24 days till Christmas: Advent calendar for grown-ups

Suomenkielinen versio löytyy täältä: Arpakalenteri

So as usual, I did this on the last day of November, and for that reason this easy-diy-calendar is coming a little "too late".
But don't worry! As this is more to adults than kids, you can still do it, and have all 5 presents in ONE day! ;)

 

So as we didn't want the usual chocolade calendars, nor Legos, we decided to fill our tree with tickets! Incredebly easy and simple! Here's couple of tips how you can make a calendar like this.

First phase is same for all of these: Buy 24 scratch and win -tickets.

·        **  Take 24 refridgeator magnets. Put tickets to your fridges door in order.

·       **  If your fridge has chalkboard paint (like ours), you can even mark these days with boxes.

·       **  Use washi-tape to make a tree to your wall. Tape tickets to trees "brances" in a way 24 tickets will look good.

·       **  Put wire to your wall/doorway/curtainrod and with the help of clothespins, attach 24 tickets to hang.

·       **  Put 24 tickets to a beautiful jar. Draw one ticket per day.

·      **  Using pins, put 24 tickets hanging in to your curtains.

And.. Now... How we did our own! You will need…

…spear wood for branches and frame

…couple of nails (nails, no screws!)

…old wallpapers /craft papers / gift wraps

…ribbon and 24 clothesspins

…glue, siccors and a pen

This took about 3 hours.

Make (or tell your husband to make) an tree, that stands on table. It doesn't really matter what color it is, as in the next phase you will cover your wood with paper.

Cut suitable pieces from your papers. Glue them to your tree (daa!).

It's a cute decoration piece as it is, but we wanted to use it as calendar (which can be used as a deco on Christmas Eve using balls and stuff).

Slip 24 clothespins to ribbon. Use these to attach tickets.

Spin ribbon over the tree.

Tadaa, it's ready!

First ticket was a winning combination. Great start!

Enjoy your December!

HOW TO: wings and devil dress

Suomenkielinen versio löytyy täältä: siivet ja paholaisen mekko

This year (because of the moving) we didn't want to use extra cash to make our Halloween costumes, but as most of the people, we still wanted to celebrate.
As usual, we were really late with our costumes, so DIY was kind of the only option.
After browsing tens and tens eri costumes from the interenet, I decided to do "quick and easy" wings (= took a lot of nerves and were hard to do).

 

So, our costumes builded up around these wings. As I like to dress up in a way that people know we are together, I tought both of our costumes should be from the same theme.

Miro were Arch angel (as I 'see' them), and I was fallen angel.

For your diy wings you need:
- cardboard, which is big enough
- leather or other farbric / material you would like to use to make feathers
- leatherstraps/belts ect. which you will use for hand loops
- hot glue gun
- possibly black marker
- stapler

I used shooting target as my base. I drew other half free hand, and traced other half to get exaclty same sized wings. As we wanted to do really massive wings, I cut this out of each other and made a extension piece in between so that these would settle to right position when used. I could have done this with cardboard, in position as it is shown in picture, but imagine cardboard piece in between these two wings.

I cutted a piece of leather, glued and stapled it to between wings. At this point I also needed to find places to straps. As you don't need to repeat my errors, here's couple tips:
Ensure, that your straps are long enough and strong enough for this purpose. These wings are going to be really heavy. Staple them really well, I mean, use like tons of staples to be sure.
Don't use rubberband unless it's REALLY for heavy purpose, as in other case it wont last there without stretching our of shape.

Cut feathers from your material (I used leather) using a stencil. If I had to guess, I would say I used about 100-150 feathers for each section, but these really are big wings. I used 4 differend sizes so it would look as real as it can.
Glue feathers to base.

Do this to all these sections. Shake wings to see if any feathers fall (suprisingly many fell of as I hadn't glued them). As for positions, I can't say more than find the way that suits you better. I used real wing photos to be my guide lines.

You can paint your base to be black before you start, or you can use permanent marker afterwards to cover any parts of the base that is showing (I did this).
Lastly, sew buckles to upper leather straps, so you can tighten wings to be in the right position when wearing. Make holes to lowes leather straps, just like belts have.

