6 Two Step DIYs

Alright, you busy bees, here's a list of DIYs that are a sweet and simple two steps. From hair pins to trinket holders, you can do it all in fifteen minutes or less!

1) Bobby Pin Holder

These mini Altoid boxes are available at most stores. All you have to do for this DIY is eat the Altoids and then replace them with your bobby pins. A delicious project that will put some organisation back into that messy hair accessory drawer.


2) Garland

Okay, for this one you'll need a shape hole punch and paint chips (the free ones from your nearest home improvement store are perfect). I went with a flower like the one pictured above but stars are cute too. Any shape you like works. Now, take the paint chips and punch out a bunch of shapes. How many you punch depends on how long you want your garland to be. Now take a needle and thread and string the punch outs on. You can string them on with one hole for the shapes to be parallel or you can use two holes and the shapes will hang horizontally.


3) Photo Wall

Gather up all those old photographs and a roll of tape and get to getting! You can leave gaps like I did or make a solid wall. Try using plaques like the one of the Eiffel Tower in mine or paintings or framed photos to break it up and make it more interesting. (Tip: The Walgreens app allows you to print photos right from Facebook or Instagram, and if you print from Instagram they'll print as 4x4's) Check out my DIY Bunting post to learn how to make bunting like mine!


4) Signature Book

Alright, you all are so crafty that a lame notebook is definitely not cool enough for people to sign at graduations or goodbye parties. Pick up one of these books and have your friends and family sign it for you when you leave high school, go to study abroad, move away, or embark on any new chapter of life.


5) Travel Tracking Board

This one is for all who have the travel bug. My best friend bought me a large world map and a bulletin board (same size or larger than the map). All I did from there was tape the map on, grab some pins and put one colour pin in the places I have been, and another colour in the places I still want to go. Hang it on your wall and all your friends will be so impressed with how cultured you are.


6) Trinket Holder

Soup can plus twine or lace or paper or duct tape or decoupaged magazine clippings equals one cool pencil holder. Or tooth brush holder or paper clip holder or...well you get the gist.


I hope you enjoyed these! Leave questions or comments below. If you're looking for other DIY projects, check out the others on my DIY page.

DIY Image Transfer

Hello all you crafty people out there! If you are reading this, then you are likely in a similar boat to me. I saw a cool pin on Pinterest advertising the ability to transfer my photos onto canvases and that they would look artsy and distressed. I thought to myself, "Cool! New project with a vintage feel AND the ability to save a few bucks on getting canvases printed for me." So ensued the adventure... I started with the transparency and gel medium method. It was a bust; the image came out streaked and unrecognisable. Next, I looked into a method posted on Instructables which was very time consuming so I decided to try out my own. In the end, this was the best way.

First, you need to gather your materials. You need:

• acrylic gel medium (I used Liquitex gloss heavy gel)
• paint brush
• canvas
• an image printed on printer paper
• spoon

Next, apply a thin coat of gel medium onto your canvas. Make sure it is evenly spread by applying in an up and down motion, going back over with side to side and diagonal motions and then returning to the up and down motion. The next step should occur immediately following so the gel medium does not have time to dry.

Now, you will need your image to transfer. I chose three to transfer: a picture of my school in England, the Grand Canal in Venice, and a London bus. I printed them ahead of time on my standard printer from home on printer paper. Lay the paper ink-side down on the gel medium coated canvas. Now, take your spoon and rub (burnish) the paper. Be meticulous. Any area left un-burnished will not transfer. I spent a good 5 minutes burnishing. If you are not sure if it is ready, peel up a corner of the image to check. 

If the image is ready, peel the paper slowly back from the canvas. The result should be a slightly grainy looking image... perfectly vintage. Add embellishments such as sharpie text, fake flowers, lace, etc. after giving the image 24 hours to dry. Hang in groupings or alone for a handmade, one-of-a-kind decoration. 

The far left image was burnished for 3 minutes as opposed to 5. 

You can see the difference it makes in the overall effect.

I hope this was helpful, and if you have any questions or comments or pictures of your finished projects, please comment below. Thanks all and have a perfectly crafty day!

DIY Bunting/Photo Line

Alright my little Do-It-Yourselfers, here's a new one. Bunting. If you are unfamiliar with bunting, it is commonly known today as strings of colorful triangles of fabric (or paper). They are then hung up as decoration for parties or just because. I think it is a very adorable decoration that goes with most any decor. It can be used to spice up a plain wall, or as a fun decoration in a bedroom. And if you use this DIY guide, it can be a quick and easy project that will last for a long time.

