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

DIY: Paper Weights from Leftover Wood Chunks

Hello People! Hope you all are doing great! These two weeks have been the busiest with a really important event coming up the end of the year. Unfortunately, I'm left with little or no time which is giving me a hard time to juggle between Krafty Krook and my important set of events. Nonetheless, where there is a will, there is way... And that's what keeps me going on KK!

So talking about today's DIY project, it was just a sort of an accident. I had these few pieces of leftover wood which I discovered while on a cleaning spree! Yes, I must have surely kept them aside in case I think of making something out of them someday (he..he..). I knew what I wanted to make of them, but didn't think they would turn out to be so pretty. Take a look at the pictures before I show you how to go about making them.

 Aren't they simply pretty? 

Here's what you'll need:

§  Some leftover wood chunks

§  Paper tape

§  Metallic paints (You can also use the normal acrylic paints)

§  Quills and Decorative stones/beads 

§  Glue

Here's how you go about it!

 To Start off, roll tape around the wood chunks based on the design you're going to create. I've used block designs in this case and hence rolled the tape either at the center or at the edges to have a neat and defined paint finish.

After you have rolled the tape, start with painting the chunks in different colours. In this case, I've used metallic paints (Fevicryl) and paper tape. (Paper tape is easier to remove as compared to any other tapes. It does not leave any sticky residues and very easy to work with.)

Allow the paint to dry for a while and then slowly begin peeling off the tape carefully. 

Once you peel off the tape, you can begin painting the remaining portions in the colour of your choice. Allow the entire painted to chunk to dry for a while and finish it by decorating it with quills or decorative beads as shown in the pics above! Yes! As simple as that!

A great way to make gorgeous stuff for your home! Trust me! You'll love keeping these bookmarks on your table. Tell me what you think about this! Would love to know your suggestions and ideas!

Till then,

Happy Crafting!

Karen

DIY: Quirky Coasters from CD's and Price Tags

Hello Folks! Hope you all are good and well! Its been raining cats and dogs over here in Goa over the last few days.  And I prefer to be more of an indoor person during monsoons - enjoying a hot cup of tea along with some hot chocolate cake just out from the oven. And not to talk about some street side masala corn! Yes its one of my monsoon favourites!  That's it from my side.

Getting back to my post on quirky coasters, here's a super way to recycle all the Cd's as well as price tags in your home. And you won't believe it, they simply add a happy and homely feel to any table! Well, here are a few snapshots before I go about telling you how to make them...

The First Six are Cd's and the next 6, Price Tags.

 Aren't they simply pretty??? In my own words, they simply add an 'awwww' factor to a table. 

So here's how you got about it... You can try these coasters with Cd's or Price tags. The technique is the same. 

For those of you using price tags, if you're a regular shopper at pantaloons, there's this brand in salwar/Kurtis called "Rangmanch" which usually has its price tags in the form of circles. This is what I've used for the coasters. 

Getting Started with your coasters:

·      Get your CD/Price tag painted in acrylic colours. Chose your colour depending on the colour of the thread your using. So keep it contrasted to make these coasters more colourful.  For e.g. if you're using a green or an orange coloured thread, paint the CD/price tag in black. 

·      For the thread, you can use any type of thread except for wool. 

·      Apply a little bit of fevicol to the CD/price tags, especially at the edges for it to hold the thread and for a durable finish.  

·   Start rolling the thread over the CD/price tag carefully. Make sure the first layer is strongly glued to the CD/price tag. Roll the thread in a way which creates a lot of geometric designs. :) (That's the simplest way I could put it! :D)

·      Finally, wind up by gluing the last end of the thread with fevicol. Make sure you use a decent amount so that it doesn't come off later. And you're done with your coaster!

If you do try out, Don't forget to share your pictures over here. I would love to feature them in my blog.

Till then,  Happy Crafting!!

See you next week.

Karen