Rachel Robin's Nest

Crafts, Projects and Recipes to Help Feather Your "Nest"

Recycled Gift Bows from Magazine Pages November 17, 2012

Filed under: Crafts,DIY — raediantphoenix @ 9:43 pm
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Sorry guys, yet another Christmas themed post.  But like I said, I’m starting early this year!  So you all get to benefit from my craziness.  Come December, you’ll be all, “OMG I’ve got so many gifts to wrap and I don’t know what to do!  Oh, hey, wait, Rachel Robin’s Nest had all these AWESOME gift wrap ideas last month.  My life is so much less stressful now.  Hooray!”  Or at least, that’s what I imagine will happen. I hope.

Anyway, this is a post I found last year on one of my absolute favorite blogs, How About Orange.  Jessica Jones is a graphic designer who does websites, designs fabric, and is also a super awesome craft maven.  I check her blog pretty much every single day.  So inspiring!  In one of her many excellent DIY posts, she shows how to make gift bows out of magazine pages.  I don’t know about you, but I have about a gazillion magazines in my apartment just sitting around taking up space.  This is a great way to a) make something cheap and beautiful for friends and family, and b) reduce, reuse, recycle and help the environment.  Sounds like a win/win situation to me.  Plus, they’re super easy.  Each one took about 20 minutes from start to finish.

DIY Recycled Gift Bows from Magazine Pages (via How About Orange)

Materials:

  • Scissors or paper cutter
  • Magazines
  • Stapler
  • Glue gun or any other sort of glue

Directions:

1.  The first thing I did was go through a magazine and pull out pages with colors or patterns that I really liked.  I found a BUNCH!

2.  Cut your page of choice into 9 strips that are each 3/4″ wide.  Leave the first three strips full length.  Cut 1″ off the next three strips, 2″ off the next 2 strips, and cut that last strip down to 3.5″ long

3.   Starting with the longest strip, fold one end down toward the middle to create a loop.  Fold the other end in the opposite way to create a sort of figure 8 loop, and secure in the center with a staple.  See picture below for clarification!

4.  Repeat Step 3 with each of the longer strips.  Loop the 3.5″ strip into a circle and secure with a dab of glue.  I used Elmer’s for this step

5.  Starting with the biggest 3 loops, layer them together so that the loops are evenly distributed, securing with glue.  I used hot glue for this step because I’m impatient, but I’m sure regular old Elmer’s would work just fine as well.

6.  Continue layering the loops in size order, making sure that they settle nicely, and place the small circle dead center to complete the bow.

I was actually really surprised by how nicely these came out.  I’ve always loved the brightly colored bows with the stickum on the back, but I hate paying for them!  Now I can just make my own!  Next I want to try making some smaller ones for smaller gifts.  I’ll just need to get the proportions right.  When I do, I’ll be sure to post again!

 

Pillow Gift Boxes from Toilet Paper Rolls November 6, 2012

Filed under: Crafts,DIY — raediantphoenix @ 3:32 pm
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Christmas is coming people.  Whether you want to think about it or not, it’s coming.  And it seems like every year it happens earlier and earlier, and I’m less and less prepared for it.  I spend the month of December in a crazed blur of budgeting, gift buying, wrapping, decorating and listening to Christmas music on repeat.  And every year I say “Next year I’m going to start earlier.  I’ll be on top of it and get everything done before Thanksgiving.”  And of course, it never happens.

Until this year.  This is the year my friends.  It’s only the first week of November and I’ve already purchased and wrapped two Christmas gifts, and made or begun making several others.  I feel like I should get an award or something.  Anyway, since Christmas is on my mind, I’m sure it’s on some of your minds as well, so I’m going to share one of my new favorite, eco-friendly wrapping options.  Just start saving your toilet paper rolls now and you’ll be set come December!

Pillow Gift Boxes from Toilet Paper Rolls

Materials:

  • Toilet paper roll(s)
  • Optional decorations: spray paint, washi tape, ribbons, stickers, stamps etc

Directions:

1.  First things first, you’ll want to make sure that your toilet paper roll is relatively free of scraps of toilet paper and glue

2.  Next, decorate however your little heart desires.  I’m a particular fan of washi tape, and I also have this awesome “sterling silver” spray paint that I think would be particularly nice for Christmas.

3.  After your decorations have had ample time to dry, squash your TP roll flat.  Crease the edges well.

Orange washi tape from Target!

4.  Starting on one short side, press the center of the roll down with your thumb so that it curves in toward the middle.  You may need to fuss with it a bit to create an even edge.  Do the same thing on the opposite side, overlapping the resulting panels

5.  Repeat step 4 on the other side of the roll

Pretty silver spray paint and grosgrain ribbon make an elegant presentation

And there you have it!  Easy peasy.  Just wrap your small gift (jewelry, cash, gift card) in some tissue paper, stuff in the box, and tie with a ribbon if desired.  These are so simple, so cheap and so effective!  I’ve been saving toilet paper rolls for months and I’ve been eying some Christmas washi tape, so I can’t wait to get wrapping!

 

Bookcase Makeover July 30, 2012

Filed under: DIY,For the home — raediantphoenix @ 4:17 pm
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Several weeks ago, I published a post on “Upcycling.“  I hope you all have been having fun scouring thrift stores and garbage piles!  Just kidding.  Sort of.

Anyway, I wanted to show you what I’ve done with one of my curbside pickups.  Ben and I picked up this bookcase on the side of the road when we first moved to Boston.  It was covered in some pretty hideous faux wood-grain contact paper, which was beginning to shred and peel all over and look quite sad.

For a while, it lived in the kitchen of our old place, since cabinet and counter space was at a premium.  Then, we moved into our lovely new apartment, and we gave it a place of prominence in our front entryway, holding shoes, purses and other everyday items.  But first, I had to get all that contact paper off.  Boy was that a process.  It took hours.  I broke several nails.  I was sweating like a demon.  But finally, I finished.

For a time, it worked great.

But pretty soon it became apparent that the bookcase was covered in the remnants of the adhesive, and every bit of dust, dirt, or stray hair in our apartment got stuck in it.  Gross.  So I decided it was time to solve the problem once and for all by sanding and painting it.

I got some heavy duty sandpaper and some lighter gauge sand paper, and went over the whole thing.  Once again, it took forever, and I was a sweaty beast by the end, but I finally got all of the adhesive off using a combination of sanding and paint thinner.

Finally, I slapped 2 coats of latex paint on it.  I’ve had this paint forever.  Before I inherited it, it lived in my parents basement forever.  It’s some recycled paint from my good old home state of Vermont, and it turned out to be quite a lovely shade of turquoise-y green, which you can’t really see in the photos.  But it does look a lot better doesn’t it?

The bowl of odds and ends that lives by the door.

Next time you consider discarding an old piece of furniture, think about giving it some new life with a coat or two of paint first!

The finished product

 

 

 
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