Throwback Thursday: DIY Natural Fiber Chokers

Hey there “home-skillets!” So according to my excess following of red carpet events (via Grace Helbig of course), it appears that chokers are back in style and I think that is “slammin.”  I can honestly say that I recently purchased jelly shoes and one particular top that is very much the Rachel Green aesthetic, and am officially feeling pretty damn “fly.” Ooh ooh, and all the 90’s inspired patches and pins I’m seeing lately? “Off the heezy” if I do say so myself.

Okay, enough at my lame attempts at slang (I can’t handle it from my generation or the last one). I really am here to talk about chokers. I feel like right now fashion is trying to take it back to the 90’s but only pull out the good stuff this time, and I couldn't be happier. Since learning they were a legit accessory once again, I have been dying to add a few chokers to my jewelry collection (which, ironically, consists of mostly really long necklaces). And in typical DIY-er fashion, I decided the best route for me was to make a few! I thought it would be super fun to share the techniques I used, so you can be as trendy as I pretend to be.

For each of the chokers, you will need:

Macramé rope, ribbon, or string-like material

Ribbon clamps

Industrial strength glue (I’m partial to E6000)

Some spare chain (to make an extender)

A lobster clasp

A couple of jump rings

Pliers

The process is also pretty similar for each necklace! Cut your material to a length slightly shorter than the circumference of your neck (about 12 1/2" for me). Drop a bit of glue onto the inside of the ribbon clamp, add the end of your material, & clamp down hard with the pliers, then repeat with the other end and let dry. With the help of your jump rings, attach a 1-3” extender chain to one ribbon clamp, and a lobster clasp to other. Then rock your necklace like the 90's babe you are!

For the first choker, I used some macramé trim purchased in the fabric section of my local craft store. I had to use a good amount glue and a large clamp because of the thickness of this material, but I love the subtle, earthy vibe this one give off. Also them front teeth, am I right?

Next, I thought it would be fun to channel the obsession with friendship bracelets that was my childhood and make a friendship bracelet-inspired choker--it's like 90's on 90's! Patience is definitely required for this style (and maybe a You-Tube tutorial), but I love how nostalgic it is. 

And lastly, I purchased some very fuchsia suede cording to make the last choker have an excellent color pop! Since I combined 3 individual pieces of cord, I glued it down side by side on the clamp and allowed it to dry before closing the clamp. I also took care to make sure the individual pieces of cord didn't end up twisted, so that the choker could lay flat when I was wearing it. You could also string some little gold beads onto the cord to make this style of choker even more fun!

Overall, I’d say the expansion of my choker collection was a huge success, and for very little effort. And fun fact, my wrist is about half the circumference of my neck, so these chokers double as wrapped bracelets for me! Now I just need some overalls and a scrunchie and we are good to go!

Are you as in love with chokers as I am? Actually, are you as in love with this revival of 90’s fashion as I am?

Stay lovely,

A Digital Fruit Salad Party Day 5: "Snazzy, Jazzy, Razz-berry" Printables and Wallpapers

It's Fridayyyyy! I can't believe I am already on day 5 of these little downloads! They have been really fun to share and try to get creative with, and I really love pretending that I do graphic design :P

Today I also tried to be creative with these little cards to prove that these nifty downloads go way beyond their original purpose! It may not be easy to see, but I used actual cutting and pasting to layer the background and card images to add a little 3-dimensionality to these cards.

I inserted the "cell phone background" image into a word document, cropped it to the same dimensions as the other cards, used the "washout" tool, printed in color, and cut and folded that background as it's own mini card. Then, I printed the half-color raspberry card, cut the shape out, and taped it to the front of the patterned card! I just thought it would be fun to show a way that you can alter the content I am giving you (provided that if you post about it, you link back to me), and show another alternative to the full-color stationery if you are trying to save yourself some ink!

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this project of mine! Make sure to let me know which of these is your favorite and how you might be using them!

Strawberry, peach, kiwi, and blueberry printables and wallpapers are also available!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD:

Raspberry computer wallpaper

Raspberry cell phone wallpaper

Raspberry printable envelope

“Snazzy, jazzy” punny card printable in portrait (top fold) // in landscape (side fold)

“Snazzy, jazzy” punny wall art print

Stay lovely,

**Please respect my copyright policy. If you modify or use my work, link back here for attribution. Also, don’t post this content as your own download, but rather link back to me, because everyone is free to join the fun and download through this website! For more on gross copyright things, click the link in this blog's footer.**

A Digital Fruit Salad Party Day 4: Blueberry Sweet Freebies

Hey guys! Thought I forgot about today's free fruity fun? Never! I just had a busy morning... okay, and a nap.

