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Hello and welcome to my channel. If you're new, my name's Christina, and in today's
video, I want to show you some really fun, simple DIY as it's all
about recreate, restyle and recycle. So lots to cover. So let's just get right into it. I really wanted to create a nice, elegant,
natural looking reef, so with some local supplies at my Dollar store, I was able
to pick up some embellishments to put something together. And I've never
actually done this before. And I thought it would be great since it
is the Christmas holidays, but I could use this all year round. So using this burlap ribbon, if
you can't find that, you can always make strips of the burlap. And I'm just going to wrap it around this
wire areif and there's no particular way to do this is just really wrapping and bunching. So this way it just punches into itself
and it will also cover the wire. I found that if I twisted the burlap as I
went and weaved it through the wire, it seemed to make these nice almost like bows, which I
really found very helpful and it looked very organic.

So I'm going to go ahead and
add this sorghum grass and there's lots of different natural dried flowers and even
wheat that you could use. So whatever you see, whatever you like, or
if you wanted to add some color embellishments as well. I also found this white floral stem
and I thought it would be perfect by just cutting up little pieces and just adding it
through as I started to put it together. And I really loved how it came together. Once I've made the design of what I want on
the reef, I'm going to go ahead and attach it with a hot glue gun. But if you don't have a
hot glue gun, no worries. You can always use
regular school Elmer's glue. You're just going to have to leave
it to dry a little bit longer. These truly made for beautiful
decor pieces for any room. And again, sky's the limit on the color choices
you could choose or if you wanted to go with a more a natural kind of
a boho kind of vibe to it.

It's really endless and it's great because it's
like a bouquet, but it's something you can attach to the wall. So it's not just about the holidays and
Christmas for RIFs, it's all year round. So I was really happy to give this a try. So I'm going to go ahead
and add these natural wood stumps. They're all dried. I'm just going to add one or
two at the bottom as well as I want to show you how I'm going to recycle those placemats
that you see me working on right now for another project coming up.

So using some embroidery hoops, you can make
some beautiful art elements for your wall, and they come in all different sizes as well
as you can use different fabrics and fabric colors. So I wanted to show you a very
simple way that you can create some beautiful wall decor and it's so easy to do. I've done many of these in the past, but I
really wanted to go with more of a Motrin and a little bit of a boho kind of look.

So I'm just going to use a natural linen. And this is just a scrap piece that I have
and it's pretty easy to anchor it inside the embroidery hoop. They have a little screw and
a bracket at the top. So this is going to anchor the two pieces
of wood together and you're just going to want to pull that fabric in nice and tight. I'm going to go ahead and draw out some regular
art figures that just off the top of my mind are just kind of had
a vision in my head. But by all means, if you don't know how
to draw no big deal, you can always trace something. You could go with
a very minimalistic art piece. I mean, sky's the limit. You can pick whatever you like
based on the decor you want.

So I wanted to make three of these all
in different sizes, and I wanted the fabric colors to be a little bit different. So each of the drawings that I'm going to do
are just going to be a human figure just in different positions. I also want to show you how you could
use the embroidery hoop to create something very similar just with things you can
find at the thrift shop. I'm going to go ahead and do another one,
and I'm using a white linen of fabric, and again, I'm just going to go
ahead and draw another figure. It's nothing special. It's just a little something going
with that modern minimalistic art.

Look, what I did find super helpful is
to Blackgate, your material, to the embroidery hoop, but also to use
a few different books available. So that way you actually had
something to kind of draw onto. I just found it super helpful. So this gave me something firm
that I could sketch off of. So I'm going to go ahead and finish my third
as I wanted to make a unit of three, and each one is going to be a little bit different,
not only in just the art figure, but as well as the embroidery threads
that I want to choose.

Embroidery thread is just like paint colors,
it comes and everything you could possibly imagine. Now, because I've gone with human figures
and also the fabrics I've chosen for these three pieces, I wanted to go with very,
very earthy tones and kind of a natural skin tone as well. You're just going to need a standard needle. Again, I just wanted to show
you, I found this was adorable. It's an elephant. I think it
was crafted in like India. I thought the colors of this was perfect. It's actually a napkin. And I found this at the thrift shop. And I just wanted to show you quickly that
you can put anything you like in an embroidery hoop and it can make
such a beautiful wall decor.

