All posts tagged: DIY

Candles for a Cause

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I spent the best two hours last Sunday in a candle making class for one in the most adorable of shops in Jongno near Samcheongdong. If you know me well you know that this was basically as good as living a dream for me.  This is one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, parts of Seoul. Just being in the area is a good day for me but I got to actually spend time creating things in a handmade candle and jewelry shop. The best part? It was for charity! For 30,000 won you will be donating proceeds to CATS, Whisker’s Ministop. This is a beautiful organization that homes cats waiting for adoption. It is run by one woman who I quite literally don’t know how she does it all on her own.  She works a full time job, takes care of all her cats in the shelter and is always ready to help with her fosters as well. I took in my little Bacchus from CATS as a foster and fell madly in …

Merry and Bright | Wall Design

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This was a bit more work than I expected. Half way into taping the first letter I thought, “Oh Gawd, Crystal..You’re an IDIOT.” I took a few days break and finished up last night. I have to admit that it gets faster the more you do it. Basically the entire sign is covered in piece after piece of adorable, yet tiny, washi tape.  Because its so slim it takes quite a while to cover. You can’t believe how happy I was when it was finished. It was super adorable and I put in all this hard work…just makes you feel accomplished. 😀 You can find details and a how to on Paper & Stitch. It’s not hard.  Get some foamboard and paint a holiday message on it with acrylic paint. Cut that out with a razor and then cover with washi tape.   On Paper & Stitch she actually uses colored scotch tape, which thinking back to all that washi tape, I would have gone ahead and went with the scotch tape. Make it enjoyable. Get …

DIY | Christmas Tree

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I have a little dink of a Christmas tree but I felt the DIY urge this Christmas season. It started with the flower garland (blog post to come later) and I decided it needed something fun to hang it on.  I found this fun little project on Paper and Stitch.  It takes quite a bit of time to make all the fringe…know that before diving into this project. However, I think its worth it… so cute… ❤ ❤ ❤ I’m really looking forward to doing more DIY for 2015 holidays since this turned out so well. Look out, New Year, I’m gonna get you! Click on the pictures and follow the steps to make your own DIY O Tannenbaum. You’ll need: 2 large pieces of foamboard white or clear tape green colored tissue paper large paper clip scissors Elmer’s glue paintbrush  

Party | Flower Garland

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It’s the season of the party. Get your garland making skills ready and impress your friends with your totally tubular taste.  Pick the colors that represent you and what you want your party to look like.  I made this one for any ‘ol occasion but decided to use it for my Thanksgiving table. I painted some truly heinous orange pumpkins to match the garland and it all really came together. The how-to it in the gallery below. Just click on the pictures to see the directions. Have fun!      What you need:  colored paper string or cord hot glue and gun scissors circles cut into 4.5″ diameters      

Water Color Marbleizing | DIY

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I am in love with the ease and clean up of this DIY project! You can take whatever you’d like to add a little shine to and “marbleize” it with some nail polish. The same nail polish you never get through before it turns into a gloppy mess! (Maybe that’s just my experience because I can’t stop buying it but rarely put it on.  Whoops.) Just click on the pictures and follow the steps and you to can marvel in wonderment at your skills in water colors!

|Inspiration| Geometric Wall Deco

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This is a story of hard fought triumph. My first attempt at making this wall art ended in tears and a hissy fit. Honestly, it was more like exasperation and quitting for a long time. I felt like throwing a hissy fit but I kept myself together. I wanted to make something similar to this design found on The Caldwell Project . I really loved the idea and her take on it. I like her little Instagram pictures.  I wanted to use her idea for some postcards but I just wanted to make mine a bit more abstract and I really wanted to use real wire. I thought the real wire would make it look more industrial and enhance its destiny of greatness. What it actually did was just bum me out. Here is what The Caldwell Project made and my own two versions. The second, as you will see, is much nicer. |Inspiration| This was my first take on it. I liked the design by the wire would not go straight. I hurt my hands …

Inspiration: Dots for the Summertime

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  I bought a cheapy hat for vacation last year and it’s held together pretty well. So when I saw this beauty on Sugar & Cloth, I went straight home, rummaged through my closet and unearthed my $5 steal. It was grabbing the neon paint time! Sugar & Cloth used a sponge to paint on the dots and that would have been much easier than using foam like I did. But craft stores are limited here in Korea so I use what I’ve got. |Inspiration|   |My Interpretation|

Inspiration: DIY Stamps

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Why are stamps usually so horrendous? How many cutesy flowers and buildings do you need? Why aren’t they simpler in detail or cooler or just better in general? Who knows…its one of the great mysteries of the world. It’s like how those creepy head statues got to Easter Island. I came to this website one way or another, Curly Made, and fell in love with some ink and rubber. She made awesome DIY stamps two ways . Inspiration   So I needed to do this. Needed to. I cut them from foam paper. Hot glued them to cardboard then painted the edges with my new favorite neon color.   Interpretation I will put them to very good use! But tonight, I”m playing with them like a kid!

Inspiration |Cat Dining Station|

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                                           This little area was long overdue for an overhaul. Rehab. Gutted-ness. It looked terrible. The bright green cat shaped mat doesn’t really match my aesthetic.  I found two adorable things online that helped me give my little furballs a true dining station. My children deserved it. Beauty Lab has a beautiful idea for changing the cat food mat to a tray, replacing the bowls and making the entire area look clean and modern. I would have loved to find a white tray but I think the silver tray works well. My Inspiration The Lovely Nest gave me the idea to make cat silhouettes. How brilliant is that? It was very easy, very cheap, too adorable for mere words.  My Inspiration My Interpretation Total overhaul price: $11 plus glue sticks and a piece of white construction paper I already owned. Worth every penny.      Such a simple, fun project!

Inspiration |Geometric Fun|

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 Baby Geometric Pot This was a 1/2 awesome, 1/2 awful dream realized. Dramatic. What I mean by that is that the first half of this project turned out great. I found a cute bit of clay that was super cheap.  I followed the directions from the blog Delia Creates and made an adorable little clay pot. I love the geometric design. It was fun, pretty easy and I think the more I make the better I will get at it. However, I wanted to color the bottom of it and I followed this creative blog, The Crafted Life, which shows you how to color pots using KoolAid. For many reasons I do not have KoolAid in my home. 1. I live in Korea and assume its not readily available. 2. It’s disgusting. How do people drink that stuff? 3. Following #2, I haven’t had KoolAid for the better part of 25 years. I decided that some pomegranate tea, a beautiful pink color, should do the trick. I was wrong. See what happened below. Dunh Dunh Duhhh. Inspiration  My Interpretation   …