Soda Can Tab Small Pendant Light A few weeks ago I was down in DC and had a chance to spend some time with my college roommate. Since she had witness a lot of my crafting first hand she was curious about the lights I’ve been making, and we spent a while brain storming what sort of materials I could try using next. I don’t remember exactly what made me think of it, but suddenly all I could see was the tabs from soda cans, layered like chain mail, hanging from a drum shade! Of course I had the small hiccup that I don’t actually drink things that come in cans (I hate carbonation so no soda, and no beer) but of course once again Etsy came to my rescue! I swear no matter how strange my idea I can almost always find the supplies I need on Etsy, I know I shouldn’t be surprised by that any more but I guess I still am. Next I briefly tried a piece of left over mesh laundry bag, and discovered that the fabric nature of the bag was much better for the tabs (as was simple thread.) I guess I also did learn some other things. Ciao!
Summer bracelets DIY When M. came home from her camp with school, she showed me this yellow bracelet she made with 'scoubidoo' strings. One of her friends taught her how to make these and of course I wanted to have a go at it too. Instead of scoubidou string I used strips of fabric for one and leather - what did you think?!- shoelaces in offsetting colors for another one. I believe both resulting bracelets look really nice. So, in case you 're in need of a fun summer project here's a how-to in 16 pictures with a short description below. This is what you'll need for an adult size leather bracelet. - a 52cm long strip of fabric or leather shoe lace - a second strip of fabric or leather shoe lace of approximately 95 cm - a big-eyed needle - a cylindrical object to hold the loop so your project stays put while braiding (the neck of an Elmer's glue bottle works just fine; when out on the beach, the finger of a helper's hand might do the trick as well) Steps: 1.
mad in crafts: Dollar Store Plastic Animal Bookends First of all, thank you so much to all of you who voted on the first round of So You Think You’re Crafty. Weren’t the projects fantastic? I have my work cut out for me in this competition! My animal bookends didn’t quite take first place, but I was ecstatic to see how many people liked my project the best. Since I wasn’t the first week’s winner, it means that I get to share the tutorial for my project here for you! To make plastic animal bookends, you will need: dollar store plastic animals sharp scissors strong craft glue acrylic photo frames spray paint (optional) I was so excited to get started on this project, that I didn’t take a before picture of the plastic toys. To bisect the toys, I just pierced the animal in the midsection (this is beginning to sound like a biology lab) with my scissors, and cut all the way around. Once the toy was halved, I applied a generous layer of glue to the cut edge and stuck the toy onto the frame. Once the animal halves were in place, I left them to dry.
DIY Woven Bracelet & Necklace « greeneyed.com I’ve been itching to make myself some jewelry inspired by Aurélie Bidermann’s “Do Brasil” line. Since I don’t have 300 Euros lying around, this looked like a design I could recreate on my own. I was primed to put together a DIY Tutorial for you all when I discovered that Honestly WTF had already done the honors. I picked up the gold necklace and the two bracelet chains from an antique shop for $5 a piece, and had the embroidery thread on hand. Jump on over here for the tutorial. NECKLACE: I used shades of pale blue and turquoise embroidery thread, and wove through one side of the chain to mimic this necklace. CHARM BRACELET: This bracelet was already armed with charms. DOUBLE BRAIDED BRACELET: For this bracelet, I removed the charm and just used the chain. Photos: Courtesy of Ashley Weeks Cart
Pattern and Video Tutorial: Loom Knit Mesh Bag Loom Knit Mesh Bag by Kristen at GoodKnit Kisses 41 peg (or new 40 peg in pink) Knifty Knitter Extra Large Round Loom - Yellow 3 pegs of Spool Loom Skill Level: Beginner, level up Uses: Personal size Mesh bag for the beach or shopping. Yarn: 1 ball nylon crochet thread 90-100 yards 1 ball cotton 90-100 yards *or 2 balls of cotton Abbreviations: EW = E-wrap P = Purl Flat Panel- 1. Building Base bag – 2. Main body of the Bag – 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Handle for mesh Bag – Spool loom. 2 strands 1.5 times diameter of yellow loom or 52.5-54.5" long depending on material. Weave the icord into the top of the bag between the knit stitch columns. ©2011 GoodKnit Kisses
DIY Friendship Bracelet For several months now, we’ve been receiving emails requesting a friendship bracelet DIY. Well, friends, ask and you shall receive! Today, we’ll give you a step by step tutorial on the classic chevron pattern. If you used to whip up friendship bracelets like a champ in grade school and have since forgotten how, consider this a refresher course. And if you can make these with your eyes closed and arms tied . . . umm, can we still be friends? You’ll need:embroidery threada safety pin or tapea pair of scissors Start by cutting several strands of embroidery thread at about 24 inches each. Start on the left side with the outermost color (shown here in red) and make a forward knot by creating a 4-shape over the 2nd color, loop it under and back through the opening. Pull up and to the right to tighten. Now pick up the outermost color on the right side (show here in red) and make a backward knot, creating a reverse 4-shape over the 2nd color, loop it under and back through the opening.
