diy luggage tags

Luggage tags and baker's twine seem to be invading every arts and crafts store. All over Etsy and all over Pinterest, so you know me, I'm all about it. The tags aren't being used for luggage and the twine isn't being used for baking. Makes total sense, right? Anyway:

They are the perfect addition for gifts, and when you make your own, you have so much more room to tailor them to what your using them for. The kind you can buy are plain and bland, and the kind you can make are unique and fun. Also, if you want to use your computer to print out something on them beforehand, you can do that. With pre-made luggage tags, it would be significantly more difficult to put them through a printer (trust me I've been there, done that). Plus, luggage tags are not exactly cheap to purchase... you can make them yourself for little to nothing.

Plus, they are cheaper, cuter, and quick to make. No complaints here.

What You'll Need

+ Cutting Mat
+ Scissors
+ 1/4" Hole Punch
+ Exacto Knife
+ Pen/Pencil
+ Ruler (Preferably Metal)
+ Twine or String
+ Circular Sticker Reinforcements
+ Heavier Weight Scrap Paper

1. Trace. I've found that the easiest way to start is by using a luggage tag that you like (this one is 4"x2"). Trace the shape onto the paper you want to use. Use a pencil. If you must use a pen make sure to leave a little space so that your pen marks don't show on the final product.

2. Cut. Use an Exacto Knife and a ruler to cut the edges on your new tag. For the diagonal sides, I just use scissors because they are such a small length that it's easy to cut them straight.

3. Punch. With the template tag on top of your new tag, using a 1/4" hole punch, punch the hole in the same place as the template. That takes out the time it would take for you to measure out the spacing for the hole to make it centered. (If you are creating a shape that you don't have a template for, I would suggest measuring where the hole would go so you have a perfect template you could use for the rest of the tags).

4. Add the Reinforcements. Apply a reinforcement around the hole you just made. Don't forget to put one on the back! (You'll probably be left with the center part of the hole on the sticker sheet, you won't be needing that!)

I bought my reinforcements here (they have a gorgeous gold option, a pretty mint, and a charcoal grey.) I love all of their craft making and party supplies.

5. Measure. Measure out the size of the twine you want to use. I found that 10" is a good length to be able to fold in half and stick through the tag. When you secure it and tie the end knot, you'll lose a little of the length. You can also just wing the size and figure it out as you go. If you want to stick it on a gift, you may not even need twine because you could just stick it through the ribbon your using on the gift.

6. Add the Twine. Fold the twine in half, stick it through the hole, and pull the twine through the loop you created. Then, just tie it at the end.

I bought my twine here, but they also sell plenty of options on Etsy.

7. Personalize. Write whatever you want on the tag and viola! Once you make one, you'll get the hang of it and you can prepare yourself for everyone asking you where you found them.

diy floral crowns

Nothing is better than fresh flowers making your apartment smell like Lilies and Baby's Breath. Actually, the only thing that's better than that are floral crowns. Homemade and modeled with laughter and joy by your closest girlfriends on a random Sunday night.

Pinterest has been blowing these things up. Trendy and "hipster" weddings always unquestionably have them atop the brides head. And people like me insist on wearing them in their college graduation announcements (hence the photo to the right). I will shamelessly admit that I love this trend. They are the perfect mix of girly and vibrant and effortlessness and spunk. And lets be honest, people wear hats and beanies and weird visors on their head all the time, wouldn't the world be so much happier if just we wore flowers instead? Amen to that.

I would say these are fairly painless and easy to make. My friends would laugh because they think I always say that about crafty things. But really. If you like hands-on artsy projects and flowers and perhaps Pinterest, this ones for you.


Flower crowns are the perfect craft to do with girlfriends or at a low-key Bachelorette party. I could totally see them being worn while walking around a beach town. And you know what, if you have a pocket full of confidence you could probably wear one of these just about anywhere. And well, when it comes to paying whatever ample amount of money it costs for someone else to make one, that's just plain ridiculous. Spend a little on supplies and buy some flowers from the market and you're good to go. Make one yourself, dangett.

Here's how:

Step 1: Get some pretty flowers. Easy enough, right? If you get a variety of types of flowers that mesh well together, they'll work perfect. I like to use Baby's Breath as a base, but if you have greenery or something more basic that would work too.

Step 2: (Top Middle) Gather all the things you need. I use (1) green floral tape, (2) a thicker wire that's easily able to mold, if you can find a green colored one you can skip a step, (3) thin green floral wire, (4) scissors, and (5) pretty flowers.

