Make (and) Break

There were no coffee breaks at the Re:Make conference I went to in September.

Instead, staying with the DIY theme, there were Make Breaks.

(Also, Philz coffee flowed freely all day. No break required.)

We customized vases during the mid-morning Make Break. The project was sponsored by Michaels, and their spokesperson explained it was inspired by a trend they’ve been seeing. More crafters are using materials like cork, wood, kraft paper, etc., and leaving it unfinished, letting the raw material show through instead of painting completely over it.

Our project materials included rectangular glass vases, paint, stick-on initials, washi tape, and this cool adhesive-backed cork (for the raw look).

I decided to cover half my vase in cork and wrap it all with a few washi tape “stripes”. The cork was actually pretty easy to work with. You just cut it to size, peel off the backing, and apply it, smoothing out any wrinkles as you go.

I found some green tape I liked, but I felt like it needed a little something else. I remembered I had my little bag of travel journaling supplies with me and there was blue-and-white washi tape in there that would be perfect.

Would it be weird to pull that out and use my own tape?

Then I realized: If there were ever an event where it was socially acceptable to bring your own washi tape, Re:Make would be the one. So I went for it.

Correction: If there were ever an event where it was socially acceptable to bring your own washi tape and then Instagram yourself mid-stick with the hashtag #hardcorecrafter, Re:Make would be the one. Yeah. That happened too.