5 inspiring summer DIY projects, from YouTube star LaurDIY

Date August 7, 2015

Thanks to bloggers like Erica Domesek of P.S. I Made This, fun YouTube tutorials and step-by-step Pinterest pins, it’s easier than ever to get inspired to DIY. Why spend your bills on gilded vases or ombre tumblers when you can just grab a spray can and do it yourself? Clearly the childhood pastime isn’t just for the artistic little ones anymore.

“The best thing about DIY is you can make it your own. To whatever extent you want,” says Lauren Riihimaki of LaurDIY. We caught up with the DIY guru and YouTube sensation this week to talk about her recent collab with Starbucks and all things arts and craft. With over two million subscribers, you can say she’s quite the star over on YouTube land. Her bubbly personality and easy-to-follow tutorials probably have something to do with those high viewership numbers. What was just once a creative outlet to escape from her studies, LaurDIY has since become the DIY go-to, whether it is style, beauty or lifestyle-related. Connecting with her viewers to see what they want to make is one of her sources of inspiration, but Riihimaki loves re-creating home décor pieces from places like Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. “A lot of my viewers are young, so they might not be able to afford places like Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie,” she explains. “So to re-invent it in a simple and accessible way is important.”

With summer wrapping up, you may or may not be be running out of ideas on how to spend your weekends. Thanks to the Toronto-based v-logger who so graciously shared five of her (and our!) fave tutorials with us, why not grab your girlfriends for a little DIY party? Check out the videos below and get ready to be pumped with some serious artistic adrenaline. If you’re feeling creative, feel free to take elements and make it your own. “It’s completely up to the viewer, how they use the content I give them and what they want to do with it,” says Riihimaki. “LaurDIY-fying is all about doing things your own way.”

Riihimaki will be setting up shop at 316 Queen Street West in Toronto for Starbucks’ pop-up Sparkle Shop this Saturday August 8th. She’ll be on hand for the launch of Teavana’s Sparkling Tea Juices while showing off her DIY skills.

How to add sparkle to your morning coffee