diy incense holder

For whatever reason I have always been averse to buying incense holders. I've come into possession of a few over the years but I don't think I've ever spent money on one. There are some pretty beautiful holders out there, but I guess it's always seemed like a bit of a waste to me.

By the same token, I always find myself without one, when I need one! I don't burn incense often, but when I do, I can't wait. I used to just stick an incense stick into an orange and place the orange in a bowl. It was effective but not very attractive.

Then I made this one and it's been working out great so far!

Here's what you will need: a small glass container, small rocks (I got mine from Michael's, you may remember them from this craft), a small ball of polymer clay and, of course, incense.

Press the clay into the bottom of your container.

Pour your rocks over the top.

Then stick your incense in deep enough so that it's held in place by the clay.

And, well, that's basically it guys. If the air is still in your room, the incense ashes will fall onto the rocks. If it's not still, you can place the whole thing on a plate, or a surface that won't be damaged by the ash.

I know I don't have to remind you to never leave a burning incense (or candle!) unattended.

This craft is very simple and very versatile. Plus, when you don't need it anymore, you can still use the rocks and clay for something else!

Peace,
-A.

heart patch & embroidered blanket

I meant to have this up by Valentine's Day, as you might've already guessed, but it just didn't happen.

No worries though! There's always next year :)

I picked up this plain fleece blanket at Ikea for a few bucks. I think it was actually like, $3. Super cheap! The red felt I got from Michael's.

I attached the heart patches with variously colored embroidery floss and I loved the way the other side of the blanket looked so much that I added a few embroidered heart without the felt patches. This would be a cute gift for a young one. It would be a great project for a kiddo (with supervision of course!).

I think I may, over time, add more heart patches and embroidered hearts, as I have time to do so. There's plenty of space left, so why not fill it up? :)

A super simple and sweet project for a gift to a loved one or yourself!

Peace,
-A.

a simple garland

For this garland you will need the following:

paint swatches (free at Home Depot, I used Martha Stewart colors)
embroidery floss
a heart-shaped cookie cutter or stencil
a needle
scissors
cotton balls
red felt

Cut your hearts out of the paint swatches in pairs, same with smaller hearts from the felt.

Use your needle to string the cotton balls, as many or as few as you'd like, then glue the sides of the hearts together over the string. Be sure not to lay the string too high or low in your heart because it'll tilt forward or backward if it's not balanced.

If your paint swatch hearts aren't even around the edges, you can trim them. I left mine for a more handmade look.


<3,
-A.

heart shaped frame

I found this cute little frame at Michael's several weeks ago. It was only a buck so I picked it up. At the time it was just unfinished wood.

I painted it an antique white and at first I tried to paint the lines of words, but I found that a Sharpie worked much better.

It was a really simple craft that didn't take much time, but in my opinion turned out really cute!

Valentine's day is coming up! Last year Tom surprised me by showing up at my work with flowers, and because I was just becoming vegan that very week, some fresh berries instead of chocolates. It was very sweet and exciting because we had not been together long and it'd been a few years since I'd last had someone to celebrate with.

Tom and I agreed that our gifts for each other this year was our vacation, but we are also going to go out to dinner on Thursday (to beat the Friday Valentine's crowd). I'm looking forward to a quiet evening in on Friday :)

Love,
-A.

christmas cards & lights

Just about every year since I graduated from college, I've made and sent out Christmas cards. For some reason, I think of sending Christmas cards as a very adult thing to do. It makes me feel like a grown-up. Making them is just a lot of fun, and I think it adds a little something extra.

This year, I had intended to start really early on cards and mail them out the week after Thanksgiving. Procrastinator that I am, that didn't happen . . . so now I find myself scrambling to get about 30 cards finished and in the mail by next Monday!

I had started off with a completely different idea but I didn't even attempt it. I just couldn't figure out in my mind how it would come out the way I wanted, so I changed my idea (sometimes I'm easily frustrated and find it better just to simplify). I really like the way these cards are turning out! I plan to do a few other words, too (like "joy" and . . . well, actually I haven't thought of any others yet!).

All I did for these cards was write the word "peace" on a piece of paper, lay it over the card, punched holes with a darning needle along the lines of the word, and then I used a thinner needle and embroidery floss to embroider the word. A little time consuming but pretty simple!

I also strung up my Christmas lights last night! I opted out of a Christmas tree this year because of my living situation, but I still had to do something festive since I'll be spending Christmas day here in the city. I hung them by pushing a tack through one loop of a binder clip and fastening it to the edge of a shelf that runs along one wall in my room. The shelf is just white washed slab of wood, so I don't really care about marring it--plus is already has marks and what not. Then I could just push the other loop to open the clip and clip in my string lights. Super easy! And I can reuse the binder clips later to hang art, or something!

I personally thought it was pretty ingenious, but I might be a little biased ;)

Anyone else sending out last-minute cards this year?

Peace,  (ha! geddit? like my cards. . . )
-A.


