Friday, January 18, 2013

Easy Pinterest Craft: DIY Braided Bead Bracelets


Last week I talked about how we finally made Christmas cards. We decided to be super cheesy and make friendship bracelets. We didn't want to do the traditional macrame kind; we wanted something chic and wearable so we set off to Pinterest to look for some. 

We ended up choosing  this bracelet tutorial! It's an easy to follow tutorial with plenty of room to add your own touch to the bracelets. We used different clasps and different sized beads to mix things up, but other than that we stuck to the tutorial pretty closely. 

Ai also taught me a neat trick for when you have to do braids! To keep everything taut, you use a chip clip and clip the strings to the cover of a hardback book. It really did make the braiding go a lot smoother. 

I really love gold and black together! 

We ended up fixing the ends of the bracelets up near the clasp by cutting them short and sealing them with hot glue.

I really love how Ai did this! She used bigger beads on the end instead of braiding.

These bracelets were really fun and easy to make, so we hope you go out and make some of your own! Remember to have fun and experiment to really make them unique! Happy crafting everyone! ♥  

Friday, January 11, 2013

Christmas Cards


So Ai and I have been on a bit of a hiatus! But we're back and hope that everyone is having a great start to the new year! We were so excited this holiday season because we finally got around to making Christmas cards. It's something that has been on our to-do list for years and we're happy to report that the cards came out wonderful and that we actually sent them out on time! 

We kept the cards simple because we got a little carried away with buying festive card stock  I suggest investing in some because one booklet will definitely last you for years and I think they make excellent backgrounds. Another great tool we discovered for making perfect cards is a scoring board! We did get the Martha Stewart one, but only because it was on sale at Michaels! But don't fret if you don't want to shell out the money for one. A neat trick is to just use a ballpoint pen that no longer has any ink and a ruler. Just be sure to go over the line a few times if you're using a thicker card stock.

We decided to stick with two basic themes for our cards to make the work go by quicker. Ai made adorable little snowmen and I made snowflakes. We used ribbon and rhinestones for embellishments and attached them using hot glue.

All the cards! We even made envelopes using whole sheets of the Christmas card stock! 

We were obsessed with the glittery card  stock and put it on everything! 

Ai used ribbon to make scarves and bows for the snowmen! 

I didn't really use any patterns for the snowflakes, I just decided to have fun with it! But if you're looking for patterns, I know that Pinterest has a bunch!



That's all for this week folks! I hope you'll be inspired to make your own Christmas cards this year! We want to wish all of you a happy year full of crafting, delicious desserts, and lots of fun! ♥