Seemingly Crafty

Photo transfer magic

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 19:13:00 +0000

One of my favorite DIY techniques is the photo transfer. It's relatively easy and it gives great results.

Photo transfer allows you to make something fun, creative or sentimental from your favorite photos or images. These make great gifts as well J

All you need is:

photo-editing program (nothing fancy, most of the simple programs will do fine)
a digital photo (if you want to use an old photo, made before the digital era, you can scan it)
a laser printout of that photo / image (has to be LASER printout)
photo transfer medium (I use this one)
brush, scissors
surface you wish to transfer your photo onto (like canvas, wooden board, even textile)
Mod Podge

Step 1: Edit your photo. Do whatever you need to make it look as you want – crop it, enhance the color, contrast, brightness... Maybe you want to work with a black and white photo - these look nice because transfer is rarely perfect, so... B&W photo + little damages = pretty vintage masterpiece; if you know what I mean J

Additionally, you can reverse the photo. Because when you transfer your photo, you will get the reversed image (keep that in mind). So, if you want to get the image of the original photo (facing the right way), you need to reverse it.

Don't forget to size the photo to fit on the surface you are transferring it onto.

Step 2: Print out your photo. It has to be a laser print. So if you don't have a laser printer at home, you'll need to take it to a photo studio. If you are working with a B&W photo, ask for a color print anyway – this will enhance the quality of your photo and the result will be better. Print the photo on a fairly thin paper, trust me, it will be easier later.

Step 3: Cut out the printout of the photo.

Step 4: Cover the surface with the photo transfer medium. Cover the top of the photo as well. Work fast because the medium dries fast.

Step 5: Lay your photo face-down on top of your chosen surface. Use something (e.g. a ruler, credit card, roller brush...) to smooth out and flatten any air bubbles underneath the photo.

Step 6: Let it dry.

Step 7: Now it gets messy. Get your fingers wet (or you can use a sponge / wet cloth, etc.). Rub the back of the photo with your wet fingers. Keep doing this until you reveal the photo. Be careful and gentle – you need to get rid of the white paper fibers, but you don't want to destroy the photo.

Step 8: Let it dry.

Step 9: If you see any paper fibers that still need to be rubbed off, repeat the step 6.

Step 10: Let it dry completely and seal your work with Mod Podge.

Here are some additional ideas:

Another canvas transfer

Photo transfer on a wooden board

Really proud of this one. It's a photo transfer on a textile bag. The procedure is the same, I just used the Mod Podge for textile to seal my work and I ironed the image over the baking paper (in order to make it resistant to washing).

Before the clock strikes midnight

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 23:33:00 +0000

Hello DIY lovers!

Today I would like to share one of my favorite projects. I really enjoyed working on it...plus it turned out to be really simple.

I found the inspiration for it in „Makery“, the DIY book I'dgotten for my birthday last year. It was the one thing that really caught my eye, and as soon as I've seen it, I thought of one of my friends and how good something like this would look in her apartment.

So here it is, my own version of a felt cuckoo clock.

Supplies:

- thick felt (brown and some lighter color)

- wooden board

- clock mechanism

- wool

- cotton balls

- hook for hanging pictures

- scissors

- hot glue gun

Step 1: Shape a house out of a brown felt. I had to use two pieces because one wasn't big enough for a house that would cover the whole wooden board. I just cut off a part of the first piece turning it into the shape of a square. Then I placed the second piece horizontally and used the board as a guide for cutting out a roof. Finally, I cut out the hole where the clock mechanism will go.

Step 2: Make the leaves and a cuckoo bird out of a contrasting piece of felt. First, I drew the leaves and a bird on a piece of paper and cut the shapes out. Then I placed them on the yellow felt, traced the shapes with a pen and cut them out.

Step 3: Prepare the rest of the little pieces you may need. I made a pendulum out of wool and two cotton balls that I covered with the wool. I used the wool for some other details on the clock as well.

