Percentblog Guest Post

I'm so excited to have Katherine here at All Things Charming today! Katherine and I have been friends for many years now and since we both went to the same meeting that I'm attending now in 2009, I though it would be fitting for her to be my first guest post! At percentblog, Katherine does an brilliant job of blending the lines of design, sustainability, and intentional living so be sure to stop by! 

When Holly asked me to guest post while she is in Doha, I jumped at the chance for two reasons. The first is, I adore All Things Charming and the wonderful little corner of the Internet that it resides in. The other, because I adore Holly and had the privileged of attending COP15 in Copenhagen with her. It was one of the most interesting, stressful, exhilarating, disappointing, and unforgettable two weeks of my life, and I wouldn't have made it through without her. I hope she's having an equally unforgettable but non-stressful time in Doha. I'm happy to keep things charming here in her absence. 

During winter I always have on a scarf and know Holly feels the same way, so I decided to share an easy-peasy DIY you can use to spruce up your wardrobe or to make the perfect holiday gift, a polka dot scarf. I love polka dots. Slightly preppy, slightly silly, they always bring a smile to my face. Plus, they are quite on trend this season. 

Here's how to make your own polka dot scarf. I used a pashmina but if you are in a chillier climate you could use a felt scarf instead. Be sure to place paper or cardboard under your scarf. The paint bleed through enough on my pashmina that I didn't have to paint both sides, but with felt you may need to repeat for maximum dots. 

1. Gather your scarf, fabric paint in your color of choice (I went with gold!) and a pencil to make your dots. I used a "jumbo" pencil that I picked up from the art store for 29 cents. 

2. Iron your scarf. You don't want wrinkles ruining your pattern. 

3 & 4. Dip the eraser end of the pencil in the paint and then onto your scarf. You may want to practice on a piece of paper a few times first.  

5. For the first 18" on each side, I spaced my dots 2" apart, alternating between rows. Then I freehanded between the ends to make the middle less concentrated, creating gradient effect. Feel free to experiment with spacing and placement. Let paint dry 1-2 hours. Wash according to directions on your paint.  

6. Congratulations! You are all done.

Thanks for having me, Holly! Y'all can typically find me blogging about design for social change over at percentblog, writing for Rue Magazine (holiday issue out Today!), on Twitter and Instgram as @percentblog. You can find percent jewelry on Etsy.