InstaThis Turns Photos into Art

 

Not to long ago I was approached by InstaThis to review their wood or acrylic prints.  This was perfect timing on their part because I was just sharing on Sulia how I never know what to do with all my Instagram photos.  Usually there's not enough photos of the same event to create a photo album which leaves me with a bunch of photos hanging out on my computer/phone.  Now I can say I've converted at least one photo into a lovely piece of art thanks to InstaThis.

How InstaThis Works

You can connect with Instagram to upload your photos or upload directly from your computer.  I uploaded an image from my computer.

 My daughter wearing her ewok hat.

Here's a close up of the image I had printed on 10 x 10 birch wood.  InstaThis also gives you the option of printing on acrylic but I thought the warm tones of this picture would play off with the wood texture nicely.  This brings me to an important point, printing on wood will produce slightly different results than printing on paper.  My image came out a little darker which is expected.  That said, I thought the printing quality was very good.

Here's a couple pictures of what the back of the wood looks like.  I like how the edges are beveled to give it a more polished look.  You'll also notice the groove in the back of the wood.  That's for mounting your art.  Each piece comes with mounting hardware that you place in the wall.  Then you just slide the art onto it.

I don't have a picture to share but my print came very nicely and safely packaged.  The print was neatly wrapped up surrounded by paper to cushion it and packed in a sturdy cardboard box.  When I receive a neatly wrapped package, it tells me the sender takes pride in their product.

Thinking of converting some of your Instagram photos into prints?  InstaThis is offering a 15% discount to Zakka Life readers!  Just use the code KAWAII15.  I do not receive any kind monetary compensation or commission from purchased products.

Free Easter Printables

I just realized that I haven't shared one Easter craft tutorial this year.  How did that happen?  I blame that the holiday falls in March this year.  Yes, it has nothing to with poor planning on my part (sarcasm).  Since I don't have a tutorial for you this week, I thought I would share these adorable Easter printables over at Tiny Me.  They're perfect for a little last minute Easter flare.

That bunny monster cracks me up.  What does it have to do with Easter?  I'm not sure but I like it.

Party Origami Giveaway

Today is the official release date of my book Party Origami! Party Origami is a booklet with step-by-step directions for 14 party decorations.  It also comes with 75 sheets of pretty double sided paper.  To celebrate, I thought I would have a little giveaway.

On to the Giveaway. . .one  lucky reader will win Party Origami. To enter, please share the first origami piece you learned to fold. One entry per household. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. The last day to enter the contest is Tuesday, April 2,  2013. I'll announce the winner Wednesday, April 3, 2013 on this post. If I do not hear back from the winner after two weeks, I will choose a new winner. Open to everyone.  International friends welcome :)

Contest Closed

Congratulations to Fashion Lights who is the winner of Party Origami!

Thank you to everyone who entered.  I was surprised to learn many of you learned to fold either a crane or boat as your first origami piece.  For those curious, the first thing I learned to fold was a cootie catcher. 

DIY Mini Paper Chain

I never tire of the humble paper chain.  It's simple, classic, versatile and in my opinion quite charming.  When I look at it, memories of countdown chains from childhood come to mind.  As a tribute to this humble craft, I decided to make a mini version of it.

This craft is pretty self explanatory so I'm not going to write a detailed tutorial but I will share a couple tips.

1.  When making a tiny chain you will want to use a paper that is light weight and flexible.  Card stock is too heavy and will kink when you bend the paper into loops.

2.  Instead of glue, I found washi tape works best for securing each ring.  This way you don't have to wait for the glue to dry or worry about part of the chain popping open.  For the washi tape, I recommend choosing a color that blends in with your paper. 

