Crafting Your Way To a Beautiful Home With Cricut

The easiest way to improve your home when you are in a budget is doing your own crafts and DIY projects. Of course!

I understand that the idea of crafting your way to a beautiful home sounds easier than it actually is. Not everybody has the time, the tools, nor the desire to go this route, but what if I told you there are a LOT of amazing tools out there that can spark your creativity and are very easy to use?

When I started this blog 1 1/2 years ago, my DIY experience was limited or non-existent. Not only that, but my TALENT was limited and non-existent. In a lot of ways, it still is. I am not a natural at these things, but I like them, and more than that, I like to have a beautiful home that people are happy to visit. Is that crazy? Blame the Taurus in me, but, if you are reading this, I am sure you kind of agree.

This is the reason why I was so happy to be invited to do three posts using the Cricut, a machine that will help you achieve most of the crafts projects that your heart desires in a very, VERY easy, dummy-proof manner.

For my posts, I decided to do crafts related to home décor. Now that I have finished them (and you will see the results when you come back later this week), let’s start with the basics:

What in the world is the Cricut?

Well, it is very simple, the Cricut is a very cool machine (see photos) that cuts almost all materials up to 2mm of thickness in every shape or form you want. The Cricut also prints some of these materials, but the BEST part of the Cricut, in my opinion, is its website and support.

Doing a project is as easy as going into the Cricut Design Space, select the project you want to do from thousands of projects and follow the instructions. Just do what the site tells you to do, step by step, and that is it. Easy peachy, my friends!

But you also have the flexibility of creating your own custom project if you want, almost anything you can imagine (except guessing the numbers of the winning Lottery ticket because no machine does that)

When I first heard about the Cricut, I knew I had to have it. Then, when they offered me to do this series, I got kind of scared… What if I didn’t know how to use it well enough?

Well, as soon as I took it from its nice box and connected it to my computer I realized there was nothing to fear. All the steps, all the knowledge showed up on the screen and I just followed instruction. Seriously awesome!

It even comes with a small project for you to get acquainted with your new best friend:

That is the Cricut creating a simple and beautiful card to welcome you to its world. 🙂

Here are some projects that other bloggers have done with the Cricut that I LOVE:

PMQ for Two

Glamour and Grace

The Tomkat Studio

And don’t forget to come back on Wednesday to take a look at the first project I did to beautify my home. Pretty cute, I must say. See you Wednesday, everybody!

 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

Comments submitted may be displayed or featured on other websites owned by Cricut.

Let Us Connect:
step by step lamp basket diy

Transform a Basket into a Lamp – IKEA Hack –

step by step lamp basket diy

I am fixing my living room with a limited budget but I still want it to look cool and edgy. One of the things I have wanted to improve is the lighting. I need to add light sources and replace the main pendant in my living room which is HORRIBLE (I will post about that pendant next week).

An easy way to add cheap and cool lighting to a room is to transform a basket into a lamp. This project is REALLY easy. I mean, ridiculously easy. The kind of project that you wonder why you didn’t do before! Lamps can be crazy expensive but baskets are not, so with a project like this you can easily improve a space for little $$$.

Who else out there said YEAH!

This hack story began when I was walking around IKEA the other day, like any other design blogger with a low budget does, and saw this basket:
ikea basketI thought: “DARN! The answer to my prayers is here! I can transform this basket into a lamp for little to no money!!!” So I bought it. It had all the characteristics I was looking for: cool shape, no handles, and made of a material that is easy to paint over, in this case, wicker.

I knew I wanted a dark purple lamp, so I bought that color in spray paint. More specifically, I bought this spray paint

Here are the instructions on how to make this lamp:

How to transform a basket into a lamp

Difficulty (1-5): 1  Time: 45 mins Cost: $50

Materials

basket lamp diyInstructions

1) Spray your basket with the color you want. Spray it upside down and then down side up. By doing this, the spray will cover most of the basket.

basket lamp

2) Make your hole. We used a paddle bit to do the hole but this is a tool that a lot of people don’t have. A mat knife is a good replacement.

ikea hack

3) This cord set comes with a lock collar that you need to unscrew and then screw on the interior side of the basket to keep it from falling. It is very easy to figure out.

basket diy

Voila!

This basket works as a lamp pendant. You need to put a hook on the ceiling and another one in a corner of the room so you can hang the cord and plug directly into a socket.

More photos of the final product:

ikea lamp hackcheap diy lamplamp hackmake a lamp with a basketplanters

I also added some hanging plants to this corner. I found these ceramic gray planters for 5$ at Target a couple of months ago and painted them in different colors.