house diorama Left: The actual house, Right: The paper diorama I always ALWAYS forget to photograph these before I put them under glass. Then I have to deal with the ever present glare and reflection of myself in the glass. Our wonderful friends, the Smileys, hosted our family last May at their house near Washington D.C. This is their long-overdue thank you gift. Do you see where I accidentally bent the grass? I used a new glue this time, the MS Crafts Fine Tip Glue Pen. Now I'm ready to replace the snowy bird diorama that has stayed on my mantel all through the summer. DIY Utility Cord Bangle « greeneyed.com ANNOUNCEMENT: A select number of these bracelets are available for sale here. I know, I know. ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE UTILITY CORD AND BRACELETS! Materials: Utility cord Crochet hook (sized according to utility cord thickness) Metal chain (optional) Directions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Photos: Courtesy of Ashley Weeks Cart
Universal lamp shade polygon building kit I saw a lampshade made out of the shape below at a friend's house, so I traced the shape and made my own. the lamp i saw used thin plastic for the pieces. I believe the original design for this lamp was done over 30 years ago by the firm Iqlight, they sell pre-cut parts in case you do not want to make the parts yourself. Below is the shape as an image, and i've also attached a DXF file. You will need sheets of paper or plastic that allow light to get through. You will need a lamp fixture - just a raw socket on a cord. I experimented with a number of different plastics and sizes for the parts, here are my results: - HDPE: works well, looks good, cheap and easy to get. - Acetal (delrin): this seems to be the best choice for looks, it has the purest white color and best light dispersion (basically, looks just like acrylic except it doesn't crack as easily). - Vinyl: I did not try it, probably want to use thicker pieces since it is not very stiff. but you can use colors! Where to get it:
Pulseras de cuero e hilo de colores Es uno de mis modelos de pulsera favorita porque te permite jugar con el color. Es sencilla de realizar, combina cuero e hilos de colores, yo he usado hilo de bordar cuyos colores son luminosos y el colorido es muy variado. Inspirándonos en los cartoncillos de los hilos, los peques han hecho las etiquetas. Es para un regalo especial que vamos a hacer hoy, la destinataria tendrá que escoger una bolsita con la pista de la etiqueta. Están hechas con tres cordones de cuero de 2 mm entre los que se entrelaza hilo de bordar de colores. Son muy sencillas de realizar, el material que necesitas es: 3 tiras de cuero 16,5 cm de largo (según la medida de tu muñeca) y 2 mm grosor 2 piezas metálicas centralesUn cierre de dos piezas para ambos ladosHe sujetado uno de los extremos con celo y el otro lo he dejado abierto. Inserta las piezas centrales en los extremos de los hilos y fija con un poco de pegamento.
Tea-time – Tea Steeper Design by Pengtao Yu Timely Steeping I am in love with the Tea-time tea steeper for its intuitive design and simplistic interaction between tea leaves, water and steeping time! A flipping action, akin to starting the timer, sets the tea making process into action. Loose tealeaves and hot water do their steeping business and the ready tea slowly trickles down to the bottom beaker. The timer/filter hold back the leaves and your cuppa is ready to sip! Designer: Pengtao Yu Tea-time is a 2011 Spark Awards entry. Super Macro Your Cellphone Camera With A DVD Lens I’ll admit, Super Macro Your Cell Phone Camera With A DVD Lens is one weird title. However, if you just moved to a blu ray DVD player and you’re looking for some good use for your old DVD, cnflikt (who also took the shots for this tutorial) came up with a hack to enable you to take super macro shots with your cellphone. Of course you’ll need a camera phone for that. cnflikt uses the notorious, yet old-skooled K800i, but any camera phone will work here. First thing is to get a lens for your camera phone. Make sure your old DVD player is not connected to power. Then take the screws off. Anyhow, if you went against my advice, you’ll find the lens under the place where the disk goes. Ok, I’m only kidding on this one. If you opt for the cardboard option, just make a round hole in the cardboard. Just use some duct tape (as indicated before) to mount your lens directly, use or blue Tack to hold the card mount. WOW.