PS Today is the LAST day to enter the burlap wreath giveaway!! any entries after midnight today will be disqualified.

penguins on ice ornament

This ornament was a lot of fun to make because I was using materials I've never used before. I bought a set of four empty glass ornaments, little rocks, fake moss and polymer clay at Michael's. 

I made the penguins with the clay and baked them in my toaster oven. I colored them with Sharpies. Of course you could also use colored clay or paint. 

For the ice I used an acrylic water kit, which I bought from Amazon. It was really, really simple to use and a great alternative to more common resin kits, if you have not used them before. One thing I wish I had had, though, was a funnel to funnel the mixture into the ornament. If you try out this project, make sure you pick up a cheap funnel, one you won't use again, as the acrylic will likely ruin it.

Arrange the rocks and moss how you want them in the bottom of the glass ornament (careful! I broke my first one but dropping the rocks in a little too roughly, they're very fragile). Then mix your acrylic water according to the manufacturer directions and pour over your rocks and moss. Let sit, perfectly still, for at least 24 hours.

The hole to my ornaments was very narrow so I had to make sure my penguins would fit. I put them in by taping a piece of duct tape, sticky side out, to a pen. I dabbed a bit of hot glue on the bottom of the penguin, stuck its head to the tape, lowered it in, held it in place while the hot glue dried and then carefully pulled the pen off. It sounds silly and complicated but I swear it worked and I don't know how else I'd have done it. Tweezers might work but mine were not long enough.

I think that about covers it! You could do this with just about anything, I guess. Go crazy! If you have any questions, please feel free to post them in the comments!

Peace,
-A.

burlap wreath tutorial & GIVEAWAY!!!

**This giveaway has ended**

I'm so excited for this, the first l'élan jolie giveaway! First however, we should get to the tutorial :)

Here are the materials you're going to need: burlap, a wire wreath, silk flowers and greenery (optional, as

you can see, I didn't end up using the ivy), a glue gun, embroidery floss and (though pictured is a bobby pin) a darning needle.

1. & 2. You can buy burlap in several different ways. I got mine from Michael's. They had wide rolls and thinner rolls. The first time I made this wreath, I got three of the thinner rolls at $8 a piece. This time I got two of the wider rolls at $14.00 a piece, thinking they would get me through two wreaths, but they absolutely didn't and I wouldn't get it again. I recommend the $8 one, definitely. It's easier to use, and not so messy. If you do get the wider one, however, you have to cut it into 4"-5" strips. 

3. Start by pulling a section of the burlap strip through from the bottom of the wreath frame, near one of the joints, starting on the inner ring. Do not pull the end all the way through, just make a loop.

4. & 5. & 6. Continue onto the next ring, and the next, twisting as you go, to secure. 

7. Make sure that your loops are relatively even and look full.

8. As you finish your first three loops, make the fourth in the center ring, then the innermost ring, then the center ring, then the outermost ring, working your way along the frame, pushing the loops together as you go. If you find one area is looking neglected, put a loop there. After you get going, there are no real rules about where to place your loops. 

Here is what your wreath should be looking like once it gets going. It can get frustrating at first, but if you find you don't like the way it's turning out, take a break, take it apart and try again. 

Here's what the back will look like. What I haven't pictured here is how to secure the burlap to the frame once you're finished filling it in. I couldn't find my darning needle (I've only got the one, for some reason), which is why there's a picture of a bobby pin instead of a needle. But it's pretty simple. Zig-zag along the back the  of the frame with your darning needle, pulling your thread or your floss through the material and securing it to the frame as you go. There's no right or wrong way to do this, as long as it's secure, because no one is going to see it, anyway.

Once you've finished securing your burlap, position your flowers how you'd like them to be. The first time I made this wreath, I was nervous about gluing them down, so I left the flowers set on the top for a few days to see if I really liked it before finally gluing them. 

Hot glue your flowers to the wreath and voila! You're done :)

To win this wreath, post a note in the comments*! Be sure you include your name! I will be announcing the winner on Friday, December 13.

If you do not include a way for me to reach you in your comment, your entry will be disqualified!

Good luck!!

-A.

*Multiple comments will not result in multiple entries. Alternatively, please visit me on Facebook and share my post! 

simple crafts: diy lampshade

 When I first moved to my current apartment, I didn't even have a lamp. Then it was summer and the days were still getting longer, so I still had an hour or so of daylight after I got home from work. But it was kind of downer not being able to do anything that required light after 8pm. I was given this lamp, but the shade had broken a long time ago so for a while it was basically just a light bulb on a stick. Pretty harsh.

Somewhere along the lines, I got the idea for this ridiculously simple lampshade! I made it out of watercolor paper and brads. I bought these colorful brads for another project and already had the paper on hand, so this lampshade was free and I put it together in about five minutes.

 I used two pieces of paper for mine, but it'll depend on what size shade you need. I cut the paper out of the spiral bound pad and left the rough edge. I like the way it looks when the lamp is lit. Then I simply cut the paper so that it would overlap evenly by about an inch on the front and back of the shade. The width of my paper was already the right size for my shade (it's wrapped lengthwise). I pre-punched the holes with a darning needle, to make pushing the brads through the thick paper easier. I didn't measure, I just tried to space the holes evenly. I pinned the paper together in place with the brads. Any brads will do. If you're really handy, you could even stitch on buttons!