Today, in addition to your free downloads of tech wallpapers, art prints, cards, and envelopes, I wanted to show you how you can print in black and white and STILL bring on the color. I used watercolor paints to create a gradient wash and splatter paint effect on the art prints, which is super exciting if you don't happen to have a color printer. As long as you print with toner, you can paint the cards and art prints to your hearts desire and make them your own!

Now if this is your first trip to wonderland this week, try checking back to my first post of the week to get an idea of what this party is all about! Also, don't forget I have a similar set of downloads for strawberries, peaches, and kiwis already all ready for you. (Thanks, SAT grammar!) Enjoy!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD:

Blueberry computer wallpaper

Blueberry cell phone wallpaper

Blueberry printable envelope

“Don't be blue” punny card printable in portrait (top fold) // in landscape (side fold)

“Don't be blue” punny wall art print

Stay lovely,

**Please respect my copyright policy. If you modify or use my work, link back here for attribution. Also, don’t post this content as your own download, but rather link back to me, because everyone is free to join the fun and download through this website! For more on gross copyright things, click the link in this blog's footer.**

Some of My Favorite Free Watercolor Textures

Howdy guys! I'm working on a little design project as a kickoff to summer, and in the process of that have been stocking up on downloadable watercolor textures! I figured I'd pass on a list of 'em today so that you can get designing for yourself! You can also make your own watercolor textures fairly easily, but I tend to have issues with the colors looking correct and saturated appropriately. (Basically, I need to invest in a good scanner or camera or lighting setup...yay college.) And besides, these are all ready to go, are actually easy to download, haven't given me any pop-ups or tried to install things on my computer, and live on cute blogs with minimal ads, unlike many "free graphics" websites! I hope this is helpful for any projects you might have, or just for some fresh computer backdrops!

Free for personal use:

Design Love Fest (Don't forget to get free graphics on this site every week!)
Craftberry Bush
Angie Makes
Pixejoo

Free for commercial use:

Gold and Berry (make sure to download the .zip file!)
Hello Geri
Lost and Taken (so many free textures guys)

Not sure how to use these? Try the techniques in my Gold-Foil and Watercolor Text Art Tutorial, including some free painted textures of my own!

What are your favorite free resources for making cute graphics and text art?

Stay lovely,

Disclaimers: Like all things on the internet, you click links at your own risk. I would never intentionally publish content containing bad links. Also, follow the copyright policies listed on each artist's individual site. They are clear and easy to find, and if you aren't sure, be respectful to the artist above all else. PS I use this copyright policy.

DIY "Stamped" Digital Wallpaper w/o Photoshop + Free Citrus Wallpapers

Left click to download

While I was busy revamping an old Monday in Wonderland as a printable for my email subscribers, I discovered an easy technique for making a fun, patterned digital wallpaper! And then, upon adding a little color, I ended up with a ton of fun wallpapers and wanted to share them with you and show you how it's done. Now, as you may know, I’m trying to make it by without Photoshop for the time being, so this easy technique will only use PicMonkey and Paint! Also, you can click to download all the wallpapers throughout this post so yay for you getting free things!

And I don’t have much else to say for this intro so let’s just get into it!

For a 2-color pattern (above):

Step 1

Draw a simple, repeatable, silhouette design with black pen onto white paper. You can also use online clipart images, but I kind of liked the messy, imperfect vibe I got from my own drawing!

Then make your image digital! You can either take a photo of your drawing in bright light (without shadows) or scan it in. Either way, you will want to decrease shadows, increase highlights, and ramp up exposure and brightness until the image is completely black with a blank, white background. If you notice any uneven or patchy lines in the image, the simple brush and eraser tools in Paint can be used to carefully clean up the lines. I like using “oil brush” because it is wide and has soft edges. As you clean the image up, also utilize the zoom feature to make things easier.

When you are happy with the solidity of the image, crop as closely to the edges of the silhouette as you can, and save as a JPEG or PNG.

Step 2

You now want to create a small sample of your total pattern that you can later replicate onto a bigger scale. I found this easiest to do in PicMonkey, although it can be accomplished with Paint as well.

Go to the PicMonkey website and select “design”, choosing whatever “canvas” size you like. Then, click on Overlay > Your Own, and insert your black and white silhouette onto the canvas. Decrease the size to your liking, so that you can fit 5-10 copies of the image on the canvas. Once it’s the right size, right click, and select “duplicate image.” From there, you move and rotate the “overlays” to create a sample of the pattern. Once again, save this image as a jpeg.

