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A Joyful Riot

A Large Gathering of Happy Things

DIY Shelf Sconce

November 20, 2014 ·

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It is a basically a given that I can never have enough shelving/storage or enough lighting in almost any room of my house. Especially my craft room! As I was thinking of some ideas for how to increase one or the other I realized “why not do both at once?” So here is my attempt at combining lighting and practical shelving.

I love the look and ease of using crates as shelves and already had a small crate just sitting in my closet so thought I would finally try it. And seriously – it is the easiest shelving ever.

lampshelf_14DIY Shelf Sconce | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriot

    Materials

  • Small wood crate (any craft store should carry it, mine is from Michael’s) //
  • 5/16 drill bit //
  • Drill //
  • Lamp kit (or just a cord and light socket) //
  • Screwdriver //
  • Nail //
  • Ruler //
  • Pen/pencil //

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1. Measure the length of the smaller side of the wood crate and use a pen to mark in the center at the bottom. This is where the light will go through.

DIY Shelf Sconce | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriot

2. Use your 5/16 drill bit to drill a hole right where you marked the center.

DIY Shelf Sconce | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriot

3. Take the cord through the middle slit in the back of the crate near the bottom and pull it through the hole a little ways (according to the below picture).

4. Next you will secure the wires to the screws on the socket. To do this, first remove the socket sleeve and then you will want to take your screwdriver and loosen the screws up. Next, place the socket on top of the crate and take the ribbed wire and wrap it around the silver screw. Take the other wire and wrap it around the bronze screwdriver. For both of them you want to wrap it around clockwise. If you need additional instructions, I found this resource helpful.

5. Next, take the screwdriver and tighten the screws. MAKE SURE THE CORD IS NOT PLUGGED IN. DIY Shelf Sconce | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriot

6. Take the socket cover and place it on top.

7. Once the socket is all connected, take the light bulb and screw it on.

DIY Shelf Sconce | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriot

8. To hang, just hammer in one nail and slide the crate on.

DIY Shelf Sconce | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriot

Note that I painted the socket gray using spray paint but you can keep it bronze or paint it a fun bright color. You can also stain the crate but lately I’ve been into lighter wood so I kept it natural.

Fill in your new shelving space with little trinkets and supplies! Make sure to even out both sides so that the shelf/crate stays stable. I didn’t have a great way to hide the wire but I ended up placing a framed map directly below it and it covered almost all of the wire. And when I plugged it in and flipped the switch, the bulb worked perfectly!

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Posted by Malissa / Filed In: 2014 Favorite, Gifts Fellas, Home Decor DIY

Copper Vintage Map Plaques

November 10, 2014 ·

Copper Map Plaques | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriot Copper Map Plaques | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriot

I love vintage maps and just the other day I discovered this amazing resource called the David Rumsey collection and immediately wanted to do some projects utilizing the gorgeous vintage Atlases. Pairing them with copper actually turned out quite nice if I do say so myself! The other great thing about this project is that you can add or subtract any number of wood plaques and mix shapes and sizes to fill any wall space you want!

    Materials

  • Wood plaques (form Michael’s or any craft store) //
  • Copper spray paint //
  • Glue //
  • Old vintage maps (I used ones from the David Rumsey collection which is amazing) //
  • Scissors //

Copper Map Plaques | A Joyful Riot @ajoyfulriotContinue Reading

Posted by Malissa / Filed In: 2014 Favorite, Gifts Fellas, Home Decor DIY
Tagged: featuredfall

DIY Photo Holders

August 27, 2014 ·

cardholder3DSC_0390-2

These little holders can be used for table numbers, photos, cards, invitations, place cards, post-it notes, and more! Little ones would be a really beautiful way to hold your seating placements actually. I think I like these best when used to display special little notes and cards.

    Materials

  • Polymer clay //
  • Knife //
  • Copper spray paint //
  • Painter’s tape //

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1. Take your polymer clay and roll it into a ball.

2. Take your knife and use it to create any shape you want. For the first one, I just took little sections off of the ball for a faceted shape. For the others, I made triangles of different sizes and hexagons (including a lop-sided hexagon that I quite like). clay13. Once your shape is cut, use the knife to slice a small sliver at the top. This is where the photo/card will go into so test the depth with a photo to make sure it is sufficient.

4. Bake the clay according to instructions. For my clay, I baked it 30 minutes at 275 degrees. Once the clay is done baking, let the clay dry for about 30 minutes.
DSC_03365. Use painter’s tape to tape off any sections that you don’t want covered with the spray paint.
clay26. Spray paint the clay. I only needed to do one coat. Once the spray paint is dry, take the painter’s tape off and place your photos in the holders!
photoholders1DSC_0360My super talented sister-in-law is always sending cards. Seriously, she is the card queen. Every birthday or event she immediately sends you a thank you card for- she is so thoughtful. One time I was in Utah and went to my niece’s birthday party and two days later when I got home, I had a thank you card waiting for me. It was incredible. And these holders are perfect for showing off her endless adorable cards!
cardholder4 cardholder2They are also great for holding all types of invitations in! And this amazing Alice in Wonderland postcard Machelle sent me!
photoholders2
DSC_0394-2 cardholder3

Posted by Malissa / Filed In: Crafts, Gifts Fellas, Gifts Ladies, Home Decor DIY

DIY Stamped Pocket Square

June 9, 2014 ·

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 Suiting accessories are always a go-to Father’s Day gift! Simple DIY’s like this one are always great for Father’s Day since it is easy, not too expensive, but also personal and unique. And as you might be able to tell, I love stamping. You can stamp anything and it only takes 10 minutes to make something plain awesome.

    Materials

  • White pocket square (here and here are some good options. Or you can sew it yourself if you’re feeling extra brave!) //
  • Paint (fabric paint or Martha Stewart plaid) //
  • Stamps (mine is from Paper Source or make your own with foam!) //
  • Felt //
  • Plastic surface or paper plate //

Create your stamp pad with felt and a flat surface. I always use a paper plate but a plastic surface would work well too. See here for a detailed how-to.

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Lay out the pocket square and start stamping. I started at the top left hand corner and alternated rows, using a half brick pattern:

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Continue stamping and then iron to set the paint.

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Wrap the pocket square with some twine and you have a one-of-a-kind gift!

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Posted by Malissa / Filed In: Crafts, Gifts Fellas

Instagram Polaroid Blocks

May 15, 2014 ·

blocks

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For this project I combined instagrams with the trademark look of a polaroid. This is a great project to bring your instagram pictures into your home for everyone to enjoy or just to display any pictures at all!

The first thing you’ll want to do is decide which pictures you’d like to display and how many. I choose to do 36 photos. Either get your photos from your Instagram profile or crop any picture you want into a square. I found that ordering my pics on 5″ x 7″ prints was the most inexpensive way to go. This template is that size:

Photoshop Template:

JPEG:

Continue Reading

Posted by Machelle / Filed In: 2014 Favorite, Gifts Fellas, Gifts Ladies, Home Decor DIY

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We're twin sisters Malissa & Machelle. We love parties. We love design. We love to make things! We share fresh posts about those topics right here!

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