Geometric Necklace

I love the look of this necklace - it's so stylish, yet it is really simple to make from tube, wire, chain and jump rings.

Click here for the how-to.

Artistic Lens Flare

I love this technique for adding lens flare to a photo - it looks so romantic don't you think?

Rag Quilt Letters

These cute shabby chic letters are lovely, and are perfect for handmade banners.

Go here for the instructions.

Clay Bird Ornaments

These beautiful birds are made from just clay, aluminium foil and wire. The tutorial can be found here.

Paper Cutting Template

If you want to have a go at a beginner's paper cutting project, then print out and use the cute 'Mushroom Bunny' template here. And if you're not inspired to have a go at paper cutting yet, then I think specimen A and specimen B may change your mind :-)

Rainbow Layer Cake

I love rainbows and bright colours, and I really love cake, so this combo is a bit of a winner! It just looks so amazingly creative and mad, and if you want to make your own, have a look at the recipe here.

And for more yummy recipes (such as the pancake tower below) then have a look at the rest of the Whisk Kid site here.

Pebble Necklace

I love this laid-back surfer necklace made from fabric and a pebble - so cool!

Have a look at the tutorial here.

Honey Roasted Peanuts

Thanks to my sweet tooth, I like anything coated in honey, so these honey roasted peanuts certainly appeal to me!

I found this recipe, plus other truly lovely recipes on this page, where there is everything from chocolate cake to DIY toothpaste!

Fringe Necklace

Simple 'n' cute necklace made from leather cord pieces tied onto a chain. I think a really long chain would look best, especially with a white shirt in summer!

Click here for the how-to.

Mohair Throw

I've recently become obsessed with knitted mohair because of how soft and luxurious it is, whilst being quite delicate. So this mohair throw project is on top of my list, even though I haven't knitted anything in a while. It' just so yummy!

Designer Frames

This isn't a tutorial, but more an idea for a fabulous DIY project, via Heart Handmade.

Basically, it's suggests replicating the idea shown above using photo frames and objects such as coat hooks and half moon vases, spray-painted white. I love it!

Shredded Denim

Shredding clothes seems to be very popular at the moment, and I'm quite partial to the look myself, so if you want to learn how to shred your jeans, then have a look at this tutorial.

For an example of shredded shorts instead, go here.

Diamond Cut-Out Leggings

The leggings above are so darn funky, and to see how you can achieve the same result with a diamond template and a scalpel/craft knife, go to my new favourite website, here :-)

Lace Jellyfish

These delicate hanging jellyfish are very magical looking, and I think if you make a few they would look perfect on a mobile. See how they're made, here.

21 Photography Rules

If you're reasonably new to photography, you'll find this website very helpful in getting you started. It runs through 21 rules of photography, including the rule of thirds and how to get a shallow depth of field.

Sound Waves Through Salt

Some awesome patterns can be made from sound waves when salt is placed over a large speaker, as can be seen in this video (watch out for the loud sound though!)

Fruity Gumdrops

I love gummy sweets like those shown above, and now I can make them myself! Go here for the sweet and yummy recipe.

Homemade Checkers

This is a great make and consists of wool fabric and felted rocks. To see how it was made, click here.

Woo!

Yay, I made the front page! (for the 3rd time this year I might add ;-)) I love handwritten letters, don't you?

Nylon Flowers

These flowers look so delicate and pretty, and they're simply made from stretched nylons and wire! Look here for the tutorial.

The Beverage Barge

This hilarious invention is for those people who don't want to swim all the way to the side of the swimming pool to get their drink, but instead would prefer the drink to be floating in the pool with them!

Have a look at the instructable here.

Embroidered Headboard

This is such an awesome idea for designing your very own headboard, and turning a boring plain headboard into a crafty masterpiece!

See how it's done, here.

Picnic Blanket

Everyone needs a stylish blanket for sitting out in the sun this summer, so to find out how to make one yourself, go here.

Foam Deer Head

This is one of my favourite tutorials because it shows you how to make a room centrepiece in a style that is very 'in' right now - and it looks so cool!

Go here for the how-to and template.

Ping Pong Necklace

This is such a fab chunky necklace, and it's ingeniously made by stringing decoupaged ping pong balls together! Click here for the tutorial.

Giacometti Sculpture

I love this arty sculpture made in the style of the famous Swiss artist, Giacometti. Seems quite straightforward to make but I think it looks like an expensive designer piece - go here to see how it's done.

Gadget 'n' Gift Websites

The following shops sell fun gadgets and gifts, and I hope this will be helpful when it comes to finding presents for people (especially men, who are so hard to buy for!):

CurioBot

Pages and pages of the coolest and oddest products sourced from hundereds of different websites. Products include the car freshener costume (buycostumes.com), the cow bicycle seat cover (uncommongoods.com), and the cool hanging tent called a 'Treepee' (drinkstuff.com).

Your Next Gift

Useful blog which is updated daily with the coolest and most unusual gift ideas - perfect to avoid scouring the web for hours or to avoid buying obvious presents :-)

Spoon Sisters

Brilliant collection of funky designer products - perfect as gifts for people who have everything, and also for people (like me) who love useless but awesome items!

Fred Flare
This site is a super cool website selling designer products which you never before knew you needed! Good prices too :-)

Think Geek
Awesome range of gadgets and the coolest geek gifts - perfect for the hard-to-buy-for man in your life, or a girl like me. Products include a fab wire gadget holder, a pixel tie and a utility belt for a mug!

