Recycled Book Page Bird Ornament {No.2} Begin by printing out the bird template found {here}. I did not make a template for the wing; however it is a pretty easy shape to cut freely by hand. Stack three sheets of book pages together and trace the template on top. Cut out the bird along with the wing shape. If you prefer, you can distress the pages at this point. You can add glitter at this point, if you want a little sparkle. Stack the three bird cutouts together, adding a tiny dab of hot glue in between each to hold; do the same for the wings. Curl the ends of the wings and tails by lightly rolling around a pencil. Cut a piece of twine or ribbon for the hanger. If this birdie looks familiar, I made a standing version of him last year using a clothespin for the legs. All of the ornament tutorials featured are very basic and allow you to create them to your own personal taste and style ~ be creative and have fun!
Amandeleine This cake exists to make me fat. For serious. It has 32 oz. of cream cheese in it. A total of 21 oz. of bittersweet chocolate. 4 eggs and a little cream. But it’s just a little cream, so it’s cool, right? Continue reading Trevor and I have been doing some house research the past few weeks. There is one thing I have learned so far… my dream kitchen only exists in multi-million dollar homes. It’s really quite unfortunate. Continue reading There’s nothing quite like getting your hair did to make you feel like a lady. It’s that lovely pampered feeling that you can only get from someone fussing over you in a completely superfluous way. I have pin straight Asian hair, and yet I can’t get my hair as smooth as she gets it. I’m convinced that all hair stylists are some sort of magicians. Well, the good ones are at least. Continue reading Dear lady on the 6:20 bus, It is rush hour in Seattle. I do not care for your purse. Continue reading So instead, I will explain to you what a Peek Freans Fruit Creme is.
tiny pinatas I found tiny party balloons at a drugstore, shown here with a quarter for scale. I only blew them up a little until they held the size I wanted. setup: laundry starch (left over from the window experiment), cheap brush, tissue paper, and a shot glass to rest the balloon on one popped – this one only has two layers of tissue paper, see how the light comes through? the red and purple ones are overlapping areas of red and purple tissue paper, the look works best when the colors are allowed to overlap generously. the yellow one is two layers of yellow, then two layers of light orange. and the orange one is two layers of yellow, one layer of red, and one layer of orange on top. long thin opening instead of round one adding tag pasting over so loop of tag is embedded ta da!
DIY Solar Lamp: Make Your Own Eco-Friendly Sun Jars | Designs &Ideas on... The principle is simple and seductively clever: solar lights that store energy during the day and release light at night. These can be purchased ready-made in a variety of colors (yellow, blue and red) but they can also be built at home. A simple, less-technical approach involves buying a conventional solar-powered yard lamp and then essentially harvesting it for key pieces to put in a jar. This is simply a way of taking an existing solar lamp design and appropriating its parts to make something more attractive for display around a house or home. A more electronically-savvy individual can take the more complex route and built a solar lamp from the ground up using small solar panels – though the aesthetic result may not be as impressive. Whatever route you choose to go, these are fun and sustainable gadgets that make it easy to go green, automate the process of turning on lights at night and can add some color to your porch, patio, garden or windowsill.
How to make gift bags from newspaper When I bought something at a store recently, the clerk handed me my purchase in a bag made from a newspaper. I liked it very much and had to make some more—thus today's DIY recycled newspaper project: gift bags made from the Wall Street Journal. You can vary the dimensions, of course, but here's what I used to create a bag that's 5" tall, 4.5" wide, and 3" deep. Stack two sheets of newspaper on top of each other. This will be a two-ply bag for extra sturdiness. Cut out a rectangle that's 15.5" wide and 8.25" tall. Fold a flap 1.25" down from the top. Cut two pieces of cardstock or chipboard to 4.25" x 1", then glue them on the widest two panels just under the top fold. Put glue on the outside of the 0.5" tab and bring the left-most panel over to form the body of the bag, aligning the cut edge of the panel with the folded edge of the flap. Upend the bag so the 2" flap is now up. Put glue on both flaps and fold them inward to form the bottom of the bag.