Step 4: Now that you prepared all the pieces you just need to put everything together. I just simply glued two pieces of the house on the wooden board and then glued all the little pieces on the house. (Note: I bought a board that already had a hole where the clock mechanism had to come. If your board doesn't have a hole, you'll need to drill one.)

Step 5: Assemble the clock mechanism by following the instructions on the package. Some mechanisms have the hook which can be used to hang the clock on the wall. This one doesn't so I glued the separate hook on the back of the clock...and that's it!

The clock is happily hanging on my friend's wall. :)

Ready for 2015!

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 22:46:00 +0000

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/357121445425242693/

New year, new beginning...

Each year we hope for a great year, the best so far, a year filled with happiness, success and fun moments that will become our greatest memories... No matter what the previous year was like – whether it was good or bad, we get the chance to start all over again, to make a change, to start something new. That's the magic of new beginnings!

I start every new year with a brand new planner that will help me organize all my upcoming responsibilities, events and ideas. And this year I decided to go with a DIY planner. To be honest, it was a lengthy project and it took more effort than I thought it will. But in the end, it turned out into one of my most special planners till date and I will proudly carry it around throughout the year.

For this project I decided to try something new – journal binding.

I started with preparing the pages. I didn't make my own planner templates because I found these free printables on http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2014/06/free-planner-and-calendar-more-2015/.

These are awesome, colorful and fun, and made my project a lot easier. The only „problem“ for me was their format – the smallest is A5, and I prefer my planner at least 2 times smaller. So I decided to print them out in a smaller format - which didn't really work. The major problem was that I couldn't get the smaller pages to overlap nicely when I printed them out two-sided. Then I tried to arrange them by using Microsoft Word, and this time it worked! Here is what I did:

1. I copied all pdf files to clipboard and pasted them as pictures in Word.

2. I resized all the files to the same size and arranged them on a page – I ended up having 4 smaller pages on one page. The sheets looked kinda like this:

Sheet for monthly / weekly pages

Sheet for "weekly" pages

Sheet for "ideas" pages

The arrangement was made according to what I wanted to get when I print them out and cut the sheets in half. For an example, I needed "February" page to be printed on the back of the "January" page and "April" page on the back of the "March" page. In the same way, "Thursday to Sunday" page needed to come out on the back of "Monday to Wednesday" page. Also, I made a few pages with inspirational quotes from my collection of words on pinterest.

3. When I was satisfied with my new adapted templates, I printed them out, two-sided.

4. I cut the sheets in half. Since my bottom margin was bigger than the top one, I had to cut the excess of the paper on the bottom as well. So there was a lot of cutting. :/

5. Then I created 4 groups of pages - one is a mix of "monthly" and "weekly" pages, two contain only "weekly" pages and the last one contains "ideas" pages. I folded the pages in half, thus giving me my signatures and I was finally ready for the binding.

I won't describe the binding process, but here are the tutorials I used:

http://are-you-flowin.blogspot.com/2012/01/make-your-own-long-stitch-bound-journal.html

http://melissaesplin.com/2013/12/tutorial-leather-handbound-book/

And here are the photos of the finished planner:

Hmmm... Something is missing. Some polka dots, maybe :)

Yep, now it's much better!

And the inside...

2015, we are ready for you! :)

Simple refashion tutorial: Add some personality to your dull clothes with some fabric liner

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 20:12:00 +0000

Today I would like to share this simple refashion project that requires only a relatively steady hand and maybe some drawing skills (not necessarily).

Ready? Here we go!

You will need:

A plain shirt or some other piece of clothes
Fabric liner in desired color
Stencil (optional)
Old newspaper

I refashioned this shirt for my friend after she saw what I did with my old black dress (you can see the photo at the end of this post). She chose the design – I guess mustaches are "in" these days, right?

