Shrinky Dink Jewelry on Brit+Co.

Remember this DIY from a while back? Well, I decided to pull out the shrinky dinks again and try my hand at a few more accessories...This is such an easy way to make custom pieces on the cheap. Head on over to Brit + Co to check out my post and get some inspiration for pieces of your own!

Since I last posted we've made the move to New York City! Taylor and I are finally starting to feel fully settled into our new apartment in Brooklyn and falling quickly in love with the city...I can't wait to share some little bits and pieces of  our new home and life with you all. Of course, I'm getting a spurt of creative energy and desire to get back to blogging right before things get crazy again -- I start my Masters of Social Work on Thursday, and life is going to get busy quickly!...but I'm so excited to pursue something I'm so passionate about. I'm thinking this is going to be a pretty great time in my life :)

string lanterns

This is a project I’ve been meaning to do for ages, but it’s a bit time consuming so it kept getting pushed to the end of the list. My friend got me the prettiest little white lanterns made out of string—I love them, so I decided to try to make some more myself. This project is messy and time consuming and sometimes a little frustrating (aren’t you excited to do it now?!), but the end result is well worth the glue covered hair/clothes/body (really, I promise). I made a string of different sized small balls and put them on white Christmas lights, but you could also make bigger lanterns or even just make a bunch in different sizes to hang from the ceiling without lights.

For this project you will need:
Roughly 4 oz glue
½ cup cornstarch
¼ cup hot water
Embroidery string (or yarn if you want something thicker)
Clear spray paint
Balloons (I used water balloons. If you want to make larger lanterns I would recommend those party balloons that come with a rubber band tied to them that are meant for bouncing…any idea what I’m talking about?...Anyways, those are usually rounder than regular balloons)
Vaseline (We didn’t have Vaseline so I used Crisco because I’m lazy…uh, I mean, innovative)
White string lights
Scissors
Paper towel
Clear or white wire (this wire should be stiff and not easily bent out of shape—you could use paper clips for this)

To prep mix together the glue, cornstarch and water until there are no clumps and blow up your balloons. If you don’t blow them up all the way, they will be more round.

 
Cover the balloon in Vaseline/Crisco so that the string doesn’t stick to the balloon once it’s dry.

Coat the string in your glue mixture as you wrap it around the balloon. Begin by wrapping vertically and slowly begin to wrap horizontally. Wrap until there are no large holes. If you are planning on putting lights into your lanterns, make sure there is a hole big enough to insert them.

 

Allow the lanterns to dry until they are completely hard.

Use a needle/knife to pop the balloons and pull them out carefully. You may need to use tweezers, depending on the size of the holes you left.  There will most likely be a bit of dried glue in the holes. If this bugs you, you can use a knife to carefully scrape it out.  It looks a little weird up close, but I decided to leave them on mine because it looks really nice when the light shines through them.

Next, spray paint each ball to give them extra strength.

While you're waiting for the paint to dry, cut your wire into pieces around 2 inches long.  Wrap them around the bases of your lights so that the ends stick out opposite sides.  Carefully insert the lights into holes that are just big enough to fit them.  Position the wire so that the lights can't be pulled out easily and you're done!

e is for [e]ffervescent.

Hello friends! Here is a little project I did today after work that I wanted to share.  I've had this E from Michaels sitting around forever, waiting to be decorated.  All you need for this is a letter/shape and supplies to decorate with! For mine I just copied one of my favorite patterns of anemones onto my letter with sharpie and then painted the edges and back a lilac/lavender-ish color that I mixed up (so obsessed with this color) so it could be reversible.  You could also glue on pretty paper or scraps from a magazine or a bit of wallpaper or paint on a cool design or keep it simple with some black and white stripes or chevron...whatever you want!

geometric wood necklace

When I started this project, I wasn't sure that it was going to work out...I ended up having to change around my design, but I ended up being really happy with the final product even though it wasn't what I had originally planned on.  I would like to experiment more with this project and try out different materials and designs.

For this project you will need these supplies:

-Paint and paintbrush (I used an acrylic metallic copper color and added yellow and white to lighten it)

-Scissors or an exacto knife

-Jump rings

-A chain (make sure it's made up of rings that are big enough to fit the jump rings through)

-A thick sewing needle

-A piece of thin wood that can be cut easily with scissors or an exacto knife

Step 1: Draw your design onto the piece of wood with pencil.  I originally wanted to make the necklace out of small triangles but the wood was too fragile to do this and would split along the grain when I tried to cut it, so I figured out a design that used the wood grain.  If you want to do a different design I would recommend getting thicker wood (this might also mean you need something more heavy duty to cut out your pieces though).
Step 2: Cut your pieces out with scissors or an exacto knife.  Be very careful and gentle when you do this so you pieces don't split.


Step 3: Paint each side of your pieces of wood (including the edges).  I made mine a very subtle color that got lighter towards the middle, but you can experiment with different colors or even paint designs on them.

Step 4: Use a needle to poke a hole through the top of each piece (or wherever you want to put your jump rings).  Poke it through a few times to make sure the hole is wide enough.  I would recommend that while you do this you squeeze the sides of the piece together so you don't split your wood down the middle.

Step 5: Insert your jump rings through each hole.  Touch up the paint if necessary once you've done this.

