Last. Blog Post. EVER.

I hate to say this, but I am kind of happy this is over. I guess at the beginning of this experience I did not prepare myself for the difficultly of this project. My goal was to complete 5 projects by the end of 30 days. Well I completed 7! I feel so accomplished. Not only do I get the satisfaction of saying I completed my goal, but also I now own a Love Tub, ottoman, braided bracelet, roman shade, candle holder, toy box,   and Toms!
On average I spent 4 hours on each project. This estaminet only includes the time actually doing the project. It does not include: the time spent gathering materials, the time spent thinking of something to upcycle, the time to take pictures for tutorial, or the time spent to put up tutorials. That's a lot of time. Need I need to mention how much each project cost. Nope! I will just take this time once again to thank my awesome PARENTS!
What are the benefits of upcycling? DIY/upcycling projects are great! They save money and are unique. I got to spend more time with my mom and my dad because of this project. We also worked as a team (a team that my argue about which way we should do it because we are stubborn and want to do it our way then say NANANA I told you I was right!) Every Saturday morning my mom and I would go to Goodwill/yard sales to find something to upcycle. I loved the feeling of making something myself and saving it from just being wasted. Not going to lie I liked showing off what I made to others; however, I was nice enough to share with you how to do it yourself! On a side note, I learned how to spell tutorial though this project! At the beginning I would always spell it 'tourorial.' Not really sure why, but I just realized through this post that I can now spell tutorial without even thinking about it!
I hope I inspired you guys. If not that, I hope I have entertained you. Thanks for your time!
Mikayla Carpenter

The longest upcycling project EVER.

I have been working on the upcycling project for awhile now. In a previous blog I asked for suggestions on what I should try to upcycle. Old magazines was a suggestion and I decided to tackle it. Yep, I took old magazines cut out strips of paper, rolled them up, glued them together, and made a candle holder. Throughout this whole process until the day I started to put them together I thought I was going to make this into a trash bin... NOPE! That would have taken even more time. So I made a candle holder!

First you must take a strip of old magazine and fold the sides to be overlapping in the middle.

I would roll the magazine around a pencil or pen or something circular (besides your finger) because it gives it a more clean edge.

Now the bottom is a solid huge chunk of strips of magazines. Then the sides are made up of the rolled up magazines.

This is a top view of the candle holder. 

I only built up the sides about 2/3 of the way. Also, if you don't want it to flare out towards the top then glue the circles straight on top of each other. 

Helpful Tip: the strands of glue that a hot glue gun creates are super annoying...take a blow dryer to them. They melt within seconds.

Turn your blinds into a Roman shade!

Some of these blinds were broken at the top. We thought 'hmmmm what can we do with this'? *idea pops in our head* ROMAN SHADE! 

We took out the broken blinds and a few others to give it a spaced out look. Next, we picked a fabric we liked and hot glued the blinds to the fabric.

This is how the Roman shade looks hanging up in our window! I like it. It adds a little bit of class to boring blinds.

One. More. Day.

Man, words can't describe how I am excited to get this project over with. I mean I love you guys and appreciate you for commenting/viewing my blog, but this writing a paper and blogging at the same time is getting to me.

On a side note, I have been trying to calculate how much time and money (my mom, my dad, my uncle, and I) we have put into this immersion project. I have found several benefits from this project! So tomorrow look for there to be a conclusion to this totally awesome blog.

What is your favorite DIY/upcycling project from Pinterest?

This is my favorite upcycling project I found on Pinterest. Unfortunately, I will not have time to do a tutorial of this project.

It is a pallet from a factory turned into a coffee table. Of course my mom was able to get a pallet from work, we just ran out of time. I love the fact that they are not trying to hide the fact that it is a pallet. They are like BAM it's lime-green and awesome sauce! This is the link to this upcycling project (http://pinterest.com/pin/156148312050240583/)

What is your favorite Pinterest DIY/upcycing project? Leave the link in the comment box! 

I...am...tired.

Sheesh! I am tired. Who would of thought doing these DIY/upcycling projects would be so much work? First, I have to have an idea of what I want to do. I have to plan out which project I am going to do. Then I collect the materials. The most time consuming part is actually doing the project. I have to remember to take pictures of each project I do. Lastly, create a tutorial for my audience. I do not have the space here at college or the materials or the money so I go home each weekend to do at least one DIY/upcycling project. Then I start the routine all over again. If I didn't have my mom and dad (mainly my awesome mom) helping me get supplies and actually helping me do the projects I don't know what I would do! I know I wouldn't have this many projects done by now. This week has been rough! Working on my research paper while trying to keep up with my blog. Not to mention, I have a foundations and drawing class I have to do projects in also. I am getting burnt out. But have no fear! The end is near!

BIG shout out to my lovely parents! Thanks for the help!

Customize Your Toms

Toms.
They are shoes made out of canvas. I love my Toms because they are easy to get on and match just about everything. But my Toms are not Toms! They are Aloha Islands (a brand by Shoe Show). They look just like Toms just a different man on the tag. Also, Kohl's has a brand call So! This is how I made my 'Toms' custom.

This is my quick sketch of the owl and what colors I plan on painting where. Do the planning now so that you do not mess up! I used the little bottles of fabric paint.

I used a washable marker to map out where the owl was going to be. Do not put the details on the inside because, as you see here with the purple, you just paint over it. Think background first then the details. 

Next, add the body part, wings, and eyes. 

This is me painting the shoes!

I added hearts the the back of the shoes!

This is the finished product! You can design them however you want. Just takes a little planning. It took a total of about 3 hours to do the whole project. It only cost $20! I actually made these shoes for my RA as an appreciation gift! She loved them. I encourage you to do this project and let me know how it goes.