DIY Dominoes Project

Image: Patent Pending Projects

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Of course we all know that Ferris Bueller quote but lets just take a look at the first part of the sentence.
Life moves pretty fast.

When I started this blog in 2011, I wrote 70 posts. In 2012, I wrote 54. Last year there was a meager 13 and so far, in 2014, if I manage to finish this one...it'll be a grand total of 3 and March is almost over.
Yes, life is moving pretty fast, with not much time for personal projects anymore like this blog - and even more so now, with a 3 and a half year old and a 10 week old puppy, who can be both found running around my ankles on a daily basis.

There's also that game we all have to play each day called 'Earning Money and Paying Bills'. A game we must unpack every morning, check that all the pieces are there, explain the rules to existing and new players before rolling the dice and either winning everything or losing it all. At the end of each day, we must pack every little card and token back into the box and put it away for the next morning when we get to play it all over again. Yipee!

Instagram Photo Cube Project

Image: Well It's Okay

I've mentioned before that my mother seems to be the only person I know who still prints out photos. What I find even more amazing is, she prints them all from her phone. I haven't printed a photo from my own camera in about 2 years, let alone one from my phone.

All I seem to do now is back them up on to a hard drive whilst foolishly muttering something to myself about 'needing to sort them out.' As Travis Bickle would say, "One of these days I'm gonna get organizized"

Lamp Shade Project #3

Image: Under The Sycamore Tree

Lets look at the rule of 3.

Good things come in 3's - as do the bad. Films, books and plays have a 3 act structure. You could be 3 sheets to the wind or as phony as a 3 dollar bill. It is always: Ready, Steady, Go and after 3 strikes, you're out. Art and photography use the rule of 3rds and any novice interior designer will gabble profusely on the benefits of grouping in 3's. Goldilocks offended and annoyed 3 bears and there were 3 blind mice, 3 wise men and 3 little pigs.

In short, 3 is the magic number. 

Cardboard Box Toy Project(s)

There is a common rule we must all recognise, that when presented with an expensive toy, a child will quickly disregard that toy and play with the box instead. Their imagination being used to portray the box as an infinite number of objects. Taking them on adventures and helping them explore imaginary places in their minds.

So why don't we just cut out the middle man.

Almost everything we buy these days comes in a box. So, whether it's small or big, here are just a few ideas for you to make if you happen to have some laying around.

Portable Cardboard Parking Garage from La Factoría Plástica

Image: La Factoría Plástica

Image: La Factoría Plástica

Trashy Wallet Project

Here is a fun project that turns an old paperback into a wallet.

I don't usually suggest ideas that involve tearing up books but in this case, it seems the cheaper the book, the better the look. Try a bargain bin somewhere or local charity shop for a trashy novel with an interesting cover.

Also, it seems to be easily transferable to other paper media like magazines or prints so it doesn't have to be books, that's if you feel the way I do about ripping them up.

Trashy Novel Wallets

Image: ReFabulous

Cardboard Shape Sorter Project

This project, found over at play and grow, appeals to 3 of my ongoing obsessions.

Image: play and grow

To start with, Evengy Kudryavtsev recycles cardboard, mostly Pampers boxes which I have in abundance, into educational toys for toddlers. That's two out of three obsessions right there. Thirdly, he's Russian, which you may or may not have guessed from his name.

When I first saw this I just felt so stupid that I had not thought of it sooner for my own son. I've looked at different wooden shape sorting toys and made plans for making one myself but this is such a wonderful idea that has just been staring me in the face. I guess that's the thing with the best ideas, they're just so simple.

Recycled Wrapping Paper Project

Image: Greenista

Tis the season to be wasteful.

Especially when it comes to wrapping gifts. You spend a whole night wrapping gifts for all your loved ones, only to have the brand new paper ripped clean off it a few hours later and it either gets balled up and thrown in a large black bin with all of the packaging and torn boxes or, depending on how young the kids are, the thing they play with as it's more fun than the actual (expensive) gift you fought tooth and nail to get.

So, instead of buying expensive wrapping paper, here are a few alternatives you can use from items you should be able to find around the house. You can also try out these homemade gift bows in a way to spruce up your wrapping.


Newspaper -  It’s easy to find, cheap and large and you can make wrapping unique by using colorful comics or photos.