You can make this sample randomized or grid-like, depending on the image being used. The easiest way I found to make a standardized, gridded pattern was to actually insert a grid as an overlay first, then delete it once all the silhouette overlays were in place.

Left click to download

Step 3

Repeat step 2, this time starting with a canvas to the dimensions of the wallpaper you want. There are cropping options for an iPhone, iPhone 6, and the dimensions of your computer screen within PicMonkey to simplify this process. Don’t forget that if you want to make multiple sizes, work from biggest to smallest to speed up the process (by taking the big image and cropping it down to smaller sizes).

Also, this time you will be inserting the sample of the pattern again and again the create a fully stamped background. You can either keep each sample block the same, or utilize the flip and rotate options to keep the background random. Fill the entire canvas with pattern!

If need be, insert the original, single silhouette as an overlay, shrink it to match the rest of the pattern. and use these individual shapes to fix any awkward white spaces.

Left click to download

Step 4

To make the background 2 colors, you first need to “combine all image elements” with the button next to the settings gear in the tool bar above your canvas. This will flatten everything into one image for your next step. Then, go to Effects > Warhol, and pick the two colors you think best work together for your background! Save and you’re are done.

You can also download the black and white version of this citrus print and use the Warhol effect to play with colors yourself!

Left click to download

For a multi-color pattern:

In Step 2, just change the color of the individual overlays! This should be easy to do if the images are completely black and white. Additionally, it is easy to use the eyedropper thingy to match repeated colors throughout your sample. Then just create repetitions of those colors throughout your total image. To color the background, I combined all image elements, then adjusted the temperature of the image down slightly, although you could also use the "texture" tool, like I did in my Gold-Foil and Watercolor Text Art Tutorial.

Left click to download

For a pattern around text:

Either draw and digitize, or digitally create your text, and save it in black and white with minimal white space around it. You will insert this text as an overlay onto a blank canvas of your desired dimensions, just like you did with the pattern. (You could also skip saving the text separately, and just combine image elements after the text is in place, but I liked being able to move it easily as a unit and use it in wallpapers of multiple dimensions.)

Repeat steps 1-3, with or without multi-color, getting each pattern sample as close as you can to the central text. (Don’t’ forget that you can right click and “send to front”, etc to change the order of the overlays on the canvas.) Then, use the individual overlay of the image to fill awkward white spaces as you did in step 3. Following this, you would combine the image elements, and use the Warhol effect if you are going with 2 colors like the image above!

And because I do this out of love, I did a little cropping so that you can get any of the designs above for your cell phone too!

Click here for the lemonade phone wallpaper

Click here for the multi-colored citrus phone wallpaper

Click here for "When life gives you lemons" phone wallpaper

I hope you enjoy these fun, citrusy wallpapers, and I look forward to seeing your own versions, for any season or fruit! I've loved designing these guys honestly, and am so so happy to share!

UPDATE: Some people have been having trouble with a couple links so try this!
Multi-colored citrus wallpaper
Lemons quote computer wallpaper

Stay lovely,

PS: Sign up for my email list for a printable, 4x6 version of the "When life gives you lemons" quote that you can color and hang up yourself! And other free goodies, and very sparse emails, I promise! Okay, bye!

DIY Faux Beaded Clutch

I think we can all pretty much agree that a girl can never have too many simple clutches, right? They are perfect for anything from a laid-back brunch to a fancy dinner if you buy the right one, and can add so much interest to an outfit with considerably minimal effort. But how do we go about finding that perfect clutch you say? Well, why not make it our own!

Around Christmastime, I found this super fun product call Beads in a Bottle that is absolutely perfect for adding a little pizazz to your basic clutch! (Not sponsored, just awesome.) It is about as easy to use as paint, and, as you can see, can be used super elaborately or just as a simple, classy accent! It essentially creates round “beads” on the surface you apply it to by self-rounding, meaning you can stud/bedazzle the heck out of something without actually going through the work of studs. And unlike puffy fabric paint, the “beads” actually do round themselves out on top instead of creating a peak.

Now apart from the billion projects I still want to make with this stuff, I dressed up a couple clutches from Charming Charlie to show you how it works. The simple, white and gold one was for me (I like to keep my studding subtle), while the black, art-deco style one was created for my older sister as a Christmas present (she loves 20s style)!

I am all for an easy and unique accessory update, and this particular method is just about as easy as it gets!

For the white and gold clutch:

You will need a basic quilted clutch, and your choice of metallic shade of Beads in a Bottle (I bought this pack).

