Hasta luego, 2013!

Hey there! I hope you're enjoying the end-of-the-year wind down. I had a nice Christmas with my family and have been dreaming up lots of fun projects for the coming year. I'm really excited to jump in with both feet and share everything with you! Thanks you so much for coming along for the ride with me!

I took a little afternoon trip to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga with my parents over the weekend. It's a beautiful Japanese garden in the hills of Silicon Valley.  It was such a lovely day and we had a great time meandering and admiring the views. I've been having a lot of fun with my photography lately and took a ton of photos. Here are some of my favorites.

Me with the bamboo!

I hope you have a wonderfully exciting or totally relaxing New Year's Eve. Whatever pops your cork! Thanks again for reading and for helping to make 2013 a bang-up year here on Vitamini Handmade. Cheers!

Top posts of 2013!

There are only a couple days left of the year and I thought I'd do a little round-up the most popular posts on the blog! Check them out if you're new in these parts or if you'd like to get some ideas for a last minute project before you have to go back to work!

• DIY: Neon Wrapped Lamp Cord
• DIY: Hand Carved Stamps
• Customize a Table Fan with Spray Paint
• DIY: Dip-dyed Bottle Brush Trees
• Retro Clock Stamps
• DIY: Origami Winged Heart Cupcake Toppers
• Houseplants for Your Retro Pad
• DIY: Holiday Pom Pom Wreath
• My Whiteboard Calendar

Wishing you a merry one!

Two days till Christmas! I'm ready to take it easy and enjoy the next few days, eat lots of cookies, and spend as much time as possible in my pajamas. Here's a pic of my aluminum tree looking all sparkly in the window. Merry Christmas to you and yours! I hope Santa brings you everything on your list!

DIY: Snowflake Garland

I don't know about you, but I'm still getting my holiday craft fix over here. I spotted these pipe cleaner snowflakes from Martha Stewart on Pinterest the other day and thought it would be fun to make a few.

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

 

• Metallic Pipe Cleaners 
• Pliers
• Baker's twine or other string

The instructions in the original post on MS aren't very thorough, so after making one I decided to just wing it for the rest of them. I started with 3, 6" strips for the main snowflake spines (is that the right word?), then used 6, 2" to 3" pieces for the rest of the pieces. It is key to crimp the pipe cleaner twists with a pair of pliers so everything stays in place.



Experiment with different shapes. After you have a few snowflakes made, make a garland! Tie the snowflakes at the ends with short lengths (about 4") of baker's twine. The best thing about this garland is you can use it horizontally or vertically.

 

DIY: Bottle Brush Tree Gift Toppers.

If you couldn't stop yourself from dyeing every little bottle brush tree you could get your hands on (like, ahem, me!) here's a practical idea for your extras: make personalized gift toppers!

Here's what you'll need:

• Custom-dyed trees made with this tutorial
• Kraft cardstock
• Scissors
• Pen
• Glue. I used rubber cement and removable glue dots  
• Ribbon

Cut a few strips of kraft paper about 1/4" wide and 5-6" long. Cut out v-shaped notches in the ends.

Fold it not quite in half and at an angle so you can see both sides.

Write the "to" and "from." Wrap it around the trunk of the tree and add a little bit of rubber cement to hold it closed. 

Attach it to your gift! You can tie it with a ribbon or stick it on with a removable glue dot. Super cute!