Tag Archives: DIY

For the Makers Ophelia Collection

March 6, 2014What I madeDIY, DIY beeswax sachet, DIY jewelry, DIY kits, For the Makers Ophelia reviewpacificnorthwestpear

This month’s For the Makers box was called the Ophelia Collection. It consisted of two jewelry projects, a hair tie, and a beeswax sachet.

The jewelry and hair tie projects took me maybe 45 minutes to complete (mostly just trying to tie a knot for the tiny ring without the beads going everywhere.) The sachet was pretty fast as well but ended up partially ruining my melting pot I use for candle-making.

Finished Jewelry pieces

The first jewelry project was a pair of earrings with a small green jewel hanging at the end. The only thing you need to do is fasten the jewel in the setting then attach it to the findings. I struggled with one of the settings because the jewel wouldn’t sit flat.

The ring was simple to string together, but I could NOT get that knot to tie without a ton of frustration. Also, I used all of the beads and it is still pretty tight on my middle finger where I want to wear it. (It does not fit a size 7 as suggested.)

Hair Tie

This was just a regular hair holder, a length of cord, and a crimp bead that needed tightening. I doubt I’ll ever wear this in my hair because the crimp bead has rough edges and would likely catch and snag my hair. I already have fine hair to begin with so I don’t want to tear it.

Beeswax Sachet

This was an unexpected delight. I put off making this because it needed a bunch of supplies that were difficult to gather and I didn’t have a rectangular cookie cutter like they used. In fact the only metal cookie cutter I had was this squirrel shape. (Who knows.) But it ended up turning out really cute! Unfortunately the beeswax stuck to the sides of my melting container I use for candle-making and even boiling water in it several times and trying to rinse it out barely worked. There is still residue near the top. Who knew beeswax would stick so bad. Paraffin and soy come off cleanly.

Overall I was a little dissapointed in this kit because the jewelry projects were super simple and the supplies seemed really cheap for what I paid. The sachet turned out really cute but didn’t really make up for the cheap jewelry and hair accessory. I hope next month has some more involved projects.

For anyone interested in signing up, you can learn more here.

Paper Pumpkin February

March 6, 2014What I madecraft projects, DIY, DIY gift bags, Paper Pumpkin February, Paper pumpkin reviewpacificnorthwestpear

I enjoyed February’s Paper Pumpkin since it was a departure from just cards. This month it was supplies to make 5 gift bags with your choice of lettering. I only made 2 so far because I wasn’t sure what I’d want the others to say. (Maybe I’ll give a personalized gift to someone and will want to spell their name.)

What I got:

It came with two round texture stamps, an ink pad, tiny wooden clothespins, ribbon for the handles, 5 bags, cutout circles, raised stickers, and letters.

The Finished Product

I decided to go with “hello” since it was generic enough to give to anyone. I like the polka dot texture but did another with the stripe texture spelling out my husband’s name. (I figure I’ll probably give him a small gift at some point.)

Overall I think this month was probably worth the $20 subscription fee. I’ll see what the March kit brings.

Paper Pumpkin January review

January 19, 2014What I madecard making, DIY, Paper pumpkin review, stamping projectpacificnorthwestpear

This month’s paper pumpkin arrived and I think it was my favorite so far. This month, they sent a bunch of supplies to make Valentines but it was much more of a “use your own creativity” project than the last ones hand been because you could mix and match any of the supplies to create some different cards.

The supplies:

The suggestions:

I ended up spending about 45 minutes working on these, because I was playing around with the different stickers and stamps to see what could be done. I really enjoyed this months project.

Here are the finished cards: