Four Dots Designs

Santa’s Workshop

guisi — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 01:44:35 +0000

A simple transformation

guisi — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 19:56:13 +0000

A large mailing tube, some twine or rope, a glue gun and some ribbon to finish it up!! A cute decorative vase for the living room!!

Apple Pie

guisi — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:54:09 +0000

Arepas

guisi — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:31:30 +0000

Art Chair

guisi — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:39:03 +0000

Here is the chair that I created for the Show Your heART: Furniture, Arts and Decor Expo, benefiting the Houston Furniture Bank. I’ve created a photo collage of the process and posted the “after” pictures separately. I love the result!

Handmade Tape Wallet – Dario’s Comic Book Wallet

guisi — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:44:00 +0000

A while back I found this tutorial on Craftster and based on that I’ve made a few wallets before. For the first one, I followed the instructions to the tee but after that I’ve made some changes here and there. These are just wallets made using paper and packaging tape and they are very durable. My first one lived for a few years before it finally fell apart.

My nephew, Dario, is 5 years old he’s been obsessed with the Post Office lately and wanted to receive something with “his name on it” so my sister asked if I could mail him a letter. I wanted to send him something a little more fun than a simple letter but light enough to mail to Ecuador and that it wouldn’t cost me a small fortune.

That’s where the wallet came in: fun, small, you can still mail it flat…perfect! And I even threw in some cash and a few fake credit cards for him! Can you say, “Best Aunt Ever”??

It was made with pages from a comic book that I got free from work. I made another super cute wallet for Isaiah using the same book but I made it at work so I couldn’t take pictures of that one. Maybe I’ll take my camera with me one of these days and I’ll take a picture.

Anyway, I think it’s time to stop talking and show you Dario’s wallet, even if it’s only a couple images.

Handmade Upcycled Magazine Envelopes

guisi — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:24:00 +0000

From a previous post you can see the massive amount of magazines I’ve accumulated so I’m always trying to find projects that can give them a second life.

This is a fairly simple one. Start out by gathering your supplies.

- Cutting mat
- Scissors, X-acto or utility knife (they all work just fine)
- Pencil
- Envelope template
- Adhesive (not pictured)
- Assorted papers (I’m using magazines for the larger envelopes and some scrap paper for mini envelopes but almost anything can be used)

Go through your magazines and find pages with interesting images, fun text or anything else you like and cut them all out. I prefer to find all my pages first and then make my envelopes all at once.

Once you’ve made your selection, use your pencil to carefully outline the template onto one of the papers.

Although this image is not very clear this is what you should have so far. Repeat as many times as you want to save paper.

Use one of you cutting tools to cut your envelope. Remember to use your cutting mat when using the X-acto or utility knife, it runs a lot smoother and you won’t ruin your table!!

Finally, fold all four sides and use some glue or double sided tape to finish up your envelope leaving the top flap open.

A few more envelopes cut with the larger template, ready to be finished.

All done.

Dining Room makeover…continued

guisi — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:43:00 +0000

I’m still not finished with everything in the Dining Room but it’s slowly coming together.
I bought this frames at the dollar store and gave them a few coats of paint. They’re not up on the wall yet but wanted to show the progress.

Before, even though I only remembered to take pictures after I started painting.

After…frames are almost ready, just need a couple touch-ups

Home Makeover

guisi — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:45:00 +0000

I have been trying to make my apartment pretty. I get it to where I’m happy with the way it looks and, two days later, I absolutely hate it and have to start over.
I love Design Sponge and one of my favorite sections is the Sneak Peeks, where you get to see artists’ homes and studios. They are so inspiring! I recently saw Jill Bliss‘ place and fell in love with her breakfast nook. I’m not sure if that’s what it is, maybe it her dining area. Either way, I think it’s pretty darn wonderful. So, with that in mind, I set out to make my tiny dining room a little more Jill-esque. It still has a long way to go but I like it so far. I’ll be sure to show you when it’s totally finished.

BEFORE

I moved all my furniture out of the space so I could start from scratch.

AFTER

It still needs work, artwork on the wall, and specially more color but we’ll get there soon.

File Cabinet Revamp

guisi — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:17:00 +0000

Before

One of the drawers

Both drawers together

Almost ready but no handles yet!

This is how the top looks, and now with handles!

TADA!!! The finished product!