Category Archives: DIY Project

How To Start Scrapbooking

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Scrapbooking is a great way to make personalized memories last forever and a fun hobby to explore your creative side. Here’s what you need to start your very first scrapbook.

Gather Supplies

Start reviewing what supplies and art materials you have at your disposal. If you are limited, consider going to an art supply store and purchasing some new things to craft with. You can keep it simple with some scrapbook paper and stickers or grab some glitter and colored ostrich feathers for some added flair. Make sure you have scissors and glue to cut and paste pictures and other embellishments onto your scrapbook pages. Most importantly, you will need at least one empty scrapbook to start building your pages in.

Photo by Vladimir Proskurovskiy on Unsplash

Plan It Out

Think about what you want the theme of your scrapbook to be. You might make it for a special occasion, to commemorate an accomplishment, or treasure a family vacation. When you decide on the theme, gather all the personal mementos and photos you would like to include. Scrapbooks come in a variety of shapes and sizes so you can include small items like room cards, boarding passes, menus, and more. Choose a patterned or colored background to build each page on before placing it into your book. Don’t glue things down right away in case you decide to rearrange things on the page.

Respect Your Space

You will most likely need a few scrapbooking sessions to complete one project, so keeping your space organized and treating your materials with care is important. After every session, make sure you clean up your workspace and put your art supplies away in a designated drawer or storage bin. As you acquire more supplies over time, it might be a good idea to designate an entire closet or room to your scrapbooking supplies.

There’s no limit to how creative you can get with your scrapbook.

Pocket Vegetable Garden

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Hubby is so excited about growing a mini vegetable garden. He started with the sili labuyo plant (chili pepper) which I bought from Halamanan sa Pasig last month. I also purchased from them three Bacularis plants which are known for their air-purifying quality.

He got inspired by the siling labuyo plant that he decided to also plant tomato seeds, spring onion stalk, more sili seeds, and later kinchay or Chinese celery.

Update: We have already picked at least eight ripened chilis. Their so small but spicy.

We’ve got tomatoes growing right here. I’m excited about this project. We’ve been planning to have our vegetable garden for so long and it is slowly being realized this year.

Update: The young onion (upper right corner) and the celery (lower right side) died. The tomatoes grew a bit.

Planting is one of the small things that made hubby and me happy these days. It’s something that eases off our stress and worries from day-to-day activities. We are not getting any younger and simple activity like this is beneficial to both our mental and emotional health. 

My certified plantito hubby. 😀 This batch (of the plant) will serve as a fence right outside our window to secure it from irresponsible neighbors who leave their garbage and whatnot on the sidewalk.

DIY Entryway Ideas

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The entry of your house is the first thing that guests will see as they enter your home, and the last thing they will see as they leave, so you will want to make it memorable. In Feng Shui terms the entryway is the most important place in the house as it is the entry point for Chi energy to flow into the home. Here are 5 entryway ideas to assist you with getting the most out of your entryway.

Photo by Collov on Unsplash

Inspiring/Uplifting

One important aspect of your entryway design is to make it inspiring and uplifting. As the first thing that people will see when they enter your home you will want to make an impact. Decorate the area with your favourite painting, or other things that add a splash of your unique taste to the room. If you can fit it in, have a small side table with a vase of flowers or if there is not enough room for a table, why not try a shelf? Whatever you choose to decorate with, make sure that it uplifts you as you enter the room.

Mirror

A mirror in your entry way will give the illusion of space and as long as it’s not placed facing the door it will assist with the flow of energy in the room. According to Feng Shui, if the mirror is placed facing the door the chi will bounce back out, which will mean that wealth flows away from your home. Whether you are following Feng Shui principles or not, a mirror will help to make your entryway more spacious.

Make it spacious

The more light in your entryway the better; so if you have a window in the room it will assist you with making the space feel more spacious. The biggest thing to remember with increasing the spaciousness of the room is making it as uncluttered as possible. If there are piles of clutter and too many pieces of furniture it will make the room closed in and feel less spacious. One important aspect of keeping it spacious is to make sure that the front door opens and closes without restriction.

Represent the 5 Elements

If you are following Feng Shui principles for maximum effectiveness and flow of light and energy, then you might want to include the 5 elements of water, fire, earth, metal and wood. You could incorporate some of the elements into the physical design of the walls/doors/furniture in the room, or for ones such as fire you could have a picture of a fire, which would achieve the same results.

Have a great front door

As the very first thing that people will see when they come to your home, before they even come inside, the front door has to be awesome. You will want it to reflect your personality and say something about the people that live in the home. One way to increase spaciousness in your entryway is to get a front door with glass windows so that more light can come into the room. If you already have a door that you love and would like to add some windows to it then you could probably find some Stihl power tools that would help you to do the job.

Using Creativity to Relax and Unwind

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There are plenty of ways to reduce stress in your life, from exercise to meditation to simple self care. But did you know arts and crafts can also help you relax and unwind from the tensions of the day? The act of focusing on something that’s pleasant and enjoyable helps activate different areas of your brain while taking your mind off of your stressors. So, plan a trip to your favorite craft store long beach ca and try one of these activities to increase your creativity and decrease the stress in your life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint_by_number#/

Coloring or Paint By Number

Coloring for adults is now a huge trend, and for good reason. If you love to make beautiful pictures but aren’t an accomplished artist, coloring books for grownups can help you create detailed finished products while giving you the guidelines for a beautiful design. Pick up some high-quality markers and color in a relaxing spot in your home. If painting is more your style, pick up a paint by number kit and create a replica of some of your favorite well-known masterpieces.

Knitting or Crocheting

The repetitive motion of knitting or crocheting can be very calming, and is relatively easy to pick up if you’re just starting out. Select a good instruction book for beginners, or find some online tutorials for simple pieces you’d like to make. Select yarns in colors and materials you truly love and start making scarves, hats, blankets and simple dish cloths. With a little practice, you may find yourself ready to tackle more complex projects in no time.

Jewelry Making

There are so many materials and options when it comes to designing your own jewelry. Start with the basics by finding a design book or taking a class for beginners to learn how to properly string and secure beads, weave fabric cords or twist and shape wires. Once you’ve mastered basic techniques, the possibilities are endless!

If you’re looking for new ways to manage the stress in your life, consider a new creative hobby. You may find a new passion in the process!

Functional desks and workstations

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drawing table

Remember this corner in our house which hubby converted into a drawing room for our daughter? It was useful to our daughter who loves to draw until she became busy with studies. Of late, she devotes much of her time to doing her thesis project in animation. Daughter still loves to use her pen and paper to draw and would definitely go back to sketching after her project is done. For the meantime, I’m checking on these functional tables at www.musiciansfriend.com/desks-tables-workstations, which could double as drawing or study table for my other child who will be in Grade 11 next year.