Make your own Ribbon / Snippet Rolls

Forage around for some exquisite scraps of fabric and lace, place it with care add some detailed stitching and label it with love to create a Snippet Roll. From antique stained cotton reels to died and aged lace combined with recycled postage stamps, bits of paper, photos, text from books Carole Brungar shows us to make exquisite Snippet roll's  on her unique Madness and Mess journey.

Brooch Bouquet

Transform vintage brooches from your grandmother and great grandmother or the thrift shop into a bespoke wedding bouquet. Nikki at Lolie Jane used earrings as fillers around the bigger brooches.

Make your own Eco Friendly Puff Paints

Mix 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of water with a healthy squirt of food coloring and decant into squeeze bottles. Works great on paper and cardboard and is a fun way to decorate rocks and most other things. It dries nice and hard but washes away easily. Will keep for a few days if stored in the refrigerator.

Visit Get Your Mess On for this and other delightfully messy projects.

DIY Sugar Hearts

Two cups of sugar, 4 teaspoons egg white and paste food coloring is all you need to make your own ultra stylish DIY Ombre Sugar Hearts.  Erica O’Brien's hearts can easily be used at a fabulous bridal shower, for wedding favors, as a special surprise for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day or even decor for the cutest wedding cake in the world.

Zentange High Heels

A zentangle is an abstract drawing created using repetitive patterns. It is usually structured within a certain shape much like a circular mandala. Drawing a zentangle is entertaining, relaxing, and a great way to express yourself creatively. 

Visit TanglePatterns - an index and graphic guide to the best Zentangle patterns on the web and randomly select and copy pieces you like according to your skill level until your entire surfice is filled to your liking. Fill in little gaps with hearts, dots and lines like likejilibeans to create a one-of-a-kind pair of shoes using Elmer's opaque acrylic paint markers.  Ideal for use on wood, plastic, clay, glass, metal, foam board, fabric, and terra cota.

Gifts from the Garden

If you are operating on a limited budget or just want more Eco- friendly / not mass produced gifts; you can easily make your own with the help of the ingenious Eco Bites. Everything from the miniature citrus tree grown in an orange shell which will bare tiny oranges after six years of nurturing to a root top garden for leaf foraging in the kitchen is filled with wholesome delight.

DIY Garden Project: Concrete Stepping Stones

Fine concrete, cardboard tubing, pieces of rubber doormat,  a piece of board, a saw, a ruler, oil, a paintbrush, a trowel and a file is all you need to create these eloquent stepping stones. Incredibly effective, simple and affordable this project by autors Nilsson and Arvidsson is featured in their book: Concrete Garden Projects: Easy & Inexpensive Containers, Furniture, Water Features & More. The complete tutorial courtesy of Timber Press.

DIY Decor with Vintage Flair

Get a conversation going. Allow an exchange of ideas between a bygone era and its contemporary counterpart. Decide on a theme. Forage around for select eclectic pieces that are perfect because of their finish, shape or form. And then combine and transform them. By giving timeless pieces an overcoat, Halsey at Spunky Junky created an essential conversation piece to decorate her kitchen.

DIY Blue Mason Jars

 

Mason jars, ball jars, fruit jars or large canning jars are staples that seal in memories of grandmas, wonderful aromas and divine tastes.  The old keepsake has also taken center stage in home decor. This exquisite example is the handiwork of Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous who added a permanent tint to her mason jar flower vase.

Find them at thrift stores or collect some vintage ones and transform them into gorgeous decor objects. All you need is a sponge brush and some transparent waterproof glass glaze or paint. Turquoise was used for Lina's jar. Paint the inside of the jar, starting at the bottom, with long even brush strokes. One coat of paint should suffice but if you want a darker tint, a second or even third coat of paint might be needed. Allow to dry according to the manufacturers directions. Dala's Solvent Glass Glaze dries at room temperature and  no baking is required as is the case with some other brands.

For another DIY addition to your Blue Mason Jar have a peek at Linda's innovative Frog Lid Tutorial. Flog Lids help hold flowers in place so that you can arrange them how you want. The little openings in the wire help the flowers to stand up and make your bouquets look fabulous.