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Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Handmade Crocheted Tissue Clutch

It has been 2 days since I have had a persistent running nose. I have already lost count to the number of tissue sets I have consumed up and the amount of honey-ginger decoction that I have ingested.

Apart from all this, my reddened and scaling columella nasi is another sure shot proof to my being severely bugged with the cold virus.

All this while, a time came (about 12 hours back) when I got so frustrated with carrying tissue reams in my hand for the blocked ENT zone within me that I started looking for an creative outlet to take my mind off all the blocked and irritant stuff.

That was when I ended up doing two things  - an alternative therapy cure for the cold, and a beautiful classy clutch for the tissues to stack on.

As for the cold cure, I ended up drinking cups and cups of my favourite Mulligatwany soup. Just 2 regular sized bowls of it cleared out my entire nasal zone vertically as well as horizontally.
When the 30% of my nasal passage got cleared, I realised the amount of cash I was usually shelling out for each bowl when devoured at restaurants. It was a good 125 INR (approx. 2 $) that I was investing for my cold cure every meal. On the contrary, the regular OTC antibiotics required for the cold cure would have cost a mere quarter of the amount costing the soup, and also would have relieved me of the cold in just 6 hours. But me being a NO DRUG person; I persisted on my organic indulgences and discovered the recipe to be made at home. I searched a lot on the internet and finally found one recipe that suited the ingredients that were available at my home then. I then altered that one a bit more and made it as per my palette.

I must say, the outcome was wonderful. The testimony to its efficacy was a flow of creativity in my head which replaced the stoic stuffed phlegm through an aromatic and delicious route.

I will come to the recipe later, but before that I am excited to share the creativity that I spanned out in mere 6 hours flat.

I ended up making this clutch with a bit of inspiration from few designs that I found online while I was surfing for a solution to hold my weight of tissues. There were many elaborate ones, but this one particular was the simplest that I could crochet on with ease. Though I modified the edging a bit to make it less flamboyant; and voila I was ready with a convenient and chic piece of an accessory that turned everyone's attention around me every time I sneezed.

A long list of double crochets and few picots is crochet techniques is all that is required to come up with this one. In case you want to skip making it, you can consider purchasing here

I can color coordinate it as per the preferences.

I must admit, staying classy at times of a bad flu has never has never been so much fun.

Handmadeselling - Tissue Clutch

P.S.: I have included it in my display as well. here goes the link.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Handmade Storage Box for make-up

Me and make-up have a very relative relationship. I mean the make-up keeps building up from one or two products to many and then a lot of them.

I mean lets say I buy a kohl pencil once, after using it for some time I would realize that it does not look good on me. Then, in order to look better, I would end up buying a mascara in black shade too. Once, the duo do an effect on my face, I would end up turning the effect into a smoky one by buying and using eye shadows in shimmering black dust. Once that gets in order, I would move on to other effects too, for example an Indigo child look; Pastel pallet; shimmery gold effect and what not.

Though all these make up tools and wands make me look pretty, but they all together end up adding a good sizable junk on my dresser. Even when all these make up stuff remain scattered on my dressing table, things remain manageable. But it all gets out-of-control when I travel; obviously I end up traveling with a mess carrying all the make-up as it is in my strolley. I normally throw everything together in a carry bag when I travel, but usually end up missing out on applying that perfect shade of gloss that matches my attire. That happens only because of the cluttered mess that I carry, I am never able to find all my make-up stuff. To get rid of all that, I thought of bringing a little order in my make-up life.

Initially I bought a few store bought toiletry bags to grab all my beauty products, but they actually did not solve my problem. It is because they are mostly made up of fabrics, and therefore lack in providing a sheath to the products stored inside them.

Normally I end up overloading clothes in my luggage and so the pressure from the excess weight causes squelching of my creams and lotions that come in a tube form. This problem of mine always kept me worried during my sporadic travels. I kept trying a lot of products in order to get a solution for this, but to no avail. Finally I had to invent the solution on my own.

Below are few pictures that show my beautiful solution to the problem.

open-storage-box
open-storage-box


hand-made-storage-box
hand-made-storage-box


sexy-DIY-storage-box
sexy-DIY-storage-box

chic-DIY-storage-box
chic-DIY-storage-box
my-DIY-make-up-storage-box-on-the-job
my-DIY-make-up-storage-box-on-the-job


Technically, these are nothing but strong boxes made of corrugated paper boards. It is fun to realize that some were made to carry Hewlett Packard hard disks in them; but now they hold my precious colour cosmetics. LOL

Now it is indeed fun to carry my belongings in these boxes and the best part is that the contents in the box remain strictly intact. Though it was more fun to make these.

