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DIY Modern Geometric Wall Art

Posted on by maya

hey

How are you guys doing? I know, I know…I haven’t posted in two weeks. I’m a mess. An embarrassment to bloggers around the world. But honestly, I actually have a valid(ish) excuse this time! See, on top of schoolwork, piano practice and not going to the gym, I’ve been spending most of my free time working on putting together a portfolio to go to design college next year. I’ve also been spending a lot of time watching  cookery videos on Youtube, but we can just ignore that part. Seriously though, on a side note, if any of you guys are putting together an art porfolio or have done so in the past  please comment below and let me know if you have any tips/advice to share!

Anyways, now that I’ve wasted one paragraph defending my inability to stick to a blogging schedule, let’s get back to the DIY, shall we? A few weeks back I made this cool geometric wall art but never got around to editing the photos and writing down the tutorial. It’s just been hanging on my bedroom wall staring at me accusingly ever since, so today I finally got around to finishing the post and sharing it with you guys! It’s such an easy and inexpensive way to add a modern, trendy touch to your room. Plus, you guys can personalise it by experimenting with different coloured crepe paper and triangle sizes to suit your own style! I’m so happy with how this one turned out – I think the the colour scheme is perfect for autumn and the combination of PVA glue and crepe paper creates a really interesting texture and visual effect on top of the card.

Oh and by the way, if you guys enjoy my DIYs and want to see more of them make sure to check out my Instructables account  where I have a bunch of other tutorials that haven’t been posted on my blog! And now, without furder ado, let’s make some Triangle Wall Art!

What you need

wall-art-2

PVA Glue

A3 sheet of thick Card paper

Crepe paper in 3 different colours

Scissors

Gold Paint *optional

Steps

wall-art-3

  1. Cut out three large triangles from the crepe paper (one in each colour).
  2. Arrange paper triangles onto the card in an overlapping vertical pattern.
  3. Carefully glue down the triangles with the PVA glue.
  4. Leave to dry and you’re done! I also painted on a few gold designs  to make the wall art a little more exciting.

wall art 4.jpg

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DIY Trendy School Supplies

Posted on by maya

hey

I’m not one to brag, but I think over the past two months I’ve done a pretty good job of erasing any evidence of ‘school’ from my life. My backpack is hidden in some corner of my room out of sight, my school uniform is crushed underneath a pile of clothes in my cupboard and every time someone mentions “studying”, I throw something at them. Clearly, summer’s having a great effect on me.

So you can imagine the shock – the betrayal, really- I felt when the other day I went grocery shopping with my mum and find a whole display of school supplies. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s just disrespectful.  I mean who gave that supermarket the authority to crush my dreams? It’s not even like there’s one small school supply section. Oh no, they’re EVERWHERE. How am I supposed to forget about school when I walk into the cereal aisle ready to buy some cheerios and end up surrounded by shelves of set squares and colouring pencils? (On a side note; I’m not even sure where that joke came from, I don’t even eat cereal).

Anyways, all this to tell you guys that I have finally faced reality and accepted that I’m going back to school soon. So much so, in fact, that I decided to do a couple of back-to-school DIYs. I have to say, I’m really happy with how these ones turned out! I went for a black and gold/yellow theme with geometric designs, and I think they ended up lookin’ pretty stylish ;). Plus, they’re all super simple to make. All you need is some tape, some basic materials that you’ll have at home, and some creativity!

  1. The Tape Art Notebook

 

tape journal 10.jpg

This was a bit of a spontaneous DIY, which are always my favourite! I just happened to have an old notebook lying around, and I thought I’d have a bit of fun re-vamping it with whatever art materials I could find. I had some paint and this tape on hand (and yes, I am the type of person who buys tape with sheep patterns on it), and in an hour I basically had a brand new notebook.

 

What you need

  • a plain, hardback notebook
  • some tape
  • acrylic paint

Steps

  1. Use your tape to create a triangle pattern on the cover of your notebook.  Don’t worry about trying to make it perfect – trust me, it’ll look good either way.
  2. Next, paint the entire cover of your notebook and leave it to dry. I used two coats of paint to make the design stand out even more, but it’s totally up to you.
  3. Finally, carefully peal back the tape and you’re done!

