Thursday, September 26, 2013

Christmas Bulb Window



You will need:
Ribbon or strong thread/string
Ornaments
Tape
Ribbon
 
 
This is a very easy decoration, simply thread your ribbon or string through your ornament, and tape to the top inside of the window.
 
Next, add a ribbon across the top of the window to hide where the ornaments are attached to the wall! I also added a bow from the dollar store for an extra touch. :)
 
 
 
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away! :)
 
 
 
 
Looking for other Christmas crafts? Check out my 25 Days of Crafting!
 




Christmas Fridge



This is a super easy and cute craft to get your house in the Christmas spirit!
 
You will need:
Patterned wrapping paper
Orange and black colored paper
Tape
 
I picked up the red and white printed wrapping paper from Wal-Mart for a couple of dollars. It worked perfectly for a scarf print- but really any printed wrapping paper would work!
 
Simply cut out 4 strips of your wrapping paper, and arrange like a scarf on the bottom part of your fridge. Then using your colored paper, make your circles and triangles for the snowman's face and buttons. Secure everything with any tape- I just used regular scotch tape.
 
This is sure to put a smile on any visitor's face- and probably yours every morning when you go to the fridge! :)



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




Looking for other Christmas crafts? Check out my 25 Days of Crafting!












Wednesday, September 11, 2013

DIY Man Bouquet!





You will need:
A beer mug (or other base)
Styrofoam
Wood sticks
Some small items that are your man's favorite things
Hot glue gun
 
The first step is to get a customized beer mug. You can either buy a mug and get it engraved, or order one that will arrive already engraved. A lot of groomsmen and wedding sites have these available, as they are a popular groomsmen gift. Here is an example of a site, or you can just Google "Engraved beer mug" and find your favorite.

You could also use any random vase, or a terracotta pot that you could paint his favorite color, etc:

 
Next, I went to Michaels to buy the wooden skewer stick things, and some Styrofoam to stick into the mug so that the sticks will stay in the location you set them. The wooden skewer sticks are also sold in much longer versions at hardware stores such at Lowe's, and could be cut or broken down to size from those ones as well.

The sytrofoam is very important, otherwise they will move and rotate and will not look good- I tried it without the foam first. I actually bought some of this green sytrofoam- it's pretty easy to cut with a knife and turn it into the same shape as your container:
The next step is to gather all the items you want to use in the bouquet! You can really put in any items that you want that you know the man likes. Candy bars, bags of chips, etc. Anything that is pretty light and won't break your wooden sticks, because they are generally not that strong! Here's the items I used:

 I found the mini plastic shot glasses at my local Safeway grocery store. You want plastic ones because the glass ones will be too heavy for the wooden sticks and will probably break them.
 
Airplane shots are easy to find wherever liquor is sold near you! Same goes for cigars and a local cigar store.
 
The little money tissue pack I found randomly at Cost-Plus World Market.
 
To make the custom beer logo signs like this one:



 I used this site:
And simply saved them and printed them out on some card stock. The graphics are free!

The last step is to super glue all of your items to the wood sticks, and insert into the Styrofoam. I broke off the bottom of the ones I wanted closer down. I also put some red tissue paper randomly around in the area where the sticks hit the Styrofoam because it wasn't very pretty looking and I wanted to hide it! :)





Before I put in the Twix bar:





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



 Looking for other DIY gifts for the man in your life? How about:

       http://postgradcrafting.blogspot.com/2013/12/beer-birthday-cake.html










 

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

DIY Beer Coasters

You will need:
Six-Pack cardboard beer holders
Scissors
Ceramic tiles
Felt
Mod Podge
Hi-gloss Lacquer (see below)
My boyfriend just recently moved, and I was looking for the perfect house warming gift that wouldn't break the bank, since his birthday was also just a few days later.
So, I decided to make beer coasters- perfect for a man cave, and relatively inexpensive! Although, that is assuming you can gather the six pack holders for free in your daily life without having to buy them just for this craft- like I did. My boyfriend just thought I was the nicest girlfriend constantly bringing him 6-packs for no reason (since I don't drink beer!).

The tiles are about 16 cents each from Lowes, and it cost me $3.50 for the felt, I bought a little extra just in case I messed something up. :)
First, gather your supplies:

Next, trace the outline of your tile onto the back of the cardboard, and cut out square shapes. It's always better to cut them a bit too big and then trim back to get the perfect fit:


Next, apply a layer of mod podge to the cardboard square and attach to the front of the tile and allow to dry for at least 15 minutes. The edges tend to pop up a bit, so I suggest maybe putting it under a heavy book while it is drying so the edges stay down, or you can hold them down as well. A reader who tried this also suggested binder clips- which I think would also work perfectly!
Next, cut out squares of felt for the bottom of the coasters to keep them from scratching whatever surface they are on. You can trace the tile with a marker if you'd like, and then cut out the shape. Then, apply a light layer of Mod Podge to the TILE -not the felt, or it seeps through and makes the felt piece unusable (luckily I bought extra felt!), and stick the felt on:


 Finally, apply 2-4 layers of mod podge over the top of the cardboard squares, allowing each layer to dry for about 10 minutes before applying the next one. After that is done, I also sprayed two coats of a hi-gloss lacquer for added protection, since these are going to a boy and will likely get lots of wear and tear. This is the one I used, but there are other brands as well:
Allow to dry for 24 hours (preferably outside, the lacquer stuff smells), and you are done!


