Glitter Mint

Glitter Mint 2.0!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 18:00:00 +0000

*Rises from the grave* Hello! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas Eve!

Glitter Mint is back! Kind of. We're here to tell you about some recent (and hopefully good) changes to Glitter Mint as a blog/brand/shop/two people making stuff. We reopened, restocked, and revamped our Etsy shop with some handmade, wintery earrings. We'll be making more stuff and listing more items (like more earrings, pins, etc.) soon!

Moving forward, we're going to be focusing on breathing life into our little shop and moving away from blogging. We may post a DIY tutorial every now and then, but it will likely be on our Instagram or YouTube. This site isn't going anywhere, and we'll do our best to post when we have something new.

However! If you want to keep up-to-date with us, you can follow our many social media accounts:

Thank you so much for following our DIY adventures!

- Monica & Lisa

A Weekend Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Sat, 09 Apr 2016 22:13:00 +0000

Monica and I went to WonderCon a couple weeks ago and had a fun time. WonderCon is definitely a more chill San Diego Comic Con and I like it a thousand times more because of that. Like, I can actually walk the exhibit hall without huge spikes in anxiety. Victoria Gedvillas gave me a cute Sailor Moon pin, we listened to Kurtis J. Wiebe and Tess Fowler talk about Rat Queens, Monica got to add to her enamel pin collection, and I almost spent way too much money on a cool Jessica Drew jacket (I don't even read Spider-Woman?).

But the most important thing we saw was a very tall dad and his very small son dressed as spot-on Dumbledore and Harry. When we passed by, Harry looked sad and Dumbledore reached down and softly said, "You want a pretzel? Let's get you a pretzel."

Anyway, here's some stuff I'm into this month:

Some fans made a Hawkeye short film based on the Fraction/Aja comics and it is everything I wish was in the movies. I didn't realize just how bad movie Hawkeye is until I read the Fraction/Aja comics, which are amazing. Hawkguy + Hawkeye + Pizza Dog forever.
Speaking of Marvel actors (kind of?), some guy in Hong Kong has built a Scarlett Johansson robot. For me, it's just a physical example of the way women (or anyone who isn't a man) are regarded in the tech world. As someone very interested in gender and tech, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings and opinions about this.
This is how you play Skyrim. (Sidenote: has anyone else tried to murder Barbas? Can I kill him eventually? I don't care about the other quests anymore. I just want to murder that dog.)
After becoming obsessed with Campaign, I went looking for other actual play podcasts and here's my new favorite: The Adventure Zone. Three brothers (the McElroys if you're familiar) and their dad play 5th edition D&D.
Speaking of the McElroys: MONSTER FACTORY. Hello metal husband.
Things I have mistaken for a feeling over the years

P.S. I've been thinking of doing a complete overhaul of this blog. Monica hasn't really had time to contribute much, and I don't feel a very strong connection to the stuff we used to post. If you have opinions on what we should do with this blog hmu I guess?

Quick Tip: Tights = Hairties

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 21:03:00 +0000

With the unbelievable amount of thick hair I have, finding hairties that don't hurt and don't break has been a lifelong challenge. There have been so many days when, doing absolutely nothing, I hear a *pop* and a cascade of hair falls in my face.

If you're like me and you have an old pair of tights you don't wear anymore, then congratulations, you have a thousand potential hairties (I have no idea how many hairties one pair of tights yields, please take a count and get back to me).

All you do is cut a strip off. That is literally it. I recommend cutting a thicker strip than you think you need, since it will fold in on itself and stretch when you use it.

Tights are stretchy so it makes a pretty big loop, but if I double it up before I use it, it fits perfectly around my hair. So go forth and chop up tights!

Hayley Williams Home Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 19:00:00 +0000

I've mentioned before that I love home tours. Next up in what I guess is now the home tour series is Hayley William's home. Hayley is the lead singer of Paramore and has (had?) a beauty series on PopularTV. In one of the vids she gave a tour of her house, and it is almost exactly how I would design/decorate my own.

