DIY Archives | Page 2 of 3 | Alexandra Adams

November 17, 2015 — No Comments

DIY: Painted Branches and Dipped Pinecones

I found this rose gold spray paint at Michael's and obviously had to get it. I figured out a couple ways to use for it for our Thanksgiving table, and this is the first! I'm doing a sort of mixed-metallics look, based on things I already had for the table (gold chargers for the plates, silver flatware), so adding rose gold to the mix worked out great. I used rose gold for the branches and regular gold for the pinecones.

Okay, so this is probably the easiest post of the whole week. I almost feel bad even calling this a DIY, because I'm pretty sure you can figure it out from the pictures. As far as the branches go, just spray paint them and let them dry before putting them on your table. Obviously, make sure you're in a well ventilated area (like outside) and have some sort of drop cloth or newspaper underneath them.

The pinecones are a little more complicated. You'll need a bucket or container that can hold water that you don't care about getting painted. Fill it with enough water to submerge your pinecones. Spray the surface of the water; the spray paint will float on the surface. Dip your pinecones into the water, and as you pull them out, the paint will drape itself over the parts of the pinecone that break the surface first. You can dip them multiple times if you want a more solid look. Keep respraying the surface of the water when the paint starts to get thin or goes away.

It works best if you dip the pinecones within the first 30 seconds or so of the paint being sprayed. Too long, and the paint starts to solidify a little bit and clumps together. You'll end up pulling it all out as one big sheet and it'll look all clumpy/webby on your pinecone.

I wanted some of the pinecone's actual color to show, which is why I did it this way, but if you want your pinecones to be solid, obviously it's easy to just spray paint those solid too!

This is also a great way to incorporate elements of fall into your centerpiece without having to adhere to a strict fall color scheme. Paint the branches, pinecones, and even leaves a color that goes with the rest of your decorations, and you're golden. Or should I say rose golden?

Published by Alexandra Adams in DIY, Holiday, Thanksgiving

November 16, 2015 — 2 Comments

DIY: Embossed Marble Place Cards

I’ve got to be honest with you guys–I’m a mess in the kitchen. My mother and my sister are both excellent cooks and bakers, and we usually spend Thanksgiving with my mom’s side of the family. My aunt and her daughters are also all great contributors to the Thanksgiving spread, and I’m usually left feeling a little helpless. Thankfully, my graphic design skills and eye for composition come in handy for the tablescape, and I do get to feel at least a little useful.

Every day this week, I’ll be bringing you guys some great DIY inspiration for a Thanksgiving table that doesn’t rely on the heavy orange and brown shades that normally come around the fall. I wanted this tablescape to feel fresh and modern, and also to be affordable for those of us in our twenties who don’t have a ton of disposable income to spend on decorations (yet!).

This table works great for a friendsgiving celebration, as well as for any kind of group gathering, since the colors aren’t regulated to any particular season.

First up this week are place cards. This is my favorite part of a nicely set table, because I'm selfish and I like my own name! These place cards are so easy but still gorgeous, and guests can even take them as small favors after the meal.

You just need 3” marble tiles and some letter stamps. I chose a smaller set of letters, because my family has too many names that start with the same letter to just use our initials, but you can totally use bigger letters for just initials too! And if you wanted to handletter the names, more power to ya! That would be gorgeous.

Supplies:

3” marble tiles
Small letter stamps
Embossing ink
Embossing powder
Heat gun

To Make:

Pull the tiles off the netting.
Line up the letters and stamp the name using your embossing ink pad across the center of each tile. It helps to start with the middle letter and space the others based on that, rather than starting at one end.
Dust embossing powder over the ink and tap off the extra.
Turn the heat gun on the letters until they become golden and shiny!

It helps to do this part on a paper plate so you can easily pour the excess embossing powder back into the container.

Careful with the heat gun–it heats up the stone too, so make sure to plan for a little cooling time before you have to pick up the place cards and move them around.

And that’s it; I told you guys it was easy! They look so great, and nobody would ever guess you didn’t put in a ton of time or effort.

Published by Alexandra Adams in DIY, Holiday, Thanksgiving

November 12, 2015 — No Comments

Thanksgiving Printable

Thanksgiving is just two weeks away! I've been hard at work planning our tablescape for this year, so get ready for a full week of DIYs coming at ya starting Monday. Thanksgiving is really the last true obstacle in the way before we can fully go Christmas crazy—and let's be honest, I was already on the Christmas train before Halloween rolled around.

This printable is sort of a tradition in our family. Every year, we spend some time during the Thanksgiving dinner writing down the things we’re most thankful for, and then we go around the table and share what we wrote.

