30 Days of DIY: Day 27 ~ Woven Bangles

When Jessica at What I Wore posted her DIY Flossy Bangle tutorial, I *had* to make one.  So I did!  Then I made another thinner one for my daughter.

She seriously wears hers everyday.

And I wear mine too.

I have gotten more compliments on this than I have anything else I've made.  I even had a woman offer me $40 for it when I was at the dentist's office.  Being unemployed, I'm kinda thinking of opening an etsy shop.... Thoughts?  Do you love??

xxooxoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 26 ~ Upcycled Portable Chalkboards

Sorry I've been out of the posting loop lately.  I've been a busy bee searching for jobs, and I had an interview yesterday as well!  Fingers crossed....  Anywho, I realized I need to seriously catch up on my 30 days of DIYs since today is April 30!  Well don't count me out yet!  Here's a quick and easy project I did with the kids the other day. 
I found some new baking sheets on clearance with the Easter stuff at Target for $5 each, and of course I picked them up.  So the question was what to do with the old ones?  Well, I picked up some chalkboard paint and some white acrylic paint and set the kids to work!

First they painted the back of the old pans white to cover up all the yuckiness.  It took about three coats.

I sat them outside on their picnic table covered with newspaper, poured the paint onto a paper plate, and gave them each a foam paintbrush.  Tip: when waiting for the coats to dry, put the paintbrushes with the paint still on them in a plastic baggy and put it in the fridge.  They won't dry out and will be ready to go again!

They had such a blast!

Finally, they flipped over the pans and painted the front side with the black chalkboard paint.  It took only one coat to achieve great coverage.  We let that dry, rinsed out the brushes really good, and cleaned up the mess.

Finished product!  Since they are metal too, you could use magnets to attach a little pouch to hold chalk and an eraser.

They came up with the idea of using their Easter sidewalk chalk :) 
I think this is great, especially for my daughter when doing her math homework.  Instead of wasting paper to do some of her exercises, she can do them on this! 
I really love coming up with ideas to reuse old things that would normally be thrown away, and I have a TON more ideas!!!  Stay tuned! 

xxooxoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 25 ~ Portable Reusable Upcycled Tic Tac Toe

I came across these white plastic washers and tile setting spacers when going through the tool box, and was so excited!  I reused a bubble envelope I had received mail in, and made a portable tic tac toe set for the kids!

You will need:

• White plastic washers
• White tile setting spacers
• Bubble envelope
• Duck tape
• Electrical tape
• Scissors
• Velcro (not pictured)

Cut a little bit off the top of the opening on one side only, so that the other side will fold over nicely.

Cover the entire exterior of the envelope in duck tape.

Done!

And this is where the game board will go!

Use the electrical tape and make the grid.

Affix the velcro to the opening of the envelope.

Play!

And store the pieces inside!

What do you think?  My kids LOVE this.  It's great to bring to restaurants, it will fit in your purse so easily.  All these materials were on hand, so it cost nothing!

xxooxoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 24 ~ Chanel Inspired Chain Fringe Tassel Earrings

We've all been lusting after those gorgeous gold and black super long fringe tassel earrings.  I've wanted to recreate a similar vibe, without using spray paint and attempting to copy them too much.  I found some white chain at Joann's, and was smitten.

All you need is the chain, earring hooks, and jewelry pliers.

I kept folding the chain in half, and breaking it into two.  Over and over again until I had 8 chains (for one earring), for a total of 16.  Here's 8 chains with which I made one earring.

Open the hoop at the bottom of the earring hook.

Slide all 8 chains onto the hook, and close the hook. 

There's one earring, repeat for the second.

 Here's both!

 

How springy / summery are these?  Can't you picture them with a tank or maxi dress?  I can't wait to rock them!

xxooxoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 23 ~ Bubble Tiled Mirror

I had a bag of these light blue opaque glass filler beads, so I decided to make a "tiled" mirror with them, since they kind of reminded me of bubbles.

You will need:

• A mirror (I got this at the dollar store)
• Glass vase filler beads
• E-6000 glue
• A crayon
• A circle to trace (I used a plastic bowl) 

Trace the circle onto the mirror using the crayon. 

Place a small dab of glue on the flat side of the bead.  The glue will really spread once you press the bead down, so only a little is needed.

Place the bead on the circle.

Repeat for the whole circle.

Fill in the rest of the space outside of the circle.

Leaving your circle mirror in the center!

Let it dry for at least a day before you hang it up.  Since it's heavy, either hang it into a stud or using a wall anchor.

In hindsight, the only thing I would change would be painting the background that is being covered with beads.  That way, the mirror will not show through in between the beads.  Otherwise, I love this, and how it resembles bubbles.

I love the reflection of my ikat shower curtain in the bubble mirror!

Doesn't it go great?  What do you think of this project?  I love it, imperfections and all!
xxooxoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 22 ~ Our Easter Tree!

So the kids and I decided we needed an Easter centerpiece, and we challenged ourselves to using things around the house (and outside it!)

The kids gathered sticks and rocks.

I spray painted them white.  It took 2 coats per side to achieve a rustic look.

Next I used some cardboard and made an vertically elongated trapezoid, cut it out, and traced it three more times.  These will make up the vase.  I then measured the short side and cut out a square that length for the bottom.

Once those were all cut out, I gathered my bright pink duck tape!

I started by attaching the bottoms of each side to the square using the duck tape on the outside.

All four sides attached!

This is what the other side looks like.  This will be the outside of mine.

Fold the sides up and tape the edges together.

Cover the whole thing in duck tape, including about an inch or so down on the inside, since the rocks won't go all the way to the top.

I filled the bottom with unpainted rocks, and put the white rocks on top.  Before adding the rocks, take the long sticks and hold them in place in the vase while adding the rocks.  Save the short sticks aside and heat up your glue gun!

Glue the smaller sticks to the larger ones to create branches.  Allow to dry for at least an hour or so.

We took some extra plastic eggs and I threaded some clear beading thread through the holes in the top of the egg which created the loop to hang the eggs by. 

Cute, easy, recycled, and all other items were on hand!  The kids loved making this and thought it was so cool to recycle things to make something unexpected.  Hope you had a happy happy easter if you celebrate it, if not, I hope you had an awesome weekend!
xxooxoxo
Lia