Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » diy project: valentine lightbulb i know a lot of people find valentine’s day to be a commercialized, over-hyped, pressure-cooker of a holiday (um, take it easy with the chocolate aisles, drug stores). in my mind though, valentine’s day is great because such little things can make huge statements on this romantic day. pretty much any act of kindness carries with it a bigger message of love: a note on the counter, an extra long hug, a favorite food in the fridge, etc. so with the “little gifts” concept in mind, i bring you this valentine’s day light bulb. a subtle love note tucked inside a pretty glass bulb, this can hopefully be displayed year round, and have longer lasting power than a dozen roses (not that i’m knocking roses). the other awesome part of this project is that once you’ve hollowed out a light bulb, the possibilities are endless for future projects: mini terrarium? check. handmade snow globe? check.. go crazy! CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump! materials: cost: time: 1 hour instructions:
V and Co how to: jersey knit bracelet i don't know what it is about this time of year that makes me just want to have my bare feet in the sand, be watching the sun setting into the ocean, and breathing in the warm salty air of the beach...as i get older, more and more i find myself missing that place i used to go to almost every.single.day. as a teen. (my skin doesn't miss it. as a matter of fact, i now wish i listened more and DID put SPF on my face...hindsight is 20/20). my mom calls me from her walk on the beach almost every morning...*sigh*yeah, i get a little homesick around this time of the year. heck on my pinterest my "dreaming of summer" has the most pictures in it. ah yes. i miss my ocean. case in point. this bracelet, brought a flood of memories, not because i used to have one like it but because i can totally see me wearing it by the beach, not caring that it's gotten salty and wet, because i can totally make another one in like less than 5 minutes flat when i get home. *sigh* okay... *cut off excess tails!
Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » diy project: alison’s snowflake corkboard this fun holiday decoration project comes from alison fonseca of five months in paris. after moving into her new dorm room, alison found herself with a ton of blank wall space and a limited cash flow. so to add some budget-friendly holiday decor she decided to add slowflakes to an existing piece of cork board. it’s such a simple idea, but one that would be fun to do while watching holiday movies or on a snowy afternoon. when the holiday is over, just unpin them from your board and your normal day-to-day look is back. thanks to alison for sharing! CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump! Materials: - cork board (any size or shape you like) - plain white paper - photos, magazine clippings, etc. - white thumbtacks - scissors Instructions: 1. 2. 3.
KNOW AND TELL CRAFTS: PAINTING WITH LIGHT! I love this so much! It is painting with light, and I have seen this but never tried it. If you haven't tried you need to try it because it is a lot of fun. To make them you need light: And you need a camera, to learn about how to set it up right this site really helpful! These were taken outside: This heartbeat turned out really neato! These were taken inside: I recommend putting glow sticks on your hand in some way: (these are shown by my new antique find from the greater columbus antique mall) These ones are my favorite: These are kind of dark but I love the circular shapes! It reminds me of fireworks! Remember to think outside of the box :) Arrows are cool:(says me) All photographed by the same camera by me :). Okay so maybe I need to work on my air-writing but again, practice makes perfect.
Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » diy project: hidden jewelry box grace mentioned to me that jewelry storage is a hot topic for a lot of readers, so i set to work brainstorming some possibilities! i realized that there are basically two camps: people who like their jewelry on display (neatly of course), and people who like to hide it away (also neatly). so i am going to do two diys for jewelry storage that can satisfy both camps. the first is an attempt at hidden storage, which in this case is a mega top-secret, ninja-spy, behind-the-painting deal. i’ve always loved the idea of secret hiding places in fat old books, under rugs, and behind old paintings. this is pretty easy to rig up, especially if you have an old painting with a nice wood frame, but really any picture with a relatively wide wood frame will do fine. if you feel like you have too much jewelry to fit, this can also be a great way to store keys and mail by the entryway. or you could pair it with a nice leather bound book with a secret cutout container. have fun! – kate materials: 15. saw