Simply add a dot of paint at each intersection of the quilting. Bigger dots will round a little better, and try not to get to close to the edges, or gravity will interfere with your hard work!

For the art-deco clutch:

You will need a flat-faced, preferably solid color clutch, 2 metallic shades of Beads in a Bottle, white sewing chalk, and a cotton swab or two.

Sketch your design on the surface of a clutch using a ruler and chalk, then “bead” onto the clutch as before! When the paint is fully dry (probably overnight), you can add a little water to the cotton swab to wash away the chalk residue.

Use different amounts of pressure to get beads of different sizes. It may help to practice a little before you go to work on the clutch itself. If you do make a mistake though, wait until the paint dries a bit, peel it off as best as possible, and clean up the area with a cotton swab soaked in isopropyl alcohol. And please remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect—it will still looks awesome and unique regardless! (If you are a perfectionist, like myself, I do suggest using a relatively inexpensive clutch to start with, and know that lighter colors will show errors less than darker colors!)

Because this embellishment is really just paint, it’s in the clutch’s best interest to not be sandwich in between your toiletries and t-shirts when you pack for Spring Break... I learned that the hard way! Never fear though. You can actually go over the “beads” again with the paint, just make sure that they are completely centered over the previous application and ever-so-slightly larger than the original. To avoid having to do this though, I would suggest at least 12 hours dry-time before you even flip the clutch over to paint the other side.

I’m looking forward to trying this product on a new wallet (mine is fraying after 5 years, go figure),  or the adorable pink cross-body that I recently thrifted for $4 (SCORE)! Anything you are interesting in fancying up with faux studs/beads?

Stay lovely, 

DIY Golden Peep Piñata

One of the most fun things about DIY blogging is making an unnecessarily large deal out of every holiday. I mean, I usually completely forget about St. Patrick’s Day (and get ruthlessly pinched by my sister), but this year I made wallpapers AND mocktails. And now that St. Patrick’s Day is passed, we are on to a little bit of Easter celebration before next weekend rolls around! I probably should’ve been doing these things about a month ago, but whatever, I’ve never been one to purchase my Christmas decorations at Halloween anyway!

Now on to the DIY. I love seeing all the fun piñatas people make for various holiday parties, throwback adventures, and the like. Even though they're a little time consuming, these piñatas are super easy and add a pretty lovely dose of whimsical fun! (I also had to make it gold, because I kind of have a thing with shiny stuff!) And yes, I will be hanging these in the kitchen or living room. That’s holiday décor at its finest I think!

You will need:

Corrugated cardboard

Box cutter (or craft knife)

Masking tape

Scissors

Gold tissue paper

Mod Podge (or a mixture of white glue and water if you prefer)

Pompoms

Step 1

Cut out 2 bunny shapes from cardboard. I did this by printing an online clip art image, tracing one bunny, then cutting it out and using it to trace the other so that they end up the same, simply because some curves are easier than others for a box cutter to handle. Make sure to use a lot of pressure when cutting, and if it doesn’t go all the way through, you can always cut a little from the back.

Also, for a size reference, the small bunny was as large as I could print on one piece of paper, and the larger bunny was as large as I could split the design on 3 pages. This was my source for the image! Thank you search engines. Seriously, what would we crafty people do without them?

Step 2

Cut strips of cardboard perpendicular to the corrugation, so that it will be able to bend and fold around curves. I used a 1 1/4" wide strip for the tiny bunny, and a 2” wide strip for the larger.

Step 3

Use masking tape to attach the strip around the edge of one of the bunny cut-outs. Make sure to use a lot of it at any corners to really tack those folds in the cardboard strip in place.

Step 4

Now secure the second bunny shape on top of the cardboard border. It may not be exactly the same size as the first bunny and border itself, so use multiple strips of masking tape next to one another to make the edge smooth.

Step 5

Cover the edges of the piñata with strips of gold tissue paper, using the Mod Podge to stick it down. I did this by pasting the tissue paper to the upright edge of the piñata with half of it hanging over, cutting slits in the unattached portion, then folding that down and pasting it in place on the front of the pinata. Repeat with a second strip, folding this one over to the "back" of the piñata, and add a strip down the center so that everything is covered.

Step 6

Now cut fringed strips to decorate the piñata with. Mine were typically about 1 1/2" wide, and I layered several strips and folded them so that cutting the fringe would be faster. (If I get serious about making holiday piñatas though, I would probably invest in fringe scissors!)