And for more personal touch, you can
paint or stain the embroidery hoop. So what you want to do is stitch from the
back and I'm just going to make fine, tiny, tiny stitches and this is what's going to
give it the look that it has. You can make longer stitches, but I wanted
to make a short, short little stitches. And again, you can add
colors, take them away.

But I really wanted to
demonstrate something very, very simple. Just follow the lines and give
about a millimeter between your stitches. You can always add darker and lighter stitches
beside it to add more contrast to your piece. I'm going to go ahead and finish off my
last two, but I want to quickly show you how you could actually make
a little tag holder. So I have this a faux leather. I'm just going to cut a strap and I'm
going to show you how I did this. And it just kind of refines it and gives it
something to leg to and hang it on the wall with. If you don't have faux leather on hand,
you can always use other thicker fabrics or even a burlap if you wanted to, to
create this little wall hanger for your embroidery hoop. You could also just leave the embroidery
attachment screw on its own, you don't have to do anything to it. I just wanted to add this little extra element to
it, and I just thought it would make it look a little tidier and add to the
modern look that I was going for.

So now that I've added this element or wall
hanging, I'm going to use a grommet punch and this is just again, just to add some more
detail and just making things nice and tidy, but you can just use a very well tipped
a knife very carefully just to make a small little hole or even use a decorative tack. And. I'm going to use some chalk paint and graphite and cocoa, and I want to dress up
this canvas board that I've had for quite some time, and it's quite interesting as an oval canvas,
you can pick them up at your local art stores and sometimes
even your dollar stores.

No particular fashion of anything I'm doing. All I would like to do is create
some highlights and lowlights with these two color tones. With chalk paint being a very flat
matte finish, I thought I would create something of a three dimension. And I'm going to show you what
I mean in just a moment. So all I would like to do is just blend
these colors around and just have some fun with it. Nothing particular I'm trying to go for is
just adding in a little bit of water. So this way, because the chalk paint is so
thick, this will move your paint around and you'll use a lot less paint. I also find adding little spurts of just some
misted water will also help me blend these colors to create those
highlights and lowlights. You don't have to use a chalk paint. You can use any acrylic paint and if you'd
like, you could even add a little bit of texture by adding in some baking powder and
you can create some beautiful, beautiful kind of an abstract blended look
with any of those paints. So I have a lot of these macrame beads and
I thought it might be fun to create something of a three dimension.

At first I thought maybe I'll do an owl, but
then I decided to get a little bit more. I don't know, maybe wine
just being on my mind. And I felt like a glass. I decided to go with a
bottle pouring into a glass. Look, the wood macrame beads come
in quite a few different shapes. But I like to these ones because
they actually had different sides to them. So they actually had a flat side which
made gluing them a little bit easier. But I did add a few round ones as far
as the pouring, as you can see, right there are those around and I'm just going to go ahead with
my hot glue gun and I'm just going to go around the outside first, then
finish off the inside. I wanted to add to the frame
as well as some more contrast. So using the macrame cord, I'm just going to
go around and hot glue gun that and I'm going to wrap the canvas probably
about four or five times. And I just thought this would add to the body
as well as some more detail to this piece.

This is a super fun way to dress up a
small canvas board and add new elements to your home decor using any shapes
or objects that you like. I was super excited to try this, and I
think we can make some really fun things, just making our own candles. Plus, I wanted to give some Christmas gifts to
the office of my day job and I thought this would be perfect.

So I went and bought 25 jars. Just a quick reminder, keep your cardboard boxes
and wrapping paper rolls in next week's video. I can't wait to show you what you
can create and then tell you all the details. Walk you through all the steps and you are
going to be blown away with the results. I've already done it and I am
thrilled with how it's turned out. So that's definitely going to
be on next week's video. So this is a great multiple gift idea of
making your own candles and using flatrock paint in white, gray and dark gray just in random. So they were different for a dollar 25 a jar. This is perfect. So I decided I wanted to practice making
the candles first and I was super delighted.

