January 28: Ukraine, TikTok

A New Generation of Influencers Has Discovered D.I.Y. on a Tiny Budget With enough spray paint, hot glue and successful thrift-store runs, almost any space can look like it belongs on the internet. ....... Relying heavily on Dollar Store finds and Home Depot lumber, these influencers reject the idea that an Instagram-worthy living room requires a four-figure, or even a three-figure budget. ........ Renters and homeowners can learn how to turn Ikea dressers or yard-sale lampshades into sassy centerpieces. ....... Ms. Shaw renovated her parents’ living room, dining room, kitchen, patio and family room for a cool $1,000, showing that with enough elbow grease and sandpaper, almost anything can be worthy of a big reveal. ....... To pay for the project at her parents’ house, Ms. Shaw sold their old furniture online and used the proceeds to buy new materials. She celebrated her finds, like a tree stump that she sanded, sealed and made into a table for the new patio ........ Drew Scott recently gave his mother’s drab bathroom a renter-friendly makeover for less than $300 .......

The channel is now Mr. Scott’s full-time job.

In long, peppy tutorials he shows his subscribers how to make a flower pot out of an old paint can and wood dowels, or how to build a headboard out of cane and pine. ........ Ms. Basnight found that once she focused her videos on the process and not simply the results, her following grew. ....... She now has 224,000 followers, and earned $267,000 as an influencer in 2021 ........ she quit her job as a software engineer to focus on her social media presence. ........ Now, more than a decade into their channel, and with 2.1 million subscribers, Sorry Girls operates out of a Toronto office with a staff of 10. College days might be long behind them, but they still focus on affordable décor. ....... using thrift-store finds ........... with enough spray paint, hot glue and fruitful thrift-store runs, almost any space can look like it belongs on the internet. .

If Russia invades, the Biden administration plans to hit Russian banks harder than ever before. . .

After a Putin-Macron phone call, Paris touts dialogue but Moscow says its concerns weren’t addressed. . Mr. Putin said he had “no offensive plans” in eastern Ukraine ........ “President Putin said very clearly that he was not seeking confrontation, that he was seeking de-escalation.” The conciliatory tone the official described was in contrast to the far more threatening picture outlined by officials at the Pentagon and the White House. ....... French officials say the discussions are a way to keep Russia engaged diplomatically and cool down tensions. .......

Neither Paris nor Berlin see the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine with the same urgency as Washington

.