2. The Washi Tape Pencil

pencil 4

I’m going to be honest with you guys, this may well be the most complex DIY I’ve ever posted on my blog. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Maya, this is way too complicated”, and yes, it does takes years to acquire the necessary skill to complete this tutorial. But, I think with time, you’ll eventually figure this out.

What you need

  • washi tape
  • a pencil

Steps

  1. Wrap the tape around your pencil.
  2. Give yourself a pat on the back and go take a coffee break. You’ve earned it.

 

3.The Stripy Folder

folder 3

A part from being artsy and enjoying the art of creating and all that, one of the reasons I like to DIY things is because it’s way cheaper than just buying them at a shop. Instead of buying an expensive folder with a cool design on it, you can get a cheap, plain one and make a cool design yourself!

What you need

  • a permanent black marker
  • some tape
  • a plain folder

Steps

  1. Outline a triangle shape on your folder with some tape. It can be whatever size you want, but if you ask me, the bigger the better!
  2. Take your black marker and draw horizontal and vertical lines inside of the triangle. Draw as many as you can, and don’t worry if it looks messy.
  3. Carefully peel back the tape, and you’re left with unique & trendy design on your folder.

. . .

I hope you guys enjoyed these DIYs and get a chance to try them out! Make sure to share & like this post if you’re going back to school too, or if you just feel like being a nice person. That’s cool too. Oh, and don’t forget to comment below letting me know which DIY was your favourite and if you’re looking forward to the new school year!

 

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DIY Popsicle Stick Coaster

Posted on by maya

hey

I thought I’d start the week off with a bit of DIY! Many people don’t know this about me but I actually drink quite a lot of tea (I don’t know why I made that sound like it was some sort of secret, intriguing fact about me. It’s really not). Especially when I’m blogging, I like to have a cup sitting on my desk beside me while I type. That being said, I very rarely have a coaster at hand and as a result have ruined many a table (OK actually I’ve only ruined one table – my own, repeatedly, and to be honest it was already pretty ugly in the first place).

Instead of going out and buying a coaster I decided to DIY one instead.  I have to say I’m really happy with the end result; it’s colourful, trendy and unique! You can either buy a pack of popsicle sticks or use this as an excuse to buy a large pack of ice lollies, which is undoubtedly the better option ;).

Make sure to like this post if you want to see more DIYs like this one and comment down below letting me know what your favorite kind of hot drink is. Are you a coffee kind of person? A hot chocolate lover? A herbal tea drinker like me? And I know you’re probably wondering why I’m going on about hot drinks in the middle of summer but just remember that I live in Ireland and I’m currently wearing a jumper in July.

Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you all have a lovely week, now let’s get into the tutorial…

What you need

coaster 2

17 popsicle sticks (this might vary depending on how big you want your coaster to be/ the size of your popsicle sticks. I used a few small popsicle sticks for the base because I ran out of big ones, but honestly it doesn’t really matter)

Paints in the colours of your choice (my popsicle sticks were already dyed, so I just used a bit of gold paint to add some decoration)

Paintbrush

Glue gun

Steps

 

1. Paint your popsicle sticks and leave them to dry.

2. Next take 10 popsicle sticks and glue them together in pairs (see photo). These will act as the base of the coaster and give it some height.

 

3. Glue the remaining 7 popsicle sticks  on top of one of the popsicle stick pairs that you glued together before.

4. Glue the rest of the popsicle stick pairs onto the  base of the coaster.

5. Leave to dry and you’re done!

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Summer Seashell Decor

Posted on by maya

hey

About a month ago, I got a really exciting job making a few shell art props for the BBC TV Show Redwater which was shooting in my town. After spending weeks collecting, arranging and gluing seashells onto random objects, I’m basically a self-proclaimed Shell Craft Expert at this point.  Incidentally, I just posted a Top Summer Posts Poll  last week asking you guys to vote for what posts you wanted to see this summer and DIY Room Decor seems to be the most popular topic. And so, I thought it was the perfect time to post a few tutorials for some cute and easy shell DIYs!

Note: You’ll need to use a glue gun for these DIYs, so please be careful! The glue is extremely hot and trust me when I say, you don’t want to get burnt.

  1. Beachy Shell Frame

shell framefinal

This DIY is really simple and a great way to display all your summer photos.

