Guest Post: Dinah from Inspired and a great DIY craft

I hope everyone could help me welcome Dinah from DIY Inspired. She is a wonderful mama and blogger. She has a growing blog where she features other bloggers with their craft about DIY recycled items. Dinah also does wonderful crafts. But first lets find out a little about Dinah and what inspires her. 

I’m not a designer, decorator, editor, photographer, or even a writer. I’m a stay at home mom that loves to craft, decorate, re-purpose and create.  I get my inspiration from several people from Nate Berkus to Martha Stewart, or even from my daughter and my extremely talented older brother.  I spend hours getting ideas from television shows, swap meets and flea markets, other blogs, thrift stores (even though some of them are smelly), and books and magazines.

Deciding to be a stay at home mom was not easy for me because I had spent the last ten years working my butt off and prior to that, I spent several years in college getting degrees and even teaching a little.  Working hard was in my blood. Everything changed when my amazing husband and I had a beautiful little girl, Mia. Becoming a parent, as many of you can attest (that is, if anyone ever reads this), flipped my world upside down, and there was no way I was going to miss the first laugh, the first word, the first step, or any milestone in between.  Staying at home not only meant quality time with my daughter, but also allowed more time to do what I love… get DIY crafty on the cheap.

With the support of my family and friends, I started this blog to simply test and challenge myself to start new projects, share my inspirations, and hopefully inspire a few others along the way.

 It’s been just over one year since I started blogging. When I first started, my initial focus was always crafting and DIY projects. After a few weeks, I noticed that most of my posts had a similar emphasis on repurposed and upcycled projects and inspirations. So naturally, I had to share a recyling project. I have always wanted to try making something out of recycled magazine pages so I finally sat down and made this frame. I have to say, although slightly tedious, it was quite fun, especially when I looked at the results. My only regret is that I wished I didn’t use such a cheap wooden frame mainly because of the cardboard back. I should have shelled out a few more bucks for a nicer one. Even a thrift store one would have been better. Oh well. Anyway, here is how I made a recycled magazine frame.

           Materials:

• Any frame (again, I regret using the crappy one from IKEA)
• Old Magazine
• Tape
• Paper Cutter
• Decoupage medium
• Small Paint brush

Gather a few magazines that you’ve already read and no longer want. I say a few, because for this project I used four different Rolling Stones magazines to get the colored pages I wanted.

 

 I chose to cut my strips to the width of the frame. For example, the frame pictured here is for a 3X5 photo and the frame is a one inch wide, 4X7 frame. I ended up cutting 1”X7” stripes (approximately eight pages). Next, start rolling your strips. The toughest part is the beginning; however it’s easy to get used to! I used a small narrow piece of tape to secure each roll. It was cleaner than attempting to glue each roll; and the tape can be easily hidden when attached to the frame.

 

 For each roll, I laid it onto the frame so I knew when to stop. It helps to do this while you’re watching your favorite shows on TV.

 

 After rolling all the strips, I glued each piece with a paint brush and decoupage medium one by one.

 

 When you are finished adhering each roll, allow it to dry completely (about 15 minutes). Then, I used 2 coats of decoupage medium on top. Allow it to dry between coats.

 

 Insert your picture, and there you have it! The perfect handmade gift!

 

 By the way, I had to show my little plug to recycle. If you look closely on the top left side of this picture, you will see what I mean!

 

 Dinah is a full time Mother and Blogger and has a Master of Arts Degree in Speech Communication from California State University Fullerton. Her blog, DIY Inspired, is a one stop resource containing tips and ideas for parties, home decorating, upcycling, and includes step-by-step photo tutorials for craft and do-it-yourself projects. Also, if you have a project you’d like to share or have any questions, please email her at [email protected].  

Thank you all for stopping by. 

Till Later,