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How to Make a Book Light

How to Make a Book Light
How To: Not Your Ordinary Book Light. Friends have regularly recommended books as being particularly illuminating, but I admit that after opening them I was as in the dark as ever. Since I’m not one to let a good metaphor go unmolested (and because design schools seem to constantly create designers who’s job it is to make ugly lamps) I made this. Yes, it's a reading light made from a book. It turns off when its closed and gives off a variable amount of light depending on how far you open it, up to about a 40W light equivalent. Keep reading for all the instructions to make your own. Update: These instructions are for the wall powered unit. Skills: You need to know how to do some basic soldering and some rudimentary wood cutting. Time: A couple of afternoons, though a lot of that time is waiting for glue and paint to dry. Materials: - Hardback book. Tools: Preparing the book First we need to scalp the book. Nothing against this book. Next cut the pages from the book.

DIY Glitter Vases Inspired by many reader requests for a DIY tutorial to recreate the glittery mason jar vases from this New Year’s Eve party, today we’re playing with glitter. A whole lot of glitter! I whipped up two different versions of these glitter vasses, both of which are quick and easy. They’re perfect for parties, weddings or just to add a touch of sparkle to your dining room table. I seriously love how they turned out! Supplies - Glass containers (preferably with smooth, straight sides)Glitter (I used Martha Stewart Crafts glitter in Wintermint and Bronze from Michaels)Foam brushPainter’s tapeModPodge For the first vase I used a small cylindrical vase and using the foam brush, applied a thin and even coat of ModPodge on the interior walls of the vase. Then I just let the vase dry. For the second version, I used a mason jar and went for a glitter-dipped look. Next up, I used a copper glitter and coated the outside of the vase. Many thanks to my lovely friend Alice G.

Spring Scrapbook Paper Tree Hello fellow crafters! Tristin and I were invited to be today's featured guest blogger over at Everyday Mom Ideas! We were thrilled with this wonderful opportunity, and wanted to share with the readers over there one of our trees from the collection we're currently doing. This second tree is very similar to the first one. (Since this is a guest post on a different blog, and the concept is similar to the first tree.. Thanks, Julia, for having us on your blog!

Glow Stick Jars After seeing some of these on Pinterest, Boo and I bought some Fourth of July glow sticks and broke into them early. We cut off the ends and dumped the contents in, and shook the jar to coat the sides. (It’s non-toxic.) An instant glow stick lantern: We mixed the red, white and blue together and it made a pink/purple-y color. Monday night I think we’ll make separate lanterns for each color! Update: I’ve heard from several readers that adding water to the jar helps to keep the glow! P.S.

Butteryfly Tree This craft project was inspired by something almost identical I saw in a fancy shop here in NYC. It cost almost $500, and I thought to myself, "hey, I can make that". And so I did! Start by printing out butterflies. I found mine online, simply google butterfly prints and millions comes up. Cut them out. Hot-glue or super-glue a small branch to a vintage saucer. Fold the butterflies a little, so they look more alive and simple hot-glue them all to the branches. Photos by Alexandra Grablewski

3D Picture I know you are invited to at least one wedding this summer. Bring your camera. This is a neat way to present a special wedding picture. It's an old paper trick call a tunnel card. I like to frame it in a shadow box and give it to the married couple. Materials: 4 copies of a photo that has a fore, middle and background. shadowbox frame mat 2 pieces of cardstock glue stick Tools: scissors In this sample, the frame and mat are 8" x 10". Leave one photo as is. Glue the pleated card stock to the back of the mat. You should have a photo that looks like this one.

Earring Display This fun little shabby chic earring stand, made from an altered picture frame, is a great way to hang and display all your beautiful, dangling earrings. I had the idea for this project after we talked about my love affair with dangly earrings and how to display them. I don’t know about you, but I just love seeing them all hanging in a row! :) The next day I made this earring frame, and it was so quick, easy, and inexpensive to put together, I knew I had to share it with you! :) I spent a grand total of $5.34 on this project. Cost: Less than $10 Time: 30 mins Supplies: picture frame, 12′ of picture wire, acrylic paint & brush, staple gun (or nails/tacks, etc) I started out with a black 8×10 picture frame from Walmart, $3. Since the frame wasn’t real wood, I was a little concerned with how it would turn out once I painted it. But as you can see from the above images, this little inexpensive frame did great! Next, I took a piece of wire and laid it across the back of the frame.

Candle Holder I was messing around with different materials trying to dress up a little LED tealight, and this is one of the versions I ended up liking (plus it’s dirt cheap since it’s just thread!). I love me some textures. This may be useful for those with wedding venues that don’t allow real flames. Finding these* at the dollar store is what started this mess… 1) Get your hands on some thin cardboard that you’ll be recycling anyway. 2) Find some wrapping plastic (try to use something you’ll toss anyway!) 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 13. You can make different sizes and shapes. … and configure it however you want! * Batteries were included, and they lasted for many hours. Happy crafting! Mrs. Location: Sacramento Occupation: Tea Analyst Wedding Date: August 2008 Venue: Vineyard on the Delta

Wrap String Bottles I drink a lot of wine. And end up with a lot of empty wine bottles that are oh so pretty, it breaks my heart to have to junk them with the raddi- walla. I've been trying to find all sorts of utility excuses to hang on to them - wate bottles, plant holders and what have you. Used: Coloured raffia from Le Papier Empty clearglass wine bottles (Sula Zinfandel -which is incidentally my personal favourite) Heavy duty glue (I have this stick of industrial glue that solidifies when it cools but I guess Fevicol would do as well) Starting at the bottom (cos the top's a bit tricky) starting winding the raffia tightly around the bottle, pausing to add a bit of adhesive every now and then. Edited to add: A couple of months later some more string arrived. And about half a dozen wine bottles later, here's what happened:

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