DIY: Summer Diary/Planner

The front cover of my planner

The back

And so, it has begun.


I think that the very idea of having a summer holiday is very romantic. The thought of summer conjures up images of the free-spirit, youth, islands surrounded by clear blue water, sun-kissed skin and unforgettable memories. 


But sometimes the mind fails and it forgets things. I wish I could sing the song by ABBA while I reminisce about my last summer, but sadly, I can vaguely recall it. 


So, this year, I am trying something different. I spent the entire day making this scrapbook/summer planner/diary thing from the junk on my shelves. As a self-confessed hoarder, I often find myself having too many travel brochures, free postcards and magazines lying around. So once in a while, I make something like a scrap-notebook or card. It's my way of recycling. 


Materials:

Steps:
1. Cut the scraps of paper and cover the pages of the magazine with empty spaces for your writings/doodles/whatever.


2. Get some other unwanted magazine, cut some more pretty pictures up and paste them around the pages. You can be creative here and try to use different medias as well. I used some cartoon tapes on some of the pages. Here are some examples:

3. Make an eye-catching cover. Do a collage of pictures of random models if you are tired by the time you reach the last page, just like me. For a great finish, stick contact sheet on the cover page and the back page. FYI, I think contact sheet is the most amazing that I discovered in Sydney. It's this sticky clear plastic that you stick to the covers of paperback books to prevent those doggone dog ears from forming. Damn, you can even spill coffee all over the cover.


4. Start writing in your diary/planner using your coloured markers. It's a diary/planner because I will be writing about the things I plan to do and the things I managed to achieve in the same book. You can fill the book with whatever details you want.


The huge top picture of my cover is actually a photo of Hamilton island that I found in a magazine. The words "Summer '10" are something that I wrote in permanent marker. 


I think I will be posting the scanned pages of what I have written in the book. :)

From the streets of Bangkok - 2

 Check out what the folks in Bangkok have been doing with aluminium drink cans! Cans that were once considered junk once it has served its purpose have now become these colourful, intricately crafted souvenirs.

They have made tuk-tuks, motorcycles and even alarm-clocks (that look like a drink can monster) out of the unassuming drink can. Who would have thought of that!

So the next time before you chuck out the drink can that you have just emptied, stop for a moment and think of all the things this drink can could have been.

DIY: Upcycled drawstring backpack from t-shirt

Pile on the Joy to the World!

That was what the t-shirt says. Not forgetting, " Gobble up these Thanksgiving savings", which sounded just like a promotional tagline in a supermarket during the period leading up to Thanksgiving.

My mum bought it for me YEARS ago. Great graphics, cute lines, but AWFUL cutting that wasn't the least bit flattering. Last but not least, it looked like a darn cheap tee. So it wasn't good enough to be worn as a tee. But I thought perhaps it may be good enough to be carried as a bag on my back! :D

This is how you do it!

Materials needed:

Colour cord (from Daiso, for just S$2! Do try to match your tee! I am using black because my tee had black prints)

Tee

Cloth for lining

Eyelets

1. Determine the size of the bag that you want to make, with considerations of the size of the graphics on the tee. Remember to leave extra 2 inches to make room for sewing.

2. Cut off the sleeves of the tee.

3. Cut the top and the bottom of the tee according to the markings that you have made when you measured the size. Then cut the lining according to the same size of the tee. For the lining, I made the cut in a way such that I will only need to sew the sides and the top. The bottom is folded over and thus do not require any sewing at all.

(I decided to use a very old teddy fabric instead halfway through the work)

4. Sew zig-zag stitches all around the cut edges of the cloth to prevent the thread from running. Or use an overlock machine if you have one.

5. Sew the bottom of the tee together. Sew a hem at the top of the tee, ensuring that the sides the tee is not sewn together so that the cord for drawstring will be able to pass through the hem. The top of sides of the tee should already be separated when the sleeves were cut in the beginning. You can determine the how much opening you'd like to have at the top of your bag by sewing the top of the sides together.

