The Crafty Lawyer

First post in years! I’ll try to be better! : ) 

The Mr. and I recently went to Japan on vacation! It was unreal – Japan is somehow both old and new, fast-paced and slow, chaotic and zen. Oh, and it is GORGEOUS (just google fall in Japan)!

We brought back souvenirs for friends and family but I wanted jazz up the gift wrapping (and give me something to do at 3am because I was so jetlagged). I got some kraft gift bags from Hobby Lobby and pulled out the Pitt Artist Pens set that my awesome boss had given me on my birthday and got to work on these gift bags!

Here’s what you’ll need:

- Kraft paper gift bags 

- Non-bleeding pens (I used the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens in sizes F, S, and XS)

Steps

Pen and ink looks harder than it is! Simply draw an outline of the flowers and draw shadows at the center and edges of each petal. 

Some other designs using the same technique: 

I’m [finally!] back to blogging!! It’s been an awfully long time sincemy last post so I have an extra special DIY tutorial!

For my engagement photo shoot, I wanted to wear a formal dress. Since I’m conscious about wearing modest clothing, I wanted to find something that was long, had long sleeves, didn’t have a low neckline, but was still cute! The good news: I found loads of dresses I fell in love with. The bad news: They were all in the $400+ range :( Being a true DIY-er, though, I pulled out my sewing machine and decided to embark on a self-imposedproject runway challenge.

For anyone who has ever sewn sleeves, it is an utter pain. So I didn’t want to waste time trying to perfect something I know I was terrible at. Instead, I purchased an inexpensive shirt and sewed a skirt onto the shirt itself. And it turned out better than I expected! What do you think? PS: That’s Mr. Crafty Lawyer : )

Here’s what you’ll need:

- A fitted shirt or a crop top ($15 from Forever 21)

- Fabric for the skirt- yardage depends on how full you want the skirt ($25 from Hancock Fabric (I used about 2 yds))

- (Optional) Lining fabric for the skirt ($5 from Hancock Fabric)

- Sewing machine

A few notes:

- I haven’t been able to find my camera charger so forgive me for not taking pictures in progress (but I think figures are more helpful for this tutorial)

- The shirt you use shouldn’t be flimsy since you’re going to sew the skirt onto the shirt itself and it has to be able to support the weight of the skirt. The shirt also has to be elastic so it cinches at the waist and doesn’t look like a tent in the end. I suggest getting a shirt one size down.

- If the skirt is heavy and pulls on the shirt too much, add a strong elastic (1.5-2 in wide). My skirt was quite heavy because of the fabric I used so I did have to attach an elastic. Here’s a great tutorial for sewing elastic bands (I used the second technique she shows).

- All of the photos are taken by the extremely talented Roger Zhang. If you’re in Houston, contact him because he is AMAZING (and hilarious!) : ) The engagement pictures he took were even better than our actual wedding ones!

Steps

1) Cut the shirt or crop top 1 inch below where you will attach the shirt to the skirt. Measure the waist portion (gray line) of the shirt. My shirt was about 11 inches across.

2) Fold the fabric for the skirt in half. Cut the fabric in a simple A-line pattern according to the following measurements:  

- The top must at least 2-3 inches wider than the shirt measurement you took in step 1. Since my shirt was 11 inches across, my skirt was 14 inches across at the top.

- The bottom measurement determines how full your skirt is going to be. Mine was about 46 inches.  

- For the length of the skirt, measure the length from the point at which you will attach the skirt to the shirt to the floor (or longer if wearing heels) + 1-2 inches seam allowance. I’m 5’5” so mine was about 43 in + 1 inch seam allowance.

3) Sew the sides of the skirt. (Optional) Do step 2 for the lining and attach it to the skirt.

4) Flip the skirt inside out. Leaving the shirt right side up but turned upside down, place the shirt inside the skirt and line up the raw edges. Notice the circumference of the skirt is larger than the shirt.