There's themed rooms, cute color palettes, weird fixtures, and a blow up chair. You can watch the tour for yourself here.

DIY Notebook / Sketchbook

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 19:00:00 +0000

1. Divide your paper into fours (or whatever size you want the notebook to be).

2. Cut along one of the lines.

3. Score along the other line and fold in half. Make as many pages as you like.

4. Line the papers up and mark where the holes will go on the spine (use a binder clip, clamp, or heavy book to hold them in place). The number of holes and where you make them don't really matter. I made three pairs of holes without measuring between each hole.

5. Pair up the papers so you have stacks (signatures) of two and get out that needle and thread!

6. Tape down your thread on the outside of the first signature (to be glued to the spine later) and thread in and out of each hole.

7. Thread in and out of the second signature to attach and then make a loop around the thread in the first signature and thread through, knotting the two signatures together (see photo below). This is how you'll sew all the signatures together. Again, I freehanded this a bit by just looping and knotting until I was satisfied.

8. Use a clamp or heavy book to hold all the signatures tightly together and brush glue along the spine. I used E6000 since it's strong but doesn't dry hard.

9. Once that glue is dry, cut two pieces of matboard, stiff cardboard, or whatever you like for the front and back cover. I wound up using the back of an old drawing pad (hence the paint). Glue one to the front and one to the back.

10. *Optional: cover up the spine with some fabric or nice paper. I liked the way mine looked exposed so I left it. I'm not sure if a paper spine would hold up to opening and closing, but I imagine fabric glued to the front and back cover (and covering but not glued to the spine) would work great.

-Lisa

A Weekend Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 20:46:00 +0000

I went to Disneyland three times this week. The first day was a nice and sweaty 90°, the second day was cold and rainy, and the third day was a perfect 70° (in case you were wondering what winter-to-spring transition is like in SoCal).

Anyway, Monica and I haven't posted here in what feels like forever and I miss doing Fave 5's. Those were time consuming however, so here's a quick list of stuff I like lately.

Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) designed a very cool guitar from scratch with women's bodies in mind. For those who don't play guitar, let me tell you, boob-smashing is a real problem.
Here is a masterpost of every single joke from Harris's Foam (formerly Phone) Corner. Wifi? Because-fi.
A short documentary on how a museum miniature diorama is made by the Field Museum, which is my dream job btw.
Speaking of the the Field Museum, The Brain Scoop posted this video on periods and field work and it is amazing. Emily Graslie is awesome and informative and The Brain Scoop is one of my favorite things on YouTube.
I've been watching Felicia Day livestream Rise of the Tomb Raider and it made me go out and buy the game. The last time I played Tomb Raider, Lara Croft had a pixelated body and booty shorts so this is... different. Everything in the game is beautiful to look at and I like the story so far.
And lastly, I started listening to the Campaign podcast, and by "listening" I mean I binged all 50+ episodes in the last few weeks. Campaign is four nerds playing a Star Wars role playing game (Edge of the Empire) and it is ridiculous. It's narrative and super fun to listen to. If you are looking for a story about a bounty-hunting crew living out 3 Men and a Baby in space plus a poisonous wolf, then this is it. Also there's evil rabbits and ghost tours? There's a whole episode where all they do is go to the mall. It's great, please listen.

-Lisa

p.s. I've got a couple DIYs + crochet patterns on the back burner and should be posting one this week!

Thanksgiving Links 🍁

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 21:02:00 +0000

I'm making a pumpkin pie this year and the recipes I'm following are this one and this one

One tip from those links is to "cook" the pumpkin puree and spices over the stove for about 5 mins before adding the dairy and pouring into the pie

If you need to cut down any recipes this year, here's a table to help
Some cross-cultural menu ideas from Code Switch on NPR
Here's an article from the Smithsonian about mammoth poop, prehistoric squash distribution, and how humans are able to eat squash today
The Neverending Trail by Abe "Del" Jones My class on Peoples of North America is discussing the Trail of Tears this week

-Lisa

Florence Welch Home Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 19:53:00 +0000

Something you probably don't know about me: I love home tours. I love seeing how people arrange furniture, how they display knick-knacks, and what weird stuff they own. There's something ritualistic and significant in the way we make our homes, and I would like to do an anthropological study on modern nesting.