For the meadowland tops of the small jars, I'm
just going to go and twist some dude, add a little bit of the hot glue, and I'm just
going to add this element to the lids just to give it more of a kind of a boho kind of
look to it, as well as just giving it an organic feeling. If you don't have dude, you can always
use some old yarns that you still may have laying around super easy, quick solution to
adding character to just some lead tops. I want to show you how quick and easy
it is to actually make your own candles. So with the wax and the stems,
you're just going to basically stitch together. You're going to glue it to the bottom of the
jar and get your jars ready for your wax poor. And I'll show you step
by step how to do that. So to hold up your wick in the center, just
use a dowel or a popsicle stick with a piece of tape.

How many candles are really easy using
a double boiler system, melt the wax and let it heat to 180. When you're ready to pour, you'll let it cool
to 175 and then pour into the containers you have prepared. We ended up making some
other really fun ideas, just making homemade candles. And I'm about to show you some
other really fun, interesting ideas you can do.

I wanted to show you some really easy ways
you can create some fun embellishments and make some beautiful little decor items
for any home style. So I'm using a hot Crafter's glue and I'm
just putting on some cute wrap that's actually been braided. And I'm just going to wrap
this around this candle a few times. So I wanted to give this a
little bit of a rustic cottage. Look, so using those little dried wood pieces,
I'm actually going to create almost like a little stool for the base of this candle. Again, these make wonderful gift ideas and it
can be suited for so many different occasions.

I did buy a few candles from my local dollar
store just for the season of Christmas, and I thought it would be fun to create some
table art by just using some cinnamon sticks. And I'm going to go ahead and glue
them all the way around this candle. Again, it has a very rustic
kind of look to it. It almost looks like wood sticks,
but it smells so good. By putting the candle up on top of something,
and this allowed me to place the cinnamon sticks evenly, so this way it didn't
disrupt the balance of the candle.

You could wrap some jute or you could even
use a ribbon depending on the season on occasion. This one is a personal favorite of mine, so,
again, I'm just going to go ahead and just start a base with some jute and
I'm going to hot glue that on. Once I've snipped it, I'm actually going to go
around and take off that fray by just going around with a lighter and
just lightly run it over. And it's just going to take off all
those little flyways that that you can have sometimes.

And here I'm just using my favorite,
the coffee bean, and I'm just going to dress it up and wrap coffee beans
about half to three quarters up. And again, just really easy. There's no particular pattern. You're just going to put them on
randomly and it makes a beautiful texture. I'm going to use the leftover cinnamon sticks that
I have and just use some jute to wrap them up and then I'm just going
to adhere them to the candle. I wanted to show you how to do twisted candles
now the trick is, is you need to use a paraffin candles only they can't have
a second coat on them.

It'd be too hard. The paraffin you want to soften just with
warm water, not boiled water, just using a standard rolling pin, just going to flatten
out the center of the candle. So you're going to leave the top and you're
going to leave the bottom so the base can still be placed in a candle holder. You definitely have a little bit
of working time, is it? Well, take a little bit till it starts to harden
again and all you do is twist it and you can create a few twist or you can make lots
of twists, but you'll figure it out as you start twisting what you like best. And it's so beautiful and looks so elegant
and adds a beautiful texture to your candles just by using some hot water from the tap. I found these for free, and they're just
a medium sized planter containers with the chalk finish by Crillon, I'm going to go ahead and
give this a spray just to freshen them up, and then I'm going to figure out
what I'd like to do with them.

So now that these planter boxes are all
cleaned out and they are freshly sprayed, I'm going to go ahead and create a basket like look
for these, maybe even a little bit of a boho style. So I'm going to go ahead with some burlap and
I'm going to cut out panels for all four sides. So to protect the fabric from fraying, I'm
going to go ahead and hot glue the sides as well as tidy up the seams of this.