Tutorial for dress is coming afterwards, but to cover your disapointment for that, you can look this handsom Arch angel:

Ask if there is something you would like to know, that I didn't tell! These took a lot of time, but you wont need to as you can avoid all the mistakes I did! :)

Shoebox here, shoebox there

Suomenkielinen versio löytyy täältä: Mööpelin matkassa - säilytä kevyesti

As most of you know, we're going to move out from Finland. No, we don't have jobs or home there where we are heading - yet. We just want to discover what life has to offer for us. So, we're hopping on in to our RV... Before that, we need do adjust some things in life and sell most of our stuff, and replace some of our stuff with less heavy and more compact versions.

So, a while ago we refashioned some shoeboxes to look nicer, as those are really light and easy to use as storage boxes.

You will only need: shoeboxes (or other cardboard boxes that can be used as storagebox), leftover wallpapers, brush and some glue (with water, it's more liquid like when mixed up with water).

Toughest part for me was picking up "the right wallpaper", as I do have a lot of these.
Gluing should be done straight to wallpaper BEFORE you cut it, so your piece wont be too small. Do it as you would wrap a gift.

Put glue to that side of the box you're going to glue. Glue needs to be evenly, as if you're going to just dump it somewhere there, it won't look pretty and it will be visible through paper. Especially thinner papers will shrink, and all these lines and mistakes are going to show up.

Cut paper along sides, or fold a little inside. I folded box about 1cm inside, but with box cover I just cutted it along the line, as when you are using this cover, folding could get loose within time.

You could add some lace or pearls to these if you like, I left these bare as I think these wallpapers don't need any decorations.

Fixing RV with dc-fix // Vaunun fixausta -fixillä

Suomenkielinen versio löytyy täältä: DC-fix, tuo ihmeiden tekijä 

So we really want to make this RV to look like it's ours. We decided to do something for kitchen counter and for all other levels there is, and for that reason, we bought DC-fix. A lot.

We tryed to clean up these counters but nothing worked for them (and I really did scrub..) so this kind of was the only option.

Kitchen area BEFORE

So, first things first, we measured all the counters and went shopping. We decided to take this gray DC-fix for counters. This project took about 2 rolls, other 90cm wide and other 60cm wide.

Dining area BEFORE

It was pretty easy, we had some issues with corners, but if you don't look them too closely, they look "pretty ok". ;)

Kitchen AFTER

Kitchen counter was done with one 90cm wide piece.

For dining table we used two 60cm wide pieces.

The rest of them we used in various places, like nightstand and shelves behind dining area.

That's it! Cost: almost nothing, Time: couple of hours. :)

HOW TO: Easy christmas picture

Jouluintoilu jatkuu! Tällä kertaa taulun muodossa. Tämä(kin) projekti on todella helppo toteuttaa, eikä maksa myöskään paljoa.

Mitä tarvitset;
taulupohja/vanha taulu/styrokspohja
tapetin palanen/jotain nättiä paperia
nastoja, neuloja tai nitoja jolla kiinnittää paperi
liimaa
lamettaa

Christmas spirit continues! This time in the form of pictures to wall. This project (also) is really easy to do and does not cost too much either. 

What you need; 
painting base / old painting / styrofoam piece 
a piece of the wallpaper / pretty paper 
stapler or pins to attach paper to base
glue 
lametta/tinsel

If you need to buy them, check out here 

Tämä kyseinen kuva tuli talon mukana.. :D

Don't worry this picture came with the house, so.. :D

Sovittele tapetin palanen pohjan päälle niin, että sinulle jää käännösvaraa. Mikäli tarvetta, leikkaa vähän reunoista. Itse jätin melko reilusti kääntövaraa.

Fit that wallpaper piece to match base. Leave a little more to sides so you can attach paper to backside of the frame. Cut it if you have to. I left a lot of paper to backside just in case.

Kiinnitä paperi pohjaan niiteillä tai nastoilla tms. Itseltäni tämän asettelu vei hiukan aikaa joten älä välitä josset heti saa sitä kohdalleen.