Florence Welch (Florence + the Machine) is an adorable, English, bohemian witch who lives in an adorable, bohemian, English, witch house. This video was for Apartamento Magazine and is directed by Barbara Anastacio for NOWNESS.

"With her roots firmly in South London – it’s where Welch was born and also attended art school – the musician reimagined a 'mature' version of her childhood bedroom and a cabinet of curiosities. 'I haven’t really changed the space that much,' she says. 'It was just coats of paint and changing door knobs, because small things can really make the difference. Finding bits of furniture you like and re-upholstering them… I’ve always been like an inherent decorator.' Her mother’s paintings hang next to a pair of leather lungs made for her debut album cover, as well as countless postcards and books picked up on her travels. 'These little piles of books just grow everywhere like stalagmites and stalactites'”

- Lisa

Book Club: September

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 17:00:00 +0000

First of all let me say that I did not forget about book club. I read Ready Player One last month and I ...didn't like it. There were a lot of things about the book that made me angry (handling of Art3mis and OMG AECH most of all) and the analogy I wanted to use to describe how I felt about the book was a little too graphic to be published on this blog.

So, that being said, I am changing the format of "book club" to more of a "what we are reading list". This also works better now that the semester has started and I have a lot of reading for my classes. Feel free to leave comments about these books or hit us up on our various social media.

SEPTEMBER READING LIST:

Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murikami
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Illegality, Inc. by Ruben Andersson

-Lisa

DIY Neon Sign // Batman Returns + Catwoman

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 19:10:00 +0000

There's been a lot of EL wire tutorials making the rounds lately and we've wanted to do one for awhile. We weren't sure what sign to make (we only make stuff we like and are going to keep) until I saw a Tumblr post of Selina Kyle's apartment in Batman Returns.

I honestly don't remember much from that movie, but I absolutely remember Michelle Pfeiffer's dead body being chewed on by some cats and her subsequent freak out/transformation. That role (and those two scenes specifically) are iconic and I want to live in her apartment.

We've got both video and written instructions for this DIY so you can get the letters just right.

Materials:

pink EL wire // here's the one we used

you need at least 2
we used 3, but it depends on how big your sign will be

a wooden board // we used MDF but I suggest actual wood
fishing line
white paint // we wound up using a can of white house paint instead of spray paint

*EDIT* here's a template that you can resize to your liking. The template also marks where to use fishing line.

1. Draw out a stencil (or size up and print out ours) and tape it to your board. 2. Drill holes for the letters. 3. Using a smaller drill bit, drill holes for the fishing line to thread through. 4. Thread the EL wire through the letters. *SEE BELOW* 5. Make sure everything is taped down in the back. 6. Add hanging equipment or use command strips to stick it on a wall.

How to thread the letters:

The T and the O need to be a separate wire from HELL and HERE so that you can turn it on and off separately.

I threaded HELL first with one wire
then threaded HERE with a second wire
and used a third wire for T and O

Leave some slack for letters that are going to be held down with the fishing line (L, O, R)

I numbered the marked holes for each letter so I knew what order to thread each line of each letter. The letters work better if the horizontal lines lie on top of the vertical ones. For example, H: the horizontal line is threaded last so that it holds down the two vertical lines.

If you're making a smaller sign you can use the same wire for HELL and HERE. I suggest using some yarn or string to measure it out and test threading it through.

You could also solder the wire for HELL and HERE together if you want. Here's a tutorial for soldering EL wire.

