Pallet couch.

  

With it being my senior year im planning on moving out of my parents house and into an apartment. I wont have a lot of extra money to buy the things that i will want/ need for my living space, so while on  www.pinterest.com I saw this idea that is actually quite simple and can be cheap or even free if you play your cards right. My step-dad is a business owner and receives his product shipments in on large wooden pallets like the ones used in the above picture, he was telling me how he throws them away after getting them. I was actually excited about it because when i saw this i liked it so much that im having my grandma make me cushions to fit on the pallets!

What you'll need:

1- Large wooden pallets. It shows only two being used, but i would like to be able to actually sit on my couch and not have to plop...so I am using four. so just take this picture and add another two pallets on top of the one layer.
2- cushions, you could make them if you are good at sewing.you could buy dog beds or you could simply use a twin mattress.
3- screw driver and screws (to secure the pallets together)
4- pillows for the back.

Instructions:

1- decide where you are wanting to put your couch. (Make sure the area is large enough for the pallets)
2-  lay down the first two pallets making sure there is no gaps between them. Then lay the second two on top of the first two make sure they are all aligned and no gaps.
3- using the screw driver screw the pallets together.
4- place the cushions on top of the pallets
5- place the back pillows on the cushions and enjoy your new couch.


 

DIY sparkle phone cases.

So its after the holidays, you have all the left over tinsel from your tree... or all that glitter from your homemade ornaments, but you don't want to put it all in a drawer and forget about it for the next time you want to use it. You could easily make this, easy and you can get very creative with it


You dont have to just use an IPhone case with this craft, any cell phone case or even hard plastic surface will work.

What you need: 

• glitter
• tinsel or streamers
• Mod Podge
• brushes
• paint
• scissors and/or hole punch 
• clear iPhone cases

Steps

1. Assemble your glitter components. I used about a tablespoon-sized amount of glitter, tinsel and hand-cut streamers. To make the streamer parallelograms, I took a few strands and cut them long ways and then bunched them in a group and cut at an angle.

2. Working on one phone at a time (the glue dries really quickly), coat the inside of the case with a thin layer of Mod Podge. Distribute your glittery elements the way you’d like, dropping them from above or gently placing them with the tip of your finger. Try not to smudge or move the Mod Podge too much or you’ll leave a smear.

*If you want to just use small glitter, you can mix it into a small batch of Mod Podge and apply it directly in one step.

3. When your Mod Podge is totally dry, remove any excess glitter elements that didn’t full adhere, and either apply another coat and more glitter or move on to your paint.

*You can use a small Q-tip to remove excess glitter, paint or Mod Podge.

4. Apply a thin layer of paint (black was my favorite, because the glitter really stood out against it) and wait for it to fully dry. I did two thin coats on each phone.

5. Once the paint has fully dried (I let mine dry overnight), apply a final thin coat of Mod Podge to seal the paint. Attach to your phone, and you’re done!

Motivational canvas

So today's post has some emotional background  for me. This is my first week back to school from winter break, and unlike most peoples, my break was very emotional. The first day I got out of school was the day I lost my grandfather who was a father figure to me growing up...this was the second tragic death I've had to experience so far this year (I lost my uncle a few months ago). So I and my entire family have been having a rough time adjusting to the change, mainly because this is the first holiday season that we don't have both of them around.
    I, being the crafty one in my family, have decided to make my aunts and grandma a painting on canvas in memory of my uncle and grandfather...just to remind us that everything is going to be okay. And i thought it would be an appropriate craft to blog about so here i am.

This is not an actual "DIY" craft that can be found on Pinterest, just simply me painting a quote on a canvas. 

materials : 
1- One canvas, get the size you think you are going to need. the longer the quote the bigger the canvas. It also doesn't hurt to have a little extra canvas left over.
2- Buy acrylic paints in the colors that you are wanting your canvas in, use at least two different colors, one to cover the entire canvas in and the other to paint your lettering in, make sure that the lettering color is darker than the base color.
3- Buy paint brushes (if you don't already own some) any ones will do buy ones that feel comfortable for you to use. Again if you are going to just buy single ones (not the huge package) buy a large one so you can cut time when painting the base color and a smaller one for the lettering.
4- A quote of your choosing. I normally get mine off of Pinterest in the quote section, but there are thousands of websites that you can look into just Google quotes.


 instructions: 
1- Set up your work area, make sure that you have an old sheet or news paper under your canvas acrylics are hard to get off.
2- Begin to paint the entire canvas with the base color of your choosing (the lighter of the two).
3- Let the base color dry completely make sure its dry to the touch.
4- once you've picked your quote out practice how you are going to paint it, on a different piece of paper.
5- Begin to paint on the quote, make sure nothing will get in your way and make sure you check your spelling.
6- Let the rest of the paint dry.
7- Once everything is dry you can (if you have room) paint something on the left over canvas, choose something that goes hand in hand with the chosen quote.

