revamping kitchen cabinets

Spent hours for the last two days pasting these wallpapers onto my kitchen cabinet glass doors. It kinda defeat the purpose of having the lights installed inside them, but it's prettier for my eyes now :)

(Sorry, for the lack of text recently but i'm kicking myself to be more productive in sewing, so writing this blog will have to take the back seat for now. Bear with me please?)

a DIY christmas

Didn't know what came upon me but i went all out crafty this Christmas. 

It might be the result of overdosing myself with pretty pictures of DIYs, gift guides and printable freebies (a.k.a the trifecta of christmas posts on the blogosphere), yet i still find myself obsessively clicking every post that i had not yet read. 

These DIYs are resulted from just having the suitable materials i have at home (mostly papers). I rarely buy new ones, unless they're realllly pretty (like the glitter foams). So, dig around your house, don't throw some stuff yet and see what you can do with them. Nothing gives me better pleasure than the satisfaction i get from making my own house decorations.

1. The Tree

Not wanting to put up my old tree out of laziness, i ended up making one. (That sounds contradictory now i just realized). This one is inspired from Brit&Co's post, but instead of buying some washi tapes, i used flower tape. I like it because it literally takes zero space, perfect for a small house like mine. Decorate it with store-bought ornaments or even make them yourself if you're really crafty!

2. Faceted Paper Vase

This one takes a bit more effort but it was worth it. Inspired from Oh Happy Day
i had it modified to a bigger size so it would fit my vase. Using metallic sparkly wallpapers, it is perfect as a table decoration all year round. As for the stars, i doubled the patterns provided on the web and turned them into 3D ones, prettier when hanging em up i must say!

 3. Cardboard Christmas Tree

Again using some leftover card boards, these would be nice when covered in chalkboard paint and used as menus when i do my annual Christmas breakfast gathering with my sisters and their families.

4.  Poinsettia Wreath

Never thought i would find myself making one of these, but after the faceted vase, i don't even know myself anymore..*lol* 

I used a spray-painted embroidery hoop and a white wallpaper with gorgeous texture as the base. The wreath is inspired from this post.

5. The one who started it all...

Who knew hanging some ornaments on the wall could really got you in the whole mood of decorating? The happy feeling i get from seeing these baubles hanging was enough to get me started in going on this whirlwind of house decorating.

Of course, i just had to add the cut gold glitter foams as the "sun beam".

I'm not finished though...
I still want to make some himmeli which hopefully will be done before Christmas. I hope you're inspired to decorate after reading this post. Happy holidays!

scrapfridge

...is the right term to describe what I've been doing to my fridge doors. 

"scrapfridge"

I use them as a "scrapbook" to display my bric-a-brac. 

What are they is mostly cute-dont-know-where-i'll-put-it-but-will-buy-it-anyway things, and some curious-but-lets-see-how-it-works-out crafts, because apparently i'm only attracted to certain types of crafts. 

I dig paper (obviously) so you'll see LV floper and vantiani 's postcards, among some holiday photos & polaroids, but... i don't go gaga over cartoon-ish colorful soft toys, hence you only see idekuhandmade 's voodoo dolls there :D

New additions, that made me change the whole layout of my "scrapfridge" recently, including:

hand-drawn cards from taiwan

"kue basah" felt toys from hoshi craft

photo-printed button that i did a year ago but end up nowhere

The first good thing about using your fridge doors as a "scrapbook" is that NOTHING is permanent (i use magnet buttons, blu tacks, etc) hence:

• i can easily change the layout (which i usually do after a few months)
• there's always space for more things (double-doors are the best!) 
• it doesn't get messy because no glue/paint/powder involved 
• i don't spend on "unseen" things like glue, paint & powder
• aaand... it is a 24/7 display at home (which always got my guests curious and take a closer look)

Because the truth is i'm intimidated by doing a real scrapbook (there i said it!), and i'm a minimalist at heart, but on these steel surface i feel that i can just "let go" and jumble and pile things anyway i want them. 

To fill the whole doors is the step i'm taking slowly because it will surely be an enjoyable one. I encourage you to do the same to your fridge doors!

happy birthday husband

Being a maker, its funny how i've never actually made anything for my husband. 

He's turning 35 this September, and had been given a Mac Book Pro as a gift from his super generous producer. In need of a new case, he naturally asked me to make one for him.

Looking around in my studio the next day, i found a stash of faux leather that would be perfect for my first experiment in making something with a unisex appeal. Unfortunately, with such thickness, it was impossible to stitch two layers of them using my home sewing machine. I had no choice but to hand-stitch the whole thing (God, have mercy on my fingers).

After some painful hours, i panicked when i realized the case was too short for the Mac. I bet you crafters know how that feels. You feel dizzy and slightly short-of-breath, thinking of the most possible ways you could to save the project. There is no room for failure! (or maybe i just owe it to my fingers).

The most genius invention from the 18th century finally came to the rescue... the zipper!

Putting a zipper seems like the most logical thing to do, not to mention it will be a bonus on practicality if he can get the Mac out with just one hand. (Do you remember that line from "Up in the Air" where Clooney character says the Chinese has a thing for slip-ons (shoes)? i'm that kinda person so i can totally relate to that haha)

So the next day, off i went to a bag repair shop asking if they could put the biggest zipper they have to my handmade case. It didn't take long for me to decide to sew it myself after figuring out it would cost double for them to do it.

