Chic Maker DIY Jewelry Kits

Do you ever get that itch to be crafty... and then realize you're too lazy to go out and find/buy all the pieces for your theoretical project? Fortunately, Chic Maker, makes it easy to get your craft on without stepping one foot outside your house. They'll ship one of their monthly DIY jewelry kits with all the materials and instructions right to your doorstep! I discovered Chic Maker when I was perusing one of my favorite blogs Delighted Momma. Below you can see what she did with the March bracelet-making kit. The materials happen to be in one of my favorite color combos too- tan and teal. So cute!

DIY Heart of String

 THIS DIY Heart of String from the site Green Wedding Shoes is one of those pieces that, as soon as I saw it, my jaw dropped. It's such a simple idea, yet it makes an incredible statement! The piece pictured here was intended for a wedding reception, but I would hang it up on a wall in a heart beat. I really love the color too! And it's only $35 to make? Sold!!

Personalized Tabletop

Designer Justina Blakeney has come up with a wonderful way to add personalized accents to a holiday tabletop. Using jars and bottles of various shapes and sizes, take a sharpie and hand draw simple designs onto natural colored packing tape. I especially love the effect it has on the wine bottle. This could be a beautiful custom place setting & take-home gift for your guests! I'm not convinced my finished pieces would look quite as sharp as hers, as I admittedly have pretty dreadful hand writing. So I would have to practice my designs on scrap paper before diving into decorating. But I really love the look of these pieces, so I'm determined to use this diy soon! I encourage you to check out the rest of her blog as well- lots of fun crafty ideas!

DIY: Pallet Wine Tasting Shelves

Serious kudos to Napa-based wine shop Olabisi for coming up with this wonderful shelving idea for a tasting room. The great thing is, you can do it too! Just stack reclaimed pallets for a beautiful rustic looking shelving unit- perfect for a bar because the bottles fit right between the slats! They even made a DIY bar top with pieces of wood and burlap... take a look on the website Remodelista for more images and the step-by-step instructions.

DIY: Wrapped Hair Comb

More days than not, I wear my hair pulled back. So when I find cute new ways to give my up-do a little more style, I get pretty excited. I discovered this easy and super cute DIY project on the blog Lemon Jitters. By taking a basic hair comb (found at most drug stores) and wrapping the base with yarn, string, twine or embroidery floss in a V-shape pattern, you can make this in a matter of minutes! I was thinking of how cute this could be with glittery gold string! I can see my stocking stuffer list starting to accumulate already! So many ways you can use this nifty little project. Love it.

Sewn Felt Animals

I WILL learn how to make these one day... These felted woodland creatures were made in Russia by artist Victor Dubrovsky. I fell in love with each and every one of them as soon as I saw them. My favorite is the frightened black cat about 4 images down. Reminds me of my friend's cat Sid. So much personality!

DIY Braided Necklace

Has it been too long or what!? I've missed this blog terribly as I've been pulled away to serve my duties as a juror... ALAS I am back and ready to share with you wonderful things I come across around the world and the web... So lets get started back up with a fantastic DIY Braided Necklace I found at the blog ECAB (short for Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business... cute.) I love the colors used for this tutorial- turquoise is kind of my obsession right now for jewelry- but you can of course customize it however you would like :) Enjoy!

DIY: Book Page Jars

Saw this DIY Book Page Jar over at the fabulous blog Arrow & Apple and HAD to share. If you have a moral qualm with tearing up books- no worries- her blog suggests using old drawings, maps or even contact paper to do the trick. Love this!

Instructions found here

DIY Hex Nut Bracelet

If you couldn't tell by now... I LOVE myself a good DIY project! ESPECIALLY when it utilizes items I've already got lying around my house. Hence, todays post- the Hex Nut Bracelet via blog Honestly WTF. You'll find some other really awesome projects there as well- I really love the Rope Necklace she does. Don't get too frustrated with this one- its actaully easier than it looks... Good luck!

What You Need:

3 strands of twine cut into one yard pieces & 18 small brass hex nuts

STEP ONE

Gather the 3 strands of twine and tie a knot at the top, leaving about 2 inches of slack. Start braiding. At about an inch of the way down, you’ll begin braiding in the nuts. Before you braid the far left strand over the middle strand, thread on a nut, push it against the base of the braid, and crossover. Depending on the thickness of the twine, you can wrap tape around the bottom tips to prevent the twine from fraying.

STEP TWO

Keep your thumb at the base of the braid, holding the nut in its place. Before you braid the far right strand over the middle, thread on another nut, push it against the base of the braid and crossover. Again, hold your thumb tightly against the base of the braid, keeping the nuts in place. Thread another nut onto the far left piece and crossover.

STEP THREE

Repeat the steps, by threading the rest of the nuts to the outer pieces of twine before they are crossed over. Thread, cross, thread, cross. Finish the bracelet with another inch of braided twine and a knot.

STEP FOUR

The bracelet should wrap around your wrist at least two or three times. Trim it to your liking.

Chalkboard Contact Paper

I LOVE this idea from Jordan Ferny of Oh Happy Day. I had no idea that CHALKBOARD CONTACT PAPER even existed- which makes this even more exciting for me to share with you today! You can find it HERE for only 6.99 a roll- totally in my budget! The ideas are flowing like crazy right now- but here's a good one to get you started- Chalkboard Thought Bubbes. Cute right? Click on the photos below to see Jordan's tuorial.