DIY: Pen Pots

You know how we feel about up-cycled, recycled, or reused items in crafting projects...we LOVE them!

This pen pot tutorial from Torie Jayne is stunningly beautiful and Eco-friendly.  So...get to it!

Yesterday I showed you a sneak peak at how I am getting on with organizing my craft room. Today I am sharing with you the quick, easy, cheap simple idea that is...

Pretty pen pots
Tools and Materials

• Empty tin can
• Printed paper
• Double sided sticky tape
• Scissors

Pretty pen pots, How-to step by step

Wash and dry the empty tin can. Cut a piece of printed card the size of your tin can (you can use the old can label as a template). Cover the outside of the can in strips of double sided sticky tape. Remove backing from double sided tape and carefully wrap paper around can. Fill with paint brushes, pencils or pens!

How to Make Boxes from Paint Swatches

This adorable DIY tutorial from How About Orange is ridiculously awesome and fun.  Head to their blog for more fun crafts!! 

If you've got paint chips sitting around begging to be made into something, try folding them into boxes for paperclips, thumbtacks, party favor candies, or tiny gifts. I made these from Behr swatches, available at Home Depot.

You'll need paint swatches, double-stick tape, an X-acto knife, ruler, and cutting mat.

For the box bottom, cut a 1/2" strip off each of the two rounded ends of the swatch. You should be left with a 5" x 5" square. At a point slightly more than 1 1/2" from one edge—about 1 17/32" if you want to be picky, but I just eyeballed it—score a line with your knife. Repeat on the remaining three sides. These scoring lines are shown as dashed lines above. Then cut out the gray shaded sections. This is what the box bottom should look like:

The box lid is constructed the same way. Trim a swatch down to a 3" x 3" square. At a point slightly less than 1/2" from one edge, score a line with your knife. Repeat on the remaining three sides and cut out the gray shaded sections.

Fold each sheet on the scored lines, bending flaps inward and securing them with double-stick tape.

DIY Ombre Pinwheels

We found an excellent tutorial on Wedding Chicks blog, which was created by Los Angeles event designer Yoleine Dumarsais  and takes us through the easy process of making your own ombre pinwheels.

Perfect for any party or celebration, this doable diy project will add a major touch of whimsey and some seriously cute eye candy. 

Read on for instruction on how to make your own ombre pinwheels.

A special thanks to Yoleine Dumarsais for this DIY Ombre Pinwheels tutorial.

Supplies
1. cardstock paper
2. glue gun
3. scissors
4. paint brush
5. watercolor paint in your favorite color
6. hole punch
7. watercolor paper
8. 36″ dowels (not shown)

Step One 

To create a colored wheel for a gradient look or an ombre appearance, paint half (or a little more then half) of your paper. Make sure to paint the end darker and go lighter on the half. Take a piece of napkin or washcloth and wipe the paint to the other half of the paper. Repeat this on multiple sheets to create 1 pinwheel fan. Note: All of your pinwheels do not have to be watercolored you can make some using this technique and some without.  For the water-colored pinwheels, I like to use Van Gogh water color paint, and water color paper (water color paper has texture compared to regular cardstock paper). But you can use any kind of water color paint.

Step Two 

Fold cardstock paper accordion-style into 1/2 inch folds. It’s good to have different size papers in order to form different sized pinwheels. So you can cut the paper in different sizes.

Step Three 

Fold accordion in half and secure using a glue gun for extra hold. This creates a part of the pinwheel. Repeat this 3 times. 3 fans equal 1 pinwheel.

Step Four 

Punch holes with a hole punch or cut holes about a quarter of an inch from the ends of the pinwheels.You can add as many or little to your pinwheel. This is to make them a bit different!

Step Five
Use the glue gun to glue your pinwheels to the dowel for extra hold since this will be fastened to your wall. There’s no systematic way to glue wheels. Glue wheels at different angles whether it’s to the dowel or to another wheel. Make sure to cover the whole dowel!  About 7 pinwheels will create a pinwheel dowel for your pinwheel wall. Repeat this whole process 4 times to create your pinwheel wall!

Upcycle DIY Junk Mail Notepad / Notebook

We love this DIY project from Crafting a Green World!  Who doesn't wish they could do something productive with all that junk mail?  Now you can!  Turn it into a fun little notepad / notebook and always have something handy in your purse to write on.  Make one for a friend or keep one at your work desk.  

We think that you could even get a customized stamp and turn these into neat little "calling cards" to give to people that you meet.  Put your website name, personal info, or even your Facebook URL on them for easy handouts!