What you need to have in mind when drawing on clothes, is that you won't be able to fix any big mistakes – fabric paint does not go off! So be careful, work slowly and patiently, and use a stencil if necessary. I used a stencil that I made myself – I drew a design on a piece of paper, folded it along the vertical line and cut it out; this way, after I unfolded it, I had a symmetric face – yeah, I'm not able to draw symmetric characters, one side always looks better. :)

Step 1: Put some newspaper inside the shirt to prevent the paint from leaking through to the other side of the shirt.

Step 2: Place stencil on the desired spot and pin it to the fabric.

Step 3: Draw the outline with the fabric liner.

Step 4: Let the paint dry and then carefully remove the stencil.

Step 5: Fill in the character with fabric paint.

Step 6: Let it dry and iron over a piece of cloth or baking paper.

Step 7: Wear it proudly ;)

I am really satisfied how it turned out and my friend was thrilled. So, woohoo! :)

(not really a good photo, sorry)

And here is the dress that inspired the mustache shirt – well, in a way ;)

The story behind it is really simple – I had a plain black cotton dress that I got in H&M, wore it for about a year and then concluded that it is too black. After considering several designs, I decided to write down one of my favorite songs on the skirt (yes, it's the actual song, not just random notes).

I also added the ribbon with the bow around the neckline.

And if you think this is too complicated, you can always go with something much more simple – for an example, you can write down a favorite quote.

I hope you'll try this. It is a relatively simple way to add some personality to your clothes and make a statement.

These shoes were made for...

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 22:58:00 +0000

Do you have a pair (or two) of shoes that you can't throw away, even though they already look completely worn out? Well, I know how you feel. Meet one of my favorite pairs of shoes. They are comfortable, they have red laces and we've been walking around together for about two years. :)

Naturally, all that walking left a trace on the soles and heels, so I've decided to do something about it.

I had this project on my mind for some time now. I've seen similar projects on Pinterest and other DIY blogs and here is my version.

For this project I used:

Rice paper with text pattern

Art Potch Decoupage Glue and Lacquer (matt and glossy)

Paintbrush

... and, of course, old shoes

Step 1: Prepare your shoes – clean the area you want to decoupage. I also sanded the most damaged parts of the heels a little bit.

Step 2: Prepare the rice paper. Measure how much paper you need and rip it into smaller pieces.

Step 3: Use a paintbrush to cover heels with decoupage glue (I used Art Potch matt), and stick the pieces of the rice paper onto it. Cover them with another layer of Art Potch and let dry completely.

Step 4: Carefully cut off any excess of the paper (I used the exacto knife and nail scissors to do that.)

Step 5: Seal your work with another layer of Art Potch. I used Art Potch glossy for this step to make my heels more resistant to water and dirt (I mean, we don't want to see them ruined by rain, don't we).

Let it dry...

... and you've got yourself a „new“ pair of shoes! :)

Pearls are a girl's best friend (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 15:58:00 +0000

If you agree with this statement, then you're in the right place and please continue reading. :)

I already mentioned why I love the pearls in my previous post where I showed you how I made my new chunky pearl necklace. You can check the tutorial here.

Today I'm gonna show you how to make pearl waterfall earrings.

You'll need:

Pearl beads of different size (and colors)

Head pins and/or wire

Chain

Earring hooks

Jump rings

Pliers

Step 1: Cut the chain to the desired length of the earring.

Step 2: Pull the head pins through the pearls. The holes in my pink pearls were too small for pins so I used wire instead. I made a little loop at the end of the wire and then pull it through the bead.

Step 3: Cut the excess of the head pin or wire. Make sure you leave enough of it to make a loop.

Step 4: Attach pearl beads to the chain.

Step 5: Attach the chain to the earring hook using a jump ring.

Step 6: Repeat the whole process one more time.

And voila!

I really love them. My new favorite! :)

Pearls are a girl's best friend

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 20:34:00 +0000

Some women like diamonds, I like pearls. I think they look elegant, classy and delicate. A beautiful piece of pearl accessories can add a pop of glamour to an otherwise ordinary outfit.