6. Sew the sides of the lining together. Sew a hem on the top of the lining, adjust the width according so that the lining fits INSIDE the bag (tee).

7. Thread the cord through the top hem of the bag to create a drawstring opening of the bag.

8. Punch 2 holes with the eyelet, 1 at the bottom of each corner of the bag. Secure the cord as shown in the picture. Try to punch through both the tee and the lining so that the bag is sturdier!

And there you've got it!

I like this new bag sooo sooo much! But my mum was saying that I am too old for such bags. And I wanted to take a picture of myself carrying this cute little bag as well, but my brother was such a bad photographer that I had to force him to model for the bag while I take the picture instead.

Eco-friendly Xmas Card Competition

This is the Christmas card that we made for the competition we had recently! The card is actually A1 size. We spent several days trying to complete it and even had to stay back for 2 days or so to finish it. As you all should be able to tell from the picture, the Christmas tree is made from many many strips that we cut out from green aluminium drink cans.

The bronze strip that you see at the bottom is actually some sort of a floating ribbon, but the colour made it looked like a muddy path instead. This is the part that I didn't like about the card. :(

One of my favourites is the golden bells that we made. It's actually made of the top of the Yakult/Vitagen bottles and the bottle caps of the eye drops we have in our clinic! We sprayed gold spray all over it and scattered gold glitter on it before the paint dried. Tada! And we've got a pair of golden bells!

Another one that is also worth mentioning is the heaven-sent gifts with parachutes attached. The parachutes are made of the individual cells of the plastic egg carton wrapped with potato chip wrappers for a more appealing look. And as you can see, the gift is made from fruit juice carton!

The silver star is made from aluminium foil wrapped with old newspaper crushed to the shape of a star and the ribbon, is simply something we got from old Christmas decorations.

And for the snow men's face, we were all desperate and short of ideas by that time. So in the end, we simply grabbed the notice board pins we have on the table and the used super glue cap that was also lying around with the rest of the mess.

And with this project... *drum rolls* we've got the FIRST PRIZE, beating the rest of the other Outpatient clinic that took part in this competition.

DIY: Upcycled Xmas Tree

Tis' the season to be... upcycling!

Christmas is just around the corner! Add a little joy of Christmas around the house by making this little upcycled Christmas tree ornament.

Click on the images to view larger pictures! (^_^)

Tools and Supplies

1 Cereal Box

Scissors

Mathematical Compasses

Glue

Bottle Cap

Plasticine/Blue Tack

Penknife

Drinking straw

1. Get an unwanted Kellogg's Cereal box.
With the help of a pair of mathematical compasses, cut circles of 4.5 cm, 4.0cm, 3.5cm, 3.0cm, 2.5cm, 2.0cm and 1.5cm

2. Cut slits of around 1cm all around the circumference.

3. Your circles should look like this when stacked together on the straw. The circles should fit snugly on the straw if you didn't cut the holes too big.

4. Trace the size of the bottle cap (which is going to be the pot of the xmas tree) on the cereal box.

Repeat Step 3 only for this circle.

5. Position the circles nicely at one end of the straw.Cut long slits of about 4cm at the other end of the straw.

6. Stick a small volume of Blue Tack, plasticine or even sticky tape at the centre of the straw where the long slits stop.

7. Stick the straw to the centre of the bottom of the bottle cap.

Try using long slender items like pencils to help you in this step.

8. Add stuffings of unwanted paper into the "pot". Tear lengths of used, unwanted paper, then twist them lengthwise. Try joining the twisted paper into a circle and stuff it in the bottle cap.

If you have plasticine around your house, use it instead! I think it's definitely a better material for support.

9. After the bottle cap is stuffed full, stack the circle cut to the circumference of the bottle cap on top.

You can add a little glue to stick the cereal box circle to the cap.