5) Using 2 pins, pin the sides of the skirt to the shirt. Then using 2 more pins, pin the front and back together. If you were to hold the skirt/shirt combination and look down from the top, this is what it should look like:

6) Turn on your sewing machine! Pull on the waist portion of the shirt a little bit (this is why the shirt must be elastic) until it lays flat against the skirt. Sew in a straight line around the entire skirt, making sure you pull on the shirt so that when you’ve sewed a portion and let go, both the shirt and skirt scrunch up.

7) Hem the skirt and you're done!

I also had to include this gem of a picture where we both look like the epitome of grace and elegance, lol!

This has to be one of the coolest recycling projects I’ve ever done. Got a few fused light bulbs? Save them! In addition to becoming antiques soon, you can turn them into adorable decorative pieces that look like pears! 

PS: my Decorative Succulent Terrarium is still alive! 

Here’s what I did: 

What you’ll need:

- Light bulb

- String/twine/yarn/etc. (I had some pink yarn on hand)

- Twig

- Glue gun

- White glue

Steps:

1) Add a little dollop of glue using the glue gun and quickly place the twig in the center. 

  2) Tie the yarn to the very bottom of the twig. Add white glue to the rest of the bulb and begin wrapping the bulb with the yarn, making sure no part of the blub is exposed.

3) As you get to the bottom, use more glue to keep the yarn in place since it will get harder to cover it.  

4) Finish wrapping the bulb and cut off the excess yarn.

4) Ta da! 

I probably killed at least 5 basil plants before giving up on the whole ‘indoor garden’ thing. If you have committed similar flora-homicides before, a terrarium is for you! I’m determined to keep this one alive (and it really helps that it needs to be watered only once every 2-3 weeks).

But first, check out my awesome polka dotted mug—isn’t it adorable? I bought a wide mouth mug from Target, and painted polka dots on it using gold acrylic paint (if you’re going to wash the mug, use glass paint).

Warning: this is one of those projects that looks much easier to do than actually doing it—freehanding circles is a pain and doing it in paint is even harder. If I were to do it again, I’d use a gold leafing pen. Regardless, I’m happy with how it turned out!

What you’ll need:

- Succulents ($2.50 each from H-E-B) I suggest buying an odd number (usually, from a decorative standpoint, odd number of things look more balanced).

- Mug ($3 from Target)

- Gloves

Steps:

1) Remove the succulents from the plastic container and remove any excess fertilizer without injuring the roots. 

2) Carefully place succulents into the mug and add the excess fertilizer to fill any gaps. 

3) Ta da! I love the way our coffee table looks! 

I’m baaaaack! Isn’t the beginning of a school semester wonderful? Filled with so much energy and hope and crafty ideas churning in my head—all of which will knowingly be crushed by the bagillion and one things I have to do before graduating from law school (has it been 3 years already?)! But until then, I have quite a few tutorials lined up!

I'm sure this isn't a reminder but, Valentine’s Day is around the corner! I’ve made hubsy promise not to look at my blog until after Vday so hopefully this will stay a surprise!

To spruce up gift giving, I googled a few creative giftwrapping ideas--there are so many (look below!). Here's my favorite: 

   What you need:

Red wrapping paper ($3 from Target)

Xacto knife ($10 from Hobby Lobby)

Decorative scrapbooking paper ($.79 from Michaels)

Adhesive tape

Tape

Scissors

  Steps:

1) Measure the amount of giftwrap you think you will need to cover the present and cut it to size. Using an xacto knife, cut evenly spaced out half-hearts. I outlined the heart with pencil so you could see it in the pic--don't actually draw it unless you want to spend time erasing it all!

 2) Using adhesive tape, glue small pieces of scrapbooking paper (I chose a sparkly white one but it looks white in the picture) to the backside of the half-hearts. Alternatively, you could wrap the gift with a white giftwrap, and then wrap it again with the red one.