Image: Sustainable Baby Steps

Image: furniturehomedesign

Magazines - You can cover your gifts in glossy magazine pages. Just tape a few together to create larger sheets for bigger presents.

Image: Paper Crave

Sheet Music - Sheet music adds a beautiful touch to your gift wrapped present.

Image: Love 2 Upcycle

Calenders - Since you are going to be throwing out your old one anyway, why not use it to personalise a gift?

Image: Paper Source

Maps - If you've read some of this blog before then you'll know how I feel about maps.

Image: Curated By Color

Brown paper shopping bag - Not only is it recyclable, but you can use almost anything (even straw!) to decorate it and it will look great.

Image: EcoFront

So, by taking advantage of some of these products, you not only reuse materials you may already have around the house, but you can also utilize materials that can be recycled once all of the gifts have been opened.

Remember, Christmas comes once a year and sometimes we spend far more than we can afford. If you use some of these ideas instead of forking out on expensive wrapping paper it might mean you won't end up giving the shirt off your back.

Image: a subtle revelry

Or maybe you will?

DIY Vintage Tin Project

Image: Tortoise and the Hare

I'm always searching for new ways to recycle old things but every so often I come across an old way to revamp a new thing.

Here's simple way to put a vintage spin on a plain tin.

Image: Tortoise and the Hare

 

Step 1: Spray paint your tin whatever color you like.
(O'Sullivans Art supplies on Camden Street have great offers at the moment on spray cans)

Step 2: Choose an image and resize it to fit your tin.
There's a great selection here where you can find images just like these.

Image: pilllpat

Image: pilllpat

Image: pilllpat

Image: pilllpat

Step 3: Print the image onto adhesive paper or you can print on plain paper and use craft glue to stick the image to the tin. Once attached - use a sealer like Mod Podge to waterproof the label. You should be able to pick some up in any art or crafts shop.

If all of this sounds like a great idea but you are faced with one small problem and that's having any tins to spruce up, fear not, IKEA have a set of 3 tins, seen below, for a tidy sum of €3.59.

Image: IKEA

So now you have 3 good reasons to get organized and make your own vintage style tins.

Film Candle Holder Project

Image: photojojo

A few weeks ago I posted an article on mini polaroid magnets. This was for the people who don't normally print their digital photos.


This post is for those of us who use to bring our roll of film to the chemist and get them developed. Sometimes not knowing if any of the photos would turn out. 


When they did come back, and the odd time they were blank, due to some random fault or other, we were also handed the negatives - also blank, just to remind you and flaunt it in your face - you screwed up! 

But this was only sometimes.

The rest of the time, you got back all your photos with the all important negatives in case you ever needed another copy. These negatives always ended up going into some large white envelope and stuffed into the back of some side cabinet, the envelope growing exponentially with each passing  holiday. Probably never seeing the light (even if its red) of a darkroom again. 


So, here is a great way to reuse some of those old negatives. Courtesy of Photojojo.

Image: photojojo

Here's what you will need.


1. Photo negatives (black and white or colour - it doesn't matter)
2. Glass candle holders (or any small jar that would hold a tealight candle)
3. Glue or double sided tape


Step 1. Measure
Use your negatives to measure around your glass holder to see how many frames you will need. 
If it comes up a bit short just add a frame or two from another negative to fully wrap around.

Image: photojojo

Step 2: Glue
Put some glue (the photo below shows the person using glue dots but regular pva or craft glue would work) or use double sided tape on both ends of your negative.
You may only want to use a small bit of adhesive to make it easier to switch around different negatives later. Use more adhesive if you'd like to make it more permanent.  

Image: photojojo

Step 3: Lights
Stick the negatives around the outside of the candle holder. Pop the candle in and that's it.

Image: photojojo

What if you have no photo negatives on hand, or don’t want to risk ruining the photo negatives you do have? 


Fear not! Print out your digital photos - in black and white or colour - on transparencies or on vellum, to fit the candle holders.

Image: photojojo

Go on, do something positive with those negatives!

Button Monogram Project

Last Sunday I was at the Peas + Pods family market where there was some amazing stalls, wonderful people and great products on offer.

From handmade crafts to kids furniture, along with tons of children's clothes and jewelry. There was artwork and quilts and handmade cushions. But if you missed out there's no need to panic. There is another one before Christmas on December 4th. Same place: Newmarket Square. Same time: 11am - 5pm.