Maybe pearls are not for everyone, but if you like this style, you should definitely have a piece of pearls in your jewelry box. And if you can't afford the real ones, you can always reach for imitations. Even more, if you are a DIY lover, you can design your own unique piece of jewelry.

I've been dreaming of a chunky pearl necklace (something like in the images below) for some time now.

(http://www.etsy.com/listing/76303750/champagne-chunky-pearl-4-strand-twisted)

(http://breakfastatfaymes.blogspot.ro/2012/11/diy-chunky-pearl-necklace.html)

(http://psimadethis.com)

And, finally, I made one. :)

For this project I used:

Pearl beads of different size and colors

A metal pendant

Nylon thread

A clasp

2 clamshell tips

Jump rings

Small round crimp beads

Pliers

Step 1: Thread pearl beads on a nylon thread. Make at least 3 strings of pearls.

Step 2: If you like, you can add a metal pendant to one string of pearls. Slide a crimp bead on and push all the way to the last pearl, pull the nylon thread through the loop on the pendant and back through the crimp bead. Use pliers to pinch the crimp bead shut. Repeat on the other side of the pendant and continue with threading pearls to finish your string.

Step 3: End your strings with crimp beads and use pliers to pinch the crimp bead shut. Pull the rest of the nylon thread through the clamshell tip and close it. Cut any excess of the thread. Do this for both ends of the pearl strings.

Step 4: Attach the clasp.

Step 5: Finally, twist both ends to make the strings of pearls twine around one another.

So, what do you think?

Give your heart! (Ideas for DIY gifts)

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 19:40:00 +0000

Recently I turned 26. To be honest, I don't know how that happened... it feels like just yesterday I was graduating high school. Well, it seems that time really flies. Luckily, I have some incredible friends to spend my time with. And each year for my birthday they surprise me with touching birthday wishes and some amazing DIY and/or perfectly picked gifts.

As I already mentioned in my first post, I believe that the most valuable things in life (when speaking about material stuff) are handcrafted - or in other words HEARTmade. That's why I prefer DIY gifts – I enjoy making that 'perfect' present for that special someone, and I love receiving gifts that I know were crafted with love and especially for me. :)

And here are a few of my favorites:

1) Slippers with Timon and Pumbaa

2) Earring holder made out of the grater

3) Personalized board game – one pawn represents me and the other ones my friends; also, tasks written on the cards are based on our common experiences and inside jokes

4) The lamp – how cool is this? :)

5) Aaaand... my favorite - the movie containing all our jokes, songs, etc.

If you're not a DIY person, don't worry. You can find „that perfect“ gift in stores if you really know the person you are buying for. For an example, I'd say this is a perfect gift for a DIY lover (thanks again M., I love it):

But, since the best things in life aren't things at all, the most precious gifts that I've got are my friends. Life would be empty and boring without those amazing, kind and crazy women who have been giving me the pieces of them for over 7 years – actually, one of them puts up with me for 14.5 years. :)

Also, about 4 months ago, I met some new beautiful people... and I hope they'll stick around for some time – for the next 7, 14, 30... years. Because, let's face it, life is sweeter if you can share it with someone and the best gift you can receive is someone's heart and the chance to be the part of his/her life.

Capturing December (part 4)

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 22:00:00 +0000

Well, I'm pretty late with this one, but here it is. The final part of "Capturing December"...

Dec, 27th: "A beautiful sight"

Dec, 28th: "Peace"

Dec, 29th: "Grateful"

Dec, 30th: "Fun"

Dec, 31st: "Winter Wonderland"

* Unfortunately, there was no snow this December. This photo is from my last white Christmas in 2007.

Angel necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 19:33:00 +0000

Hello! It's time for another DIY post, finally.

