Map box. (More map things!)

Yay for geography! Sooo I did it like the people on Pinterest and wrapped a map around a little cardboard box. No more to say :)

How to: Twigs with recycled leaves

Do you believe I couldn't manage to come up with a better title? I can't give it a short, snappy name! 
I saw something like this on Pinterest and instantly fell in love with the idea. I had to give it a try! It's sooo simple!

Here's how to do it:

Collect some twigs. Gather old magazines and cut out leaf-shaped pieces.

Attach them to the twigs using hot glue or sellotape.

Bind together and find a matching vase and LOVE because it's long lasting and looks too cute :)

How to: Map heart garland

Yay, geography!Is there anything more beautiful than atlases & maps?

Bought a second hand atlas for this and some other projects (As I already announced on my Facebook-page facebook.com/almostaliceblog - feel free to 'like' it for immediate updates. Also, google reader is going away so if you're following me via that, I recommend following my facebook!) 

Here's how to to it:

You'll need an old map or atlas, a sewing machine, scissors, a pencil and a heart template you can find on google. The whole thing took me about 30 minutes.

Print out a heart template from google, there are many different versions of hearts.

Use it to cut out hearts from a map or the pages of an atlas.

Try to vary different looks - land, ocean, mountains,...

Put your hearts into pairs. You can, for example, add an ocean dominated heart to a mountain dominated heart.

Prepare your sewing machine: Try to use thread in a matching color. Mine was green & white.

Now the tricky part: Start sewing in the middle of the first heart and work your way to the end.

Now you keep sewing about two stitches, pull up the presser foot and carefully pull the heart away from the machine. Take care that your thread doesn't get too long.

Start on the next heart and keep going :)

Lucky you, you're done!

Of course you can add even more hearts or simple round shapes.

Now hang up and enjoy!

How to: Simple paper heart garland

Not a groundbreaking idea, but sooo effective (regarding mood-lifting issues!) :)

Yay, here I go again. Thanks for waiting ;)

Today I was confused about Mother's day approaching and grabbed my scissors and some colorful paper ... I came up with this (after crafting a card for my Mum).

You'll need colorful paper. And some chocolate, if you like.

Then create a heart shape or search for one online. Make a template and cut out many hearts... The more the better :)

Then get a string and some cellotape and put that whole thing together.

That's it.

Mini Book Necklace

This is a version of the Mini Book Necklace by The Perfect Pear:

I changed the how to a little bit because my pages are open and not glued together.

Universal gift bag

I made this for a necklace for Christmas. :)

How to & "template":

Sooooo. 
Length: 9,9 cm 
Width: 28 cm(open!, in the end the width will be 14 cm) 
The grey parts help you to glue the bag together. 
Fold the paper in the middle to the right side as pictured, 
then fold the right and lower grey parts in and glue them on the paper. 
Leave the upper grey part like it is. 

Now you should have something that looks like this.

Additionally, you could decorate it now and stuff. I left mine plain.

Christmas Special Part 3: Christmas present DIYs

Welcome to part 3 of my Christmas special: Christmas present ideas.
Speaking about myself, making my own stuff is not only refreshening my soul but also a great opportunity to show beloved ones they're worth the time I put in crafting. I already planned on some stuff which, unfortunately, I can't show you in case some guys are spying. :P

I like this idea, especially for creative people. It's cheap, though I wouldn't think the idea is cheap.

You don't need to be a genius to make those slipper. Craftynest.com shows you how. You just need time.

One-of-a-kind woolen gifts by Marthasteward.com are very smart.

Can you crochet? I tried and failed because of lacking patience :/ But these owl coasters are just adorable! If you can make them, would you mind sending one to me? Oh come ooon.. please!

Maybe something for your mom. I assume they're easy to make! Check out http://media-cache-ec2.pinterest.com/upload/230879918366517358_lOjCidoY_c.jpg

Wanted to make one all the time. Maybe now? This is from http://media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/upload/253820128968453567_dEMOIVrY_c.jpg

Need gift boxes? Nothing easier than that. I can't remember how many patterns I found on that. Here's one of them: http://www.designsbymeganturnidge.com/blog/?p=935

The diy bride had a great idea of envelope liners to make your envelope more personal. Nobody will throw that away...

More coasters! This one was posted on my favourite craft website, cutoutandkeep.net! I really thought about making some. Follow the link for a How-to.

Owl gift card

I love this idea of a bow. But I don't know the source...

Sooo witty! I love this idea! - http://shealynnbenner.com/2012/05/tutorial-7-spray-painted-doily-canvas/

I hope you can use somet of these or maybe at least one. I would make them all. If I had time.

Christmas Special Part 2: DIY Link Gallery

Christmas is coming. Whether that stresses you out or you're looking forward to it, my DIY Christmas gallery is worth a glimpse.

Christmas DIY links

Good housekeeping.com shows you several ideas for christmas decoration. I like the first one - styropor balls wrapped in fabric, so easy but cute!

These clay feathers aren't technically christmassy but would make great gift tags!

Making snow globes is actually super easy. Get a jar, glue an item (in this case, a snowy fir or other tree) on the inner side of the lid, pour water into the jar (+fake snowflakes), screw the lid on the jar.

Got some old Christmas bulbs left? Eddie Ross shows you what to do with them.

Love to bake? Here are some Christmas cookies ideas:

I was impressed by those cutting techniques for paper snowflakes:

Hope you liked it!