3) Wrap the present and fold open the half-hearts. Doesn’t this beat regular giftwrap? :)

Happy Crafting, Ya’ll!  : ) 

Other creative giftwrapping ideas:

It's been MONTHS since I've updated this blog! I was busy with school, finals, clerking at a law firm, clerking with a judge, fasting during Ramadan (PS: Ramadan Mubarak yall!), and oh yeah, I had my nikkah (aka I got MARRIED!!)!!! :D :D Since the shaadi (reception) will be later, I have tons of time for...WEDDING CRAFTS! So exciting! :D I don't know how many tutorials I'll be able to do, but definitely watch out for pics of DIY wedding ideas post shaadi, iA :)

Until then, we begin with the solution of all those wonderful wedding cards you get, yet have no idea what to do with after--make a wedding card album, of course! It's easy, and best of all, I had all the supplies at home (and chances are, you will too!)!

Supplies

- Scrapbooking paper ($.20 from Michaels--previously brought)

- Thin cardboard (I used the back of an old spiral--free!)

- Book rings ($4 from Target--previously bought)

- Glue/glue stick

- Hole puncher (single one works!)

- Scissors

- Ribbon (optional)

- Letter stickers (optional) 

Total: $0! 

Steps:

1) Using the largest card in the bunch as a template, cut 2 pieces of cardboard about 1/4 inch more than the card's perimeter. You should have 2 slightly large cardboard panels (a front and a back) for your album. Then, cut a piece of scrapbooking paper to the exact size of the panels and glue it on top of the cardboard. 

2) You can do anything to decorate the front panel! I used letter stickers and some scrap scrapbooking paper to create a "title". Check out these other designs: Something Turquoise,  Inklings and Yarns, & Sunshine Cupcakes. 

3) Making sure they are all centered, punch holes through all the cards as well as the front and back panels. 

4) For added security (and because it looks cute!), glue a long piece of ribbon to the back panel, making sure it is centered. This will be used to tie the album together. 

5) Use the book rings to thread together all of the cards, the front and the back panel. 

6) Tie the ribbon and you're done! 

Tips:

1) I always find really cheap letter stickers by going to the clearence aisle at any craft store! They're usually around $.50!

2) After using letter stickers for the first two times, it seems like I'm always left with random letters that can't possibly be used to make any meaningful words (why don't ever they include enough vowels??). No worries, you can cut/combine letters! I cut a "d" down to make an "a" and combined an "l" and "n" together to make the "h" in "Nikkah"--I bet you couldn't tell (until now)! :)

3) Use this for all occasions--birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, etc! 

If you ever hit a creative wall with decor, go to Ikea! I went there recently and saw this beautiful pendant lamp. It looks like the flowers ought to be made of metal but upon closer inspection, they're are actually made of coated paper. That inspired me to make some VERY CHEAP wall art using regular computer paper! What do you think?

Supplies:

- Computer paper (don't use thick paper like cardstock because it won't curl well) 

- Scissors

- Hot glue gun (optional)

- Pushpins 

Steps:

1) Fold a sheet of computer paper a couple of times. 

2) Draw a flower on the folded paper like below. This is going to be your stencil. It doesn't have to be perfect since we're going to curl the edges. 

3) Cut out the flower stencil. Since I folded the paper twice, I got a total of 4 flowers out of each sheet of paper. I decided to make a few stencils of different sizes because I didn't want all of the flowers to look exactly the same. Either way, follow the above steps until you've got enough flowers. 

4) Curl all of the petals by rolling the petals inwards and letting it go. 

5) Using the hot glue gun, glue the pushpin to the back. I didn't want the pushpin to show so I decided to glue it to the back. Alternatively, you can choose to attach the flower to the wall using a pushpin on the front so the top of the pushpin does show and acts as the center of the flower. 

6) Push the flower pushpin into the wall by applying pressure on the pushpin itself. Do the same with other flowers.

7) Voila! You'll have a wall full of cherry blossoms! It kind of reminds me of Mulan :) 

After painting my bathroom, it looked better, but it needed something more. So I decided to stencil a wall with pearl paint so that you can only see the stenciling when light shines on it! And I made a DIY light fixture (below) + DIY covering for the outlets (which I might change out bc I don't know if I like the black print). 

