DIY: How To Transfer Images to Fabric at Home

Time to start being more active around here, don't you think? My last post was -god knows when- but I have to admit I have missed a lot DIY blogging! 

Mostly because you have an idea - you implement it - the end!

Running a handmade business (for those who don't know me I'm a jewelry designer over here) is exciting and overwhelming at the same time. As much as I love making and crafting, there are times that I really feel fed up of the repetition it goes into making the same designs over and over again.

DIY blogging is a lot more exhilarating in that sense. You put all your creativity to make something beautiful ONCE. No need to split that creativity in 100 pieces.

Anyway! My point is that SKILLSHARE gave me the opportunity to channel the DIYer inside me again and I'm very happy about that!

I did a tutorial video of how to simply transfer images on fabric easily :)

You can customize anything you want -- from pillows and bags to clothes and napkins!

Let your imagination and creativity go crazy and have fun!!

Oh and the best part is that the results are perfectly washable too!

One last thing; my tutorial is open to skillshare members only BUT I have an awesome offer for you.

If you click here you will receive TWO WHOLE MONTHS fo' freeee & you're free to cancel anytime within that period SO you can just watch the hell our of the Premium videos online for two months and then unsubscribe.

No harm whatsoever to try it out, right??

See you there <3

DIY | Marbled Blue & White Rings

Yes yes! It was about time. After a whole year, with the entire blogosphere constantly blabbering about marble and everything marble-ish, I decided to give it a try. And I nailed it :) So here are a few step by step instructions on how to marble with polymer clay yourself. The photos show how I did these rings below but I also made a cute little necklace and another one not shown here because my friend Mariana took it with her to France before taking any pictures :) 

For the full tutorial continue >>>

DIY | Fimo + Gold Foil Pendants

Black & Gold. The ultimate chic-modern color duo. I've always had something for gold jewelry, even when younger, when all my friends were wearing silver I liked gold best. I think it might match better with my skin tone or something. And black. Black in my absolute color. Well, it is no color technically. It is many colors. But you know what I mean. The cliche "black in the new black" was probably written for me and my wardrobe. So, when I had the urge to DIY a little again I thought "Uh I need a necklace to wear with ALL my clothes" ha! So it didn't need much more thought. 

But the truth is that even all the DIY blogs are full of gold foil projects (pillows, dishes, candles etc) I've never used it before. It was a bit trickier than I expected but yet really simple. It is a bit hard to avoid the little voids but the final result works for me great.  

If you want to make some too, you will need:
- polymer clay
- gold foil 
- polyform sculpey glaze 
- cord
- toothpicks

And for the Greek readers there is this Eberhard Faber kit that I used and includes everything you'll need.

How to:

First soften the clay in your hands and form small balls. If you are going for spherical beads make sure there are no wrinkles on the surface. If not you are set to go. Otherwise you need to work the clay balls a little more until softer and smooth. When they are ready, shape them as you wish and make holes using the toothpicks. Make sure the toothpick goes all the way, you want them to be big enough for your cord. 

Next step:foil! Well, now you'll need to activate your fine skills. If you are going for a messy result then you won't have a problem. Just add foil wherever you feel like and push it, lightly so you don't change the bead's shape, but hard enough so the foil looks smooth and sticks on the bead's surface. Note that the foil might want to stay on your fingers so be gentle :) 

Baking time!! Here you'll need to follow the instructions on your clay. Usually they need about 30' in a 110C oven. But check yours!

Let them cool and then varnish them with a fine coat of glaze. If you take a good look at my beaded necklace, the first two beads aren't varnished. I like to combine shiny with matte. 

Your choice though. 

To make it easier to varnish them without loosing any glaze, put the beads into a toothpick or bigger stick and let it on the trim of a glass. So the extra glaze will drop. 

Thread each bead and bring the ends of the cord together! Make a little knot and...TADA!! 

DIY | Copper + Leather door hanger

Well apparently lately I've been going through a major change period. Ok I'm a bit exaggerating but seriously I'm trying to change a couple of things in my life. Clearly inspired by Caroline and her minimal lifestyle, I decided to get rid of half of my closet and re-evaluate my whole style. In addition to that I'm trying to adopt a new face care routine, avoiding chemicals and cheap products. I'll be sharing more about that soon - after I test that the things I do work. 