Step 6: Attach each jump ring to the chain (remember to measure the length of your chain beforehand and make sure the pieces are centered). You might need to use small pliers to close the jump rings.

Step 7:  Attach a jump ring to one end and a clasp to the other.

That's it!

Lace Short DIY

A while back I was flipping through the Free People catalog, looking at all of the pretty things I can't afford.  I came across these shorts, which are way out of my price range.  I realized that I could probably do the same thing with an old pair of jeans and some lace trim.  I tried it out and was so happy with the results.

For this project you will need lace trim (or any other kind of trim), thread (make sure it matches your trim), pins, scissors, and an old pair of jeans that you've turned into cut offs.

Some advice for cutting your shorts: 1) start out longer than you think you want the shorts to be 2) use a marker/chalk to mark your jeans where you want to cut them while you have them on.  It is also helpful to use another pair of shorts as a template.

STEP 1: Pin the lace to the edge of your shorts.  The edges of my cut offs were already folded up so I decided to leave a fold, but I think it would also look good without a fold (that was my original plan).  You should experiment a little as you start pinning--does it look better folded/not folded? does it look better with the trim sewed on top/under the edge of the shorts?  This all depends on the trim you're using.  My trim was really thin and I wanted to be able to see the whole design, so I decided to sew it on the top side of the edge (the top of the trim also hid my seam nicely).  Pin the trim down every couple of inches (make sure it's nice and straight!).  When you get to the end leave a bit of extra trim on either end so that it can be folded under at the end (you can always cut off excess trim, but you can't add it back on).  I think it looks best if you make it so that the ends meet at the inner thigh seam of the shorts.

STEP 2: Begin sewing at one end (I used a machine, but I'm sure this would be really easy to hand stitch).  Go slowly to make sure your trim stays straight and doesn't bunch. When I got to the end I just folded the end of the trim under (and tucked the other end under it) before I sewed over it to hide the ends.

STEP 3:  My ends looked a bit awkward at the end, so I decided to hand stitch the two ends together.

This project was so easy and I love the end results...I'm pretty sure I'm going to be doing a few more cut off makeovers this summer!

flower headband DIY and ramblings

I've been home for less than a week and last semester already seems so far away! I'm settling back into being at home (other than the fact that I still haven't really unpacked, therefore my room looks like a hurricane went through it...oops).  Today was my first day of work--for now I'm just doing office work but it's nice to have something to do and to earn a little money before the camp I usually work at starts.  It's so nice to finally have time to start the long list of projects I've been dreaming up over the last semester, and I'm hoping I can maintain this momentum once work/my thesis research get into full swing.  I'm also excited to focus a bit on photography this summer--I've been trying to learn what I can through the internet and have been experimenting with my mom's fancy-shmancy cameras...SO, hopefully you will see some gradual improvement in the photography around here! Anyways, enough of that...

This is another super super easy/inexpensive project that is also perfect for summer.  Your summer wardrobe is incomplete without flower accessories to wear in your hair!

Here's what you need for this project:

I decided to make my headbands with smaller flowers, but I've seen people with headbands with larger flowers that look awesome (I just don't think I could pull it off)...so, if you're all about the dramatics you should use big crazy flowers! (I would love to see pictures if any of you try this!)

Also, if you want to put a little more time and effort into this project you could make your own flowers.  A while back I posted a tutorial for large silk flowers, so you could try using those.  I'm also going to try to throw together a tutorial for making smaller fabric flowers, so that should be coming later this summer.

Just cut individual flowers off of the stems.  Make sure that they're cut pretty close to the base so that they don't stick up too far off of the headband (but also make sure you're not making it so that the whole flower falls apart).  Put hot glue all around the base of the flower and quickly press it onto the headband, holding it in place until the glue is mostly dry.  I attached my flowers so that they were slightly tilted in one direction so that you could see them better from the front while I was wearing it (and so that you couldn't see the headband or glue).  Attach flowers until they cover the whole headband, minus an inch or two at either end.

That's it! I think that these headbands look great with beachy waves or a messy high bun. Here is the final product!:

DIY Earring Display

Hello! I'm so excited it's finally summer, as it means I have so much more time to do fun projects.  It's only my second day home and I've already finished 3 new projects!--that means lots of posts will be coming soon...yay!

This is probably one of the easiest (and cheapest) DIYs I've ever done, but it's super useful and pretty.  My earrings are always getting lost/tangled, so I decided it was time for me to find a better way to store them.  This can also serve as decoration, so it will be useful in filling the walls of my new room next semester!

The only supplies you will need are an embroidery hoop (you can buy wood ones in various sizes for less than a dollar at Michaels), a small piece of lace fabric or other fabric that can be easily penetrated by earring posts (I used an old lace curtain), and scissors.  That's it!

Step 1: Lay your fabric over the embroidery hoop.  Make sure the section you're using doesn't have any imperfections.  If it has a pattern, make sure it is going the way you want it to when its hanging.

Step 2: Push the inner hoop into the outer hoop.  Pull the fabric nice and tight.

Step 3:  Tighten the hoop.  Really, really tight!




















Step 4:  Cut off any excess fabric...you're done! Wasn't that easy?










You can hang this on a hook (perhaps with a display of prints/pictures or mirrors like these), or you can just lean it up against the wall.