time giving away one of my old shirts, so I kept it in a bag (which I hid from my boyfriend, so he wouldn't donate it). The clothes was not that nice, it's not like I could fit them anymore eather. But there was something I still liked about them ; the fabric, print, texture, ribbons or the buttons etc.

Some weeks ago I bought my first sewing machine (a ladies best friend, if you ask me). To try it out, I found my bag of old stuff and started sewing on a new lampshade. And above is the result... 

Now I can enjoy the sight of my old shirt, in a new function. It was for free, it has personality and it  lights up the Fall-evenings in a nice way. I love it! 

If you would like to learn how, stay tuned.... A guide how to re-design your lamp shades will come later on. If you would like to learn right away, write me in the comment area :)

Fall inspiration

It's fall and the cold is slowly crawling in our homes. 

Last year I made some decoupage pictures on canvas, so our home would match the mood of the fall.

The result ended up being pictures and branches with both purple and white/grey mood in them. 

I will write posts later regarding how I made the white/grey picture and also with some inspirational material regarding decoration of branches. Maybe it can inspire someone out there to get creative on these cold fall evenings.. 

Velkommen.

Dette er mitt første blogginnlegg og jeg er litt spentfor å være ærlig.

Siden er under oppbygging så derfor litt lite å se på nå. Men veldig snart vil det komme flere spennende prosjekter, samt en oppdatering av noen tidligere prosjekter jeg har lagd der hjemme. Jeg tenker dere finner ut av hvem jeg er, hvilken stil jeg har og hva jeg liker å styre med i fritida igjennom de ting dere ser her inne. Så noen lenger introduksjon hopper jeg over.

Med dette sier jeg VELKOMMEN til Inspirasjon fra nord, et kreativt konsept med henblikk på å motivere, inspirere og kreere!

Stay tuned.