DIY

Do It Yourself projects are ways to design and create a product with the materials around your house or at hand. These projects are usually made for temporary use; however, I have DIY projects that have lasted me years, and they are excellent ways to be creative on a small budget. The best thing about DIY projects is that they are all handmade & crafted by you; all the credit goes to you! If DIY projects are not for you, they can always be an excellent source of inspiration for future projects!

Here are a couple DIY projects that I have done myself as an example:


Red Velvet Cupcakes

This DIY project is the easiest compared to the other DIY projects I will be showing in this article. The DIY red velvet cupcake can be used as a charm for cell phones or a decorative piece for a mini bakery or display.The process of making this cupcake was quite straightforward.

1. Use polymer/Fimo clay in white 
2. Cut off the desired amount to make the bottom part of the cupcake & roll it into a ball in your hands 
3. Place on the table and flatten slightly with thumb 
4. Take an exacto-knife and crease the side all around 
5. Taking a good amount of new clay, roll out a snake for the top as the frosting & attach in place 
6. Place in oven and bake according to instructions on the clay 
7. Once cooled, paint desired colors with acrylic paint. glue pieces together 
8. DONE!







Shower Curtain
Another  simple and fun DIY was a shower curtain made of BLICKS plastic bags. 

Being an Otis student if it is something we can all relate to it is the struggle of spending so much in Blicks on school supplies! What better way to reuse the bags by making something useful and ingenious.

1. Cut 2 LARGE BLICKS plastic bags open
2. Measure the length of the shower and tape the 2 pieces accordingly
3. Poke holes in the top and ring in place onto the rail
4. DONE!

Nightstand Drawer
Challenge your advanced creativity, introducing the two drawer nightstand. This nightstand was inspired by the left-over cardboard sitting in my apartment after moving in. With the left over glue stick & cardboard I had, I put together a DIY that is useful and possible to do. This project is made to be very do-able because I used already sized cardboard that you can find around the house.

1. Search for two boxes that formerly held a bulk of 8.5x11 sheets of paper (with lid)

2. Take the lid & set on the floor. Use the sides to measure the overall width of the drawer, take cardboard & cut to desired height 

3. Using a peice of cardboard and hot glue make a middle divider to seperate drawer one from two

4. Using the provided lid, measure out the desired height X width of one drawer front and cut out a sheet of cardboard that fits as the front of the drawer & hot glue the bottom against the front of the wide part of the cardboard lid (repeat for second drawer)

5. Measure the short side of the lid and cut two identical pieces of cardboard to serve as the side of the drawer for support

6. Repeat  step 4-5 for drawer two

7. Measure the top of the drawer and cut a piece that is slightly larger to sit on top of the first drawer & glue in place

8. This step is for decoration purposes. Take paint or duct tape and apply to the surface of the entire finished drawer

9. Take two stick-able wall hooks (can be found at the dollar store) and hot glue on the middle of the  top part of each drawer

10. Slide the finished drawers in place and store items/clothing

11. DONE!

- Jamie -