Hang up or give as a gift.

Toilet paper tube wall art

This is a cheap decoration for any home, and in pretty much in any room. you can make big or small designs that look amazing. And another good part about these is that you can spray paint them any color.

Materials:

1- scissors, toilet paper tubes (save them up for awhile), bobby pins, hot glue, and any color of spray paint
2- Thumb tacks ( for hanging up the finished the product)

Instructions:

1- Decide on a design that you want ( i would practice it a couple times)
2- With scissors begin to cut the cardboard rolls into the needed shapes.
3- once you have enough,or enough to last you a little while, begin to glue the pieces together with the hot glue gun, hold them together with the bobby pins until the glue is dry.
4- make sure that all of the glue is dry before moving to the next step.
5- After the piece is totally finished take outside or in a ventilated room, and begin to spray with the desired color (make sure you spray the thumb tacks the same color so they are flush with the wall art)
6- Hang in desired room and there you go.

Mason jar candle holders

Mason jar crafts are the craft that everyone is doing, this is an inexpensive gift or year round decoration in your house or outside.
          

Materials:

1- If you don't already have them, you need to buy mason jars (new or used will work)
2- Spray paint in any opaque color (black is my favorite)
3- Stickers or blue painters tape.
4- Scissors
5- Tea light candles

Instructions:

Step 1: Wash and dry mason jars making sure that they are completely dry.
Step 2: Take the stickers and stick them to the jar in the patter you would like, or if you have take cut into the desired shape and again stick to the mason jar.
Step 3: After you have the desired pattern on the mason jar, take outside and spray the entire jar evenly making sure you don't have any empty space. (make sure to not get paint in the inside of the jar.
Step 4: Let dry completely
Step 5:After the mason jar is dry, begin to remove all of the tape/stickers form the jar.
Step 6: Place tea light candle inside the mason jar and light after hand is removed.

Lighted canvas.

These are so beautiful and fairly cheep to make, and there are many possibilities to what/ how you lay out your designs. 

 

This one above is the first inspiration for this project, this one is metal with flowers carved into it giving it the 3-D effect. Beautiful but not as easy to re-create.

 

The materials you need can be found at any craft store:

- Canvas in desired size and shape.

- Stickers/decals in different sizes (you can use any type) 

- White spray paint if the canvas is larger be safe and buy two cans ( you can use colors if you would like as long as it is opaque) 

- Christmas lights or rope lighting the ones above are made using water proof lights.

Instructions: 

- Take canvas, make sure your hands are clean and dry.

- Start sticking decals and stickers in the pattern you desire.

- Once all the desired stickers are on the canvas, begin to spray the entire canvas with your spray paint making sure it is coated evenly.

- Let the paint dry completely, then begin to remove the stickers and decals.

- Flip canvas over and take your lighting.

- You can use tape, glue, staples or anything else you can think of to secure the lights to the backside of the canvas.

- Plug in and enjoy the functional piece of art you just created! 

** Do this in a well ventilated area or outside when spray painting** 

Water balloon candle holders

These are so awesome! I made these with an old candle that I re-melted down in the jar and then poured into a double boiler. You could make these with colored wax ( for the up coming holidays!).
The instructions are shown in the picture but i will write them out.

1- Fill water balloons with water, fill as many as you need ( you will be popping them)
2- Dip water balloon in the already melted wax that is in the double boiler, let the first layer dry. To get the flat bottom on the candle holder hold the balloon lightly on a sheet of wax paper until dry.
3- dip again, do this until you have the desired wax thickness. Make sure you flatten the bottom EVERY time you dip the balloon.
4- After all the layers of wax are completely dry hold the base of the candle holder with scissors or a needle in the other hand, pop the water balloon and remove from the inside.