Embellished

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(check out my awesome coffee mug!)

I gots me a couple of plain old tube singlets from the underwear section. they're usually way too long so I cut off a few inches off the bottom and use that to make the ruffles. I don't have an overlocker, so I just strech the strips of fabric as I go and use a tightly spaced zig zag stitch down one side. This creates those wavy looking bits.

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then I just sew each ruffle on to the top! probably best to use zig zag for sewing the ruffles to the top too as the singlet needs to stretch over the chest, so the stitch will need to stretch as well.

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so I added a little black bow-tie cos I thought it needed something extra, then I added that faux laced look by just cutting little rectangles from a black ribbon (you'll need to burn the ends with a lighter or fire of some sort so it doesn't fray) 

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ta daaa!

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I'm a Lady! I Do Not Have Tenticlée!

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I made a birthday card for my parents' joint birthdays. 

Its a bit pretty at the front...

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then you lift up her skirt and... omg.. wtf..?!

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and the inside...ta daaa...(thats meant to be octopus ink on the left there because she got a bit miffed when you lifted up her skirt btw)

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big letter DIY

draw a big letter on a piece of paper, cut it out, trace it onto a piece of stiff cardboard, flip over the paper trace a mirror image on to another piece or stiff cardboard. cut out both.

find some bendable cardboard for the middle section.

tape it in between the stiffer cardboard cutouts, if you are doing curves or 'O's or 'S's the cardboard will need to bend around the curves.

Tear up small strips of newspaper and mix up some paste. You can use regular store-bought paste for the papier mache part or just mix some flour, water and salt (I use the latter with a bit of PVA glue mixed in). Dip a small newspaper strip in the paste and apply.

cover the entire cardboard contraption with at least two layers of papier mache, letting each coat dry thoroughly before applying the next one. for a smoother effect you can do the final layer with tissue paper

let it dry completely.

optional coat of texture paste or modelling compound (helps smooth things out)

then give it a light sanding with fine sand paper.

paint it!

try to use matte paint as anything too glossy will only accentuate all the lumps that you can't really avoid with paper mache.

VOILA!

hang it up or put it on a shelf!

This is a big "M" I made in 2004, no round bits, much easier. Still going strong.

bound for glory

regular copy-paper, folded, sewn and bound

nifty endpapers

hand-bound notebook using cardboard, glue, thread, white laser paper, wadding and felt for the cover

cage + paper + 30 minutes

I hacked a candle-holder cage into a bedside lamp using an ikea light-fitting from a broken lamp.

first I cut a hole big enough to fit the light fitting in the bottom of the cage, removing the bit that holds the candle.

then I put in the light fitting, securing it to the base with wire. Then lined the inside with thick printed paper (scrapbooking stuff works good because its sturdy and comes in nice colours/prints). then plug it in and... voila!

boxy but good

box project. I took a storage box from Ikea and stained and painted it with an initial and some embellishments on it. this is the "Before" picture.

(albeit I did have to build it, with a little hair-pulling and some hammer-throwing)

this is the "After"

I was thinking about painting the whole thing a solid colour or cover it in some nice patterned paper, but in the end I wanted to keep the nice wood-grain, because otherwise I could have just bought a plastic or MDF box.

The whole thing was stained with water-based floor stain, "W" painted with acrylic gold paint, the leafy scrolls with oil paints, then the whole thing varnished with water based glue/varnishy stuff.