Pinned it, Made it – Geometric Blocks

I have been spending time browsing through Pinterest and found so many good ideas for Home Decor display items.

One of the design decor ideas that I mentioned in a recent post that I will be adopting for the home will Geometric Designs, and I spotted this item; Geometric Blocks that I really liked.

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The only limitation is that most of these things are available in US and it can get rather costly to get them shipped to Singapore :( So I decided to make my own version of Geometric blocks.

Plain wooden blocks can be easily found at Daiso, and it is sold in a pack of 12 for SGD $2, so I bought 3 packs of 32 blocks and together with these other materials,

Geometric Blocks 1

Materials needed to make Geometric Blocks;

32 Wooden Blocks

Sandpaper

Gouche or Acrylic Paint

Brushes and a Paint Palette

Washi tape or masking tape

1. Sandpaper the surface of the wooden blocks, before paint is applied

Geometric Blocks 2

2. Use washi or masking tape and tape on a block cross diagonally to create a triangular shape

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4. Apply paint on the triangular area on the block, taking care not to let paint drip to the sides of the block

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5. Paint triangles on all 32 blocks on all six sides, one colour at the time.

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6. There you have it, Geometric Blocks. Each block has 6 sides to it, so you can select a colour palette of 6 different shades that are complementary to one another.

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As I went with 32 cubes, of 6 sides each, it can work out to quite a number of sections on total number of cubes to paint. Then the cube was finished with a paint setting spray.

This project (including drying time for the paint) was completed in 2 sessions of 2 hours each. Rather time consuming, but the final outcome of the decor item was worth the effort.

There are likely many permutations of geometric patterns that can be created with 32 blocks with 6 sides each, and I haven’t found the time to explore how much patterns can be created with this.

But I love this decor item as it is interactive, and not static like most decor items or shelving displays.

And most of all I made it myself!

Geometric Blocks 8

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10 Daiso Craft Materials

The US and the UK has their Dollar Stores, while Asia has its $2 version with its Daiso Stores.

Most Singaporeans love all things Japanese, from food (I am Japanese food fan myself!) to their culture. So naturally, products that are branded in Japan (although many are made in China) will be largely popular with Singaporeans.

I think the Japanese are ingenious with their ideas for craft, so to find a store where craft materials are found easily and cheaply is a thrill for any crafter.

Here’s sharing 10 of my Daiso buys for craft:

1. Felt Craft Daiso 8

I have used the felt from Daiso for some of my felt craft projects. As Daiso felt is made of polyester, it is washable and good for making of felt ornaments. But not recommended for the making of toys, softies and craft projects, that one intents to keep or requires more handling.

Daisy felt is best used for children’s craft, hair ties or clips. hanging mobiles, ornaments, brooches or small felt mascots.

Here are some Felt Craft tutorials, where Daiso Felt can be used;

Felt Projects(L to R) Craft Tutorials can be found in link; Felt Air Balloon Mobile, Felt Birds and Leaves Hanging Ornaments

2. Origami Paper

Craft Daiso 3

I use Daiso Origami paper for making Kirigami and occasionally Origami creations like these;

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Kirigami and Origami can be used for gift wrapping and many other decorative purposes (Washi tape, wooden pegs and Kraft Paper Bag pictured below are all from Daiso).

Craft Daiso 20(L to R) Craft Tutorials can be found in link; Bear Kirigami and Ribbon Origami, Rabbit Kirigami Gift Card and Washi-fied Gift bag and Wooden peg

4. Cutting Mat and Precision Knife

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They are a must-have when making Kirigami or cutting paper.

4. Construction Paper Craft Daiso 2

I have just discovered these coloured papers in Daiso a couple of months ago. I found the texture of the paper and range of colours available adequate for paper-flowers making. These papers are also sold in A4 size in a single colour in a pack.

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Daiso coloured paper are good for card creations like these;

Craft Daiso 29Top to Bottom Craft Tutorials at link; Nothing Like a Mother’s Love Card, Papa Bear Father’s Card

5. Colour boards in Styrofoam or Cork Material Craft Daiso 5

I get them in white to mount the boy’s and my paintings to create a faux canvas base, and skip the picture frames, so that they can be easily pasted on the walls with blu-tack or mounting strips.

No one should put original ‘art’ in frames, unless they are reproduction prints bought from IKEA 😛

Cork can also be used in many DIY Homeware or Decor ideas. Just add your own designs with markers or paint.

6. Wooden Blocks in various sizes or Wooden Sticks and Sandpaper Craft Daiso 7

The wooden blocks are available in small square, rectangular shapes etc. These blocks that can be drawn, painted on, or pasted together to form a letter holder like this, with glued-on Hama Beads;

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While Sandpaper is a must have to prep the wood before it is ready to be painted on.

7. Pill Cases Craft Daiso 15

Extremely useful to segregrate Hama Beads into specific shades.

What is Hama Beads Crafting? Read more about it in this post. While the tweezer in pictured below is also from Daiso.

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8. Shrinky Plastic and Tracing Paper Craft Daiso 4

There are at least 3 different types of Shrinky Plastic that are sold in Daiso. Pictured below are the clear and the opaque ones. There are the Neon ones available in some of the Daiso stores.