A few ideas of what to do with your paper chains:

• decorate a dollhouse
• use it in a mixed media art project
• hang it around the edges of pictures on a bulletin board or inspiration board

DIY Card Keepsake

I'm one of those people who have trouble getting rid of cards.  I swear I'm not a pack rat, just sentimental.  I feel like if someone took the time to write something thoughtful in a card or make the card, it's worth saving.  The obvious downside to this is keeping all the cards nice and orderly.  Currently I have them stashed away in a hope chest along with a couple other places.  But soon they will all be neatly organized thanks to a simple card keepsake tutorial I found on Kayla Danelle's blog.  I've already started organizing the cards.  Pictured above are some birthday cards I put together.

As suggested by Kayla, I decorated some chip board for the cover of the cards. I tried to keep the cover relatively simple. I made a little origami cupcake to decorate the front.  I purchased the metal rings at Staples.  I couldn't find them at any of the craft stores.

Here's a cover I made for all the cards my husband gives me.  For the cover I used some paper from the wagashi packaging.  The tan paper is mulberry paper and the gold loop/knot is made out of mizuihiki cord.  As you can guess, that's a wedding picture of my husband and I.

Craft: Clothespin Easel

If you have a Pinterest account, you've probably seen myriad inspirational and funny quotes come through your feed.   My question has always been what to do with them?  Do I save them in a file to read when I need a little inspiration?  Do I share them on my social media accounts?  Maybe I select a few to make into posters?  Well I finally came up with an answer: display the signs on a miniature clothespin easel.  This way I can rotate the signs and keep them at my desk without taking up too much space. 

Want to make your own miniature sign display?  Directions below.

Supplies:
2 Clothespins
Cardstock
E6000 Glue
Glue Dots

1.  Take apart clothespin.  Save spring for another craft project.

2.  Glue clothespin together. 

3.  Use another clothespin to hold it in place while it dries.  Remove clothespin once dry.

4.  Cut a piece or cardstock to measure 2" x 2 1/2".

5.  Score two lines at the bottom and fold to make a ledge.

6.  Using glue dots, attach cardstock to clothespin.  I like to use glue dots because they don't warp the paper or leave any marks.

7.  Print out a sign to display.  You may have to scale the sign to make it fit your easel.  The sign above comes from the blog Thirty Handmade Days, click here for poster.

What's your favorite crafty or inspirational quote?  Please share in the comments.

Finding Vivian Maier

A few years back you may recall the surprising discovery of the street photography artist, Vivian Maier by John Maloof.  John Maloof purchased a box of photo negatives in an auction that he planned on using for a book he was creating.  What he discovered was a collection of never seen photos by an unknown artist, Vivian Maier.   After publishing some of the images on a Flickr page and his blog, the photos quickly went viral.  From there, exhibitions of her work were being shown all over the world. Unfortunately, Vivian passed away before her photographs became publicly praised.

Just about a month ago the trailer was released for Finding Vivian Maier, a documentary about John Moloof's discovery and Vivain's secret life.  I find the whole story so fascinating.  What did you think of it? There's no date set when the film will be released but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's soon.  To learn more, visit the Vivian Maier site.

Pretty Origami Bunny Envelopes

I was looking for a little Easter origami inspiration when I stumbled upon a tutorial for these cute bunny envelopes by Paper Kawaii.   They're the perfect detail to attach to an Easter basket or any spring gift.  They fold up in about five minutes or less once you get the directions down.  Hop on over to Paper Kawaii for the full instructions.

Here's what the envelope looks like when opened.  I used 6" x 6" paper which will fold down to roughly a 3" x 2" envelope.  The paper I used is from my book, Party Origami.

Craft: Felt Macaron Hairclips

Don't you just love macarons?  They're sweet, pretty and oh so delicate.   I probably could eat a whole plate of them if I had the chance.  Today I'm whipping up a pretty batch with zero calories.  Use them for pins or hairclips.

Supplies:
Felt - white and purple
Embroidery thread - purple
Sewing needle
Scissors

Click on image twice, right click on image, copy, paste and print.  Cut out each piece on the lines.  Pin to fabric and cut out all pieces in purple felt except the white filling template. 

1.  Place back tab on the back piece.  Sew where you see the dotted lines.  This will be the tab for you to slip a hairclip on.  Once done, flip piece over.

