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DIY tutorials

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DIY tutorials

IKEA Kitchen Island Hack

by ''admin''

So I haven’t posted in a really long time, a fact that needs to be remedied immediately (: I’d like to show you a really practical and inexpensive way to create a small functional kitchen island.

You will need:

  • Kallax 4*4 77 cm* 77 cm shelving unit
  • Kallax Insert with door
  • Kallax Insert with 2 drawers
  • Vinnaset Door Knobs
  • Bagganas Handles – Optional

In addition, you’ll need – 4 round cabinet feet, 4 L-shaped metal brackets, contact paper of your liking, and one Formica laminate countertop – I bought a 60*85*16.5 cm panel online (custom made- cost about 25 US dollars).

Instructions –

First, put together the Kallax shelving unit. Next add the contact paper to the sides of the unit and the door insert. Add door knobs to the drawer inserts. Add both to the Kallax. Attach the custom countertop to the Kallax unit using L brackets. finally, flip the unit and insert the round cabinet feet. If you’d like, you can add on the sides two Bagganas handles for kitchen towels.

So, what do you think? I’d love to hear your comments!

IKEA kitchen Island Hack
IKEA kitchen Island
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DIY tutorials

IKEA Hack- DIY Beer Bottle Dryer/Sanitizer

by ''admin''

So haven’t posted in a while, and today I wanted to share with you a little hack that has made my life a lot easier!

I recently returned to brewing beer. My first attempt a few years ago after attending a beer brewing workshop ago wasn’t very successful, with the bottled beer tasting like beer does but completely flat and un-carbonated. I felt pretty discouraged and didn’t touch the equipment again until last week, when I decided it’s time to get down to business and give it another try. I purchased a “make your own beer” starter kit on amazon and voilà! it seems like this time around it may actually work (: This time around I went with a 1-gallon (approx. 5 liters) carboy instead of the 5- gallon bucket (approx. 20 litters) just in case the beer turns out flat again…

Check out those bubbles! This is what the beer looked like about 24 hours after brewing

So back to our topic, I read it’s really important to properly sanitze the bottles used for the home brew, and read that the most popular way is to buy a bottle draining tree with a bottle rinser on top. However most options I looked into we’re a bit expensive and also didn’t offer a solution for storing the beer bottles before rinsing them.

That’s when I thought about the IKEA KUGGIS box – what’s great about this box is that it’s sturdy, comes in a variety of sizes, and most importantly at only $7.99 definitely a steel compared to the other bottle drying options.

The only catch is, you need to have some extra equipment at home to make this hack. It’s called a FIXA hole saw set – and it enables you to create holes in the KUGGIS plastic (this isn’t the original purpose of the product, but it definitely works).

Most of the credit here goes to my hubby who actually drilled the holes (:

Here’s what you need for a DIY beer bottle dryer/sanitizer:

  1. KUGGIS box – I chose this one for my project but If you plan on brewing more than 1 Gallon/5 Liters go for a bigger size.
  2. FiXA hole saw set
  3. White paper masking tape
  4. Tape measure, pen, utility knife

I started by measuring the Diameter of my beer bottles. According to my calculation the KUGGIS lid had place for 20 bottles since each bottle was 2.4~inches/6 cm in diameter. This was perfect since my 1 gallon carboy produces about 12 bottles of beer.

Each X marked where to place the center of the hole saw.

Next, using the smallest saw from the IKEA set ( the 1 3/8″ or 35 mm saw) my husband drilled 20 holes into the KUGGIS lid using a wooden block beneath to protect our outdoor table.

He then carefully used a utility knife to smooth the edges of the plastic holes.

I soaked 12 used beer bottles in soapy warm water for 2 hours using the KUGGIS box. The labels came right off with the help of a kitchen sponge. I then emptied the bottles and drained them through the holes.

The same process can be repeated towards bottling the beer. Just fill the KUGGIS box with sanitizing solution and empty beer bottles, and then let them drain before you fill them with home-brewed beer.

Pretty cool right? I thought this was a fun practical little project that will definitely make beer brewing a lot easier.

let me know how yours turner out.

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DIY tutorials

Making Your Own Homemade Lip Balm

by ''admin''

Hi There! Haven’t written here in a while…today I’d like to share a really quick and fun weekend project- making your own lip balm!

To make things simpler, I actually purchased a lip balm container set on amazon, but you could also use just about any clean empty jars you have at home.

There are a ton of different lip balm recipes on the web, so I decided to go with the easiest one I found- https://www.elementsbathandbody.com/lip-balm-recipe/. This site is really amazing- they have so many different recipes that I want to try, not just for lip balms bit for every bath product you can imagine, and they also supply the containers and ingredients ( although I haven’t tried ordering those from them).

