Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

Friday, February 27, 2015

Things I Want To Make

A list of things I've always wanted to do, but never have attempted.

A list of things I will attempt to make in 2015. That's better.


  1. String Art 
  2. Lace jeans patch 
  3. Bubble Quilt 
  4. Paint Chip Art 
  5. Origami Bookmarks 
     
  6. No Sew Dog Bed 
So I'm hoping that by constantly looking at all these to-dos I'll finally be motivated enough to get them done. I had a goal to make a "big deal" craft or DIY every month of 2015, but so far I have about 3 unfinished projects laying around the house in varying states of distress because they aren't getting any attention. Come on Damaris, do something productive. 

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

New and Improved Coupon Binder


I've been planning to revise my old coupon binder into something more Me-friendly. I made the old one before I ever started seriously couponing and I soon found out that some things just didn't work for me. It was very well thought out, but since I was unfamiliar with the amount/extent of coupons out there, some sections (tabs) ended up not being used, while others tripled the initial amount of coupon-holder sheets in them. For reference, here are my old tabs/sections.
  1. Paper and Plastic
  2. Health and Hygiene (this section almost quadrupled)
  3. Cleaners and Aromatics
  4. Fresh Foods (there's like... no coupons for fresh food... ever) (ok maybe there is, but I never see any)
  5. Pantry Items
  6. Fridge and Freezer
  7. Office and Crafts
  8. Home and Misc.
  9. Eating Out
  10. Clothing (I don't think this was ever used, all the sheets in there look crisp and wrinkle-free)
  11. Just for Fun
  12. Shopping Lists
Now that I've made couponing my favorite hobby/lifestyle, I know what sections really need some extra space and which ones I can either condense or omit entirely. I also added a section to hold store-specific coupons. My 2 favorite stores allow "coupon stacks" (you can use one store coupon with a manufacturer coupon on the same item) and so I like to stick both into one pocket so they don't get separated. Having a section for each of these stores will make it much easier for me to find the coupons that I plan to use at that store and not use them at another one accidentally. Here's my Revised Coupon Binder Tabs
Cover Page with Contact Info (in case I loose it)
  1. Store-Specific (Target, CVS, Walgreens, Other)
  2. Paper and Plastic
  3. Health and Hygiene (Women)
  4. Health and Hygiene (Men)
  5. Beauty
  6. Razors 
  7. Cleaners & Aromatics
  8. Pantry Items
  9. Fridge & Freezer
  10. Pets (with a dog like mine, I need coupons)
  11. Baby (don't need this one quite yet... but I will sometime)
  12. Going Out
  13. Office/Crafts/Misc.
This is now organized from most to least used sections, and they should all more or less have an equal amount of coupons in them. The biggest help with definitely be making sections for certain stores. Feel free to take my idea and make it your own!
BTW, I took the time to Clip-Art the title pages into very nice, colorful ones... but then I decided to "go green" (or be colored-ink-stingy, whatever you want to call it) and print them in B&W instead. Does anybody else think the Target dog looks adorable? 



















 I used binder clips to hold the shopping lists I'd printed out a long time ago, but never used. It seemed like a big waste to throw them away, so I'll keep them just in case I get tired of using scratch paper to plan my coupon trips. The binder clips are also very helpful with holding inserts and full pages of printout coupons that I haven't gotten around to clipping yet.

Also, in case you really want to jump into couponing right away, click on the banner below to go to the coupons.com website and set your printer to work! 



Wednesday, August 21, 2013

My Makeup Magnet Boards, Part 1

A while back (during my early Pinterest stage) I came across a how-to for a makeup magnet board. I never thought I'd have enough makeup to fill one up, although I thought it was such a neat idea. As it turns out, I went makeup-coupon-crazy about 3 weeks ago and now don't know where to put all of it. (I love free stuff! And I don't see myself cutting back on the coupon crazy thing just yet). 
On a whim, I stopped by Dollar Tree and looked for the cookie pans, but was disappointed to see they were out of those. They did, however, have a huge stack of 12-inch pizza pans... and I took 3. As I was headed to the register I passed by a tiny display of vinyl decals. They were mostly for nurseries and such, but I caught a glimpse of one I liked and snatched it up on my way to pay for my items. 
It wasn't until I got in my car that the "creative" side took over. The same side which took control of my driving and made me go to Hobby Lobby instead of my apartment. I was pleasantly surprised to see that all scrapbooking paper was 50% off this week, so naturally the ultimate hardest part of this project was settling on 3 pieces of paper. I might or might not have purchased more than that. I also purchased a roll of magnetic tape and a glue gun (still can't believe I didn't own one of those) and giddily headed home to make pretty things while watching The Breakfast Club on Netflix. 

 

 Materials: 
- Three 12-inch pieces of scrapbook paper or cardstock
- Three 12-inch pizza pans (Dollar Tree) 
- Vinyl decal (Dollar Tree) 
- Magnetic Tape (or small magnets) 
- Modge Podge (and foam brush) 
- Pretty acrylic paint
- Glue gun 
- Newspaper
- Scissors
- Pen found under the couch
1. Place the newspaper over the pizza pan, trace out an exact outline of the center circle, and cut it out.
2. Use the newspaper circle and trace it over the back of the 3 pieces of scrapbook paper. Cut these out and set aside for later use.
3. Use acrylic paint to paint over the pizza pans, focusing on the outer edges since the middle part will be covered by scrapbook paper. I did this while sitting under a ceiling fan,
so mine dried within a minute.
4. Spread a good amount of modge podge over the dried paint. It is up to you if you'd like to cover the outer edges of the pan... I chose not to.
5. Glue the paper cutouts onto the pans using the modge podge. I applied modge podge over one of the papers, but decided I liked them without. Oops. Now I know for next time.
6. Get creative with the vinyl decals. They stick and unstick very easily on the paper, so you can change them up without a problem. Halfway through this I realized that these can also be cute wall decor for a teen's room.
7. Now, time for the makeup. Cut off small squares of magnetic tape and glue them to the back of your makeup.





This part is pretty common sense / learn as you go. I have tons of high-end nail polish (ahemm, free with coupons) and they were very unwilling to stay up because they were so heavy. I will be visiting Hobby Lobby for larger, better-quality magnets to use on the nail polish and any other larger pieces. I also learned that magnetic tape did not do well on rounded pieces such as mascara and eyeliner, so I will be using the glue gun on these. Here's a picture of one completed board with eye shadow.
And there you have it! My next steps will include getting my nail polish up there and getting everything on a wall. I'll add another post whenever that happens. Hope you liked it so far!
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