Making Bags From Old Shirts

Today I will show you how to make a bag out of an old shirt! You can keep this inside your bag and use it if you are going to the grocery store for some quick shopping.

Start with an old cotton shirt. Something that you can easily cut, like this shirt that I used to wear when I was still at the University... so and so pounds lighter.

Cut the collar and the sleeves for the bag handles. By this time your shirt should look like a tank top.

Cut a 3 or 4 inch slit on both sides of the bottom of the shirt.

Cut the bottom part of the shirt into half inch wide and 3 inch long strips. You should cut both the front and back sides of the shirt.

Final step: Tie each strip twice, like a square knot. When you are done, stretch the shirt a bit if you don't want the bottom of your bag to be too tight.

And here is the final product!

By the way, I did this project for Muni Market Day, which was on June 1st. I will post photos of the event soon!

Pouf-a-Palooza with One Kings Lane

Poufs are the perfect accent for the home because it is one of the most versatile furniture pieces that you can find nowadays. It can serve as a chair, a table, a footrest, or a stool. I guess the possibilities are endless.

For instance...

Is it game night? Having poufs in your living room will give your guests enough comfortable seating.

photo via One Kings Lane

Place a tray of drinks on your pouf and it will instantly become a coffee table. 

photo via One Kings Lane

Another thing is that they're soft and "corner-free", which is why they're perfect for the kids' room. If your child can't reach something, then the pouf is sturdy enough to be used as a stool. 

photo via One Kings Lane

One Kings Lane has a huge selection of poufs and ottomans that you can get online. They have it in every color, style, and pattern. I have selected three poufs from the OKL online store, and paired them with their other products to make these mood boards. Let's begin with the Pouf-a-Palooza!

Wanderlust Aztec Pouf

Too big of a crowd and not enough places to sit? This patterned pouf is your answer. Crafted in soft microplush in a trendy tribal print, it comes in handy as an ottoman, a coffee table, and even a night stand.

1. Wanderlust Aztec Pouf, 2. Shine Flat-Weave Rug in Pink, 3. Carmel Sofa in Charcoal, 4. Ikat 20x20 Cotton Pillow, 5. Fiona 20x20 Cotton Pillow

Moroccan Pouf in Grey

Known for its exotic rugs and impressive craftsmanship, Morocco is also recognized for its iconic and versatile leather pouf. Designers and design-lovers alike have embraced this plump accessory, using it as a practical seat for an unexpected guest or even as a tea-time table when topped with a tray. Hand-stitched construction primes this piece to last well into the years to come.

1. Moroccan Pouf in Grey, 2. Cecil Chair in Periwinkle, 3. Geo 22x22 Cotton Pillow, 4. Brahms Mount Yellow Herringbone Throw

Anniston Pouf in Grey/White

Stylish and endlessly versatile, this charming pouf works best as an extra seat but can easily moonlight as a side table when topped with a tray.

1. Anniston Pouf in Grey/White, 2. Morgan Sunburst Wall Mirror in Gold, 3. Lansing 74" Sofa Graphite, 4. Lauren Flat-Weave Rug in Oatmeal, 5. 7 inch Peony in Round Vase, 6. Amber Coffee Table

If you liked the items on my mood board, check out One Kings Lane. 

Rainbow Loom Craze

Guess what I have been doing these past weeks...

I have been playing with my new toy! This Rainbow Loom trend is really making me crazy. I even bought a plastic divider to organize my rubber bands by color.

There are a lot of patterns and combinations that you can follow online but this one is easy. I saw this pattern on YouTube and they call it the "Frilly Braid". Before you make this, you should know how to do the fishtail braid and the inverted fishtail braid.

You will need:

25 pieces of blue bands

25 pieces of orange bands

loom

hook

1 C-clip

For the video tutorial, check out this post by TutorialsByA

Start with the first blue rubber band. Twist it in the middle to form an "infinity"or 8 and place it on two pins.

Then get your second band (orange) and your third band (blue) on top of the infinity band. Just like how you'd start a regular fishtail braid.

