Marbled Skull Canvas Art DIY

Haven't blogged for awhile, oh well! Not going to get into it. 

Halloween is my favorite holiday. And though I set the boundary for decorating and wait until the 1st of October, that doesn't mean I can't prepare.

I found this felt decoration at the dollar tree and knowing I had a blank canvas at home, this is what I came up with. I have a picture ledge above the bed that I like to redecorate occasionally so once I give myself permission, that's where it can go. 

You'll need:

• Canvas size 18x24
• Felt decoration
• Nail polish in colors of your choice
• Water and container big enough for canvas to lie in

The totals cost of this for me was $1 since I had everything else on hand. Depending on if you need to buy a canvas and nail polish or not, I'd say it might range from $5-$10. Get your Michaels coupon for the canvas :)

To do the marbling effect I used this tutorial. 

I want to stress three important things when using this method:

1. Use gloves! Otherwise you WILL get nail polish all over your hand. 
2. Use a disposable container, or one you don't care about. It will get dirty.  
3. Once you start pouring the colors, I would pour, then swirl, pour then swirl etc. I poured all my colors at once, and when I went to swirl, they had already set. I liked what came out anyways, but it could have been even more swirly than this. 

After doing the marbling, I let it dry overnight. I tried every combo on the skull overtop the design before glueing down, trying to line it up so the design would be able to show through the teeth and eyes in the best way.

After adding glue to the entire backside, I placed it down as centered as I could, and gently rubbed into place.

A very easy project, and a cool modern halloween vibe. Now to wait for October 1st!

Gram Dump: Feb 2015

      I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like this year is going by in a blur. It's only halfway through March but I feel like so much has happened this year! 

       I'm still so proud of Sparrow for being such a champ during our move and she really seems to enjoy our new space. She gets to birdwatch, and there's plenty of high windows and shelves for her to perch on. 

      I won't miss all the snow we had but that doesn't mean I hated it. We got 2 really nice snows days which we took long walks on. I love cities during a heavy snow. The most peaceful and calm they'll ever be.

      Got to make time for a nice brunch here and there. And a trip to Ikea right afterwards doesn't hurt either :) We got a ton of stuff there and it helped finish up a lot of things I was trying to accomplish in the new apartment. 

      My mom's dog Janey. I try to visit once a month but I didn't have a chance in February. At least next time the weather will be warmer. 

      I went to NYC with a friend to see a Broadway show, but I was a little more excited for some nerdier interests of mine. 

And finally, this happened this past weekend in March, but we adopted a doggy! His name is Laddie and he's such a sweetheart. Very good with Sparrow, not house trained but no accidents yet, and generally a calm and loving doggy friend. He defiantly requires much more attention than an independent cat does, but it's nice to go on walks and be more active. Like I said lots happening so far this year. Probably much more to come.

Keychain Redo

      Sometimes those little details in daily life really get forgotten about. It might not be super important, but it can be nice to take a moment to address them. In this case it was my keys. Though they have been added too throughout the past few years, I was never taking anything away, and what I was left with was a cluttered mess of old rings with no purpose, and a bunch of old rewards cards I never used. So I deciced to start fresh.

      You can see how bulky it really is here as well. Can you believe I was having a hard time getting my apartment keys out? And this time of the year, I want to get in my apartment as fast as possible, and not fumble in the cold for what feels like forever. 

      Basically I took everything off that was not needed.I kept the keyring of rewards cards in a pocket in my purse, just in case. These are the only things I use every single day. (aside from the spare car key to my boyfriend's car, but that is also important). 

      But of course you need some sort of keyring to hold them altogether. I've been on the lookout since having this idea in mind, and I found this keychain on a trip to NYC. It's cute and fun, but also simple and stylish so it worked perfectly. 

      Much lighter! I noticed the difference in weight right away. Also less noisy, and much easier to grab the key I need with no hassle.

      Again, it's not a huge change or accomplishment, but it's a nice way to freshen up something you use everyday. It's almost like cleaning up a room, just on a much smaller scale. :)

Easy DIY: Swear Jar

      Sometimes you just gotta slap something together and call it a day. I still don't really have a work space at the moment, but I hate to be unproductive on my days off. I've also been so uninspired lately as well. I went thru some of my old bookmarks and found something I've been meaning to make, and just so happened to have the materials needed.

      A swear jar! Haha, personally I don't use swear words and Christopher rarely curses either. This is just something to collect change in, with a little humor added to it.

