This is one of those DIY posts that almost doesn’t seem like a real tutorial just because it’s so stinkin’ easy. But it’s a really cute way to add some color to your home. So without further ado: easy feather garland.

What you need:

• feathers in the color of your choice
• yarn in a coordinating color
• hot glue

Cut a couple feet of yarn, depending on the size of the area where you want your garland displayed. Glue the yarn to the spine of your feather. Let it dry. Then do the same to another feather about six inches down the strand of yarn. You can alternate colors, or just do whatever you want really.

That’s really it! Hang the garland around a door frame or on a mirror or framed picture.

And some giveaway winners!

Congratulations to Laura T. for winning the Etsy giveaway and Nora S. for winning the Cafepress giveaway!

I’ll be in touch with you today!

I have a lot of jewelry. But the one thing I have more of than jewelry is jewelry boxes and racks and other storage contraptions. I don’t know – I think it’s just one of those things I’ve received a lot of as gifts. But even though I have a lot of them, I decided to make another just because. So here it is:

DIY bird’s nest bowl

What you need:

• loose straw
• spray adhesive
• bowl/tupperware for shaping
• miniature birds (optional)

Start by putting the straw into a bowl or tupperware that is about the same size (maybe slightly smaller) so that the straw forms kind of a bowl shape. Outside, spray the adhesive over the top of the straw. You might want to do this a couple of times. Once it’s dry, you should be able to remove the straw from the bowl with it staying pretty much the same shape. Spray the adhesive over the bottom of the straw too.

If you want, add some miniature birds or other decorations around the outside of the bowl. I got these little vintage birds from my grandma’s craft stash and they’re what inspired the whole project to begin with.

Then fill the bowl with little rings, other jewelry, or anything else you can think of!

I’m one of those weird people who saves EVERYTHING. I seriously have a stack of cardboard boxes in my kitchen that goes up to the ceiling. I always keep them because I think I’ll make something with them but then I never do… until now! I decided to take one of the boxes I got with Christmas gifts this year to make a personalized shadow box. Here’s how:

What you need:

• cardboard box (ideally one of those ones that you get clothes in at department stores)
• a large photo or poster slightly smaller than the box (mine is 11×14)
• acrylic paint and a paintbrush
• washi tape

Start by painting around the sides of the box, covering both the sides and the back around the area your photo won’t cover. Let the paint dry and then tape or glue your photo in place. Use washi tape to cover the sides of the box that face front, since these look a little awkward and unfinished with just paint.

Fill the box with other items or mementos and place the shadowbox on a shelf or add a wire to the back so that you can hang it up on a wall.

I always love keeping candles around my apartment, but sometimes the generic glass jars and tea light holders just don’t do it for me. So I decided to make some upgrades.

What you need:

• plain tea light holder
• lace
• tape
• spray paint

Start by taping the lace in place around the bottom of the candle holder, making sure it’s as tight and secure as possible. Then – outside or in a well-ventilated area – spray paint around the whole candle, making sure the paint canister is level with the candle holders so that the lace pattern shows up underneath. Give them a little while to dry, remove the lace (you can do another coat if necessary or if you want to rotate the lace so that you can cover the part that was taped – I just decided to hide that part against the wall though ;) ) and enjoy!

Annie has an AWESOME tutorial to share with you guys today – pretty much the perfect thing to go along with yesterday’s giveaway. So after you drink your bottle of wine that’s been chilled with the super fancy Corkcicle, you can repurpose your wine bottle into something almost as useful as the wine itself.

If there are two things in this world I love, it’s my friends and wine. Okay, maybe there are more things than that… but those are the things that inspired this latest DIY project.

What you need:

• one printed photo
• spray water bottle
• glossy mod podge
• paintbrush
• wine bottle
• goo-gone
• battery powered LED lights
• yarn/fabric scraps

To do the translucent photo transfer, start by covering the front of your photo (which has to be printed from a normal printer) with a few layers of mod podge, letting it dry in between each layer. Once the final layer has dried, spray the back with water and begin peeling off the paper very gently. Try using just your finger tips and not your nails, as the mod podge can tear pretty easily. Once you’re done, the photo should allow light to shine through.

To remove the label from your wine bottle, apply some Goo Gone around the label and let it sit for a few minutes. This should make it easier to peel  off the paper, but you might need to add a little more as you go.

Once you’re done with those steps, roll up your photo transfer and put it into the wine bottle. I used some knitting needles to place the photo on the outer edge of the bottle. Then insert your strand of LED lights, keeping the battery pack on the outside. You can also add some yarn or fabric scraps to the inside of the bottle, just to help the light carry and keep the photo pinned to the edge of the bottle.

You can add a lampshade to the top of the bottle and hide the battery pack there, or just keep the wine bottle as is. Now you have a cool lamp with a personal touch. Enjoy!

I don’t know about you, but once I take all my holiday decorations down, I feel like my apartment is just too empty. But even though the remainder of winter is far from my favorite time of year, it can still be helpful to make some wintery decorations to fill the void left from those snowmen and sleigh bells. That’s why I felt the need to make this winter wreath for my front door.

What you need:

• wreath frame
• white feathers
• snowflake sequins or beads
• hot glue

I happened to have this feather fan lying around my apartment, so I wanted to make it into something more useful. I took apart the fan so that I just had about 15 good sized feathers. I started by gluing them in place around the wreath frame so that you couldn’t see it from the front.

Once you’ve done that, trim off any excess feather pieces that stick too far out. Then place your little snowflakes around the wreath and glue them in place. Easy as that! Now my front door doesn’t look so empty every time I come home!

Over the spring and summer, I saw so many cute tutorials for flower headbands. I never actually got around to making one, but I just thought the idea was really fun. So earlier this month when I was at the craft store and saw some little fabric poinsettias, I thought it would be cute to put the same idea into effect but with a holiday twist.

What you need:

• small fabric poinsettias (at least 5)
• wire
• An elastic headband

My poinsettias actually came with wire attached to the back. So if yours did too, this should be pretty simple. Just twist the wire around the headband, interlacing it with the wire from the next poinsettia, making sure the flowers overlap. The idea is that the part of the headband where the flowers are should not be able to actually stretch, so that the flowers don’t come apart when you put on the headband. You can see an example in the photo below. If yours did not come with wire already attached, simple poke some wire through the back of each flower and then follow the same steps.

Done! Now you have a really festive and unique accessory to enjoy throughout the holiday season.

- – -

And the winner of the Winter Gift Guide Giveaway : Tiffany Brand!

Congrats! Please email me within 48 hours to claim your prizes!

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of purses lying around. Some of them are really old and drab, and could use a little sprucing up. I never actually thought about it before, but paint is a really simple way to make an old purse new again. Here’s just one idea, but the possibilities are kind of endless, really.

What you need:

• an old faux-leather purse
• two colors of acrylic paint and paintbrush
• scotch tape or masking tape
• paint sealer

You’ll need to start off by making sure your purse is clean. Just water, mild soap and a washcloth should do the trick. Then tape off the section you’d like to paint. I chose to paint a square section in the middle of the purse, so I taped off the sides. Then with the lighter of the two paint colors, paint the entire section.

Once that section is dry, use the tape to start making the chevron stripes point down toward the middle. You can actually just add strips of tape directly next to one another to make sure all your stripes are even, and then your stripes can just be the exact width of the tape. Once all your stripes are in place, remove ever other strip of tape and begin painting with the second color. Allow it to dry and remove the tape. Spray it with acrylic sealer – you’ll probably need to go outside to do this.

Now my old purse is new again and it was really, really easy. I have to get to work on the rest of my purse collection now!