 Attach that paper with stapler or pins so it stays in it place. This took a little time from me so don't worry.

Asettele lametet haluamallasi tavalla taulun päälle, laita alle liimaa ja voila! Valmista on. Itse varmistin vielä laittamalla väliin myös hiukan liimaa, että koristeet pysyvät varmasti paikallaan. Valmista!


Set tinsels as you want them to be in that picture. Use some glue to hold them in place, put it in between tinsels too to be sure. And you're done!

So easy, so cheap! Thank you for reading and if you have the time, please hit me with a comment. <3

HOW TO: Orangecloves (appelsiini-neilikka)

Yes, you read right!

My mother used to do this as I was a child, and nothing else couldn't archive the same amount of christmas spirit as these things smell.

And these are cheap and easy to do!

What you need:
Orange
Cloves (dryed), usually are found at spices rack in supermarkets
Some cute ribbon

Oltiin miehen kanssa kaupoilla, ja satuin näkemään hyllyssä näitä kuivattuja neilikoita. Hymyilin ääneen, että vitsi muistan kun lapsena äiti aina teki appelsiini-neilikka palloja joulun aikaan, ja ne tuoksui niin kovin hyvälle. Mies ei tiennyt mitä ne on (Kyllä!), joten olihan niitä pakko sitten ostaa ja näyttää heti kotona mitä tarkoitan.

Mitä tarviset:
Appelsiini
Kuivattuja neilikoita (löytyy yleensä maustehyllyltä)
Satiini tms. nauhaa

Tämä on todella nopea ja helppo. Pyöräytä nauha appelsiinin ympärille kiinni niin, että se appelsiini kestää sen sisällä myös roikkuessaan jossain.
Tökkää neilikoita appelsiinin kuoren läpi ihan mihin itse siinä tahdot. Me laitettiin narujen ympärille koristeeksi, vähän kuin olisi leveämmät narut.

So easy and quick! First, put the ribbon to orange as you would hang orange to seiling. It needs to hang in there. Then, put cloves around the orange as you want. We put them around that ribbon just so it looks like ribbon is much wider.

Lilli and Nasu also wanted those cloves.

Kun oot valmis, etsi pallolle paikka ja sido naru solmulle ja pistä esille. Eikö ollutkin helppoa?

When you're done, pick a place where to put that orange to give you some christmas smells, and tie that ribbon up! Easy, wasn't it? ;)


Have you ever done these? What's your christmasspirit thing you just have to have first when you're getting to christmast mood?

HOW TO Reindeer pillows

Olen jo kauan himotellut (siis useamman vuoden) nuita ihania porotyynynpäällisiä. Ongelmaksi vain on lähinnä koitunut niiden suolainen hinta, ja tästä syystä ne on jääneet vielä toistaiseksi hankittua.

For a long time I've been wanting to have those cute reindeer pillows, but unfortunatly they cost a bit too much for my budget to buy.

Tänään kuitenkin sain loistavan idean tehdä sellaiset itse. Tarvitset;

tyynyliinan
vahvaa kangasta esim. nahkaa
tulostimen
paperia
sakset
nuppineuloja
tekstiililiimaa


For this project you'll need;
pillowcase
strong fabric (leather etc)
printer
paper
scissors
pins
fabricglue 

Need to buy something? Check out here.

Etsi netistä ensin itsellesi sopiva kuva jota haluat hyödyntää. Itse löysin tämän kuvan Googlesta "reindeer stencil" -hakusanalla. Koska tein kaksi tyynyä, niin tulostin myös kaksi kappaletta malleja.
Leikkaa mallit irti paperista.

Find stencils from internet which you wan't to use to your pillows. I Googled "Reindeer stencil" to find these. Because I did two pilloews, I printed two stencils too. Print out, and cut stencil out.

Ota esille kangas jonka valitsit kuvaa varten, asettele malli päälle, kiinnitä nuppineuloilla ja leikkaa

Tämän jälkeen ota esille tyynyliinasi, laita sen sisälle paperi, jotta liimatessa et sotke myös toista puolta liimaan.

