Guest post: Favourite DIYs

Today's guest post is by Skye from Even Artichokes Have Hearts - another of my top favourite bloggers. Head on over to her blog after you've read this post - you won't be disappointed - plus she's got a fantastic giveaway on her blog at the moment to win a Crafty Creatives box!

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hello! i’m skye from “even artichokes have hearts”. when the lovely fran asked me to do a guest post for her i was pretty excited, i love her blog so much!

i thought i’d post 3 of my favourite diys of the year so far, and hopefully they’ll cover different crafty areas for everyone.

DIY Peppermint Lip Scrub

first up is my most recent diy- peppermint lip scrub.

i cannot express how easy this recipe is and how amazing the results are, if you have a spare 5 minutes then give this a go.

what you need:

- 2tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- a few drops peppermint extract (or your flavouring of choice)
jars to store

- these ingredients fill up two little sample pots- mine were from the body shop.

method:
simply mix the ingredients together in a dish and then pop into jars- it’s as simple as that!

i’ve never tried the infamous lush bubblegum scrub, but for me this scrub is perfect. i think any flavouring would work, but the peppermint feels extra refreshing, especially first thing in the morning.

DIY Cat Toy

next up is a project perfect for recycling scraps of fabric and keeping your feline friends happy- cat toys!

the knitted mouse pattern can be found here, took about 15 minutes to knit up and is so cute! perfect for those little bits of yarn left over from other projects.  

i think the best thing about making toys for your pet is that anything goes- as long as they can pounce on them i think they’re happy!

what you need:

- scraps of fabric
- needle & thread
- stuffing
- string


method:
1. cut out 2 pieces of fabric in an oval shape for the body and two smaller pieces for the ears.
2. on one body piece, sew on the ears and add a little nose and eyes.
3. placing the right sides of the fabric together, sew together the body pieces, remembering to sew in the tail and leaving a small gap for the stuffing.
4. turn the work the right side out and fill with stuffing, then sew up the gap.

and that’s the mice finished!

n.b. if you want to make a stick to attach to the mice, simply superglue 3 ice lolly sticks together and then cover with string using pva glue.

DIY Jewellery Frame

finally, here is a project that i made at the start of the year when i moved into my new flat. i have a lot of jewellery and found it very frustrating keeping it all in jewellery boxes- i kept forgetting about certain pieces, and i hated how easily chains became knotted together. i saw a similar storage idea to this on pinterest and thought that it was the perfect solution, and 8 months later i can confirm it’s a lifesaver!

what you need:

- picture frame (i bought mine at a flea market!)
- string
- nails
- hammer


method:
1. remove the glass and backing board from your frame (and save for a future project!)
2. work out how many rows you can fit on your frame, remembering to allow for necklace lengths and how far the string will drop. mark with pencil on the inside of your frame.
3. hammer the nails into the marked positions- i used the groove that the glass fit into as this meant the nails fit into the side of the frame smoothly.
4. cut your string and tie securely to the nails- if you create a loop in your knot, you can easily unhook the string to add/remove things from your frame.

and there we have it- a great storage solution and a pretty cute feature for your wall too!


i hope you’ve enjoyed my 3 favourite diy’s, and let me know on twitter (@skye_pennant) if you try any of them out. skye x

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A massive thanks to Skye for her guest post! Her DIYs are amazing so be sure to go check out her blog!