Supplies (Wall Stenciling)

- Martha Stewart Pearl Paint in "Mother of Pearl" ($2 x 2 bottles from Michaels)

- Stencil ($10 from Michaels)

- Stencil Adhesive Spray ($6 from Michaels)

- Foam brushes ($1 x 3 from Michaels)

- Ruler

- Level (Free if you download an app!)

- Small paintbrush (optional)

Supplies (DIY lighting)

- Japanese lantern ($5 at Michaels)

- Mini cupcake cups ($2 x 2 at Hobby Lobby)

- Glue gun 

Steps:

1) Wipe down your painted wall with a damp cloth and allow to dry. 

2) Decide on the placement of your stencils--I calculated it so that I had one line of pattern every 13 1/8 inches for a total of 7 lines of pattern. Since I didn't have a ruler that was bigger than 12 inches, I used a scrap piece of wood, made a little mark that was 13 1/8 inches long, then used a level app to make teeny marks on the wall. Then, connect those dots to form 7 lines. 

2) Spray the back of the stencil with adhesive spray (it makes it tacky and stick to the wall) and line it up with the marks on the wall you just made. Paint away!

The kind of stencil I had had overlapping patterns, which meant I had to paint all 7 columns with stencil A, then overlap it with stencil B to create a more detailed finished design. 

3) Done! Either erase the pencil marks (if you can) or paint over them using the wall paint with a tiny little paint brush (which is what I did). I can't get over how awesome pearl paint looks!! Do you see the gradient effect? :D :D :D

4) For the DIY lighting fixture, I simply glued mini cupcake cups to a japanese lantern and hung it onto the exposed bulb! So easy and it looks awesome! 

I LOWE MY BATHROOM NOW! :D

Hello lovelies! It's been a while! Winter break is almost ending (nooooooooo!) so I thought I should finally update with my latest project--fixing up my bathroom at home! I LOVE LOVE LOVE home improvement. And doing it myself. Duh. What do yall think of the before and after? 

Back in 2001 when we bought our house, I picked this baby blue wallpaper for my bathroom which I quickly realized was meant for a nursery. For a little boy. Hey, I was 12, didn't care much about design and just thought it was a pretty color. Anyways, it was time for the wallpaper to go.

Supplies:

- Wallpaper Scorer + Stripping Solution + Wallpaper Scraper ($25 at Home Depot)

- Sandpaper ($3 at Home Depot)

- Putty (optional) ($7 at Home Depot)

- Paint (FYI I got Behr Paint + Primer in "Pewter Mug" ($35 at Home Depot)

- Paint Rollers + Brushes + Pan ($10 at Home Depot)

- Painters/Masking Tape ($3)

Total: $83 (I actually only spent ~$50 bc I had a lot of things from renovating my sister's bathroom)

Steps:

1) Score the walls with a wallpaper scorer. The scorer pokes little holes into the wallpaper so that the stripping solution can penetrate the waterproof layer. This part is boring but a great arm workout!

2) Spray wallpaper stripping solution and slowly take off wallpaper in sections. Check out my giant pile!

3. Take off the SECOND layer of paper that remains adhered to the drywall. This thing is a PAIN bc it comes off in the tiniest sections. Be careful NOT to dent the drywall (if you do, you can putty it and sand it).

In this pic, the drywall is beige colored and the second layer is darker, more yellowish in hue.  

4. Sand like crazy! Everything should be smooth bc once you paint, there is no going back to fill in dented drywall! 

5. Tape up all the sides and then paint! I REALLY recommend getting paint + primer--it is a huge time saver and looks more professional!

