I cannot believe that these chandeliers are made of just paper clips, but they are and they are amazing! Want to know how to make them for that special sanctuary in your home? The supplies can be bought at the Dollar Store and all you need is 3 picture hanging kits ($3) and 6 boxes of paper clips ($6).
I often find myself going to get all of the things I’ll need to get my crafty goodness going, but once I get everything home and out in front of me, I seem to freeze and not know what to do first or have this very deep fear of messing something up horribly. So if you’re like me in that respect, check out the ReDesign Technologies Etsy shop, where you can pick up instructions in PDF form for your choice of chandelier for $6.50.
Or, if you have no intention of making your own chandelier but still want one for your home, you can purchase an already-assembled chandelier from ReDesign Technologies for $227.50.
For the first six years I was out in the world on my own, I never had a real bed. I used to sleep on a single mattress on the floor and just before my partner and I invested in a real bed, which was very recently, we slept on a mattress that had a futon mattress stacked on top of it to raise it up a bit and pretend we had some sort of normal bed. To say the least, I know how important it is to have a headboard to truly make your bedroom your sanctuary and turn your house, apartment or even just a room into a home. And what’s a home without some personal style?
Check out this super awesome headboard made out of old book covers from jessyratfink over at Instructables.
To make this fabulous headboard, all you need is a large assortment of book covers; if you don’t have old book covers laying around, check out used book stores (it’s always a good idea to support local and independent businesses, especially book stores!) or thrift shops. You will also need Elmer’s Glue-All or anything else that will stick to wood and paper and dry strong and clear, and polyurethane spray for finishing.
Learn how to make this headboard with upcycled books in six easy-to-follow steps here.
St. Jude’s Ranch for Children creates new chances, choices and hope for children and families who have been abused, abandoned and neglected. Their mission is to break the cycle of child abuse and have been fortunate enough to provide help and hope to children and families who need their services the most.
Over thirty years ago, St. Jude’s Ranch for Children thought up a great idea, the Recycled Card Program, as a way to thank their donors by turning the previous year’s holiday cards into new cards for the upcoming season. The children at St. Jude’s participate in making new cards by removing the front portion of the old cards and attaching a new back made of recycled paper. These cards are then sold with proceeds going back to the Ranch.
This is an awesome way not only to help a worthwhile cause, but also to get rid of the holiday cards you keep around because Miss. Manners says it’s the nice thing to do, regardless of the fact you’ll most likely never pull them out of storage again.
Donate Your Old Holiday Cards To…
St. Jude’s Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude’s Street
Boulder City, NV 89005
Sure, it may seem a little weird at first to be making bird feeders just in time for the end of fall and the beginning of winter, but it’s right around this time of year where birds’ food supplies dry up. Why not made a decorative, fun and practical bird feeder from gourds that you’re done using? It’s sure to be a huge help to the birds in your community and it will also provide smaller birds protection from other predators.
Dried gourds can be purchased from gourd farms, or any other type of farm may also carry them. Your local supermarkets will also carry them, but hurry, because they tend to disappear right after Thanksgiving!
You will need:
- 9-to-15-inch bottle gourd, dried
- Pencil
- Paper
- Craft saw
- Drill and 3/8-inch bit
- 4 sturdy twigs
- Waxed twine
- Upholstery needle
How To:
1. Loosen dried gourd seeds by slapping the gourd with your palm. Draw the shape of a window opening on paper, and cut it out, trace it onto the gourd’s surface four times.
2. Use a craft saw to cut along tracings. Shake out gourd seeds. Drill a hole beneath each opening, and find twigs that will fit snugly inside them; insert twigs. Drill two holes, one on either side of the gourd’s neck. Thread twine through holes with an upholstery needle; loop over tree branch.
3. Hang feeder under some sort of shelter, so that the seeds stay dry and don’t become moldy. You may also like to drill two holes on the base of the gourd to encourage water drainage.
When you’re done, just fill the gourd with different bird foods like black-oil sunflower seeds, suet, peanuts, cracked corn, peanut butter, thistle, fruit and shelled sunflower seeds.
Now that the spooktacular night of Halloween is coming to an end, you’re probably wondering what to do with your leftover pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. Jeweler Eddie Borgo needed a housewarming gift for designer-friend Victor Glemaud and decided to create a festive centerpiece–a bejeweled pumpkin.
Thanks to Vogue, you can find out exactly what you need to create your very own Eddie Borgo-inspired bejeweled pumpkin. This is a great way to keep the Halloween spirit in your house until you’re ready to start decorating for the holidays and is also a really fun crafts project.
You will need:
- Pumpkin
- Carving knife and spoon
- Jewelry studs (Borgo recommends StudsandSpikes.com or M&J Trimming)
- Krylon matte black spray paint
1. Pick your pumpkin at the local market. Borgo likes his medium-size, symmetrical, and round.
2. Empty out the seeds and pulp and begin to carve the face.
3. Try to accentuate the cutout shapes by studding around them, pushing the spikes into the shell of the pumpkin. Borgo likes to start with the eyes, followed by the noise; the mouth comes last.
4. After the face is completely studded, use Krylon matte black spray paint over the whole pumpkin to make it deep, deep black.
And that’s all there is to it!
Everyone is familiar with the traditional Easter basket, but some take it to the next level, putting their passion and talent for crafts behind it and coming up with a truly sensational looking basket. Here are some of the best Easter baskets of the year.
Have a basket of your own that you’d like to show off? Link it in the comments!
For those of you who have old baby furniture stowed away in storage that you swore you would give away to charity, GoodWill, or to expecting parents but never got around to it, fear no more! There is now a way to not only keep furniture you spent good money on maybe years earlier, but actually reuse it and get a lot of use out of it now.
If you have an old baby changing table, Better Homes and Gardens has a wonderful idea to work it back into your everyday life without even hinting towards what it’s purpose used to be.
Take your ordinary baby changing table, get a little creative with it and apply your own, personal taste. The table’s waist-high height, size, and shelves makes it the perfect object to make over into a drink cart. The exterior can be polished, painted, and decorated and it’s shelves give perfect space for bottles, glasses, and snacks. Attach some wheels to the bottom and you’re good to go for your next entertaining event or relaxing night at home.
If you’re not the type to have a drinking cart or don’t have a need for one, your changing table can also be remade into a decoration piece or microwave stand for your kitchen. The possibilities are virtually endless.
Have fun!
