5 easy DIY projects to do this summer

Everyone gets tired of lazing around for weeks after exams end or going through the same old routine of binge-watching TV shows and movies. Even internships often leave you with too much time on your hands.
Summer is the best time to break out those supplies and get your hands a little dirty by trying out a few DIY projects. We bring you a few ideas collected from the interweb to get you started:

1. Fandom Shirts (.. or any t-shirts really)

All of us have those few fandoms we associate ourselves with (more like cry and rant about, amirite?) and love to flaunt. Well, being a broke college student often gets in the way of buying good quality fandom merchandise, let alone buy original merchandise. If you’re also unfortunate enough to love a band that is not very popular, you’re doomed to drooling over merchandise and grumble about shipping fees.. Right? Well, not anymore! Use all this free time to make yourself some fandom merchandise to flaunt in college during the next semester.

What you need: cardboard/plastic sheets (to cut out stencils), cutter, bleach/acrylic paint, spray bottle
This is pretty much the easiest thing to do since you just need to print out a picture or letters (if you’re going to write a quote/word) and paste them on the cardboard to cut out stencils. It is recommended to use easily distinguishable symbols which can be cut as stencils easily and recognised through their outlines, like the TARDIS for Doctor Who fans or the mockingjay pin for Hunger Games fans. Use a bleach (discolours the cloth) or acrylic paint in a spray bottle to spray in or around the stencil. Let it dry off and voila! You have yourself handmade fandom shirts!

2. Cords Roll

If you’re anything like a lot of college students I know, your charger, earphones, USB cords are probably lying all tangled up either at the bottom of your bag or somewhere in a distant drawer. This is an easy and simple project to make yourself a cool place to store all your cords which, even if you throw at the bottom of your bag, will make them easier to find. Moreover, you won’t have to spend 10 minutes detangling them before use.
What you need: A patch of real/fake leather or any hard fabric, knife/cutter, snap buttons
Get all the cords you want to place in this roll and put them side-by-side to measure how long it needs to be. Cut out the fabric accordingly and make sure to leave one end cut out in a pointed triangular shape so that you can use this to close the roll (as shown in the picture). Make small cuts at regular interval to place your cords between them. In the end, stitch/glue the snap buttons and you have your portable cord roll!

3. Fabric covered hardcover books/journals

If you like hoarding hardcover books or have some at hand and want to give them a snazzy, personalised look, this project is for you. This also makes for an excellent present for your friends who are bibliophiles.
What you need: Colourful fabric lying around your home, hardcover books, scissors, fabric glue
The procedure is pretty much the same as that for covering books and notebooks for school using brown paper. Start by ironing the fabric to remove any creases. Cut out an appropriate piece, such that the book will be covered easily and it neatly reaches the insides too. Use a glue gun or fabric glue to put on the fabric. Keep in mind to cut out slits while covering the spine of the book so that you can slide the fabric inside from the top and bottom to give it a snug look.

4. Journal

Before you scroll down, no, I don’t mean the journal where you record your entries daily about your day or start off endearing confessions with “Dear Diary..”. If you want to do that, of course, you’re welcome to but the new age journal keeping is a lot more diverse and allows for a lot of creativity. Allow me to explain.
What you need: A journal/notebook, that is it because the rest is upto you
This is fun and easy because your only aim is to fill the pages according to what you want. Do you like quotes or lyrics? Get a few nice pens and scribble them out. Try a few fonts, even experiment with different mediums like watercolour. Did you see a pretty pattern in a magazine you think is cool? Cut it out and paste it. Did you go sightseeing to monuments or to watch a movie? Keep the ticket stubs and put it in the journal. The main aim of journal-keeping is to record things you find interesting and would like to look back on. It’s completely upto you to keep it as plain, colourful, glittery or pictorial as you want.

5. Cool hairpins

If you like to adorn your tresses with cool accessories, this is a really appropriate project. Give up the (frankly) tacky designs in stores and make your own minimalistic style statement!
What you need: hair pins, plywood/plastic sheet, Feviquick/super-glue, cutter/knife
This project works excellently with bits and pieces of plywood lying around if you’ve recently had some carpentering done at your place. Cut up small shapes (triangles are the easiest to cut out, just FYI) and paint them with nailpaint to give them a glossy finish and glue it onto the heads of the hair pins. If you have glitter on you, feel free to use it to add more embellishments.

These are only a few of the many, many things you can try out this summer. Have fun and get crackin’!

Feature Image Credits: jimkw.com

Shubham Kaushik
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