New to DIY or short of ideas? Here are 5 suggestions for simple and original DYI arts and crafts for young and old!
Craft stores have multiplied the variety of specialized scrapbooking tools and equipment in recent years, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to collect your memories in a stylish way. An inspiring phrase found on the internet, good pencils, colored paper and your favorite photos will be just enough. Add to that some magazine cut outs, a handful of ribbons and twine. Buttons inherited from your grandmother from generation to generation, old stickers found by chance and that empty tissue box with an unusual pattern, and your masterpiece will be in good hands!
The secret is just to keep an eye out to turn these little things into treasures. So, keep the glue and scissors handy, and have fun!
Living room sky
Want to create an original and festive decor inexpensively? An unusual way to give a personalized atmosphere to your interior can be to use your … ceiling! Yes, Yes! The procedure is very simple. Cut out star shapes from heavy cardboard, then wrap them in aluminum foil. Then all you have to do is glue them on pieces of string of different lengths, then secure them to the ceiling with sticky paper and a good stepladder. Then have fun making them shine using a night light, a flashlight or a stream of decorative lights on dark fall evenings … or a night of indoor camping!
Not a fan of the stars? Whatever! There are plenty of other ideas to choose from: from flat-dried multicolored fall leaves and Halloween candy, to artificial flowers, miniature figurines or kitchen utensils, any idea is good. Why not make it a contest with your friends on social media? May the most ingenious win!
Tie-dye t-shirt
Another interesting method may be to use a colored garment and bleach it with diluted bleach. A ratio of one-part bleach to five parts water seems appropriate and should give you an interesting result, but do not hesitate to consult the multitude of tutorials available on the internet for this purpose. Finally, if you really want to stand out, you can always modify your creation with a good pair of scissors and a few stitches … The possibilities are limitless!
Puzzles
While putting together a puzzle is a classic hobby, creating your own puzzles is a little less common. And yet, this is an original and relatively easy way to store memories … or send a message! All you need to do is choose an image to your liking and attach it to stiff cardboard using “Mod Podge” type glue.
Once the glue is completely dry, all you have to do is cut it all into as many pieces as you want. Give them a ‘classic’ shape using a ruler or grid, or let your imagination run wild by drawing unusual shapes! A good pair of scissors will do if the cardboard is thin enough, but a good precision knife and cutting board may be needed for a thicker board.
You will then be ready to collect it, send it or store it in a plastic bag, an envelope, a Mason jar … or that pretty souvenir box bought a long time ago but which still contains nothing …
Macrame
Has the living room rug seen better years? A few good balls of colored cord and a good measure of patience should overcome the problem, and allow you to make a geometric pattern rug that looks great.
You’ve done it too well, and don’t dare step on it anymore? Recycle it into a wall tapestry! The result is on the contrary a little distorted? It might be able to be hung like a hammock to hang things up and give you some unexpected extra storage.
Basically, it’s all a matter of perspective and imagination!
Finally, in any project, the important thing is to choose the complexity of the project according to your abilities and the material at your disposal, time and space included. As long as this basic criterion is met, the experience can only be liberating and the fun is guaranteed!
