diy christmas present idea: crayon art

another DIY present project: retro crayon art! this is a really easy inexpensive idea i saw on tumblr (i cant find the link for it!) i plan on giving this to my younger sister, i think she will think it is really neat, at least i hope so!

things you will need:


crayons (i used a 48 count box)
canvas (i used a 12x16 but any size you want will do)
hot glue gun and hot glue
a bowl of warm water
towel/old fabric
hairdryer

step 1
align your crayons in the order you would like. i am going for a rainbow effect, but you can be creative and use only blue tones, grey tones, etc.

step 2
this part is optional, but i prefer the look without the wrapping. if you want to keep the wrapping on skip this step.

if you want bare crayons, peel off the wrapper. to make this MUCH easier and less time consuming, soak your crayons in a bowl of warm water. you have to figure out what temperature works best by testing it, too hot and your crayon will melt, too cold and the wrapper doesn't unravel as easy. experiment! i found if the water was just bearably hot to the touch, it was perfect. any colder and it didnt peel off as easily.

step 3
once unwrapped, hot glue your crayons in the order you like at the topmost part of the canvas. make sure to place the hot glue on the CANVAS, and then place the crayon on top of the glue. putting the hot glue on the crayon itself will melt your crayon and get it all over your glue gun.

step 4
place old fabric or a towel underneath your canvas and start blow drying! keep your blow dryer on either medium or high heat (i did high) and keep the speed setting at LOW. if you blast the crayons on high speed wax will fly everywhere and you won't get very neat dripping effects.

take your time, use different angles to blow the hot air and try to keep a decent distance from the canvas. blowing too close to the crayons muddles the wax together so you can't see all the colors individually. if you find you have bare spots on your canvas, focus on those areas. tilt the canvas at different angles to let the wax settle in different areas. if you have to, take a break and turn off the dryer so the wax can settle in certain areas of the canvas. be creative and experiment yourself!

finished!




now you have a neat piece of art that you can frame. i think this is such a neat and fun idea, not to mention colorful.

what do you think of crayon art? i hope you think it is as neat as i do :)

diy christmas present idea: laundry detergent

this year for christmas i decided i was going to get more crafty when it came to gifts. it is more personal and i really enjoy diy projects!

for my parents i decided to try making some homemade laundry detergent. my parents are really into natural type products (they love Tom's for toothpaste!) so i thought it would be a neat project for me to try out. plus it will be something new for my parents to try!

i chose a simple recipe, a powder one. all you have to do is grate and measure! as for if it is the best/cleanest/most effective detergent, i am not sure. i will have to get feedback from my parents after they use it.

here is what i used:



1 bar of fels-naptha
1 bar of castile soap
baking soda

fels-naptha is an old school laundry soap. this will probably be the hardest item for you to find. i found mine at my local True Value store in the soaps/laundry aisle.

as for castile soap, it should be easier. i used dr. bronners which i found at target. if you want a cheaper alternative (dr bronners is expensive, around $5 for one bar!) try walmart for kirk's castile soap. it comes in a pack of three for around $3-4.



all i did was grate the soaps with a cheese grater, add 1 1/2 cups of baking soda, and stirred it all together. for each load, about a 1/3 cup should be used... 1/2 cup for heavily soiled ones. to store my mixture i found a glass canister at the salvation army for 50 cents, but you could put it in a mason jar if you had that handy.

what do you think? do you make your own detergent? what recipe do you use? i hope this recipe i used works well for my parents.

i have a few diy christmas present ideas that i will probably share if they turn out well so stay tuned...

DIY: distressed high-waisted levis

so lately i have been completely engrossed with thrifting. i will point the blame to clothesencounter's and heyyyjune on youtube. love their channels! they are so creative and incorporate certain pieces together in outfits that i would have never dreamed would work. plus i love the idea of getting one-of-a-kind pieces at a bargain price.

one of the pieces i recently thrifted were these levi high waisted jeans. i thought they would be perfect for a little DIY distressed high waisted shorts project.

BEFORE
the pair i picked up were around $4. they were in a sad state as pants(stains on the thighs, holes in the knees) but i knew with a little scissor work, i could turn it into something better.

DURING
first i tried on the pants and marked with a pen an inch lower than how short i wanted it and cut the excess fabric off.

as for distressing, i used a box cutting knife and make cuts into the jean and used tweezers to pull the loose threading. this took forever! but it was very therapeutic to me haha. i also used a cheese grater on some parts to make it REALLY tattered and distressed (you can also use sandpaper, but i didnt have any!) i didnt worry about the ends of the shorts, i knew after a good wash they would distress on their own.

AFTER
voila! this is the finished product. i have to say, for my first time i am pretty proud of my handy work.

WORN
here it is on. they are a LITTLE too big on me, but im happy overall with the effect. i plan on adding pyramid studs to these next! first i have to order the studs....

i think it takes real creativity and talent to be able to incorporate thrifted items with high end/store bought items in outfits. i am so inspired by those who do this! i love this idea and hope to slowly add thrifted/vintage items to my closet.

where do you stand? do thrifted items freak you out or do you find it inspiring? i love hearing where ppl stand on this. i obviously think the idea is so fresh and smart. do you thrift?