Tag Archives: Project Pin

Tin Can Transformation

Posted on February 8, 2014 by spenkunas

Every time I open a can of veggies or soup, I think about the many project ideas I’ve seen on Pinterest. After collecting a bunch of cans, I thought it was time to give one of the projects a try. I was drawn to the visual on one pin I found. However it didn’t have a project associated to it. So I made up my own version based on the inspiration. The finished products can be used to store office supplies or make-up brushes or anything you can think to store in them.

Supplies:

cans in various sizes (or all the same if that is the desired end result)
decorative papers (or tissue paper)
Glue
sponge applicator
Rub’n Buff in antique gold
metal brads (if desired- or any other decorative items)

Original Pin inspiration

Cans and the papers to cover them

Use the sponge applicator to apply glue to can

Cut paper to size and wrap around can- I used a two-handed twisting motion around the can to ensure that the paper adhered completely & applied extra glue at the overlap seam

Adding the center band

The brown center band applied

Applying the antique gold Rub’nBuff – I love this stuff!

Adding the metallic finish to the top and bottom edges and blending on the paper

I made paper flowers that are finished using the antique gold and metal brads

I glued the paper flower direct to the finished can

The completed trio

The completed cans in use

Bleach pen graphic tees (attempt #1 failed)

Posted on January 26, 2014 by spenkunas

As I was perusing Pinterest last week, I came across a project to revive old t-shirts (or at least give them a new lease on life and maybe wear them again!). The premise was simple – use a Clorox Bleach Pen to draw graphics on the t-shirts, rinse off and wash/dry. I found 3 t-shirts that I almost never wear and rolled up my sleeves to get to work. I decided to draw them freehand after making some doodles in my sketchbook. I was really happy with the two bolder looks and let them sit to supposedly bleach away. When I checked on the progress 15 minutes later, I was sad to see that there was no change in color. So I let them sit another 15 minutes. After more than 30 minutes, the bleach still wasn’t working. I thought perhaps the content of the t-shirts may have something to do with it. Two of them were mostly cotton with a touch of polyester, but one was 100% cotton and should be affected by bleach. I decided to rinse them off and chalk this up to a lesson. But I’m still trying to figure out the lesson….t-shirt content? Bleach strength? Color of dye? This will require a trip to the store to look at the different bleach pens to see if there is one specifically for whites (and therefore a higher concentration). To be continued……..

Original Pin

Supplies

Prepping the t-shirt with waxed paper and newspaper

Simple first design on brown tee

A little more creative on tee #2

My favorite design (that sadly washed away….)

1 Comment

Posted in Project Pin and tagged bleach graphics, Failed project, graphic tee, old tees, Project Pin, t-shirt, upcycle. Bookmark the permalink.

Now That’s My Kind of Knitting…..

Posted on January 4, 2014 by spenkunas

I have never been fond of knitting. I am self-taught under duress. When I was a senior at Drexel University, I decided to design sweaters and a knit skirt for my senior collection. I was able to use a knitting machine for the sweaters (which I loved!), but the yarn for the skirt was just to curly and loopy to work on a machine. So I bought a book and spent many hours knitting and unraveling and knitting again. I finished the skirt, but decided that knitting was not for me. That was until I discovered this on Pinterest. It is called arm knitting and you use chunky yarn. I made a scarf and actually had fun doing it. The total project took 20 minutes. Fun and fast? That is a win!

Original Pinterest inspiration

Chunky yarn

Casting on

Starting the rows

The knitting progresses….

The Finished scarf

Ta-dah!

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Posted in Project Pin and tagged arm knitting, chunky yarn, easy knitting, knitting, Project Pin, scarf. Bookmark the permalink.

Good Thoughts Jar 2013- That’s a Wrap!

Posted on January 1, 2014 by spenkunas

At the start of 2013, I knew I was facing a challenging year. Just how challenging it actually became was a complete shock to the system. By committing to the Good Thoughts Jar, I knew I would have to come up with one good thought every day- even on those days that seemed impossible. As I read through all 365 thoughts today, it made me smile, chuckle, a bit sad (with some reminders), but mostly I felt loved. When you have physical evidence of the love and support you have felt throughout the year, it is difficult to feel sorry for yourself – no matter what is going on. I have stumbled and even failed at things this past year, but most importantly I have grown. I have learned valuable lessons. I have realized that your mind is very powerful and when you start to focus on the good, you instinctively continue to go there. I still have a challenging hill to climb, but I am committing to the Good Thoughts Jar this year and each year thereafter. Here’s to continued good thoughts in 2014!

I discovered several recurring themes while reading through my good thoughts:

-Outings

-Creative Pursuits

-My Moves (I had to find places to live and move twice in 4 months)

-Happy Thoughts About Others

-Self Reflection and Care

-Reset/Refresh in Nature

-Support of Family and Friends

Some of My Favorites….

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

What 365 Good Thoughts look like

Reset for 2014

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And the lesson is….drink more wine!

Posted on November 18, 2013 by spenkunas

While wine tasting in the Dundee area, my friend Dana and I noticed these candles made from cut wine bottles. I figured there must be an easy DIY approach to the project, so I set out to peruse Pinterest. I pinned a link for DIY bottle cutting that used simple things from home – yarn, nail polish remover, and a candle. After many, many, many unsuccessful tries using this method, we gave up and took to the internet to find a solution. That solution was the Generation Green Bottle cutter. With a few clicks on Amazon, we ordered the bottle cutter and set out on a different path. After reading the reviews, we knew that there would be some failures and it would take some practice, but we moved forward optimistically. The process starts with scoring the bottle and then alternately dunking it into boiling water and ice water until the bottle breaks along the score. We triumphantly cut the first test bottle and set forth with the actual wine bottles. We had success with 3 wine bottles and then it was downhill from there. We suspect that the thickness of the bottles may have had an effect on the success rate. After 9 subsequent failures, we decided to move on to candle making. We bought a block of wax because it was a good value. However this created a lot of work for us because we had to break it up into smaller pieces. Using a hammer, we took turns smacking the block of wax until we had small enough pieces to melt. Once the hard work was complete, the act of melting wax, adding scent, and pouring was a snap. Lessons learned – 1. use jars that are already the size you want (you can always decorate them) 2. Purchase wax that is already chipped into smaller pieces 3. And finally, DRINK MORE WINE! If you are going to cut your own bottles, you will need a lot of them with a failure rate of 75%!

