Have Beer, Will Travel: Bike Six-Pack Holder Tutorial

Hello, hello, hello!  I know it’s been a little while…but I’m back with the long-ago-promised tutorial for a bike-safe six-pack holder (I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath, and quite frankly I can’t imagine how you’ve gotten along thus far without it!  My most sincere apologies from keeping you from this vital information.)  But hey! Enough chat.  Let’s get to it!

This 6-pack carrier has strips of Velcro on the inside, so that in addition to being a regular carrier, it opens flat so that it can be draped over a bicycle bar for easy transport. 

Hello, remember me?

Hey remember the time that I posted a bunch of new years resolutions (including one to post often and regularly) and then disappeared for three months? Me neither. Actually, the past few months have been a blur of finishing up my Master’s degree once and for all, making plans for the future, and hanging out with these guys.

 But the important thing is that I’m here now, and I’m chock-full of ideas that I can’t wait to put into action! First things first, though: I’ve got to get caught up on the past few months, starting with the Valentine’s Day gift I made for Sean this year. Since Valentine’s Day is right around the time that his all-time favorite beer comes out and he quite likes to ride his bike all over his sunny little town, I decided that the thing he needed for Valentine’s Day was a six-pack holder that he could strap right to his bike, and then take off and carry around if his little heart desired to do so. I did some poking around online and just couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I decided to make one of my own! I made it out of canvas and printed cotton, using some elastic to keep the bottles in their little cubbies, and velcro to fasten the undersides together.

 I’m working on a tutorial for this little beauty, so stay tuned! And oh, have I missed you. Glad to be back.

Fabric Storage Bins Tutorial

Today, the temperature in Cleveland is somewhere in the -20's, and everything is covered in the grey slush of poorly plowed snow (which I'm sure is thoroughly frozen by now.)  So, I whipped up a little fabric bins tutorial for your sewing pleasure.  Please let me know if you have questions or run into any problems while making this project, and enjoy!

Click on the link below, and find the full tutorial after the jump.

DIY Washi Tape Planner

Call me old-fashioned, but I just can't seem to function without a real, I-can-write-things-down-with-a-pencil-and-flip-through-the-pages, paper planner.  I'm not sure if it's the technologies' fault or my own (I swear, sometimes my tech devices have minds of their own) but whenever I try to use electronic calendars I just end up missing Oliver's beauty appointments or showing up to my cello lessons on the wrong day or having some other catastrophic scheduling meltdown.  It's just such a comfort to be able to physically flip through my schedule and see everything laid out in front of me, and I can't seem to do it any other way.  

So this brings up the real dilemma: it's really, really hard to find a passably cute day planner that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  Most of the time when I need one I scour store after store, searching for the perfect planner (it's a bit like looking for the Holy Grail, if you ask me) and I end up having to pick one up at the last minute for much more than I wanted to pay just because it's becoming unacceptable for me to be missing so many appointments.  In order to preemptively avoid this with the start of the coming scholastic year, I just DIY'ed a little solution for myself, with a plain black day planner (it cost less than $4!) and some Washi tape that I picked up for about a dollar a roll.  Simplest solution ever.  Makes you wonder what else could be vastly improved by slapping on a couple of strips of Washi tape…Hope you enjoy this little project!

Zippered pouch tutorial!

As promised, I worked up a little tutorial, filling y'all in on how I make my little zippered pouches (I knew you were just dying to know!)  Check out the full tutorial after the jump!  As always, I would love to see any projects you come up with, so I hope to hear from you soon!

DIY pom pom headboard

Aside from the usual busyness of the semester, I've still had my nest (also known as my apartment) on my mind.  Whether it's because of the cold weather, my lack of free time, or because I am a self-proclaimed homebody, all I want to do these days is decorate my apartment.  One project that's been on my to-do list for a good long while is a DIY headboard.  There's just something about a headboard that screams "I make your bedroom look warm and inviting and pulled together!" 

Since I live on the third story of an old house, my bedroom has some charmingly slanted ceilings that make a large, traditionally-shaped headboard completely impossible.  I also wanted to do something somewhat temporary (since I am only renting) and cheap (since I am not only a poor student, but also somewhat of a starving artist after all.)  Enter my brilliant idea: tissue paper pom poms.  They're inexpensive, simple to make, easy to install, and the perfect project to work on while watching the Bachelor (did you really think I'd forgotten about that show?)  There are probably an infinite number of hanging arrangements to play around with, which made it an ideal headboard option for my space.  Once I had made all of my pom poms, I just arranged them how I wanted (which was apparently in the shape of a triangle) and hung them with thumbtacks, and admired my handiwork.

To see how I made my pom poms, continue after the jump...

Dapper dog bow-tie tutorial

As promised, I've worked up a little tutorial for those doggie bow-ties from yesterday's post.  Enjoy!