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.
butterflies i saw this craft after the years of different butterfly punch art and i was finally ready. i had pictures of annie painting the paper but they have disappeared. the first step is to watercolor paint on paper.paint all over with pattern or with out....less water makes for brighter colored paint.and let it dry. then punch out as many butterflies as you can. i bought this martha stewart butterfly punch at joann's.they are not cheap but it was on sale and they do have 40% off coupons quite often.and THAT punch is really cool.VERY easy to use! it's in two pieces so you can punch out from any part of the paper not just on the edge.VERY COOL.i get why it costs more than the other brands....quality.it's martha! we used 10x10 canvases also from joann's....i wished i had bigger canvases....like 20 x 20 would have been great! the girls painted them with acrylic paint. it was fine to have the streaks in the paint....i liked it. annie's was yellow.much to her disappointment.but still lovely and sunny.
How to Make Clothing Buttons from Shrink Plastic… This tutorial is an old one of mine that’s too good not to share again. Since posting the first time, I’ve had lots of questions about these buttons which will hopefully be answered in this revised post. Equipment Some handy notes: 1. single hole, hole punch (like this one here). 2. 3. Okay.. lets get started! Tracing tips: You can use either coloured pencils or permanent pens. Words must be writted backwards in order to be readable. Shrinking the buttons: To shrink the buttons, you can use an oven or a heat gun (the kind used for embellishing). After the buttons have twisted and twirled, and are LYING FLAT, it’s time to take them out. Note: If the skrinking is taking too long, you may need to turn your oven up. Here’s a short little stop-motion to make sure you’ve got the gist of how easy this is! Shrink Paper {here} Circle Punch {here} Hole punch {here} Pens {here} Update: I’ve made a video to show how to shrink the buttons using a craft embellishment heat gun. Kimanh Hi my name's Kimanh.
DIY Pendant Lamps | Glitter Weddings I was awesome at papier-mâché. When it came time in Geography to create our own papier-mâché globe, those 5th graders had nothing on me. I would sit for hours, hands covered in school glue, concentrating at an intense level for a ten-year-old. It’s been a few years, but something tells me I’ve still got it. These DIY Pendant Lamps are essentially papier-mâché for grownups. We’re still in the honeymoon phase of marriage, the phase where your husband still thinks everything that you do is beyond cute (eh, usually), so I’m thinking he will LOVE a macaroni lamp. Directions for these fun-tastic projects here and here. Via Glitter & Pearls // DIY Lace Lamp Via Urban Taster // Hemp Pendant Lamps Via Craft Nest
DIY Picture Tiles - You Will Never Buy a Photo Frame Again Lately I’ve been having this huge urge to decorate the house. This is big news. I do not decorate. Arguably, one of the reasons why is because I. absolutely. hate. to. buy. mass. produced. decor. Anyway, this extends to photo frames. Nope. Long story short, I discovered this method of transferring my photos cheaply, quickly, and beautifully to something uncommon and unique. Tiles. The only thing that’s not particularly crunchy about this is that it uses Modge Podge or similar (and I’m not sure what’s in Modge Podge). It’s just grainy and doesn’t dry clearly. Boo. BUT, if you can overlook that one minor issue, I think you’ll love this. And it will be glorious. Here’s how you do it. First, you need to go to Home Depot, Lowes, or something like it. (FYI, I found that Lowes prices on tiles were cheaper than Home Depot. I like the stone tiles, because they have texture. So you pick out your tiles in the sizes you want. And then you get home and gather what you need. Cut them out. Go go go! Love me?
Small beginnings {Part 1} - making space Hello, my name is Joan. For a while I will be blogging in this section of the Pretty Blog. This is Part 1 of Small beginnings. Visit regularly for more in this series of topics around small space living and starting out. My husband moved in with me just after we got married and in the flicker of an eyelash my living space was halved! Tip no.1: Up-cycle vintage items or hand-me-downs into clever storage spaces: Image left: Suitcase drawers designed by James Plumb; Image right: Old suitcase turned into a bathroom cabinet Image left: Old drawers can do wonders for hiding modern-day admin or accessories; Image top right: Steel cabinet drawers in the kitchen ideal for big utensils; Image bottom right: Vintage architectural drawers adds character to almost any space (bottom right). Tip no. 2: Use the ordinary in clever ways for affordable solutions to making space & display what cannot be hidden away: Image left and right: Use old fruit or wine crates to make a beautiful wall unit.