One of the stalls, Camilleon Kids, which is run by Agata and Stephanie, had some really lovely pieces. They had some great vintage school desks that they had restored and painted but it was one piece in particular that caught my eye which was a heart made out of buttons and mounted on a small canvas. It was really lovely and it reminded me of a tutorial by Jen Jockish I had once seen on American Crafts Studio

So I have to thank Agata and Stephanie for reminding me of this.
(By the way, you should check out their Facebook page as they have photos of their items for sale.  I think they are back at the Peas + Pods market also in December so if you see anything you like you should be able to pick it up there.)

Image: American Crafts Studio

Here's what you'll need:

(Actually, just before I tell you what you'll need there is one element to this project that is glaringly obvious. Loads of buttons. I know. The average person* doesn't have the odd one or two or possibly hundred spare buttons sitting around but you can pick up mix bags of buttons at any fabric shop like Hickeys for a few quid)

And so, on with the materials.

1. Printer

2. Scissors

3. Card stock
4. Pen or Pencil

5. Adhesive

6. Buttons and Brads

7. Frame without glass

Here are the instructions: 

To create your monogram, begin by cutting card stock large enough to fit in your frame. 

Next, you will need to print out a letter. Play around with it and print a few to find the size and font you want. (Jen ended up using Helvetica font at 700 font size. Keep in mind that you want thick lines in order to fill them up with buttons and brads.)

Then cut out your letter and place in the center of your card stock, tracing the lines onto the paper.

Image: American Crafts Studio

Start placing your large buttons and/or brads onto the card stock, keeping them as lined up with the edges as possible.  

Once you've filled up a large portion of your monogram, it's time to start doing the filler. For this, just use smaller buttons and different size brads. 

Begin with the smaller buttons, then it's time to start with your brads. You can use all different sizes of these, you just need a small spot to poke it through, and then it can overlap with the buttons which adds a lot more dimension.  

Image: American Crafts Studio

Once you've covered your letter with buttons, place it in a frame. 

Jen used an IKEA frame and just removed the glass since this isn't flat.  

Jen then adhered the piece to the frame on the back just to help keep it stable, the paper is fairly heavy once finished. 

Image: American Crafts Studio

Average person*: OK, so YOU are not an average person. You actually have bags and bags of leftover buttons from previous projects and this is a fine way to use up all of them or you really want to create this piece exactly as shown and would love to know EXACTLY what buttons were used.

Well?

Well, Jen has been very kind to provide that information which you can find below.

Variety Buttons (85509), Fabric Brads (85520), Assorted Brads (85521), Mini Pearl Brads (85516), Mini Pearl Brads (85508), Large Jewel Brads Primaries (85300), Large Jewel Brads Pastels (85301), Large Jewel Brads Metallic (85304), Large Pearl Brads Primaries (85315), Large Pearl Brads Pastels (85316), Large Perl Brads Brights (85318), Medium Jewel Brads Primaries (85218), Medium Jewel Brads Pastels (85286), Medium Jewel Brads Neutrals (85291), Mini Jewel Brads Primaries (85270), Mini Jewel Brads Pastels (85271), Mini Jewel Brads Tropicals (85272), Large Glitter Brads Tropicals (85362), Large Jewel Brads Brights (85363), Medium Glitter Brads Primaries (85345), Medium Glitter Brads Brights (85348), Medium Glitter Brads Tropicals (85347), Mini Glitter Brads Tropicals (85332), Mini Glitter Brads Pastels (85331), Mini Glitter Brads Brights (85333), Medium Brads Brights (85393), Medium Brads Tropicals (85392), Medium Brads Baby Girl (85397), Mini Brads Brights (85378), Mini Brads Tropicals (85337), Mini Brads Primaries (85375)

Subway Art Family Rules - Shop

Rules every family should live by.

A fun way to remind the family of important house rules.

Be Honest.
Laugh, Giggle, Be Silly.
Listen.
Say I Love You.
Speak Kindly of Others.
Dream Big.
Work Hard.
Hug.

and all to be done as often as possible.

Hand painted on pine board, sanded to create a vintage feel, each piece is coated in a satin varnish and then a final coat of wax is applied to protect the wood.

Recommended for indoor use.

Available in 4 different colours.


1. Dark Green
2. Light Green
3. Tangerine Orange
4. White Linen (with Dark green text.)

 



There are sawtooth hooks attached for easy hanging but would also look great propped up on a shelf or mantle piece.