10. Apply glue to the area where the straw and the cereal box meets to secure the xmas tree.

11. When the glue is completely dried, snip the remainder of the straw at the top.

Embellish your upcycled xmas tree with stars, ribbons and glitters!

DIY: Retro/Mod Earrings

These earrings are really cheap and easy. With the liberty to choose any patterns or image for your earrings, you can make various styles of earrings!

The idea came when I was thinking of something to make and sell during the hospital charity drive this Wednesday. I wanted to make something with scrap materials that I can find at home. So this is what I came out with in the end. I really hope that they will like the earrings and buy them!

Supplies:

Glue stick

A pair of scissors

Magazines

Postcard/other cardboard

Clear nail varnish

Push pin

Round rings

Earring hooks

Pliers

Cut the 2 edges of the postcard to get 2 identical scalene triangle. (I felt that scalene triangles will look more chic as earrings compared to isosceles and equilateral triangles.)


Choose a picture from the magazine that will work great as a graphic for your mod earrings. Geometric patterns and neon colours work best. Choose geometric patterns for mod earrings or cartoons for a cute pair!


Place your triangle over the design and trace using a pencil.


Flip the triangle over. This step is very important. If you use the same side of the triangle to trace the design, you will find that the pieces you cut from the magazine cannot fit one of the sides of your triangle!


Cut along the lines that you have traced, then glue the pieces onto the respective sides of the postcard triangle.

Do the same for your other postcard triangle.


Apply clear nail varnish evenly on both sides of the triangles.


When the nail varnish has fully dried, snip a little from one of the corners of the triangle. This creates a flat end for the triangles to hang freely from.

You can choose any corner to snip from. Do try snipping the different corners as they all yield different looks!


With the help of a push pin, poke a hole near the snipped edge.

Do choose a larger push pin to ensure that your round rings can go through the hole created.

The hole should not be too near the end of the triangle.


When the push pin is pushed through, give the pins a good twist for a more prominent hole.


Attach the round rings and the .

Make sure that the round part of the hook is aligned to the same side as the right angle of the triangle.

This ensures that the longest side of the triangle faces your cheek.

This part will be different if you have chosen to pierce a hole through a different edge.


This is how it should looks like in the end.


Try it on!


Experiment with different patterns, colours and shapes!

I'm gonna make a diamond one soon! :)

DIY: "Sweet" Ribbon Dispenser

This is a How-to that I have previously uploaded on Cut Out and Keep. Thank you all for your support on Cut Out and Keep! I'm absolutely flattered!

I love collecting scraps of ribbons. It can be an unused bundle I found in a corner of my house or a bunch of leftovers from a school project. I save them all up because you never know when you need it for gift wrapping or other crafting projects again.

But sometimes seeing those piles of ribbons can get rather depressing. Then I saw that TicTac on my table and I knew it's time I did something about my problem...

Grab that messy, distressed pile of ribbon.

Finish a container of TicTac. You don't have to finish all at one go!

Peel off the label slowly to make sure that you get a non-sticky container.

Remove the cover.

Roll the ribbon up neatly. This may require a bit more patience!

Then insert the roll of ribbon into the container. One shortcoming of this dispenser is that the roll cannot be too big, if not it can't fit into the container at all.

Make sure you leave a tail of ribbon (about 1 cm) outside the container.

Line the cover and the direction of the ribbon as shown.

This arrangement helps ensure a smooth dispensal of ribbon.

Close the cover while leaving a tail peeking out from the SIDE of the cover.

Do not leave the tail peeking from the front as the crease at the front may spoil the ribbon!

Tape the container lengthwise. You can use coloured tapes to decorate the dispenser.

The tape is needed as TicTac covers become loose after the removal of the label.

Open the cover to dispense ribbon as and when needed!

A neat and green solution to your piles of distressed ribbons! (^_^)

TIPS: Other potential dispensers are candy boxes with just a small opening but big, roomy body. But the good thing about TicTac containers is that it is clear, so we can see the contents!

***