Luckily, this time hand-stitching the zipper was not painful at all because i only needed to do one layer at a time (yay!). I also stick a piece of foam on the inner side of the zipper so it wont scratch the Mac surface when it's being opened and closed (a.k.a problem solved!)

Here's how it looks when it's finished... 

faux leather mac book pro case

opened with zipper

The feeling after finishing a project is always priceless, not to mention i was happy to have the opportunity to experiment with a new material and making something for my husband. Talk about feeling of being the best wife ever :D

bedhead makeover

There is usually one room in the house that always gets left-out when you're busy decorating the others, right? 

For me, it's the guest room.

Located downstairs and adjacent to my dining room, my small guest room had been left out in my experiment with DIYs due to its gloomy color scheme of dark brown and grey. It was in need of some color love. 

Not wanting to do anything major (e.g. repainting the wall) or anything that requires a lot of labour, i remember my dad's collection of unused haveel chip samples that were literally just stacked under his desk. Unused.

To keep the same color scheme going within the room, however, i selected the wood-grain ones which are commonly used to give furniture that authentic "made-of-wood" look. I arranged them and sticked them one-by-one on the bedhead with a trusty double-sided tape.

Maybe i should have used a more appropriate adhesive, but i didn't really wanna ruin the original haveel that had been pasted on the bedhead, and the fact that i was too impatient/lazy/stingy to purchase a new adhesive *lol 

before...

After 45 minutes, i can imagine seeing this bedhead on Anthropologie webstore *heehee

Now, i've got the wall to play with in the future for now. Any ideas?

"hello, sunshine"

With the coming of Eid-Fitr holiday and having no assistant still, i decided to take a long break during this month of August. Being fidgety however, I decided to use the time to do some decorating around the house. First one to tackle: Nail and String Wall Art.

picture taken from jenloveskev

It was love-at-first-sight project, although it was not as easy as it looks...

Since i was doing it in on a rather big wall (2.8 x 1.8m), i had to get the correct size of the letters by printing and arranging them one by one in order to get both words straight and evenly spaced from side to side.

I also called someone to help me doing the nails because i couldn't do it myself. No matter how straight my banging was, the nails end-up dented, and with this size of wording, i needed A LOT of nails and hand power.

arranging the letters

After a few tiring hours and a sore neck (of looking up for hours), i'm super proud with what i see...

see the little nails?

i put shiny "caps"  to make it pop

my own nail and string wall art

I dont know if you can see it, but i put shiny "caps" on the word "sunshine". They look really nice reflecting the light from the window at night. 

Safe to say, i cured my phobia of nailing walls after this project!

Made. It. Myself

Having graduated from fashion design, fashion still remain as a passion of mine.

Although i rarely sew my own clothes, one thing for sure, i love making my own accessories.

I usually gather trinkets, buttons, charms, anything that i find interesting really, only to turn them into something wearable. Accessories are a great way to individualize your look, yes?
 

wallpaper cut-out butterfly earrings

 wrap bracelet tutorial + crafting-themed charms

 hardware-themed charms + hook = earrings

wrap bracelet tutorial + old "lucky" charms

box braid necklace tutorial

earphone-cord-holder + hook = earrings

clip-on earrings + gold chain = collar clips

vintage buttons + gold chains = earrings

mobile-phone-strap + old ring

gold chain + mail-folder-style rattan clutch

couch makeover

I've had samples of upholstery and curtains fabrics piling up on my room for months and it only struck me recently that i could use them to give a much-needed makeover to my couch! 

Finally i gave my couch that flea-market chic touch i always adore...

Using four different fabrics for each stool allowing me to get a different look every time i turn them around. I'm quite pleased with the way they look.

tutorial: bunting magnet

This is a short tutorial on how to make an easy-peasy bunting magnet. It's a great way to make use of your too-pretty-to-throw-away paper or fabric scrap.

1. Gather your supplies of:

• paper scraps
• magnet sheet (can be bought at stationery shops)
• image of what you want to make (i use triangle to make a bunting)
• pencil
• double-sided tape
• cutter knife
• steel ruler

2. Draw the shape of the triangle onto the right side of your paper. You can cut them one by one now, or later when they are stick to the magnet.

3. Stick the double-sided tape onto the magnet, peel it off and arrange the paper to be put on them. Make sure you do it carefully edges to edges.

4. Cut each of the triangle with a cutter (and a ruler) or a scissor, together with the magnet. 

5. Arrange them on your fridge or anywhere to make it look festive. Ta-da!

paper bunting magnet

Some things to remember:

• straight lines cut best when cutting magnet. So geometric shapes work best in this case, or if you want other shapes, choose ones that only have curves on the angle.  Example:  i tried cutting a puzzle shape, and the result was not very neat.

 

• If you wanna do bigger shapes (say a balloon speech?), laminate the paper first
  before sticking it to the magnet. That way you can write and erase on it by using the dry-erase marker! Oh, the possibilities...