Weddingbee Blog

How could I give advice about DIY projects without mentioning my favorite DIY products? Obviously, I couldn’t–I’m too obsessed. I’ve been a crafter for as long as I can remember, and since I’ve been working at Paper Source, I’ve learned even more about different products.

Here are my favorites:

image from Fiskars.com

Paper Trimmer. This has been my favorite product for a long time. I actually have two–one big one and one small one. I recommend the rotary cutter over the guillotine–a lot of the time, paper slips on the guillotine and doesn’t give you a straight cut. In addition, the bottom of the paper often doesn’t get a clean cut with a guillotine. You can either go cheap or heavy duty (I consider the one pictured above heavy duty). Either one works great, but the heavy duty ones can cut more paper and have more rulers, which can be useful.

image from paper-source.com

Teflon Bone Folder. I had never heard of a bone folder before working at Paper Source, I’ll admit it. But if you need to do a lot of folding (like if you’re making invitations or envelopes), this thing is indispensable. Basically you rub it along a fold and it makes a really nice, clean crease. You can also use it to jam things into small spaces (for example, I once made a box and used it for that purpose). I recommend teflon over the recycled bone for two reasons:

1) the recycled bone can leave a shiny residue behind (this is calcium from the bone), whereas the teflon does not.
2) if you drop the recycled bone, it can break or chip.
The teflon bone folder is more expensive, but it’s worth it.

image from paper-source.com

Zots. At first, I was a lover of Super Tape. That stuff will stick anything together, I swear. However, it also took off a layer of skin every time I tried to use it. That’s when I discovered Zots. These suckers are just as sticky as Super Tape, but they’re much more user friendly. Zots are little adhesive dots, which come on a roll of parchment paper-like stuff. If you rip off the parchment paper in little pieces, you can stick your zot directly from the parchment paper onto your surface, so you never have to touch the actual adhesive. After using about 800 of them, you’ll appreciate that.

image from walgreens.com

Glue Dots Removable Adhesive Dots. Why Zots doesn’t make a removable version, I do not know. However, these things are GREAT for attaching things you don’t want to be stuck together forever. For example, I used them to attach my RSVP postcards to my invitations. They don’t leave any residue behind. Believe it or not, I found these at Walgreens, of all places.

A metal ruler and an x-acto knife. There are no pictures of these because you can buy any brand you like–I have no preference. These are great for cutting book board or long pieces of paper that won’t fit in your paper trimmer. Apply firm pressure to the ruler and use it as a guide for your x-acto to get a very nice, clean cut. A tip: if you get the kind of metal ruler that has cork on the bottom, flip it over so the cork is facing up before you use it as a guide to cut with your x-acto knife. Otherwise, your x-acto can slip into the space between the cork and your paper, and you won’t get a clean cut.

So those are my top 5 (well, 6, if you want to get technical) DIY products.

Have I missed anything? What are your favorites?