Take a look:
5 dollars planterstarget plantersAdded some plants and:colorful planters targettarget plantersI think they look pretty cute, don’t you think?

I used wall paint I had left from previous projects to paint them.cheap ikea hackbegoniahow tomato a lamp with a basketThis corner of my living room is looking so cute, don’t you think?living room cornerbougainvilleaAnd, to the power of bougainvilleas. I love them.colorful flowervintage
cheap lamp

Hope you like this hack. Keep a look out for cute baskets when you are out shopping. So many of them would work as lamps!

Have a wonderful day.

 

Let Us Connect:
hanging textile for your living room

A 70’s Inspired Hanging Textile DIY

hanging textile for your home

I used to want to be a hippie. Not a doctor, not a writer, not a designer, but a hippie.

Now that I am wiser, I still would like to be a hippie if it wasn’t for the lack of compensation. I would love to make a career of funky outfits, long hair, and peace signs but George says it won’t do. It seems that hipsters have taken 99% of the spectrum of the alternative market and I don’t want to be a hipster.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that I can’t incorporate my crashed wishes into my interior décor. At the moment, I am re-designing my living room one DIY-step at a time. (I will be giving you updates on this blog so you can give me your opinion of the different projects and follow along (my first DIY-living room improvement was this one)). A couple of weeks ago I decided that the space next to my bookshelves was sad and lonely. Also, I have been thinking about doing an easy-to-do textile for the blog so I combined my two needs and wants to make this project and hit two raccoons with one stone (is that how it goes? Ha!).

I have been feeling super creative and productive lately just nailing project after project in my spare time. I attribute all this energy to the fact that I have been sleeping for 8 hours in a row for 2 weeks now! I am not waking up at night at all. The other day I woke up at 6 am and Maxi was lying next to me. I didn’t even hear him getting in the bed! I was impressed at my sleeping skills but also slightly terrified. I pride myself in being connected with my children while they are sleeping. I can hear them from my room and I am always ready to stand up if they need anything… well, I take no pride on this anymore. It seems that my body of two “oldish” boys (3 &5) is overcompensating for five years of sleep deprivation. It makes me kind of happy! It also makes me appreciate not having a newborn child! Thanks, Universe!

Why do I tell you this story?

Because last weekend was insane! We had so many social events that it was hard to go to all of them, but, in the middle of this insanity, I was able to nail this cute textile for your enjoyment.

Do you see how much I care!?

Here are the instructions:

Hanging Textile DIY

Difficulty (1-5): 1  Time: 1 hour Cost: $50

Materials

  • Yarn – from every color you want to use
  • Golden Ring
  • Scissors

hanging textile materials 1) Decide how long you want your textile to be. Cut your pieces of yarn to double that size and a little extra. It is better to have long pieces of yarn and cut them later than starting off too short.

hanging textile diyhanging textile2) Create a knot as seen above. Make a “bunny ear” and then pass the two ends of the yarn through it. Tighten it.how to do a hanging textile3) Add the rest of the yarn in the different colors. I ended up using 16 knots per color. how to hanging textilepurple hanging textileThe result is a long and messy textile. Time to cut it!hanging textile4) Cut it to whatever shape you want. I went for a messy “W” look. a hanging textile with instructionsHere is the result:hanging textile for your living roomorange hanging textileMy bathroom is here in the background.vintage look hanging textile vintage hanging textile instructions hanging textilehanging textile for your bedroom

step by step instructions hanging textile how to do a hanging textile easy to do hanging textile colorful hanging textile yellow hanging textilebeautiful hanging textile 70's hanging textile

The textile adds color and texture to the living room. It looks cute and it is very simple to do! Don’t you think?

I hope you like it! And I hope you are having a wonderful week.

hanging textile pin

Let Us Connect:

A Fun Painting + Printables

Here we go with another installment of Inspired by DIY! If you want to take a look at what I did for the previous challenges, you can go here for the colorful cement planters and here for the romantic flower arrangement.

This month other bloggers and I are finding inspiration in Miles Redd, a designer that is all about bright colors and exotic details. I love his vibrant style and wish to replicate it in my small home (some of the examples where I have tried to use a lot of color in my home are herehere and here.) I wonder if I should do something like that for my next One Room Challenge. I might tackle my bedroom in the Fall and I want lots of color in it.

Back to the challenge, when I was searching for images to get inspired for this project, I found this one of Miles Redd’s home in Architectural Digest:

L-O-V-E!!!!!

Everything about this image is amazeballs, don’t you think? But what caught my eye was that simple piece of art: colorful, modern, and attention grabber. It adds THE touch to this space that makes it absolutely unique so I thought “ I NEED THAT IN MY LIFE” (yes, I usually scream in my head).

