Category: Crafts & DIY

Crafts & DIY

minnie & mickey ornaments

dishfulthinkingLeave a comment

ornament-5

Did I mention I like Disneyland?  I found these adorably minimalist ornaments at the parks, but couldn’t justify the price tag.

FullSizeRender

They looked simple enough, so I put my DIY-ness to the test and gave them a whirl!

Supplies Needed:

  • Red glitter craft paint (I used Martha Stewart’s glitter paint in Garnet)
  • White craft paint (I used MS’s Mother of Pearl, leftovers from the Cinderella pumpkin)
  • 2 ball ornaments in black (I found mine at Michael’s in a chalkboard finish. Bonus–they’re plastic so there’s no potential accidents!)
  • Painter’s tapepaint ornament1

 

How To:

1: Tape horizontally all the way around each ornament (matching nail polish optional)

ornament2

2. Begin painting the bottom half of each ornament with the red glitter paint. This particular paint took several (3) coats. You can let it dry upside down inside a shot glass 🙂

ornament3

3. Once the paint is completely dry (at least overnight), carefully peel off the painter’s tape.

4. For the Mickey ornament, paint two small ovals using the white craft paint just below where the painter’s tape was.

5. For the Minnie ornament, paint a row of white dots all the way around the ornament, just below where the painter’s tape was. Paint a row below that, diagonally offset from the row above. Continue alternating each row until you reach the bottom of the ornament.

ornament 4

6. Hang on your tree, turn on some Christmas music and bake cookies. ::insert Christmas tree emoji::

Crafts & DIY

cinderella pumpkin carriage

dishfulthinking1 Comment

When life hands you a pumpkin, make a Cinderella carriage! All you’ll need to make this fairy tale dream come true is:

  • 1 medium sized pumpkin with a good 2″+ stem
  • Robin’s egg blue paint
  • Gold paint
  • Light pink paint
  • Dark pink paint
  • 12 gauge floral wire and wire cutters

The standard 2oz size bottles of acrylic craft paint of each color at any craft store is more than enough for your pumpkin. I happened to have these stored away from previous crafts, so all I needed to buy was a pumpkin!

pumpkin

I started out by practicing sketching the “window” on the pumpkin on scratch paper a few times until I felt confident in my mediocre drawing skills. I used this movie still as reference.

paper sketch

Next, paint the entire pumpkin (excluding the stem) in robin’s egg blue. It took me two coats to fully cover the orange. Let the paint dry in between coats. Paint the stem gold.

After letting the pumpkin dry for at least several hours, preferably overnight, start sketching the carriage window directly onto the pumpkin with a pencil with very light marks. You want them to be light enough so if you make a mistake, you will barely be able to see it, but dark enough so you can actually see it when you paint over it. If you try to erase, you risk peeling off some paint!

pumpkin sketch

There’s a great deal on raspberries and salmon this week.

close up sketch

Now start painting! I found it easiest to start from the inside and work my way outward to the gold circle. Light pink goes inside the window, the curtains are dark pink, and the “C” and trim are gold.

paint

For the wheels, cut 2 pieces of floral wire, approximately 12″ each. Gently curl into a circular shape until you get the perfect curly q:

wire

Am I the only one who sees a face here?

Bend the outer end of the wire (about 1/2″ in) so you can stick the wheels into the pumpkin.

FullSizeRender (7)

Crafts & DIY

summer wreath

dishfulthinkingLeave a comment

An ugly foam wreath + hot glue getting stuck in my carpet = a pretty, minimalist wreath worthy of displaying all summer long.

FullSizeRender

Since I can’t afford to leave near the ocean, I’m going to have to settle for a beachy and nautical-themed wreath on my front door. It’s almost as if I can hear the ocean waves crashing right outside my window…in between the incessant horn-honking and brake-screeching.

supplies

Supplies:

  • 1 hideous foam wreath (I got mine at Michael’s with one of their ever-present 40% off coupons)
  • approx 20 yards of jute rope (I had a bunch of this left over from a previous craft and used less than half of the roll.)
  • 1 starfish (definitely do not buy this without a coupon. A friendly stranger in line informed me that the Rose Bowl has these for a buck.)
  • 6″x2″ piece of burlap (ribbon-type works best, as the edges are finished)
  • 1″ wide ribbon (you pick the color! get snazzy!)

IMG_2760

How-To:

  1. Starting with a 1-yard long piece of jute rope, begin wrapping it around the wreath, hot gluing a straight line down the wreath to keep the rope securely in place. Continue all the way around with 1-yard long pieces until wreath is fully covered. I found that 1-yard was the golden length. Any shorter felt too time consuming cutting piece of rope, and any longer, it would get tangled while trying to work with it.
  2. Pick a spot on the jute-wrapped wreath to affix the starfish sea star. Try to find as many contact points along the star to get a secure bond onto the wreath. Once you’ve found the perfect spot (don’t forget it!) hot glue the contact points on the star and glue to the wreath.
  3. Hot glue a 6″ piece of ribbon to the middle of the 6″ piece of burlap for some pizzazz. Wrap this around the top of the wreath and secure with hot glue (duh. is there anything hot glue can’t do?!)
  4. Using a 2′ long piece of ribbon, tie a bow around your burlap “hook” and trim the length to your liking.
  5. Hang on your door and congratulate yourself. You just created your own piece of beachfront living right outside your own home.
Crafts & DIY

felt flower holiday garland

dishfulthinking1 Comment

Anthropologie-felt-gift-wrap

A few seasons ago, Anthropologie had these adorable felt gift wrap packets, which turns out are SUPER easy to DIY…into beautiful holiday garlands!