The best part is, I still have the other side of the beer holders and enough felt to make 4 more coasters for my brother for his upcoming birthday!



 My boyfriend and his roommate LOVED the coasters and even asked if I could make them more. I agreed- as long as they provided the six pack holders for the next ones! After all, with tiles for 16 cents and felt being rather inexpensive too, I could make enough for an entire restaurant if I wanted to! I'd probably end up coated in a layer of Mod Podge though....

Thanks for reading! If you end up making these, leave a comment and let me know how it went!


Also, not a big beer fan? Consider doing this using the cardboard boxes that hold soda containers, or even cut out maps from places you have been!
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away! 



Looking for other DIY gifts for the man in your life? How about:

   http://postgradcrafting.blogspot.com/2013/12/beer-birthday-cake.html











Wine cork hearts!

 
I finally got my wine cork hearts up on my wall!
 
For my tutorial for the larger ombre heart click HERE!
 
For my tutorial for the smaller hollow ombre heart click HERE!

Hollow Ombre Wine Cork Heart

 
 
 
You will need:
Wine corks
A wooden backdrop (see suggestion below)
Hot glue gun, or some other form of glue
 
 
As I mention in my other wine cork heart post, the best site to get your wooden backdrop is 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!
 
I bought the 12-inch open heart, HERE is the direct link to it. 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!
 
 The next step is to lay out all of your corks and organize by shade of red - you'll end up with a red wine cork rainbow!
 
Then, lay out your corks on the heart:
 
Once you've got a layout you like, super glue (or another glue) them down to the outline!
 
Here is the final product up on my wall with my large ombre wine cork heart:
 
 
(I also spy my globe craft!)
 
 
Have left over wine corks and need some other project ideas? How about:
 
 
 
 
 

Halloween Craft - Evil Pumpkins!



You will need:
 
A mini pumpkin
Pumpkin carving utensils
Plastic vampire teeth
Sharpie


 
Last Halloween I created a few of these evil pumpkins. I think it would be fun to have a whole little army of them- and they are SUPER easy to make!
 
Grab some of these super inexpensive vampire teeth from your nearest party store:
 
 
 
Cut a small rectangular hole out of the pumpkin, if the teeth don't fit in on the first try, keep cutting a bit extra until they do.
 
Then, draw on your evil eyes with a sharpie and you are done!
 
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!
 
 
 


Looking for other Halloween crafts? Try:

 
 
 
 
 
 

My Cubicle Remodel

 
 
Like most people with a desk job, I spend a LOT of my time sitting at my cubicle. After about 6 months of it, I decided my cubicle area could use a little freshening up to make it a happier place to be!
 
Here's what it looked like before:
 
 
 
 
The first thing I wanted to go was to figure out a better way to display the pictures and random items I had pinned up around the cubicle. So, I glittered some clothespins:
 
 
 Which just required putting down a layer of mod podge, and then some glitter. I also applied a layer of hi-gloss lacquer over the top to keep the glitter from coming off when you touch them:
 
 
Then I purchased some cute ribbon, and pinned it to my cubicle walls and used it as a line for the pictures and clothespins! The final product:
 
 
 Can never have enough pictures of my nieces to cheer up my day!
 
I even had some left over ribbon, which I added to a picture frame I already had to tie in the look: 

 
 
The next step was to tackle my other wall, which was pretty easy. I purchased some cute blue chevron fabric, and simply pinned it around the edges of the area. The final product:
 
 
 
Click here to get to my original Pinterest post of this craft and re-pin away!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

DIY Confetti Vase


You will need:
Vases
Acrylic paints
Toothpick/Pointed device

I found these two matching vases at Goodwill for $1 each, and then went to Michaels to pick up Craft Smart 18 Color Acrylic Paint Pots:



Or, any other acrylic paints would work. I hadn't added any paints to my craft collection yet, so these seemed like a good choice!

Next, I flipped my vases over and added one color at a time:

 
 
I used an old pen that was out of ink to make my dots, but a toothpick or other small pointed device would work just as well:

 
One I finished with my dots, I let them dry overnight, and put some fake flowers in them. They should also be hand-washable, but I would not suggest putting them in the dishwasher!


 
 


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