Tag Archives: do it yourself

Airstream Remodel Update: Part 2…3…or is it 4?!

bench in airstream trailerI’m one of those people that sometimes has trouble seeing the final product. Are you ever that way? Before we did all this remodeling it was hard for me to see past the blue carpet and smell past the funk.

But the Airstream is finally getting to the point of where I can imagine myself (happily) living in it. I get a little excited feeling in the pit of my stomach just thinking about it. Or maybe I just need an afternoon snack.

In the picture above you can see that George built us a bench! I painted it and my next job is to make a comfortable cushion and lots of pillows for the bench. I love pillows. (Or as I pronounce it pell-ows. It’s a southern thing?)

Taking out oven in Airstream

Here you can see where we took out the old oven. We also found our friend, Stewart Little‘s home in here. We’ve found more creatures in this thing than I care to mention. Let’s hope they don’t like our new oven setup.

love and excitement,
melanie

 

A Creative Way to Give Cash: A Mobile!

money mobile

It was my beautiful sister’s birthday last week. (Happy Birthday, Kristen!) I wanted to send her cash, but just sending bills in the mail with a card is kind of lame.

Of course, I had to do something creative. That’s how I roll. I knew you could fold dollar bills into origami, but I wanted to take it one step further. So, I used the leftover embroidery floss from my sunglasses DIY to create a mobile!

elephant money origami

Supplies

  • Embroidery floss
  • A stick!
  • Paper money

I folded the elephants using an tutorial found here. Then, I braided the embroidery floss and tied one end to the elephant. Next, I broke a stick in half, made an “x” and neatly twisted embroidery floss around the middle of the “x” until I felt that it was secure. I left a little bit of floss at the end and finished it off with a bow. Finally, I tied each elephant to one of the stick ends.

origami money mobile

Have you ever given money as a gift in an unusual way? I want to see it or hear about it in the comments!

P.S. I sent my sister more than 4 bucks. I just didn’t want to use large bills in case she didn’t want to take it apart. I’m not that cheap!

love,
melanie

 

 

 

How to Make Giant Tissue Paper Flowers

field of flowers

I have very little patience for craft projects. If a craft project takes more than 15 minutes, I have no interest in it. So, when I decided I wanted a little decoration to spice up our Spring brunch table, I knew just the project. Seriously you guys, my elementary Spanish teacher taught us uncoordinated elementary schoolers to make these. You can make these too. DIY your face off.

Supplies

  • Tissue paper (6 sheets per flower)
  • Floral wire
  • Tape (floral tape looks best, but I used regular ‘ol masking tape)
  • Scissors (optional)
  • Watercolor paint & a brush (optional)

folded tissue paper

Step 1: Lay out 6 pieces of tissue paper on top of one another and face the short end of the paper towards you.

Step 2: Fold tissue paper accordion style, back and forth, as if you were folding a paper fan. Folds should be about 2-3 inches wide.

Step 3: Optional: Round the edges of the tissue paper with scissors. I didn’t round my edges because I’m a rebel.

tissue paper flower wire detail

Step 4: Gather tissue paper together in the middle with one hand.

Step 5: Take wire and wrap around middle tightly, but not too tight. It will make it difficult to pull the petals out if it is too tight.paper flower petals

Step 6: The hardest part! GENTLY pull the pieces of tissue paper apart to form the flower petals. Do not man-handle the tissue paper! It will tear. I know from experience 😉

Step 7: Wrap tape around the bottom base of your petals to ensure the wire is tightly secured to the flowers.

Step 7: Blammo! You’re done. Continue to Step 8 if you want to color your flowers. If you’re not a fancy man, stop here.

painting flowers

Step 8: If you want a bit more detail to your flowers, you can paint the edges with watercolor paint. This technique is really hard to mess up. Just grab a brush, dip it into some watercolor paint and lightly brush the paint onto the petal edges and in between the petals. Optional: Feel like you are under the Queen of Heart’s orders to paint the roses red!

Step 9: Let dry.

tissue paper flowersStep 10: Not optional: Frolic in a field of flowers.

Got any questions? Leave ’em in the comments.
love,
melanie

Happy Spring!

Last night George and I painted eggs. We didn’t feel like spending money on dye, so we painted them with some cheap, non-toxic watercolors we had around the house. George did an amazing job, of course. He painted our faces on the eggs!

Supplies:

  • Paintbrushes
  • Watercolor paints
  • Water
  • Hard-boiled eggs

I kept my eggs more abstract since realism isn’t my talent.

I don’t condone eating the eggs after painting, since the watercolors aren’t technically edible, but it was nice to do something other than just sticking the eggs in some dye.

Hope you all have a relaxing holiday,
love,
melanie