A Case in Pink

I love my Samsung Galaxy Note. It doesn't matter that it is a bit too big when I hold it up to my ear when I take a call. I think it's absolutely perfect for my needs.

My only problem with it is the lack of choices for this specific unit's phone cases.

So instead of continuing to gaze longingly at the pretty cases for a certain popular brand of phone, I decided to make a customized one of my own.

And with some washi tapes I bought from Hey Kessy, it definitely wasn't hard to do.

MATERIALS

• Back cover - mine is conveniently white so the pink washi tapes blended in perfectly.
• X-acto knife - be very, very careful when using!
• Small scissors - for cutting the tapes. I mentioned that it's small because just in case you don't have an x-acto knife, you can use this to cut through those tiny holes.
• Washi tapes of various designs

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cover the phone cases with alternating washi tapes, leaving a bit hanging on both sides. Fold over the excess tapes. I cut it to the edges the first time, but I learned that the tape won't curl or peel off when the edge is tucked inside, just like covering a book with plastic.

2. Using the X-acto knife or small scissors, carefully punch through and cut the holes for the camera, etc. You can also cut one side and leave the other side to be folded inside.

3. Insert phone into case and enjoy! :)

Now my phone is as sweet as Dara!

A lot like Christmas...

I've finally finished decorating for Christmas. Shopping for it? Well, that's a different matter.

My theme this year was supposed to be handmade, but I ended up buying most of the gifts, as usual. But I did D.I.Y. some of the decorations this year.

I got the Merry Christmas bunting flags from the Ruffled blog. I just printed them out and cut little lines and threaded a measuring tape through it. I love the results, even though it doesn't look very Christmas-y.

A lot is going on in this picture. First the teacup which is from Japan Home Center. I bought it just because I loved the way it looked. Haha... The "Have a Wonderful Life" is by Papemelroti. Remember that store? When I was in high school, almost all my gifts to my classmates were from there. There's a yellow fabric ball at the right side which I made (more on that later) and the flower shaped thing is just an empty tissue roll which I pasted together. I'm still not sure what to do with it yet, but I'm leaving it as is for now. I might decide to paint it gold or whatever.

 

The pastel-colored tissue pom pom balls I made myself thanks to some tutorials I found in the internet. It's really easy to do, surprisingly. I just stuck some barbecue sticks and tied some green fabric on the base and put them on a vintage pink pitcher I had lying around. The photo props I printed, cut, and pasted are from Oh Happy Day. We turn into such photo whores during the holidays. LOL

Isn't the bunny cute? Little tip. I got this at Watsons last year. They sell stuff toys there too! But during December it's so expensive so you don't really want to buy one. But after the holidays, the prices suddenly drop! I think I got this for less than a hundred pesos! So you could say I started my Christmas shopping as soon as Christmas ended. It's so fluffy (!!!) that I wanted it for myself but I think I'm too old for this (huhu...) and stuffed toys + asthmatic kid me doesn't really mesh well. Sad.

I had a vision for this and I really don't know if I executed it well enough. It's basically four frames which contents I usually change depending on the mood (more on that later). I cut four squares of watercolor paper from my pad and painted them yellow, blue, red, and green. After that, I cut out the words using an Xacto knife (and a small Swiss army knife when I got tired) then put Christmas wrapping paper as backing. I still think it needs improvement but I'll let this one go for now and maybe improve on the design idea next year.

The coffee table. Not much happening here except where I randomly stuck some of the leftover Christmas flowers on a green glass pitcher. Yes, I have a lot of pitchers at home which I don't use for what it is actually supposed to be used for. LOL. Check out my collection! DVD box sets of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and BtVS (of course!), plus the romance novels (if you read them, then you can recognize what it is from the spines) and the remote controls! Yay! Haha... The stack of magazines are Yummy magazines (even if I don't cook) and decorating books.

Our only Christmas cushion cover. It's very glitter-y so I don't really like it much. Some of it gets stuck on you when you handle it. Oh well, it's just for a month.

Extra! I'm loving my current nail polish. Very holiday-ish. This was actually supposed to be a gift for someone but I changed my mind on what to give her and then I got bored and painted my nails. Haha...

And... ending this post with one my favorite wrapped presents for my Ninang. I love the Tiffany blue, silvery wrapper plus the red ribbon.

Now it really feels like Christmas season already. :)

Brown paper packages tied up with strings...

I love brown paper. Whenever I buy something and get a brown paper bag packaging, I try my best not to get any stain on them and hoard them like a shopaholic hoards groupons. I just knew that I would be able to use them someday.

Well, that day finally came. 

It was really a no-brainer. I needed to wrap some presents for Christmas when I came upon a weird shaped object. I was too lazy to make a paper bag (and too cheap to buy one!) for it when I spied my stack of brown paper packages. Lightbulb! I put the gift inside the ready-made bag from a certain bookstore then put a strip of paper and doily to cover the logo and voila! Instant wrapped present!

Some of the paper bags I had were too big so I cut them down flat just like I would a wrapping paper. Felt really proud because I was recycling as well as making really pretty and creative gift wrapping. I ever prefer it than regular Christmas wraps!

