shutterbug

Self-strung (not technically "handmade") necklace from materials at this lovely store in tokyo. Super simple and inexpensive!

tutorial #1: light bulb ornaments

What do you do with old incandescent bulbs after they've burnt out? There are quite a few tutorials out there to make cool things from them, and in some places, used light bulbs can be recycled.

Tutorial:

I like the curvy, almost fruit-like shape of light bulbs, but I wanted to soften the texture so that they're suitable as decorations for our living room.

Materials needed for this project:

-old light bulbs

-scissors

-double-sided tape (the thinnest kind you can find)

-twine (one roll should be enough for about four light bulbs)

Time needed: Approximately 30 minutes for each bulb.

Step 1: Clean off light bulb with a cloth to remove dust. Take strips of tape and begin wrapping the light bulb with tape from the base (where the metal part is). Be sure to press out any air bubbles in the tape. Apply tape until about halfway up the bulb.

Step 2: Take one end of the twine, and press it to the tape as close to the metal base as possible. Begin wrapping twine around the light bulb, gently pressing twine down on the tape. Be sure not to press too hard or the glass may shatter. Each coil of twine should stay as close as possible to the previous coil.

Step 3: When you are nearly at the halfway point, apply more tape onto the light bulb until there is a two or so centimetres of tape above where the twine coils end. The new tape should slightly overlap the existing tape to ensure that the twine will hold. Continue winding twine around the light bulb until you are past the widest point of the bulb. Remember to keep pressing the twine continuously onto the tape.

Step 4: Apply tape to cover the entire area on top of the bulb. Because of the curve of the bulb, it will be harder to keep the coils aligned, so make sure the there is enough slack in the twine before continuing onto the next coil. When there is nearly no space left for more coils, estimate the twine needed (probably about 1 cm) and cut the twine after that point. Then, carefully wind the remaining end of twine onto the top of the bulb and tuck the "tail" into the centre, pressing gently but firmly. Finished!

They can be placed in a bowl or strung up together in a garland, once you add a wire loop to the end.

They're super easy to make, and you can experiment with different sizes and shapes of light bulbs and different colours of string/yarn/hemp. Enjoy!

waffley big

While setting up our square bookshelf, it suddenly looked a lot like a giant chocolate waffle. I added a pillow on top to be a nice pat of butter. Mmm, if only!

discovery

I'm a little rusty, but I liked how this one turned out. 

frills and cheap thrills

I've been having fun with napkins. What this says about my social life, I don't want to contemplate. However, at my local grocery store, FSC paper napkins (more on FSC here) and recycled paper napkins were on discount, so I bought a bunch more colours. Using the same method as last time, I've been making pompoms.

I saw some interesting (and scary) things being done with pompoms online... of course The Martha's ideas are great, but I found the "hang them in a giant clotted clump over your bed" thing a little intimidating. it's like having dust collectors (and believe me, these things will attract dust like nothing else) hanging over your face as you sleep. That said, though, this ceiling piece is fun:

(image source)

I think it can be modified to fit into our work room, and maybe not so directly overhead.

It's funny, but these pompoms, especially when affixed to ceilings, look like the traditional wedding decorations in Taiwan that are now considered so passé. Even more amusing for me are the appearances of these pompoms at Western weddings. Everything goes around in cycles, I guess!

paper peony

I saw this wonderful tutorial by the amazing Dana of Dana Made It and just had to try it with our green napkins.

I altered it a little bit from the original-- I used regular kleenex for the white centre, pulled each ply apart, and cut separate petals out of each layer so that it would resemble a peony.

Super quick (ten minutes or so) and cute!

bird wreath box

I really like the thin wooden boxes that soft cheeses come in here in Europe. I've been saving a few Camembert cheese boxes without really knowing what I was going to do with them. I also had a flat aluminum wreath with a bird on it that I had bought in Japan but couldn't find any good way of displaying.

Suddenly, I realized that the bird wreath would fit perfectly in the cheese box. Thus, the solution to my problem! Two birds with one... box?

It was super easy-- just poked some holes in the base of the box and fed a tiny amount of green gardening wire through to secure the wreath, and finished! It goes along with the bird theme in the rest of the room and is perfect for spring!

I think it would also look good with some green moss (either the stringy kind or the velvety kind) around the inner and outer rims, but I also like the wood grain and the writing on the outer rim as it is.

pins and needles

Since making the bird and the dinosaur to distract myself from my deadlines the other day, I've made several more birds and am getting into the groove of sewing again. It's been years since I've sewn by hand, and I'm a little rusty. I hope to learn to tie end knots properly for once this time around!

But first, I need to have a proper setup... and no sewing setup is complete without a pincushion. It was my first time making something 3-D, so I went with the simplest possible shape-- a cylinder.

The pincushion was made of some jeans harvested from the waste bin in the common laundry room in our apartment building. The two pairs of jeans were perfectly good except for some holes, but they yielded tons of usable fabric. Yay!

dinosnuggle

these guys appeared in my life yesterday. sometimes, when you have a huge deadline and important things to be doing, you somehow just find yourself making plush animals, you know?

dino is made of reclaimed fabric (curtain cast-offs) and stuffed with mesh onion bags :)

the mesh stuffing works very well, actually, and it takes a surprising number to fill a dinosaur this size-- about seven or eight altogether. it's a good way to re-use those things because they'd be garbage otherwise.

birdie is made of felt and stuffed with shredded old clothing (of the type that cannot be donated-- ie. socks, undies, et cetera. i definitely made sure they were clean clean clean before shredding)-- and also scraps from cutting the felt itself.

they were quite calming to make.

dictionary

(these photos are a little washed out and noisy due to some mysterious affliction that is troubling the camera)

i made a skin for another one of these last year with the same adhesive fabric when i was in japan. i liked it so much that i did this one this week.

and dang, this little thing is amazing. it crams every possible function and feature (dictionary, pronunciation training, phrasebooks, recording, mp3, video, etc., etc.) into a completely nondescript shell, is rechargeable (!!), expandable, compatible with everything, comes with case and accessories... *and* cost only pocket change. hurrah for asian back-alley electronics!

marzipan bunnies

marzipan bunny and flower cake-toppers i made for dinner at a friend's place