Upcycled Doily Lamp « I’ve been collecting vintage crochet doilies for several months, with plans to make this pendant lamp. Finally, now that the holidays are over and things have slowed down a bit, I took the time to make my first prototype. There are a few things I need to work out, but overall I am very pleased with how it turned out. P.S. P.P.S. Like this: Like Loading...
Six paper flowers It got into my head that I needed to make some paper flowers. I don’t know why. But I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal because the Internet is a veritable smörgåsbord of craft tutorials, and all I had to do was fire up Lappy 5000 and pick one out. About 300,000 search results later, I was no longer any more confident in my ability to make a paper flower than I was in my cat’s ability to retrieve his stupid mouse instead of staring at my hand after I throw it. There were just too many choices and although I could compare the photos, they didn’t reflect (1) how good each tutorial was, (2) how closely my flower would resemble the picture, or (3) which flowers would look nice together. Then again, I thought, if anyone is supposed to try every single one, it might as well be me. After some consideration, I decided that 300,000 might be a few too many to take on, so I narrowed it down to the six most promising and got to work. Wow, that sounded kind of racist, didn’t it? Hope that helps.
Handmade Tissue Paper Flowers and Pompom Garland You'd think after making hundreds of these for my wedding, I'd be completely sick of them. But I can't help it, I love them so much! I'm a little sad that I didn't save a bouquet of paper flowers from my wedding, but I never thought I'd want to see them again. ...And as bedroom decor... ...And maybe I couldn't resist making just a few little blossoms... Want to make some? Materials: Tissue paper Heavy-duty scissors Floral wire Make sure you use a pair of scissors that you don't mind ruining, because they're going to take a serious beating here. For a package of 20" x 25" tissue paper, 8 sheets: Large flowers (Peonies): 16 per pack Small flowers (Carnations): 32 per pack Mini pompoms (Garland): 8 per pack Small pompoms: 2 per pack Medium pompoms: 1 per pack* Large pompoms: 1 per pack *There will be enough paper leftover from a medium pompom to make flowers or mini pompoms The flowers are easiest, so lets start there. Spread the tissue paper out horizontally on the floor or a large table.
Piece O' Cake Blog - Very cool curtain idea... Bliss Home in Knoxville was a shop on the walk between the Knoxville Convention Center (where the show was) and my hotel. This curtain/screen called out to me as I walked by. Each "string" is made from colorful hand-cut rectangles that were sewn together with heavy black thread. The strings were long, ceiling to floor length. On closer inspection, the colored rectangles were paint chips! Isn't this a great idea!
Inspired by Yulia Brodskaya I can't get over how amazing these are. I wouldn't be surprised if Yulia invented quilling. She is a 28 year old artist from Moscow who creates beautiful designs from vertical pieces of thin paper and her website is full of inspiration in color, line, shadow and technique. You don't have to be a fellow quiller to wish you were like this great lady. Even though her pieces would be amazing if they were drawn, it was the fact that they are 3d that caught my attention. When my husband and I were engaged, I bought wooden letters to spell out 'save the date' and covered them with different patterned paper. (I couldn't resist showing our cute picture) The letters were already covered (I know, I didn't post a diy... I picked out 4 colors of paper that went with the colors in the pattern and had them cut into 1/2" strips. It feels great when you know that it takes alot of time and effort, but the end result makes up for all of that. In hindsight, I would choose a letter that had a meaning.
Bottle (w)rap 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. And now I have the perfect non-utility excuse to collect some more! 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:
Glowing Outdoor Orbs O.K. Get ready for it … this one’s a doozy. Doozie? Doosey. It’s a humdinger. It looks high end with a side of huge impact, It costs next to nothing, And even if being “handy” to you means replacing your regular lightbulbs with eco-friendly ones … you’ll be able to do this in 3 minutes flat. Opaque glass shades found at second hand store … Mini Lights from Christmas … Glowing orbs for your garden Want more STUFF like this? Get my posts emailed to you daily. Total Cost: $3 In my attempt to make my backyard a teensy bit more contemporary than my 170 year old house I ran into a few problems. It isn’t gonna be for lighting if I can help it. So while perusing the local second hand store I came across some truly unfortunate stains on the carpet AND these ubiquitous opaque glass shades. Because as you can see, all you have to do is shove some old mini lights in em to create an outdoor light that even a magazine Editor in Chief will comment on. And here’s the best part! at night during the day p.s.
HOUSE*TWEAKING ...because home doesn't happen overnight. Last night {the operative word being *night*…that’s why the lighting in some of the following pictures isn’t the greatest} Handy Hubby was kind enough to hang the DIY ‘love’ headboard. Yep. It’s only taken us 6 weeks to finally get it on the wall. He screwed 2 hangers into the back of the headboard. And he screwed 2 into the wall. Here he demonstrates how they fit together. And here’s the headboard/wall art in place when it was all said and done. This morning I got a chance to wash/make the bed, dust and vacuum after all the sanding, drilling and spackling that’s been going on in there. The next shot includes a snippet of the fandelier. While Handy Hubby was on a hanging roll, I got him to hang the new mirror between the windows too. Here’s its new home. I love the way the shimmery fandelier reflects in the mirror. Do tools count as accessories? images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
The Hipster Home » Blog Archive » How to Make a Tiny Terrarium in a Light Bulb Ahoy there Hipster Homers! I’m Julie and I’m the very first guest blogger on this fine site. Today’s project involves breaking stuff, plants, found objects, and miniatures. Fun, right? Let’s get started! Dos and Don’ts: Do use sand or small pebbles; these are good because water drains through them easily. How To: You’ll need a few tools to make a tiny terrarium but nothing complicated to get started. Needle-nose pliersScissorsLong tweezers or chopsticksFlathead screwdriverGlasses or goggles Let’s start with the light bulb. We will be removing the inside parts of the lightbulb. First, remove the metal tip from the bottom of the bulb. Then, when enough of the sides are raised to get a good grip on them, hold one of the sides with your pliers and yank out the metal tip. Next remove the black glass. Now you will be able to see the interior parts of the light bulb. Using the flathead screwdriver as a sort of lever, snap the interior tube from the side. And now you have an empty light bulb!