How to Make a Notepad Out of Junk Mail

Materials

• About 7 security envelopes
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Stapler and staples

Directions

1. Measure, mark with pencil, and cut your security envelopes into 7 pieces that are 2.5″ X 5″ apiece.
2. Fold your pieces of paper in half, so each one is 2.5″ X 2.5″, then nestle them together so that
they’re all book-like.



3. To make your cover a little bit stronger than the other pages, you’re going to glue two pieces of security envelope together. Cut out your two pieces, and use your glue stick to glue them together right sides out. Fold this in half and nestle it over your interior pages.
4. Use a clothespin or binder clip to hold your pages and cover in place on one side, then open up your notepad and staple the spine near the top and bottom along the crease.




5. Of course, this leaves an unsightly staple on the edge of your notepad. We can’t have that! Let’s cover it up. Grab a scrap piece of security envelope, and cut it to 3/4″ by slightly shorter than 2.5″. Fold it in half, so that it’s 3/8″ X 2.5″, apply your glue stick over the wrong side of the paper, then nestle it over the spine, pressing down well to get out any air bubbles.


Voila! Toss your mini notepad into your purse, and you’ll never be without paper again.

Upcycle Empty Shampoo Bottle into Sponge Holder

Revolutionaries has a great tutorial on upcycling that used shampoo / conditioner / lotion bottle into a handy sponge holder!  We think that this idea could even be tweaked a bit to add some waterproof paint to make it even jazzier!  What do you think??

CHECK OUT THEIR BLOG FOR MORE FUN CRAFTS!!

SUPPLIES:

1. A plastic bottle. I used a shampoo bottle, but you could use a lotion bottle, body wash bottle, etc.

2. Scissors.

3. Pen or marker.

4. Sand paper.

How To Do It:

1. Clean out your empty bottle.

 

2. Cut off the top of your bottle. The plastic becomes sharp once you cut it, so be very careful.

3. Put your sponge up against the bottle and mark how high you want the front of the sponge holder to be. I marked it a little bit above the half-way point of my sponge. Cut the front half of your bottle.

4. Draw a circle on the back half of your bottle. I traced a measuring cup in order to make a perfect circle.. but it still wasn't that perfect haha. Then, cut your circle out. This is what it should look like so far:

 

 

5. Round the edges of the back part of your bottle. I traced the lid to my butter container to make it as even as possible.

6. With sandpaper, smooth the edges of your plastic.

 

7. With scissors, poke small holes in the bottom of your sponge holder. This will allow water to drain from the holder (you don't want any nastiness growing in there!)

You're done! This is what your sponge holder will look like hanging from your sink:

 

We've had this for about a week now and everyone loves it! 

Other uses for this cute little holder include:

• Hang one on the door knob of each of your children's rooms. Every day/week write a sweet note to let them know how special they are!

• Hang one from the door knob of your bathroom to store little items such as hair ties, clips, etc.

• Hang one from a hook to store small craft/office supplies.

 

 

Upcycled Fabric Bracelet Bangle

Sensationally Sarah has come up with the perfect way to upcycle left over tape rolls and fabric remnants!  We can see using one fabric color or pattern OR using multiple fabric remnants with fun colors and patterns to build your own unique bracelet. 

SUPPLIES:

- Fabric in fun colors / patterns

- Mod Podge

- Empty tape roll or other "base" for your bangle

- Paper clip 

Head on over to Sarah's blog for full directions and more fun crafts!

Kusadama Origami Paper Flower Tutorial

 

I found a lot of online picture tutorials for Kusadama Origami flowers, but was never able to find an online video tutorial that I liked.  So...I made my own!  Let me know what you think!  Comment below or click on the video and leave me a comment on my YouTube page.  

Want to request a tutorial?  Just let me know what you want to see and subscribe to my channel for updates!

Thanks!!

DIY Matchbook Notepads

What a wonderful way to upcycle something vintage and unique!  We adore this tutorial from Design Sponge on how to convert a matchbox into a mini-notepad!  These would be excellent wedding favors, party gifts, inexpensive calling cards / business cards, or just to do list notepads.  How can you not love these??

There are two ways you can go about making these:

1.) Upcycle a vintage matchbox - you can usually find these at flea markets, vintage boutiques, or even online at auction sites.

2.) You can make your own "matchbox" out of card stock or any other heavier weighted paper.  These matchboxes afford you the opportunity to put whatever you want on the outside cover.  

