All posts filed under: DIY and crafts

Through The Lens Thursday #39. Pink.

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I got rather distracted on my last trip to Michaels the craft shop and I ended up buying three balls of super chunky yarn in this lovely pink with a view to knit a cowl/scarf for the winter.  I knitted it up in a couple of hours (on and off with a spot of cooking and cleaning in between rows) and I am pleased with the final cowl.  Now I just need some cool weather so that I can wear it! I have included this photo too even though it is completely out of focus. A happy accident in my opinion, I like the fuzzy hazy look. You can still tell what it is a photo of, but it is artistically (accidentally) out of focus. Next week’s prompt is ‘Lines’.

D.I.Y. Doodle Card

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I had to send some parcels to my Aunty and my cousin this week, and I wanted to pop in a card to say ‘Hi’, so naturally I decided to make them. To start with I grabbed some postcard size colored card stock from our local art store.  I made sure the cards were bold in colour because I knew I was going to try out my white Gelly Roll pen for the design.  Now, Gelly Rolls and I have not got on very well in the past because I have never been able to get a nice line with them, they have always had a tendency to jump and give an uneven line.  I don’t mind an uneven line to a certain extent, but these looked like I had made a drawing with corrector fluid.  But I have seen such lovely things made using the dreaded Gelly Roll that decided to give them another go.  Success!  I don’t know if it was the paper surface (these cards are ultra smooth) or I just had …

D.I.Y. Whipped Hydrating Cream for your Face.

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  I have been wanting to make a whipped creamy cream for a while but I figured that I might not be popular if I used the regular hand mixer to whizz up said cream.  Cake anyone?! Today I was in Goodwill and I found a little hand mixer and a perfectly sized glass bowl, so I grabbed them and looked forward to whipping up my first lotion. I have a couple of recipes written down so I chose one for which I had all of the ingredients and I got melting and cooling and adding and whipping. As I have mentioned before, I don’t like to use store bought face moisturiser, so this cream is another home made option.  I am thinking of making some with zinc oxide in it to make it a daily facial sunscreen. I found this recipe in a book called Handmade Beauty by Annie Strole which I borrowed from the library. I added a touch of lavender essential oil for a lovely calming scent. Shea and Cocoa Butter Hydrating …

Packing Tape Image Transfer Ideas.

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I was browsing Creative Bug this week and came across the ‘Image Transfer’ class which to be honest I would have skipped, but my youngest wanted to have a look. So we watched the intro and the first lesson which was packing tape image transfer. We had tape and we had images in magazines and old books, so we thought we would give it a go and it looked pretty straightforward. We found that book images worked best, black and white were especially effective. We didn’t use photocopies, but I would imagine that they would work well too. The key is to find a picture or part of a picture which will fit within the parameters of the tape. No good picking a big image with you can only partly use, if you want the whole thing. Pick out the best part of the picture and place your tape over that. Once the tape is firmly pressed down with no air bubbles (I used a ruler to rub the tape onto the paper), tear or …

Earth Day DIY Upcycled Necklace

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This week I saw a lovely necklace made from painted wooden beads and decided to make one for myself.  I have some wood beads which I bought from the Upcycle exchange here in St Louis and they are ideal for this little project. A spot of upcycling and DIY on Earth day, don’t mind if I do! I grabbed a few colours of the new ‘Hand Made Modern‘ craft paint in Target. It took me a few minutes to decide on a palette, there is great range of colours.  Once home, I ripped open a used paper shopping bag to protect the table, cracked open the paints and got painting. To keep hold of the beads without getting  myself covered in paint, I put each one on a cocktail stick so that I could hold it to paint and then balance it across a narrow necked jar to dry. Just be sure that the stick reaches each side of the jar or beads fall and paint is ruined and swears burst forth.  I may have …

DIY Lavender and Clary Sage Face/Body Balm

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I love balms and perfumes.  This is a recent revelation in my world, I have always been sadly addicted to lip balms and the prettier the packaging and more exotic the flavour, the better, but I have never been quite this into them.  What happened?  I started to make them. This year I have let myself try new makes and DIY’s and among them came lip balm.  My good friend has lots of the base oils which I didn’t have and we decided to have a go one day.  Well, now I can’t stop…… I have been making lip balms, body and hand balms and now I have entered the heady and wonderful world of solid perfumes.  I love that we can make this stuff ourselves and we know what is in there, especially when it comes to slapping balm on lips and face, it is good to know what is soaking into our skin. This week I ran out of face moisturiser and was reluctant to pay another $20 or more for a teeny …