[Review] Two Boys Kissing; David Levithan

 

Back to School DIY | Make Your Own Pencil Case

Hey guys! It’s just about that time (or maybe after that time, I don’t know) for heading back to school. My favorite part of this time of year when I was in school was school supply shopping. I am absolutely obsessed with school supplies. I love notebooks & pens & pencils and just, all of that stuff, ugh it’s so good.

Well, I’m not going back to school this year, but I still can’t shake the habit of school supply loving, so I thought I’d do some back to school crafts for you guys, starting with a DIY pencil case.

All you need for this is some fabric, and a zipper. This is a great stash busting project because you need less than 1/4 of a yard each of an outer fabric & a lining. You’ll also need pins & sewing goodies, but other than that, it’s just the fabric & a zip.

(I forgot to take a picture of the first step, but…) You need to cut two rectangles out of each fabric. My rectangles measured 8 inches x 5 inches. You can alter that, but this seems to be a really great size.


To attach the zipper, put your one each of the two fabrics right sides together & then sandwich the zipper between them. You want the zipper teeth to be facing the outer fabric. Just pin that & sew.

You’ll wanna do that on both sides of the zipper, with the other two rectangles on the other side.


Now you’re going to open up the pencil case so that the outer fabrics are right side together & the linings are also, with the zipper in between them.

You’re going to sew all the way around the entire thing, leaving a gap in the bottom of the lining so that you can turn it right side out later.

The diagram above shows where you should be sewing.

Turn the whole shebang right side out and sew that gap up.


The end! You’re done! It’s super easy, and it’s totally done. You could totally hand sew this or use a no sew alternative, but it's only a few simple stitches.

If you end up doing one of these, you should send me a picture at @techni_moments on both twitter & instagram.

ALSO! I’m giving this away! Head over here to check out my vlog for details & to enter. Giveaway will close on September 5.

PS! I have two videos with some back to school advice up on my youtube channel: Advice for Surviving High School & College and How to Get Yourself Organized :)

[Review] All These Things I’ve Done & Because It Is My Blood; Gabrielle Zevin

How To Decoupage

Hi! Today I have a pretty fun craft project. It’s one part collaging and one part home-décor and is perfect for getting yourself organized for back to school. One of the biggest tips I have for being organized is to have a place for everything and to do your best to keep things where they go.

I absolutely adore these boxes from the craft store which are usually around $4-5, but frequently go on sale for as low as $1.50 each, and I stock up on them. Unfortunately, they can be kind of plain and need to be jazzed up. So today, I’m going to show you my favorite way to do it.

For this project, you need some magazines to cut up. You can also use other pictures, cutouts, stickers, etc, but magazines are fun to cut up. You also need some Mod Podge (I like using the one specifically for paper), and a foam brush.

If you plan to cover the whole box, draw a line around where the lid goes. You don’t want to put any pictures under the lid because you won’t see them anyway, and also it’ll make the lid hard to get on and off.

Once you’ve done that and gathered up a whole bunch of things to decopauge, its time to get going.

You want to put a thin THIN layer of Mod Podge on the back of each piece of paper, and stick it down, trying to work in small sections at a time. Make sure you’re overlapping and covering the top and sides of the lid, plus whatever of the box you want to do.

I like starting in one corner and working over and up so that things layer nicely, but another cool strategy is to start in the middle and work out, or on the edges and spiral in.

Once you have everything covered, you can add special pictures you want to stand out, stickers or words like I did here. If you do it in the middle, they might blend in too much, so by doing at the end, you let them stand out.

The final step is to take your Mod Podge and brush and put 2-3 thin layers of Mod Podge over the whole thing. Let each layer dry for about 10-15 minutes before adding the next and be extra sure you’re using only a very thin layer. Too much gooping will lead to bubbles in your images- definitely not what you want!

And that’s all there is to it. Just make sure everything dries completely before you use them or try to stack them. To see a video of two VERY different boxes being made, check it out on youtube.

If you do one of these, you should totally show me! Send it to me on twitter or instagram @techni_moments.

stay crafty, bitches.

Books I Am Anxiously Awaiting

I have found myself in a bit of a predicament. And I don’t just do this once or twice, but I have found myself in this situation SO MANY TIMES in the last year or so, and I don’t really see tis problem going away any time soon. In fact, I would put money on the fact that it’s only going to get worse.

What is this problem, you ask? It’s the issue of being stuck in the dreaded months between the releases of Book 2 and Book 3 in a series. There are a ton of books I’m currently waiting on the sequels to, but here are the six (in no particular order) I am most anxious for.

[There aren’t any spoilers here, but still proceed with caution. Linked reviews may contain spoilers.]

Blueberry & Chocolate Chip Muffins!

No real blog post today, but Chloe & I made muffins!

[Review] The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder & Scarlet; Marissa Meyer

 

How To Dress Up Your Denim With Fancy Pockets

 Hey guys! I have a no sew project today to dress up an old, worn out pair of jeans or shorts. This is a great way to turn last year’s jeans into something fresh and new for the upcoming school year, or a fun way to add a bit of life to a pair that has seen better days.

There’s absolutely no sewing involved, all you need is a pair of pants, some fabric, fabric glue, scissors and a seam ripper. I think overall this project took under 15 minutes, including all of the seam ripping. The only time consuming part is letting the glue dry. 

To begin this project, take your seam ripper, and remove one of the back pockets. Be careful as to not rip the shorts while you’re doing this! If you want, you could remove both pockets, but I really like the look of one plain pocket and one fancy one.

Using the ripped off pocket as a guide, trace the pocket (including the folded under hem onto the fabric you’re using. You really only need a small scrap of fabric for this project. I dug into my scrap bin for this one. Make sure you add a seam allowance to the top of the pocket since you probably won’t be able to unfold that edge.

Carefully cut out the pocket you’ve just traced.

Using your fabric glue, fold down all of the edges so that you have a finished pocket without any fraying or unraveling. Just add a line of glue, fold down and press securely. Once it’s finished, you’ll want to let the pocket dry for about 5-10 minutes before you put it onto the shorts. It doesn’t need to be completely dry to move on, but you don’t want it to be runny anymore.

After you’ve waited about 5-10 minutes, go ahead and put it on the shorts. There will probably be a color difference from where the pocket was, due to fading from light , so just use that as guide to line up the pocket. Using your fabric glue, go around both sides and the bottom and press firmly. Don’t forget to leave the top open so you can actually use your pocket!

This definitely needs to sit for at least a couple of hours, or preferably overnight before you wear these out, and I’d suggest a full 24 hours before washing them. However once they’re completely dry, feel free to throw them in the wash and wear them as you would any other pants. Except, you know, cuter.

If you dress up a pair of your shorts, I DEFINITELY want to see them! Send me a picture on either twitter or instagram; I’m @techni_moments on both.

And as always, there’s a video here if you’re more into that kind of tutorial :)

Good luck!

[Review] A Series of Unfortunate Events; Lemony Snicket

 

Tie Dye Party!

Chloe & I had a tie dye party this week! And by that, I mean Chloe & I spent two days tie dying by ourselves in the backyard with no one else around. But we had a good time and made some crazy cool stuff.

We dyed a TON- like, 6 shirts, two pairs of shorts, a dress and three yards of fabric, and still had a bit of dye left over. I have a couple pictures under the cut, & also a video which shows off my favorite techniques and also my favorite pieces we dyed.