Tag: diy

How To: Backyard Mix

Kendra

I know many people don’t try to attract woodland creatures into their backyards, but I definitely do! My heart feels so full knowing I’m helping so many little animals eat and thrive in the middle of a massive city. I live in a neighbourhood suburb that’s luckily full of trees and foliage. My backyard has hundreds of different trees, bushes, shrubs, and flowers that are home to a few wildlife families.

I first noticed there was a family of chipmunks that reside in the man made waterfall near our pool. They’re so shy and fast, but curious. I also realized there was a specific black squirrel that came into the backyard to play with the chipmunks! I’ve also even seen an entire family of raccoons climbing a tree together to reach one of the feeders. There were three babies!

While planting flowers in the front yard earlier this summer, I had taken what was originally a birdbath that no birds ever tried to use it (I’m assuming because it’s relatively small), and tucked it away to find a more beneficial place and use for it later.

ETC: 10M

Supplies:
– Plastic or glass container to store mix
– Generic birdseed mix
– Unsalted sunflower seeds (in shell)
– Unsalted peanuts (in shell)

This backyard mix is straightforward and inexpensive. Simply layer the seeds and nuts, pausing to shake the container to mix. You’re finished!

After a simple Google search, I discovered what chipmunks liked and preferred to eat. It turns out, the backyard seed mix I’ve been feeding them is actually considered to be more of a treat; chipmunks will overindulge if you let them, leading them to become ill. Thankfully, chipmunks aren’t the only animals coming to feed but I assume that also applies to all small furry animals. I recommend using only 1 cup of the backyard mix per day (1 cup per feeder).

I buy all of my mix supplies at Dollarama!

If you’re an animal lover like me, you can take your backyard mix to the next level. Once you’re aware of what animals like to come into your yard, Google what foods they’re inclined to eat or prefer. It’s incredible how many different food scraps you can give back to nature instead of throwing away. For example, chipmunks love grapes. Cut 5-10 grapes in half or third if they’re really large, and sprinkle them on top of the mix.

If you decide to create your own mix, tag me on Instagram or Pinterest @paxtonlanedesign!

Stay inspired,
Kendra

How To: DIY Dishwasher Sign

Kendra

One of the very few inconveniences of a dishwasher, is that not every model has buttons that are visible from the outside of the machine. My boyfriend’s parents recently had their kitchen renovated and one of the beautiful new changes was that the dishwasher totally blended in with their new cabinetry. Perfect, right?

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as perfect. Nobody can tell when the dishwasher is running! Sure, there are mechanical whirs and rushes of water at the beginning of the cycle; but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened it wholeheartedly believing it was dirty, only to be splashed with scalding water while I frantically attempt to unpause the cycle and close it.

After this happened to me for the hundredth time this morning, I had burst of inspiration.


ETC: 30M

Supplies:
– Wood pieces, thin and rectangular (or your preference)
– Twine/ribbon/string/etc.
– Paint
– Vinyl or stencil

Load it up!

I bought the wood piece at the dollar store months ago, which were sold in packs of six. I painted both faces and each side of one wooden rectangle in acrylic white. I chose to use stencil vinyl to give the tiny sign a worn, handmade look. I didn’t want it to look perfect. The font I used was the beautiful Chasy by peterdraw. I went back and forth between the idea of using black or an espresso colour for the words and ultimately decided on the dark brown. It reminds me of dark chocolate and makes the sign look less generic!

I recommend using a drill to make a hole for the twine, but I can’t take credit for this handiwork- I asked my boyfriend to drill it for me! He did a great job, and I inevitably had to sand the exit side of the sign to smooth the hole from the pressure. After a quick paint touch up that will dry quickly, choose your length of twine or ribbon of choice and knot it through the sign. I cut the length of my twine so that I could slip the sign through the loop, that way I don’t have to tie the sign the the dishwasher every single time I need to change it.

