Ever since I ordered these shrinky dinks online I’ve been dreaming and scheming of ways to use them again. I like to get the most out of my craft supplies. Plus, when the craft involves sitting and coloring you best believe I will be doing it again. And again. And again.
I definitely jumped on the coloring band wagon. Well, actually, Rose and I had our own little coloring train when we were in college. We bought some of those giant coloring pages they sell at A.C. Moore in the kids section and would just sit on our dorm room floor (ew) and color them in as we watched TV. I think we bought a Spongebob one and a Zoo themed one. They were great. I still have some of those coloring pages, I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away (#hoarder).
Then once all these awesome coloring books popped up over the past couple of years I knew I had to get one (or two or three). It totally is therapeutic to just sit and color something in. As a crafty person, it’s nice to have a craft that is mindless and simple like coloring.
That’s why making these cactus light shrinky dinks was so much fun. I just got to sit and color in different cactus all day. No complaints here. I’m already thinking of other ways I can use shrinky dinks just so I have an excuse to color some more!
Keep read below to find out how to make these shrinky links cactus lights:
Materials:
- Shrinky dinks
- Sharpies or permanent markers
- Scissors
- Oven
- Parchment paper
- Hot glue gun
- String lights
Instructions:
- Start by drawing a cactus onto your shrinky dinks. You can either free-hand this or trace an image like I did. I chose to do several different types of cactus but feel free to just do one. For size reference my drawing on the shrinky dinks was about 5.5 inches long. You want them fairly big so you can glue them onto the lights.
- Color in your cactus using different sharpies.
- Cut out your cactus. I found that when I completely around the whole cactus – hugging the cactus the whole way – that this was more likely to curl and stick on itself in the oven. To remedy this I started to just cut mostly around the cactus but didn’t hug it and left some blank space between stems if there were multiple peaks.
- Pre-heat your oven to 325ºF and then place your cactus shrinky dinks on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Put in the oven for about 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them – they will first curl up and then eventually (if all goes well) uncurl and lay flat again. This was taking about 3 minutes for me but might be shorter for your oven so just keep an eye on them.
- With your hot glue gun glue on two dots on the back of your cactus shrinky dink. Then firmly press onto the string lights between the actual light. Repeat this process with all of your cactus.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA - Plug in your lights and enjoy! Just as a warning I would make sure you were always in the room when these are on and to not leave them on for a super long amount of time just because I’m not sure how the plastic will fare with the light.
Now you just have to find a cute place to hang up your cactus shrinky dinks lights! I think I’m going to put mine around my desk. I already have my cactus piñata sitting there so it seems only appropriate to add some more cactus paraphernalia.
If you want more cactus and succulent themed DIYs/ideas check out this Pinterest board!
These candy heart plant pots are the perfect gift to give away to your friends or coworkers on Valentine’s day. They are very quick and cheap to make so you could easily make a bunch to give away – or just make some for yourself to decorate your home with! Keep reading below to learn how to make these candy heart planters. 
Before I teach you how to make these candy heart planters I have a confession to make. I’m kind of freaked out by candy hearts. When I was in 4th grade around Valentine’s Day I was eating a bunch of these candy hearts, as kids do, and shortly after I was sent home sick with the flu. In my kid head I thought the candy hearts were what made me sick. Ever since then I’ve had a huge food aversion to candy hearts. I haven’t eaten them since 4th grade (and probably never will). I was traumatized. 
Though I refuse to eat candy hearts that doesn’t mean I won’t craft with them! I love the bright colors and the cute messages they have… just not so much the taste. They are certainly abundant in January and February so it’s kind of hard to avoid them, so my as well embrace them as I did here. 
If you do love candy hearts then this DIY is perfect for you! Quick and easy to make so you can give them away as Valentine’s Day gifts this year. Here’s what you will need:
Rose and I had this wonderful idea to make these fall inspired leaf and pumpkin wall hooks. The first struggle we had to figure out was how to attach a hook to the leaf and pumpkin. Once we decided we could cement/plaster it onto the back of the leaf and pumpkin it was smooth sailing…
I can’t wait for Thanksgiving to be able to pile these witty copper Thanksgiving themed dinner plates high with all sorts of scrumptious food. Usually, in years past, I have started planning for Thanksgiving in October but for some reason this year I am way behind the times. What side dishes will I make?? Is turkey necessary?? How many desserts do we need???
Ever since I saw 
I was quite proud of my handiwork and that I didn’t take off any fingers whilst drilling holes into the wood. Although this project does sound daunting – it is by no means so. You can get all of your wood cut at Home Depot and can use wood glue to hold the tray together instead of hammering nails into it. Coming from someone who has barely used any tools before in their life I was able to make this whole tray so I think you can too! Check out the full tutorial over on 
This project gives you an excuse to go look for fun drawer knobs, which means going to places like Homegoods or Anthropologie… sounds like my kind of project! Let us know if you end up making this tray! You can find the whole tutorial 
I don’t know about you guys but our summer has been a busy one. Both Rose and I are in a sort of transition period between jobs and apartments and it has put a lot of stress on both of us. We sadly (and begrudgingly) had to move out of our apartment together for the rest of the summer until we know what our next steps in life will be. We’ve both been busy bees and have tried to keep up with the blog and our Etsy as much as we can. We do have a few posts for you planned so stay tuned for some fun goodbye summer/hello school themed posts coming up. But, in the meantime enjoy this 
We are excited for what the future brings and hopefully your future will bring you this wonderful DIY summer flamingo painted doormat. It is easy to make and can be customized to any shape/animal/design that you want! We even provided free printouts of the stencil we used so you can simply print, cut, and paint! 
We hope you enjoy this fun summer DIY! I had a grand time making the flamingo cutouts and even stuck them up around our apartment afterwards for Rose to find. Anywaysss you can check out our DIY 
