Monday, August 12, 2013

Tea and Sugar Remodel

 
 
You will need:
An old tea set
Spray paint
Hi-gloss Lacquer
 
 
During a recent trip to Good Will I spotted this adorable teacup set for $1 and fell madly in love:
 
 
 
 
Also on the same trip, I saw these matching tea and sugar containers, and decided to color them to match my new little tea cup that I was fawning over
 
 
 
I removed the top and sprayed them with gold spray paint, and then the body with a robin's egg blue:
 
Here's how they turned out:
 
 
Also, I sprayed a layer of hi-gloss lacquer to protect the paint and ensure none chipped off:
 
 
And here they are with the teacup that started it all:
 


Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!
 

Sunday, August 11, 2013

DIY Photo Collage



You will need:
Old frames
Spray paint

First, gather some old frames you may have laying around, or find some at a garage sale of thrift store. I found these frames at Goodwill, clearly someone had used the larger ones for wedding table numbers! I looked particularly for white frames, because I knew they'd be easiest to spray paint without needing primer or anything to make sure a darker color didn't seep through.


I removed the backing, and then picked two colors that I thought looked good together and also matched the decor for the room the collage would end up in:


Basically, all you need to do is add 2 or 3 layers of spray paint, and you're done! 

Since the frames were so colorful, I though that sepia-toned pictures would be the best so that it wouldn't look too chaotic or messy. Obviously, black and white would also be a great option! 

Here is the final product up in my bedroom:




Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!



"Love makes the world go 'round" Globe Craft



You will need:
A world globe
Letter stickers
Spray paint

I got the idea for this craft when I saw a chalkboard painted globe, but that didn't really suit my taste, so I thought I would instead use the idea I always see on Pinterest of putting letters on a canvas and painting over, then peeling back the letters so you can see the print below.

I nabbed this globe from a friend's garage sale for $2 (it was $1- but I gave her an extra for letting me have it even though someone else had expressed interest! Thanks again Hannah!), but I'm sure they are also all over at thrift shops and garage sales.



I had left over blue spray paint from a previous craft:


So my only real expense was to buy the letter stickers from a craft store. Most people probably have extra letters laying around, but I'm just starting to build up my craft supplies. 

So, I stuck my stickers on my globe:


 I suggest doing it over a large continent like Europe, because if it's just over an ocean you won't have much exciting to look at when the letters peel away!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get my globe to come off of the holder like you usually can, so I had to protect my holder with blue tape while spray painting. Most globes should be able to be removed from the holder, and usually can be pulled in half, which would make it even easier!


The last step is to peel back the letters! Unfortunately, the letters I picked for my big "LOVE," ended up being problematic and tore off some of the map below since it is a fairly old globe. So be careful for that!

I also sprayed my globe with a layer of hi-gloss lacquer. Not necessary, but always helps to protect from the paint scraping off!


The final product:






Here's a video of the finished product as well from my Instagram:



Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!

Nail Polish Organization


For years I have struggled with what to do with all of my nail polishes. I hate to have them fill up a drawer and become super unorganized, but I also think they are cute and like to display them. 

So to solve this problem I picked up this Apothecary jar from Michaels- you could also hunt a cute one down at a thrift store or garage sale.

It works great to hold all my polishes, and is a nice display piece in my bedroom!

Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!

Baseball-Inspired Headband Upgrade


You will need:
An old headband
Strip of white fabric
Embroidery floss in team's colors
Hot glue/Other form of glue
Ribbon in team color

I had been wanting a cute baseball accessory to wear to games, because in Seattle I often need a sweatshirt or cardigan during games- and that covers up the cute team shirts and tank tops that you wear to games!

I also went through a pretty big headband faze in high school, but as an twenty-something year old young professional, don't ever wear headbands anymore. So, I came up with the perfect craft idea!

I had a pretty boring old headband, almost identical to this one, that was close to being tossed or donated, but now gets to have a brand new life:


So I went to the closest fabric store and bought some plain ol' white fabric, the smallest section I could buy. I also painted the headband with some random white craft paint I had sitting around, so the brown color would not show through with white fabric on top.

Next, I bought embroidery floss in my teams' colors (Go Mariners!!!)


The first step was to hand-sew a baseball stitch pattern into a piece of white fabric. I did one color down each side, but you could also alternate!

  (Styling in my white Pi Beta Phi sweatpants)

Apply a line of hot glue (or other form of glue) on the reverse side along the stitches, and then apply the fabric to the headband:


Next, fold over fabric and secure along bottom of headband with hot glue (or other form of glue), and glue a ribbon to the underside of the headband if you want to hide the fabric lines (although no one will see them when it’s on your head anyway!)


Take me out to the ball game!



Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!



Friday, August 9, 2013

DIY Washable Glittered Champagne Flutes!

 
You will need:
Champagne flutes or wine glasses
Painters tape
Glitter
Mod Podge
Spray hi-gloss Lacquer
 
From my love for glitter comes these glitter champagne flutes that are WASHABLE! (by hand) First, purchase champagne flutes from anywhere- I got mine from Good Will for $.69 each!
 

 
Next, apply blue painters tape around the stem of the glass. Below the tape, apply Mod Podge and then a layer of your favorite glitter. Remove tape.
 
 
 
Once it is dry, spray the glittered portion with a hi gloss lacquer to make them washable (by HAND!!), and to keep the glitter from falling off whenever you touch it. Cover up the top of the glass with a plastic bag when spraying so that the area you drink off of doesn't get any of the lacquer on it.
 