Since I didn’t want my sign to look too fancy, I didn’t spray varnish or apply Mod Podge before painting the stencils. This led to a few small bleeds into the wood, but I honestly liked the rustic aesthetic. There were 2 ‘major’ bleeds that I easily fixed with a few dabs of white paint. Hopefully, I never have to clean my glasses from dishwasher steam ever again! If you decide to make one, tag me on Instagram or Pinterest @paxtonlanedesign! I’d love to see other versions.

Stay inspired,
Kendra

Cork Valentine’s Day Coasters

Kendra

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday with your friends and family! I can’t believe we’re already nearly halfway through January… I’ll admit, the last few weeks have been a blur. I found myself so tired on Boxing Day. I just wanted to curl up in bed with my boyfriend and watch Netflix. I figured it was just because of the usual hustle and bustle of the holiday season, but soon came to realize I had a bad case of burnout!

The month leading up to Christmas, I was basically glued to my craft desk. I was constantly on the phone and computer advertising, marketing, blogging, taking orders, creating, brainstorming, etc. I was on a creative high! To be honest, I barely remember the month of December. I was so grateful for the opportunities I was creating for myself through my hard work, but I was overworking myself at the same time. Suddenly, I couldn’t think of one craft to put together- not even a simple card. I felt like I had brain fog, with no inspiration and definitely no motivation. It’s important to remember when to slow down, take a breath, express gratitude and rest!

That’s why I’ve been so absent from my social media platforms. I had to take time for myself to relax and recharge to go into 2020 strong! I encourage you to do the same when you feel overwhelmed. Now let’s get crafting!

Pssst! If you don’t want to purchase coasters, buy a sheet of cork and use a circle cookie cutter to create your own.

ETC: 1H

Supplies:
– Cork coasters
– Pink, red and gold paint
– Glitter (optional)
– Adhesive vinyl or stencil

I spotted these cork coasters at my local thrift store for $1! You can purchase the exact same coasters for only $2.99- they were originally from Ikea.

Pink Heart with Gold Background
I used the default heart shape in Cricut Design Space. I think it’s literally the perfect heart shape, especially for round surfaces. I cut the heart out on adhesive vinyl, then painted it onto the cork. Once it was dry (about 10 minutes) I painted gold around the heart. I didn’t want to paint the coaster gold first and then the heart, because the cork is thin. If you brush the paint on too thick, it’ll crack if the coaster is bent. I love the imperfections.

2020 Red Heart
Using the same default heart shape, I layered it with 2020 and centered them together. Once it was cut, I simply stuck the vinyl down and painted over the stencil with red paint.

Gold XO with Red Background
I used the font Halo Handletter by Mario Artuo which you can get here. It’s one of my favourite festive fonts- it goes with every single holiday! The XO was so thin I decided to paint the coaster red first, let it completely dry, then apply the stencil. I also lightly dragged the paintbrush dipped with gold around the edges of these coasters- I adore how they turned out!

Red Love Words
I also used the font Halo Handletter here but in lowercase. I made others that say sweetie, cutie, lovebug, kisses, hugs, etc. You have so many options to personalize these! I also put gold around the edge of these too. I painted some in red paint and some in pink paint.

And that’s it! If I could do these over (which I probably will for other holidays!) I would have added glitter and maybe some hearts or lips on the cork background of the plainer coasters. Which one is your favourite? How would you have designed them differently?

Stay inspired,
Kendra

Dollar Store DIY Holographic Initial Ornaments

Kendra

This has been my favourite DIY ornament to make yet! I used vinyl for the letters but you can use anything adhesive you’d like, even stickers. All other materials are from the dollar store. These ornaments make great gifts for teachers, anyone who loves colour, or you could even create the whole alphabet for kids! I finally had an opportunity to use some bold ribbons; this is your chance to use your most colourful and flashy materials!

ETC: 30-50M

Supplies:
– Plastic ornaments
– Tiny Styrofoam balls
– Rainbow sequins
– Rainbow letters
– Vinyl
– Ribbon or string

I originally came up with the idea for these beauties when I thought of using ornaments to help teach kids the alphabet, all while decorating the tree as a family. I decided to use a cursive font for the holographic vinyl for a playful, whimsical vibe and so that you could really see the colour behind the letter. I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 to cut the vinyl.