What you need:

  • a plain wooden frame
  • shells of your choice
  • glue gun

Steps

  1. First arrange your shells on the frame.
  2. Once you’re happy with your design, stick the shells onto the frame using the glue gun.
  3. Leave to dry and you’re done!

2. Ocean Jar
ocean jar

OK, so maybe ocean jar isn’t the best name but to be honest I was just really tired of repeating ‘seashell’ over and over again. You can use this jar as a candle holder, a place to store your pens, or even a quirky vase. Either way, it’ll add a cool, nautical vibe to your room.

What you need:

  • a jar
  • small shells of your choice
  • a glue gun
  • PVA glue
  • sand
  • paint brush

Steps

  1. Mix 1 part sand and 1 part PVA glue. Paint sand-glue mixture onto the jar and leave to dry (this part gets a bit messy so have a few paper towels handy!).
  2. Once the jar is dry, stick on the shells in a mosaic-like pattern using a glue gun.

3. Seashell Bowl

shell art 5

This DIY is probably my favourite of all the pieces I made! I used a large bowl and large shells,  which means wrapping the twine around it took ages, but the end result was definitely worth it!

What you need:

  • a bowl
  • twine
  • shells of your choice
  • a glue gun

Steps

  1. Slowly wrap the twine around the outside of your bowl, gluing it down as you do so.
  2. Glue the shells around the bowl and leave to dry.

 

4. Shell Curtain

shell art 8.jpg

I feel like this shell curtain really screams ‘summertime’. I used fishing tackle to make it because it’s transparent, strong and also fits the whole ‘ocean’ theme, but you could use string instead. In this tutorial, you’ll see that you can either drill holes in the shells and tie them on to the tackle, or just tape them on. I personally tried both methods, and found that the first option looks better and is much sturdier (though it’s a little more time consuming). Lastly, instead of tying each length of tackle onto a wooden poll and hanging that up somewhere, you could also hang individual strands around your room which will look very pretty too!

What you need:

  • fishing tackle
  • shells of your choice
  • a drill / tape
  • wooden poll/ pipe

Steps

  1. Depending on how long/wide you want your curtain to be, measure out the number of lengths of fishing tackle you’ll need.
  2. Tie each length of tackle onto the poll.
  3. Carefully drill a hole at the top of each shell (OPTIONAL).
  4. Now, on a flat surface arrange your shells in the pattern you want on your curtain.
  5. Once you’re happy with your design, string the fishing tackle through each shell making sure to tie a knot below each shell to secure it in place.

OR

tape fishing tackle onto the back of each shell.

6. Now hang your curtain up wherever you like!

. . .

That’s all for today! Let me know in the comments below which DIY was your favourite :).

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5 things to do when you’re on holidays

Posted on by maya

I’m not sure what the school calendar’s like in other countries, but here in Ireland we are currently on mid term break. Now I don’t know about you, but whenever holidays approach, I convince myself that I’m going to spend my time off being amazingly productive. I’ll write a novel. I’ll exercise every morning. I’ll do all my homework the Friday before the holidays.

Yeah, as if. In reality, I ultimately end up lying on my bed staring at my phone all week.

Not that there’s anything wrong with eating junk food and watching Netflix, but time off is a great opportunity to do all the things you don’t have time to do when you’re busy with school.
So, here are five things to do during the holidays…


1. Read that book

You know, that book. The one you’ve been meaning to read for ages but just haven’t gotten around to doing it? Maybe it was recommended to you by a family member, or maybe you have to read it for English class. Either way, it’s just been sitting there, gathering dust on your bedside table for weeks. Well, good news – this is the perfect time to read it. So as soon as you’ve finished reading this post, go get a cup of tea, or coffee, or whatever beverage you enjoy and get reading!

2. Revamp your room

 Winter’s finally over (or so I’ve heard – it’s still rainy and cold over here), so that’s means it’s the perfect time to give your bedroom a good clean (or as I call, move the pile of my belongings from the floor, to my desk) and revamp your room decor. And I don’t mean just go on pinterest and contemplate revamping your decor. I mean physically embracing your inner artsy teen, getting out your glue gun, scissors and sharpies and making some stylish DIY decor. I’m actually working on a room decor post at the moment which I’ll be publishing shortly, so hopefully that will give you some ideas!