I have been trying my painting skills lately, you can see the proof here and here, so I thought I could tackle this project. To start with, I did a version of the painting in Photoshop to make sure all my lines were aligned correctly. I also decided to make a mirror version of the original painting and change the color to PINK!

I have always wanted to add art in front of our mural in the living room, but I hadn’t found exactly what I wanted until I saw this.

Here is how I did it

Modern Colorful Painting 

Difficulty (1-5): 1  Time: 1 hour Cost: $15-20

Materials

I couldn’t easily find a large golden frame for my 18 x 24 in painting. I didn’t want to drive far to get it, so I bought a wooden one and painted it. I think Ikea has large golden frames if you need.

Materials to transform a large wooden frame into a golden frame:

  • Sandpaper
  • Gold spray paint

Instructions

1) Print your printable that outlines this painting (see links for printable above, under materials). If you choose to do a size 18 x 24in painting like I did, you will need to get the printable printed at a printing shop unless you have a HUGE printer. For the straight lines, use blue tape.

2) Paint inside your lines with the color you chose.

3) Frame your painting

Instructions to create your golden frame from a wooden frame (paint attaches better to wood than plastic):

1) Sand the frame with sand paper and spray it with gold paint. Remember to not aim directly to the frame when you first press the spray button, this will help to avoid applying excessive paint and drips.The result:

I think it makes the mural wall look a lot more fun, don’t you think?

I  hope you liked it.

Before you go, I wanted to thank the hosts of this challenge Jess from Domicile 37 and Kathryn from Up to Date Interiors. Thanks ladies for organizing all of this!

Now,  check out the projects of my fellow bloggers in these links.

Let Us Connect:
chocolate workshop

A Chocolate Workshop with Ococoa

chocolate workshop

Do any of you have a soft spot for chocolate? Well, I DO.

Chocolate and ice cream are the culprits of all my wrong-diet-doings (maybe beer, too). If it wasn’t for chocolate I would weight 20 pounds less, but I would also be 20 times unhappier. Food is something that gives me a lot of pleasure, so doing a chocolate workshop with Ococoa was pretty amazing.

Some time ago I met Diana Malouf, one of the owners of Ococoa. I asked her for an interview after trying her delicious chocolates and some of her collaborations with Salt & Straw – Ice cream + chocolate = ideal combination. There is chocolate and there is excellent chocolate and Ococoa is definitely in the latter category, so I was very happy to have Diana and her work partner, Liz, come to teach me and my friends a chocolate workshop. My friends, of course, are always up for having a good time, so it didn’t take a lot of effort to convince them to show up.

What is a chocolate workshop you might ask?

Well, it involves a lot of laughing, crafting and eating (plus drinking lots of mimosas because my friends like life bubbly). While doing this you learn about chocolate, where it comes from, how to temper it (bring the chocolate to the right temperature to work with), and then you make your own wonderful pieces that you take home. Yes, pretty much a dream come true.

 

chocolate workshop chocolate workshopchocolate workshopchocolate workshop After asking an insane amount of questions -my friends are curious- we started making truffles. The idea was to cover the truffles with the tempered chocolate. It was fun and tasty.chocolate workshopchocolate workshopchocolate workshopchocolate workshopchocolate workshopchocolate workshopThose dirty gloves are the defintion of FUN!chocolate workshopAfter that, we used transfer sheets to decorate chocolates. You need to apply the sheets while the chocolate is still warm and leave it there until the chocolate is completely dry. This will leave the design on the chocolate, making it look beautiful. Take a look:chocolate workshopchocolate workshop chocolate workshopFinally, we created mendiants. Diana says this is a fancy word for a simple chocolate with toppings. The idea is to create a base with the chocolate and place whatever toppings you want on top of them. Yum!chocolate workshopLook at this beauty:chocolate workshopchocolate workshop

chocolate workshop

I caught this guy stealing some of the chocolate (love emoji).

My favorite kind of activity is to hang out with friends while laughing and creating something that is why this workshop was so perfect. A nice combination of delicious and DIY, plus a lot of extra information about chocolate I never knew about. We all enjoyed it thoroughly and would do it again in a second…Everybody was happy doing something creative and feeling proud when taking home a big box of goodies.

For more information on workshops, head to Ococoa’s website or contact Diana or Liz here:

Telephone: 800.897.7015
Fax: 323.988.0742

Ococoa In-Store Pickup:
B&K Sugar Arts Lab
2835 S. Robertson Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Let Us Connect: