diy

Do it Yourself; Tips and ideas for DIY projects to create your next family heirloom, personalize your photo album and more.

Mia Rosa
Growing up, I did not particularly like having the name Mia Rosa, which translates to "my rose" in Spanish. My three siblings didn't have meanings attached to their monikers like mine. My older sister would use it to mock me, jabbing me the way only an older sibling can. Then, when I went to school, I realized I didn't particularly appreciate my peers calling me a possession either. The year the musical "Mamma Mia" was popularized was particularly eye-rolling. I even had a toxic boyfriend who said my name in a way that turned me off to jealous guys for life. As I got older and embraced my Mexican and Spanish ethnicities more, the title began to feel like a badge of honor, and I was grateful to my parents for giving me a lasting reminder of the Hispanic parts of my mixed heritage.
By Mia Lepe5 years ago in Families
One visual artists intimate love affair with collage art.
Hello, my name is Marryam Moma and I am a Tanzanian-Nigerian visual artist, with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. I have been so blessed and lucky to travel and my life as whole has been a huge collage of experiences, color, vibrancy, and lots of paper!
By Marryam Moma5 years ago in Families
Twenty-Seven Pairs of scissors and a Birthday Surprise!
I consider myself to be a creator. 'Gemini' in the Zodiac, both whimsical and creative, naturally by the astrological forces of duality. A 'Yellow Magnetic Sun' in the Mayan Dreamspell facing the duality of masculine and feminine. One may say that it is in my nature to have two vital opposing energies within me. Not only must I try to embrace this opposition daily, but these polarities are inspired creatively faster than I may keep up. Such inspiration results in twenty-seven different projects on the go at any given time. What may those twenty-seven projects be? Where to begin?
By Janine Michelle5 years ago in Families
Make Every Stitch and Every Inch Count. First Place in Create Your Happiness Challenge.
I emerge from the Q train at Herald Square and pass through the Garment District en route to the office. I have walked these streets nearly every day for over a decade and have come to know them, the good and the bad, as well as many native New Yorkers. But my knowledge has done nothing to dull my sense of wonder. I am still mystified by this city and the spell it casts, the gritty magic that drew my childhood imagination here through a television screen in Mount Olive, Mississippi.
By Parron Edwards5 years ago in Families
A labour of Love
As an artist and a mother, one of my favourite things to do with my son is create. When he was very small we would colour and paint, play with Play-Doh and legos. Over the years we have made a number of fun and interesting art projects together; once duct taping boxes, styrofoam and a coffee can together to make a robot. Creating together has always been something that bonds us.
By Michi Paquette5 years ago in Families
The Tinie-Tiny Girl
On sweet smelling flower petals, soft as the softest velvet you can imagine, the Tinie-Tiny Girl slept dreaming of lavender dew drops and surprise rainbows. She would wake at the first streak of sunlight to reach the horizon of the cupped peach petal she laid her head to rest in. The Tinie-Tiny Girl was the tiniest of tiny girls to live and play in the garden. Everyone called her Violet because when the sun would shine across her long locks of hair you could see every shade of violet found in the garden. You know who her best friends are, right? That is right! The bees and butterflies and everyday they would have a new adventure. Well today was going to be the biggest adventure the Tinie-Tiny Girl called Violet would go on and it all started when one of her best friends, Hal, stopped by to say good morning.
By AnnieP5 years ago in Families
The Twilight Angel
The first thing I really remember embroidering for my grandmother is a cross-stitch scene of a sparrow sitting on a branch surrounded by pink flowers. I’m sure she came to be in possession of one of my childhood attempts that consisted of a mishmash of straight stitches in various lengths and colors on a tiny wooden hoop, but this was the first real work that I made just for her. I chose the pattern at the needlework store because it was cute, nature-themed and -most importantly- small and only required the relatively easy cross stitch. I worked on it periodically, during homework breaks or while I was half- paying attention to something on TV. When it was done I proudly framed it and mailed it to her house on the prairies, 1700 miles away. In a few weeks I received a letter thanking me in her perfect cursive hand, telling me what a sweet surprise it was and how pleased she was that I had picked up the hobby again.
By Eve Blair5 years ago in Families
One of a Kind
I like the way it starts. It pops up as an image in my head, then a flood of possibilities and patterns circulate. I think of the child I am making a quilt for and what their future holds. I imagine their parents holding them in a one of a kind blanket. A piece that they will keep with them for years as a token of their kid’s childhood.
By Gabriella Cruz5 years ago in Families
Peace by Piece
I was 21 when I had my first son. In my second trimester, I developed severe complications. I had a heart attack and went into kidney failure. Two days later, on Thanksgiving Day, 1985, they performed an emergency c-section and my son was born 14 weeks premature.
By Penny Patterson5 years ago in Families
Making and Motherhood
Sewing and creating was a cornerstone of my childhood cemented solidly in place by my mother. Her whirring sewing machine and the crinkle of thin paper patterns provided a frequent backdrop to my formative years as she put her skilled craftsmanship to work on special occasion dresses and any costumes my sister or I needed. For every school play or when Halloween was looming, she drove us to Hancock Fabrics where we’d page through the oversized bound pattern books to search for inspiration, pick a pattern, and then onto the densely packed fabric rolls to find the most reasonably priced version of the fabric of choice.
By Emily A. Echevarria5 years ago in Families
Holding Hands
Holding Hands A DIY Story By Diana Magnus As a child I often fell asleep to the sound of my mother’s sewing machine. Its repeating whir was soothing and in a strange way, reassuring. This happened so often that as long as that machine whirred, everything was right in the world. My mother would create the most beautiful clothes: navy silk pleated blouses, bright pink wool pencil skirts, complicated blazers and perfectly tailored linen pants. Like magic.
By Diana Magnus5 years ago in Families
Simply Stitched
With one snip at a time...a lifetime of passion can be created and merged into pure joy. Growing up there was a small little glimmering moment to the day. It was when the morning had ceased to be glowing, lunch had been served, and bellies were ever so full. When the clothes on the line were daintily drying in the breeze of the outside air. The house would smell freshly clean and everything seemed to just mesh together. This was the moment that an incredible phenomenon would happen: My grandma would sit down and just rest.
By Ashleigh Corbin5 years ago in Families