Crafty and ambitious, I enjoy the idea of taking on new
projects. When I am on Pinterest, I get carried away. I pin fifteen things a
week that I will probably never look at again or realize that I can never make.
But the past couple months, the DIY bug has bit me. I have set forth and put
those pinned links and tutorials to work!
The Transferred
Photograph:
My significant other has no photographs of his family or,
well, anyone in his room. I dreamed up a thought that I would print him photos
and frame them. This never happened so instead I went on Pinterest. Hidden in
over 200 pins on my DIY board, I found the “How to Transfer Picture to Canvas”
tutorial. I decided that I would make my guy a transferred photograph of us
without spending any money! Instead of canvas, I used a beveled wood block that
I had in my house and printed a nice picture of the two of us in black and
white. I followed the directions exactly and used Mod Podge. This turned out
nicely except I used a blow dryer a few times to speed up the process and I became
frustrated with the excess paper. Ultimately, I painted around it to make it
look complete and even added a corny line from a song we like.
The Flatware Hangers:
This one makes me chuckle! As part of my D&M Shop
independent study, I was required to make product for the shop. I was recruited
to figure out how to make those innovative coat racks using spoons as hooks. I
see those pins on Pinterest all the time! Well, let me tell you, it is very
difficult. It required me to go to Home Depot, buy a 2 x 4 x 6 and screws, then
flatten the spoons and drill a hole and bend the handle. Psshh, so easy, right?
No. In order to flatten the spoons, you need a mallet. Then you need drill bits
that can go through metal. And finally you need really concentrated strength (which
means gently but firmly, and very painfully, bending the spoons without
snapping them) or a blowtorch to help bend the spoon. But needless to say, I
did it and they came out awesome!
The Laser Cut Magnets:
This one does not have a pin, but it is a great way to take
advantage of our Hybrid Making Lab right in URBN! I needed to make magnets for
the D&M Shop and I wanted to test out the laser cutter. With just a ¼”
thick Lucite and some sheet magnet, I created adorable furry friend magnets. I
used vector images on Illustrator and followed the provisions set by the Hybrid
Making Lab. When I was in the lab, the laser cutter was quite simple to use and
voila! I made magnets! If you decide
to take advantage of the lab, you need to take a quick rules course and then it
costs $2 per 10-minute increment. It is definitely worth it and they make great
gifts!
The Scrabble Coasters:
Another D&M Shop project, I went ahead and came up with
four letter words and sayings that fit onto a 16-tile square. This was more
difficult than it seems, but Pinterest helped a lot! I assumed that Scrabble
tiles were all uniformly one-inch each, and so I cut out corkboard—for the
coaster base—to 4” x 4”. They are incredibly uneven so I had to improvise and
glue the tiles on with Gorilla Glue and position them carefully so they would
not be too crooked. They came out great! I learned a lot about Scrabble tiles
and made four fun sets of coasters!
The Paper Garland:
Holiday pins are the craze right now! As a D&M Shop
student, I had the task of decorating the shop creatively. We came up with the
idea of making the Anthropolige-inspired scroll garland. This turned out to be
very frustrating! I followed the tutorial and cut one and half inch strips and
started looping and stapling the paper together. I ended up getting too carried
away with the whole looping and stapling part and made them huge. Also, my
stapler croaked! Nevertheless, I prevailed and made my own version of the paper
garland! I will not say they are perfect, but they look pretty neat hanging in
URBN.
My warning to you: Read the tutorials fully then decided if
you actually want to try the DIY project! Overall, I think the results were
fantastic, and I now know that I can actually make those crafts that I had
pinned months ago! Be brave and maybe you will find a new hobby! If you want
more ideas you can follow me on Pinterest: Victoria Sibalich @wndrwomn.
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