3. Do some baking

 One thing I personally love doing during the holidays, or any time of the year really, is doing a bit of baking. If you’re stuck for ideas, allow me to recommend two amazing recipes for Lemon Cake and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Seriously, you should try them out 😉 .

4. Practice!

Whether you play an instrument or a sport, make sure you take advantage of all your free time and get some extra training/ practice sessions in. Ironically, I always seem to neglect my piano playing during the holidays, but really I should be practicing even more than usual.

5. Organise a day out

OK, so maybe this last bit of advice is a little hypocritical as I actually haven’t left my house all week, but I swear I’ve tried to organise something with my friends, they’re just all too “busy”. Which is strange, because I know for fact that none have them have social lives. Anyway, planning a trip with your friends is always tons of fun, whether it’s going into town and having lunch out, or going for a walk (not really my thing, but each to their own) and having a picnic.
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So, that’s all for today… I know this was a short post, but as I mentioned, I’ve got some really fun DIY posts planned for the not-so-distant future, so keep an eye out for them!

5 things to make with that random piece of cardboard

Posted on by maya

Yes, I know…that’s quite a bizarre title. Let me explain.

The other day, I bought something (isn’t that specific) and when I opened the packaging and took out this unnamed purchase, inside I found a thin, square sheet of cardboard. The thing is, this sheet of cardboard served no evident purpose whatsoever. It wasn’t there to provide support or give information. No, it’s sole purpose was to just… be there.  Kind of like that one teacher at school who never really teaches anything, but just sits there for “adult supervision”.

And this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. Oh no, it’s happened several times, with several purchases – clothes, shoes, food, electronics, you name it.

And that got me thinking… is this some sort of conspiracy ? I mean, surely companies aren’t trying to waste money.Is there some sort of unwritten code around the world that cardboard has to be included with each purchase? Are packaging companies being blackmailed by cardboard manufacturers? Is it even cardboard, or is it some sort of espionage device recording our every move?

Yeah, that escalated quickly. Anyways, luckily for us artsy teens there are tons of ways to put these supposedly purposeless pieces of cardboard to good use. I’ve been working on this post for quite a while now (editing the photos took ages), so I hope you guys enjoy it!

 

  1. A Makeshift Paint Palettepaint cover 2

Now I’m no professional painter, but every once in a while I do like to pick up a paintbrush and attempt (unsuccessfully) to become the next Picasso. Seeing as I don’t own an actual palette, during these random bursts of motivation I tend to use a piece of cardboard instead and, trust me that works just fine!

2. DIY Bracelet Holder

cardboard 1 cover

If you’re anything like me, some part of your room/desk/shelf is covered with tangled heaps of jewelry. Or maybe you’re a normal, organised person -who knows. Anyway, for this simple DIY just take a square sheet of cardboard, cut it to desired size, roll it into a tube-shape and staple the sides together. Then, just slip on your bracelets and you’re done!

3. DIY Stencils

cardboard 2 cover

Stencils probably aren’t something you use on a regular basis, but now and then they do come in handy. Instead of wasting money and buying them in a shop, you can simply print off a stencil template at home and cut out the shape from cardboard. Then you can spend your money on something else. Like food 🙂

To download the flower stencil I used, click here.

4. DIY Vintage Bookmarks

bookmark cover

I love reading and one of my greatest struggles in life will always be my inability to hold on to bookmarks. Every year, I’ll get about seventy eight bookmarks from friends, families, bookshops etc.,  but whenever I’m actually reading a book I can never find one. Then I end up using random bits and pieces laying about my room which will inevitably end up falling out of the book.

So, I thought I’d improve my chances of finding a bookmark by making a few more (which I’ve probably lost by now) out of my sheet of cardboard.

As you can probably tell, it’s not a very complicated process. Just cut out strips of cardboard and decorate them with pretty paper, drawings and just whatever takes your fancy. Making them look “Vintage” is not a requirement, but seeing as you can basically stick some old newspaper onto cardboard and call it “Vintage”, I decided it was my easiest option.

5. DIY Diamond Garland

garland collage

This DIY is a simple way to add a pop of colour to your room. All you need to do is cut out your desired shapes from the cardboard (for the diamond design I used click here), colour them in with pencils and give them a black outline with a permanent marker. Then, simply tape them onto a long piece of string/wool and hang the garland up in your room!