My Many Manuals

This week on blah to Tada!, we're using some common school supplies to organize our home and office.

Does this look familiar? It's a stack of instruction manuals from the electronics and appliances we've purchased through the years. Okay, many of us don't really read them so they're either stuck in the box or stashed away somewhere where they can never be found (especially when we need them). Why not gather them together in a central location?

Like in this binder perhaps?

Just add clear sleeves and insert an instruction manual in each slot.

That way, when you need to troubleshoot,
the manual is easy to find.

Store receipts and warranty cards as well,
in case you need to replace your machines.

Easy-peasy blah to Tada! organization!

Too Cool for School

Happy Monday Everyone!

It's the end of September and how quickly time flies! Children, teenagers and many adults are back in school and I can't help thinking about my days as a student. One of my favorite things to do was to go shopping for school supplies -- fresh pens, new erasers and blank notebooks, ready to be filled with notes, numbers and doodles. Oh, the promise of new beginnings!

When the new school season begins, I must say that I get quite excited. Okay, so I'm not a student, but I love perusing the "back to school" aisles of Target, Staples and Office Warehouse. Not only are there many good deals, you can use many of these items at home or in the office. Take for example this mini clipboard:

Just plain and shall we say, a bit blah.

By simply adding a sheet of scrapbook paper
(mounted with white glue & a layer of Modge Podge)...

Tada! A cute & colorful clipboard for
To Do Lists and Reminders.

See you again tomorrow!

Techie Tada!

Hey, hey, hooray...it's finally Friday!

For the past two weeks, it was all about this bag of scrap -- a cool find from a New York City flea market. I think it's a purchase that just keeps on giving and I did my darn best to milk it dry.

The first thing I did was to segregate
the contents by color.

These, paired with other materials that I bought or already had in my possession, were then turned into accessories like a belt, hair clip, shoe clips, necklaces, necklaces and more necklaces!

Well, there are a lot more beads left so I'm making another accessory.

Something for our everyday technology.

I made a pouch from a piece of felt and decorated the flap
with these black beads.

Tada! A cool case for any MP3 player,
digital camera or mobile phone.

As for the rest of the beads, I'll use them in future blah to Tada! projects. Meanwhile, I wish you an awesome weekend!

The Golden Key

If you love magazines as much as I do, you may have seen the latest ad of Tiffany & Co. featuring these Tiffany Keys:

I'm not sure if you can read the text, but I really love the lines "A promise of adventure" and "A secret kept". Sigh! These are gorgeous, especially the diamond-studded ones. To resist the urge to shop, I think I'll craft instead.

With Tiffany keys as inspiration, I'm turning this old key and a bunch of stuff from the bag of scrap from blah to Tada!.

An embellished key for me...

...until I'm ready to purchase my Tiffany Key!

Wrist-y Business

Eight days and counting and I haven't used up the
goodies from my bag of scrap.

Good thing I still find inspiration to turn
them from blah to Tada!.

Tiny beads from the bag of scrap PLUS beads that I've
had for several years now (ignored & unused)...

PLUS scrap felt from the bib necklace & hair clip
I made last week (we have a no waste policy here!)...

...EQUALS this fascinating cuff!

I sewed the beads by hand on the piece of felt topped with a piece of tulle (or you can use a clean garlic sack). The purple flower at the center is a vintage brooch I bought at a London flea market. I can easily detach it if I want to use it separately.

To close the ends, I sewed on this bright blue ribbon.

Tada! A modern wrist corsage you can wear anytime.
Because you know, a little wrist action never hurt anybody.

Bead-Dazzled!

Thanks for visiting my blog on this lovely Tuesday! I'm still using up the little treasures in my bag of scrap. If you've ever made jewelry, I think you'll agree that some materials happen to dictate what they want to be. Like these beads for instance:

Together they seemed to unite, share one voice and say, "Turn us into a necklace!"

So I played fairy godmother and granted them their wish!

By stringing the bag of scrap beads and more beads from my collection together, I now have this unique, bohemian necklace!

See you tomorrow for another blah to Tada! project.

The Bag of Scrap Part 2

Happy Monday Lovelies! If you tuned in last week, my blah to Tada! transformations came from this bag of scrap:

It was an inexpensive purchase from a New York Flea Market but boy, it was a bottomless bag of odds & ends waiting for a make-over! Let's see, I already made a funky belt, several statement necklaces and even a dressy hair clip, and still I'm left with a lot of baubles and beads:

Today, I picked these out from the lot:

They can work as belt buckles or brooches because of the metal slots & pin functions at the back. But this is how I decided their fate:

I turned them into shoe clips!

I used some beads that I already had in my crafting box and with some wire, wound the beads around the gold fixture. It had a metal clip at the back that can easily be attached to a plain pair of shoes.

Here's another version using teardrop-shaped pearls and crystal beads.

Definitely a blah to Tada! if I should say so myself!

Heirloom Hairpiece

We made it to the end of the week! Woohoo! Before I bid you a happy weekend, let me show you another accessory I created from the bag of scrap:

I used these shiny faux pearls:

And remnants from yesterday's bib necklace:

And with some folding & hand stitching...

Tada! I made this little hair clip!

I bought the clip mechanism at a craft store.

Don't you love this precious hair piece without
the precious price tag?

Have a super Tada! weekend everyone!

Beautiful Bibs

Today I'm going to tell you about my latest obsession.
They're these fashionable bib necklaces:

Found at Anthropologie

Found at Anthropologie

Found at Anthropologie

Found at Urban Outfitters

I'm falling head over heels in love with these babies! They can really dress up a plain shirt & jeans or a simple cocktail dress. Then I thought, "Why not make one myself?".

Using a bunch of beads from my bag of scrap...

And some fancy buttons I got on sale...

And some felt & a yard of ribbon...

I think it's slowly taking shape!

I sewed on the ribbon to serve as the strap.

Tada! A homemade bib necklace!

Made from simple materials & scrap.

Hope it makes you as happy as it is making me!