DIY: Pin Shadowbox

I don't know about you, but I tend to accumulate a ton of random craft/decorating items that sometimes get forgotten in the depths of my office/craft room. Imagine my delight when I rediscovered this shadow box I had bought last year. Since I no longer work at Starbucks I have a ton of pins (which we would earn for various reasons) that are going unused. Unfortunately the back of this particular box was not very cute, black, velvet, and all around cheesy. My solution, cover it up! I pretty much recovered this backing like I would have a chair but instead of stapling I glued.

What you need...

• shadow box (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)

• tan fabric

• burlap

• glue gun

• scissors (preferably fabric ones)

This DIY job is pretty simple and self explanatory. I first covered the backing with tan fabric since the burlap was a little see through and the black would definitely show. I used the glue gun around the perimeter of the backing, leaving a little extra fabric hanging over the edges. I then trimmed the fabric so it was flush with the backing and repeated the process with the burlap.

I honestly used the burlap because it was what I had lying around, but I really do like how it came. Burlap does kind of go with coffee right? Those big burlap sacks of beans are often used to decorate coffee shops. You can of course use whatever fabric you prefer. I hope you try this out if you have any type of pin collection you would like to display. Let me know how it goes!!

DIY: Old Book Inspiration Board

So sorry for the lack of posts I am still try to get into the swing of things since starting this semester. I do want to share some of my projects I worked on last semester now that they have all been graded and I have them back. I am always interested in what other teachers assign so I thought it would be fun to share what I was given to work on. Until I get them photographed, here is a fun DIY I worked on today. It is super simple and takes very little time or money. First let me say, I LOVE inspiration boards. They help me organize my thoughts and even my room. A lot of times the small little pieces of paper and photos I accumulate get scattered all over making it a mess. Not only do I miss out on displaying the cute things I have collected but I sometimes even loose them in the shuffle. My solution to this problem is to create a large inspiration board to tack all of these items on. In the past I have used plain old cork boards until I stumbled upon the idea of covering them with old book pages.

All you really need are a few things...

• A large cork board (which can be purchased at your local craft or office supply store, lucky for me my sister was getting rid of hers)

• An old book you don't mind tearing apart (mine was a $2 thrift store purchase I had from a previous project)

• Some double sided tape (you can really use whatever adhesive you prefer this just works best for me)

The assembly is pretty self explanatory. I ripped my pages out and left them pretty jagged (I think it adds to the vintage look). I then put a piece of double sided tape on the back of each page, in each corner. There was really no strategy for placing the pages on the board. Some where longways, sideways, and even upside down. The outer pages I slid underneath the wooden frame in order to secure them even more, and make it look less sloppy. I also tried not to clump pages together that were all going the same direction. It is better when it looks unintentional, and not so uniform. Over all it came out pretty good. This particular board will be going in my office/studio, and once it is filled up with tons of inspiration I will show you what it looks like!

Here is a picture of my first book page board I did a couple of years ago. It hangs in my room and holds a ton of memories that I love to be reminded of everyday I walk past it...

DIY: Tree Accessory Stand

So, I have had this idea in my head since I started making headbands, but just never got around to doing it. I am hoping to eventually bring my headbands to some craft shows and I knew I would need something to display them on. I thought, what better then a little "tree" to hang my flowered headbands on. Totally goes with the theme and everything. This stand can also be used for other accessories (necklaces, earring, bracelets) really whatever you want. You really do not need a lot for this DIY, just some time and access to a wooded area.

You will need:
1. A terracotta pot (whichever size you would like)
2. A circular foam base as close to opening size of the top of the pot as possible (found in the floral section of your local craft store)
3. Some moss (can be fake or dried, up to you, I think mine looks a little like broccoli haha)
4. A large branch (try to find one with as many little branches as possible so you can display more items)
5. A Glue Gun
6. Scissors or x-acto knife

Directions:
First, lay the foam circle over the top of the pot and cut/carve off the excess foam so it sits snugly on the first dip in the pot. Next make a hole in the center of the foam with the branch you will be placing there. Fill the hole with tons of hot glue and quickly place your large branch in there. Hold it for at least 40 seconds to make sure the glue has dried and the branch will not tilt. Then hot glue clumps of your moss as desired on top of your foam. Clean up the excess strings of hot glue, and you are done!! See, totally simple and totally cute!! Here are some pics to help with the illustrating, have fun!!!

DIY: Make your own Mustache

I am always changing my room and putting new art on my wall. I love mustaches, not real ones they can be creepy, but felt ones well they are just awesome! Anyway I got to thinking why not combine these two amazing things? And that is when I came up with this new art for my room...

All you really need is some black felt, white paper, a black shadow box frame and a pair of scissors.

I decided to do all the same style of mustache in my frame but I think mixing it up with a few different mustaches would be cute also. Let me tell you cutting out mustaches is not an easy task! I think making a cardboard original to trace would be the best way to go.

The finished project...

And I just LOVE Beirut....