DIY Hanging Plant Basket

Today I felt like making something and I remembered pinning such a fab idea for a DIY hanging plant basket on Pinterest a while back. In my current rental, I don't have much protection from the elements on my patios so I have had to keep most of my plants at my mum's place. So suffice it to say, I have been having gardening withdrawals! I found all the instructions on Simply DIY2, a blog by Stephanie.

 

This DIY project is quite a fiddly one and would be a lot easier if you had a helping hand to tie all the knots. But if not, you will be able to manage it just fine (you'll just have to use your teeth to help trying knots like I did ha ha!). Stephanie provides a step by step guide as well as pictures on her blog, so give her a visit and you can make one of these too. There are a few different types of hanging basket ideas available on Pinterest that I would love to try in the future, that utilise actual cane baskets and just look fabulous with coloured twine and a beautiful plant.

 

                       

 

 Happy DIY-ing!

 

 

♥ Katie Lou

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

DIY handpoured soy candles

                                

I have been really excited to share these with you: my handpoured and scented soy based candles! I have been making candles for a couple of months now, in the thought that one day in the near future I will have a stall at the local markets selling them with my best friends succulents. I have always loved candles but didn't love the effects wax like parrafin wax can have on the environment, so I found soy wax. Soy wax has a much cleaner burn and is made from the soy bean so it is all natural. You can make your own candles into motives, pillars, tea lights or in glass jars which are my favourite! I love the vintage feel candles have when they are in random jars and glasses. They just look amazing and add such a rustic vibe to your house. You can also have them scented any flavour you want, which makes them perfect for gifts as well. 

                          

The candles I made for this post are made in small glass bulbs which I bought online from a supplier called Aussie Candle Supplies. Also from here, I purchased the soy wax and cotton wicks. The many fragrances I have collected over the past few months have been from various places but there are so many out there, they aren't hard to find. I have found it is important to use fragrances rather than essential oils if you want a room-filling scent. 

 For these small bulbs, they only use about 150grams of wax each, which I melted down in an old saucepan and heated to 85 degrees. As it hits its peak temperature, I added my fragrance (vanilla, coconut & raspberry) and mix. Then its time to pour the melted wax into the bulbs. 

There are many different techniques to hold the wicks into place. You can use glue spots to keep them steady, use wooden chopsticks or even spoons. I find the using string secured with tape works the best as it doesn't result in crooked wicks like using a spoon can.

Once you have poured and secured, its important to let the wax dry for 24 hours before burning them. I decided to dress mine up a little bit for gifts so I used some left over fabric and twine. I was very pleased with the results!

                                 

 Happy Candle Making!

Super cute (and easy!) DIY mini succulent garlands

I have been dying to try out my own DIY project on something I have seen a lot over the past couple of months on some of my favourite websites like Etsy and Pinterest: garlands. 

My mum gave me some succulent cuttings from her garden on the weekend and I decided to try it out and make 'mini garlands' for my little succulent collection from things I already had lying around the house. They are so simple and easy to make, and I think they look fab!

Here's what I used:
- left over fabric I had lying around the house (because I was only making mini garlands, I didn't end up needing much at all!)
- wooden skewers
- a bit of thread
- glue

Here's what I did:
- dependent on the height of my succulents, I cut the wooden skewers down to my preferrable size. I have placed them just on the inside of the pot in the dirt to keep them stable and so I can remove them when I water these bad boys.
- next I cut a piece of thread approximate to how long I thought I would need, with a little extra for tying it around the skewers.
- by now, I had two wooden skewers placed in the dirt with thread tied between the two. Now for the fun part! I went through my favourite fabric scraps and cut out little triangles (making sure I had folded the fabric in half before cutting, for when I place the triangle on the thread).
- I used items I had at home and without buying anything else, so I used some glue to keep my triangles together. If I were to make these again, I would buy a needle to sew the triangles together onto the thread. Wah-lah! They are done.

These took me about 30 minutes to make all three. How easy is that? I didn't follow any particular instruction set, I just used what I had and how I knew they were made and went with it! I think they are the best kind of DIY's, when you see something you love and make it your own! What do you think of my creations?



Garlands are becoming more and more popular for Weddings, Birthday Parties, Baby Showers and even just to hang in your rooms. Here are a few of my favourites and where I got my inspiration from.

Vintage Bunting by A Fete Beckons on Etsy

Shabby Chic by Berry Ala Mode on Etsy

The Bella Garland by LePetite Fest on Etsy

Lovely Summer Picnic by Mara May on Etsy

Bunting by Vintage Green Limited on Etsy

I'd love to make some of these full sized garlands too so I think a visit to the fabric store is required, yippee!

Happy Monday,

♥ KL