Meanwhile, a very kind girl from a Greek lifestyle site got in touch with me, asking if I would be interested in contributing in their DIY section with a post. Needless to say I literally screamed YEEEES!! Ok, exaggerating - again. But I was totally into it. After all it is like forever since I shared my last DIY project and I needed a push!

So when I started brainstorming about my upcoming post I realized that I could really use a hanger in my bedroom. Even if I have no plans for the day whatsoever, I go out at least twice a day for walking my dog, which leads to never actually putting my jacket and scarf back in the closet. And it really comes in handy to have somewhere to hang these things, without making the room messy. So I decided to make a minimal hanger. It works really great as a belt or scarf hanger inside the closet door. Right?

See the step by step instructions after the jump...

DIY | Paper Ornaments

While Christmas is almost around the corner (only one month left), most of you must have already started thinking about decoration. I know I have. However, many feel it is quite soon to start decorating the house with all the glamorous and sparkling Christmas ornaments most have. Well there is a silver lining between being way-too-early-celebrater and kind of a-healthy-anticipater. And this lining is called monochromatic minimal paper ornaments that don't shout Christmas right away but certainly give a certain HolidayIsComing-touch. 

Materials needed:

6 paper sheet of the color and size of your choice.

glue stick

scissors

twine, thread or ribbon 

Steps to follow:

1. fold each paper in half.

2. design the half of the shape you want - be careful to draw it with the big side on the middle of the paper

3. repeat until you have six same shapes folded in half.

4. glue each right side with the left side of the next sheet.

5. before gluing the last two sides, line the thread with the center of the ornament and then glue them together. 

Lucky Charm 2015 [ Giveaway ]

How did that week pass by sooo quickly? I literally feel like it's Tuesday! I guess that has its advantages too -weekend is around the corner, yay!! But guys I have so much studying to do that I have to admit I don't particularly love the idea of it during the weekend. Plus I have a ton of orders to make and ship. Oh my !

On the bright side though, aren't these Lucky Charms cute? Well I made them for you!! From now on and until January a little Good Luck envelope with a Charm inside will accompany every order you place at my shop. 

AND the good news don't stop here. I will give 5 Lucky Charms away too. So if you want one yourself leave a comment below. Open to international readers of course, until 1st of December. 

Have a great weekend!! <3

Guest Post | Of Trees and Hues

Hi, lovely readers of myLifebox! I’m Latrina, writer and curator, of the lifestyle blog Of Trees and Hues and I’m elated to be guest writing for Anna-Rosa while she’s exploring Europe – which I can’t wait to hear all about!

I’m such an admirer of Anna-Rosa’s DIY posts and thought it would be a lot of fun to contribute to that, so today I’m sharing with you one of my favorite things to make during this time of the year – aroma simmer pots! They’re incredibly easy to make and will fill your home with the most comforting and divine scents. So, whether you’re currently experiencing the crisp, cool air of Autumn or the warmth of Summer, I have two recipes that I think you’ll love all year around!

 The first is one of my favorites and one that reminds me so much of being a child during the holidays – it always manages to put me in such a festive mood and not to mention the aroma is absolutely amazing!

Ingredients:

An apple, cut in slices. The peels from one orange. Three cinnamon sticks and a tablespoon of whole cloves.

Process:

Fill a small saucepan with water along with all of the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil. It’s best to designate a saucepan just for aromas as you don’t want to cook with it later. Once at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. You can leave to simmer all day long, just remember to replenish the water when needed. You can store the mixture in the fridge for up to three days to enjoy later.

Another one of my favorites is the aroma of lemons, rosemary, lavender and vanilla extract. It’s incredibly calming and the perfect scent for those days where you want to pamper yourself. Just like the previous recipe, you’ll boil your ingredients for a few minutes and leave to simmer to enjoy for the entire day!

The possibilities are absolutely endless when it comes to aromas – and such a great way to make use of discarded fruit too. I hope you try these two recipes and let us know what you think!

Social media links:

Blog

Bloglovin

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest 

Facebook

Short bio:

Latrina is a nostalgic, ambitious, warmhearted gal who thrives on living an adventurous life, one filled with new experiences, explorations and lots and lots of happy moments. She blogs at Of Trees and Hues, a design and lifestyle blog, with the purpose to curate beauty and inspiration as well as encouraging others to live enriched and adventurous lives.

