Ombré Sign Tutorial

One of the great things about dental school is that you get to make great friends with the wives around you. Lauren moved into our apartment complex the beginning of last year and we instantly clicked! We both LOVE crafting! 

She made this cute ombre sign and I asked her to share the tutorial today! I hope you enjoy it! I want to make one in every color now:)

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I’ve always been a bit of a procrastinator, so when I was preparing my recent lesson for church it seemed like a great idea to make a craft for the young women and save the actually lesson planning for later!  This quote by President Uchtdorf is one of my favorites – “Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.” And, it fit perfectly into my lesson! 

I was inspired by this printable that I found on Pinterest, but wanted to make it a wood block that my young women could set anywhere.  I love having cute quotes and sayings around the house that are uplifting so it was the perfect idea for the young women.  

Supplies: 

• Paint 
• Foam brush 
• Painter’s tape 
• Mod podge 
• Wood board 
• Sand paper 
• Vinyl 

1. I used a 1x6 piece of wood and each board is cut to 6.5 inches, so my finished boards were 5.5 x 6.5 inches.  Sand the edges of each board. 

2. Divide the board into 4 equal sections.  You can paint the 1st and 3rd sections at the same time.  Then once that is completely dry, you can do the 2nd and 4th sections together.  It is important to let the paint dry completely before re-taping and doing the next sections.  If you put tape on a section that is not completely dry, the paint will peel off when you take it off.  Before painting each section, I did one thin layer of Mod Podge – this seals off the little holes that may be in the tape so your paint doesn’t seep under the edge of the tape. 

The same paint color was used for the entire board and I just added white paint to get the different shades.  So, the darkest color on the board is the original color of the paint.  

  

3. The vinyl was designed and cut out using my Cricut Explore. Using transfer tape, center the vinyl wording on the painted wood block.  Press the vinyl firmly onto the block and carefully remove the transfer tape. 

4. Enjoy! Find a cute spot to display your new décor. 

Happy Crafting!

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Blogging on a budget

First off, today is my husband's birthday! Yay! We are usually visiting our families on his birthday so this has been fun planning things to do with just the three of us. More on how we celebrate tomorrow!

Now on to the real post!

Living on a student's budget can be hard while trying to pursue hobbies.

I love blogging and want my blog to grow, but I feel like in order to do that I need to spend money: designing your website, advertising, buying craft supplies, clothes and make up to write about...the list is endless. 

Here are ways that I have been blogging on a budget.

1) Link parties are a great way to advertise your blog for free. Some link ups let you co-host which is also more exposure to your blog.

2) Use stuff you already have. You don't have to follow the trends, make up your own! Maybe that will be the next big thing:)

3) Social Media is huge! You have to promote yourself which can be hard at first, but just be confident and it will speak volumes! Plus it's free:)  Facebook and Pinterest have been my biggest audience so far. Tip:Make sure you have at least one pinnable image for each post.

4) Find bloggers that trade advertising. Candace at Lovely Little Rants is one of the many bloggers who do this.

I hope these tips have helped give you ideas on how you can blog on a budget. Let me know if you have any other suggestions that have given you success!

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Tassel Trend

I have seen tassels on everything lately! Bags, cover ups, shoes, shirts, and necklaces.

I love the look of tassel necklaces and wanted to buy some but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money on them. So I decided to make some!

Supplies needed:

-Embroidery floss

-Chain

-Lobster clasps

-Bead

-Bead cap

-Jewelry pliers

-Scissors

-Eye Pins

Start off by wrapping the embroidery floss around your fingers or a piece of cardboard. Once you have the desired thickness, cut and tie a piece to hold them all together (Shown in the picture below).

Remove the cardboard and cut the bottom of the tassel so they are all separated.

Next, you need to hook the embroidery floss with the eye pin.

Next, add the cap and bead.

Take the round tipped pliers and make a loop (shown below). This is what will connect the tassel to the chain.

Attach the metal fastener (lobster clasp) to the chain. Measure the chain around your neck so you how long you want it to be.

Attach the tassel to the center of the chain and cut the excess wire.

I ended up tying a piece of embroidery floss at the top of the tassel because I thought it looked better that way.

Happy Crafting!

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Paint Stick Flag

Hey, hey, hey!

 It's the last week of June and I've got one of the simplest 4th of July crafts you can make in time for the holiday. I love how patriotic it is!

Supplies needed:

-7 paint sticks

-4 Popsicle sticks

-Hot glue gun

-wire

-pliers

-red, white, and blue paint

-masking tape

-paint brush

Start by laying out your paint sticks.

Use masking tape to tape off the top three sticks so you don't get red or white paint where the blue paint will go.

Paint the sticks red and white and paint the star white (the star should not be on the flag when you paint it). Remove the tape and paint the blue area.

Once all of the paint has dried, turn the painted sticks over and space them out evenly. Hot glue the Popsicle sticks so that all of the paint sticks are being held by at least two of them.
Then hot glue the star to the front.

Drill two holes in the top stick for the wire that is used to hang it. You can curl the wire with a pliers or a metal stick.

Have fun crafting! Let me know if you have any questions or craft tutorials you would like to see!

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Pineapple String Art

Pineapples are so popular right now! Not only on clothing but on decorations as well! A few weeks ago I made this State String Art, which was a huge hit. So I decided to make a string art in the shape of a pineapple. In the South pineapples are a symbol of warmth, welcome, friendship, and hospitality. 

Here's a step-by-step tutorial so you can make one too!

Supplies needed:

-wooden board

-stain 

-foam brush

-nails

-hammer

-yellow and green embroidery floss

First start by cutting and sanding your board.  

Then stain the board using a foam brush and wipe the excess off with a paper towel. This color was dark enough that I only applied one coat.

Next I went online and found a pineapple that I liked. Simply print it out and tape it to the board.

These are the nails I used. You could use smaller nails because some of mine went through the board, it just depends on the thickness of your board.

Hammer the nails around the outline of the pineapple so that they are evenly spaced out.

Remove the paper and now you're ready to add the string! Now is also a good time to make sure that all of the nails are sturdy.

First make an outline around the leaves with your green string. Then connect all those nails by making a random pattern. Then outline all the leaves again. I added another nail where the green and yellow meet to give the leaves more shape.

  With the yellow do the same as before outline first, pattern, and then outline again.

 What's your favorite fruit to have on decorations? Do you have any other awesome pineapple decorations? Please share!

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Sparkle and Shine!

I LOVE glitter toes! I used to think that you could only do them with gel polish, but quickly found out that this look can be achieved a much easier way! 

While working in a day spa I did lots of pedicures. Everyone loved the look of glitter toes without having to give up the time or cost of gel nails.

 Here's how to achieve this look!

Supplies needed:

-pure acetone

-cotton balls 

-cuticle remover

-cuticle pusher

-base coat 

-polish

-fine glitter

-top coat

-brush

1) Prep your nails by removing leftover polish and pushing back cuticles. This is my favorite cuticle remover.

2) Put pure acetone on a cotton ball and apply to each toe nail to remove excess moisture and cuticle remover.

3) Apply one coat of base coat. I love OPI's Natural Nail Base Coat.

4) Then apply one coat of nail polish that goes with the glitter. (I used a dark purple polish under my light purple glitter).

5) Sprinkle glitter over wet polish. I will usually paint 2 nails and sprinkle glitter, and repeat until all are covered.

6) Let them dry for about 10 minutes and use brush to take off excess glitter. 

7)Apply OPI's Top Coat.

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