Birthday Extravaganza!

27th June 2012

Gifts from my sweet sister Alex, who I shall now refer to as "the rain boots fairy".  Because after Tropical Storm Debbie hit, I don't ever wanna be without the proper footwear again.

Gifts from two of the special-ist people I know--my other sister, Chloe/Sister Bear, and my Papa Bear.  Chloe knows I loooove Adventure Time and she remembered that I mentioned months ago that I wanted some supah sweet headphones.  And Papa Bear bought me this journal, all on his own.  It's nice when you get to that point in your life when you treasure your parents and the things they do for you, you know?

And these are gifts from my gnomie, Kasandra!  Toblerone--which is not just ANY chocolate, you know--and a handmade journal and Forever XXI jewelry and gnome candles and a Forever XXI dress (not pictured).  She knows me (too) well.

Birthday dinner: Caesar salad, shrimp skewers, and...

a blueberry muffin?  Gotta love Mimi's Cafe, ya'll.

My sweet Mama Llama and me

Me and Papa Bear

Me and my adoring Party Pooper husband

Sister Bear, Party Bear!

The Rain Boots Fairy and I

I started two new traditions for my birthday this year:

1. Everyone must wear party hats, even if just for a few moments.

2. I shall provide a small gifts for each of my birthday dinner attendants (this year's theme was c a n d y).

It was important to me that my birthday be special this year, but I think it should be important that I try to make every day special/memorable/worthy.

In honor of that spirit,

Happy Day, to Y O U.

Feather Braid Hair Accessory DIY

This is a fun custom project--all you need is a hair band, some ribbon, a charm or two, and a feather!

First, tie your ribbon to the hair band.  I tied three pieces because I wanted to braid the three together.

Next, insert your feather into the knot.  Make another knot if you need to, to hold it in place.  You can adjust the direction of the feather once the hair band is secured in your hair.

Now braid!  I tied a southwest cow skull charm to the bottom of my braid.  Georgia O'Keefe style, baby!

Once I tied the hair band in my hair, the feather stuck out at a funny angle, so I had to spend a little time adjusting both the feather and the hair band to get the desired look.  Play around with it, don't be afraid to make something wonderful and shocking--the world could use more wonder and shock, ya know?

DIY Braided Charm Bracelet Updates

Two new members of the braided charm bracelet family!

Meet Susy P., who is a lil thicker than her other sisters, and...

...Hazel Rose, who believes in the supernatural as well as in things that are both super and natural.

finding/making/growing worlds

"hurt so good"

"jade is the color of your eyes--take me down deep"

"hens and chicks"

"worlds that we don't know"

"worlds that we make grow"

"please bloom everywhere"

Braided Charm Bracelet DIY

It's been a while since I made some purty jewelry, so I decided to make somethin' nice today!

Start with three strands of ribbon/yarn/fabric/etc.

Choose several charms to be woven throughout your bracelet.

Make a knot at one end of the three grouped strands.

Now, braid away!

Every inch or so (or less, if you like!), thread a charm onto one of the three strands and then continue braiding like you were.

Once you've reached the end of your bracelet, make another knot to secure the braid.  I recommend double-knotting both ends, just to be safe.

For the first bracelet I made, I didn't finish braiding until I was near the end of the three strands, and when I tried to fit the bracelet around my wrist, it was far too big!  That's okay, though, because I decided to simply knot the longer end around my first charm at the other end to secure the bracelet as, well, a bracelet.  I made sure I could slip the bracelet on and off my wrist without any trouble.

For the second bracelet I made, however, I decided to shorten the braid so that it fit perfectly around my wrist, and then I knotted a jump ring on one end and a clasp on the other.

I'm thinking about calling this an amulet bracelet to conjure up some good luck and protection!

Enjoy creating your own unique treasure accessory!

Painted Cardboard Magnet DIY

This project was a just-because-I-feel-like-making-something-to-express-myself, but it would work well as a gift, too.

Start with some cardboard.  Easy enough, yes?

