DIY: Recycle Paper Bags to Create Colourful Luminaries

Hello! Hope you all are in the best of spirits!

I came across a couple of tutorials I've done in the last few months mainly done for a local daily. Just didn't have the time to share them with you people. So for sometime now on, I'll be filling up my blog with these DIYs & Projects. The coming weeks will see a lot of tutorials and the projects I've been on. To start with, here's a super simple tutorial on using paper bags to make luminaries. A great way to recycle and create décor for your home, parties and events. 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• A Paper Bag
• Crepe Paper/Kite Paper in different colours
• Glue

Step 1: Begin with neatly trimming of the upper part of the paper bag. 

Step 2: Make strips from crepe paper. Use different colours for a colourful & vibrant look.

Step 3: One by one glue the colourful crepe paper strips to the paper bag.

Here's what you're final product will look like. 

Use LED tea lights or place a plain glass votives to light your luminary up. Alternatively, this can be used outdoors using sand  to hold pillar candles.

I hope you enjoy making these! A great alternative to add some quirky element to your home décor/event décor. They're sure going to brighten up all your blues. ;) Try it out!

Next on the blog: Some cute & unique gift tags.

Till then,

Happy Crafting!

Karen 

DIY: Make Colourful Baskets from Paper Plates

Hello all you lovelies! Hope you had a great week! 

Here's a quick tutorial on making multi-utility baskets from paper plates. Use it for keeping your paintbrushes, stationary, ribbons or simply enhance your parties, picnics or events by serving your guests in these colourful baskets. 

What You'll need:

- Paper Plates (I've used large ones)

- Acrylic Paints

- Fevicol

To start with, Paint the back of the paper plate in the colour of your choice. Try to make it as colourful and quirky as you can. I'm a big fan of polka dots so that's what I'm going to make. You can try out your own designs.

Next, I've used the tip of my paintbrush to create dots on my paper plate.

The next steps involve cutting and folding the paper plate to make the basket. Its very similar to the steps used in making a box. Draw lines as shown in the picture below and accordingly fold the paper plate along the lines.

Cut the edges as shown below and the fold them into triangles (See image below). This is required as to glue the folded sides together (I cannot explain better! ;))

Glue the folds together as shown in the image below. With this final step, our basket is ready!

Get Creative & make colourful loads of them. Its a perfect handmade utility solution especially if you have loads to store in. Try it out & would love to know what you think about it! 

Till then,

Happy Crafting!

Karen

Bookworms for Bookworms; Handmade Bookmarks & Clips

Hello all you lovelies...Hope the rains have been treating you well. Its pouring way to glory here in Goa and as usual, I'm having the best of monsoons here! 

I know its been a long long time since my last post - thanks to the juggle between KV Decor (my new label for wedding decor & designs) & Krafty Krook! This also means that I'll be posting less frequently onto Krafty Krook. Nonetheless, I have a lot of projects lined up which I cant wait to share with you guys! For now I have these unique handmade clips and custom made bookmarks. Hope you guys enjoy this post!

These are handmade clips made with Felt, Foam & Crochet. 

Handmade Bookmarks: Handpainted & Handcrafted.

A bunch of colourful goodies - perfect for a gift! All the bookmarks were made as a part of a custom order. The handmade clips are for sale. If any of you would be interested in purchasing, inbox me at kraftykrook@yahoo.in.

Till then,

Happy Crafting

Karen

My very own Handcrafted Wedding ~ 26.12.13 (In the making)

Hello People! Hope you all are doing great! 

Its been quiet sometime since my last post; had been super busy with my own wedding so had to skip blogging for sometime! Well I'm back and going and super excited to share stuff with you guys starting with my wedding...

I haven't been so glad as I am today and as I share with you guys all that went into this wedding. It was a tough journey, but ended as a fairy tale... 

Our theme was Plum Purple & Gold centred around nature, carnations & loved birds. Nothing better than incorporating your favourite colours to decorate your own wedding! :D

Almost every single detail was hand-crafted, right from the ring holder, table pieces, guest book and cake topper. Thanks to all my folks - my mom, my siblings - Shearl, Carlton, Allen & Shannon who did everything to keep up with my never ending demands. :D Not to forget Ivan (now my husband) & his family who has a lot of contribution to the all the creative details as well. It took a lot of effort and yes, never ending arguments, but it was all worth it :D 

To begin with, is the invitation card. This was a tough one - getting the perfect paper, perfect colours and the hunt for the right wrapping elements. Thanks to Wilson Gonsalves of White Lace Designs, Margao - Goa who did everything for our idea to fall in place. 

The Invitation Design

It took a couple of weeks to complete the entire Invite since the entire wrapping was to be done by us.It was so much of fun doing this with family! 

And the final product... done up on textured paper with a semi transparent handmade cover held by a punched circle.

We wanted to keep the entire decor very simple yet very elegant. So we chose to go in for a lot of candle votives and a lot pretty details in line with the themes. Here are snapshots of what we made.
A lot of Krafty Krook stuff :D

Decor for the Guest Tables. Ivory & Purple Paper Pomanders with Hand painted Chai Glass Votives.

Decor for the family tables. Stringed Chai Glasses & Lamps with large paper carnations.

 Mini Pomander Strings

 Punched Paper Bags to light up all the pathways

The Guest book in the making...

The cake toppers.. Pretty little love birds designed & crafted by my sister Shearl

Hand crafted Head gears for the Junior Bridal party

Hand crafted Buttonnaires for the Bridal Party

Our Rustic Ring Holder designed & crafted by Ivan

It was so much fun making all this stuff for the wedding!! And yes, challenging too... especially if you're very specific about colours and themes. We do lack a lot of good resources especially in India. So we have to make the best of what we have..

Very excited for the next post which will include snapshots of the actual wedding...

Till then,
Happy Crafting! Have Fun

 Karen

Nature Inspired: Leaf Stamped Votives

Hello people!! Hope you all are doing great! I know I've been missing out on posting regularly - have been extremely busy (and I still am...) with a lot of my other projects. Yet, I took a little time out to get this beautiful project posted here. 

Well, the last time I featured a set of recycled coasters done with leaf  stamping. And I'm so in love with the leaf stamp designs that I cant keep my hands off trying it on everything I can think of! So this time, its a set of cute votive's done in different colours! Check it out!

These are snapshots taken in sunlight which clearly shows up all the leaf stamps. They look gorgeous don't they? Here are a few snapshots with led lights.

So all I used for these votive's were some glass paints and metallic acrylic paints for stamping. A really nice way of imbibing an element of nature into home decor.  If you love pretty natural elements, this project is a must for you. 

Till then,
Happy Crafting!

Karen