A Little DIY… Printed!

Hello Precious readers!

I wanted to share a little piece I wrote for one of my university’s student newspapers. I wrote on some current trends to DIY, taking inspiration from my top 3 DIY reads - http://lovemaegan.com , http://psimadethis.com and of course, http://carboncouture.blogspot.com .

I won’t bore you with double reading, so here’s the link! http://www.theconcordian.com/diy-fashion-update-your-closet-and-save-money-1.1110338 (you can leave comments, too!!!)

It was actually great fun writing my first article for The Concordian - especially since it was on DIY. I’m hoping it’ll be well received, and that I can eventually make a series out of some DIY fashion posts. I will say that it was a completely different experience writing for a newspaper rather than a blog. A challenge, even. I learned that APPARENTLY exclamation marks aren’t so accepted in journalism. Something about how it seems like you’re laughing at your own joke? Who knew! (I almost ALWAYS laugh at my own jokes. Especially the ones that are just untimely and horrible and not funny.) Naturally, of course, full capital lettered words don’t fly. That I already knew.

I brought home for myself approximately 8 copies. I’m a little girl when it comes to things like that, I want EVERYONE to have a copy! I had to sneak copies into the crook of my arm when nobody was looking. I didn’t want other students to think I’m a LOONY TOON. I am pretty sure some of my classmates saw me trying to shove my stack of papers into my bag. Whatever. I am one proud peacock!

And since I know the text won’t stay online forever (or does it? I don’t know how those archive things work), I’ll eventually repost it as its own post!

XOXO

Tags: "press", diy, fun stuff, glue gun, inspirations, my writing, The Concordian

Cold-Weather Cuteness #2: Cozy Fleece Scarf… WITH POCKETS

My friend Rosalie is PROBABLY my blog’s biggest fan - both of my blogs actually. She pestered me to get back on crafting because she was running out of things to read when she’s bored. She is also a lover of the craft making, and has asked me repeatedly to invite her over when I craft. I don’t think she’d be too keen on coming over at 3 a.m. when I can’t sleep and have a weird jolt of inspiration. So, because she’s a really great girl, and because I like her and think she’s awesome, I made her a teensy little present - that actually kills two birds with a stone - because it’s both a wearable craft AND a recycled household objects craft! Wow!

In my house, we are apparent lovers of the glorious fabric that is FLEECE. Back in my summer camp days, I gave the same gift for the gift game two summers in a row: a fleece QUILLOW lovingly handmade by myself - or my mother if I ran out of time/got lazy. My mom once made me a fleece bed cover thing, that attracted both stray hair and sweat. My sister had giant hot pink fleece throw pillows. I made MYSELF a hot pink fleece QUILLOW. See a trend?

So, using all this excess FLEECE we happen to have lying around (I have since put the fleece cover into storage and my sister outgrew the need for HOT PINK FLEECE), I thought nothing would be cozier than a great fleece scarf for Rosalie. And hey, IT’S NO-SEW.

Things You Need:

• A ton of leftover fleece - like old throw blankets, even old fleece bathrobes
• Scissors
• Glue gun
• Heart template - or whatever shape you want your pockets to be
• Optional: embroidery floss & a needle

Now, I know I said it’s NO SEW, but I made mine LOOK like it was sewn but it’s really not. A sew trompe-l’oeil!

How To:

1. Decide how thick and long you’d like your scarf to be, and cut it as evenly as possible to your desired length/width. Make sure it’s wide enough for pockets!
2. In an alternating color (or the same, however you wish), trace & cut out 2 patch shapes for your pockets, large enough to fit most of your hand.
3. OPTIONAL: sew stitches around the pocket shapes to look like seams.
4. Glue the patches to the near bottom of your scarf, leaving a wide opening at the top. Put glue ONLY on the edges, you’re making a pocket, silly!
5. Wrap around your neck, sneak some candy into your pocket and go out for an Autumn walk!

   

   Stuff I used

   

   Cut fleece

   

   Tracing a shape

   
   

   

   Cut hearts!

   

   Glue the hearts on!

   

   Finished scarf

   
   

   

   Rosalie's package!

   
   

Estimated Time: 20 minutes, add 15 if you’re faux-sewing the pockets.
Craft Level: Easy - cut & glue!

Tags: cute, diy, easy, no-sew, presents, recycling, scarf

Anniversary Crafts

My man and I recently celebrated our one-year anniversary (OKAY, I know 1 year of dating ISN’T SUCH A BIG DEAL ANYMORE, but to me it was so deal with it!) and in addition to man-made/store bought presents, I knew that I had to MAKE him something. Apparently sending pictures and captions to Bureau en Gros to be made into a calendar didn’t count so much.

I did sell my soul to the scrapbooking gods to make him a great looking corny/stereotypical scrapbook, but the real craft that I made has its own background story:

My aunt’s parents have these giant fish sculptures at their place that kiss. If at any time, you should visit them and the fish aren’t kissing, the couple are NOT happy with each other. But if you visit, and the fish are kissing, you know it’s - as we say in Hebrew - “Shalom Bait” (literally: peace in the home, figuratively: things are koooooool). I wanted to recreate this idea - complete with the undertones.

So, a DIY sculpture kissing couple? EASY AS PIE.

I bought 2 identical and inexpensive glass figurines, and decorated them - one male & one female. Using a heavy duty adhesive [Well-Bond], I gave them lips, a necklace/bow-tie. For the female, I recycled trimmed edges from a set of false eyelashes to make her eyes lashilicious.

Check out pictures below!

It’s easy to find inspiration to make cheaper presents! Who needs fancy crap when you can give from your heart?

Tags: cute, diy, frogs, love, presents