DIY Tricks and TIPS for all over the house

We all like to be savvy and efficient and make tasks easy, right?

Let us help you to make it easy!

The Winter holidays bring out our fancy dishes and glassware, store them with coffee filters and avoid scratches or breakage.

Easy De-icer.Fill a clean spray bottle with 1 part water and 2 parts rubbing alcohol and store it in your car during winter months.  It won't freeze! Spray it on your windshield and windows on those chilly mornings to make scraping easier.  Did you know that hand sanitizer is usually alcohol based?  Squirt it on frozen locks to allow your keys to work.

SOCKS are for more than FEET!

Place them snugly on windshield wipers with a rubber band in a pinch.  They also keep the wipers from freezing to the window at night.

Keep socks in your glove box to use as gloves in a pinch.  You can use them on your hands to wipe away foggy windows and mirrors too.

Reuse plastic grocery bags to fill pillow forms, especially for outdoors.  Pack it full, zip it shut and VOILA.  You can remove them if they get wet or simply need to be freshened.   

This works great for dog beds too!  

Use two rag rugs stitched together and fill tightly with recycled plastic bags.  You can throw this in the washer too!  HANG TO DRY.

Hope these are fun ideas to get your thoughts going for even more uses of regular old items becoming new ways to use them around the house.

Thanks for dropping by and sharing us. 

Sundays in Fall feel so good!

Fall is warm and comfortable 

with fantastic colors outside.  

Read on for some projects.

I do adore creating Digital art...here is a treat for you!

Digital Elements from Mischief Circus.

These projects make it cozy and warm inside.

A Dollar store bowl with TEXT PAGES adhered 

and a collage (1951) for Fall added for color, some jute or raffia, and a tealight finishes it off.

This example uses a dollar store tall prayer candle.  We added burlap, a transparency of our collage and loose burlap threads.  When the candle is lit, it makes a beautiful glow through the transparency.

Thanks for stopping by for some DIY inspiration!

Danie and WE are Grateful.  

Thankful for our customers and Friends

Danie created this darling plaque for us today.

 It's Danie here coming to you with a Thursday Throwback Post acknowledging the approach of Thanksgiving.  Although we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia it is at this time of year my thoughts turn to being grateful for all that I have in my life.  Being Grateful is always a great thing to do when things don't go to plan and you get a little bit stressed which, to be honest, was a little how I was feeling today when I realized my project was due and I didn't have anything done for it.

You can order board bases here on our website.   For Flowers click here

So rather than rush and chuck something together I paused and have chosen to do a throwback Thursday Post.  It does happen, sometimes life can cause us to lose focus and be a little bit distracted and we find ourselves caught out so to speak.  In my case today I was unorganized partly because I had been away last week and left things to the last minute like I often normally would do, the difference, however, this time was I had some other unplanned events occur this week that needed my time and attention and I found I totally forgot about my project and then upon remembering had no time left to focus on it. 

So it was as I came onto the blog this morning stressing about not having a project made, I was inspired by the quote I saw on the products featured on Jean's last post where she spoke of the change of seasons and the special celebrations such as Thanksgiving coming up.  This quote had me thinking about Gratitude and it was a wonderful reminder that we can all choose to be Happy, and at Peace in any moment. 

The quote read "It's not the happy people who are thankful, It is the thankful people who are happy!"

So here is a Gratitude Creation I made a few years back using a great array of products available from Altered Pages/DIY Design Studio.  I loved creating this project as the birds and yellow speak to me of happiness and also the Light that returns with the Spring which is the season we are now in here on the other side of the world as the Northern Hemisphere moves into Autumn.  I love this quote too!



This was a project I made a How to Guide for at the time.  You can find the step by step instructions here.

Danie xx

Spooky is My Favorite Color of Fall!