You can then fill these matchboxes with recycled paper cut to fit within the size of the cover.  You can even stamp all your mini papers first with a calling card / business logo / website or other fun hand out to people you meet.  Way more exciting than a typical business card - and FAR cheaper!

DIY Upcycled Paint Chip Magnets

What a great DIY upcycled paint chip magnet tutorial from Crafting a Green World!  We adore the fact that it's 1.) Upcycled materials 2.) so versatile you could do just about anything!  She has a ton more blog posts with amazing and green friendly crafts that you should absolutely check out.

Check out her blog for all the details, pictures are below for a general idea of how easy and quick this project is!  We <3 it.

SUPPLIES:

- Old magnets from businesses

- Glue gun

- Scissors

- Sharpie or paint marker (if desired)

- Paint paper color samples (free from any home store)

 

DIY Upcycled Tissue Box Bookmark

Jenn Ressmann has a great tutorial on her blog (which was also a Green Crafts Showcase winner!) that is perfect for any avid book reader.  This tutorial shows you how to transform any used up tissue box and transform it into a book mark with a fun and whimsical theme.  This idea could be tweaked to just about anything!  

Head to her great tutorial and get started now!

SUPPLIES:

- Empty cardboard tissue box

- Glue

- Scrap paper (fun designs!)

- Sewing thread & needle if desired

DIY Fabric Flowers

Love, love, love these blue fabric DIY flower embellishments!  These would make a fabulous addition to just about anything - shirt, necklace, hat, purse, go crazy!

Today's tutorial comes from Chic Envelopments, who also has a great collection of other crafts to share, so check her out!!  

SUPPLIES:

- Fabric in 7 equal size circles (use old fabric and upcycle!)

- Fabric glue or hot glue

- Button or other embellishment for fantastical topper

Cut out circles. You’ll need 7 identical size circles for each flower.

 One circle will be the base. Fold the other circles in half then in thirds.

 

 

Glue each petal down using fabric glue.

 

You can add a button or any embellishment you like to the middle. 

Doesn't get much easier than that for something so fun and unique!

 

How to Make Recycled Magazine Paper Gift Bows

Want to learn to make FREE amazing recycled one of a kind magazine paper bows?  This is the tutorial for you!  Here are some quick examples of the bows I have made in the past, and all the varieties you can make with very little effort!  As you can see - I'm a tad obsessed and in love with these!!

SUPPLIES:

One magazine page for each bow you want

Scissors

Glue Stick OR double sided tape OR glue stick OR glue of some kind!

Ruler

Step 1

Pick a fun color page to make your bow out of - I chose a purpley blue.

NOTE: The whole page does not have to be the color you want the bow to be.  It just needs to be the majority color of the page - a little contrast is actually quite nice on the finished product.

Step 2

Cut your page into NINE 3/4" strips.  Leave THREE of those strips the full length.  Cut 1" of the top of THREE of them.  Cut 2" off the top of TWO of them.  Cut 3 and 1/2" off of ONE of them.  That should equal nine nice and ready to go pieces to your fabulous bow.

 

Step 3

Take your uncut full-length three strips and make figure eights out of each one of them using your glue or tape.  This sounds intimidating - don't be scared.  It's actually pretty easy.  

TIPS: fold the strip in half to create a center line, to keep your fancy pants figure eight even.  Put the color you want your bow to be face DOWN on your work space.  It will be on the outside in the end.

Now, take one end of the strip - bring it up to the center line you created, flip the top of the strip that is in your hand so that the other side of the paper is face up and tilt the end of the strip at and angle to make it "bow out" all nice like and glue it!  This may take a tad bit of practice, but once the light bulb goes off, your golden.

 

 

Step 4

Make fancy figure eights with ALL of your strips EXCEPT the shortest one (the 3.5" cut strip).  This short strip will be the circle in the center, so now figure eight for this one.  TIP: keep your cut strips together based on length so you can overlap them nicely when we assemble.

Step 5

Assembly time.  Overlap your full length figure eights into a flower like shape, making the base for the bow.  Put glue / tape in the center of each figure eight piece and overlap the next piece on top, securing it in place.  Continue overlapping from largest / longest strips to the shortest strips (there should only be two of those).

 Step 6

Take your shortest single strip and create a circle with it that fits nicely into the middle of your assembled bow.  I make the circle size relative to my bow size so that it's full and nice looking.  

 

That's it!  You have a wonderful one of a kind handmade bow to show off on top of a nice gift for anyone!!

Hope you enjoyed!

Leave me comments on how you did!!