 
Glass can now be hand washed without the glitter coming off! :)
 
 
 
 
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!
 
 
 
 

DIY Baseball Shorts!

 
You will need:
White pants/shorts/capris
A red fabric pen
 
 
To start these bad boys, grab any pair of white pants, shorts, or capris that you have, or buy a cheap pair somewhere - I got mine for $12!
 
Next, sketch the curved path you want your stitches to go along with a pencil onto the shorts (I did NOT do this step and wish I had- that’s why my stitches are a bit off).
 
Using a red fabric pen, draw on the dashes!
 
 
 
 
Finally, wear to baseball games and get tons of compliments! :)
 
 
 
 
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

DIY Potpourri

 
 
 
A few months ago, my roommate came home with this giant martini glass. It's cute, but I had no idea where it should go in our apartment!
 
I had some dried roses saved from my boyfriend from Valentine's Day, so we stuck some in there along with leftover wine corks from my Ombre Wine Cork Heart craft! It doesn't have too much of a smell, besides the faint smell that dried roses have.
 
This is a basically free and easy way to fill up and dish, vase, or other display piece!
 
 
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!

DIY Lace Pocket Shorts!


You will need:
A pair of shorts
Some lace
A needle
White thread
Fabric pins

 
Deeper and more intense than my love for chevron is my love for anything and everything lace. So I attempted in vain to find some cute lace pocket shorts in the spring, and couldn't find any that weren't on super light denim- which is not flattering and just not to my taste.
 
So I bought these handy little shorts for $12 from Forever21:
 
 
And a piece of lace from the nearby fabric store.
 
The first step was to lay the lace out on the pockets, and draw on the lace with a pen an outline just a little bit bigger than the size of the pocket I wanted.
 
Next, I cut out the lace on the inside of the pen mark, and pinned the shapes onto my shorts pockets:
 

 
Then I sewed along the entire pocket by hand to attach the lace. Be sure that on the top part you don't sew through the entire short, and only do it through the denim that makes up the pocket so you don't sew shut the pocket and you can still use it!
 
Unfortunately, I originally tried this with fabric glue, but the lace came off completely when I washed them. I have washed them a few time since sewing them and they've come out fine!
 
Me wearing the finished product:
 
 
 
 
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!

Ombre Wine Cork Heart!

 

 
You will need:
Wine corks
A wooden backdrop (see suggestion below)
Hot glue gun, or some other form of glue


When I decided I wanted to make a wine cork heart, I searched for a long time in all the nearby craft stores and online for a nice big wooden heart to use for this craft that wasn't super expensive, and failed miserably.
 
Finally I came across the website Build-a-cross.com. Yes, it sounds like an intense Christian site, but it has nice wood cut outs of almost any shape you could want!

There are a few different heart shapes, but I bought the 18 inch version of this one, and it was only $9.50! Prices vary by size:
Psst... They just e-mailed me a 25% off code "October25" that is supposed to be good through 12/31/13!

Between me, my roommate, and my parents- we drink quite a bit of wine. After about 3 or 4 months of collecting I got all excited and laid out my corks on my wooden heart...

And it covered about 1/4th of the thing.

I couldn't imagine waiting another full YEAR to finish this craft- all my vases were already over flowing with corks in the apartment. So I did a little Google search for used corks (cheating, I know. But SO worth it.)

The best place I can possibly recommend is:

This place is muy fabuloso because it gives you the option to order all red or all white wine corks. Since I most drink white wine, I was lacking a bit in the red stained cork department for the creation of my ombre heart, so I ordered 100 red wine corks.
 you can say if you want red or wine corks- so whichever you need more of for your ombre you can order (for me, I needed some more red!)
 
So once I had all the corks I needed, I laid them all out on my table and started to organize by shade of red until I had a little red wine cork rainbow. 
 
Then, I started at the top of the heart with the darkest reds and laid out all of my corks.
 
 
One they were all in position, I added a dot of hot glue to the bottom of each cork and glued them into position!
 
Now I have this lovely wine cork heart, and it's still sitting in my apartment because I'm not sure where I want to hang it! (I'm thinking next to my hanging wine rack?)
 


Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!
 

Here it is up on my wall with my hollow wine cork heart:


 (I also spy my globe craft!)
 
Have left over wine corks and need some other project ideas? How about:
Hollow wine cork heart
or
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

DIY Chevron Picture Frame Upgrade

 
 
 
Like every other Pinterest addicted girl out there- I am currently addicted to chevron and not afraid to admit it. I also have a bunch of old frames from my Middle School/High School years that I'm just not a big fan of anymore. So with the leftover fabric from my cubicle remodel (post coming soon), I decided to upgrade one of my frames!
 
Here's what it started out as:
 
So, you'll want to remove the glass from the frame first. If you can completely remove the backing that would help! Mine was attached on one side so it made the inside section a little harder, but it wasn't too bad.
 
Next, cut out a piece of fabric about one inch larger than your frame on each side.
 

 
When I first draped my fabric over my frame, I noticed it was a bit sheer and you could see the pink and the stripes through it, so I painted the entire frame with a layer of random white crafting paint I had laying around.
 
Next, wrap fabric around frame like a present, secure on the sides with super glue or another type of glue.


Cut out the fabric in the center of the frame to a rectangle leaving about 1/4 inch hanging over the edge. Also, cut slits from the center all the way to the corners so you can fold the fabric in.

 
Fold in fabric and super glue it. Add back glass and picture!

 
 
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!