Category Archives: DIY

DIY Christmas Tree Ornament Ideas

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The holidays are meant to be a time to enjoy precious moments spent with family and friends, but all too often we find ourselves spending too much money to decorate our homes perfectly. The good news is there are plenty of quick and easy ways to make your home festive; a few garlands of evergreens, a colorful wreath in the window, or an arrangement of simple votive candles flickering on the mantel can create an abundance of cheer. You can also create your own Christmas tree ornaments. Personalized ornaments are a great idea if you have a certain specific decorating scheme in mind. Decorate ornaments with paint, glitter, or ribbons and sequins.

Here are our top 10 easy-to-make DIY Christmas tree ornament ideas in no particular order:

Mini Sleds
Oh, what fun it is to ride on these cute, little popsicle sleighs!

Get the tutorial at Clean and Scentsible.

Mini Snow Globes
For these winter wonderland globes, you’ll need plastic old-fashioned light bulb ornaments, white glitter, mini bottle brush trees, red and white striped baker’s twine, and a hot glue gun.

Get the tutorial at No Biggie.

10-Minute Photo Keepsake Ornaments
Make your favorite holiday memories last a lifetime with these quick personalized ornaments. Grab your photos, cut them into circles, and apply to wood slices using Mod Podge.

Get the tutorial at Simple As That.

Felt Christmas Tree Ornament
Making (and then hanging) these adorable felt trees is an easy craft for the whole family.

Get the tutorial at This Heart of Mine.

Rustic Boho Twig Arrows
Take a more bohemian approach with your ornaments by making arrows with twigs, feathers, and wooden beads.

Get the tutorial at Thoughts From Alice.

Scrabble Tile Ornament
Add the title of your favorite Christmas tune to your tree by using Scrabble tiles.

Get a tutorial at Crafts by Amanda or at mostcraft

Red Nose Reindeer Ornament
Use two-and-a-half wine corks and a little bit of fabric scrap to create a miniature Rudolph.

Get the tutorial at The Homeless Finch.

French Macaroon Ornament
Give your tree a French twist by adding these colorful sweets! These faux macaroon ornaments can be made using either polymer clay or fondant.

Vintage Map Ornament
Recycle your old paper maps by turning them into ornaments! Simply follow this blogger’s surprisingly easy folding technique, then loop with a ribbon to finish.

Get the tutorial at Chic California.

Upgrade a Plain Glass Ornament
At around a dollar each, these empty orbs offer an affordable catalyst for creativity. Fill one with small wooden chips, another with a single each, these empty orbs offer an affordable catalyst for creativity. Fill one with small wooden chips, another with a single stunning peacock feather (attached to the ornament’s top with hot glue). Or compose a more obvious Christmas scene by dropping a model fir tree into a globe dusted with artificial snow. You can also use tweezers to position branches inside and even hot-glue a tiny cardinal in place.

Create a new keepsake with these easy-to-make ornament ideas. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us here at Bronson Design Studio!

Posted in DIY

Fabulous Fall Decorating Ideas

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Bring the warm colors of fall into your home with these beautiful and simple decorating ideas. Take advantage of our upcoming Halloween Sale and/or check out the simple DIY Project we found below…

Red, Orange & Black 

Interior decorating with red, orange and black offers wonderful bright colors that can stay in your home after Halloween. Red is the emotionally intense color of fire and blood, so it is associated passion, desire, and love. Orange feels warm and cheerful, while black adds elegance and mystery to interior decorating. Mixed together, these colors are excellent for Halloween decorating, and also can be enjoyed in any season.

The Howard Elliott Collection is running a sale exclusively for items that are Red, Black, and Orange in celebration of Halloween! The sale will run from 10/20/2014 – 11/7/2014 and a 10% discount can be achieved by utilizing the promo code HALLOWEEN at checkout. Here are a few of the 100+ items included in this Halloween Extravaganza.

Anita Red Round Mirror

Howard Elliott 51177R – Our Anita Mirror features a large round frame ornately designed with an elaborate leaf pattern. It is finished with a glossy cherry red lacquer.

Fusion Glossy Orange Mirror

Howard Elliott 2092O – Our fusion mirror features a contemporary bold flame shaped frame is fashioned from resin and finished in a striking glossy orange lacquer.

Oakvale Glossy Metallic Black Mirror

Howard Elliott 4084MB – This rectangular mirror features a frame carved with a lovely leaf design reaching up to an ornate open work tree design. The piece is finished with our custom glossy metallic black lacquer.

You can view all items on sale from the Howard Elliott Collection here.

Be Subtle

Call House*Tweaking blogger, Dana, a party-pooper or Scrooge.  But she, like many, really does not like blatant holiday decor. That being said, she has 2 kids that she did not want to deprive of holiday fun. So they worked together on “spookifying” their living room…for FREE in a very clever way that satisfied everyone involved.

halloween

The spooky Halloween decorations are hiding in the lamp shade! By day, it’s a beautifully unassuming lamp. At night, when the lamp is switched on, it’s a Halloween themed shadow box!

To see a full how-to on this project, visit House*Tweaking.

They’re Baaaaack!

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One of the largest broods of cicadas is expected to hatch in the coming days for the first time in 17 years, and it won’t be long before the bug’s distinct chirp inundates New Jersey.