Here's another good EL wire sign tutorial. They used black electrical tape to lift the wire off the board to mimic neon signs.

Check out our YouTube channel and subscribe please!

-Lisa

DIY Crop Top

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 18:00:00 +0000

Summer is in full swing here in CA and seeing as how the 90's trend is not dying down anytime soon, I thought I'd do a quick, super-easy crop top DIY. This is the easiest no-sew refashion ever. Literally all you need is a pair of scissors. Oh, and a top.

1. Put on your shirt and mark how short you want to cut it. I used a pin but you could use chalk or a pen.

2. Lay out your top so the side seams, arm holes, and bottom hem are lined up (as pictured).

3. Cut in a straight line from the back and stop about 3 inches from the front. If you're planning on hemming the shirt then leave room for seam allowance.

4. Cut in a diagonal from where you stopped to the bottom of the front of the shirt. This description is confusing so just cut along the dotted lines in the picture.

5. Open the shirt and lay it out so the front is facing you. Cut straight up the middle of the front piece to the bottom of the shirt. If there's not enough space between the two pieces to make a nice knot, then widen it by making a little canoe shape (like I did).

6. Done! If your fabric frays then hem the bottom or sew a zig-zag stitch.

-Lisa

Glitter Mint Book Club

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 19:04:00 +0000

Hey guys! I've really been trying to read more lately and I thought that I would motivate myself by blogging about it! So you can follow along with me, Monica, and our book club friends either here on this blog in monthly posts, over on Goodreads (which I have not fully figured out yet), or just on your own.

The first book we're reading is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, which the internet won't shut up about. I've never tried audiobooks before, but this one is narrated by the one and only Wil Wheaton if you want the full 80's nostalgia experience.

Here is the tentative list of books (which is impossible to put in order because Goodreads won't let you make lists?). We'll be reading one book a month so I'll be back to post about Ready Player One at the end of August/beginning of September!

-Lisa

p.s. As someone born in '89 (and whose parents sold their old consoles), that photo is as 80's retro gaming as I can get. Pokémon Red and Blue forever!

Painted Lemon and Cat Doormats

noreply@blogger.com (itsmonicat) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 18:02:00 +0000

Happy Summer everyone! We found some time to get a couple DIYs posted during our summer break. It's been so long, I'll have to admit that I am a bit rusty at publishing tutorials! Hopefully you all can hang in there with us while we get our groove back! Let's get on with the post! One day I was scrolling through Pinterest for some housewarming gift ideas and I came upon this post from The House That Lars Built. I followed her instructions for the lemon tutorial and adapted it to create the cat doormat. Lisa and I spent a few hours one afternoon whipping these bad boys out and I couldn't be more happy with the results! Watch the video we made for this tutorial or read the full tutorial below. If you have any questions feel free to leave us a comment on the video or post!

Materials:

half-circle doormat - this one
glossy spray paint - for lemon: yellow and white // for cat: black (suggested brand here)
large paper for creating template (thick enough so paint won't seep through, i used some drawing paper)
dressmakers pins
box cutter and scissors

Directions for the Lemon mat: 1. Trace out the semi-circle to create the template. Use the photos as a reference for creating your lemon template. 2. Before placing down the template I sprayed the entire mat white. This will require several coats and drying. We might have used an entire can of white to fully cover the mat. 3. Once the white has dried mostly, We placed the template down and secured them with dressmaker pins. Make sure most of the sides are secure, the paper will want to pop up so be aware of it when spraying. 4. Spray over with yellow paint. Leave out to dry for at least 24 hours and done!

Directions for Cat mat: 1. Create your template by tracing the semi-circle and sketching out where the ears will go. 2. Cut out the block for the ears with a box cutter and scissors (the mat was very easy to cut from the backside). 3. Place the face details down and pin them into place. 4. Spray the entire mat with black. Leave out to dry for at least 24 hours and it's all done!