Bottles ready to go

Yarn soaking in nail polish remover and string/candle ready to go

The Generation Green Bottle Cutter

First bottle scored

The boiling water/ ice water dunking set-up

Successful break along the score

Unsuccessful break of one of the thicker bottles

Setting and prepping the wicks

Melting the wax to the exact temperature

First pour of the hot wax

Wax setting

The finished candles

So drink more wine! Cheers!

4 Comments

Posted in Project Pin and tagged candle making, candles, crafty, glass bottles, glass cutting, Project Pin. Bookmark the permalink.

Decorative Letters

Posted on November 13, 2013 by spenkunas

While exploring Pinterest, I came across a lot of different ideas for making decorative letters . Michael’s Crafts has wooden finished and unfinished versions for a few dollars, so I picked up some letters to try my hand at making my own. I decided to wrap them in variegated yarn and decorate with felt and buttons.

The original inspiration pins

Letter prep with materials

First, I covered the exposed ends of the letter “C” and then began the wrap. With “O”, wrapping presented its own challenges- pushing the yarn length through the tiny center opening

The completed yarn wrapped letters

After adding the decorative buttons and felt

The completed letters “C” and “O” – the decorative bow acts as the hanger

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Posted in Project Pin and tagged buttons, crafty, letters, Project Pin, wall art, yarn. Bookmark the permalink.

From boxy tee to rocker tee (an homage to the 80’s)

Posted on October 17, 2013 by spenkunas

I bought a really cheap graphic tee at Old Navy. It was extremely boxy and shapeless, but I knew I had pinned a bunch of ideas for cutting up tees. So I went to my Pinterest Board- Fashion and found a few ideas. I decided on one that is cut up a`la 80’s rocker style. The LA summer print on the tee turns into strips of colors along the front. I know summer is over, but fall is the layering season so this can easily be layered over top of a long sleeve tee or paired with a tank and a jean jacket.

Original Pin

original graphic tee

cutting the strips

cutting the hem

creating a raglan-like sleeve

squaring off the neckline

final look

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Posted in Project Pin and tagged 80's homage, Project Pin, refashion, rocker tee, t-shirt. Bookmark the permalink.

Flowers from Egg cartons (a la Anthropologie window display)

Posted on September 25, 2013 by spenkunas

I saw this original Pin on Pinterest and fell in love. I thought these would be lovely cascading down in front of a window. They could be used as tie-backs on curtains, positioned along the curtain rod, or draped on the corners of a four-poster bed. You control the colors (sort of) – at least you control the tone of the colors. The saturation is completely up to the interaction of food coloring with the egg carton material. This would be a lovely project with friends or children. As you will see, a single egg carton doesn’t go very far. So patience or a team effort would really help this project along.

Original pin – from an Anthropolgie store window

Basically you start with egg cartons and remove the lids.

You need to cut them apart to create “cups”.

The outer shape of the cup is completely up to you. I followed the blog link from the original Pin, but you could easily keep the edges squared off like the Anthrolopogie window display.

The next step is to dye them. I used food coloring with water. I wanted a more saturated look, so I used a higher amount of food coloring. The color combinations are up to you. I would suggest prepping all the flower cups first and then dying all at one time so that you keep color consistency. I also recommend wearing gloves to prevent dyed skin.

I dried them on a paper towel with wax paper underneath to avoid any transfer to the counter surface. While the flowers are still wet, you can add food coloring direct to the flower and allow it to saturate and spread out. You can also “paint” the food coloring on as well.

After the flowers are completely dry, you can start to string them. The spacing and placement is completely up to you. I used a green raffia covered wire to string the flowers. I twisted the wire around a pencil to create a spiral to hold the flowers in place. You could easily use twine, yarn, real sticks. Be as creative as you’d like.

I created 3 strands of varying lengths using the 12 cups from a single egg carton. To get the effect I would like, it seems I’ll needs at least another 4 egg cartons. You can add leaves as well using the leftover material from cutting apart the egg cartons. So many possibilities, yet so little time!

Not everything turns out the way it looks in pictures….

Posted on September 22, 2013 by spenkunas

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

-Scott Adams

Original inspiration from Pinterest

I was inspired to try this enamel painted vase technique on an interesting shaped bottle. I followed the instructions and noted any differences with the enamel paint that I was using. I coated the interior of the bottle with the paint. I turned it upside down to allow the paint to “settle” and the excess to drip out. According to the instructions on my paint, you place the glass in a cold oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Once heated, you bake for 30 minutes. After the baking is done, you allow it to cool in the oven. Sadly, when I opened the oven to see the “masterpiece”, I discovered that the paint pulled away from the glass in many areas (see photos below). Luckily I could just cover it with yarn as I did in one of my earlier projects. I really think the way the variegated yarn colors randomly created the stripe on the “fixed” vase is quite lovely. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There is a life lesson in here somewhere….. Not everything will turn out the way you had hoped. But just taking the chance opens your mind to new possibilities.

the supplies

Starting to paint the interior

Almost fully coated

Allowing the excess to settle and drip out

The failed “masterpiece”

And the “fix”