Wreck & Renew

If I had a dime for every time I saw a necklace in a shop and thought "hey, I could make that myself!", well...I'd have a lot of dimes. Problem is, other things would get in the way of me actually going ahead and making said necklaces, after that initial thought. Important stuff, too - like needing to binge-watch the new season of Orange Is The New Black or take super insightful Buzzfeed quizzes. I mean, how else would I know Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Am I, Actually? (My answer: Donatello.)

As a certified bookworm (and bookstore employee for over half a decade), the thought of cutting into books makes cringe like no other! So while I loved the look of book purses, I didn't pursue it much until one of my old managers asked if I could make her one out of an old, unwanted textbook. 

This book purse is a few years old now, but it's still one of my favourite projects - simply because it gave me a chance to reuse something in a creative way! It was a challenge to put together, but so much fun! More photos after the jump. 

"Carl????"

My last Pinterest-inspired project was a success, so I hoped to make it two for two - but alas, it wasn't meant to be. According to the original pin, a nifty projector for your cell phone/iDevice can be made simply by using a shoebox and a magnifying glass! A way to project Parks and Rec videos from my phone on my wall, for the price of free?? I knew had to give this MacGyver-worthy project a try.

Encouraged by sites such as this one, I ransacked my basement for an old magnifying glass, and whipped out my saw. After removing the lens part, as per the instructions, I cut out a corresponding hole from the shoebox and used a buttload duct tape to hold that sucker together. Then, I lined the shoebox with black construction paper, bent a paperclip to make a holder for my iPod, and turned out the lights! So here's what happened...

Confession time: I'm a serial Pinner. I've pinned more projects to my Pinterest page than I'd probably ever be able to finish in a lifetime. And not gonna lie, but I've failed spectacularly at more than I care to admit. (I mean, have the cookie-dough-bowls worked for anybody??? My attempt, like these others, just left me with lumpy sadness.) 

Nothing is worse than getting your hopes up for a project, only to completely butcher it in the execution, or learn it was faulty to start with. To that end, I hope that I can learn something, anything, from documenting my Pinterest successes and failures. Though I've been attempting pins for a while, I didn't think to start taking pics until this project - a DIY gift bow, which I chose because my house was devoid of gift bows and like a true procrastinator, I had run out of time to get more. Here's how it went:

Project Ingredients: ribbon (length depends on the size of your bow, and I found that stiffer ribbon was better), scissors, tape

Time: less than one re-run of How I Met Your Mother

Difficulty level: super easy - a well-trained lemur could do a respectable job

Overall grade: A! Pinterest success! 

More photos and the original pin/directions after the jump!