A New Painted Tin

Hi friends!

Oh tin containers! How much do I love thee?

Let me count the ways:

I turned an empty lip balm tin into a cute holder for pins or paper clips...TADA!

I transformed an empty cookie tin to hold sewing supplies...TADA!

I wrapped an empty tea tin with floral paper to store candy...TADA!

An empty mint tin is now a travel watercolor palette...TADA!

This is another tea tin that I painted and made into a recipe box...TADA!

I gave an empty popcorn tin new life as a recycling bin...TADA!

And here I am again, with a new tin to work on:

This was once home to Colombian coffee. 

I painted it in a deep black and let it dry for a few hours.

With a white pencil, I sketched some poppies and cosmos flowers. 

I chose a palette of orange and pink acrylic paint.

Then I painted the flowers, allowing the paint to dry before adding another layer.

I now present, my floral tin container:

I'll use it to wrap a present. That way, the recipient can reuse the can when it's her turn to give a gift. 

These are just some of the fun ways to turn empty tin containers from "blah to TADA!"

Enjoy the rest of your week and please subscribe here if you don't want to miss my future blog posts.

Crafty Uses for Fabric Remnants

Hey, hey!

If you're a regular visitor to this blog, you know by now that I have difficulty throwing things away. Even the smallest sliver of scrapbook paper, I'll turn into a greeting card or scraps of ribbon, I'll give new life as cake toppers. The same is true for fabric remnants. I'll find a way to turn them from "blah to TADA!"

Let me show you some items I made using fabric left over from other sewing projects:

I turned the fabric into a cushion cover...TADA!

Here's a tiny back pillow made from the smaller fabric. 

And for the smaller fabric remnants, I made them into pencil pouch...TADA! This was also a good exercise for me on how to attach a zipper.

I like how the zipper added a pop of color.

This is now home for my colored pencils.

Then I turned the smaller pieces of fabric into a pin cushion...TADA!  

Here is another kind of pin cushion but with elastic attached so that it can be worn on the wrist just like what the talented tailors, seamstresses, and fashion designers use...TADA!

I also made an elastic bowl cover...TADA! Because it's made of fabric, it can be washed and used multiple times. 

Maybe these crafts have given you ideas on how you can use up your fabric scraps and turn them from "blah to TADA!" 

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Sidewalk Furniture: A Bunch of Chairs

Oh New York City! Your streets are filled with treasures! But the word "treasure" is relative, right?

Here are the treasures that I'm talking about:

Free chairs ya'all!

If I had extra storage space like a garage or a basement, all these would have gone home with me. Sigh.

Let's pretend I have them in my possession. I'll show you ways on how I would turn them from blah to TADA!

A little description on these classic chairs: 

                Chair Number 1: French ladder-back chair with rush seating

                Chair Number 2: French cane-back arm chair

Because they are in pretty good condition, I would just clean and polish them and not change anything except for the upholstery.

via Pinterest

I'll keep it simple by using a linen fabric in a light beige or wheat color.

Or I would use French stripe linen and some toile that'll instantly whisk me away to the countryside:

via Miss Mustard Seed

via Pinterest

via Pewter and Sage

via Pinterest

The following chairs don't have the history of the first two but they are functional nonetheless:

I can keep the existing color or paint them in a neutral shade. 

via Knick of Time

But I'll definitely add a seat cushion also in the French stripe fabric.

I would likewise experiment with stenciled grain sack fabric like these ones:

via Reloved Rubbish Blog

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

I hope you liked these ideas that transform old furniture from "blah to TADA!" Maybe you can do the same with yours?

But if you must get rid of your furniture, please do so responsibly to keep them away from the landfill. Consider donating them to worthy causes: Habitat for Humanity ReStore, The Salvation Army, Goodwill or at a thrift shop or charity store near where you live.

Last Summer Hurrah

Hello everyone!

I'd like to honor a woman of strength and courage, Queen Elizabeth II:

via CNN

I'm not British and I never saw her in person, but I feel a sense of loss. She's the only monarch I grew up to know, I always paused when I saw her on TV, I watched several documentaries and even "The Crown" to learn about her life story. And what a story it was -- a 70 year reign! Thank you for your service, Ma'am. I can only echo what one British man said when he paid his respects to the Queen: "Rest in peace and rise in glory."

*****

This Thursday, September 22, is the first day of Autumn. How has summer flown by so quickly? Sharing with you some photos that turned my summer from "blah to TADA!"

1. The taste of summer:

Eating lobster rolls and clam chowder

Homemade Caprese Salad with Proscuitto

Checking out new pastry shops like
Machine Shop in Philadelphia, 
Tatte Bakery in Boston, and
Kingston Bread & Bar in New York.

Trying new ice cream flavors at Jeni's,
Il Laboratorio del Gelato,
Matcha Cafe' Maiko, and Dairy Queen.

2. Going on new adventures:

Weekends at our favorite beach

Visiting the Presidential Libraries of John F. Kennedy and 
Franklin D. Roosevelt. There's a special passport that gets
a stamp for every new one I visit.
Can't wait to see the rest!

Bounty at the many farm stands & farmer's markets!

3. Getting lost in fun summer reads:

Cooking from a variety of cookbooks like
Korean American, Snackable Bakes,
A Table, and Colombiana.

Riveting novels including those by Lucy Foley
(she creates characters that one can get so invested in!)

I also read newly released picture books like
"Holding On" by Sophia N. Lee & Isabel Roxas.
It's about memories made between
a grandmother and her granddaughter.
I wrote a book review on Positively Filipino.

4. Doing something creative everyday:

Filling my sketchbooks with watercolor drawings.

Designing my own stationery & sending snail mail...TADA!

I hope you had an exciting summer, too. Here's to the new season and what's ahead!

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A Dried Flower Arrangement

Hello ya'll!

Over the past few years, I've been seeing these arrangements of dried stems and flowers: 

 

It may have been part of the cottagecore movement where the aesthetics include plants of all kinds, a palette of neutral and muted colors, and the goal of sustainability. 

I like its natural vibe and the promise that there will always be flowers at home that don't need to be watered or replaced.

Using this as inspiration, let's create something similar. Why buy when we can D-I-Y?

This empty hot sauce bottle will serve as the vase. I cleaned it inside and out and removed the label and lid.

I'm going to try out a faux terra-cotta technique that I learned from crafter Geneva Vanderzeil. For this, we'll need acrylic paint (any color will do as long as they are water-based), a paint brush and baking powder. 

In a small container, add one cup of paint and one teaspoon of baking powder. Mix together with your paint brush until well incorporated. The paint will fizz up and thicken like yogurt. 

Apply the mixture to the bottle with several coats and allow this to dry for a few hours.

 Once dry, the bottle will have a textured feel and matte finish.

Put in some dry stems and flowers. I got these from the park last winter but these can easily be collected from your backyard. Let it dry for a few days before positioning them in the bottle. Dried flowers are also available at craft stores and on-line.  

You can even add fragrance oil in the bottle and the stems will serve as diffuser sticks just like in this project.

Display the dried flower arrangement on a console table, shelf or desk. It's a little piece of the outdoors!

And that is how I turned a hot sauce bottle and some foraged branches from blah to TADA!

 

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