Tutorial: DIY air vase

This blogpost is about a DIY project I long time ago. Inspiration for this air vase I found on the website of the Japanese company Torafu Architects. I love the lightness and transparancy of the object. Althought it is not really usable as a vase, it's a unique and fun object for your home that I wanted to make myself right away. I found a tutorial for this on another blog but I can’t remember which one (shame on me... if this sounds familiair to you please let me know the blog link!). Anyway, I made my own tutorial for you.


Here is what you need:

- At least 3 meters of rope in any color. Make sure it’s rough, thick and light.

- A balloon

- Strong glue

- A plastic tray or cup


First blow up the balloon and hang it upside down on for instance a lamp or a shelf. Put the glue in the plastic tray. Now start wrapping the rope around the balloon by dipping it first into the glue. Make sure the rope is full of glue, you can’t use too much of it! Randomly wrap the rope around the balloon to create a messy effect. When you're done, cut off the rope and let it dry for about two hours (drying time depends on the glue you used). After that you simply prick the balloon with a needle or pin and your air vase is born!

DIY tip: punch a bunch

A very easy way to make a sweet artwork is by using die-cut punches. You can buy them almost everywhere. I stumbled on two punches yesterday in a drugstore.

What do you need?

A die-cut punch (any shape you like)

A couple of magazines

Photo glue

Paper (white or colored)

Cut some shapes with your punch from a magazine page. I like to use magazines because of the variety in colors and therefore the different front and back of your punched shape.

Now pick to pieces and double fold each. Glue two folded shapes next to eachother so that it forms a new shape.

When you keep on making little 3D shapes like this, you will create a colorful and pretty collection! Very easy isn't it? It's also a sweet thing to use on a homemade birthday card for example.

 

DIY washi tape keyboard

Tatadadataaaa... Here it is! The result of my washi tape project. I gave my Macbook a little makeover!

I spotted this idea in a Dutch magazine called Flair, where a photo was showed of a with washi tape covered laptop keyboard. A Google search brought me on Kira's blog (she also wrote about the Etsy shop  where I ordered the washi tapes I used) and I just had to try it myself!

I used 5 of the 8 different tapes I bought because they matched well together. As you may have noticed, I'm a fan of soft pastel colors. It's not simple to choose a set of well-matching colors from all the available tapes and especially not when you have to judge them from a laptop display. I chose three tapes based on a 'ahh those are sweet'-feeling and forgot they had to match with the rest ;). So keep that in mind if you want to do it yourself.

It is a very easy DIY, all you need is a little patience. The first thing I did was cleaning my Macbook (which was the first time in two years I believe..). Just water and soap will do. Then I started cutting the tape in the right sizes. Washi tape is very easy to remove and restick if you made a mistake. I cutted the edges of to prevent the corners from curling. A couple of hours later and your Macbook has a new look!

I have to admit, the keyboard is not very comfortable for typing anymore because of the rough texture of the tape. And, although washi tape is transparant, the letters and numbers are not always very readable... But say for yourself, the result is pretty cool isn't it?

DIY stamps!

Lately I love making my own stamps. It is so easy, you don't need a lot of materials en the effect is so much nicer than a regular drawing. It's a surprise every time you try a just carved stamp for the first time.

What do you need?

A simple eraser (I buy them at Action or Wibra, 2 for 99 euro cents!)

Little knifes or 'gutsen' (don't know the English word, see picture)

Ink

I usually draw my illustration on a piece of paper first. When I am happy with the design, I turn around the paper and lay it on the eraser. I scratch on the back of the paper with a pencil. The illustration will apear on the eraser. Just carve everything that you want to keep white and done! Your DIY stamp is ready.

I made my blog header with stamps too.

This is one of my favorites at the moment (sorry for the bad picture quality):

Washi tape

You'll find it everywhere lately: washi tape (or masking tape). It is transparant Japanese tape available in all colors, patterns and sizes. You can do a lot with it, so I definitely wanted to have it..

In the Netherlands there are a lot of (web)shops where you can buy the tapes, but it's so hard to choose when there are so many sorts available! Above that, washi tape is not very cheap (about €3,- per role). On Etsy.com I founded a seller (Le box boutique), recommended by another blogger, where you can buy 16 feet tape (1 foot = about 30 centimeters) for only €6,-. The best thing is you can choose a maximum of 8 different tapes (so that is 2 feet per tape)!

I ordered of course 8 different tapes and delivery to the Netherlands only took 4 days! This are the ones I chose:

I already saw something very cool in a magazine to do with the washi tape. It will take a little time to finish it, so I will show the results later. Here some washi inspiration.