Step 7

Begin by gluing a wide, solid strip of gold paper to the front of the piñata, using Mod Podge. Then, work your way up, attaching fringed pieces of tissue paper in rows. You will want to make the strips slightly longer than the width of the piñata so that they can better fit its shape later. Also, don’t be afraid to finish one strip and start another in the same row. The tops of each strip will be covered so you can’t see the transition.

Step 8

Finish with narrow, solid strips of tissue paper at the tops of the ears to make it look clean and finished.

Step 9

Trim the excess tissues paper hanging off the edges of the piñata, and fold any extraneous paper over the edges if necessary. You can tack it down with Mod Podge to make everything a little cleaner.

If areas with steep curves, such as between the ears, you can glue the fringe in place before trimming, in case the top of the strip is cut off during trimming.

Step 10

Repeat steps 6-9 on the other side of the piñata.

Step 11
Add mini pompoms to make the eyes and nose on the Peep! I tried both brown and black, and ended up liking the dark brown better. You can also add a large white pompom to the "back" side of the piñata to make a fluffy bunny tail (which I regrettably forgot to snap a picture of)!

To hang the piñata:
Use awl or sharp object to punch two holes between the ears of the Peep piñata. Then, cut a piece of thick string or thin rope to the appropriate length (I eyeballed this), and wrap a piece of Scotch tape around each end of it. Insert a dot of hot gule into one of the holes, and push end taped end of the string through until you cannot see the tape. Between the hot glue and the snug fit of the string, this should hold your piñata hanger in place. Repeat with the other end of the string.

And if you would like to add candy, you can cut a hole at the top of the bunny, probably atop one of the ears, fill the piñata, and tissue paper the gap closed.

I am actually really happy that I made a small Peep first, then decided to go bigger,so that I have a little Peep family. If they don’t end up hanging in that living room, a centerpiece or spot on the fireplace mantle might be an amazing way to display these cuties-they actually stand on their own believe it or not! (Flatten out the bottom of your template if you are unsure your template will make that happen!)

Now while this is by far the easiest piñata-making method (papier-mâché is always such a huge mess for me), I have seen a lot of other techniques that may be fun for otter piñata shapes!

What’s your opinion on novelty, holiday piñatas? Want me to make more? (All gold, of course :P)

Stay lovely,

"Procrastibaking" Print + Adventures in Gold Foil Toner Transfer

Left click to download

This Monday in Wonderland, apparently I was set to go all out. Not only did I doodle up a print that I’ve been dreaming of making for a while, but I also put some gold foil transfer to the test!

Now firstly, this printable really speaks to my heart, because I am such a “procrastibaker!” Whenever I’m really stressed and busy, making pancakes, cookies or cake is one of my favorite ways to relax. Fresh-baked bread would also be AMAZING to make on those overwhelming days! Regardless, this is both good and bad for me. Good, because I need to protect my mental health and I need to eat, and bad because there goes another hour without my to-do list making any process. At least compared to Netflix-binging, baking has you on your feet and creating. I support procrastibaking as one of the finest  forms of procrastination.

This gold foil attempt though—it did not leave much time for procrastination at all! I ended up getting it to work pretty well through testing a lot of different tutorials. In the end, here’s what I did:

You will need

A toner (or “laser”) printer

Paper

Gold transfer foil

An iron

Press cloth

Print your design onto the cardstock, turning up the quality of the print if possible. On a hard surface, cover all the parts you want gold-foiled with the gold foil shiny-side up, and use an iron to heat press. Make sure to lay a press cloth or additional piece of computer paper over top of the print and foil, and iron for at least 30 seconds, using lots of pressure and paying special attention to ironing the edges, pressing in the same spot for about 5 seconds at a time. Using a small towel or old shirt, rub back and forth across the page to press the design down, with the cover sheet still on top. After this, I ran the iron over the paper one more time for good measure.

Let cool COMPLETELY (I waited an agonizing 10 minutes), then gently peel up the excess foil, leaving only the gold over the design. Frame and hang if desired!

Regular printer paper as opposed to white cardstock worked best for me, unlike some of the tutorials I read. I also used the same deco foil as in my Gold Textured Bathroom Sign and Nostalgic Key Hooks. I think it works much better with the designated adhesives rather than the toner, so perhaps a different gold transfer foil would better suit your project! There are so many wonderful brands out there, so if you’re serious about foiling, experimenting may be well worth it! I honestly just chose this one because I had it on hand, and it’s pretty inexpensive. Also, I wouldn’t try to fill in any spots that don’t stick the first time by foiling over them again as you would normally do with the adhesives for this foil product—it just tends to smear the toner!

Have you had any luck with this gold-foiling technique? And are you a “procrastibaker” like me?

Stay lovely,