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I'm never one to jump onto the bandwagon when things first begin to catch steam (maybe because I'm rebellious against change or, I'm just slow at catching onto trends...maybe a bit of both).  The washi tape revolution had no impact on me.  I admire the very pretty print of the tape but never seen any practical use for it.  Even after watching plenty of tutorials using washi tape, I couldn't reason paying $3-5 for a roll of patterned tape.

Well all things changed on one windy and cold day when D and I decided to check out a craft fair.  After sleeping through the first fair we wanted to attend, this was the one that popped our cherry.  I have to admit, it did not live up to our expectations.  It was held in the corridor of a library with no more than 10 tables.  We did a walk through once and decided to come back after heading to Michaels.  On our return, we were more open minded to checking out what each table had to offer.  I bought handmade soaps, we met a really kind woman making kindle holders from recycled books, and finally we stopped by a table that had caught my attention the first walk through.

There is something about origami that holds a spot in my heart - it must be because I was obsessed with paper folding as a kid.  I grew tired of making the same old cranes and flowers all the time but was way too intimidated to try the harder projects.  Well back to the story, Sam was the young woman heading the table.  She sat there, a big smile on her face, hands busy folding what looked to be a butterfly, as she introduced herself us.  She was really into origami and was selling her art for quite a hefty price.  I thought to myself, "Am I was looking at some weird alternate version of myself if I had kept working at my craft?" She was so in love with what she did and she was proud of her work; you could tell just by listening to her recount her experiences of travelling to California to work with Hit Record, leading a flash mob origami mural within the city, or even trying to break a world record for the most origami flower display.  I glanced her table again and these ornaments stood out to me, they weren't traditional origami pieces, nor were they painted or paper machéd. It was washi tape!  She used washi tape to cover glass ornaments - it was quite ingenious and I never seen washi tape used in such a manner.  Well, after exchanging a couple more words, we parted ways.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I find myself in the dollar store loading up on Elmers decorative repositionable tape - close enough to washi tape for me! (plus it was $1 for 3 rolls - you bet I bought every colour they had :P)  So, I came home, ripped open the tape, grabbed a bag of styrofoam balls I got a couple weeks back, and I head to town recreating Sams washi tape ornaments.


It was real simple once I got the hang of it.  Im not sure whether she made hers the same way I made mine, but her definitely looks a lot better. Regardless, I hung them up on my Christmas tree just this afternoon and they looks magnificent.







You can really see the layers in the second picture.  I think an extra added touch of the bow really makes these ornaments stand out on the Christmas tree.

Happy Crafting!

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Since starting work in retail, I've been more aware of how expensive the simplest things are.  Candles for example, can run up to $25 for a jar of over scented wax.  Although I am reluctant to spend that much on 1 candle, I still can't give up the warmth the look of a burning candle gives a room on a cold December day.  Enter: my dollar store finds!  For $1 for each unscented candle, $2 for a jar of glitter (6 colours), $1 for a spindle of twine, and $1-$1.25 for some glass cups, I was able to create unique looking candles for this holiday season.




I love the look of the glitter twinkling in the light of the candle's wick, it's almost hypnotizing!  I added some embellishments like snowflake cutouts and some mini pinecones I picked up on a walk through my local creek.  It's unbelievable how some glitter can drastically change the look of some dollar store candles.

Tip - Cover your candle with an even layer of glue or it will look patchy (like a couple of my candles do)

To make yourself some of these candles, watch my video tutorial:

Happy Crafting!

We ended up using the toys we bought from the dollar store to make ornaments for this coming Christmas season. You can check out what we did in this video we put up on the YouTube.

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Here is the first (of many) tutorials for this holiday season!  I love this DIY simply because it involves recycling of your toilet paper rolls :)  It's cheap, it's fun, and most importantly, it's so easy to make.
Here are some photos of the finished product.  I have also made a couple more using 2 and 3 differently coloured yarn to make the same toque and it looks absolutely beautiful.