Kaboodle

Awesome discoveries on Kaboodle, all written up for you in this blog. My favorites include the BBQ sword, the cute pencil scarf and the Dough-numatic (which makes doughtnuts for you)!

Urban Outfitters

AWESOME website for clothes and funky furnishings. I particularly love the retro headphones, the vintage 'Diana' camera, and the denture ice cubes! (as pictured above)

The website also sells stencils, books, wall decals, furniture, clocks, games and much more cool stuff.

The Coolest Gifts

Opulent Items

World Wide Fred

Perpetual Kid

Shop Fosters

And shops I have already blogged about:

Atypyk

The Curiosity Shoppe

Firebox

I Want One Of Those

Drink Stuff

Uncommon Goods

Moma Store

Pop Deluxe

Stupid

Drawers Coat Rack

This tutorial from Design*Sponge shows you how to make the above coat rack from scratch out of wood and unusual drawer/door knobs, but of course if you have some drawer fronts lying around then the job is much easier!

Little Men Softies

How adorable are these little men?!

If you want to see how they're made, right down to their tiny check trousers, then have a look at part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 of the tutorial.

Learn French!

I was researching the best places to learn French for free online because I would really like to try and learn it properly (as I would still call myself a beginner), and I thought I'd post the best websites  here in case anyone else would like to follow suit :-)
The following websites are mainly for French, but some are for other languages as well. Hope this is helpful:
Live Mocha
Babbel
Busuu
My Happy Planet
BBC French Lessons
French Assistant
Bonjour
Language School
French Online
The French Tutorial

Raspberry & Blackberry Cupcakes

Anyone who knows me knows that I cannot resist any dessert containing raspberries (or any dessert at all for that matter...), and these look particularly divine.

To find the recipe for the above cakes, go here, and for more recipes like this, the inventor of the recipe has a beautiful blog here, which is definitely worth a look (I can't believe she's only in high school!)

Random Oddments

Just a quick post to show you two things that make be seen as a little bit geeky (!), but I think are quite fun:

1) Type this script into the address bar while on any website:

javascript:document.body.contentEditable='true'; document.designMode='on'; void 0

and you can edit text, replace pictures and move things around. These changes can only be seen by you of course :-)

2) The Wayback Machine - Simply type in a website and click 'Take Me Back'. A list of dates will appear and if you click on one, you will be taken to see what that website looked like on that particular date!

I found news sites, plus the ITV and BBC websites the most interesting, as you can see the current events and news for that date - I even found out 'spoilers' for Coronation Street, which brought back some memories!

It's interesting to see how well-established websites looked when the internet was just taking off, because they look rather amateur hehe

Hope you have fun!

Belle Flared Skirt

You can make the gorgeous skirt which is shown above by following this tutorial - I think the style of this skirt would be perfect for summer!

Travel Websites to Save You a Fortune

This site has a really useful list of 40 websites which have the potential to save you lots of money on your travels, and this website tells you how to save money on a working holiday in Australia.

Brushed Crochet

This is a simple technique which simply involves brushing crochet with a pet brush in order to make it all soft and fluffy!

Apricot and Strawberry Leather

This unusual looking food is a fun snack which I believe is an old American favourite, and it looks rather yummy. It's also healthier than a lot of treats :-)

Click here for the strawberry version, and go here for the apricot recipe.

Summer Tipi

I used to have a tipi as a kid and I loved it, but this one is even better because of the awesome decorations - it looks like a princess' hat!

Click here for the how-to.

Wire Wrapped Ring

This ring tutorial is a great way to ease yourself into making jewellery, since it is an easy and very pretty project that anybody can attempt.

Fashion Sketching

How-to Fashion Sketch, Threadbanger Projects - Watch more Funny Videos

This video by Threadbanger will teach you some basics of fashion sketching.

Modern Family Photos

I think this technique for displaying photos of your family looks really creative and fun - and you can put people in all kinds of funny poses!

Sharpie Tie-Dye

This Sharpie experiment creates fab tie-dye effects on fabric, using Sharpie pens and rubbing alcohol. This would be a unique way of decorating plain t-shirts and tablecloths.

Cardboard Photo Frames

Instead of paying at least £5 per frame for every photo you want to display - why not use this extremely cheap and funky way of displaying lots of photos? AND you can make them the size, shape and colour you want. . . perfect!

Clothes Hangers

I think customising clothes hangers is a great idea for a personal gift because you can make it unique to the recipient - and as shown on this site, you can also use pyrography on wooden hangers for an elegant effect.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

This cake looks absolutely scrummy! I love every dessert involving raspberries anyway, but this looks particularly divine. Have a shifty at the recipe here.

Tea Shelf

Funky shelf idea that incorporates jar lids so that the jars can simply twist on to the underside of the shelf - making double the storage space! Click here for the tutorial.

All-In-One Pyjamas

These candy cane striped all-in-one pyjamas are so fun, and I bet they're very comfortable too! I love them (although they might not be to everyone's taste hehe), and they come in lots of different colours and patterns from Pyjama City.

Knot A Thread

Simple but very useful way of making a knot at the end of your thread when sewing  - and you can make it bigger by adding more wraps of the thread too. Go here for the how-to.

Plaster Models

These cool plaster models were made by pouring Plaster of Paris into chocolate moulds, and then painting - easy peasy!

I think they look cute and kitsch, perfect for bookcase decorations. See how it's done, here.

Stencil 'Screen Printing'

This is a no-fuss way of 'screen printing' small designs - by using an acetate stencil and a credit card! Go here for the how-to.