I ordered my oils, butters and lip flavours from different suppliers, have a look here-

I replaced Avocado Oil with Shea Butter (simply because I didn’t have any at home), checking first online which oil/butters would be a good substitute.

I started by weighing the ingredients with this handy gadget I found on AliExpress. It’s a scale for small items (up to 200g) and I found It very accurate!

I melted the ingredients over a double boiler pot (minus the flavor oils).

You can also microwave the oils in a bowl.

When they were all melted, I added the flavor oils and tipped the bowls content into the lip balm tray.

The kit also comes with printable lables which I haven’t tried yet.

All in all I’m really happy with how this lip balm turned out. It’s really moisturizing and creamy, although next time I think I’ll add more flavoring/scent oil…

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DIY tutorials

Experimenting with Air Dry Clay – Easy Weekend Project

by ''admin''

Mmm…so air dry clay. Air dry clay is just one of those things I remember playing with as a child (usually the brown coloured one), but I can’t think of any recent experiences with it. That’s until I spotted a few interesting pins on Pinterest that caught my attention. I decided that it was definitely worth give this medium a try, but was’t interested in investing in expensive equipment, but rather using tools I already had in my possession.

I went through lots and lots of pins and tutorials, trying to figure out which appealed most – both aesthetically and technically speaking, and decided to try making three objects I could also find a practical element in preparing them- a trinket/jewelry bowl (desperately needed for organizing rings), a clay coaster (always need some of those), and a pair of clay earrings.

First, I picked up a packet of 500 g Das Air Clay.

DAS Air Clay on tile

I placed a small plastic bowl next to the clay, where I could wet my fingers before picking up a piece of clay.

I then rolled a piece of clay until it was about 3 mm- 4mm thick. Since clay tends to pick up almost EVERYTHING from the surface it’s rolled on, I found a spare floor tile on our balcony that turned out to be the perfect working surface (once scrubbed clean). If you don’t have a spare tile, I’d try rolling the clay on some parchment paper attached to table with removable sticky tape. BTW- If you have a pasta machine you barely use, you can press the dough using your machine. We actually own one but my husband didn’t like the idea of finding bits of clay in his pasta (: .

First item up- the jewelry dish. I actually tried rolling a paper doily first on top of the thinned out dough, but this turned out to leave a weak trace of a pattern that was barely noticeable. I didn’t have a crochet doily on hand (which would probable fan out much better) so instead I tried pressing a plastic serving dish my mom picked up at a party store a while ago. This time a lovely pattern appeared.

Pressing the serving dish on top of the thinned out air clay

I then started pinching the sides of the clay to create a small bowl. I used a damp wiping cloth and went over the clay to eliminate any unwanted dents and fingertips.

I let it dry for 24 hours (Ok, not exactly 24 hours I’m not a very patient person, maybe 16 hours (:). At this point the bowl seemed dry enough to be painted. I used some sandpaper to gently polish the bowl exterior, and then added a dab of gold paint with a marker to the edges.

After finishing the jewelry dish, I moved on to the second project – the clay coaster. I repeated the same steps again in prepping the clay – rolling a small portion of clay on the tile. I placed a dried lavender leaf (I dried the leaf between two books a few days prior), over the clay and rolled the roller to create the imprint.

I then waited for the clay to dry and again added a bit of gold paint to the patter.

Then I moved on to the last project- clay earrings. I cut out a few small circles with a small tube bead I had from a previous project (but anything round will do), and using a toothpick created small holes.

Here’s what they looked like when dry.

I tried painting the circles with the gold marker, but wasn’t satisfied with the final look, so I tried using some deco metal flakes and decoupage glue/varnish instead. This was my first time using metal flakes- very cool product! I’ve got to find additional uses.

Rayher metal flakes and glue.

I spread a thin layer of glue on the clay, then gently placed a leaf above and pressed with my fingers or small brush. I removed any excess clay with a knife.

I used a plier and some jump rings to assemble the earrings together.

Here are the three finished projects-

Air clay projects left to right- jewelry bowl, clay coaster, and clay earrings.

So the bottom line is- If you have some spare time on a weekend, air dry clay is a great medium for creating practical items you could either make for yourself or as gifts. Have a go at it yourself (:

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DIY tutorials

Padded Fabric Ear Savers

by ''admin''

So my next post will be about ear savers! As a physician, I spend most hours of the day with a mask on my face. I find that the most difficult part with wearing a mask around the clock is the strain the elastic causes on my ears. A fellow resident – Natalie – suggested I make a crochet ear saver (there are endless options if you search the phrase on Pinterest or Youtube), but I found crocheting an ear saver was too time consuming. I went on to search for a fabric version of the ear savers, and followed several tutorials to make a few samples of fabric ear savers for myself and fellow healthcare workers. I also tried making a few samples with large elastic bands instead of fabric, but found they tended to feel a bit flimsy when trying to attach them to the mask several times a day.