 Now take the fabric you chose for picture, put your stencil on top of it, pin it down and cut.

Take your pillowcase, and put a paper inside of it before you start to glue picture on top of it so you won't mess out the other side of the pillowcase.

Näin minä sen tein; laitoin liinan sisälle tyynyn, jotta tyynyliina olisi mahdollisimman oikeassa asennossa. Asettelin kuvan siihen päälle siihen kohtaan mihin sen halusin myös liimata. Käänsin yläreunan 'nurin', jotta saisin sen taakse ensin liimaa laitettua.
Asettelin yläreunan varovaisesti liinaa vasten takaisin, ja tämän jälkeen toistin saman alareunalle. Näin tehdessä saat kuvan oikeaan kohtaan liinaa sotkematta.

This is how I did it; I put a pillow inside of the pillowcase so it would be in that position how it would look normally. I placed the picture on top of it to that place where I would like to glue it.
Now I carefully turned upper part of the pic to glue it to it's place. Repeat same to down part. When doing this way, you won't smudge the pillowcase.

Let it dry and you're done!

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Shelf with concrete blocks

 Meidän makuuhuone on mielettömän pieni ja ahdas, joten säilytystilan/hyllyjen saaminen sinne viemättä liikkumatilaa on hankalaa.

Pähkäiltyäni asiaa aikansa, sain idean tehdä "opiskelijahyllykön", eli betoniharkkoja ja liimapuulevyjä.
Betoniharkot ostin nettikirppikseltä, mutta niitä saa myös suoraa rautakaupasta.

Our bedroom is incredibly small, so getting the storage space / shelves there without compromising the ability of moving around the room is difficult.

While a had thinked the relevant time, I got the idea to make "student-shelf", ie concrete blocks and woodblanks. Concrete blocks I bought from internet secondhand store, but they can also be bought direct from hardware store.

Yllä siis lähtökohta. Kuten kuvistakin huomaa, tilaa ei mitenkään älyttömän paljon ole, eikä kuviakaan laajempana saa. Aiemmin tässä oli vain kohlo kaappi ja vaaterekki, joille pääsy oli hyvin hankalaa.

Above you see the starting point. As you can see from pictures, there really isn't much space. Previously there was only clumsy closet and dressingrack, to which access was very difficult.

Ihan ensimmäiseksi koitimme useampaa tapaa laittaa palaset paikalleen ja etsimme tähän tilaan parasta ratkaisua (ja tämä TODELLA vei aikaa..).
Kokeilimme myös, että onhan systeemi tarpeeksi tukeva. Eli, heilutimme sitä ja asetimme painetta, jotta näemme kuinka todennäköistä on, että se kaatuisi. Meillä ei ole lapsia, ja hylly on turvallisessa paikassa (seinät, vähäinen kulku) joten meillä tämä on tarpeeksi turvallinen systeemi. MUTTA! Mikäli teet tällaista itse, ole todella varovainen. Näin korkeana rakennelmana on hyvä olla tarkkana, että hylly on tuettu tarpeeksi hyvin!

So firstly we tryed several ways to put those pieces (and this REALLY took time..), and we tested where would be the best place to put TV on.

We also experimented that is the system sturdy enough. So, waved and pushed it and we put pressure on to see how likely it is that it will fall. We have no children, and the shelf is in a safe place (walls, not much moving beside it) so for us this is enough secure. BUT! If you do this yourself, be really careful. As high as this it's good to be careful that the shelf is supported well enough!

Oikealla oleva valkoinen kaappi on tehty jo aikaisemmin, siitä löytyy oma tekstinsä täältä.

That white cabinet on the right side is something we've made earlier, and that post you can find here.

Tällainen siitä sitten tuli! Yhtä asiaa me vielä kuitenkin pohditaan.. Että pitäisikö nuo hyllyt maalata valkoiseksi, vai jättää puunväriseksi? Tai kenties maalata jollain ihan muulla sävyllä? 

So this is the outcome! But we're still thinking one thing.. Should we paint those shelves white, or live them be? Or use some totally other color?