Framed Jewelry Organizer Necklaces always seem to get tangled in a jewelry box. This is a DIY tutorial to make a framed jewelry organizer that both displays your pretty necklaces and keeps them tangle-free. You can either hang it on the wall or lean it against a vanity table. thrifted vintage frame peg board cup to size wood glue scissors ribbon knobs or hooks spray paint (optional) Start with a vintage thrifted frame. Before securing the peg board to the frame I make a couple loops for hanging dangling earrings. I double knotted the back. Next I glued with wood glue the peg board to the back of the frame. I picked up some of these knobs and hook on sale from my local Anthropologie. The hook’s holes didn’t quite line up with the peg board’s so I tied ribbon through like I did for the earring loops. Then I installed my knobs and hung my jewelry.
Amigurumi Tutorial 3 (additional techniques) | Hook and Needles: Knitting and Crochet Blog (cool stuff, techniques, and things I find) In the first amigurumi tutorial I went over the basic crochet techniques needed to make amigurumis. In the second installment, I explained the most common types of patterns, and how to read them. In this final amigurumi tutorial I’ll cover some additional techniques often used when making amigurumis. Other Crochet Stitches Although most amigurumis are made with the single crochet stitch shown in the first tutorial, you are often required to use other stitches to shape your doll. Slip Stitch (sl st) Half Double Crochet (hdc) Double Crochet (dc) Triple Crochet also known as Treble Crochet (trc or tr) Font Post or Front Loop, Back Post or Back Loop (fl or fp, bl or bp) Working with Color You’ll often want to add a splash of color to your projects. If you are working in stripes, you’ll want them to be as jogless as possible. If you find a better way to the jogless stripes, let me know. Adding Faces Your amigurumi won’t be complete until you add a cute face to it. Keep safety in mind. Closing words
ridiculously easy wine glass charms I decided to make sets of 12 charms each, so I got 12 different colors I bought 6mm druk beads (simple Czech glass) – I originally wanted 8mm but those did not fit over the rounded wire I bought base metal (as opposed to sterling silver) 1″ hoops that are actually earring findings – they also carried 3/4″ which probably would have worked out even better, but may have created more problems getting the bead on detail of the ends, one is flattened and has a hole punched in it creating it’s own clasp later STEP ONE: put the bead on STEP TWO: grab the regular end with some pliers (needle nose would work best if you have them) – just 1/4″ or less. STEP THREE: bend upwards STEP FOUR: admire your work. detail of closed charm If it doesn’t want to hold, gently pull the hoop open so that it will have some tension when closed. ta da! I packaged some in those glass topped favor containers which are so trendy these days.
Make It and Love It: Glass Etching Have you ever done any glass etching? Well, neither had I before today. But wow. Such an easy, yet sweet little touch that you can add to any glass. Check out my new and improved etched Trifle Bowl. The perfect bowl for desserts of all kinds…..and even a great place for fresh fruit on the counter. Glass etching is also a great way to stamp your name on your pyrex dishes, to make sure they come back to you. And how about adding a little extra detail, just because…… (Edited to Add: The font used here is called Smiley Monster and I downloaded the font for free here.) Sweet in every way. Are you wanting to make your own? (This technique permanently etches your glass. First, you’ll need a piece of vinyl with an adhesive back, like the vinyl you buy for vinyl wall decor. Then peel away the shapes, leaving the negative space all in one piece. The Silhouette code for the bird/branch is: bird_on_branch_C00044_23067 01/18/2010 Then peel the vinyl backing away. See how there are air bubbles? Good luck!
Mason Jar Key Hook Hey guys! Hope you all had a great Wednesday I have a fun project to share today! I started with a 1×8 board from Lowe’s that I cut to about 2′ long. I also purchased 3 hooks and a pipe clamp from Lowe’s. My next step was attaching them to my board. Then it was time to attach the clamp. I used a 3/4″ wood screw to attach it to my board. Finally, I added to picture hangers to the back of it and hung it up. I love it. I’m thinking these would be super cute hand towel hooks for the bathroom. Thanks for stopping by! I will show you my new paint method in my next post so stay tuned. ~Whitney