Size : 58 cm x 48 cm







The cost of each sign is 45 euro

Details on how to purchase over at my shop.

Nursery Wall Art - Shop

I've added a few new items to my online shop. Click here to find more details.


NURSERY WALL ART

 





Nursery wall art as an eye catching accessory to any children's bedroom or playroom.

Each piece measures 45 cm x 38 cm

 





Each piece is hand painted. Sign can be custom made to include your own sayings or quotes.

Each canvas and frame is created from reclaimed wood and receives a light sanding to acheive a truely unique vintage look.

 





3 different pieces to choose from

1. You Are Feeling Sleepy
2. Twinkle Twinkle
3. You Are My Sunshine


Click here  to jump over to the shop for more details about prices.

Shop Now Open

Jump on over to my shop to check out hand carved pieces by me.

Recycled Maps Project

Geography was never my favourite subject in school, nor one of my best - truth be told, but this week maps have played a very interesting role in my life.

Image: enviroireland

I've tried my best to steer away from talking about my family on this site but sometimes it's necessary to put events into context.

And so, here we go.

I wanted to buy an iPhone for my wife. I thought the maps application along with emailing capability would be really handy for her for work but my wife does not like surprises and so I had to tell her. Her response was that she did not need the iPhone. Did not want the iPhone and would never use it for anything other than making phone calls.

Jump ahead to last week when I took my first 'family holiday' holiday. That meant driving to Kerry with my wife and 1 year old son in a car full of his toys, travel cot, more toys, lots of nappies, some change of clothes for myself and my wife, a few more toys stuffed in and around everything, a bag of apple drops and last but certainly not least my wife's iPhone which these days barely leaves her hand if only to say  "These maps are incredible, we can completely bypass Killarney if we go ...oh, hold on I've just got an email" 

During the holiday I read a fascinating article about Jack Dorsey the founder of Twitter. The article talks about an 8 year old Jack, obsessed with maps. Papering his bedroom walls with city maps and transit maps ripped from magazines. As he got older and discovered computers and..........

.........you know what? Go read the article. You can find it here. It's kind of interesting but I'm not really interested in Twitter

What I found interesting was the 8 year old who papered his walls with maps of cities.

Image: threepotatofour

Image: Suzanna Salk

Now before you run off and rip up all those AA road maps that you have stuffed into glove compartments and sides of car doors. Take note of the following.

The rest of the holiday went a little something like this.
Dinner with friends. Son on beach which he hated. Got lost looking for Ballinskelligs but used iPhone to find the right path. Dinner with more friends. Beach again, which son tried to eat. Dinner with family. Beach one last time where son ate sand and went swimming which he loved. Packed everything up, which appeared to have doubled in size, back in car and headed home.

Which all sounds like a pretty normal holiday. But did I mention we took the 'Sceneic' route home?

We did of course get lost again only this time the iPhone did two things.
First up -  we lost the signal because we found ourselves driving through (and over) the Macgillicuddy Reeks.
Second -  the iPhone battery died because as we all know you are lucky to get about an hours worth of use out of the iPhone.
That is if you don't use it for anything like, say... browsing the Internet, checking emails, sending texts or making simple little phone calls.

We did manage to find our way out with the aid of one of those crumpled AA road maps that we had stuffed into the glove compartment. We got back to civilisation, just in time for my sons lunch, who had developed a strange appetite for sand.

Although this post may be leading up to suggesting what to do with useless iPhones - I think there is more of an artistic quality to old maps.

Here are some of the ideas I've found around the Internet

Image: letbirdsfly

1. map-lined bookshelf via pinterest 

2. map lamp shade via college life diy 

3. map-covered dresser via the mayfly  

4. decoupage map monogram via ohdeedoh 

5. framed map hearts via not on the high street 

6. city map gift bow via how about orange 

7. map-covered bracelet via craft stylish 

8. map-covered door window frame via junk garden girl 

9. shiny map magnets via how about orange 

10. map coasters via martha stewart

11. map-covered vintage window pane via casa de daisy casa de daisy.

12. half-marble map magnets via let birds fly!

Going back to the idea of maps as wallpaper. I have always loved that idea and had thought of doing it for my son's bedroom before he was born. I went with another idea but someday when he's older I'll return to it.

I love the idea that he could look up at all the places on the maps and dream of going there.
Whether he gets lost or not.