I encourage you to use these cards with your family and friends this year. It's always so great to share what we’re grateful for with the people we love.

There's four different PDFs, just click below to open and print! You can use all of the same kind or mix it up amongst your guests. I recommend printing them on colored paper to match your table; it really adds to the overall theme.

Published by Alexandra Adams in DIY, Holiday, Printable, Thanksgiving

September 28, 2015 — No Comments

Failed DIY Posts

It's been nearly two months since I posted a DIY on this blog–whoops. I've been trying to plan out some really cool posts, and I keep coming up short on both the ideas end and definitely the execution. So today, here's a look at some of my most recent DIY posts that definitely fall on the "failure" end of the spectrum.

First up, trinket/ring dishes! I have seen so many people making these, and they've all turned out so cute–so naturally, I wanted to make a few for my friends. Unfortunately, the ramekins I used to help form the shape of the dishes weren't porous enough, and so the dishes never fully dried all the way through (although they did crack quite a bit!). Definitely not usable.

Next, I've been on a gold kick recently and thought spray painting some letter magnets would add some class to our refrigerator. They turned out fine, but they felt pretty anticlimactic. I'm not sure what I was expecting from them, but it just felt like I couldn't validate an entire post for them.

And lastly, bath bombs. Okay, so I love these things. Lush makes some incredible ones, and when I found out you could make them yourself, I obviously had to try it. First of all, just buying the supplies added up quite quickly, and these were some pretty expensive luxury items. That being said, the mixture never really held together as well as I think it should have, and they pretty much remained dust/powder. And the few we could get to hold a shape definitely weren't pretty enough for a full blog post. (Sidenote: I haven't used them in an actual bath yet, so their usefulness despite their appearance is yet to be tested.)

This post is just an example of how even the best intentions can go sideways. I am by no means an "experienced" blogger, so I'm definitely still learning and trying to figure things out as I go along. Thanks for reading and following this journey with me!

Published by Alexandra Adams in DIY

July 10, 2015 — No Comments

DIY: Birthday Confetti Shaker Card

I recently discovered that nice greeting cards can cost up to $10 or more while scrambling to find a last minute gift for a friend's bridal shower (the gift I ordered didn't ship on time), something that made me resolve to make more cards and buy less! When you can make cards just as nice, why pay for that crazy upcharge, right? So our third (and my favorite) card this week is this confetti shaker card. It's fairly simple to make and fun to shake around! I can see this working well as a snowglobe in the winter, or a beach ball in the summer, or even with a family photo behind it.

You will need:

Cardstock
Paper CD envelopes (They sometimes come in colors, but unfortunately my store only had white. If you don't want a white card, feel free to paint/color/decorate yours.)
Confetti/Sequins/Glitter
Pens
Scissors/X-acto knife
Glue
Foam brush

First, trim your paper to the size of your CD envelopes, typically around 5".

Take your X-acto knife and carefully slice open the CD envelope to unfold it. You can also just tear it open, but I'm not skilled enough to do that without tearing the whole thing! Once you've unfolded it, trim the edges off so you're left with just the square with the cellophane.

Take another one of your CD envelopes (these usually come in packs of 100 or so, so you should be fine on extras) and lay it over your card, tracing the circle with a pencil or the unclicked edge of a pen, something that won't get ink on your paper, making a slight indentation.

Using this circle as a guide, write or draw your greeting within the circle to make sure it's visible. This is where you could also trim a photo or colored cardstock to fit, or anything else you want to be seen.

Put a small amount of glue on three of the sides and use your brush to spread it between the circle's edge and the edge of the square. Press it gently on the front of your card. Don't press too hard or you'll squish the glue out into the middle of the circle!

Let it dry and be patient! I was a little too eager to see the sequins in the card and ended up getting some of them stuck in the still-wet edges of the circle. I don't mind it, but it'll be more satisfying to see all of your pieces floating around in the card.

After it's dry, if the card and the envelope are different sizes, you can trim the card to make sure it's even.

Using the side left unglued, add in your confetti/sequins/glitter. I found that tissue paper confetti didn't work very well, because the static just made it stick to the cellophane. Sequins and other plastic confetti pieces work best, and glitter can add some nice dimension if you add it in.

Once you've added the pieces to the inside, squeeze in a little more glue along the top edge and seal it closed, again letting it dry. You can add some extra pieces of confetti to the outside edges, or decorate it further. Then have fun shaking the card to see all the confetti move!

Published by Alexandra Adams in DIY