Step 3: (Top Right) Mold the thicker wire to a circle that would fit on top of your head and twist the ends to stay put. I make the wire so that it's a little bigger than your head, so when you put the flowers on it doesn't look too small. If you have green wire, great! If not, use green floral tape to cover the whole thing. Since I had a brown, copper  thick wire, I used the green floral tape to cover it completely so that just in case the base wire showed at all, it was green not brown. This step is totally up to you, it isn't always necessary depending on how many flowers you put around the crown.

Step 4: (Bottom Left) Wrap the base layer of Baby's Breath (or any greenery of your choice) around the entire wire head piece using thin floral wire. Cut pieces of floral wire about 2 inches long and wrap it around the stem of the flowers to hold them to the base wire. Make it so that they cover a considerable amount of the head piece, but gaps are okay as well, you'll fill those in later. Make sure to cut off any excess stem that pokes out. This part takes the most time, but once you get the hang of it, it goes by quick and you'll learn tips as you go to speed up time.

Step 5: (Bottom Middle) Once you are done with the base, cut off pieces of your main flowers so that there is just a few inches of stem. Eliminate unnecessary leaves, cause you won't want leaves like crazy, just a couple at the top are good. Then, in the same way that you did the base layer, fill in gaps and stick the flowers where you feel they fit well. This is where your own style and aesthetic comes in. Play around with how many you put, how dense the piece becomes, and how spread apart the flowers are. I find it hard to believe that you can screw this up, if you use the right method it will look beautiful.

Step 6: I added in three deep purple lilies to make it feel more classy and unique, I tend to really love when there are focal points of flower crowns, so these were mine. But the fun part about making this yourself, if you can make it however you want and keep playing with it until you are in love with it... and until you can force your girlfriends to model it for you.

Happy Monday!

diy watercolor flowers

Well, lately my boss and her creativity has been blowing my mind. She makes these watercolor creations that she claims are simple yet they somehow look so intentional and complicated. Reminiscent of Rifle Paper Co. and the rad water color wedding invitations that are flooding Pinterest these days, my jaw just always dropped when I saw the kind of stuff she made seemingly so quickly.

This basically forced me to drive myself to Joanns and buy my first set of watercolors, some new brushes, and some more Micron pens. I was just plain determined to learn how to watercolor. Then, to my surprise, I found that the result came with a lot of people asking how I did it. It's amazing what watching The Blind Side and water coloring on a rainy day can do, it worked miracles I tell you. I may not be Rifle Paper Co., but hey, watercolors and black pens can make some pretty beautiful stuff. You could use this style on homemade birthday cards or calligraphy quotes to put in cute frames. I could see it on invitations or recipe cards. The ideas are endless. While the steps might sound too simple to produce this kind of result, it really is simple and once you get the hang of it, you can alter it and gear it to your own personal style.

Supplies you'll need
> Watercolor Paper
> Watercolor Paints
> .1 or .3 Micron Pens (or any thin art pens)
> Water cup
> A good paint brush (cheap ones will end up 
shedding all in the paint)
> A paper towel to wipe off the brush occasionally with

Step 1 (below): Create basic shapes in the form that you want. In terms of the forms, one time, I used the edge of the paper to create an L shape corner. Another time, I did a curved upward shape and a curved downward shape to frame a quote I wrote out in calligraphy. Then, as shown in this example, I created a wreath of sorts. In terms of the shapes you create to make up the form, circles are what I stuck with mainly. That, and a basic leaf shape. Add in some lines and some creative leaves. Then throw in some "x" shapes for flowers and you are set. Print out my example and copy it if you need to. Feel free to make up some as you go for fun. Also, looking at pictures of leaves online and simplifying photographs of flowers I found on Google helped me out as well.

Step 2: Once you have created some watercolor designs like these, you can move on to pen. Micron pens are my favorite. Cheap pens may bleed over the work, so be warned; art pens are definitely preferred. Also, the skinnier the tip on the pen the better (.1 or .3 Micron pens are my favorite to use). I found that using thicker Micron pens takes away the delicate look that I was going for. If you look closely at the photo at the top, you can see where I used the thicker pen at. My thin Micron pen died because I got too excited and did not wait long enough for the watercolor to dry. Oy vey.

Don't make the same mistake I did... make sure the watercolor is dry first. If not, your pen will dry out quickly. And these pens are expensive, so wait 10-20 minutes to be safe before you start using the ink on the watercolor design.

When you are ready, draw the dots in the middle of the circle flowers, trace over the lines you draw and make the leaves look like leaves by drawing some stems and veins in them. Stick with really simple lines and make sure to detail every one of the watercolor designs you draw. That will help with consistency.

Step 3: Keep at it. If you aren't happy with the look of your floral watercolor creation, try again. If you feel like there aren't enough flowers, make more. If you don't like the colors you chose, start over and try new ones. This is just the starting point, the end point is totally up to you.

The end result, scanned into Photoshop and stuck into a frame for my best friends birthday. Mission accomplished.