Tag Archives: diy

Wine Cork Letters

Posted on December 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

I saw this online and couldn’t resist making one for The Dude’s parents. You’ll need: a board, saw, bunch of corks, ribbon and glue.

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First, get your letter(s) ready. I free handed mine with a sharpie, but you can use several sheets of printer paper to trace your pattern. Then, you’ll want to cut it out. I got The Dude to cut mine for me with a jigsaw.

Once you have it cut out (don’t worry too much about jagged edges, they’ll be covered by the ribbon) you want to lay out your corks to make sure they will fit with minimal cutting.

I chose to lay mine out in an ombre pattern (light to dark) that didn’t require any cutting of corks. Glue them in a row at a time. You might have to shave off a few edges on the corks from wine openers, but it should be pretty easy going. Glue the ribbon around the edges and you’re done!

 

 

 

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Maple Candy

Posted on December 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s National Maple syrup day and being raised in New England, I’m a total maple snob. I hate the fake maple flavor syrups with a passion. I had my mom bring me back a gallon of REAL syrup from Maine that is already gone (she gave it to me less than a month ago). These maple candies are hard candy and quite tasty. They’re a bit of a challenge to make if you’ve never made candy before, but if you watch it and are vigilant, they should turn out fine.

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You’ll need: Metal cookie cutters, 1 cup Maple syrup, 1/8 tsp cream of tartar, a candy thermometer and parchment paper. This made about 10 candies, but you can easily double the recipe.

1. Combine cream of tartar and maple syrup.

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2. Bring slowly to 300 degree using a candy thermometer. Make sure your thermometer isn’t touching the bottom of your pan.

3. While the syrup is coming to temperature, spread the parchment paper over a cookie sheet and set out cookie cutters.

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4. When the syrup reaches temperature, you’ll want to move fast and get it poured into the cookie cutters or it can burn quickly. Let cool completely and pop out of cutters.

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Waterless Snow Globes

Posted on December 15, 2012 | 2 Comments

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These were fun and easy to make, but I had to order all my materials minus the jars from Amazon. You’ll need jars (preferably not with much writing/embossing on them), bristle or bottle brush trees, superglue or liquid nails, toy animals and imitation snow. You may also want some long tweezers or grabbers if you can’t fit your hand in the jar.

I decided to do mine right-side up because I didn’t want to build up the lid to avoid the distortion from the threading. But you could add clay to the inside of the lid to crate a raised landscape with the jars up-side down.

1. Spray paint the tops of the jars and let dry completely.

2. Pick out your trees and animals and glue them to the bottom of the jar. You may want to hold them in place so that they don’t lean. Let dry and add a bit of snow. Seal up with a touch of glue and you’re ready to gift. I’m going to have trouble parting with them, they are so cute!

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Tea Wreath Gift

Posted on December 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

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I saw a version of this online, but I wanted mine to be disposable once the holidays are over and they’ve used all the tea. I made this one for The Sweetness’ sister and her husband to go with the custom mugs I did a few days ago. This is also super easy and cheap.

You’ll need: Styrofoam or paper plates, a exacto knife (I used a ceramic kitchen knife), some clothes pins, glue, glitter and tea bags.

1. Make sure your clothes pins are clean. Brush on a thin layer of glue to the side that will be up. You’ll want the grabby end out to hold the tea bag. Sprinkle with glitter, shake off excess and set aside to dry.

2. Cut a hole in your first plate. I used a bowl as a guide and just worked my knife around the bowl. You’ll need more than one plate for the base of the wreath or it’ll be floppy when you try to pick it up. I used 3 Styrofoam plates, cut with the same bowl and glued together.

3. Once everything from 1 and 2 are dry you can start gluing the clothes pins around the edge of the plate. I had to use liquid nails because my plates were sloped enough that the pins wouldn’t stay, so I needed quick drying. Hot glue or super glue would be great for this. Once the pins are attached and dry, you can fill them with the tea bags and decorate it as you like. I used an extra plate to make them a monogram and a loop of ribbon to hang it with.

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Super Easy Custom Coffee Mugs

Posted on December 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

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I love this project, it’s super easy anyone can do it, I promise. All you need is coffee mug(s), sharpie markers and an oven. My total cost on this is under a dollar because I got my mugs at an awesome thrift store in town that always lets me out with an armful of stuff for under $10.

Just write or draw anything you like on your mug with the sharpie. Don’t be too afraid of it, if you screw up, just scribble over it with a dry erase marker and wipe clean. Once you have your mug how you want it, bake it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes to make it permanent.

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Fork Hangers

Posted on November 17, 2012 | 1 Comment

Since Twilight was released in theaters today, I decided to work with forks (Twilight occurs in a town called Forks in WA). I’ve seen this project a few times and have been unable to trace it back to any directions, so I hacked it. Now, I suspect that the original project was made with silver forks. I didn’t have any silver ones, so I used stainless steel. If you can find silver, this project becomes much easier and probably wouldn’t require a torch. Here’s the originals:

First, you’ll want to hammer the forks flat. I wrapped mine in an old towel to hide tool marks. You’ll need to hammer it on each side to flatten it completely.

You’ll need a torch for the next steps if you’re using stainless steel. Flash the tines a bit before you start to work them. You’ll need to get to a good red-orange glow to make the tines nice and pliable. Bend them to your liking.

Once you have your tines how you want them, let the fork cool, then hammer the tines flat again.

Next, mark out where you want to place your hanging holes and mark them with a sharpie. I also used a punch scribe to start the bit for the drill. Use a smaller bit first and then go up to the size you need.

Go back to the torch and make a bend on the handle for the coat hook part.

I like the bluing on them so I’m done, but if you want them to look like the originals, spray paint them with metallic spray paint. I also made a bracelet using the same process.

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Avocados Non Grata

Posted on November 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

Well today is a giant fail. I had an avocado project and recipe for you, but both sucked. I tried to sprout an avocado with toothpicks, but some are duds and some are even genetically engineered not to sprout and/or not to produce fruit. We also tried to grow Ghost Peppers from a kit we got from ThinkGeek that didn’t make it past 3 inches.

I also tried a recipe for fried avocado that looked tasty, but in practice was just odd. Warm/cooked avocado has a weird mouth feel to it and it steals a lot of the flavor that makes avocados good.

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Sweater Scarf

Posted on November 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

I saw this scarf on Pinterest and had to steal it. I love this scarf and I’ve made several already. They’re so easy, you don’t even need a sewing machine. At least, I never use them.

You need: A old sweater, a coordinating color of fabric (I prefer flannel for this project after trying fleece, cotton and silk) needle and thread. A template 18 inches long and 6 inches wide. Tapered to a slight point at the end. Like this:

With the sweaters I worked with I had to cut 2 pieces and sew them together, but if you can get it in one piece and keep your desired aesthetic, you can skip stitching the 2 pieces together. Cut a piece (one piece) from your coordinating fabric.

Turn them top side together and stitch around the outside. Don’t forget to leave yourself a spot to turn everything right side out.

I usually just do a slip stitch to close it. Make sure to put it on the side of the scarf where it will be least noticeable.

Cut a 5 inch section and sew to make a loop for the fastener. I just cut the cuff off one of the sweaters and sized it down.

Drape the scarf over your neck and pick good spots to do a gather stitch. These will fit under the tube you just made to sit at your throat. So the gather spots should be placed accordingly.

Stitch it through all the layers a few times and wha-la! You’re ready.

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Silk Tie Scarf

Posted on October 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

I actually found this on Etsy with no directions, so I made mine own version.

It looks to me like you need 2 ties of the same type/color for the one pictured above and a sewing machine. For my version, you need 1 tie, a needle and corresponding thread and a creative eye. Start with the tie flat and start making ruffles that appeal to you on the fat end. Keep your final shape and size in mind as you go along. I pinned mine to get a sense of what the greater effect would be. When you’ve got a good number of ruffles pinned (if you use silk ties, they’ll want to fall out). Just place a few strategic stitches through the whole ruffle to hold it and move onto the next.

As you work your way around, you may want to avoid too heavy of ruffles on the back where it will rest on the back of your neck. Too many twists will be annoying. You’ll also want to start thinking about how you will attach the ends in the front. I decided to make a loop on the skinny end, hidden about half way up in the ruffles. I also considered velcro or a button closure. It all just depends on how you want it to look. I found 20 inches when ruffled and stitched was a good length for me.

Here’s my finished product.

It’s surprisingly warm and adjustable since I just fashioned a loop in the ruffles, plus it’s well hidden.

 

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Teacup Birdfeeder

Posted on October 19, 2012 | 1 Comment

Here’s another project I saw on Pinterest and wanted to reproduce. The main thing to note is that the original project used Melamine (hard plastic) plates instead of glass, ceramic/porcelain. These plates are from Target, but it doesn’t look like they have them on their website for order anymore. I chose to use a teacup I found at a thrift shop for mine, which is much more costly and difficult. If you can get some melamine plates, bowls or cups, definitely do that, it’ll save you a lot of time and frustration.

We decided to try a practice run drilling through the teacup and saucers with a glass bit. It was a very good thing too, because the whole bottom of the cup broke. We decided to try a masonry bit, which was working, but slowly. What worked best for us was a burr attachment on a Dremel tool. It gives you the control to break through the cup, but not shatter it.

You’ll need to go gently and it’ll take a few minutes, but once you pop through you can just work the hole open little by little to the size you need (in this case 1/8 inch).

We decided to go with lamp parts rather than carriage bolts, but both are acceptable. The lamp parts will cost you a little more, but I like the extra decorative aspect of them. You could also run a light into the bottom of the cup and make it a garden light.

Here’s the lamp parts you need for one bird feeder:

8 inches 1/8th inch threaded pipe $4.99

1/8 inch Lock-Up cap (bottom flower thing) $3.99

3- washers that fit $0.75

2- 1/8 inch hex nuts- $0.40

1/4 inch Screw Collar Loop  (top hanger thing)$6.99

If you can find one that is 1/8 inch, you’ve got all your supplies. If all you could find was 1/4 inch, also get a 1/4inch to 1/8 inch reducer ($2.79).

After you’ve drilled the cup, thread on a nut, washer and the lock up cap onto the bottom so that the cup doesn’t wiggle around.

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Do the same for the top, adding a nut, washer, your driller saucer, the reducer (if necessary), another washer and the screw collar loop. Adjust the height as you like it and tighten everything up just so that it doesn’t jiggle around. Too tight and it could crack.

Wha-la! The finished product. This is actually my step mom’s birthday present, but don’t tell her!

 

 

 

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