Hopefully by now you have seen a few projects from us here at DIYDesignStudio relating to our favorite colors of Fall.  Well, my favorite color is anything SPOOKY.  I am a total Halloween junky.  If you have followed me for a while you already know that.  I am keeping the spooky flavor going with this project as well and created a Book of Spells.  I love making a new one every year to add to my collection of DIY spell and potion books. 
So, let me show you my process...
Get your vintage book from DIY Design Studio to being your upcycle.  Paint it black.  Mine is a huge law book.  It is 11 x 8.5 and almost 4 inches thick!  Nice big book, you know...to hold all my spells and potions.  

Next, grab the versatile Prima Relics & Artifacts skulls and angles resin blanks and give them a gothic paint job.  Then, adhere them to your book cover (I used hot glue) and add a thick layer of gesso over the entire book surface.  Leave a lot of texture in your gesso.  

I had a mini frame in my stash that was silver so I gave it a black wash, then a bit of dry brushed gold paint and added vintage text.  I then glued my Relics skull to the center of the frame (again hot glue) and added that to the book cover.  The skull got the same gothic paint job prior to attaching to the frame. 

   

I then hot glued florals to the surface.  And then, gave them a wash of watered down, very fluid black acrylic pain. 

(look at all that demension)

 

I added a bunch of washi tape here and there...that is the black and white script you see.  I also painted the word "Spells" in gold metalic acrylic paint.  I love this Prima Alchemy paint line.  I could just put that stuff on everything. 

 

And, there you go...a DIY Spell Book.  I recommend you make a bunch.  They look great all grouped together.  In another week or so all of my Halloween decor will finally come out of the garage and I will display the spell books together.  I CAN'T WAIT!!! 

Thanks so very much for joining me today. 

I hope you were inspired to make a 

spooky little something for yourself.

DIY Design Studio has everything you need to do just that.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Steph

Sweet gifts for Friends.

Do you agree that Homemade is the BEST?

We think so.

As you know, we carry mason jar lids and metal rings, this project uses both.   Plus our wonderful collage sheets.  You can order a full kit or purchase the individual items. 

Our collage sheets allow you to make any jar theme you want; kids, women, men, floral, holidays.  

Read to the end for a wonderful "recipe".

These precious lids become ornaments 

or simply jar lids!  

Add lace to finish it off.  

Think out of the box.  Jars hold so much more than foods, it can be luxurious body care items, or a fun and wacky birthday gift.

Homemade Luxurious Moisturizing Lotion:

16 ounces baby lotion
8 ounces coconut oil (solid form, not melted)
8 ounces vitamin E cream
Mix together with a handheld mixer until it resembles icing.

Store in airtight containers…keep it for your own supply…or create a label or lid insert for gift-giving!   Collages are available to create lid inserts.
My friends loved it! 

Cost breakdown:
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil $7.00
Dollar Store Baby Lotion $1.00
Dollar Store Vitamin E Cream $1.00

Use half the jar of coconut oil, the whole bottle of baby lotion & 1/2 the jar of vitamin E Cream.

What is coming next, Fall or Spring?

This month we are celebrating the Fall, with our Colors of Fall Theme and given it is actually Spring here in Australia, I also wanted to celebrate the time of the year I emerge from my mini hibernation into the beauty this time of year has to offer.  

It's a time of Adventure and Travel, in fact I am heading away to the beach in the coming weeks for a little R and R and collaboration with a few of my art sisters.

These ATC coin backgrounds can be found HERE.

The Gypsy images can be found HERE.

ENJOY the Art of Danie May

Let's get things rolling with Garage Sale finds

GARAGE SALE FIND!

I found this at a charity Garage Sale, what a find!   It's huge and even has an interior removable drawer.  It keeps a wedding gown, shoes and veil, along with a Brownie uniform, treasured childhood works of art from 3 generations. 

Lots of love in that trunk!

Here is another treatment for your family room.  

A Great conversation starter.   I also did one with postcards and photographs of vacation.  

Some Dixie Belle paints and brushes, a sealer coat and you have created a family treasure.  

I covered mine with glass so that I could change the photos out during the year.

Find what you need here:

DIXIE BELLE Paints

Travel Collages

Vintage Maps 

Brushes and sanding tools

THANKS FOR SHARING US WITH EVERYONE!