-monica

We have a shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 18:00:00 +0000

Hey! Long time no posts! Just stopping by to tell you guys that over the months of silence this is what I was working on: cute things to sell!

We're using Etsy to list dragon egg necklaces, pretzel brooches, poison apple chokers among other things. I'm hoping to put up a variety of things including old DIY projects and whatever else I feel like making and not keeping. For now though, it's mostly little charms I've made from polymer clay. Click through for the item listing and visit the shop page for more items! Let me know in the comments if you're interested in tutorials on any of these! I'm down to tell you guys how I made this stuff.

-lisa

Polymer Clay Faux Stone

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 17:00:00 +0000

Back from the dead! Monica and I both got suuuuuper busy applying to schools and transferring and working and focusing on finals that we completely neglected this blog. We were honestly really unmotivated and uninspired. But we're back! I can't promise weekly DIYs, but I do promise to try to post whenever I make something. Hence! Faux stone polymer clay!

Monica and I both started working with polymer clay recently and I love it. Like a lot. I accidentally created a collection of miniatures I made with it. But that's for another time. While looking for a good tutorial to make faux crystals/stones I stumbled on this one from Julie Sweeney at Juliespace. I decided to try it out since her purple pieces turned out so pretty.

You'll need: translucent polymer clay and acrylic paint in any color

1. Condition the clay (mix it all up with your hands) and then chop it into pieces. I tried some big pieces and some little pieces. 2. Paint the pieces with your paint. I painted the bigger pieces with gold and the little pieces with a metallic taupe. 3. Let "dry." (See tips) 4. Use plastic wrap to gather all the pieces together. Don't mix it too much, just mush it into each other. 5. Cut it! Shape it! Bake it! You can see below what it looks like when I cut into it before baking. Already cool.

Tips!
>>Acrylic paint on unbaked clay won't actually dry. Just let it sit until it's not runny.
>>When putting the pieces together, don't blend too much. You want to see the lines of paint in the clay. I smashed the pieces together, turned the clay, smashed again, repeat. I ended up with a cube shape.
>>Don't burn your clay! Full disclosure: I'm not sure whether my pieces are burnt or not. You can see the gold color turned the translucent an orange-y pink color but the taupe looked clean before baking. I sort of forgot about them in my toaster oven :/ so just make sure you follow the directions on your clay. Different brands recommend different baking times and temperatures.
>>I use a separate toaster oven in my garage to bake my clay. It's recommended to keep polymer clay and any fumes away from food. If you do bake it in your regular oven, make a little tinfoil "house" for your pieces to keep in the fumes.

-lisa

DIY (Hobbit) Wall Decal

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 18:00:00 +0000

So, living in southern California makes it impossible to hang anything on the walls by my bed, as I could be murdered by a picture frame in the middle of the night when an earthquake hits. As I was brainstorming what to do instead, I came up with wall decals! After Googling whether I could paint the excess contact paper I had (I swear one roll lasts a lifetime), I tried it out and it works! It's still clinging to my drawer and the paint hasn't peeled at all. The possibilities for this are endless!

I chose a super simple design to start out with: Gandalf's mark on Bilbo's door in The Hobbit. If your doors aren't white (like mine) I highly recommend sticking it there. Or you could go around and stick them on your fellow Tolkien fans' doors. Gandalf-bomb?

You'll need: contact paper, acrylic paint

1. Paint the symbol (or what-have-you) 2. Cut it out 3. Stick it!

-lisa

DIY Moon Phase Wall Clock

noreply@blogger.com (itsmonicat) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 18:00:00 +0000

Something about the new year always reminds me of moon phases. I had the idea to make a lunar phase piece of art similar to the lunar plaque Lisa made here. This time I wanted it to have some kind of functionality, so making a clock was the perfect thing! I searched around the web and couldn't find anything like this so I am pleased with this concept, hope you like it as much as me! Although, I came across this full moon clock diy which is really cool too from hellobee which I really love as well! Take some "time" and make a clock today!