I'm going to go ahead and do all four
sides and just very, very light, very little amount of glue involved. It sticks really, really well. And then I'm going to place
the panels on all four. But I'm also going to do another fold
now that I have folded all the material. Once I've placed it onto the planter box
itself, I'm going to fold it again. So this way it's nice and seamless and it goes
and just kind of ties in together a little bit more neatly. And I'm going to
wrap them on top of each other. You'll see what I mean in just a moment. So to create it, to look exactly like a
basket would, I would like the material to fold into the inside.

So I'm just going to fold it in and glue it
and I'm going to kind of pull tightly on it. So this way, the fabric itself
will be nice and tight. Working in small sections, I found a little bit
easier to work with the fabric and it allowed me to place it
on as neat as possible. This is where I would fold fabric again, place
it onto the planter box, then fold it all the way to the next side. And when I'm ready for the next
panel, I would fold the sides again. I also added a little bit of glue
at the bottom of each panel as well. I'm going to go ahead and cut these dollar
store placemats into half and then I want to add it with a little bit of this twine rope
to add the additions to try to make this look more like a basket. I used a jigsaw to cut the placemats. Now I'm just going to use the hot glue to
go ahead and I'm going to create a frame all the way around the top. I'm also going to use that twine rope all the
way around the very rim of the top of the planter box.

I'm using the twine as
creating this faux frame for this basket. Look at that I'm going for. Now I'm going to run the twine rope down
the sides just at the corners again, I'm just wanted to create a frame all around this planter
box and if there's any loose pieces off the rope, I'm just going to trim those off
just to make it a little bit tidier. Now, I want to give this a full basket,
a handle, so I've decided to take three twined pieces of rope, cut them all the same length, and
then I'm going to glue one end of it. So this way I can go
ahead and break the handle. This style rope is great because it really
holds its shape really well for a handle. So with some macrame cord, I'm actually just going
to wrap the ends to make them a little bit tidier. I've had this chair for quite some time, and
I've wanted to do something different with it for a while now and I picked
it up at my local restore. It's in mint condition, but it is all white.

So I don't want to change the fabric, but I
do want to give it a little bit more contrast, as well as depth and dimension. I'm going to use chalk paint in cocoa. I always start with a moist paintbrush
now because this frame is quite thin. I'm going to go ahead and I'm just
going to use a small flat artist brush. Now, as you can see, there
is a trim on this chair. I'm going to change that trim. So if I get a little bit of
paint on that trim, it's no problem.

The new trim is going to cover
it on the back of the backrest. There will be no trim. So I definitely want to be careful
that I don't get any paint. That's why using this very flat edge, tiny
artist's brush will be a huge help. And that way I can still paint the frame
and not get the paint on the fabric. The seat portion has the trim. And again, I didn't mind if I got a little
bit of paint on that because I do have a darker trim that I want to replace it with. Now, the color tones I've used were not
drastic, so it only needed one coat.

So I'm really liking the rich
look of the coco color. Now I'm going to go ahead and just add plain
white wax and this is also going to seal the chalk paint as well. So no particular style. I'm just going to go ahead and randomly put it
all over and I'm going to try to create a little bit of some highlights
just on that detail. With my brush, you can use a lint free cloth just
to go ahead and buff your wax as soon as you're finished. And it can also help if you want
to pull some of the wax back, if you feel you've added too much. I am loving these simple little upgrades you can do
to a chair just with a little bit of paint, maybe some new trim. It's not always just
about reupholstering things. It's a creating little tiny decorative ideas. And it can just be something so simple,
like the trim and maybe just the frame.

You can use a fabric glue or
you can use the hot glue gun. Just make sure if you use the hot glue gun
is to make sure your setting is on a lower temperature. When working with the
fabric, it works beautifully. Please let me know in the comments below
which one your favorite project was in this tutorial. Thank you so much for watching today's video. And if you have any questions, please leave me
a comment in the comment box below, as well as let me know which one your favorite
project was and if you haven't already hit that subscribe button and notification bill, that's going
to tell you when I upload my next video.

And until then, take care..