So before you throw away those paper bags, why don't you try making use of them? Just hoard some of those ribbons you get from past gifts or even old shoelaces, etc. and tie them up with a paper flower as a topper. It will surely end up as one of your favorite things too.

D.I.Y. Winged Shoes

Dara fans would already be familiar with her favorite winged shoes that were part of Jeremy Scott's line for Adidas. I've coveted the same shoe, partly because Dara has it and mostly because they are so freaking cool.

Dara sporting the winged shoes since the Fire days

Admittedly, I am not a sneaker kind of girl, but I found myself going to Adidas stores here in the Philippines trying to find the shoe and not having any luck so far. 

Well, problem solved. Err... Somewhat. I happened to stumble upon this awesome idea from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar. Check out how she made a simple pair of sneakers into (da-dan!) SUPERHERO WINGED SHOES!

 Superhero winged shoes from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar

Now, I want to go make these for my nieces and nephews for Christmas!

Maybe I'll pass on the winged shoes and leave it to the young folks. I would settle for the winged hoodies - which Dara also wore. (I'm not Dara obsessed - much - they're just really cool, I tell you!) 

Dara me2day: October 5, 2010

If I don't find them in stores soon... maybe I'll just have to... make it? 

Must. Learn. How. To. Use. Sewing. Machine!

A feather in my cap

...Well, not exactly in my cap. But it does go in my head.

I'm seeing a lot of feathers on stuff lately. I thought that it was so over, but they are suddenly on everything again like on necklaces and earrings. I'm not one for them, really, but I do like them jauntily perched on a fedora hats.

Still, I couldn't help myself from trying out making my own feather headband. I was inspired by one of the feather headbands by Cara Accessories that I saw at Polyvore.

Well, ta-da! It's not the same, but I think it's pretty neat for a first try. I only used this glue that I bought at Carolina's that I thought was just Elmer's Glue. Still, it held pretty well and now I'm getting the urge to make more headbands. I always get this way when I discover a new craft.

This will probably end up with my cousin again or maybe my niece, but I still had fun trying it on.

Threads & Chains

I met a friend of mine the other week and I promised to make her a bracelet next time we meet. This was perfect because:

1. The latest season of The Vampire Diaries has wrapped up and I can finally start to have a  watching/creative marathon;
2. I can de-stash my boxes and boxes of beads and findings;
3. It will get me to try out this awesome D.I.Y. by Erica from Honestly...WTF that I've had my eye on for months.

The results thus far...

 This one's going to my friend.

For color combo inspirations, I go to Design Seeds. For example, this bracelet is inspired by Color Hunt.

Color Hunt from Design Seeds

This is pretty easy and really cheap to make. For full instructions, go to Honestly...WTF. Just a tip: when choosing the chain, make sure you have the one that have the links lay flat. I've had a hell of a time trying to weave through another kind of chain before I realized it was a lost cause. XD

I've still got a lot of thread, chains, and television shows left, so I'm probably going to have a bracelet-making binge... Again.

Have a great weekend!

***

Honestly...WTF
Design Seeds

If you can't buy 'em... Make 'em.

The downside to knowing how to make jewelry is that you hesitate over every accessory purchase. Well, okay. That's more of an upside. But sometimes you just want to shop without thinking about how something was created and how you can easily make one yourself (and for a cheaper price, too!).

I've been looking at leather cord bracelets for a while now. I guess I've seen too many of them being worn by Dara and the whole YG Family that I began to covet them. But since I don't think I can afford those Chrome Hearts bracelets, anyway... I decided to make them on my own. And what do you know? I have all the materials I needed just gathering dust, literally, on a plastic box on my bedroom floor. I haven't got time to do some tinkering nowadays. Sigh.

So while I was having my Fringe marathon, I was able to make these bracelets. Still sloppy work, but I don't think nobody will look that closely. Haha...

The first one I made. I love the 2-layerness of it all,.

Couple bracelets? Used a different material and technique here.

Sweet.

 My favorite.

I made more designs but wasn't able to take good pictures of it. I like them because they're so thin that I can pile and layer them on, but also just wear a single one for a simpler look.

Not bad, right?

Fabric covered notepad

I'm fairly new to blogging and, consequently, to crafting. There are so many craft blogs out there with pretty projects that I couldn't help but be inspired to do one myself.

This one is a rough attempt of a sort of book with a notepad and an accordion pocket inside. It's made from materials that are already in my house - a salvaged carton packaging of my colored pens, one of the ribbons I've collected from gift packages, pretty fabric scraps from a 3 for Php 100 ukay find, lace tape, various paper lying around the house, and my ever trusty padding glue. I swear, ever since I discovered padding glue, I've been looking around for things to use it on.

I used spray adhesive to bind the fabric to the board. It was my first time using it and I made some mistakes - hence the "wet" spots on the cover.

I was a little unsatisfied with the finished product, but it was an experimental project anyway so I guess I'll just try to do better next time. This one, however, ended up with my cousin - who is the recipient of many of my craft projects (LOL). She came to me the next day after I gave it to her and said that her classmates really liked it when she showed it to them.

Well, I can't help but be a little pleased about that, can I?