Thursday, February 2, 2012

DIY Crafts

Apparently it's a double-whammy of posts today...Taking a little break from the fashion side of the blog, I wanted to also show my extremely sporadic love for DIY projects.  Now, I say sporadic, because I tend to go through creative phases--there are times where I'll be feeling super creative and want to make tons of things, and then there's the other side of the spectrum, where I say it's just easier to buy it than make it.

I am not the naturally creative type, although upon seeing my first-grade teacher last year, she told me she always thought I would be an artist...I mean, I did draw a mean cat and dog back then!  I didn't quite have the heart to tell her that the only art I've created since then has been sketches of crime scenes!  But I do enjoy art, and because of my extreme, albeit undiagnosed ADD, I've become quite the doodler, moving from the basic flower (my fav), all the way up to this:

Granted, I did follow a tutorial, but even for freehand, it's not bad!


Anyways, I just wanted to share with all of you some basic DIY projects I've done over the past few months.  I've gotten all my ideas from the internet (stumbleupon.com, other blogs, etc...), so nothing here is technically original, but everything has my own special spin on it!  Oh, and all of these are super easy, since I'm a beginning crafter, so anyone (and I mean ANYONE) can do these!  Enjoy :)

DIY #1: Melted Crayon Art

This I've found on numerous websites, and was so much fun!  I don't have kids, but I could see this being a great "fun project" to do with them.

All you do is buy a box of crayons (I bought the large 72-count--to ensure maximum colorage--not a word?  Oh well, I just made it one!) and a plain cloth canvas (all from Hobby Lobby), and have a hot glue gun on hand, and you're ready to start!

 You can create whatever color combination you'd like (I decided to go rainbow Roy G. Biv-style) and grouped all like-colors together.  I lined them up first to make sure the colors I had chosen would fit on the canvas.  Once you've done this, you start hot-gluing each crayon onto the canvas.  It's a little time consuming, but it ensures the crayons stay put.
After you have glued the crayons on the canvas, now comes the fun part.  Before you start applying heat, however, make sure you place some newspaper or something underneath, just to catch any wandering wax! Now--take a blowdryer and have fun!  You'll start to notice the crayons turning "shiny", and then they start to drip.  It's great, because this is the part that makes the craft individual--you never know what pattern or direction the wax is going to drip, making it an unique work of art!
 The wax dries very quickly, but if you want a little more color, you can go back and heat up the crayons again.  My one piece of advice is to keep the blowdryer on low--when I put it on high, the wax tends to go all over the place, instead of directly down.



DIY #2: Peacock Shoes
This project is actually one that I came up with on my own, based on pictures I had seen in magazines.  I inherited these cobalt-blue heels from an old friend, and ever since then, I wanted to try and add peacock feathers to them.

I bought regular-sized, faux peacock feathers from JoAnn Fabrics, cut them down to size, and hot glued them to the heels.  After allowing the feathers to dry, I had some extra rhinestones from another project, so I added a few to the feathers (using hot glue as well).  A simple way to dress up any pair of old shoes!



DIY #3: Homemade rings
The creative bug hit me yesterday, so I decided to take a trip to Hobby Lobby and see what kind of crafting supplies I could find.  I came in the with idea that I wanted to make some rings.  I got this idea from another blog called Glitter N' Glue (http://glitternglue.com/2011/09/01/diy-button-statment-rings/), and decided I HAD to try it!

I bought a pack of 10 silver ring bases (only $3.99!), and found two pendants I thought would look good (and were flat in the back) for rings.

This DIY is super easy--you apply some Crazy Glue to both the base and the part of the pendant you wish to place the base on, put them together, and allow to dry!




And, just like that, you have a simple, yet extremely unique ring!


I created this one too!  This ring is made up of a hand-blown glass pendant, so it was a little heavier.  I just added a few extra layers of glue, just to make sure it kept.
Anyone can do this, and the best part is: you end up with a 100% unique piece of jewelry!


DIY #4: Handmade Necklaces
While browsing the jewelry aisles at Hobby Lobby yesterday, I decided I was going to make some necklaces as well.  I bought some colored leather cord, some beads, and a key pendant.  Now, mind you, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to make, but I figured I'd have fun with it.





For necklace #1, I cut off some of the leather cord and braided the three colors together.  Before tying it off, I slipped the key onto the cord, and then attached the two ends.  That's as simple as this necklace was.  I wore it layers around my neck, but there are many different options (including wearing it as a bracelet).  Nothing special, but I like it!


Necklace #2 was created because I had horrible insomnia last night, and needed something to keep me occupied.  I had some leftover cord and all these beads, so I literally just started playing around with different patterns, and really just made it up as I went--at 3am, anything goes!


And here is my creation.  It's very earthy, but has great colors that could go with almost any outfit.  I am actually really proud of this necklace, I think it came out fantastic, and am starting to think I should start doing all my work late at night!


DIY #5: Striped Nails
Last one, I promise (well, for now at least!).  The idea for this came from another blog I've just discovered (Check it out, it's great: http://jimpricute.blogspot.com/2011/12/striped-nail-tutorial.html).  I've always loved to play around with different nail designs and this was one I hadn't tried before.

You start by painting your nails in a solid color (I used O.P.I.'s "Siberian Nights")--I did two coats, and allowed to dry COMPLETELY!!!!  This part is important, as when you add the tape and the other color, you don't want the bottom base to peel off!

After you let your nails completely dry, take pieces of tape and place them in whatever direction you would like the stripe to be--I went for the diagonal look.


And then you paint a contrasting color over the exposed base color (again, I did two coats, using O.P.I.'s "Parlez-Vous OPI").  Allow ample drying time, and then, just like a band-aid, rip off the tape.


Add one coat of "Top Coat", and you get this beautiful design!  
Please ignore the fact that my fingers look blue, my nails were painted blue and the polish didn't quite come all the way off--whoops!
A little time consuming, but I really like this design, and will have fun in the future mixing different colors to recreate this look!


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I pose a question to anyone who's been reading my little blog:

"What DIY projects have you done or have wanted to do??"

  I'm always looking for new ideas, and would love some feedback!

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