IMG_440571505

What you’ll need for 4-8 ft garlands:
* 12 sheets of felt
* 40 feet of 1/4 inch wide ribbon
* A pair of good fabric scissors
* Some good background tv, because you’ll be cutting felt circles for a while

Cut out 6cm diamater circles of felt. You’ll need 120 in total; I had 30 of each color.

IMG_440571460

Fold a felt circle in half and make two, 1cm cuts into the folded end, 1cm apart:

IMG_440571471

To make a felt flower, weave five circles onto an 8-ft long ribbon:

IMG_440571480

Push the felt circles to the end of the ribbon, and start scrunching them together from the center of each circle:

IMG_440571491

Tie two knots at the base of each “flower” to secure them in place on the garland:

IMG_440571496

Continue adding felt flowers ~8″ apart. Wrap around your tree (or hang around your home) for some DIY Christmas cheer!

IMG_440571510

 

Crafts & DIY

boo-tiful halloween pumpkins

dishfulthinkingLeave a comment

I don’t do well with scary movies, haunted houses, ouija boards, etc. I prefer my Halloween sick from an over-indulgence on candy corn and dressing animals up in ridiculously adorable costumes. I also have an inexplicably irrational love of anything rainbow sprinkled.

So it’s only natural I would want to turn this:
mini pumpkin

into this!
mini pumpkin

 You too can make your own faux-rainbow sprinkle donut pumpkins in about 15 minutes.

Grab a 2oz bottle of craft paint in your favorite color (this is Martha Stewart Crafts’ “Fruit Punch”): 
mini pumpkin

Paint the top half of the mini pumpkin:
mini pumpkin

Make sure to add the rainbow sprinkles while the paint is still wet:
mini pumpkin

Optional: If you anticipate any kids, friends, or significant others poking around at your sprinkle donut pumpkin, add a layer of mod podge once the paint dries, but before the sprinkles.

And please, don’t try to eat it.

Crafts & DIY

all that glitters is gold leaf

dishfulthinking1 Comment

I just started a subscription to Whimseybox and I am LOVING it. It’s a crafty person’s dream subscription box, and it’s like getting a present delivered to your door every month! Use my link to get $5 off your first box: https://whimseybox.com/r/kj8p6s6o

So, how does it work?

Every month, Whimseybox sends you a sturdy, reusable box:

june whimseybox

with its contents all wrapped up in a perfect pretty bow:

june whimseybox

a few words of inspiration:

june whimseybox

and all the supplies and instructions you’ll need to make a craft!

june whimseybox

July was all about, you guessed it, GOLD! Unfortunately, the adhesive and sealant that came with this month’s box was putrid. I could smell them in my mailbox, before I even opened the Whimseybox. I attempted making a frame with these stinky liquids, and it was a total disaster. Even with all my windows open and a fan going, I just couldn’t get over the smell. Also, there was gold leaf EVERYWHERE. #goldleafvirgin

I e-mailed their beyond stellar customer service peeps, and they heard my cries of desperation (and gasps for fresh air!) Not only did they send me a replacement frame, they suggested using modge podge as a non-stinky sealant for this craft.

june whimseybox

Since the original liquid adhesive was just as stinky as the sealant, and I wanted a polka dot pattern on my frame, I rummaged through my craft boxes and found some GLUE DOTS. A million times easier, cleaner and non smellier than the liquid adhesive. BRILLIANT.

You could apply the glue dots and gold leaf directly to the unfinished frame, but I opted to add a splash of turquoise first:

june whimseybox

Gold leaf is SUPER finicky. Be extra careful and gentle with it, and try not to handle it too much with your hands. Pro tip: a thin paintbrush helps pick up pieces of gold leaf!

To remove the excess gold leaf, I rubbed a q-tip onto the dots:

june whimseybox

Once all the excess gold leaf is removed, add a layer of modge podge to coat the entire frame.

june whimseybox

Love how it turned out! Now comes the task of finding just the right photo to complement the turquoise and glittery told 🙂

june whimseybox

Crafts & DIY

non-sucky succulents

dishfulthinking2 Comments

You know what I love almost as much as food (and Disneyland)? DIY! So let me officially introduce you to my first crafty post.

I’m an avid Pinner, so naturally I am drawn to, in no particular order: clothes I can’t afford, homes that exist only in my dreams, workout infographics I will never use, inspirational quotes, mason jars, and…succulents!

They’re pretty…and pretty hard to kill, so these trending plants are perfect for your first living DIY.

diy terrarium  

 To make your own Pinterst-y mason jar terrariums, you will need:
* 3 wide mouth mason jars
* pebbles or sand (I got this bag from Joann’s for <$3 with a nifty 40% off coupon
* 1-2 cups cactus soil (I already had a bag of regular potting soil on hand, so I mixed some of this with 2-3 generous handfuls of sand. The idea is to help with drainage.)
* a pretty succulent (the tiniest one at the garden center will work)

diy terrarium

You can get ~3 pint sized mason jar terrariums out of one tiny succulent. You just gently break up the soil to separate the stems.

diy terrarium

Fill the bottom of a jar with pebbles or sand. About 1.5 inches should do the trick.

diy terrarium  

Layer in cactus soil (or your own homemade version) until the jar is a bit more than half full. Carefully plant one stem of the succulent into the soil. Repeat 2 more times. Admire your handiwork.

diy terrarium

diy terrarium