YAY FOR 100 FOLLOWERS! Thanks for all the love and support : )

Ok, now to the tutorial: I practically have no counter space in the bathroom of my current apartment, which sucks since I'm a girl and have a bit of makeup hoarding problem. So I had a ton of stuff and nowhere to put it. As I was doing the DIY Jewelry Organizer/Display, I had an Aha! moment and came up with this to clear up more space! And it uses the same thumb tacks! :D

Supplies:

- Thumb tacks ($4 from Amazon) 

- "Flexible" Plastic cups ($2 from Walmart). By "flexible" I mean it shouldn't crack if you press on the sides and should be thin enough to poke a thumb tack through.  

Steps:

1) Pin a cup to the wall at an angle (it's easier to take things out when it's pinned at an angle) using 2+ thumbtacks. 

2) If you're going to put heavier objects in the cups (like my clarisonic), pin it straight up (not at an angle). 

3) Get organized! I cannot tell you much easier life is when you can find bobby pins and hair ties when you need them! 

Tips:

Use this to organize other things! I also pinned a cup next to my calendar & prayer times display to keep dry erase markers for easy access:

The extent of my jewelry organization was keeping it in a box. It would get tangled, I'd never find what I was looking for, and I'd hardly wear anything (even though I had to buy certain pieces hehe).   

I'd seen a ton of ways to organize jewelry on Pintrest using a frame shown here, here, here, and recently saw one of my friends make it and it looked adorable! But I couldn't find a frame that was big enough and that didn't cost $50. So I was THRILLED to make this for under $10!! :D

Supplies:

- Gift wrap ($5 from Hallmark) 

      * I bought this gift wrap to use as shelf liners! It's a lot prettier than commercial shelf liners

- Gold thumbtacks ($4 from Amazon)

 Steps:

1) Cut a piece of the gift wrap a little larger than what you want the finished product to be. Fold it on all sides on the wrong side.

2) Add thumbtacks to secure it to the wall. I added them along the sides for decorative effect. And it helped that the gift wrap pattern already had lines so yay for no measuring!

3) To hang jewelry, stick a pushpin into the middle of your 'frame', but don't push it in all the way. 

4) Show off your bling! 

I've neglected this blog for a while! I was being so good while I was in Chicago, but I transferred law schools so I've been busy! I made these blessing bags during Ramadan but never got around updating the blog...but, better late than never!

Unlike the suburb of Houston where I grew up, you can actually see homelessness in downtown Chicago. It's sad not only because it's a reality to hundreds of thousands of people all over the nation, but giving money is actively discouraged for fear that they will spend it on drugs/alcohol/etc. (a valid reason).

Fasting for almost 17 hours a day, with no food or water, is a very humbling experience. So it didn't sit well with me that the solution for this is doing nothing, especially during Ramadan when you're supposed to be giving to the needy. So while on Pintrest, I saw this great idea of making blessing bags! It's just a baggie with essential things you can keep in your car to give out whenever you see someone in need!

It's so easy--just gather things you want to include in your bag. Here are things that I got:

Put these in a ziplock and keep them in the car to hand out! 

I also typed out the ingredients from the food packaging in case someone was allergic to an ingredient along with a little message that basically said I was fasting for Ramadan and hoped this makes their day better.

I had a bleach white scarf, but I wanted a taupe colored one. I was online looking up fabric dyes when I remembered how I had turned a white ribbon more champagne colored--tea dying!

Of course I forgot to take pics of the process, but the steps are really easy!

Supplies:

Large pot

Teabags

Water

Fabric you want to dye (White turns taupe-y colored; to see what other colors would turn into, do a sample test first)

Steps:

1) Boil a big pot of water with tons of black tea bags (I used 4-5 teabags) & let it cool a bit.

2) Dunk your fabric in the tea and let it soak for 20-30 minutes.

3) Rinse with water and enjoy your tea dyed fabric!

I get so frustrated at Draw Something (the game) when I can't even make simple stick figures. I wanted to buy a stylus (the pen thingy for touch screen devices) but thought it would be better if I made one myself! I just googled "DIY Stylus" and this is the easiest tutorial I found using household items and it really works!! 

