Castle Tower

I made this little wall hanging turret from polyurethane resin, which was cast from a mould made with silicone rubber, (from an original polymer clay sculpt).

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Original sculpt, made with polymer clay

de-molding

the resin cast. painted 

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some faux moss bits glued on

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put a bird on it

 I made a bunch of resin feathers, in assorted colours. 

For all those occasions when you really really need to put feathers on your stuff #putabirdonit

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Full tutorial available HERE

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a while between drinks

 sculpting cat head from Polymer clay
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sculpting frame (polymer clay)

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casting in silicone rubber

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de-mould (or de-mold depending on your location)

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painted resin cat and frame

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a few available here
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No Sew Skirt from Shirt

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This is the lazy persons guide to making a quick simple skirt. All you need is a t-shirt, scissors and a string (from an old hoodie or pyjama bottoms or a long shoe-lace)

Get a shirt that is a bit loose.

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Cut it straight across under the arm-pits. (can make it ever shorter later if you're that way inclined).

Turn the piece you've cut upside down.

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cut two holes in the hem (big enough for the string to pass through).

Thread the string through one hole out the other (with the help of a safety pin)

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The hem that was the bottom of the shirt is now the top of the skirt.

This will hold the skirt up, once tied. 

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et voila! This took all of about 5 minutes. 

You may need to stretch out the bottom slightly if you don't like it too clingy. Use a printed 

shirt for more interest, but the print will be upside down, be warned! Or you can sew a hem on the 

other end, if you can be bothered getting the machine out and threading it and such...

...Or just make yourself some tea. 

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my 8-bit heart

Plush Pixel Heart DIY

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Stuff you'll need:  felt. scissors. thread. stuffing (sewing machine optional).

you could use any fabric, I used felt because it doesn't fray. If you want something washable..don't use felt..

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.step 1: plan your pixels. You could use a computer if you want to get fancy.

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step 2: cut out all your felt into uniform squares. (this is important otherwise they won't fit), remember to cut two times the squares for the front and back, and one times for the side.

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step 3: start sewing squares together, keep them laid out so you know what goes where, it can get confusing.

I hand-sewed the squares because they were small and fiddly, this part could go much faster on a sewing machine. I used 3x3 (centimetre) squares the total heart turned out about 22cm's (8.7 inches).

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.still step 3...

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still....step 3....

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yep... step 3

(once you have both faces sewn up, join them together inside out, leaving a small 2-3 square opening unsewn)

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it will look something like this.

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step 4: turn it inside out...and stuff it. 
Then sew up the remaining gap in your neatest most invisible stitch.

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step 5: Ta-daaa... have a break and admire your hard work.

Checkered

Simple paint DIY for simple canvas

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 paint the canvas (I chose three colours, black, blue and green)

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paint a liberal layer of crackle medium (the one-step variety)

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 Using cut up strips of masking tape, make some lines.

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paint in alternating squares of the 1st colour. The crackle medium should show up straight away.

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paint the second colour.

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Peel off the tape.

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Seal with a coat of Mod Podge or PVA glue or whatever dries clear.

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Ta-Daaa
(you could add some lines through the diamonds for an 'argyle' effect, see first photo)

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Green Lantern

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Small square vase covered with custom cut mosaic glass. Tools required: glass cutter, ruler, 2 part epoxy glue, grout.

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 the above picture is all the tiles stuck on minus the grout.

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with grout, externally lit.

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Finished lantern internally illuminated by candle light.
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octopod

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needle felted

octopus

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boxy-but-good part III: cruise control

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 Yet another Ikea Fira chest...(first here, and second here)

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I stained the whole thing a dark, dark cherry almost black (not using actual stain but water mixed with acrylic paints), then drew outlines using black pencil, the pattern is an old wallpaper fragment I found, then painted in the white bits, then laquered the whole thing with a shiny water-based sealer. This is not a DIY so much as just painting a box. But there was a lot of sanding involved.