Guest Post | Hommie

Hello everyone! My name is Petros and I'm a Greek architect, designer and blogger, proud owner of Hommie. I'm so excited being part of Anna-Rosa's guest-blogging posts, featuring an easy and minimal DIY clothing rack.

Copper is still a strong and beautiful trend in home design and decoration. I think there's something in copper's colour that makes it so elegant and stylish. My inspiration came by several DIYs I found online, using copper plumbing accessories and round wooden sticks. I really like the simplicity and the scandinavian-design feeling of these two materials, when combined.

Instructions:

Get round wooden sticks from your local hardware store. Calculate how many pieces you need for your DIY project in order to buy enough supplies. Hardware stores usually have wooden sticks cut in standard length, for being easily transportable. The ones I got, for example, were 3m long each.

Cut the sticks into two 125cm long pieces, two 70cm long pieces, four 20cm long pieces and six 10cm long pieces.

Connect the wooden sticks with the copper pieces, as shown in diagram.

Check if the clothing rack is straight and steady and glue all the pieces together.

Enjoy!

Notes: Remember to check the diameter of the copper accessories. It has to be the same with the diameter of the wooden sticks. The ones I used for this DIY project were 23mm.

You can adjust the size of your clothing rack according to your needs. Change the length of the sticks marked as (b.) in the diagram, if you want it to be taller or shorter. Change the length of the sticks marked as (a.) in the diagram, to adjust its width.

DIY | Paper Card Holders

Funny fact: I actually did this project months ago, maybe on February or something, but for some stupid reason I forgot to post it. So here it is. Nothing special but quite useful if you are anything like me, collecting tones of business cards. I like to take cards from almost any place I visit. You never know, you might need to share it some time and the card will come in handy.  But let's assume you have a better reason to keep cards save. Maybe because they are yours for example. Or maybe because you like to keep things neat on your desk. Either way, this little card holder can be very useful and it is very easy to make.

You will simply need:

wavy corrugated paper & elastic band (just that!)

First cut a 9x20cm piece of paper. Open a hole in the middle of it, make a knot at the end of the elastic band and pass it through the hole. That's pretty much it. Then you will only need to fold it. (see photos below). TA DA!!

Isn't it great and extremely easy?

diy | clay ring dishes

hello guys! hope your week is trucking along nicely. I, for one, am trying to be optimistic and stay positive during my -hopefully last- exam period. BUT how exciting is the giveaway we brought together for Fashiony Fab? Did you enter already? if not make sure you do here!

So, let's get the ball rolling.. Today's DIY post is probably one of my all time favorites. Maybe exaggerating a little bit, but it combines several things I love. My latest addiction: white air-drying clay, (remember this?). Geometric shapes. And, mostly pertaining to the photo-shoot, but still...black, white AND gold? Is there anything not to love about this project? ok, i'm totally exaggerating now, sorry :)

You will need: air-drying clay, a rolling pin, a craft knife, sand paper and bowls. 

1. using your rolling pin to flatten the clay so that you have a nice around 4mm thick clay layer.

2. use your craft knife to cut the shape you want (at least 5cm wide)

3. put the flat shapes into bowls to take the shape of their bottom (see photo on the left).

4. let them dry for one day and then remove them form the bowls, allowing them a few more hours to dry completely.

5. when dry, sand paper the rough edges and...ready!! 

I guess most of you already know that I'm a huge fan of clay's imperfect look. I love it's matte look and kind of sandy feel when touching it. I also like that it is not perfectly smooth. Anyway, my point is that if you are not a fan of all these things, you still can sand-paper the rough edges a lot more than I did and also varnish, or even paint the dishes. 

Happy DIYing <3

diy | t-shirt braided coasters

Guys is it Friday already? Wow, this week passed by like hell. I already started studying for my last exams (yay!) that start next week and it only seems yesterday when it was Monday and I had sooo many things to do. One of them was to post this diy but I guess I got a bit distracted by all the architecture history details I have to absorb by Tuesday. 