Supplies:

Q-Tip

Pen (This has to be a pen where you can take out the ink cartridge like a ballpoint pen)

Aluminum Foil 

Tape

Water

Steps:

Take out the ink from the pen and cut the Qtip in half diagonally (so the end is pointy). Then push the Qtip into the pen and tape it together. 

Wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the pen.

Tape the aluminum foil so it doesn't move. (Sorry if you can't see the tape in the pic...I guess I shouldn't take pics of transparent tape lol)

Put 1-2 drops of water on the Qtip and your stylus is ready! Make sure you're holding onto the aluminum foil portion when using it. If it starts having problems, just add another few drops of water. 

Ta da! I'm drawing a cashier in the pic. What's up awesome stick figure?

It's that time of the year again! Ramadan Mubarak everyone!! 

I'm really excited to have this month for introspection, strengthening my faith, seek forgiveness, give more to charity, and trying to be a better person all together. And it's pretty great that millions of people are doing the same! : )

 If you're curious about how Muslims fast, why we fast, and in general, what Ramdan is, this website explains it pretty well, and references fasting in Christianity! 

To make the Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Teabag Cookies, I obviously didn't have a teabag shaped cookie cutter (and cutting out each cookie would take forever) so, I just figured I would make my own! I tried finding things I could use and I had an Oprah "Aha!" moment--an aluminum coke can! It's strong, holds its shape, and sharp enough to pop out perfect cookies!

Supplies:

- Aluminum Beverage Can (Coke/Sprite/Iced Tea etc.)

- Scissors

- Tape

Steps:

1) Get an empty beverage can (in my case, an iced tea can) and cut off the top.

2) Next, cut vertically from the top to the bottom so that you can then cut the bottom of the can with ease. 

3) You should be left with a sheet of aluminum.

4) Cut a strip about 2-3 inches in width (it doesn't have to be perfect). And fold it in half. Once folded, use a bone folder or a pen to really flatten it. Tape the top part of the strip so that you don't slice yourself.

5) Cut out a template of the desired shape (a teabag shape in my case). Now comes the slightly difficult part: place the strip of metal along the circumfrence of your template and make bends where the template bends. It really helps if your template has sharp corners rather than slight bends and turns.

PS: my fingers aren't diseased, I've got henna on them :)

4) In the end if the strip overlaps, tape it and you're done! Ta da!!

Tips:

- Please be careful and try not to slice yourself on the aluminum can

I saw these adorable cookies on Pintrest and had to make them myself! Aren't they super cute? And they taste pretty yummy!

Supplies (other than ingredients):

- Teabag Shaped Cookie Cutter (DIY tutorial)

- Straws

- String

- Printer, Paper, Clipart

- Parchment Paper (optional)

Teabag Cookies

First, I followed Ina Garten's recipe for shortbread cookies to make the dough. The only difference is that instead of 1 cup of sugar, I added 2/3 cup because I don't like super sweet desserts. 

After I had the dough rolled out, I used the cookie cutter that I made to cut out teabag shaped cookies and poked a hole in the top using a straw.

Bake them as directed on parchment paper and let them cool completely before dipping them in chocolate.

Teabag Tags

To make the teabag tags, print out mirror images of clipart (like vintage teapots) and fold them. Cut close to the image in the shape of a square.

Cut a bit of string (about 10 inches long) and tie the ends together in a knot. Add glue to the inside of the tag and sandwich the string between the tag. 

Place the end of the string through the hole at the top of the cookies until you've created a loop. Next, put the tag through the loop. 

Dipping Chocolate

For the chocolate, I put about 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a cup (or any narrow container) and microwaved it in 30 second intervals, stirring frequently, until the chocolate was completely melted. 

Dip the cookies in the melted chocolate and let it cool.

(Please note that I didn't add the tags till after I had dipped the chocolate which was a bad idea because the chocolate kept getting on my hands when I was trying to add the tags so basically, it's better to add the tags before.) 

Once cool, enjoy! Yummers!