Materials:

black and white acrylic paint and paintbrush
clock mechanism
clock surface ( I used a wood clock surface but you can make your own)
wooden circles (optional)
wall mounting supplies

Directions: 1. Prep the clock surface: you can make one out of cardboard or wood if you'd like, just make sure to drill or punch a hole in the center to fit the clock mechanism. Start by painting the clock surface black. 2. Paint the circle shapes to look like moon phases as shown in the photos below by painting the black and white parts first and then adding dabs of gray to build up the moon shadows. (I painted a layer of glow in the dark over the moons so it glows now, too!) If you don't have circle shapes just draw out the circles on another piece and cut them out or paint directly onto the clock surface. 3. Mark where you want the moons to go in place of numbers on your clock. I did this by finding the center using a protractor marking every 30 degrees around. Glue the circle pieces onto the clock. 4. Follow the directions on package to install the clock mechanism. (Note: I ran into a couple problems with my clock mechanism not fitting onto my wooden clock, make sure you purchase the right sized clock mechanism for your project!)

If you have any questions feel free to ask me! I know my photos and instructions are a bit all over the place.
- monica

POW! BAM! Shrink Plastic Stacked Rings

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 23:15:00 +0000

What's your favorite Batman movie? If you said the 1966 Adam West Batman movie then, hey, we could probably be friends. Those onomatopoeia graphics from the Batman tv show are so iconic that when I saw some BAM! earrings at Forever21, I immediately thought of Batman. So, naturally, Monica and I decided to make some of our own!

You will need: shrink plastic, spray paint, glue (preferably some kind of jewelry glue), rings, and this template

1. Print template and trace onto shrink plastic (or print directly onto the shrink plastic). Cut out the shapes. They'll shrink to about 1 1/4 inches so resize as necessary. 2. Shrink in the oven and paint. I used gold and black spray paint. 3. Glue the pieces together. 4. Glue a ring base to the back.

-lisa

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 22:02:00 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! 2013 was our first whole year as a blog and we just want to say thanks for sticking around! To celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of a new one, we put together our top DIYs of 2013. Click the picture for the tutorial. Here's hoping 2014 has lots more in store!

1. Sharpie mugs

2. Lipstick made from crayons

3. Game of Thrones inspired dragon egg cakes

4. Foam board light box

5. Legend of Zelda Hyrule flats

-monica & lisa

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 02:54:00 +0000

To those who celebrate it, Merry Christmas!! Monica and I are spending our Christmases with family and we wish you all warm feelings and joy!

Happy Holidays!

-monica + lisa

Holiday Donut Wreath

noreply@blogger.com (itsmonicat) — Wed, 25 Dec 2013 07:20:00 +0000

Merry Christmas! I'm excited for food, family, and re-watching Elf the movie. What are you most excited about? Over the holiday weekend I whipped up this yummy looking donut wreath that also doubles as a pillow! It's just a fun decorative piece that you can easily make. I crafted this during the evening and all the photos I took looked horrid so I thought to try a digitally produced tutorial and hopefully it makes sense.

Before you start figure out how large you want the donut to be. Mine measures about 12 inches around. I traced the largest bowl I could find in my house for the large circle shape, and found other bowls and bottle caps for the other pieces. I just sketched the frosting piece out of a cut donut piece in the green color. You can hand sew this entire thing if you choose or use a machine and then hand sew the seams like I did.

1. Cut out all the pieces 2. Sew on small sprinkle pieces to the large frosting piece. Then sew the frosting piece to ONE of the tan donut pieces. 3. Put the tan pieces right-sides together and sew around the circle leaving about 3 inches of space for stuffing. Don't sew the center circle or you will end up with a jelly bean! 4. Flip the entire thing inside-out and hand stitch the center circle flipping the seams inside so they don't show. 5. Stuff the donut with polyfill until nice and full then stitch up the seam! Tie a HUGE ribbon into a bow and it's officially a wreath!