Today I would like to share a simple angel necklace that I made as a Christmas present for my friend. I think something like this would make a perfect daughter gift as well and, hopefully, one day I'll make another one for my daughter.

Here's what you need for this project:

Angel pendant

Chain

Eye pins

Some fake pearls

Clasp

Ribbon

Pliers

Step 1: Thread 3 pearls on the eye pin. Cut off the excess and make a loop at the end. Repeat the process one more time.

Step 2: Attach the pearls to the chain.

Step 3: Attach the pendant to the chain.

Step 4: Cut the chain to the desired length.

Step 5: Attach the clasp.

Step 6: Add the ribbon.

Step 7: Wear your guardian angel around your neck or give it to someone special :)

Capturing December (part 3)

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 23:02:00 +0000

Merry Christmas everyone!

Dec, 16th: "Green"

Dec, 17th: "Words"

*taken from: http://gratitudehabitat.com/

Dec, 18th: "Night time"

* floating lantern in the distance

Dec, 19th: "Bright"

Dec, 20th: "Sky view"

* from the office

Dec, 21st: "Family"

Dec, 22nd: "Tree topper"

Dec, 23rd: "Presents"

Dec, 24th: "Favorite part of Christmas Eve"

Dec, 25th: "Morning"

Dec, 26th: "Tradition"

* no, not the cakes, but half of them eaten by the dog...happens every holiday :/

But look at this innocent face...

...who could be mad at her?

Capturing December (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 23:55:00 +0000

I can't believe Christmas is on Wednesday. The time has really flown by and, to be honest, I don't feel like it's Christmas at all. It has been really crazy at work for the past two weeks and for the first time in my life I will have to work on Dec 24th which feels so wrong. Also, it seems there won't be any snow this Christmas...again. However, there are a few things that put me in the Christmas spirit - outside ornaments and lights, Christmas songs on the radio and my new Christmas earrings :)

How do you get into the spirit of Christmas?

Dec, 7th: "Joyous"

*Found this little guy at work. St. Nick brought it ;)

Dec, 8th: "Ornaments"

#Door wreath

Dec, 9th: "Something I'm reading"

* "The history of love"

Dec, 10th: "Wrapping paper"

Dec, 11th: "Christmas tree"

Dec, 12th: "Favorite holiday song"

*Just one of the many...but definitely a favorite holiday album.

Dec, 13th: "Outside Christmas lights"

* Zagreb, the main square

Dec, 14th: "Candy cane"

#Christmas earrings

Dec, 15th: "Scarf"

*my mom made it and it's over 2 meters long

Hello December!

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 20:02:00 +0000

Time really flies, doesn't it... I can't believe it's already December! I mean, where did the rest of my year go? Don't get me wrong, I love this time of the year – lights, Christmas trees, joy, hot chocolate, ornaments, Christmas songs and movies, magic, snow (hopefully)...what's not to love about it. But, each year, I feel like the time has just flown by me and I haven't done anything important during the past year. Usually I feel really bummed about it, but this year I'm really looking forward to the new year. You see, a couple of days ago, I concluded that this has been one of the worst years in my life, if not THE worst. So, I can't wait to put everything that happened in the past tense and start all over again – I mean, what's the new year if not the opportunity for the new beginning, right?

Well, anyway, it's been over a month since my last post (shame on me!) which is not even near my initial plans I had for this blog. In my defense, two previous months have been a bit crazy and I had some health issues that I had to solve, so I wasn't even thinking about this blog. But I'm back, and I definitely plan to address this little blog more seriously in the next year.

Today's post won't be exactly a DIY. Instead I would like to start a series of posts through December with the purpose of celebrating the most magical time of the year. Initially, I planed to make an Advent calendar for myself, with cute presents and little tasks through December, but I wasn't able to finish it in time. However, I found a very cute December challenge on Pinterest that can replace an Advent calendar in a certain way. It's photo-a-day challenge with the aim of capturing December and all its magic. So...without further ado, here are my photos from day 1 to 6.