So the last post of this crazy week is little diy project that I came up while watching Suits (anyone else watching?). This summer I bought two long t-shirt dresses, one black and one beige. And although I'm quite tall, I had to shorten them. Well, by shortening them I mean just cutting them, because it is t-shirt so who minds to sew afterwards, right? ;) Anyway, the point is that I was left with a few t-shirt stripes that looked to good to just throw away. So I started braiding. And then wrapping and then sewing. And the point is that it is pretty easy to make these coasters.

Since, as I told you, I made them while watching series, I didn't bother to take pictures of the whole process so now I don't have to show you a step-by-step tutorial. Unfortunately. But, while writing this post I thought that it wouldn't be difficult to find a couple of similar projects on the web -because if I thought it, someone else did too and maybe he took pictures! And of course not only I'm not the only one....but there a million of people that thought the exact same thing! Ha! And there are also a few who actually made a rug with t-shirt yarn, wow right? 

If you are interested in making them here are two tutorials I found that seem great.

The first one shows the exact step-by-step process I did too, BUT I found another one too that doesn't need sewing and now I feel a bit stupid that I didn't do that. <3

diy | clay & copper mobile

Hey guys! Hope your week started off wonderfully :)

The past two years I've watched mobiles becoming more and more liked. I, for sure, have caught myself eyeing beautiful mobiles several times. And the fun is that they are not only for kiddos anymore!! YAY!!! I mean, wouldn't it be lovely to hang a beautiful mobile somewhere outside, on the balcony perhaps or in the porch even better? Anyway, all that plus that I like playing with clay, gave me the idea to make my own, a bit smaller than the ones I'm eyeing, mobile. 

AnnaRosa on Vimeo.

And when i made it I couldn't stop starring at it moving with the wind. So here is a video only to show you how beautiful it "dances".

So, first thing you need to do is to make a handful of beads and four sticks with four holes each (mine are 20cm long). I used an air-drying clay but you can of course use whatever kind you prefer. Since I'm a minimalism-freak I left the beads white but you can always get more creative by painting them. 

As you see above, I made five types of bead-shapes and then I played with the size of them. I just always had in mind to make at least four of each shape. 

The most difficult part is to assemble the squared "wreath" where the beads will hang from. The photos below will guide you step by step to help you with it. Take a good look at the last photo, where the jute in the square forms a tic-tac-toe. That step is really important to make it strong and stable. Note that you need to tie a small knot where the jute meets each hole. 

Now that the hard part is over.....spice it up by adding the beads you creatively made!!! This was my favorite part.. And while making it I decided to add some copper beads as well! Cause what else do I love besides white clay? Copper! So obvious.. haha! 

Anyway, hope you like it and I'd love to see your versions or other mobiles you've made perhaps.. 

Diy | Homemade Easy Body Scrub

 While summer has reached it's hottest level and most of us are still enjoying sun more or less, caring about our skin becomes highly imperative. I know it is extremely boring to care about these stuff instead of just laying on the beach for hours, but unfortunately sun has becomes a bit dangerous and it is always smarter to get protection. Anyway, this post is not about protection from the sun but for taking care of ourselves after sunbathing. Sea and sun together, although really delightful, can dry our skin very fast. Removing the dead sells of the skin's surface while moisturizing it as well is the least we can do once a week during our vacation. It doesn't take a lot of time and our skin we'll stay healthier and prettier during the hot, dry days of summer.

I forgot to tell you that it is really easy to make this scrub mix and you can just leave it in a jar near your shower and use it all year long. It also smells really nice and the skin feels soooo soft after using it that you'll get addicted!! 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup pink Himalayan salt

3/4 cup walnut oil 

2 tbsp lemon juice 

Combine all the ingredients in a jar and...ready!

Next step...how to use it.

In the shower (before using soap) start at your feet and massage the scrub in a circular motion up the legs, the torso and then the arms. Make sure you don't do it extremely hard, otherwise you can hurt your skin. And please don't do it very often, once-twice a week will suffice. 

diy | scrap fabric tassel earings

Hello guys!
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was by far one of my favorites, since my oldest brother got married on Saturday at the beautiful island of Andros. This diy idea came to me on Friday, when i was at the pre-wedding party, where I wore a couple of big statement earrings. When I was younger I used to wear big earrings all the time but after high school I kinda switched to wearing big necklaces instead. However, lately that earring-love came back and here I am posting a tutorial on how to make your own big tassel earring pairs.

