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!

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. ;) 

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. 

How to Frame Odd Things

      Have some cool things you'd like to get up and on display? 

But not everything is flat and angular amiright?

      Here are 2 things I've had lying around that I really love, but didn't have a way to showcase other than sitting them awkwardly on a shelf, or something to that extent. So here's what I came up with, and hopefully you can apply it with something you'd like to show the world! (erhmm or your hallway).

      Here's Tink. She's some sort of paper cutout. I'm really unsure what her exact purpose is supposed to be. A friend gave her to me because of my love of Disney (and my similarities to Tinkerbells hair style) and I loved it, but had no idea what to do with it. Since it's flat, it'll easily be framed. But sometimes just throwing something into a frame doesn't actually do the framed piece any good. It has real glitter on it, so that's what I wanted to accentuate. 

      So with that in mind, when I was frame shopping, I was looking for something that would bring out the coolest feature. You can do this with anything, just find the color or detail of what you're framing and look for a frame that will compliment it. It creates a more interesting piece as a whole. I was lucky to find an actual silver glitter frame. I could have also gone with plain silver, or diy'ed my own glitter frame with mod podge. 

      I also wanted to bring out the green of her dress, so rather than sticking with a white background, I cut some paper to the size of my frame opening, and did a light paint wash with some green paint mixed in with a cup of water. 

      And that's all! I'm a little torn on the background as I think it came out a little too bold, and distracts a little from Tink herself. But overall the silver glitter showing up on the main focus and the frame itself really makes it complete. 

      As for Batman he was a little more of a challenge. It's an old mask from one of my brother's Halloween costumes when he was a kid. So this thing might be over 20 years old! So it's 3-dimensional, and old and delicate. As you can see, it's got some cracking happening in multiple places. Obviously, I can't just sandwich this between some glass. 

      When selecting my frame, I chose a shadow box frame, which allows for much more depth. Even still, when put together, that glass pushed down on the nose in a way that smushed the whole mask. I ended up forgoing the glass, leaving the front open. It won't be as protected this way, but it's better than slowing ruining its shape over time with the pressure of the glass. 

      I wanted the background to use colors themed after the old batman color schemes. I choose yellow as the main color, and used the paper the frame came with to cut out some yellow paper the same size. Then I wanted to make a pattern. Originally I was searching for a batman logo stamp to use, but it was surprisingly hard to find. So I went with a simple polka dot pattern in purple. 

      To keep the mask attached to the paper, I used small amounts of elmer's glue on places the mask made contact with the paper. Some shadowboxes come with pins and a soft backboard you can stick the object to. 

      Now I have some great wall art, from things I already had. All I needed was some creative thinking, and the solution was pretty easy. Take a look around your place and see what you might be able to frame today!

Marimo 101: Easiest Pet Ever

I always daydream about having a little aquarium, and having lots of cute little fishes swimming around, happy and healthy, all thanks to me. But that's why it's a daydream, I would be a horrible fish owner who constantly forgets to feed/clean/ do the basics of taking care of them. And that's why a Marimo is so great! It's really one step up from a pet rock. No offense Marimo... at least you're alive! So if you're looking for a first pet for a kid, or just a little friend to have nearby, a Marimo is a great thing to get.

As for the basics, there's tons you can read online, but here are the main facts:

-They originate from Lake Akan in Japan, but are also found in Iceland and Scotland.

 -Rolling around on the bottom of the lake forms the round shape.

-They are commonly referred to as 'moss balls' but are actually algae.

-Marimo roughly translate to 'bouncy plant'

-They are considered good luck!

Etsy is a great resource for purchasing a Marimo, and cute containers for them. I personally got mine at a Petco where they are sold as natural filters for aquariums. 

Here is how I take care of my guy. But please don't judge me on how he looked when I set out to write about him...

      Ahhh! Sorry guy! You really should change the water every 1-2 weeks, but I had neglected him. But they are very resilient and he's fine. Really, the only way to kill them is if the water is completely evaporated, or if he was getting no light at all. Even lamplight is fine to use. And as long as the water never hits freezing, the temperature doesn't effect them in a bad way either.

      So I gave him a good, gentle rinse (tap water is fine) and cleaned out his bowl, but he's been in this bowl for almost 2 years now so I thought he was due for a change up. 

      I have a large collection of shells from various beach trips, so I picked out all the little ones, gave them a rinse, and found a wider, more square jar to use. I often see Marimo sold in jars with the lid shut, so it's no problem to do so. 

      That's so much better. I'm hoping the lid helps the water stay a little fresher longer, but I really just need to keep better track of him. But like I mentioned, unless you're trying to, it's going to be pretty hard to let these guys die. So if you're looking for a new type of plant, give this aquatic one a try. And maybe they'll bring a little luck your way. :)

DIY Foot Stool

      I wouldn't consider myself short, and I can certainly reach my top kitchen cabinets, but sometimes I just need that extra height to really see what the heck I'm grabbing up there. Sure, I could have gone out and bought a stool, but I wanted to use up some scrap material I've had laying around forever. I know not everyone is going to had some already cut, square foam to use. What I would have done in that case, is use a square cardboard box that is completely filled to max capacity with old plastic shopping bags. An easy way to use those all up, and keep them out of a landfill. 

You will need:

Some sort of base material. I used foam blocks.

Duct tape, 1 roll of any color, and 1-2 rolls of a color you want the stool to be.

Shelf liner. (I used up 1 whole roll)

Scissors

      I started off using my normal duct tape to tape the blocks together so they wouldn't more around while I worked on it. If you're using a box, you'll probably just need to tape everything shut. 

      Cut your shelf liner to size. Make sure there's some overlap on the stool. Mine fit pretty nicely, so I cut 4 equal pieces, and then staggered them as seen above. 

      Lay your shelf liner down on what will be the bottom of the stool. This is so the stool won't slip around while you're standing on it. Tape a little over the edge, and then down onto the sides on the stool, working all the way around to secure the shelf liner to the stool. 

      I also did a strip of tape across all 4 corners, just to fully keep the shelf liner contained under the tape. 

Now you can start adding the colored duct tape to the stool. I found this bandana patterned duct tape at Michaels, and they have a great selection of colors and patterns to choose from.  Starting with all the edges, I began to lay the outer duct tape down. 

      From there you can start filling in all the blank areas. I followed a strategy of beginning at the bottom side, going all the way over the top, and down the other side. I realized after a few strips that I needed to alternate the direction of the tape to make the pattern line up and look better. 

      That's more or less it! I will admit, I ran out of the bandana duct tape. I should have gotten 2 rolls to be safe. Just a good excuse to go to Michaels again!

      Now I can reach those spices with ease. And it's very lightweight, so it's not a pain to drag out. It's defiantly not as attractive as a store bought stool, but it does the job fine, and I got some use out of things I would have otherwise thrown out. See what you can come up with, and what cool duct tape you can use to make it.