Monday, January 21, 2013

The Decorista Chronicles- DIY Jewelry depot!

Here's a one-stop station for your most often used collection of treasures! And it's pretty easy too!
Now I apologize for not having any pictures of the process since I did this ages back and never took pictures in between, but I'll try my best to explain it as clearly as possible!



Here's what you'll need to get started!



1Your beautiful treasury of most favorite accessories!
2.Printed/patterned ribbon
3.Super strong glue
4.Ruler
5.Shoe box with the lid too
6.Pencils
7.A pair of scissors
8.Cardstock (Thick paper or thin cardboard will do)
9.Ribbon..
and the most important which I apologize for not picturing because I somehow misplaced it..
10.Wooden skewer sticks. You use these mostly to string meat or veggies through!

Instructions:

1.Like I said earlier, this is not the same shoe box I used to make my project since I'd already done it long back. If you like the color of your shoe box like me, you could begin right away. If there's something written on your shoe box on the longer sides, you may wanna cover it up or spray paint the whole thing. Don't worry if anything's on the shorter size, the base won't be seen and the top is gonna be covered with a big, cute ribbon!

2.Next, estimate the whole shoe box into three divisions on the longer side. You can see from the picture that I have 3 rows of bangles in there.This is why you gotta estimate it into three parts length-wise.

3.Next,where you want the first row to go, pierce a hole in the side with a skewer stick, level it using the ruler. TRUST ME, leveling has all the importance in this project! Now take the skewer out on the other side, please make sure your stick isn't coming out at a weird angle 

4. Now leave half a centimeter or so(but not TOO close) just beside that stick and pierce another stick through taking it out on the other side as the first one. Its important to leave a little gap between those two sticks and not let them be too close together. This makes the weight of the bangles be distributed evenly.

If you are confused, look at this:




5.That picture above obviously doesn't go by the real dimensions :) Make sure the last couple of skewers you pierce are at least off  the base of the shoe box by the height of your biggest bangle otherwise you wouldn't be able to fit any in your last row!

6.Now after you are done with the shoe box, center it on the shoe box's lid so that the wrong side is facing up.
Like here:



7.Time to make dividers in the lid! Using thin cardboard cut to size, and on one edge line up some strong glue and press it down for a few secs till it stands straight on its own.
Make as many as you want.

8.Now pretty it up. I lined two pieces of printed ribbons length wise (use glue or double sided tape) on my box and covered the top with a ribbon since there was a little bit of printed writing up there too.

And you are done! This will hold up strong for months. Don't worry about the sticks breaking. They're strong enough to support the weight! You just have to level them right and parallel!

You could decorate it as you like. I figured my bangles and accessories are going to add the bling anyway, so I kept that aspect to a minimum.

Scroll down for more pictures!









See you soon!
XOXO!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

The Freebie Jubilee!- Gorgeous Deco & Giftwrap Sheets!

You'll love this new freebie I made for you! Check it out!



Tell me if you appreciated this and I'll come out with another one! Great for giftwrapping or for favor boxes, to exploit with modpodge or even scapbooking!

Download it for free here!












Did you check out my vintage collection yet?Check it out here!
To check out my third color burst digi papers collection, click here!
Catch you next time! 

<3

The Decorista Chronicles-DIY Bracelet Tower!

I'm here with a quick and ridiculously simple tut for you all today. If your chunky bangles and bracelets are invading a lot more territory than they ought to, organize them in this sweet and stylish way. You can make multiple of these and display them on your vanity and it won't take up a lot of space or time!Promise!:D




Gather up these few supplies and you're good to go!

1.Krylon Glitter spray in Gold. You can use the color of your choice, obviously. I just think gold looks more, erm, classy!
2.Your fabulous stash of bracelets!
3.This is your tower stand now. I decided on an empty room mist fragrance bottle. You'll want it to be slim, sleek and sturdy. Mine is frosted glass with a steel cap.
4.Heavy coasters/lids. I used the lid of a jar that never needed a lid :)
5.Glue gun sticks, so, duh, a glue gun!