I stuffed the ornament with tiny, white styrofoam balls, small/medium/large rainbow sequins, and rainbow letters. Mixing a filler such as styrofoam balls with chunks of reflective colour help to actually fill the ornament, and not have the confetti all sink to the bottom.

I loved being able to use all sorts of colourful strings and ribbons that I normally wouldn’t have a reason to use! One of my favourites was this dark teal with yellow stitching. Using holographic vinyl makes these ornaments unique in the sense that you can make them unconventional.

Stay inspired,
Kendra

DIY Mini Nativity Set

Kendra

My Mom designed and put together this beautiful miniature nativity set! You can completely make this tutorial your own; all four materials used for this craft can be substituted. This would make a beautiful holiday decoration or gift. If you already have the supplies to make this craft, it can take as little as 15 minutes!

ETC: 20M-40M

Supplies:
– Cloche or glass case
– Wooden clothespins
– Holly or other holiday foliage
– Felt

This unique nativity set didn’t come together all at once- these were a bunch of crafting supplies that my Mom already had before she had a glorious light bulb moment! When I asked what inspired her, she said she had seen a plastic ornament with a tiny wooden clothespin inside as baby Jesus. She thought about an assorted bag of wooden clothespins she had purchased this past summer from Michaels, and quickly set out to find it. You can use any type of small wooden item to represent the characters, you don’t need to use clothespins. Check out your closest dollar store!

My mom then had the idea to wrap the Jesus clothespin in a ‘blanket’, using beige-coloured felt that she wrapped around the clothespin until she was happy with how it was placed.

The ring of holly around the Joseph, Mary and Jesus clothespins is actually from a huge roll of wired holly wreaths we found at a thrift store a few years ago (which is sadly almost gone!). You could use any type of holiday foliage such as a twig of spruce, red winter berry branches, etc.

The dainty cloche used to encase the nativity set is from a thrift store! You can easily use an upside down jar instead.

Every once in a while look through your local thrift stores, you’ll be shocked at the potential craft supplies you can find!

Stay inspired,
Kendra

Dollar Store DIY Birch Slice Garland

Kendra

ETC: 20M-40M

Supplies:
– Jute
– Wooden slices
– Drill

This adorable DIY is courtesy of my Mom, who found these mini birch slices at the dollar store and it didn’t take her long to find a use for them! She bought two bags, which had about 10-12 in each. Mom, who’s a little tree crazy, was decorating our kitchen tree (yes, kitchen tree) when she then had the brilliant idea to drill holes through the birch slices to create a garland! After quickly enlisting Dad to drill the holes through the birch (he did so with an 1/8 drill bit) Mom easily threaded the jute through the holes.

It took only 15 minutes to string this garland together!
Mom wanted to give the tree a vintage baking meets woodland theme.

Also, Mom didn’t measure the jute out beforehand, just kept stringing the garland until she could wrap it around the tree and it looked the way she liked. You can easily paint little stencils onto these pieces to personalize them, or even create little ornaments! Try applying vinyl to these! This is a very versatile craft- make it your own.

Stay inspired,
Kendra

DIY Glass Ornaments for Late Loved Ones

Kendra

An ornament is the perfect sentimental gift to give to someone special during the holidays! It can represent a small, beautiful token of love and gratitude for a loved one who has passed on. In this post, I’m going to show you how to make a two different meaningful ornaments.

ETC: 30 minutes – 1 hour

Supplies:
– Blank glass ornament
– Vinyl
– Jute or ribbon
– Confetti or glitter


I think the first time I ever heard the term ‘snowflakes are kisses from heaven’ was in a Hallmark Christmas movie, and I think it’s adorable for little DIY crafts such as this.