I have tried the opaque ones that come with a keyring in the pack and found them to be good enough for making keychains and fridge magnets.

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9. Magnetic Tape

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Useful for making your own magnets from Shrinky Plastic, or magnetic wooden pegs.

10. Wooden Pegs

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Apart from its basic use for hanging laundry on a drying rack, wooden pegs have numerous uses in craft. Just stick on washi tape :)

I have been using the small wooden pegs for winding my embroidery thread (like a thread spool), while the small scissors and sewing pins pictured below are also from Daiso.

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I spend more time in the craft aisle in Daiso than all the other aisles combined, as I am always looking for the next item that I can use to craft something new.

However…

There are a few things that I have bought from the craft aisle that I would not buy again, namely, play dough, soft clay, embroidery floss (thread), paint and brushes. Since it is $2, can expect that these things are not of very good quality.

The play dough and soft clay is really hard to manage without making a huge mess. Even after lining the table / floor with newspapers, the stray bits of dough or clay tends to stick on the floors and tables. Only recommended for moms who have no issues spending some extra time to clean up after their child after play.

While DMC is always my choice for embroidery floss, even when sewing on Daiso Felt. The quality of thread does make a difference to the one who is sewing and to the final product.

As for the Daiso paint and brushes, they are apt for children doing exploratory art, but not when the child or adult is starting to get more serious about taking up painting as a hobby. The paint pigments tend to be inconsistent and brushes often split at the ends after the first few washes.

For better quality art and craft supplies, and if you are willing to spend more than $2 per item, try Artfriend and Spotlight.

So what are the craft materials that you have used from Daiso?

 

For more on Daiso 101, 


Next on the 101 Daiso Blog train will be Winnie of ToddlyMummy.

Winnie Toddly Mummy

At her blog,  http://toddlymummy.blogspot.com Winnie shares her thoughts on parenting, fun learning moments of home learning sessions and outdoor adventures. She reviews books and other kids’ stuff. She sometimes shares about her favourite food too, along with the occasional side orders of stuff that she finds useful as a busy mum.

 

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Decorating a Plain Paper Bag with Kirigami Rabbits

Kirigami giftwrap 16

This paper bag is as plain as it gets, no frills at all, and it costs only $2 for 3 from Daiso.

So what do you do with plain paper bags? Use Washi!

One word of caution in using Washi Tape, please don’t paste many different patterns together, like there is no end to the tape. Personally I think it’s nice to use 3-4 different designs, as long as the colours are complementary to one another.

When pasting Washi on stuff, think patterns, think lines, and shapes. Nice decorated MT tapes are wasted when they are pasted on stuff haphazardly. You might have a huge stash, but do try to restrain yourself when it comes to decorating stuff with Washi, as it might just end up looking like your 3 year old kid did the crafting.

What you will need for this project :

1. 1 Kraft Paper Bag

2. Wooden Clothes-peg

3. Washi Tape

4. Penknife

5. Scissors

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  • Paste Washi Tape on Kraft Paper Bag. I kept it simple, as will be adding on a Kirigami feature on the right of the bag to balance it out visually.

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  • More use for the Washi Tape! Paste tape on the wooden clothes peg, trim away the excess
  • Making the Kirigami Rabbits
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You will need :

1. Origami Paper – In a matching shade to the Washi Tape

2. Sharp Scissors

3. Pen-knife

4. Xacto Knife

5. Self-Healing Mat

6. Kirigami Bear (4-fold) and Rabbit (8-fold) patterns Rabbitkirigami numbered

1) Fold the 15cm x 15cm Origami Paper in Half

2) Fold it into quarters

3) Fold it into 1/8 – this is known as the Kirigami Rectangle 8-Fold

4) Make sure that the triple V’s of the folds are facing to the left side

  • Cutting out the Kirigami Rabbits

Rabbitkirigami1 numbered

1) Staple the pattern of the rabbit on the base of the Rectangle 8-Fold paper, making sure that the edges are lined up

2) Cut out the pattern, you will have to use the Xacto Knife for the fine corners of the pattern.

3) Open up the paper, you should see 3 pairs of rabbits holding hearts, and 2 rabbits holding on to halve heart shapes.

  • On plain drawing paper, draw a circle using a drawing compass.

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  • Paste the Kirigami Rabbit cut-out on the circled card, trim off the excess paper cut-out

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  • Clip the card on to the right side of the bag, with the wooden clothes-peg.
There you have it, a decorated Kraft Paper Bag with Washi and Kirigami Rabbits card. This design is versatile for a gift bag for a 1-month old baby present, or can be used to hold a gift for a lady.

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P.S. In case you are wondering if I am using Rabbits, as it is Easter this weekend. For sure,  you can use the Kirigami Rabbits design for your Easter bags. I used this bag to hold a gift for a friend, didn’t need any specific occasion.

This post was not planned to coincide with Easter this week, you can read what I think about ‘Rabbits and Eggs’ that are commonly used as celebrated visuals for Easter.

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