DIY Tumblr Inspired Crafts

Hey everyone! I'm so excited to share this next post with you today because I think it is so useful and something fun and creative to do during long, summer days. Let's face it, without school all day and then sports/clubs/homework all night; we have a lot of free time on our hands that we don't want to waste because it's summer and we told ourselves this would be the best, most unforgettable summer yet, right? I mean boring days are the absolute worst, so that's why I'm sharing these 2 crafts; which will not only be enjoyable but also limit those pesky boring hours that hit us each day. They are inspired by Tumblr, Youtube, and Pinterest and are fresh, new crafts directed towards a teenage girl. However, you can adjust these crafts to fit your style, personality, or even gender (if you're, for instance, a guy reading this blog). This can be done through color changes, word choice changes, etc!

I will be showing you 2 different crafts that are both super straightforward yet look really different and trendy. Also, most of the supplies you'll need will most likely already be at your house somewhere which is a huge bonus (especially for those of us who can't drive and don't want to bother our parents) :) If you do however happen to need some supplies any craft store would work. For my American viewers: Michael's, Joanne's... and for my European/Swiss viewers: Coop Bau & Hobby, Migros... So, without further a do, let's get into the DIY!

Craft #1- Polaroid Room art

What you will need:

Before I explain the steps to making this wall art I'm going to show you what it should look like at the end to give you a better idea while you're making this!

The first thing you will need to do is measure the wall space that you will be using for this with your string. It doesn't matter how much space you have horizontally if you have a lot of space vertically-if that made any sense :p So you are going to just measure the string across and then add a couple feet (1/2 metre) on to your measurement. Then, pin the string with a tack at the beginning leaving the rest of the string hanging down.

Next, you're going to make your loops where you'll hang the pictures from. First, make a loop around the first tack to secure the string into place. After this step, you need to make little curves or loops down and then pin/tie at the top of each loop. Repeat this step until you get to the end of your wall or space you're using making sure to tie the tacks in tightly. Finally, cut off the excess string after you finish all the desired loops.

Now, comes the easy and creative part of the craft. Take your clips (I decided to use colorful, mini ones) and your polaroids and clip your polaroids to the string. If you want to have a pattern with your polaroids or clips you may. For example, I decided to categorize my polaroids into sections: vacations, friends, events, etc.

And that's it! Super quick and easy yet it looks really cute and adds a lot of color and interest to your room which can be added onto with each polaroid taken! I hope you liked this tumblr-inspired wall art and that some of you try it out. Especially if you have tons of polaroids and want to make something unique out of it.

Craft #2: Ombré Painted Word Inspiration

What you will need:

I chose the word L-I-V-E as my inspirational word because it's short yet I think has a lot of meanings, insight, and motivation to it. Then, for the colors I went with blue, yellow, pink, and green because I think these 4 colors work really well together presentation wise. Since my wooden letters were brown I also needed some white paint to use as my base because this is an ombré painting technique. Finally, I used lots and lots of paper plates...

Once again I will show you the end look to give you a better idea. I'm not the best artist or painter in general so forgive me.. but if you're really great at art then yours will probably turn out better ;)

Okay, so the first thing you're going to want to do is get 4 plates for each of your letters and paint the letters all white. However, I didn't paint the back of each letter in case I wanted to hang them on my wall in my room. Either way- it's up to you!

Next, will be the ombré painting after your letters have dried. I tried a various number of ways to get an ombré effect but in the end repainted each with the technique that worked the best for me. I'm going to share that particular way with you but if you know a better way you can of course use that and also let me know because I'm curious :)

Start with your first letter and paint color of choice. Get another plate and squeeze some of the color-based paint onto your plate. First, paint a small chunk of your letter with the normal color. Then, squeeze a small dot of white onto the plate. Mix a tiny amount of the paint with the white and blend together. Paint another strip of your letter with this now lighter shade. Repeat this process until you reach the end of your letter. It's very important that you're only mixing a little white each time because if you jump into completely different hues each time  it will turn out looking more like a color-block. Warning: I messed up on my L at first so don't follow the steps I did for that letter :p

You may also use your sponges to blend the ombré together and make the different shades look more natural and clean. On one of my letters I also began with paint at the top and dragged that paint down till it ran out and then began my ombré technique. Here are some guiding pictures to give you a better idea, again I used some different ways so not all these pictures are exactly accurate!

Then, I repainted the sides white to touch them up in case any paint had spilled over. Lastly, as a final and optional step I glitterized! Basically, outlining the letters with a little glitter glue to jazz them up a bit and make them stand out and sparkle more. Another easy, yet a bit more time-consuming task that looks really cute and tumblr in your room!

I hope you guys liked this special DIY post! Follow for more exciting and useful posts in the future! Sneak peek into Sunday's post: Acne! Ew.

Thank you again to all my viewers you guys are great <3