*Photo courtesy of Google Images*

What you will need is:

1. Colored paper (I had a pad of 6" squares of scrapbooking paper that I bought from Target for $6 and used. It came with some 50+ sheets. I had lots left over.)
2. Twine/Ribbon/String to string your bunting onto
• You will need 1 foot of string for every 2 triangles of bunting if you make bunting that is 6 inches across the top. (i.e. I have 17 triangles that measure 6" across the top, and used 9 feet of string)
3. Scissors
4. Ruler
5. Hole punch
6. *optional* photos
7. *optional* clothes pins

Step one: So, first you need to decide how big you want your bunting to be. I had 6 inch squares so I made them that length along the top so as to minimize excess cutting. If you have rectangular paper, though, and you do not wish to make them into squares, you will just end up with bunting that is slightly longer.

Step two: Alright, once you have your paper, you can grab your first sheet and find the center point on the bottom edge. I opted for ease, so I just matched up the bottom corners and made a small crease.

Step three: Then, you line your ruler up with center point at the bottom and one of the top corners. Draw a line. (Note: If you don't want a line on the side of the paper that will show, flip the paper over when drawing lines.) Repeat with the opposite top corner.

Step four: Next, grab your scissors and cut out your triangle. Repeat until you have your desired amount of triangles.

Step five: After all your triangles have been cut out, you will need your hole punch. Punch two holes. Both about an inch inside each top corner. 

Step six: Now, use your twine/ribbon/etc. to string all the triangles together.

Step seven and eight: Hang bunting. *Optional* use your photos and clothespins to clip photos in between triangles (you could also substitute paper clips).

And your bunting should look something like this!

As you can see, I did put photos on my strand, but it was just as cute without.

I'm a little bunting crazy so I embellished my bunting with bunting. :)

My beautiful sisters and I.

If you really love my twine and want to use the same, I purchased hemp from Ben Franklin. It can also be found at most any store that carries craft/jewelry supplies.

If you enjoyed this post or something didn't make sense, please leave a comment below.

DIY Altoid Tin Prayer Boxes

Alright, my lovely little bloggers. I have been wanting to start a DIY section on this blog for awhile now, so I figure what better time than the present. Right? So here goes...

I was in a store called Francesca's a few weeks ago with some lovely ladies by the name of Laura and Maddie. Then are both heading off to England with me (in 10 days I might add!!!). Anyways, we were shopping for some stuff to bring to school and I came across these cute little boxes!

Now isn't that adorable?!

This was what it said on the inside

"When your head starts to worry,

and your mind just can't rest,

put your prayers down on paper,

and let God do the rest."

I mean aren't these just the sweetest little things?

So me, the avid do-it-yourself girl that I am, decided I could make these easy peasy! And it really was. Here's how:

1) I bought some Altoids. I bought a pack of four because it is cheaper than buying individual packs. I believe it cost me $4 dollars max for these.

2) I pulled out some sheets of scrapbooking paper that I had on hand and traced the top of the box once, and the bottom twice. I used three different patterns of paper for each tracing I did. (Note: trace the box on the back of the paper so you don't have lines on the side you want to show.) 

3) I cut out the paper. Now, cut the paper for the top of the box and the bottom of the box normally, but the second tracing you did of the bottom is for the inside of the lid. This piece I cut slightly inside the line so that it would fit without any extra.

4) I sanded all the places I was going to glue paper to (so the top, bottom, and inside lid of the Altoid tin.) and then wiped them with a dry cloth to remove any dusty residue. 

5) I used a glue stick (NOT a glue bottle. That will make your paper soggy and wrinkle when it dries) and glued down the paper in the three designated spots. (I put glue on both the tin and the paper to help it stick better.)

6) Next I hopped on my trusty computer and typed out Prayer Box and the poem from above, and printed it on colored paper. White works fine, too, but I personally enjoy any pop of color I can get. Make sure to print in a font that isn't too large so that it won't fit on your tin, but also not so small that it is hard to read. I used 11 for the poem, and 24 for "Prayer box."

7) I cut them out what I had printed and glued the "prayer box" on the top, and the poem on the inside cover.

8) Lastly, I used some clear gloss interior/exterior varnish to seal all my hard work and insure nothing would get dirty or ripped. I used the brand Dreamcoat from Ben Franklin's (a small bottle costs around $3), but it could also be purchased at any other craft store or possibly Walmart. When using the varnish, apply one coat and then let it dry for 10-15 minutes and apply a second coat, if desired. Once both coats are dry, remember to give the bottom and inside of the lid a coat as well.

Then I just got some little pads of paper and placed them inside the box and I was all set! This is how they turned out.

I added the bunting to this one. It made it 10 times cuter. Just 3 little triangles of paper glued down. Looks awesome!

I love the print of the lace on this paper. I think it is absolutely adorable.

And of course you have to have one that is all bunting. I mean, how can you not?

This is the inside.

And a close up. I didn't take pictures of the bottoms, but they are just a piece of scrapbook paper cut and glued down. Pretty simple. I just put paper there to cover up the Altoid nutritional info.

I hope this DIY was enjoyable and easy to follow. You can let me know if anything was unclear or didn't work by leaving a comment below. Thanks!