DIY

Rustic Summer Wedding

Hello World,

Last weekend, I went to a friend’s wedding in Northern Idaho. I wrapped their gift in kraft paper, hemp twine and topped with live herbs/flowers. I bought a pack of tags two years ago at Office Depot, and finally found a reason to use one!

I used a thin sharpie to draw out the “Eat, drink, and be married” design, and sprayed the entire package with gold glitter to add some minimalistic pizazz. At first I topped the gift with fresh oregano from my yard, but it wilted very quickly. Right before leaving for the wedding I switched the oregano out for wild daisies.

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wedding2

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I only snapped a few photos of the wedding decorations before it got too dark. Luckily, I did snap a photo of cupcakes in the armoire; very clever.

Happy Crafting!

Clay + Twine Bracelets

Hello World,

Have you ever worked with Super Sculpey? A professor back in college introduced me to it because unlike regular oven-bake clay, it cooks into a ceramic-like material (that is pretty much shatter-proof). It actually feels more like plastic once cooked, and it slightly bendable.

I had decent amount leftover from art projects, and decided to whip up some bracelets with my own custom charms.

bracelet-intro

Check out below for how to make some yourself. Warning: this tutorial is longer than usual.

bracelets

1. Gather your supplies: oven-bake clay (and a standard kitchen oven), aluminum foil to cook it on,  twine (mine is baker’s twine), scissors, spray paint, and beads along with a short piece of jewelry wire (not pictured).

2. Break off a quarter-sized amount of clay.

3. Play with the clay until it is more pliable.

4. Roll your clay into a nice, even log.

5. Connect the two ends of your log together, and then roll the connected area between your fingers until the seam blends away.

6. Holding your loop, twist it until you form an infinity symbol.

7.  Bake your clay according to your box directions, allow to cool, and then paint.

8.  Cut out 2-4 pieces of twine, all the same length. If you are unsure of the length, cut each piece equal to the circumference of your wrist. If it ends up being too long, you can always trim it later.

9.  For this bracelet, I used four pieces of twine. I paired two for each side. Fold them in half and feed the looped end through your infinity charm.

10.  Pull the corresponding tail ends through the thread loops, trapping the infinity charm.

11.  Now, if your twine is too difficult to feed through a bead, use this trick: get your jewelry wire, and fold it gently in half.

12.  Loop the wire around a tail end of your twine, and feed the bead onto the wire.

13.  Pull the wire through the bead.

14.  Pull until the tail end of your twine is through the bead.

15.  Tie double knots at the end of each twine to secure your beads.

16.  To wear your new bracelet, either tie a simple knot around your wrist, or do a sliding knot. I used this tutorial to do my knots: YouTube.

Experiment with different shapes, colors, ect, and enjoy your new arm candy!

Happy Crafting!

Makeup Brush Cleaner

Hello World,

If you use makeup brushes like me, cleaning them is a necessity. But cleaning them regularly can be time-consuming. That is, until I came across a simple, but genius DIY via SecretLifeOfABioNerd. All you need is a plastic clipboard and a hot glue gun with glue sticks.

Check out her tutorial on YouTube.

Pretty simple huh? Cleans them so much faster compared to washing them in the palm of your hand.

I also made my own makeup brush holder from an empty candle jar. Check the tutorial out here.

Happy Crafting!