Initially I cut-out a lot of pictures from a glamour magazine. Then pasted them on the box with the decoupage technique. I mean I pasted the pictures once with a white glue; but kept applying a lot of layers of the glue on the already pasted pictures. That created a kind of strength to the box as well as the pictures. Then finally, I kept everything intact with a clear varnish. The enamel not only re-enforces the end product, but also acts as a water proof. Of course, I do not need to mention that the glitter and gloss that it adds to the box is simply remarkable.

I suggest everyone to make at least one. It is not just a wonderful DIY project, but also a wonderful way to recycle magazines and boxes that would be lying in and around your house.

Please find the details for this weekend DIY below:

Things required:

1. Strong box, which should be able to hold your stuff
2. Picture cut outs, preferably glossy ones from a magazine of your choice
3. White glue, I use the one which is non-toxic
4. Clear varnish
5. Paint brush for applying glue and varnish
6. Water
7. a palette knife or any flat knife to ensure smoothness to the pasted pictures
8. a velcro or a magnet finding (in case your box lacks an enclosure medium)   

Method :

1. Prepare a thin solution of glue and water. There is no strict rule to this, but I prefer 3 parts of water to 1 of glue. Mix it thoroughly and keep aside. This will serve as the perfect decoupage medium.
2. Try a mock placement of the chosen pictures on the entire surface of the box; inside as well as outside. Please do not worry for the exact array of pictures, as you can overlay one on another.
3. Then apply a layer of water on the rear of each picture and lay it flat on the box. The moisture will help stick the picture cut-outs on the box; though the glue is not used. You would need to do this step quick as the water could dry fast. It would be wise if you could do each side as a project one-by-one instead of altogether pasting pictures on the entire box at one go.
4. Then, apply a thin layer of the decoupage medium on the water-pasted pictures. You will need to wait for  1-2 hours for each pasted side to dry out completely.
5.  Repeat the application of decoupage medium on each surface for 2-3 times.
6. Then apply 2 layers of varnish at the end on all the surfaces.
7.  Place the velcro or a magnet finding on the opening of the box. Skip this step if your box already has an enclosure within it.

runny-decoupage-solution
runny-decoupage-solution
first-layer-of-decoupage-medium
first-layer-of-decoupage-medium

second-layer-of-decoupage-medium
second-layer-of-decoupage-medium


Important Notes:

1. If you using a toxic glue, then work on this project out side your house premises in the open air.
2. Varnish is in itself a harmful product. Stay away from it if you are asthmatic like me. Alternatively you can ask someone else to do it, or you can also try the spray variant. Moreover, you can skip this step. That would reduce the shelf life of the product, but that is not much of a problem, you can make another next year. LOL
3. Be calm in making this DIY project; each surface will take its own time to dry out. Do not attempt to haste in applying layers of decoupage medium, it will only spoil the end product. Wet layers of glue medium will make the product wither in the long run.
4. Use the flat knife to smooth out the pasted pictures. Generally the air bubbles get trapped between the pictures and that causes wrinkles on the end product. Smoothing the pictures with a flat knife helps in giving a professional touch to the end product.
5. Do not use scissors to cut the pictures, instead use hands. This way not only there is justice done to this handmade project, but also it renders a nice outline to the pictures, which looks very attractive.  

I would be happy if I get to see more and more people making and using this jewellery box.

my-vibrant-hand-made-storage-box
my-vibrant-hand-made-storage-box

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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

HANDMADE GIFTING



I am yet to find anyone who does not like to receive “Gifts”. There is something with the gifts that make not just receiving, but also gifting them to someone beautiful. No wonder, gifting is classified as an art lately. The modern day retail outlets leave us with a lot of options for gifting. The branded merchandise out there available in the malls is put up for buying as gifts. But the catch to this comes when the occasion or the person to be gifted comes out to be really special.

Like for your grandmother’s 80th birthday, gifting something that she would really appreciate and use becomes a challenge. Of course options that could come close could be a nice warm stole, her favorite flowers, her favorite perfume and few more. But surely if it is your grandmother’s 80th birthday, you must have already gifted such gifts to her.

At times like these one really wishes that there could be something available somewhere that would be made especially for your grandmother. Gifts for such occasions would come in the customized category. And generally customized gifts are handmade, since it would be close to impossible for some enterprise to come up with unique and individual crafted gifts for a lot many customers of them through the mechanized route.
Ceramics with a customized hand painted art on them like the mugs, plates and other forms of cutlery are a good gifting option. Many such customized gifting options might be found in a kiosk format in a mall in your city. They can help you get a customized handmade art form uniquely designed as per the likings of the special person you wish to gift.

