DIY: Revenge Infinity Box

Because I'm obsessed with Revenge (well less obsessed now than I was first season, but I'm invested so I still watch) I was super excited to craft what might be the most important piece from the show. For those fans, you know what I'm talking about - Emily Thorne’s all-important infinity box that holds all her revengeful secrets. (For those Revenge obsessed, you can head over here to HelloGiggles to read the post with the full TV tie in! For those non-fans, we're going to get to some woodworking for the very first time!!

Here’s a rundown of the supplies you’ll need:

1. Wood soldering kit (The Darice kit I used is a steal at $14!)

2. Wooden box (I used a 8-1/4 x 5-5/8 chest)

3. Wood stain (I went with a lovely Golden Pecan shade)

I started off by looking online for an infinity symbol template that matched the one from the actual box.

Once I found my template, I printed it out and tested out the location on the top of the box.

Next I trimmed the template to make it easy to trace on the top of the box…

…and then prepped my wood burning tool by finding the right tip, screwing it in, and putting it on the stand that it came with.

(*Be SUPER careful with this puppy because it’s hot. Like 900 degrees Celsius hot in certain areas. I burned my finger and immediately doused it with apple cider vinegar to minimize the after effects. So far, so non-blistery good.)

I plugged in the tool and started tracing the lines on the wood with the tip. It's really amazing how quickly the wood burns!

After tracing my lines, the box turned out looking like this...

This is a fine spot to end, however I wanted a pretty lacquered finish, so I coated the box with a layer of the Golden Pecan stain.

A paintbrush or cloth will do the trick and just make sure to wipe the excess stain off when you're finished, if there is any.

I let the box dry for a few hours...

...and then was ready to use!!

Pretty successful for my first attempt! With one project under my belt, I'm looking forward to keeping this up, sans any injuries! Pretty cute lookalike, eh?

Have any of you worked with this kind of tool or with wood in general? Would love to hear your thoughts on what kinds of projects you've done or what has been successful!

DIY: Red Bow Tie with Mr. Peabody & Sherman

One of my hysterical comic friends has a web show called "Hot on the Red Carpet" where she goes to premieres with her own little red carpet in tow (seriously, it's amazing), and interviews/jokes with celebs as they head down the red carpet. (You'll see one of her videos in a sec.)  She had to cover the Mr. Peabody & Sherman premiere and had a little request for me...please make me a bow tie to match Mr. Peabody!

Ask and ye shall receive! She got pictures with her twinsie...

...as well as Ty Burrell, who happens to be my fave!  I worked with him years ago and he was such a gent, not to mention that I'm obsessed with Modern Family as well!

Felt and elastic duo = best DIY bow tie combo!  PS, did anyone go and see this?  It looks quite adorable!

Here's Erin's clip...I think you'll enjoy!!

DIY: Rhinestone Clutch

I partnered up with my girl Kirsten Nunez over at Studs and Pearls to come up with a quick DIY for her "In A New York Minute" series! Basically in a nutshell I got to create a DIY with a metallic theme that had to be five steps or less.

That golden pouch was a complete score - I found it at the Dollar Tree over the holidays in NC!  Holla, y'all!!  The South knows where it's at re: metallic pouches!  I also grabbed some rhinestones from my collection as well as some of my dream serum, E6000, to make this puppy...

Check out the entire post over on Kirsten's blog here!!

The wrist strap was upcycled...perhaps you guys have one of them hanging out at home too?

Such a quick, easy, and cheap project - the perfect trifecta for a fun DIY!!