Draw--whatever you like!  I've been really into the geometric/gem shapes, so that's what came out of my pen (I used a LiquiMark Note Writer, but anything like a black marker or sharpie will do, too) when I began to draw.  I also created some mini quote banners, which you can see at the finale of this post.

I used acrylic paint for this project, and I didn't want to make it too complicated so I just chose five colors.  You'll also need a paintbrush, a "palette" (you can see I use a very well-loved foam plate), and protective paper to go below your project in case of messes (which, for me, there always are).

There was some traditional painting involved with this project, but I largely relied on dipping the rounded end of my paintbrush into the paint and then applying dots.

Once you've completed your paintings and they've dried...

...you need to cut them out!

(scissors or a small box cutter will do)

I bought my magnets from Wal-Mart.  They are super easy to use because they are just like stickers with an adhesive backing--no glue gun needed!  I did use a glue gun for the three pins I made (I'll be honest--my original idea was to make all of these into pins, but then the magnet idea hit me and I realized magnets would be a much more practical fit; I still wanted to experiment with the pins though, and they turned out well, too, fyi).

Now you have unique creations for your fridge--or your friends' fridges!  You could even use these as guerilla art--which I think I am going to do, and I'll post with the results if/when I do.  Please post your own magnet/gift/guerilla artwork below!

Tiny Getaway

My husband and I took a tiny getaway to Orlando overnight;

it's summer and almost my birthday, so why the heck not?

This is Lady, not being happy about us leaving her overnight.

She loves going to Grandma and Grandpa's, so I don't know what the big deal was.

Here James and I are posting with our favorite Blue Man

(no hard feelings, other two Blue Men, yeah?)

Love the quote they put up on stage before the show started.

Brilliant inspiration, like the show itself.

And now I have my very own Blue Man!

He was asked to go up on stage and be part of the performance, and normally he would never do something like that in a million years, but he did it because we were there for my birthday!

(I love this guy :)

DIY Glitter Driftwood

I had some driftwood left over from another project, and I always have glitter on hand, so I decided to marry the two into this little decorative project!

Experiment; have fun with it!

First I smeared Elmer's glue onto a piece of driftwood (I chose to only cover one side).

Then I glittered the driftwood with my selected color.

Finally, after letting the glitter-glue set for a few minutes, I used clear acrylic sealer to ensure my glitter would stay attached to the driftwood.

Repeat for each additional piece.

I used only one color of glitter for each piece, but mixing glitter colors would probably be pretty cute, too.

I'm quite excited to try this project on other natural wonders to create more glitter treasures for my home!

Enjoy!

Father's Day Shield DIY

Father's Day can be a weird holiday, I feel,

because my father means so much to me,

yet it always seems that there are no gifts out there that I can buy that are meaningful enough to show him that.

I usually end up making something for him,

and this year I thought I'd share my ideas with you so you can create something unique for your

special papa, too!

I decided to make an identity shield,

and it's actually quite simple!

Start by cutting out a shield shape (it's easiest if you fold a piece of paper in half and then cut so that both sides are even).  You'll then trace that shape onto a blank piece of paper (or cardboard or canvas or whatever you plan on creating your artwork on).

My supplies are always on hand, and this is what I like to use:

an inky black pen (that doesn't smear when I apply watercolor)

to sketch out my drawings

and

Lyra Aquacolor watercolor crayons to add color afterward.

I used a Sharpie for this project to outline the shield.

Now you sketch!  The shield I made this time is pretty simple,

but make yours as intricate (or not) as you want.

Next, apply your color

(obviously you can use any medium you like; when it comes to watercolors, I prefer the watercolor crayons for coloring over my drawings, but I love traditional watercolors if I plan on drawing over the color).

Because I used sketch paper, my shield didn't feel sturdy enough when I was done painting it.

I decided to add a cardboard backing for support.

Trace your shape onto the cardboard and cut it out.

Easy peasy!

You can cut out a strip of cardboard to attach to the back of the shield to help it stand up (kinda like a picture frame) but I found a little plastic picture holder (which you can barely see in the photo) to keep my shield upright.  Or you can help your papa mount this baby on the wall--whatever works for you!

Happy Happy Father's Day!