If you are staying away from such a customized hand painting kiosk in your place or if your grandmother stays away from you, you should fear not. Many of the today’s customized handmade gifting enterprises are on the internet. They exist as handmadeselling sites that could accept your instructions online; and then they could create the product with the art form which can then be shipped to your grandmother’s destination in no time. Such sites would array many other customized gifts leaving you with loads of options for gifting. Probably you will run out of occasions, because the customized handmade art can never run out of ideas.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Pop-Tart Pop Art - PittGirl - April 2011 - Pittsburgh, PA

Pop-Tart Pop Art - PittGirl - April 2011 - Pittsburgh, PA

What can one really do with BARE HANDS. To answer that, one can come up with a lot of answers in all the possible directions, but if the question is limited to artistic and creative ranges, then the options remain really few. If the question is added with few props then probably there could be few definite answers. But if the prop being a POP-TART, what really one could do with them and one's own bare hands??

Well, few could really do. There are few beings who could use their hands and creative insights to bring forth something definite that not only looks beautiful and cool, but also brings positivity to the mankind. One such person in Tyler Kozar. He created pop-tart art using wrappers and boxes out of 1 million of them!!!

The goodies inside the boxes he donated to local non-profits. Tyler happens to be a student from the Arts Institute of Pittsburgh. No wonder he won the contest of receiving 1 million of pop-tarts, which was sponsored by Kellogg's.

Probably if such creativity and exhibit of love for mankind can be brought about through pop-tarts, then indeed sky is the limit.

Check out my favourite from the Kozar's pop-tart collection


Thursday, November 3, 2011

Charm of "Handmade"

The modern era of industrial production has given us a lot of benefits. In any industry that we look around, be it textile, home furnishing, home decor; there is surplus supply of products and products. That leaves customers with a lot of options to choose from; also the massive volumes of production have rendered the prices relatively substantial. Though, the only issue which comes with such identical looking products is of "uniqueness". When it comes to gifting someone special or rather gifting someone special on a special occasion, one might find himself/herself in a difficult position. In such a situation gifting branded products seems to be the best option available. Surely, the branded products do come with an impressive price tag that gives a sense of pride to the one receiving the gift as well as to the one gifting them. Though again, it is not so difficult to differentiate a branded product from another, provided the tags/labels are still there on the product.  Branded products without their respective tags/labels all look the same. That leaves us back to the "Catch-22" situation of "gifting someone special something special". 
The next roadblock might come in your way in the form of locating shops to buy "handmade" products. The good part is that many of the "handmade selling" craftsmen have opened their shops on the World Wide Web, making it much easier for the handmade buyers and sellers to connect with each other. Also, they just do not have their own exclusive handmade labels, but also showcase their handmade crafts through sites that exclusively cater to the "handmade products" as a genre. So, now you do not need to travel to Ireland to look for something for your vintage frenzy friend; or even to some store in your city that sells such items as a fake and expensive copy. You just have to visit virtually any of the sites that cater to handmade gifts, and your life will be much easier. Only an adage to follow is to zero in on a site where you can find the sellers of handmade gifts selling directly through a handmade products selling website instead of a site buying through the sellers and then retailing the products as theirs. Interacting with the sellers directly leaves you not only with the option of customizing your products, but also you know that the products are genuinely handmade and made by genuine people. The process is similar to looking for an inconspicuous art work in an "online art gallery". 


Saturday, June 4, 2011

The Handmade Handkerchief

The good old "Handkerchief" is what I miss many a times. I am sure making of kerchiefs must have been a very lucrative business some ages ago. Today I cannot even recall a single "handkerchief" maker. I have memories of my mother stacking unopened boxes of colourful sets of handkerchiefs in her wardrobe. The boxes used to have a transparent sheet as a cover displaying the bouquet of aligned kerchiefs in beautiful vivid colours. She used to match her outfits with a befitting colour from among the many coloured ones she had. Me and my younger sister used to entertain ourselves sensing the neatly stacked, crisp coloured set of feminine napkins. And today it is a thing of surprise to to find anyone with a "good old" handkerchief in their pockets purses. I fear how many of us could even spell the word HANDKERCHIEF correctly. It seems much like the physical handkerchief, its literal identity has also dwindled. It turned to "kerchief" and now just a small "hanky" replaces it all. The super-soft white coloured fragile paper tissue has replaced the entire era of cloth tissues. The major issue to reckon is that the paper tissues are so popular in the today's time of "Forest Conservation" and "Green Movements". Such irony you see.

Hope to see someone doing some really nice Vintage Art on handmade Handkerchiefs some day.
Please get in touch, we would love to showcase your art on our site.

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