I found these flat glass ornaments at Michael’s. Glass ornaments are better than plastic ornaments in terms of denting; when applying vinyl to plastic, I have to be so careful not to press down too hard on the vinyl to be sure I don’t dent the ornament.


click here to purchase




I created this particular design in Cricut Design Space. I used the font Halo Handletter by Mario Arturo which you can find here. I tweaked the curve, length, height, and width to contour the letters to flatter the shape of the ornament.

Then I cut the design on vinyl and used transfer tape to apply it to the ornament. I always wait to fill the ornament with confetti until after the vinyl is applied, just in case a piece were to get stuck under the design. I stuffed the ornament with snowflake confetti and translucent glitter.

Click here to purchase

I bought this lovely cardinal SVG design here from the amazing Lyrical Letters Design. It’s originally $4.63 CAD but I got it on sale for $2.78 CAD! A great bonus is that a premium license is included with purchase of the SVG, so you can use this design on projects to sell!

‘Though we grow in different directions, our roots remain as one’


I decided to make the ornament reversible once I realized how tiny the design would look. An important tip to remember when working with vinyl is that smaller, cursive letters are harder to weed and and not rip. I put the quote with one cardinal on one side and the tree with roots and one cardinal on the other side. I love being able to see the other cardinal on the tree through the quote.

Clear ornaments tend to look plain or empty- use a thick or chunky ribbon to give it a professional look.

I filled the ornament with snow-like confetti to reflect the lights on the Christmas tree. To finish, I went with a thick, red velvet ribbon.

Handmade gifts are the best gifts!

Stay inspired,
Kendra

Dollar Store DIY Chalkboard Ornaments

Kendra

I know I’m not the only person who has messy handwriting, but trying to write with chalk somehow makes it even worse. So when I found these chalkboard ornaments in the basement that I had forgotten about from last year, I was hesitant to attempt to use them… I knew they would look like sh*t. But after some persistent brainstorming, I came up with a simple solution: all I needed was some white vinyl and I could make this work!

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen these same ornaments in ANY dollar stores this year.

I used my favourite Rae Dunn inspired font The Skinny by Jusebox, which you can find here for the vinyl. I had three boxes that came with two ornaments each so the words I chose were merry, joy, wish, love, bright and hope.

ETC: 30 minutes – 1 hour

Supplies:
– Blank chalkboard ornaments
– White vinyl
– Transfer tape
– Ribbon

The hardest part of applying vinyl to a curved surface (or any surface for that matter) is ensuring that it’s straight. The easiest way to do this is by using a washable marker or just eyeing the transfer tape lines, which is what I do. Don’t try to smooth out the transfer tape in an effort to get the vinyl to flatten and stick. Carefully and firmly press down each letter, one at a time, as you peel the transfer tape back. That way you can be sure your letters are exactly where you want them to be once the transfer tape is fully removed, and not creased or crooked.

Much better than chalk!

You can add whatever ribbon you’re feeling depending on the vibe, I chose to keep the ribbon that came on the ornament. These specific ornaments make great teachers gifts!

Stay inspired,
Kendra

DIY Holiday Card Display

Kendra

ETC: 20-30 minutes

Supplies:
– Assorted decorative string and ribbon
– Clothespins
– Tacs/suction cups/hooks

Sometimes Michael’s has a section of bagged assorted fabric or ribbon- kind of like those surprise goodie bags from the dollar store; for when you need just a little bit of this or that to really complete a project. I was ecstatic when I found similar bags at Dollar Tree! For $1.25 CAD I got at least 50 different strips of holiday themed ribbons.

The holiday clothespins I found (also at Dollar Tree!) are what inspired this simple card display. I used the same candy cane twine from Michael’s that I used for my wooden ornaments as the main line for the display.

Once I tied the main line to the hooks of the suction cups (I wanted to be able to move my display to any window or mirror) I just picked a few ribbons from the bunch that I liked together with the clothespins. Then I tied them to the ends of the main line.

That’s it! Once you receive a few cards, you can proudly display them with adorable clothespins.

Stay inspired,
Kendra