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Wrapped wire bangle. These were so cheap and easy, but I really liked the result! Supplies needed: Craft wire- any kind and possibly some pliers. First, unwrap some of the wire. It usually comes in loops, so you’re going to want to unwrap it from the loop using two or three of your fingers. Wrap the wire around them tight until you have about 2-3 of the original loops left. Secure the loops with the little extra that is used to keep it together. Then, take your finger wound portion and wrap it around and around the loops, working your way around the circle as you go. When finished, tuck in the end and file down if necessary. Super easy right? I found the craft wire on sale for about $1.50 from $2.00 and they only take about half an hour to make at most. The thicker the wire is, the stronger the bracelet will be, but the thinner wire does look pretty nice too. Like the bracelets buy not the DIY part? You can buy them HERE 
Easy, Naturally Dyed Jersey Knit Scarves
Please excuse the bad quality cell phone pictures! I didn’t remember to bring my good camera when I did these with a friend at her house. These scarves are really easy and really fun! They didn’t cost a whole lot to do, either. The only thing they require is time, really. They cost about $7-8 to make each, but that could easily be dropped by buying the fabric and cutting it into strips. This was a test batch, so I just used pre-cut jersey white dye-able scarves that Joanne’s sells in their dye section. What you’ll need: 1 fine strainer A good quantity of natural material. (1-2 packages of berries, 2 pomegranates, a huge hand full of leaves, etc.) An unloved bowl, preferably ceramic so the dye doesn’t stain it A white cooking spoon (or wooden spoon, but white plastic makes it easy to see the colour) A pot Jersey Fabric Scissors Water
1: Choose a good colour source. I started out with blueberries and raspberries because they’re full of colour and it can stain fabric without me even trying to make it hold. I figured they’d be an easy starter. I found THIS CHART online when I was trying to figure out how I could make different colours and it proved helpful. 2: After you’ve chosen and bought or collected your colour source, you’re going to want to boil your colour source in a pot of water. The less water, the more concentrated your colour. The more water, the less concentrated. Makes sense, right? I filled my pot about half full, waited for it to boil and then threw my berries in. I cut mine in half first, hoping that would help the colour come out a bit better. I let them boil for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. I checked the colour with a white spoon. 3: This all makes a mushy berry mess. So a fine strainer will be needed to strain out the berries while collecting the dye. I set my strainer on top of my bowl and dumped the pot over it. Trash the berries now, you’re done with them. (I forgot to take a picture of this as I was doing it, so this is post straining and trashing of berries.)
4: Make sure to use a bowl big enough for your scarf to completely sink in. Mix dye/berry juice with vinegar and stir. I didn’t measure anything, a bit more than 1/4 of the mixture does well. It doesn’t have to be precise. The vinegar will make the colour hold to the fabric. 5: Slowly lower in your scarf and be careful because the water is hot. Use a cooking spoon.
6: Let the scarf sit for at least half an hour. The longer you let it sit, the better the colour will seep in and the darker it’ll get. I let this one sit for about 45 minutes while I cleaned up the mess and made dinner.
7: Take out the scarf and wring it out. It’ll still be wet, but the idea is to have it not be dripping. 8: Either hang it somewhere to dry or use the dryer on a low heat setting. 9: It’ll smell terrible at this point, so you’ll probably want to wash it. I made the mistake of throwing it in the wash on a hand wash cycle, it changed colour on me. A real hand wash will be best for this. The colour will run, that’s normal, nothing to be worried about. 10: dry again.
This is the colour it turned to after washing. I’m not sure if I like this colour more or not. It’s alright, just not what I was expecting. Congratulations! You have a brand new, naturally dyed scarf.
I played around with techniques for dying. It was pretty fun to think of different ways to dye these. Try rubber banding the scarf in different places and spooning dye along the rubber banded areas, dying only the ends, or making a design using an eye dropper. The possibilities are endless. I tried knotting the fabric to make a design for one and it ended in 3 broken fingernails between my friend and I, hurt fingers, a bent fork, and holes in the fabric. That’s something I wouldn’t recommend. Happy crafting! -Kristen. the-angry-one-took-my-donut-hat:
(Source: good-god-lemon)
DIY Silver Dove Christmas Ornament
Hey guys! This is Abby here and I made this cute little ornament today. It’s super easy to make and really cute. It cost me nothing because I had all of the supplies at home, but if you have to go out for supplies it might be $5. It’s about an hour long project.
(Excuse the loss of glitter…I didn’t have enough)
Materials needed:
Mix together the water, salt, and flour to form a dough
Knead the dough, the longer you knead it the smoother the consistency
To form the bird, take a golf ball sized piece of dough
Take one end of the ball and pinch it out and upwards to form the tail
To form the head pull up and pinch a small beak
Place the bird on a cookie sheet and put in the oven at 250 degrees for about 25 minutes
Once the bird is hardened, cover in glue and pour whatever colored glitter you choose over it until all sides are covered
Take your needle and stick a hole from the top of the bird all the way to the bottom
And last, take your wire and push it through the hole you just made with your needle and secure the wire so it will hold your ornament, and then make your loop at the top of the remaining wire to hang on your tree!
So there! Hope you enjoyed my first tutorial!
The U.S. government is voting on a bill that would censor the internet today. If this happens, important websites like Youtube, facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr may be made unavailable or be forced to shut down because of charges of illegal media sharing by its users. This bill is called PROTECT IP. Take a second to read about it and sign this petition to let them know that you won’t stand for this.
So these are how the scarves turned out! They’re dyed with raspberries and blueberries. (The pink is the raspberries and the purple-y colour is the blueberries.) I bought some pomegranates so I am going to try to do some with those next week. I’m so excited about how they came out! What do you all think?
Just got home!
Posting pictures of those naturally dyed scarves now, a tutorial will follow shortly.
Got my charm bracelet making stuff today!
Well, the majority of it. I’m still waiting for a few charms then I think I’m going to order some more if I need to. Some people still don’t have much on their bracelets. I’m so happy that I was able to make them so well and easily. I think I’m going to start making more jewelry! (Source: good-god-lemon) 
(via good-god-lemon)
red fading into brown or purple? Oooh, that’d be cool. Maybe when I get more into it. This would be my first one next week!
im always a fan of knowing something was dyed via something i like eating. berry colors are really good this time of year I like the idea too! I think it’s really cool. It’s nice to know there aren’t all kinds of crazy chemicals in my clothing. Dye is kind of scary sometimes.
i like the mulberry color u get from blueberries :) I like it too! I was looking at blueberries as an option because I really like the colour you get. |
