Studio DIY®: Inspire, Create, Celebrate

Happy Weekend! {And a Winner!}

By Kelly on Nov 16, 2012

And we’re off! With Thanksgiving less than a week away, I have officially declared the holiday season in full swing. While it will be a short week next week, as I’ll be taking a few days off and heading East to spend Turkey Day with Jeff’s and my family, it will be jam packed with holiday awesomeness. This weekend is sure to be a busy one, too. I’m checking out the Inspired Workshop tomorrow morning, followed by our final dance class and probably some serious crafting on Sunday. How about you all? Whatever it is, hope it’s a great one! And without further ado, the Tuck & Bonte giveaway winner! The winner is…

Merry & Bright Banner via Tuck & Bonte

…Commenter #12, Anthea**! Congratulations!! We’ll be in touch soon to get you your holiday goodies! Thank you to everyone who participated. In be sure to keep coming back, there are more giveaways in store!

{Inspire} Links to Love

Pretty sure we all need some gold porcelain clouds. Immediately.
Happy Friendsgiving!
Were you a 90s kid? Read this.
Photos are so last year. This photo booth makes figurines.
I don’t drink much, but if I did, it would be in gold.
I’m pretty lucky to have a mom like this, too.
It’s a CLUE party, what am I going to wear!?!?
Pretty paper that supports Sandy relief efforts!
I could use this for my craft supply overflow.
A Mario party!
Hehe, this makes me laugh.
Did you want to live in the Up house? Apparently it’s too late!
A paper lover’s gift guide dream.

{Create} DIY Projects & Recipes

A dollhouse, made out of binders!
Apparently I really like pumpkin cookies.
A few awesome DIY gifts to get you started.
And who’s making me this for Christmas!?
Alright I’m feeling gift-y today, canvas magnets would make great ones!
The cutest Christmas cups ever!
ABC Pillows. I do need new pillows…
Yet another thing to gild!

{Celebrate} Local DIY Events

Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market | Brooklyn, NY

*Tuck & Bonté is one of Studio DIY’s crafty sponsors. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, click here.

**Winner chosen randomly through random.org. If I don’t hear from the winner within one week’s time (by Friday November 23rd), a new winner will be randomly selected.

Posted in DIY, Happy Weekend
2 Responses

DIY Punch Box Advent Calendar

By Kelly on Nov 15, 2012

Hmm, this project looks awfully similar to the grab box advent calendar… but with a whole other layer of fun on top!! I took a clue from the classic Punch a Bunch game on The Price Is Right (Why yes, I am an 85 year old woman.) and turned a punchboard into a punchbox, the added a bunch of advent goodies and a dash of holiday cheer! Shazam! A punch box advent calendar with 24 prizes hiding in 24 holes and a big ol’ bonus prize hiding under that giant bow for the final day of advent.

Supply List:

Everything on the list for the grab box advent calendar, plus…

Plastic or paper bowls
Tissue Paper
Double Stick Tape
Fringe garland or other trim

To Make:

Follow all the steps in the grab box tutorial, being sure to leave the bottom of your box OPEN and not wrapped. Cut 24 holes, just smaller than the opening of your plastic bowls, in your box (That’s six on each side!). You can vary their placement or make them in perfect lines. Turn the box upside down, and place a bunch of double stick tape on the sides of the box, between the holes. This is to adhere your tissue paper to.

Take a sheet of tissue paper and carefully adhere it to your double stick tape. If it’s wrinkly that is ok. It’s getting punched, after all! If you want it to be less see through, repeat wiht a second sheet of tissue paper on top. Divide out your special prizes into each bowl. Carefully run a line of hot glue around the rim of your bowl and adhere it to the inside of the tissue covered holes, with the prize inside.

Do this to all 24 holes. Remember, the prizes need to be inside the bowls when you glue them to the box, otherwise you can’t get the goodies in there!

Stick a bigger prize inside the box through the top hole, or repeat what you did on the sides with tissue and a bowl to hide a prize there. Cover it up with your giant bow. To mask the inevetable jagged edges from cutting out all those holes, hot glue some fun fringe-y trim or tinsel around each one.

Punch away!

All Photos by Studio DIY

Looking for more DIY projects? Check out the full project gallery here and get your full DIY holiday fix here.

psst.. Have you entered the holiday giveaway yet!? There’s still time!

Posted in Christmas, Christmas DIY Projects, DIY, DIY Projects, Entertainment DIY Projects, Favor & Gift DIY Projects, Holiday DIY Projects, Holiday Parties
13 Responses

DIY Grab Box Advent Calendar

By Kelly on Nov 15, 2012

I know. This “calendar” really doesn’t resemble a calendar at all. There are no numbers, no organization. It’s really just a bunch of gifts in a box. Exactly. A bunch of gifts in a box!? Win!! It’s pretty fun to reach in a box every day for 25 days and grab out a surprise gift, if you ask me. Especially when the box itself looks like a giant present! That was my theory behind this “Grab Box” advent calendar. It’s so simple and cheap, and a whole lot of fun hidden under a giant bow. By the way, this is just part one of two cardboard box advent calendars! Next one, coming up in a bit!

Supply List:

Cardboard Box
Packing Tape
Wrapping Paper
Spray Adhesive
Bowl
Pencil
Box Cutter
(And for the bow..)
Crepe Paper Folds
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Stapler
Glue Gun
…And gifts to fill, of course!

To Make:

Tape together your box (If you are making the grab bag version, tape both the top and the bottom. If you are making the next version, coming soon, leave the bottom open). In a well ventilated area, spray your box, one side at a time with spray adhesive and carefully “wrap” your box. I wrapped with one continuous peice all the way around the box, and then had a separate one covered the top.