Dec, 1st: "My view today"

Dec, 2nd: "Favorite holiday movie"

Dec, 3rd: "Red"

Dec, 4th: "Today's temperature"

Dec, 5th: "Shopping"

Dec, 6th: "Stockings"...well, "Boots for St. Nicholas Day", actually...

And if anyone reads this (anyone?) and would like to join me in this challenge, here is the list of all tasks.

As you can notice, I've cheated a little bit – I decided to rearrange a few dates according to my traditions and/or mood. :) Guilty!

DIY "Cracked" Vases

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 23:11:00 +0000

What do you do with empty jars? Do you throw them away or do you pile them? I realized recently that I have a lot of empty jars of all sizes that are just lying around the apartment. So, I decided to give them a new life with a few recycling projects.

Let's start with these vases, shall we?

What you need:

Empty jars

Crackle lacquer

Paint

Napkins and/or rice paper (optional)

Mod Podge

Brushes

Step 1: Clean jars and remove all labels.

Step 2: Apply an even coat of crackle lacquer in one direction only. Let it dry until it stops being sticky.

Step 3: Apply color in the same direction. You will notice how cracks appear as color dries. Thinner coat of color should produce a finer (smaller) cracks, and thicker crackle can be produced by applying a heavier coat of color.

Warning: Do not apply color twice over the same spot because it will make the color peel and you will get a big ugly hole!

Step 4: Let it dry completely.

Step 5: You can leave the vases as they are or you can additionally decorate them. I cut some motives from napkins and rice paper and glued them on the jars with some Mod Podge.

Step 6: Apply a coat of Mod Podge over the whole jar to seal and protect your work.

And you are done! Now you just need some flowers to put in your new beautiful vases.

Make a vintage rose ring

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 17:20:00 +0000

A few years ago I developed a little obsession with everything vintage. I don't know is it because vintage became trendy again or I suddenly recognized that „inner charm“ vintage stuff have. Anyway, I started adding vintage (or vintage looking) peaces to my personal style and these rings are the newest addition. It was a really easy and fast project so if you have 5 minutes, you can make one for yourself or as a gift.

You'll need:

Ring base
Resin roses
Super glue

You might also need: pliers, wire and beads.

The procedure can't be more simple. Just glue the resin roses on the ring base and let it dry.

You can add additional beads, like faux pearls, or wrap a wire around the roses in case you feel like something is missing.

I couldn't find resin flowers so I used rose earrings (I had a double set). First I used pliers to remove the metal part that goes through the earlobe and then I glued the roses to the ring base. Simple as that! :)

And here are the final products:

Now I just need to decide which one to keep. I'm thinking this one...

Which one do you prefer?

Easy silk scarf dyeing

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 17:23:00 +0000

Hello everybody! I've been little busy this past week because I've finally started working after a year of unemployment (Woohoo!). I'm still in the process of adjustment so I didn't have much time for DIY projects, but I have some things to share that I made last month.

As I mentioned in my first post, most of my DIY projects are gifts for my friends (usually for their birthdays). „Birthday season“ starts in August and ends in March and during this period I'm working on a birthday present almost every month. This post is about the present that officially opened the season 2013/14 ;)

For this project you will need:

Plain silk scarf
Colors for dyeing silk
Bucket with water
Towel

Step 1: Soak your scarf in water and wring the extra water.

Step 2: Lay down the scarf on some old towel.

Step 3: Splash colors on the scarf.

Step 4: To get softer, lighter colors and the watercolor effect, soak the scarf in the water, get out immediately and wring the extra water.

Step 5: Let it dry completely and then iron for 5 minutes.

I haven't tried silk dyeing before, so I'm really pleased with the result. Most importantly, my friend loved it too. We both love wearing scarves and I was happy to give her one she can wear during summer as well. Now I need to make one for myself. :) I already know how it will look like, but I think it will have to wait for a while...there are other projects with priority status.