-monica

DIY Remembrall Ornament

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 18:00:00 +0000

I've been wanting to make this remembrall ornament since last year! I thought up the idea and even bought the ornament and wire last December. Unfortunately, I only just got around to getting the roving and putting it together. But! I love it! It's simple and goes so well with my golden snitch ornaments!

Materials: red wool roving, a clear round ornament, wide gold wire/ribbon, and some glitter

1. Mix glue and water together to create a runny glue. Pour some in the ornament, swirl it around, then place it upside down in a sink to drain. 2. Pour some glitter inside the ornament and spread it around with a pencil/chopstick/whatever's on hand. 3. Stuff the roving into the ornament. (I actually pushed a bit of the roving around inside with a pencil to help spread the glitter) 4. Glue the wire or ribbon around the ornament. 5. Spray the top gold.

Gift Idea: Painted Candles

noreply@blogger.com (itsmonicat) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 20:00:00 +0000

One day I was rummaging the clearance aisle at the craft store and came across this Candle Painting Medium. I had never heard of candle painting before and I never really thought to paint candles, but it can be done easily and makes for a nice personalized gift. I've seen people just use straight acrylic on their candles and it worked out fine. The candle painting medium helps the acrylic adhere to the candle a little better. I liked the way they turned out, simple designs and colors to brighten someone's day this holiday!

Materials: Candles (pillars, candlestick, votive any candle not in a jar or container), Candle Painting Medium, acrylic paint, paintbrushes, rubbing alcohol

Directions: 1.Clean off the candle using rubbing alcohol, there was some oily residue on my candles even though they where new and wrapped when I bought them 2. Mix equal parts acrylic and medium. 3. Paint directly onto candle.

>>The paint comes out slightly opaque and may require a second coat. I suggest painting one color, letting it dry and then move on to the next color to avoid blending (unless that's the look you are going for!)

-monica

Holiday Inspired Flower Crown

noreply@blogger.com (itsmonicat) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Poinsettias are one of the holiday staples when it comes to decorating for the holidays. This year I was inspired to make a flower crown out of these red and green beauties. It's your classic flower crown with a holiday twist! This flower crown was made a bit differently than my last one here, but feel free to improvise and work with what you have. I am definitely wearing this to our annual holiday gift exchange party accompanied by ugly Christmas sweaters and jingle bells. Walking, talking, Christmas person!

Materials: Bundle of fake flowers, headband, hot glue, scissors/wire-cutters

1. Detach the flowers from the stems and snip off any excess plastic pieces 2. Dab some glue and glue the leaf part (if you want--they probably would look better without them) 3. Glue the bottom of the flower to the headband at desired location around the band.

I now crown ye Princess of Christmas! Happy Holidays!

-monica

DIY Faux Bois Votive

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Ahn) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Hello there! Well as you can see we're not doing 12 Days of Christmas this year. Monica and I both just finished with finals and are now busy working at our respective day jobs. But, that doesn't mean no DIYs! Instead of 12 days, we're attempting a (work) week and a half of holiday DIYs starting with this votive one! We'll keep it under the 12 Days of Christmas tag (in which you can see last year's projects) to keep all the holiday DIYs under one figurative roof. Now that that explanation's out of the way, on to faux bois!

Materials: glass votive, hot glue gun, and frosted glass finish

1. Using a hot glue gun, make a faux bois pattern on the glass. 2. Spray paint a frosted glass finish onto the votives and let set overnight. We used this one. 3. Peel away the hot glue (or leave it, if you like) 4. Light a candle in it! Pretty! I love the way it turned out.

How to do faux bois: You can google "faux bois" and reference a picture or free-hand it like I did.
1. I started with a small oval swirl in the middle of the glass and then worked my way out, reaching the top and bottom. 2. Then, on the side of the oval, make two V's like arrows pointing toward each other and add smaller V's inside them. 3. Do that on either side of the oval and then repeat!

-lisa