2.  Place the white filling on the top of the back piece.  Next place the top piece over the white filling.  Last place the bottom piece on the white filling.  You may have to do a little trimming to get your pieces to match up.

3.  Pull out two strings from one strand of embroidery thread.  Sew around the edges of the macaron (refer to picture).  Make sure to hide all knots underneath the top layer.

4.  Using one whole embroidery thread strand, sew the rest of the macaron (refer to picture above) onto the white filling only.

The left side of the picture is what the back of your macaron will look like when finished.  All you need to do is slide a hair clip onto it. 

Advanced Style

First off, sorry the posts have been so sparse this week.  I've got two words for you, "stomach flu".   It has taken over our house and turned it upside down.  Thankfully, we're all feeling better now.  Now onto something more uplifting!

About a month ago I discovered the most amazing site called Advanced Style by Ari Seth Cohen.  In Ari's own words the site is about:

I roam the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks. Respect your elders and let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life to the fullest. Advanced Style offers proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age.

I personally love how this site is a celebration of the gracefully aging woman. You won't find any talk about plastic surgery or body size here.  Instead you will discover an uplifting site about woman and fashion.  If you ask me, we need more blogs like this.

Besides the blog, Ari has produced the documentary titled Advanced Style.  Please take a look and tell me what you think.  Enjoy.

Free Printable: Easter Bunting

If you haven't checked your calendar yet, Easter fall on March 31st which means that's it's less than a month away!  To get a head start on decorations, Paper Coterie is offering this cute Easter bunting for free.  You can get the free download on their site.

 

Crayola Ultimate Easter Basket Giveaway

Crayola sent me some of their products along with a $25 Michael's gift card to make the ultimate Easter basket.  Here's a little bit about how I crafted up the basket pictured above:

I purchased the white basket at Michaels and it came with a fabric liner.  I decided I wanted to have a knit liner instead.  I knit the liner in the round with a knit 2 purl 2 pattern.  Once it was the desired length for the outside of the basket, I placed half the stitches on a separate needle and knit those stitches until I had the desired length for the inside and bound off the stitches.  I repeated the process for the remaining stitches.  This allowed me to fold the liner down around the handle.

I had this idea of a scaled back yarn bombed basket so I knit a rectangle ribbed piece in the same pattern and sewed it to the handle. 

Since I have two kids and hide their baskets, I always like to make a name tag.  In the past I've printed out labels but this time I decided to sew a hand-stitched felt tag.  I also added a couple pom poms with some extra yarn to make it more fun.  For the back of the tag I sewed on a pin so the tag could be taken off the basket. 

Now, you probably want to know about the giveaway part, here goes. . .

One lucky winner will receive a Crayola Prize Pack with the following items:

Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles Big Wand

• Using the Big Wand, Kids can create massive bubbles in bright colors like “purple pizzazz” and “fuchsia,” to chase, catch and pop

Crayola Crayons

• Crayola Crayons include the colors generations have grown up with.
• Crayola Crayons are designed with a focus on true color, smoothness, and durability.

Crayola Color Wonder

• Crayola Color Wonder markers only appear on the special Color Wonder paper, so kids can have mess-free fun whenever, wherever and moms don’t have to worry about color showing up where it shouldn’t.

Crayola Chalk

• Crayola sidewalk chalk creates big outdoor art with the ONLY sidewalk chalk in bright, bold Crayola crayon colors!

A $25 Michael's Gift Card

To Enter:  Please leave a comment sharing what you would put in your ultimate Easter basket.  One entry per household.  Open to US residents only.  Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. The last day to enter the contest is Sunday, March 3 2013. I'll announce the winner Monday, March 4 2013 on this post. If I do not hear back from the winner after two weeks, I will choose a new winner.  Open to US residents only.

Disclosure:  The Crayola product, gift card, information about the Crayola product, and additional gift pack have been provided by Crayola

Contest Closed 

Ccongratulations to Genevieve who is the winner of the Crayola Prize Pack Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest.