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DIYs of the Week
Happy Thursday! Hope you're having an amazing week. Over the past year of doing DIY gifts, I've learned so much and have always wanted to share what I've learned. However, I've struggled to find a medium to do so, so I'm super excited to share this weekly newsletter with you guys with little tips and trick for my gift ideas! Hope this is helpful and helps you transform your own gifting journey!
-Mel <3
Cupid Express
Credits to the boyfriend for coming up with this! I absolutely love this, because it's can easily become an advent calendar for any occasion. You can just adjust the number of letters in the truck based on what holiday you're celebrating!
Dimensions:
- Back of the truck (4" x 2" x 1.5")
- Heart letter unfolded (approx 2.5" x 2.75")
Main Materials:
- Truck - Cardstock (provides sturdiness)
- Heart letters - Colored copy paper (thin enough to fold easily)
- Windows - Cellophane (commonly used for disposable product packaging, so I highly recommend just looking around your home for it)
Tips & Tricks:
- The mini hearts are really small, so I love using my heart puncher for this, especially since there's so many and then using a pair of tweezers to handle them <3
- It is possible to use scissors to cut out the windows, but I highly recommend using a precision knife which makes it a million times easier.
Love Waffles
This ones for all of the foodies! I've always thought that waffles are such a fun food, so why not make it into a cute gift?
Dimensions:
- Box (3" x 2" 1")
- Waffle base (approx 1.5" x 1.25")
Main Materials:
- Box - Cardstock (provides sturdiness)
- Waffles - Cardboard
- Windows - Cellophane (commonly used for disposable product packaging, so I highly recommend just looking around your home for it)
- Box Filling - Tissue/Parchment paper (I had parchment paper on hand, so I just crumpled it up and used that and it worked perfectly)
Tips & Tricks:
- I used a hot glue gun to add the honeycomb texture on the waffle. I found it to be the easiest and quickest adhesive for this use case
- It is possible to use scissors to cut out the box window, but I highly recommend using a precision knife.
- I didn't realize this until I started crafting, but there are detail scissors you can get that make cutting small shapes/details MUCH easier, so I also highly recommend getting a pair if you do a lot of crafting!
Customized Bouquet w/ Notes
I absolutely love making bouquets because it's fun, more affordable, and customizable! Since I've already given out flowers so many times, this time I kinda wanted to add something extra to it <3 I highly recommend adding these little notes if you have some time! It's small things go a long way
Dimensions:
- Tags (approx 2" x 2")
Main Materials:
- Flowers - Based on meaning (I love getting flowers from Trader Joe's because they have such a wide variety that's very affordable, perfect for making your own bouquet)
- Tags - Cardstock & ribbon
Tips & Tricks:
- For the roses, a quick trick I use to revive them is picking off all the crusty outside petals, flipping them upside down, and twirling them around. This really opens up the rose and makes them look fresh and more bloom-ed!
- Depending on what flowers you choose, it may or may not be significantly easier to use a pair of shears or a knife on a cutting board instead of a pair of scissors.
- If you want to make the tags extra sturdy, you can layer the outside with packaging tape so it's waterproof!
Sad Hamster Keychain w/ Initial
I feel like this is such a cute way to give your partner something that's meaningful to the both of you without being too too cheesy <3
Dimensions:
- Final keychain (approx 2" x 2")
Main Materials:
- Shrink plastic
- Keychain
Tips & Tricks:
- I used Posca markers (acrylic markers), which I highly recommend! They aren't the cheapest markers, but the quality is unbeatable. It's super bright and pigmented which makes the image look so much better. HOWEVER, it is still possible to make this keychain with regular markers, the colors just won't be as bright and solid.
- I've tried both a heat gun and an oven and the oven works better by far. The oven heats the plastic more evenly which minimized warping
- I highly recommend drawing out a ruler on a test sheet of plastic and shrinking it for proportional reference. Fair warning, it does shrink A LOT.
- The final keychain IS NOT super sturdy and has to be handled with care. If you want it to last for a while, I recommend, 1) shrinking another hamster and sticking the two hamsters together to make the keychain extra thick 2) making the hamster smaller therefore more compact and durable
Materials
Amazon Storefront: I've curated all of my recommended materials here, complete with personal notes explaining why I love them! If you're seeking suggestions, feel free to take a look. However, if you're not into affiliate links feel free to skip it!