Here's how to wrap up this project in no time!
1.Spray all over the lid and its rim according to the instructions of the paint can and let it dry. Consider doing multiple coats if its glitter spray, you don't want a single coat and the glitter scattering away a few days later!
2. Center your spray bottle (btw if you want, you could spray this over too, I have no idea why I didn't want to. It was going to be covered up with my bracelets anyhow)
3. Is it centered? Great! Glue it down!
4.Almost done, but if you want enhance your base more with a trim of washi or fabric tape)
5. Pile up your bangles and that's it!

Hardly any effort, correct?

PS. I would recommend coasters more for this project (y'know, like the glass coasters from Ikea?) The heavier the better. DO NOT by any means chose to do this with any lightweight lid because you'll just have your bangles and bracelets tumbling all over UNLESS you have supernaturally lightweight bangles too ;)



Gonna post another project up soon!
XOXO!!!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Pretty me up - DIY Collar Necklace!


You see these sprouting up everywhere! Finally, I decided to make my own! Its really easy but a nice vintage style and made with minimum materials! I also included three more DIY collar necklace links at the bottom of this page to get you super-inspired!






Here's what you'll need:






1 A roll of pretty lace. Mine is white adhesive lace. I just peeled off its backing and adhered it to the collar.
2.A couple of pencils.
3.Velvet/velvet textured paper. Again, mine is a deep red velvet textured paper with adhesive backing.
4.Fabric tape. (you can easily purchase these ones I use in my tutorials at cutetape.com)
5.Nice shimmery gold ribbon
6.A pair of scissors.
7 Fabric glue or strong clear drying glue. (not pictured)
8. Interface fabric (optional)

Let's get cracking!

1.If your are using adhesive velvet like mine you can use the adhesive peel side to draw the template of your collar. To get an idea of the size of mine and how I deep I wanted it to be. I just placed the paper against the neck of one of my dresses and figured it from there.


That's the back side of my velvet you see in the picture above. Estimate the middle line of your collar on the paper and fold the paper in half across that line. Mark a point at the distance you want your necklace to end and draw half a collar. When you unfold the paper back you should naturally get a whole collar.

Use this to help you. (image taken from here)


If you are not using adhesive velvet like me, then you can cut out a template on thin cardboard and use it as your guide.

2. After you have made all the adjustments and are happy with how what you've drawn looks, cut it out. If you have any rough edges like mine, you can smooth them out later by cutting marginally again.

Here's how it'll look by now:



3. Lets get to the fabric tape now. I aligned the fabric tape vertically according to the slope(curve) of my collar. Have a look.



Trim off any excess and here's where the thin interface cloth comes in. If you want it as an extra backing to your collar you can cut it out to size and glue it at the back. I didn't add any because the collar felt comfortable enough without it.

4.Now is the time to attach the lace along the bottom cure of your collar. I found my lace was too wide and it looked overwhelming so I cut it in half and it looked perfect!



Straighten out the lace if it curled up at places. This may happen if you are using adhesive lace like mine!
Once you've fixed that part, it'll stay that way and you needn't worry any more!

5. Grab the gold ribbon now and use a utility/craft/Xacto knife to score a little sliver at the end of each half of the collar.

String a little part of the the ribbon through the gap you've scored and glue the part that comes out from the other side to the longer part of the ribbon which you strung in.


And that's all there is to it ladies!

Think a whole range of other fabrics you could use, maybe jeans with lace, or sequin fabric or lace bordered with a dainty string of pearls?
The options are endless!
I'll post another collar necklace tutorial with a twist soon!


And as promised, here are other links for inspiration!

I really love this one here and this one which is similar and as adorable too!
And this beautifully minimal one here!

See you with a brillant new tut next time!
XOXO

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