Let's start with the pattern. If the rubber band is blue, then you should do the inverted fishtail on the left side and regular fishtail on the right side. To do the fishtail braid, just take the bottom band and pull it up to the top. For the inverted fishtail, insert your hook inside the middle band, then hook the bottom band up and over.

Now do the opposite. If the rubber band is orange, then you should do the regular fishtail on the left side and inverted fishtail on the right side.

It can be a little confusing at first so that's why I recommend using two colors for this bracelet so you know which side is the regular fishtail and which side is the inverted.

Just keep doing it until you see the pattern forming.

When your bracelet is long enough, just take your bottom band up and over until you are left with just one band.

Hook one side of the band to the other pin.

Take a C-clip and hook it on the the last band.

And we are done. Hooray!

Yarn-Wrapped Monogram

Hi guys! I am back with an easy tutorial on how to create a yarn-wrapped monogram for your room. Here's a vignette that you can try on your nightstand: 

Materials:
Cereal box
3 balls of yarn in different colors
Scissors
Pencil
Ruler
Tape

Step 1: Use your pencil and ruler to draft the letter on the back side of your cereal box.

Step 2: Cut out the letter. If you think it's flimsy, you can use thicker cardboard or you can also make your letters 3-dimensional.

Step 3: Prepare your yarn. Select three different colors that you like. For my monogram, I chose cool pastel colors.

Steph 4: Bundle up the three strings and tie a knot at the end. Pull the bundle until you get about 7 yards in length (or how long you want it) then trim it.

Step 5: Just wrap the ends of the letters first so they don't look awkward. Cut 3 inch pieces of yarn and use masking tape to secure them.


Step 6: And also use masking tape to secure the starting point of the bundle of yarn that you will be using to wrap the letter. Don't worry, you will cover the tape when we're done.

 Step 7: And then, start wrapping the letter! And watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones while you are doing this. If the bundle of yarn runs out, make another bundle and tie the new one to the old one just to make it continuous.

Step 8: The middle part probably looks weird and loose when the wrapping is horizontal. So you can just go back and wrap it again, but this time vertically.

Step 9: When you are done wrapping your letter, just tie a knot and trim the end.

Step 10: Look at your work of art and slowly clap your hands. If you want to hang this, you can glue a small piece of picture hook/hanger at the back.

And there you have it! Easy-peasy yarn-wrapped monogram.

Katha Magazine Issue 05

Seeing as all of the Katha founders are women (and with only one male on the entire team), it wasn't really surprising that most of our ideas on features were women/for women. But we thought it was about time to get out of our comfort zone and feature some barely explored territory for us: men.

Check out the brand new issue, hot off the digital press! http://bit.ly/katha-issue05

What I Had For Breakfast

Good morning everyone! This post is long overdue, but here's what I had for breakfast (three weeks ago):

Baked baby potatoes, with eggs in capsicum slices. I got the eggy idea from my aunt's Facebook post. But instead of frying them on the pan, I baked them in the oven. Aaand I went a little crazy with the black pepper.

Anyway, if you add herbs like rosemary, it will go well with the potatoes. I hope you like this idea!

Nail Polish on Keys

It's a Saturday morning and you have nothing to do. Instead of painting your nails, why not paint your keys? Transform them from this...

To this!

Here are the things that you will need:

- keys

- colored nail polish

- dotting tool or toothpick

- clear nail polish

First design is the dot pattern:

Just use the dotting tool to create dots in different colors. I used white as base then baby blue, pink, mint, and gold for the dots. When you are done decorating, add a layer of clear nail polish to smoothen your design. 

Next up is the floral pattern:
First paint your base color. Then for the flower, just add blobs of nail polish on selected areas. Wile the blobs are still wet, swirl in white nail polish using a dotting tool. Then use green nail polish for the leaves.

And finally, the leopard print:

I'm not even sure if this looks like leopard print! Haha. Just make bigger blobs, then add smaller blobs on top of the bigger blobs. I guess there are a lot of detailed leopard nail art tutorials on YouTube that you can follow :P

And we're done. I hope you enjoyed making this project as much as I did!