Take a bowl the size of the hole you’d like to make (remember, all your presents must fit through this hole!) and trace around it on the center of the top of your box.

Carefully cut out, through all layers of the box top, with your box cutter. Save the circle you cut out, and your box is done!

You can buy a giant bow to stick on top, or you can make one! To make you’ll need to cut several 4″ wide strips of crepe paper. Six 20″ long strips, six 18″ long strips and one 16″ long strip. Take two of your 20″ strips and bend each into a loop. Slightly overlap the two loops and staple to secure. Repeat this to form three two-sided “loops.” Hot glue all three on top of one another to form a star shape as you see below.

Then repeat the same process with your 18″ strips and make a second star shape. Take your 16″ strip and fold it into a circular shape, staple. Hat glue the smaller star ontop of the larger star. Then hot glue the final loop in the center on top. Glue the entire bow to the circle you previously cut out of your box top.

Fill your box with lots of goodies and replace the bow to keep them hidden inside!

All Photos by Studio DIY

Each night of December let your kiddo reach into the box and pull out one item, without looking! They’ll have a blast feeling around for the most “intriguing” gift. You can wrap them deceivingly if you so please, too!

Looking for more DIY projects? Check out the full project gallery here and get your full DIY holiday fix here.

psst.. Have you entered the holiday giveaway yet!? There’s still time!

Posted in Christmas, Christmas DIY Projects, DIY, DIY Projects, Entertainment DIY Projects, Favor & Gift DIY Projects, Holiday DIY Projects, Holiday Parties
1 Response

DIY Gilded Holiday Centerpiece

By Kelly on Nov 14, 2012

Well here we go, my friends. From here on out I invite you to join me on the month and a half long stint that is the holidays at Studio DIY. I’m easing you in slowly today, with a DIY gilded centerpiece that is perfect for your Thanksgiving table, your Christmas or Hanukkah feast and right on through to your New Years get together. Wham, bam! You see, I’ve been thinking about this ever since Melanie made this desk organizer and I new I had to supersize it and make it party-ready. And then I did.

The best part? All you need are some empty jars and some spray paint! Start bugging the neighbors, people! You’ll need a bunch of jars.

Supply List:

Empty Glass Jars (Lots, in all different sizes. Enough to run the entire length of your table), labels removed (Soak in hot water to help with that!)
Spray Paint (Gold and a pop of blue in my case!)
Wood (A piece cut to the length of your table and 4″ wide. I used two because that’s what I had but just head to Home Depot and have them cut it to a perfect fit!)
Hot Glue

To Make:

Line up your jars in the order you want them along your table and take a picture so you’ll remember! If you’re going for the “pop of color” look I did, pull out a few you want to make a different color. Spray paint everything, including your wood plank. Let dry completely. (Like the flip flop turned weight in the middle there? It’s a really sophisticated operation I have going)

Line everything back up, referencing your photo. Use your hot glue to glue the bottom of each jar to the painted wood.

I staggered my jars a bit, but play around with what you like best!

Fill with flowers, utensils, candles or anything else your table may need! If you’re wondering how to get the flower water out after your party, good question! You can fill them up and then carefully dump out the water later with the help of another person. If you can, slip a skinny cup or jar inside the larger one and fill that with water or I suppose you can put the blooms in there waterless and hope for the best!

All Photos by Studio DIY

Now if only I can figure out how to carry this to the East Coast with me for my Thanksgiving celebration!

A very special thank you to My Secret Garden in Los Angeles for providing the beautiful blooms (Yay Dahlias!) for this project. If you’re local, check them out!

Looking for more DIY projects? Check out the full project gallery here!

psst.. Have you entered the holiday giveaway yet!? There’s still time!

Posted in Christmas, Christmas DIY Projects, Decor DIY Projects, DIY, DIY Projects, Hanukkah, Holiday DIY Projects, Holiday Parties, New Years, New Years DIY Projects, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving DIY Projects
9 Responses

Five Things to Gild for Your Thanksgiving Table

By Kelly on Nov 13, 2012

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen my big confession. I struggle a bit with fall and Thanksgiving DIY projects. You see, I’m really not into the whole leaf-twig-rustic-fall-color look, as you have probably guessed form all my bright, colorful, leaf-less posts. So as soon as Halloween ends I tend to want to jump right on in to Christmas. But there’s one thing I do love about fall and Thanksgiving. Gold. It’s the one time when people really embrace gold as their metallic of choice and I am A-OK with that! While I have a gilded DIY of my own to share tomorrow, here are five awesome things to gild for your Thanksgiving table next week.

1. DIY Gilded Bowls: These bowls aren’t for eating out of, but they’d look pretty fantastic holding pine cones or candy on the table! The fact that they’re polka dotted just makes them that much better.

DIY Gilded Bowls via Kelli Murray

2. DIY Monogram Gilded Glasses: Who said gilding was just for adults? Silly people! Kids can appreciate gold too! Monogram simple glasses for the kids table, then use the same technique to monogram wine glasses for the adults!

DIY Gilded Monogram Glasses via Mer Mag

3. DIY Gilded Gourds: Other than the fact that it’s fun to say gilded gourds, they look pretty awesome too. I know these are copper, not gold, but I don’t discriminate! And I think they’d look smashing in the center of your table in gold too.

DIY Gilded Gourds via Martha Stewart

4. DIY Gilded Tray: Present your newly gilded glasses on a gilded tray! BAM! Then save this tray for New Years, too.

DIY Gilded Tray via House of Fifty

5. DIY Gilded Flatware: I pretty much can’t wait to get married so I can register for the gold flatware I’ve always dreamed of. (Priorities!?) But this DIY will have to do for now! Whoever started calling it silverware was crazy. Clearly all flatware should have been goldware instead.