diy
Do it Yourself; Tips and ideas for DIY projects to give a gift that your significant other won't return.
My Awful(ly) Great Van Build
Before the project even truly began, it seemed to be falling apart. My girlfriend and I awoke at three in the morning that August to hear my mother frantically yelling, ‘Pack what you can, we need to evacuate - NOW.’ One of the many California wildfires of 2020 was threatening our home. In fact, I didn’t know it then, but it was a mere two miles from our house. Dharia, my girlfriend, and I gathered the solar panels, mini fridge, Maxxair roof fan, and tools into the back of the Chevy 3500 cargo van I had bought two weeks earlier. Within five minutes of my mom waking us up, we were on the road. Visibility was down to twenty feet or so because the smoke was so thick. I put on Gimme Shelter by the rolling stones for full effect. With the van still a hollow shell, the song echoed throughout the van. I could see the orange glow in the air in the direction of my house and realized my childhood home would probably not be there in the morning.
By Raisin Brazon5 years ago in Humans
Stripping with Scissors
Confession: I’ve been stripping for about eight years. Stripping down furniture, to be precise. It’s funny; before I dove into the singular joy and challenge of upholstery, I thought strip as a verb was the sort of thing one definitely did WITHOUT children around. (And to be fair, the tack-pulling IS better left to adults!) But as they learn their warp from their weft, their bias from their grain, their tacks from their nailheads, my kids and I are learning more than a fun skill. We’re learning about recycling and reuse, about how to care for the environment, both the household one and the one whose air we all share. With each project we do together, we gain a sense of achievement, of ownership, and a knowledge that we’re capable to create and recreate almost anything our minds can imagine.
By WordSmithtress5 years ago in Humans
The Matchmaker's Dirge
What is the creative impulse if not love? Love of the medium, the tools, the process, the result. Certainly there is alchemy in creating; all makers recognize this and revel in its dance. But when we create for others, there is another, secret magic, a tenderness that cannot be replicated elsewhere. In crafting a gift, the maker’s mind can’t help but be occupied with quiet, smiling thoughts of the intended recipient. Like a husband-to-be daydreaming of his betrothed, the maker is captivated by fond memories and anticipation. The challenge of matching a precious loved one to the perfect gift, the hope for delight on their face when the match is a good one, the gratification of a job well done – all these elements combine to transform the unsuspecting recipient into a sort of muse, and to amplify the creative process into something like an addiction. It becomes an urge, a compulsion, a need so undeniable that other obligations might fall by the wayside.
By Mollykin Warble5 years ago in Humans
ME AND MY FASHION DREAM
Ever since I was a small child, I can remember looking for scraps of fabrics in my grandmas’ boxes so I can make dresses for my dolls. My mum was also an avid sewer, I can still feel the scratches from pins whilst trying on the latest dungarees. Scissors and pins spread across the kitchen table as my siblings, and I line up to get fitted. A few years later my family and I emigrated to Australia from Malta. I travelled back to Malta with my mum several times. My sewing machine always travelled with me; I just could not do without it.
By Mrs Natasha Coyne5 years ago in Humans
Baking is my Hero
Thank you for all the support I am someone who has struggled with anxiety, depression, emotional mood swings, even drastic emotional breakdowns and I have always looked for a healthy solution to help; I discovered baking. I have been baking since I was in middle school, I kind of taught myself how to by watching cooking shows, cooking/baking challenges, searching recipes online, and just experimenting. My mom is someone who loves her sweets after dinner with a cup of coffee, while she watches her shows, so when she discovered my passion for baking, she knew she was set for life, lol. I was a middle schooler with much anxiety, which I didn’t quite understand what that meant (I was too young), I never opened up to my mom about it, I didn’t know how she would take it, so I started looking for things that helped me to cope. My mom didn’t take an interest in cooking or baking until later on in her life, so when I started trying my hand at it, I realized I had a niche. The older I got, the better I got, then I had another reason to perfect my craft; my little brother. He was my guinea pig pretty much for all things culinary, he opened up his pallet when I would create new things, if I didn’t know how to make something better, I would ask him since he was a picky eater (at 19, he still is). My little brother and my mom were two of my biggest supporters in my patisserie journey, they even supported me when I decided to take courses at Le Cordon Bleu; unfortunately, I was paying for school out of pocket, I was working and going to High School, I was later laid off from my job so I couldn’t continue.
By Carla SofiiLove Garcia 5 years ago in Humans
Twine Corset
Fall was drifting in and it was time to restock the horses’ hay. I watched as my mom and my brothers grabbed the knots of bailing twine tied around each bail of hay, then hurled the bundles into the barn’s loft. The horses really did love eating that hay and they were kept happy in their barn and pasture.
By Kelsey Kay5 years ago in Humans
Me and My Fashion Dream
Ever since I was a small child, I can remember looking for scraps of fabrics in my grandmas’ boxes so I can make dresses for my dolls. My mum was also an avid sewer, I can still feel the scratches from pins whilst trying on the latest dungarees. Scissors and pins spread across the kitchen table as my siblings, and I line up to get fitted. A few years later my family and I emigrated to Australia from Malta. I travelled back to Malta with my mum several times. My sewing machine always travelled with me; I just could not do without it.
By Mrs Natasha Coyne5 years ago in Humans
E. Min Ho's Coat
The first cut into the fabric of a project always brings me joy and makes me feel I am truly creating. It wasn’t always this way, of course. When I first began working with scissors I would dread cutting. It represented to me the potential waste of resources, supplies and the destruction of an idea. Terrible fear makes for a terrible attitude.
By Spider Lilies5 years ago in Humans
What do you get someone who has everything?
I've known this person for three years. I have never witnessed such a fervor for consumption in the form of buying things. Things: objects, clothing, furniture, food, adornments, etc. Always on the hunt to own the most special, unique, luxurious items that anyone could have or that no one else did. There were cabinets full of pretty little things, "smalls," unappreciated by the eyes that previously sought them out. They were safe now, in possession, tucked away from the possibility that someone else could have them. The floors were an obstacle course of sculptures, paintings leaned up against them and smaller objects that didn't yet have a home (as long as they were under the roof of the collector, I suppose they were). Walking around was full of moments where I would clumsily kick something and quickly look towards him in hopes he wouldn't notice. The couches and chairs had oversized props on them, or bowling balls. This was not a house of living, it was a house of looking. The first time I was invited to come inside, I was in awe of the chaotic curation. I opened every drawer, every cabinet so I could get a better idea of who this person was.
By Jacqueline Leonhardt5 years ago in Humans
