DIY

Cinco De Mayo DIY.

There is no better day than Cinco de Mayo to add a little extra flair to your cocktail, am I right? Which is why I made some pinata-inspired drink markers for our margaritas this year. Here’s how you make them: first, trace the bottom of your margaritas glasses on a piece of card-stock and cut out the circle. Then cut into the center of the circle about halfway, and cut out a smaller circle a little bigger than the circumference of the glass stem. Using strips of colored tissue paper, use fringe scissors to cut fringe. Cover the card-stock circle with glue and then start to wrap the fringed tissue paper around the outside. Repeat and layer on each new color until you’ve covered the full circle, and tuck the ends of the inner layer underneath the center circle to finish. Then slip your little pinata-inspired drink marker on to the bottom of your margarita and get ready to fiesta (think about making them in different colors to help your party guests identify their drinks!).

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DIY

Wrapping Paper Fiesta.

My little sister is born on Cinco De Mayo, so fiesta is a bit of an eternal theme for her birthday celebrations. I sadly can’t make her party this weekend so I decided to send a little fiesta in my place with some festive wrapping. I used fringe scissors, washi tape, and ribbons to give them an extra special treatment — and I think it’s official: I won’t be able to wrap a present without fringe ever again!

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DIY

Confetti Easter Eggs.

On Monday morning I did my normal check of the calendar to see what I had to look forward to the following weekend, and couldn’t believe Easter is already this Sunday. I can’t pass up an opportunity to get a little seasonal DIY in, and after getting some confetti from The Flair Exchange in the mail last week, I knew just the thing to use it for! I made some confetti-filled Easter eggs that I’m kindly referring to as ‘confetti bombs.’  The idea is to crack them up for a fun little confetti surprise — a good way to amp up your Easter egg hunt!

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They’re simple to make; I started with eggs and lightly cracked the top of them on the counter, peeling back some of the shell to make a hole just big enough to drain the yolk through. Once they were emptied, I gave the inside a rinse and then popped them into cups of vinegar and food coloring. After the eggs are at your desired color, take them out and let them dry over night.

Confetti Easter Egg 3Confetti Easter Egg 8Confetti Easter Egg 2Confetti Easter Egg 1Then comes the fun part — filling them with confetti! I filled mine generously up with the confetti mixture until they’re almost all the way full. Then to close them off, I  cut a small piece of washi tape in a similar color to seal them off (don’t worry if it’s not perfect, the tape will be on the bottom of the egg). From there you can put them on display and then when the moment is right, give those little eggs a smash for a pop of confetti!  I guarantee this would be a hit with kids (given how much fun I had doing it as an adult!).

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DIY

Confetti Drink Stirrers.

What’s a girl to do when she has some extra confetti lying around? Make some confetti drink stirrers, of course. I was working on a project this weekend and had a little bowl of leftover confetti that I didn’t want to go to waste, so I DIY’ed some festive little drink stirrers that were so simple to make. I pierced a tiny styrofoam ball with a wood skewer and covered the ball with glue. Then I just rolled the styrofoam in the plate of confetti until it was coated, and in any places that looked a little bald, I added on some more glue and dunked them back in for another coating. Then I just let them dry and they’re ready to adorn some tasty cocktails!

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DIY

A Dip-Dye DIY.

My friend over at Wayfair invited me to participate in a crafting challenge and sent me a plan basket to DIY as I please! I picked a basket that was made of a braided wool, and knew I wanted to try a dip-dye technique. To dye it, I filled up a plastic storage bin with water, vinegar, and fuchsia dye. Then I dunked the basket in and let it sit  for about four hours until I got the color I wanted. Then comes the hardest part, waiting for it to dry! I hung the basket over the bin and let is drip dry for another several hours. After it dried completely, I used the rinsed out bin and refilled it with water to dunk basket in and wash out some of the dye and fully set the color. The result is a really pretty pink color with a touch of ombré fading at the edges. The basket is the perfect size for gathering our ever-growing shoe pile in the bedroom, and I’m so happy with how tidy the corner I placed it in looks now!

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Note: I was gifted this basket from Wayfair.com. The DIY, ideas, and opinions are all my own. 

 

DIY

Felt Heart Garland.

Last week at my West Elm DIY event, I taught a group of crafty ladies to make a festive felt heart garland to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I thought I’d share the instructions here so you can make one at home too! First, using two pieces of felt layered on top of each other, trace and cut out two hearts. Next, using about an arms length of embroidery floss, tie off the end and begin sewing the two layers together (starting at the tip of the heart). When you get to about 3/4 of the way around the heart shape, you want to stop sewing and stuff your heart. We used pillow batting for the garlands and pins, and loose dried lavender to make sachets. Once the heart is stuffed, pinch the layers together with your hands and sew the remaining 1/4 of the open heart closed, tying off the end with a knot. Once you have your stuffed heart, you can sew on a pin to the back, add hook to make it a hanging sachet for your closet, or string multiple hearts together to make a sweet garland for your bar cart or mantle!
1WestElm63 2WestElm83 3WestElm87 4WestElm92 5WestElm89 6WestElm23All photos via the fabulous Bring To Light Photography!

 

DIY Entertaining

Homemade New Year’s Eve Party Crowns.

Yesterday I shared a quick DIY for upgrading store-bought party horns for the countdown to midnight. I had similar feelings about the poor selection of New Year’s Eve crowns at the party store and decided to whip up a few of my own. Using a store-bought crown as a template, I traced the bottom portion of the paper crown and then drew my own message for each crown. Using a sharp knife, I cut out the message from glitter scrapbook paper. Then I simple attached the cardboard cut-out piece with the two tabs I left and a few staples to the original crown headband! I can’t wait to pass these out to guests at the party!

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DIY

DIY Holidays: Painted Cork Coasters.

I hate to play favorites, but I think I saved the best handmade holiday gift idea for last this week — painted cork coasters. Using plain cork coasters, I painted stripes and color blocks in pink, teal, and gold, and then finished off the top of them with a matte sealer to keep them waterproof. You could play around with color combinations that match your gift recipients’ home and style to make a customized gift, and pair them with their favorite wine or spirit. Are you trying any homemade gifts this year?

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Looking for more DIY present ideas? Check them out here.

DIY

DIY Holidays: Cran-Apple Simple Syrup.

This is a DIY gift that I can nearly guarantee anyone would love to receive, homemade simple syrups. Sometimes I wonder, do they call it simple syrup because it’s so simple to make? I think they might!  I used this recipe, and added  apples for my own twist. Then I packaged it up in mini-mason jars and labeled the tops with brown craft paper, bakers twine, and recipe tags. Experiment with flavors and come up with your own mixture (I’ve used this recipe before too) — it’ll make your gift even more unique when you give it your own spin!

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Looking for more DIY present ideas? Check them out here.

DIY

DIY Holidays: Kitchen Spoon Set.

Today’s handmade holiday idea is all about creating a simple hostess gift. I purchased a few different sizes of  wooden spoons, and taped off stripes at various intervals with painter’s tape, and then painted in the lines with black paint. After the paint thoroughly dried, I peeled back the tape to reveal the pretty stripes. Make sure you add a matte coat of clear finish over the top so that they’re safe to hand-wash.  And of course, presentation is everything — I wrapped the set up in a  shiny silk ribbon to make them gift-giving-ready!

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Looking for more DIY present ideas? Check them out here.