DIY Miniature Fabric Flower Garland Back in July, Once Wed featured the Free Wedding and a lot of people left comments asking how to recreate the fabric flower garland. So, I thought I would put together a miniature version of it for everyone. It’s easy to make and can be used in so many ways… hung from the ceiling, attached to the back of chairs, aisle “rope” or laid on the table for an added element. -Ashley of Dolci Odille Supplies: Scissors, needle and thread, fabric, and a pencil. Step 1: Fold your fabric and use the spool of thread to trace a circle. Step 2: Take one circle and fold it in half. Step 3: Take the half circle and fold it in half again. Step 4: Then take your circle and stitch through the bottom. Step 5: Once you have sewn all 6 circles, connect the petals together by stitching through each one at the corners and then tying off the tread with a double knot. Step 6: Next, cut 3 yards of thread and add on the flowers one by one. Project created by Dolci Odille
Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » diy project: halligan’s handmade air freshener I am a daily commuter and spend a lot of time in a car. Here is the perfect alternative to the everyday air freshener that uses all natural dried lavender. If you are lucky enough to not have to travel by car on the daily, this project would also put a woodland spin on a drawer sachet. Happy sniffing. CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump! Supplies: -wool fabric -scissors -needle and thread -fabric marker or pencil -2.5 inches of thin ribbon of choice -15 inches of ribbon of choice -dried lavender -printed template (CLICK HERE to download the template!) Instructions: Supplies: -wool felt -scissors -needle and thread -fabric marker or pencil -15 inches of ribbon of choice -dried lavender -printed template -fabric glue -hot glue gun -hole punch Instructions: 2 Cut out the acorn top and bottom paper templates. 3 Line up shapes and sew edges using a blanket stitch leaving the top of the acorn base, the bottom of the acorn hat, and the tip of the acorn hat unstitched and open. BONUS steps:
Harry Potter Countdown: Forget Harvard this Baby's Hogwarts Bound My good friend who also is a Potter fiend had a sweet baby girl a few weeks ago. And I just couldn’t help but make her a Gryffindor onesie outfit. I wish I could say I’d put these onesie sets in the shop but freezer paper stenciling is such a finicky sport that I just can’t do it. If you want to make your own I explain how to do freezer paper stenciling in this post. Basically you cut the stencil out of freezer paper, iron it down and then paint and peel the stencil off As you can see I kind of smudged the paint taking the stencil off. Here’s the image if you want to give it a go yourself. UPDATED: I’ve had a few people ask if they can buy sets.
Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » we like it wild: shamrock badges Aside from the obligatory pint, we’ve never been quite sure what to do on St. Patrick’s Day. Since most of us just aren’t a green plastic bowler hat bunch, we decided to do some serious brainstorming in order to come up with a bit of wearable green that suits our particular tastes. While visiting North Beach’s Washington Square Bar & Grill last week legendary barman Michael McCourt poured us a couple of “lady’s” pints (a half pint) of Guinness to help us get our creative juices flowing, chatted us up about the comings and goings of the neighborhood, and even offered to wear a little of our green himself. Until recent decades, St. Patrick’s Day was little more than a saint’s day observed only in Ireland. We decided to bring a little bit of finery back to the St. CLICK HERE for the rest of Studio Choo’s shamrock badge project (including step by step how-to photos) after the jump! [ed. note: if you're having trouble finding tiny bottles, amazon sellers have tons of them for low prices]
recycled road map cork board A recent house clean-out yielded many items we had a hard time parting with, even though their very existence has become obsolete in the last few years. One of the most noticeable of the bunch: road maps. As our ever-advancing phones and computers take over our lives, we find what was once useful is now trash, yet we couldn’t part with these beautiful maps! They reminded us of our childhood road trips and later travels throughout Europe. This month, we turned our junk into art and created these recycled cork board maps. The full project instructions continue after the jump . . . Materials old maps or a Rand McNally road atlasspray mountscissorsX-Acto knifecork squares or cork roll (depending on the size of the project)painter’s tape, optional (for low-impact hanging)double-stick foam tape, optional (for low-impact hanging)pins and/or string to highlight important locations on the map Instructions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » Let there be light The one thing I love the most about the holidays are all the outside lights. It makes a very dark time of the year very bright and jolly. And I always think its such a drag when all the lights are taken down and everything gets dark again. Well, then its time to put out some lights of my own. Even if its just a small IKEA lantern that I used on one of the images. But if I’m having guests over I love to make a ice lantern. Its super easy. You need two buckets, one smaller then the other. Some greens, I love to use olive branches. Fill the biggest bucket half full with water. Place the smaller bucket inside it and place some rocks or something heavy to keep in in place. Add more water, the water level should be to the top. Add your branches to the sides of the bucket. Use some tape to keep the small bucket in the middle of the big one. Now set the whole thing outside to freeze. Once its frozen, remove the small bucket first and then the large one. You now have a beautiful ice lantern.