Watercolor Projects

I'm not sure when I started this post or why I stopped working on it.  School started and I forget about everything!  

One of my co-workers found this paint that you put on your sidewalk and when it rains it leaves the quote or whatever design you put there (how cool is that?!).  Here is the link to homedepot project ideas. I made the stencils for her using my Cricut.  Then I had these letter leftover and I decided to make these watercolor pictures.  Watercolor is pretty forgiving which is nice when you aren't super artistic.  I did buy some watercolor paper at the dollar store (not recommended).  

1.  Gather your supplies: Watercolor paper (or very heavy cardstock), watercolors (I just used basic crayola watercolors), a cup of water, the letters and glue.

2.  Take your water and paint brush get it wet, pick out your first color and begin!

3.  For the first picture I chose red, orange, and yellow paint layers and blend the colors together.

4. Let dry

5.  When dry arrange the letters on the paper where you want them.

6. When arranged how you like glue the letters down.  

7.  Place in frame and enjoy! 

To buy either of these pieces click here!

Rust-oleum Spray Paint

Here is what the can looks like for anyone
who is curious!

I have a bunch of organizers for my new classroom that are pretty blah, they were all different colors and didn't match each other.  To make everything look more cohesive I decided to try my hand at spray painting.  I have never spray painted anything in my life but both of these projects were super easy.  I had a hard time choosing between green and blue so, I bought one of each color.  It was also nice because the paint is paint and primer in one, and bonds to plastic!

1.  I sprayed everything off with a hose and let them dry outside.
2.  I laid down lots of newspaper to protect the floor in the garage so I didn't get paint everywhere.
3.  Then I set off to work, I just followed the directions on the can (basically point and spray the items you want to paint, slightly overlapping the rows.

Here is what they looked like before I started.

Here is how both of them turned out.  I love the colors!  Too bad my room is maroon and they won't match too well.  Oh well, something bright and cheery to lighten up the space!  The biggest hint I have is definitely follow drying instructions and don't get too anxious to paint the other side.

Pinterest Win or Fail?

I am back after a long time away.  I have been very busy and want to try my hand at blogging again.  To start my first post I found this BEAUTIFUL egg wreath that I wanted to try the directions (and picture) I tried came from this blog right here http://www.wineandglue.com/2012/03/easter-egg-wreath.html  I also used some directions from http://www.craftbyphoto.com/yarn-easter-eggs/.
                                                           

Some of these tutorials called for Mod Podge the wreath directions called for 1/2 cup of flour and Sta-Flo liquid starch.  I did not want to purchase something I would only be using once and I did not want to waste a bunch of Mod Podge since it is so expensive.  I decided to go the old fashion route and make some old fashion glue 1/2 cup of flour and water until its the consistency of
paste.  Here are the directions I tried to follow to make my own wreath.

1.  Buy pretty pastel embroidery floss I used a combination of colors I already had and went and purchased more at Hobby Lobby.  She said 20 colors I only used about 11.

2.  Also purchase water balloons, I purchased a variety pack of balloons at Hobby Lobby and picked out the ones that were water balloon size.  Here is the size I picked out.

3.  Mix your flour and water mixture (or whatever you choose) into a bowl.
4.  Blow up the number of balloons of your choosing I placed them on a large cookie sheet covered in a piece of waxed paper.

5.  Place one thing of embroidery floss into your glue (unwrap it first and lay it gently in the bowl).  This is the best tip I received!  By doing this is prevents the floss from becoming one big knotted mess.  Gently push it into the mixture so it is all covered.

6.  Take one end of the floss (make sure you take your two fingers (thumb and pointer) and pull of the excess goop.

Now here is where I stopped taking pictures sorry!

7.  Begin wrapping around the balloon and continue pulling off excess goop.  Wrap until you have used all the floss for the roll.
8. Place on the cookie sheet and allow to dry.  I let my dry overnight I just flipped them after a few hours so the other side could dry.
9.  The next morning I gently pushed the balloon away from floss and used a pin to pop the balloon.

Now here is where it failed I also didn't get enough of the glue off and it stuck to floss:

I tried to create the wreath by setting the floss eggs around a round casserole dish.  I threaded a piece of thick ribbon through each egg and then tried hot gluing the connecting edges of the eggs together.

For some reason the form of the wreath did not keep.  So instead of fighting it I took apart the glued edges. and placed my eggs in a cute basket near the door.  Overall they didn't turn out too bad and my husband even said they turned out well.

DIY Chevron Nails

This is the hot new trend in nail art and I have fallen in love with it since I saw it on Pinterest but have not been able to figure out how to do it myself until the other day.

Here are the steps to enjoying your own chevron nails:

1.  Paint nails (4/5) with a base coat I used this orange color.

2.  Paint the nail you left blank white.  Allow all nails to dry completely

3.  Using scrapbooking scissors I cut the stripes out of masking tape.

4.  Once nails are dry place the stripes you made on the white nail (make sure it is attached securely)

5.  Paint over the white nail with the orange color allow to dry.

6.  Gently pull off tape.

7.  Cover nails with a clear coat and enjoy :)

DIY Scarf Hanger

In case you can't tell by the end of this post I love scarves!  Until now I've been hanging them on hanger and it's a pain in the butt to get them on and off the hanger without knocking them all off .  So in comes this project to help me organize them and make it look a little nicer in the closet.

Here are some of the things you will need:

Shower rings, mine were cheap ones from
dollar tree 12 for $1 can't beat that!

Hot glue gun

Ribbon, I bought this ribbon scrap
pack from Hobby Lobby for 50% off

Here is the variety I got in the
pack and they were the perfect
length for this project!

Now here are the steps to complete this project (there are a lot I apologize ahead of time!)

1.  Grab one shower ring and a piece of ribbon
place a drop of hot glue near the clasp and glue
one end of the ribbon onto it.

2.  Wrap overlapping slightly all the way
around the shower ring.

Wrapping should look like this
no white showing.

4.  When you get back to the end
place another drop of hot glue and
continue wrapping to finish the ring

5.  Leave the tail on the ring this
will be used to attach the rings together

6.  After wrapping all the rings your
table might look something like this, and
your hands might hurt (sorry!)

7.  Cut the tails off of the rings and put the
extra ribbon aside.
8.  Arrange the rings how you want
them to look

Now comes the fun part linking
them together
9.  take one end of a ribbon tail and
glue it onto one of the rings like this.

10.  Glue the other ring on top
of where you started the ribbon
tail.

11.  Wrap the ribbon tail around
both of the rings until you feel
it is secure then secure the end with hot glue.

12.  After you have finished attaching
everything it will look something like this.
13.  I then took yarn and attached it to the hanger.

14.  Hang scarves and admire your work :)

Valentines Day Nails

Here are the steps to creating this design:

1.  Paint with a clear coat.

2.  Paint nails base color (in this case pink).

3.  I used Sally Hansen Nail design and cut in half for each of my nails, place on the top half.

4.  Cover remaining nails with glitter top coat.

5.  Cover all nails with clear top coat.

Here are the steps for this design:

1.  Paint with a clear coat.

2.  Pain nails base color (in this case red)

3.  Using other Valentines colors paint hearts on the nail.

4.  Cover in glitter.

5. Cover nails with clear top coat.

Nail tips

All of these nail designs have the same general idea here are the steps to recreate these:

1.  Paint nails with a clear base coat.

2.  Paint nails with any color you wish.

3.  Decide where you want the next color to be and paint the top portion of the nail that color (or do the design.)

4.  Cover the line where you started the 2nd color, with a solid color line (such as silver or black).

5.  Paint with a top coat and enjoy!