As you can see on the photos it is actually really simple to make these earrings. You will need only some scrap fabric lines, earring findings with medium sized jump rings and some waxed cord to bind them. Here is a weird selfie of me wearing them. I had to take the photo by myself since no one was around at the moment but I think you get the idea :)

Happy DIYing!!

DIY | Hanging Planter

Although I actually did this DIY a long time ago -not even remember when- somehow it never made the final cut. I made the net when I was still living in Chania but I never got to hang it, so I just took it with me to Athens when I moved and a few days ago it finally came in handy. Living in a small city apartment with a tiny teeny balcony that barely has enough room for a couple of chairs means that plants need to be hung :) 

The great thing with this project is that you won't need weird or complicated supplies to make it and it is really simple too! 

 So if you are interested in making it you will need:

- 4 pieces of rope (at least one meter each, depending on how long you want it to be)

- some thread (same color with the rope)

- if you like the small rings I used you will need 12 pieces, BUT you can replace the rings with thread, so don't bother, you can make it anyway!!

After finishing the net place your planter in the middle of it, lift it, make a knot and hang it :) It can also be used indoors of course, maybe as a hanging fruit bowl in the kitchen or something.

P.S: you can find instructions on how to make the white plaster bowl from the last photo here!!

DIY | my Easter box

As I said yesterday, this year I didn't dye eggs, as I usually do! However, on Sunday I'm invited to go to my best friend's house for lunch, and although she asked me to bring a potato salad I traditionally make, I thought it would be nice to give her something eastery too. 

So I decided to make a small easter box for her! HA!

If you want to make them yourself, it's pretty easy. I just boiled the eggs and let them cool! Then I spray painted them and put them in an egg holder, also spray painted! Please note that these eggs are for decoration only!! But who doesn't want to add some gold in his life...and house? Then you will only need a nice ribbon to make a bow :) And TaDaaaa!!

Easy right? And I think it makes a great Easter gift!

DIY | Origami Christmas Trees [repeat]

One year ago, when my blog had only a couple of readers (my mom and maybe a friend or two) I made some origami christmas trees and shared them here. Back then my little trees hardly made it to pinterest. However, this year my trees seem to be my basic traffic source. Therefore, I decided to write a post, ode to my trees and all the amazing people who actually followed my tutorial and made them themselves (see some of them on the photo above)! And for those of you who still need to add some finishing touches to your festive decorations or want to throw a craft party for your children and haven't stumbled upon my last year's post :)

To tell you the truth, the main reason I'm writing this post is because I really want to thank each and every person that shared my little trees on their blog, website, pinterest DIY board, even instagram and twitter. Since I haven't been around the blogosphere for a long time, this post's success made me tremendously happy. And not that numbers matter, but from having around 3000 monthly page views to having almost 60000 is a major change!! Not that the trees are the only reason...I really want to believe that people do have other reasons to return here :) But, still...

Anyway! Since so many people got interested in learning how to make the trees, I recently uploaded a new tutorial video too on vimeo. And I'm glad to know that many people actually made their own trees!! it really made me even happier to know that my tutorial helped and came in handy. So if you want to watch it, here is the video too :)

xmas origami tree from AnnaRosa on Vimeo.

And because a proper ode post cannot be written without mentioning all the lovely people that made that happen, here are the links to the blogs and sites that featured my origami trees! And if I miss someone let me know and sorry in advance :) Please, do spend a couple of minutes-or more-to check them out..

Homesick | Lilly und Lotta | Puppenzimmer | Be Creative & Do It | Do It Yourself | That Nordic Feeling | Karacsonyvaras | Diply | Be | Design Crush | Adressa | Bubbles on my Planet | Uglemors Verden | Le Frufru | Davinmade | Claire2c | Aftenposten | Paper, Wool and Yarn 

PS: Except for the first three blogs which are the ones that actually made and shared their own trees (pictured above), the rest of the list is completely randomly ordered :) Some of them are blogs, other are websites (like Be, Adressa and Afterposten). Plus many of them are written in foreign languages, such as Danish, German and Spanish. Anyway, I'm sure you'll figure it out :) So...one more time..I'm so incredibly thankful and happy for my little paper trees and their success! And since many of you may be interested in making your own trees as well, I thought it was a good idea to share the post again with you :)

have a great week y'all!! hohoho