      I think it's pretty obvious how to make this! I had some nice vinyl alphabet stickers and a cool jar on hand and that's all it took. 

      Now anytime we have visitors I'm sure they might be shocked at how many times we've had to add to the jar. ;) 

Catching Up

      One of the biggest excuses for not blogging is "I'm too busy!" And that is my exact reason I've done nothing in over a whole month.  Since we're moving, I haven't had a chance for any creative outlet. I am always snapping photos though so here's a dump of my favorite shots from the past few weeks. 

I love the specials that cafes come up with in the holiday season. 

Shopping at Antique malls yield interesting finds. 

Doodling has become rare and I want to pick it back up again.

Poinsettias are beautiful, but make me nervous! (don't go near those kitty!)

A very silly shop name.

      My own personal tradition of watching The Nightmare before Christmas on VHS, on Christmas eve. 

A beautiful, and green, Christmas morning.

My mom's dog helps me model my new socks. 

Yuko says "Meowy Christmas!"

Skittle is 13 years old, and will always by my baby. 

I've been bringing Zoey way too many treats home from work. 

      Sparrow recovers from all the stress she's going through. Poor thing has to watch us pack boxes, and move them and all she can do is sleep!

I'll get back on track soon!

DIY Tripod Christmas Tree

      Today I noticed it was already the 3rd of December and after dealing with the inevitability of time constantly passing I thought to myself "should I do a tree this year or not?'

      Last year I bought a sad 2 foot tall, pre-lit tinsel tree at a dollar store and it was so dumb. The year before I tacked up string lights to the wall in the shape of a tree. That was much cooler, but man.... did I leave some holes in the wall. Sorry landlord.

      So for this year, I wanted something a little more grand, but that was still doable in our teeny apartment. Oh, and also cheap. Like dirt, cheap. Nothing says the holidays like being flat out broke.

      My solution at first was going to be to go out and buy dowels. But that requires money! Instead, I went outside and found sticks on the ground. For free!

      You obviously can use dowels if you want. And the length depends on the  height you want the tree to be. I wanted something decently tall, so these are about 6 feet long. 

      It's been raining here for the past few days so the sticks I found were yucky and damp. It you find nice dry, pretty sticks, you don't have to go to the troubling of whittling them unless you like that look. This took me a long time! But I wanted to get this done today, and I like the lighter wood underneath the bark. 

      I am no perfectionist, this is what I ended up with. I did some light sanding, but I'm sure with more effort I could have smoothed them down much more.

      Now you can choose your spot, and prop the sticks up against each other. Using some string, I then wrapped it around all three sticks at the top, and tied them together. 

Make sure to pull tight!

      Then I wrapped the string around, under, and over the sticks in varying ways. This will make it nice and sturdy. It might wobble a little bit, but as long as nothing is pushing or bumping into it, it won't fall down. 

Then I added a string of lights. I tucked in the end of the cord into the top of the tripod, and then wrapped it around, keeping to the outside. I tried to keep the lights taut, but don't pull too hard or you might collapse the tripod into itself. 

      Then you can really decorate it as you see fit! I stuck with a silver and gold motif since I used only white lights. A vintage string of pearls from my childhood also added to the metallic look. 

For a tree topper, I just made an origami paper star and hung it. 

I used this tutorial, here. 

So for a grand total of FREE (sticks were found, and everything else was on hand) I have an impressive little display. What I like most about this, is there's room for presents inside the tripod formation as well as around it. So more space saving for apartment dwellers!

      I guess it's a little more bohemian than the average christmas tree, but I think it'll suit us just fine this holiday. 

Hectic Holly Days

      I had the most eventful whirlwind of a holiday weekend. Between having a snow day before Thanksgiving, to going home, back to work, back home for a baby shower, to a xmas gift show, and back to work again, I'm certainly glad to have a chance to sit and reflect. I have a very nice Nikon camera that I took tons of photos with, but I think I captured some sweet moments with my iPhone as well. 

Finding time to decorate on the Snow Day.

Lunch feels more special on a snow day, no?

Making crafts too!

Sparrow always enjoys when we can stay home with her. (more treats!)

Home :)

Snail rolls!

A Thanksgiving mantel I threw together for my mom.

Being home means time spent with my baby cats.

Managed to squeeze in some time at Christmas Village. It was FREEZING. 

My convoluted plan to make it all work out.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday! Now to do it all again at Christmas! Oy vey :)