I found the cotton ear savers had the nicest feel- especially when worn over many hours, , however most cotton fabrics I owned (I used a lot of leftover scrap fabric from previous projects) tended to be light – medium weight and would crinkle and not retain their original size and texture when worn repeatedly, not to mention it was hard attaching the elastic strings to the buttons on the fabric.

I then came up with the following idea to help use up my cotton fabric stash with its pretty patterns, using some basic wiping clothes you can find just about anywhere.

You will need-

  1. Light- medium weight cotton fabric- I used scrap fabric from previous projects, ironed before used.
  2. Wiping clothes- I picked up a packet at the local convenience store. It said on the label they were both washable and reusable.
  3. Two colourful buttons- at least 20mm-25mm in diameter.
  4. Thread
  5. Optional- sewing machine, cutting mat, rotary cutter, point turner.

Cut a 16x10cm rectangle from the cotton fabric. I actually created a stencil and then cut around it with a rotary cutter, but using a pen and scissors would work just fine. Btw- the pink pattern weight I made following tutorials I found online, you can see an example here- https://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2014/01/simple-easy-pattern-weights.html

I placed a stencil I created over the fabric a laid a fabric weight to keep it steady while I cut around the stencil with a rotary cutter.

Take the cotton rectangle, fold wrong side to wrong side (the side without the print) and sew the edges together at a 10mm/1 cm seam allowance, leaving a gap of about 5 cm in the middle of the longer edge.

Blue line= gap without stitches

Turn the fabric inside out through the gap, so the pretty side is now facing you. I used a point turner to smooth out the corners.

Now cut a similar rectangle from the wiping cloth. You can use any basic absorbent cleaning cloth, look for those that are washable.

Wiping Clothes

Take the wiping cloth rectangle, fold in half, and remove 10-13mm from the edges.

Removing the edge of the folded wiping cloth

Step 4- Sew the edges of the wiping cloth together.

Insert the wiping cloth through the gap.

Topstitch the ear saver- best to stay close to the the edges so the gap closes properly. I actually should’ve stayed closer to the edges to ensure a proper seal.

Last but not least- add two buttons to each side either by hand or with a sewing machine.

Voila! Your very own padded ear saver.

Padded Ear Saver

Feel free to customise the size or materials, it’s a lot of fun experimenting!

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DIY tutorials

Glass Flower Vase- Cement Project Number 3

by ''admin''

This week I’d like to introduce another great way for incorporating cement creatively into our daily lives…this following tutorial actually uses two skills I discussed in previous posts- cutting glass with a glass cutter, and casting cement for home-diy purposes.

You will need:

  1. Cement -take a quick peek at my tutorial here for using cement at home.
  2. Used glass bottle- I cut a clear wine bottle. See instructions here.
  3. Round plastic containers- I used two bowels that fit snuggly into one another. You need to make sure the circumference of the bottom of the bowels is identical and is slightly larger than the circumference of the glass bottle you’ll be using.  
  4. Cork sheet or any padding you like to protect the finished cement project from scratching your furniture.
  5. Glue gun or any other adhesive to attach the padding to your project.

Ok here we go.

First, I filled the larger bowel up to 2/3 of its height with cement. Don’t forget to oil the inside of the bowel with vegetable oil or petroleum jelly before you do this.

Next, I inserted the smaller bowel (also oiled, this time on its outer side) and pushed it down so that very little cement was left between the two bases of the bowels.

I wanted to make sure the two bowels are almost touching each other from the inside, so I added some coins to keep the upper bowel in place and prevent it from moving upwards.

If you don’t have coins stones or any small heavy object should do the trick.

24 hours later, I removed the coins. The outer bowel slipped easily off.

I then took a hammer and while holding the bowel in my left hand a few inches above the table, lightly tapped on the base of the bowel to help separate the smaller plastic bowel. Try and tap the area where the hammer is placed here in the picture.

The smaller bowel separated the cement holder was ready. If you like you can use some sandpaper to sand down the container and give it a more finished look.

I then took a damp cloth and removed any residue.

The next step is optional- I felt like adding a bit of paint to my project, so I picked up a bottle of white acrylic paint and painted the top of the holder.

To prevent the holder from scratching my table, I cut out a piece of cork and glued it with a glue gun to the base of the holder.

I then placed the cut wine bottle in the center of the holder…and voilà!

I love how it came out…have and go and let me know how yours turned out!

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