They emerge from the ground in cycles, once every 17 years, when the soil temperature at about 8 inches below the surface reaches a steady 64 degrees. Within hours of appearing, the bugs go through a metamorphosis, transforming from a flightless, slow-moving nymph stage into a large, flying insect.

cicada

Soon after they are swarming the skies, often in tremendous numbers, filling the air with their distinctive mating call – a choppy chirp that, when amplified by the thousands, provides a steady hum under the summertime sun.

That got me thinking of my favorite insect artist/designer Christopher Marley, founder of a company called Pheromone. Christopher arranges insects in the most cleanly symmetrical form possible and displays them in a perfectly antiseptic, inorganic presentation; effectively diminishing the fear of reprisal that large bugs tend to inspire.

bugs

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The Coleoptera Mosaics are one of his trademark creations and among the most enjoyable to execute. Each piece is created with careful attention to the flow of negative space, complimentary coloration, and the meticulous preparation and selection of each specimen. The appendages are tucked under the body so as not to detract in form or reaction from the striking display of nature’s brilliance. Colors are natural and as many are structural instead of pigmented, as durable as any color in the animal kingdom. Museum quality, 8-ply, acid-free mats generously offset the wash of iridescence in deep, architectural, hermetically-sealed frames. Each piece is signed and labeled and no two are exactly alike. Learn more about the process of turning insects into framed pieces of art in this video.

I wonder if Christopher will be in New Jersey in the upcoming weeks :)

How to Hang a Mirror

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Learn how to hang a mirror easily using following simple steps. Before getting started, here are the tools required:

  • Tape Measure
  • Hammer
  • Level

1. Carefully unpack and identify all parts referring to Figures 1 & 2.

2. Locate the desired wall surface where the mirror is to reside. With the help of another person, position the mirror on the wall and using a tape measure, measure the distance from floor to the bottom of the mirror. Mark this distance on the wall lightly with a pencil.

3. Carefully place the mirror on a level surface and measure the distance from the bottom of the mirror to the center of the (2) mirror hangers (Ref Fig 1). Proceed to add this distance to the mark you made in step #2, and mark the wall accordingly. This represents the vertical height from the floor to the center of the mirror hangers, or  location “A” on Figure 1.

Figure1

4. Measure the distance center to center of both mirror hangers. Divide this distance in half and pencil mark this value on each side of the mark you made in step #3. These pencil marks represent where the (2) J-hooks will be located. A level can be used to make sure the marks are perfectly level before the hardware is nailed in.

5. The best hanging hardware for most walls is the J-hook. It is designed to keep the nail that goes into the wall at a sharp angle, so that even in drywall, it will stay in place. It is important that the J-hook be properly rated (i.e. max. capacity) for the item you want to hang. Proceed to nail (2) J-hooks in the wall surface at the (2) pencil marks representing the center of the (2) mirror hangers.

Tip: For large mirrors, use a self-leveling adjustable J-hook (Ref Fig 2). With this hardware, even if your measurements were slightly off, the hangers can be adjusted without moving the nails from the wall.

Figure2

6. With the help of another person, carefully lift the mirror so that the (2) mirror hangers align with the (2) J-hooks and lower the mirror in place. Be sure that both mirror hangers are fully seated on the (2) J-hooks.

Average Installation Time: 20 Minutes

Lighting Fixtures for Wine Enthusiasts

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What’s better than enjoying a relaxing drink with friends to unwind after a long day? Making use of the beautiful empty bottles, that’s what! Rather toss them in the recycling bin, you can use your wine bottles as part of your decorating scheme in your kitchen, bar or dining area with the Winey Chandelier from Cyan Design. $552.50

Winey Chandelier

Want to see more? Here are a few other lighting fixtures for wine enthusiasts.

Stedman Iron/Blue Glass 5L Chandelier

Vintage blue-glass bottles lend artistic impact to the striking Stedman 5 Light Chandelier from Arteriors. $1,680

Pottery Barn

Authentic green-glass wine bottles lend artistic impact to this Wine Bottle Chandelier from Pottery Barn. It has a rasped finish that gives each individual chandelier rich texture and one-of-a-kind detail. $399

Double Winey Chandelier

Wine glasses have beautiful shapes. If you are a wine lover, you might wonder about creative ways to display your wine glasses. Rather than store them away in a dark cabinet, you can use your wine glasses as part of your decorating scheme with the Double Winey Chandelier from Cyan Design. It doubles as storage space / drying rack for your wine glasses. $397.50

Glasklasen

Glasklasen is a genuine product of Swedish art industry, designed by a team of two architects – Gunnar Cedervall and Björn Stillefors – and an industrial designer – Jörgen Pudeck. The manufacturing takes place in Sweden, at a smithy dating from 1840.

Using simple materials, modern production methods (CNC cutting, sheet metal fabrication) and ingenuity, a Montclair architecture firm (Madlab) designed custom wine bottle chandeliers for the Amanti Vino Wine Store – also right here in Montclair NJ.

DIY Chandelier

Shannon Quimby of Portland, Oregon, utilized old wine bottles to create unique lighting fixtures on her dining room ceiling and shared her method on OregonLive.com’s Home & Garden blog.

These fabulously unique fixtures all refract light in interesting ways, depending on the type/color glasses or bottles you hang from them, casting patterns on surrounding surfaces in the room. Now get to work emptying those wine bottles…cheers!

P.S. You can find more wine storage ideas here.