Turn an old notebook into a charming diary

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 19:06:00 +0000

When I decided to start a blog, the first thing I realized was that I need some sort of a diary to write down my ideas and information that will help me in making my own blog.

I searched through my stuff and I found this old diary. And, when I say old, I mean really old. It dates from 1982, which means it's actually older than me. It belonged to my grandpa, but it was barely used...so it was perfect for this project.

If you have an old diary or notebook lying around your house and you would like to give it a new life, here is how.

You'll need:

An old notebook (obviously)
Mod Podge (or Art Potch, or something similar)
Decorative rice paper (you can also use decoupage paper or napkins)
Brush(es) and scissors
Bucket with water and a towel
And maybe some color (depending on the color of your notebook's cover)

Step 1: If your notebook has a dark cover like mine, paint the cover with some light acrylic paint. I used white. Do the same if the notebook cover is colorful or has some design on it, you don't want it to show underneath your new motifs.

(side note: I applied only one layer of the paint using a sponge so my brush moves are showing underneath the paper, but I was going for this slightly 'distressed' look. If you want to avoid this, just apply several layers of paint.)

Step 2: While the paint dries, prepare your rice paper. Cover your notebook with the paper and measure how much of the paper you need. Leave some extra paper on the sides to glue it on the inner side of the cover and cut it. If you are using paper/napkins with smaller motifs you can just cut out the individual motifs.

Step 3: Soak the paper in water for a minute, and lay down on the towel to get rid of the extra water. (Don't do this with napkins!)

Step 4: Cover the front cover with Mod Podge and adhere your paper to the cover. Allow it to dry completely. Repeat with the spine and back cover. (Or just glue on the motifs in the desired order.)

Step 5: Seal with another layer of Mod Podge on the top. Trim any excess of paper...and voila! You have a brand new notebook :)

„Hello world, hope you're listening...“

noreply@blogger.com (Matea) — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:02:00 +0000

So..., I've started a blog, oh boy! I've been thinking about doing this for some time now, actually, and finally (slightly 'pushed' by my friend) I decided to take this leap. Honestly, I don't know what will turn out of it. I have my hopes and expectations, but, I guess, only the time will show what it will turn into.

I think the title makes it clear that it is a DIY blog. In a certain way, I see this blog as a DIY project as well. I know absolutely nothing about blogging (or web design) so I'm looking forward to learning something new along the way. Also, I see this blog as my 'DIY diary', a place where I can share my inspirations and projects – because, let's be honest, it's much more fun when you can share a project you are so proud of with someone. :)

Hopefully, in time this blog will gain some readership, so I expect to meet and connect with other fellow crafters and DIY lovers out there and exchange ideas, experiences and tips with them as well.

Why DIY?

Well, to be honest with you, I've been making things for as long as I remember. I stopped during high school (don't know why), but then started again during college. My friends and I have a custom of making personalized (birthday) presents for each other, so we are basically creating something every month. And I totally love this! I believe that all the most valuable things in life are handcrafted (or in other words HEARTmade) so I always enjoy making that 'perfect' present for that special someone. And almost nothing makes me feel so proud and happy as a successful project. ;)

Also, this year I realized that crafting is a great therapy and I should do it more often and more regularly. I hope this blog will help me achieve this. My wish is to post new content every (or at least every other) weekend, depending on my other engagements. I think that's not too ambitious and I can pull it off.

Let me just be clear about one thing - I'm not a DIY expert. I still mess up sometimes and my crafts aren't perfect. But my craft skills are improving with every new project and I've 'mastered' some new craft techniques during the past few years so I'd like to share what I've learned so far. I really hope that anyone who stumbles across this blog will find something interesting and/or useful. Feel free to snoop around and comment as much as you like. I'll try to answer your comments and questions as often as I can.

I hope you'll join me on this journey and we'll get (seemingly) crafty together.