A fashion and lifestyle magazine and blog produced by Students in the Design and Merchandising program at Drexel University

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Pinned and Forgotten: My Fall DIY Adventures


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. 

Pitch Slapped: 7 Ways to Get Hooked on the A Cappella Phenomenon

I was eleven years old the first time I listened to a cappella music. My mom put on a classic rock a cappella CD in the car; the group (conveniently called Rockapella) sang the song “Tempted” by Squeeze. I remember being hooked and initially in total disbelief that this music was being made entirely from their voices with out any form of instrument. Almost 10 years later, society is joining the a cappella bandwagon thanks to recent movies, TV shows, and YouTube sensations. Listed below are several ways you can also be a part of the singing craze and join the phenomenon! (hint: click the links!) 

1. Pitch Perfect
Pitch Perfect 
If you haven’t seen this 2012 film yet, you may or may not be living under a rock. This movie depicts the story of Beca, a college freshman that is persuaded against her will to join her school’s all-girl singing group. She injects some much-needed energy as they take on their rivals in competitions. The film not only grossed $113 million world wide, but also became a cult classic with its breath of fresh air, witty humor and not to mention aca-awesome singing (see movie for “aca” reference).  It also produced a hit you may have heard on the radio called “Cups” by star Anna Kendrick. See the movie before the sequel hits theaters in 2015.
Anna Kendrick - "Cups"
Pitch Perfect Official Trailer 

2. The Sing Off
This is not your average singing competition. Forget what you see on American Idol or the X Factor. This NBC show is all about a cappella groups and their raw, natural talent. The fourth season, airing December 9th, will take on a new look with new judge, singer Jewel (joining the rankings of Ben Folds and Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman) as well as the new executive producer Mark Burnett (most notable for producing CBS’ Survivor and NBC’s The Voice). Burnett has brainstormed new ideas for the show with producer Deke Sharon, who has also arranged music in Pitch Perfect. The new season will only air for the brief holiday season (approximately two weeks), so don’t miss it! Be sure to check out past season performances on YouTube and Hulu.
The Sing Off Season 4 Promo

3. Pentatonix

Pentatonix 
This quintet is the real deal, no ifs, ands or buts. After winning the third season of The Sing Off, Pentatonix pursued an independent recording career and exploded on YouTube with over two and a half million followers. Their channel includes countless videos of popular song covers with their signature twist as well as their original music. Their second album “PTX Volume 2” debuted in November at number 10 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart. Not too shabby for an a cappella group, huh? They kick off their US Tour December 14th so check out their YouTube videos while you wait for them to come to a city near you.
Pentatonix - "Evolution of Music"
Pentatonix - "Daft Punk"

4. The Maccabeats
Not your average a cappella YouTube sensation, this group formed at Yeshiva University in 2007, emerging as both a Jewish and a cappella phenomena with more than 10 million views on YouTube. They made their mark with their Hannukah song “Candlelight” in 2010, which has 8.9 million views and counting. They also most recently released their own version of the Pitch Perfect song “Cups” called “Cups (D’ror Yikra).”
Maccabeats - "Candlelight - Hannukah"
Maccabeats - "Cups (D'ror Yikra)"

5. FSU Acabellas
There seem to be countless covers of the hit song Royals by Lorde, but this one takes the cake. With the voices of angles, the Acabellas of Florida State University released their video in early November, and within a month has had over 6 million views. Warning, you will be watching this video on repeat and it will be awesome every single time.
Florida State University Acabellas - "Royals" 

6. We Can’t Stop (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)
Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots
Picture this: Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots singing the pop hit “We Can’t Stop” with out instruments. This is not the kind of thing you imagine when you hear that Miley Cyrus will be a guest on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, but that is exactly what happened and it worked. Once airing in early October, the video was available on Hulu, NBC.com and YouTube, with over 13 million views solely on Youtube. This video will make you forget about that foam finger and the twerking, helping you focus on Miley’s actual talent.
Jimmy Fallon, Miley Cyrus and The Roots - "We Can't Stop (A Cappella)"

7. Doo Wop Shop – Disney Medley
Last but certainly not least, another YouTube hit, and with good reason too. This a cappella group The Doo Wop Shop, from UMass Amherst, became popular with their medley of Disney classics. This video was uploaded back in 2010 and has since had over 5 million views. The video will not only make you feel warm and fuzzy inside but will bring you back to your childhood of watching these Disney classics.  
UMAss Amherst Doo Wop Shop - "Disney Medley"