DIY: Embrace your otherness

The idea for this project came from an NPR story I was listening to earlier this month. Two women who had been together, living in New York, for 40 years were explaining why they would not be jumping onboard and getting married because of the new state law permitting same-sex marriage. During their interview one of them said that they had "embraced their otherness". That phrase really struck me and I knew I had to work it into one of my projects.

This painting was on it's way to Goodwill after a garage sale but when I saw it I really loved the frame. Because I didn't want to deal with new backing, I decided to experiment with just painting over the canvas that was already there. To do this, I just used some leftover primer we had in our paint collection. 

It took two layers to cover the original painting. From there I started in with the stencils. I used larger 5 inch stencils because of the scale of the canvas and it just fit. 

I'm really happy with how this turned out and I love the reminder to embrace what makes me unique! I also think it's an appropriate saying for an up-cycled project. That's the beauty of up-cycling. You find the other uses for something you might normally throw out. 

Hopefully, you feel like embracing your one-of-a-kind otherness too!

Easy desk drawer organization

Keeping in line with my goal for the year, I decided to use these small jars to help keep my desk organized rather than going out and buying something new. Turns out, they are perfect for the job!

So simple!

This is such a quick and simple fix to a messy desk drawer. All you have to do is find a few 4 ounce jars (which I had plenty of with my canning supplies) and just screw on the matching ring. I like having the ring without the complete lid because it gives the jar a little bit of a lip to keep whatever you're storing down in it's place. They are also the perfect size to fit in most drawers!

For larger desktop items try out these up-cycled desk containers!

Fourth of July recap + a DIY!

A belated "Happy Independence Day!" to you all!

Its good to be back from a couple days spent away from the computer but I'd be lying if I said I did not also enjoy some quite time at home with Ben and the pup. We started off big the Saturday before the fourth by going to the Indianapolis Zoo but little by little we snuck away and just enjoyed being in our little corner of the world.

I also finally finished up a DIY project I had hoped to put up before this weekend but better later than never! And because America is always in style (especially in the summer, right?) I'm keeping this one up for a little while longer.

To make my Fourth of July door decor I took a few particularly American swatches of fabric and sewed them together, making two sets of the red/stars and stripes combo.

I then sprayed the sewn fabric with fabric stiffener so that it would hold a fold nicely. After the fabric dried (you can microwave smaller pieces for quicker results!) I took each half and made 1 inch accordion folds.

I tacked the inner ends of each piece together with a needle and thread and then fan both pieces out to make half circles. Pin the sides together then sew the finishing seams once you have lined your stripes up. From there I just sewed on a bow and hook to hang it with and I was done!

And there you have it! How did everyone enjoy their Fourth of July?

Getting Crafty: Bachelorette Style

First, let me say this. The normal bachelorette garb is a bit out of my comfort level and personally, I find it pushing the line of being slightly tacky. That being said, I really don't want to be a prude, that's not the problem, I just think there are more creative ways to get your point across.

For this party I wanted to incorporate some sassy and typical bachelorette details, how much we adore our friend Sayj and the love she has with her fiance, Mitch, and lots of color. I wanted everyone to be as care-free as possible so I tried to create an inviting and interactive party theme.

Here are some of the DIY projects I worked on!

Pom-pom garland:

These are really simple and make me feel like I am in third grade celebrating Cinco de Mayo all over again (that's what we did at my elementary school anyways).

Essentials:
Tissue paper
Scissors
Floral wire
Ribbon

The plan:
1. Stack up about 8-10 pieces of tissue paper.
2. Accordion fold the stack into 1/2 inch segments for smaller poms 1 inch segments for larger ones.
3. Tightly wrap a piece of floral wire around the middle of the folded paper.
4. Piece by piece pull the tissue paper apart so each piece stands alone.
5. Once you have pulled each paper apart, fluff it up to make a round-ish shape.
6. To make a garland, simply tie each pom to one long ribbon at the center of the pom about 12 inches apart.

Favor bags:

What is a party without favors? I wanted to make something for each of the ladies where even the bag containing the favors could be something useful. I had some extra material laying around that I really loved so I went to work making small draw-string pouches. I figured that this tutorial from my friend, Martha, (psh I wish) would be easier than me trying to explain this so here you go!

This is what I put in each bag:
Bachelorette Truth-or-Dare scratch-off tickets
A penny to scratch with
Some lemon and pomegranate hard candies
A few packs of Swedish Fish
A fun colored sleep mask

Origami Fortune Teller Place-cards:

These were a huge hit! I placed a fortune teller at each place setting with their place-card nestled inside. I used regular ol' scrapbook paper (that was on clearance, cha-ching) and got to folding. I am proud to say that I can now fold one of these bad boys in under 30 seconds. Impressed? Yup. (Here's another tutorial on folding.)

On the four outer parts I put the words, "Sayj is getting married". Then I numbered the 8 folds on the inside. Underneath each number there was a fun and racy fact such as "The average person spends about 2 weeks straight kissing in their lifetime".  (FACT: That is one of the least raciest of them all.) I managed to have a completely different fact for each fortune teller.

Mustache(s) on a stick:

Yeah, that's me. Minus makeup and/or hair product, plus some facial hair via kabob stick. These were so very easy and I was able to use up some of the kabob sticks we bought in bulk last summer. To make each 'stache I used this template (thanks again Martha, we should be bffs), some brown foam paper, kabob sticks, and a glue gun.

To display, I put a few leftover poms from my garland project into a tall glass vase and stuck them all into the tissue paper. Like so:

A word to the wise, if you are going to take on 2 or more craft projects, don't do it all in one week. Between this and a number of wedding projects I've been working on, it took a lot of energy. Though, I must say it was totally worth it as soon as I saw how much my wonderful friends appreciated it and how much fun we all had.

One last note: Thanks, as always, to Haley at Haley O'Brian Photography for the sweet photos- even if you did catch me by surprise by making me model my own mustaches!