This idea is so simple and easy to put together, I can't believe it didn't come to me sooner. I love this shade and it's been working out great!

Peace & love,
-A.

simple crafts: glitter critters

These adorable little guys are another part of my DIY Christmas. I found these wooden critters at Michael's for $2 a piece.

For this cute fish I used Martha Stewart Crafts Glitter paint in Smokey Quartz and Aquamarine. I like this paint because so far it seems as though the glitter sticks pretty well. Since I'll be giving these creatures to my five-year-old niece, I wanted to be sure the glitter wouldn't be flaking off all over my sister's house. So far, the paint seems pretty solid once it dries. 

 For the snake, I used the same Martha Stewart aqua glitter paint (which is more green than teal), but first I did a green wash by mixing a little of the green paint (that came with the wooden snake) with water and coating the wood. I let that dry thoroughly before adding the glitter paint. 

The glitter paint requires several coats to create the glitter coverage you see on the fish and the snake. The fish especially because I didn't paint the wood first. I probably did ten coats there, to ensure the wood was completely covered. I found dabbing it on worked better than brushing.

I did the same thing for the gecko as for the snake, except that I used red paint that came with the kit and the smokey quartz glitter paint. I decided for this guy to use the glitter paint only on the head, legs and back of the body and not to do so many coats. I liked the way the red looked.

It was a really simple handmade project which I think makes a great gift for little ones! It'd be great to do with kids, too.

And how cute are they?

Peace & love,
-A.

the burlap wreath

I'm pretty jazzed about this post. I do plan on doing a tutorial in the next few weeks, along with the first ever l'élan jolie giveaway, so stay tuned for that! 

This particular wreath I made for my mother for my DIY Christmas (like this scarf, for my niece!). It was really easy and the result is beautiful (if I do say so, myself!). I got the idea from this wreath which I posted about here.

Burlap wreaths seem to be the thing right now and it's easy to see why. They're so simple and so rustic and lovely.

I'm excited to show you how I made mine! It came together easier than I anticipated. The trickiest part was definitely positioning the flowers. I let them sit on the wreath a while before I committed to permanently affixing them. I could make a million of these, it was so much fun.

Check back in the coming weeks for the step-by-step and the chance to win a wreath of your own :)

Peace & love,
-A.

how to add tassels to a scarf

For all I know there is a much fancier way of doing this. As I've mentioned before, I am far from expert when it comes to crochet. I just made this up. Worked for me :) 

This is the first perfect scarf I've ever made and that's because I had to unravel half of it four different times to fix mistakes. But when I finally got to the end, I was so pleased! It was really worth the extra effort.

Especially because this particular scarf is a gift for my lovely five-year-old niece. Isn't the yarn so cute? I thought of her immediately when I saw it. And it'll last her a long time because it'll go with any color jacket (you know, since growing children need a new one almost every season!). 

I wanted to make it a little more interesting than just a plain old scarf, so I decided to add some tassels. Here's how I did that. 

1. Cut three pieces of yarn a little more than twice as long as you want your tassels to be (longer is better, you will be trimming them at the end). 2. Fold them in half. 3. & 4. My scarf has ten chains. I tried to space the tassels as evenly as possible, even though 10 is not evenly divisible by 4. Poke your crochet hook through where you want your tassels to be. 5. Hook the loop of your tassel and pull through. 6. Widen the loop with your fingers without pulling the ends through. 7. Fold the ends of your yarn over the end of your scarf from below and pull through the loop. 8. & 9. Pull to tighten. 10. Repeat, spacing your tassels evenly across the scarf. 11. Trim the ends of your tassels to the same length. 12. Aaand you're done!

I hope it's pretty straight forward, but please feel totally free to post any questions you may have in the comments! The best part of this is that you aren't knotting anything (though you can, if you want to), so if you don't get it right the first time, it's really easy to start over.

Peace & love,
-A.

learn a new skill: crochet

A couple years ago I taught myself how to crochet by watching videos on Youtube. I'm not an expert and I sort of end up re-teaching myself every fall, but it's something that I enjoy doing, even my scarves end up skinnier by the end than they were when I started. Whatever, right? It's relaxing and there's something comforting about holding all that soft yarn in your hands.

I once also took knitting lessons, but I wasn't able to pick it up the way I had hoped. I think it may be a more versatile skill but it doesn't go as quickly as crochet. I'm a pretty impatient person so quicker is always better for me.

Crochet I think is also a lot easier to teach to yourself. It's just one hook, versus two needles. Whenever anyone expresses to me an interest in learning, I try to impress upon them how simple it is for them to teach themselves. Maybe I'm not great at it, and I can't do anything fancy, but I picked up the basics in a single day. I just need to practice more.

Above is a pictures of a scarf I made recently. I'm pretty lucky that I get to crochet at work if I want to. That's where I finished this!

Here are some great resources if you feel inspired to start learning a new skill!

Peace and love,
-A.