IKEA Giveaway!

1. curtain panel 2. small vase 3. set of 4 coffee mugs  4. tealight holders  5. throw pillow  6. medium sized vase 7. whiskey glass  8. poster

Today is my birthday, and if there is anything I like as much as getting gifts, it is giving them. So, I am going to be giving away an IKEA prize pack filled to the brim with goodies! The total prize will be $25 in IKEA goods, and you get to pick out your favorite item(s) totaling $10 or less*, and since I love giving gifts so much I will select enough stuff to fill up your prize pack (because isn't it more fun to open a surprise in the mail?). As I am buying and shipping this prize myself, I am sadly only going to be able to offer this contest to readers residing in the U.S.

*Winner will select prize(s) totaling $10USD, I will then select $15USD in prizes to fill up your package. Winner will be sent an email with some questions so I can make better choices on special things just for you!


If you aren't familiar with IKEA, you may think that $25 is a pretty puny prize, which is why I made these two photo collages of products. As my birthday is on October 6th, not a single item on this page costs more than $6!! In fact many of them are much less expensive than that. To enter to win, simply follow the instructions on the rafflecopter widget below. As an added bonus, I have added a daily entry to this giveaway if you tweet about it each day. I want as many people as possible to have a chance at the fun. The contest runs until midnight on Oct. 15, I will then contact the winner via email.

Please be patient while the widget loads a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

1.  bathroom organizer baskets 2. owl hand puppet  3.  decorative bowl  4.  fake flowers  5. autumn candle  6. hanging flower pot  7. bath towel  8. picture frame


 

DIY Vinyl Decals

It's another cloudy, raining off and on kind of day in Portland so I am once again opting for indoor crafting on my days off. Today I decided to spruce up my Expedit bookshelves from the good old IKEA with a new vinyl decal! These are super easy to make, and also super cheap. All you need is some contact paper in any color or pattern you like, a surface for cutting on and an X-acto knife or mat knife/box cutter. Oh, and I guess it wouldn't hurt to have an image in mind for your decal (you can draw your own, or find something from a photograph, book, the internet, etc.). As you can see, I chose a paper airplane, which was extra easy to do because of the straight lines. You can certainly do more organic shapes, just keep in mind your own skills with an X-acto knife and whether you are up to the challenge. I have seen some people make some VERY intricate decals.

Make sure your blade is sharp to get the best results, as you may be able to see from this detail, mine was a tad dull on the inside tip cut of my paper airplane, so it's a tiny bit ragged. Since this is a temporary and very changeable detail to add to a permanent piece of furniture in my home, however, I wasn't too upset about the tiny imperfection. I got my roll of contact paper from a dollar store so I can probably make enough decals off that one dollar to last me a whole year if I update the look once or twice a month, depending on the size of the decal.

If you were wanting to make your decal a more permanent part of your furniture/wall/etc. you could certainly use this technique and paint over your decal, then make sure to gently score around the decal with a sharp blade before peeling the decal off (to avoid jagged paint edges and peeling) and leave behind the decal image on your finished piece. It would be like using a much more intricate painter's tape that comes in a large sheet rather than strips. I'm thinking about making some of these for the little nieces. It would even be great to make them some personalized stickers, since the contact paper peels off of surfaces much better than traditional adhesive stickers. I'm sure my brother would appreciate that.

Origami Print Purse

What is black and white and red all over? This bag! We've had this fabric at work for quite some time now (Yes, I work at IKEA) and I have been trying to think of something to make with it. I was messing around with patterns and thought a nice big purse to carry all my junk around in would be perfect. I got out some tissue paper and made a pattern (I like tissue paper because it is cheaper than getting special pattern paper, easy to pin to fabric and you can get all the fancy colors and color code your projects so you find the pattern you are looking for faster).

Here is the finished bag, not too shabby. I am a fan of huge circular bags, I actually made this one by tracing a garbage can lid to get a huge circle, then free handed the handles in to the pattern. You can make any shape or size you like though. Also, my bag and handles are all one piece, but I usually make bags with separate handles that are added on to the main body of the bag itself. I am always experimenting, and this one turned out pretty nice.