Nail Polish Necklace

 

I saw this nail polish tutorial and I have been obsessed ever since. I have constantly been on the look out for the perfect brooch to paint, but yesterday I was cleaning out my jewelry box and I found the perfect piece. I bought this necklace from Express forever ago, I was going through an obnoxious faze I guess. I did wear it as part of a costume once and it was perfect ( I was an Cat Burglar but everyone thought I was an AristoCat, ugh!). That was two years ago, and it has been sitting in my jewelry box ever since and thus it was the perfect thing to DIY. It was actually pretty simple, I did it while skyping with a friend. I ended up using 3 layers of nail polish and I highly recommend using glittery nail polish (fine fine fine glitter).

Canvas Art: Recycling Trees!

So Lotti and I fell in love with that Thankful tree. We adored the shape and the little leaves. Yay, inexpensive decoration! It stayed up in our apartment through the holidays until about a week ago. We just couldn’t bear to part with it. One day, when I was staring off into space, (Okay, looking at pinterest) I saw these trees on canvases. Most were one tree in four sections, each section a different season. I liked the idea of it, but the Thankful Tree ( Or a Wishing Tree) could not be divided like that. I stumbled upon some leftover canvases from this art project and this one. I had an idea!

I took took the tree down carefully and then laid it out on various canvases. Once I decided how I liked it, then I decided how many to space them. About 3/4 of the inch apart, so I had to adjust where the canvases were so that the branches lined up. Next I glued the branches down after using an craft knife to cut them.

Then I used the handy dandy boyfriend to hang them up.  I did what I do best: oversee! He hung them up and I critiqued where he put them. About 45 minutes later, we had our tree and one tired boyfriend! Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway and help a poor lonely blogger!

Bedroom Art Update: HELP!

Okay, so I have finished the artwork but I can’t decide how exactly to hang it. I decided to do what any smart person would do and ask my lovely readers! Do we like the left where the small ones overlap or the right where they do not touch? Here’s how I did the art.

What do you think? Please comment with your vote!

Peppermint Bark

I love peppermint bark and the best part is I can make it in 10 minutes flat plus it only takes three ingredients. I make it as a little gift for my professors and they are always so touched. It’s the perfect gift that shows you are thinking of them without having to spend too much money.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup Rice Krispies

11 oz White Chocolate

Peppermint Candies

 

Directions:

1) Place the peppermint candies (about 1/4 cup) in a plastic baggie and SMASH THEM into crumbs.

2) Melt the white chocolate. (I am lazy and use a glass bowl in a microwave, at 30 second increments to not burn it)

3) Stir in the rice krispies.

4) Pour the mix on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Flatten out and sprinkle the crushed peppermint candies on it.

5) Place in fridge for 5 minutes to harden then cut or break apart.

6) ENJOY but not too much otherwise your waist will not thank me.

Christmas Bulb Headbands or THE GREATEST THING EVER

My mother is a third grade teacher, I think I need to say that to better explain why we are always doing arts and crafts projects. Or at least, it gives us an excuse. So when one of her fellow teachers received a Christmas bulb headband, my mother knew she had to have one too. I should also point out, I got my love of all things sparkly and glittery from her. This project was right up our alley over Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to make and the more ostentatious they look, the better. We went crazy with making them, and since showing her other teacher friends, we’ve got orders to make a few more! We have now expanded to make them for all holidays so come check us out on Etsy

Check out our etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/CrowninGlories

What do you think?

How to: Not decorate a lamp

     Even the Best must fall sometimes. My grandfather once gave the book The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, and to this day, it is one of my favorite books. It's an amusing way to look at history. Well, I too have finally met my fall. It started out so simple, a lampshade. How hard could that be to decorate? Martha Stewart and Real Simple each had tons of ideas on how to do it. Ombre, tassels, stripes, the ideas were endless. Surely, I could do it. So off I went to target to purchase a lamp. I should have seen it coming then. It took me nearly 30 minutes to decide on one, and then I went back and exchanged it halfway through the rest of my rounds in Target. I think I spent nearly 2 hours there and far too money, but that alas is another story. So here's my lamp:

    First I tried to stamp a pretty design on my lamp. FAIL. It's way to curved and not strong enough to take it.

    So I was spending way too much time on the internet and found this cool pattern. I thought it would look good on the lamp shade. I printed it out then went to Office depot to get Carbon Paper to copy it with. (By the way, never by Carbon Paper from a craft store, it was double the price at Michael's and only gave me one sheet! At Office Depot, I got it for 4 dollars and 25 sheets). Here's my attempt to copy it:

      It was really difficult and I got bored, plus I could not get it to line up correctly since it was curved. It was a HUGE pain to line up and trace. Way too much for the 10 dollars it cost me. So I did what every good DIYer does, painted it and stuck glitter stickers on it!

 

      The stickers believe it or not, were also a huge pain. It is not at all how I imagined it would turn out. Not even close. A total and utter flop. I put it in my room for kicks and giggles, maybe one day I will try again. Until then, I am leaving curved surfaces to the pros. Too be honest, when it's turned on, it's not half bad, I am kind of warming up to its kitschy charm. Oh well. Have you ever tried to do a DIY and have it fail on you?

Martha Stewart Sunday: Birthday Banner

Ignore the ugly 3, silly apartment management!

     It was Charlotte's birthday last week, and I wanted some way to decorate her door for the occasion. Cue Martha Stewart Clip Art. Seriously, she has the coolest clip art, and for every occasion to jam lids to garlands. Here is a link to her best clip arts. http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/clip-art-and-templates?lpgStart=1&currentslide=40&currentChapter=1 (The garland is the first one!) It makes me want to make sugared citrus peels just to put the pretty labels on it. Anyways, back to her birthday, I found the birthday garland and new it would work. I used cardstock paper in two different colors. 


Tips:

*If you are doing two colors (and I highly suggest that you do), you will have to print two copies of the first color, but just the first page to get two H's.

*They are smaller than they appear, so you might have to enlarge them if you want a big garland.

*Cutting them can be a bit tricky it you aren't the best at cutting. You want to leave the black circle showing.


 

50 Dollar Fix: Side bookshelf

 

       As you can see, the area next to my couch is nothing pretty to look at. I am an avid book collector, and have several funny reads I like to keep in the living room. But, I was running out of room for them, and my cookbooks were crowding the kitchen. Plus it did not have a good transition from the breakfast nook to the living room. So with the help of several Michael's coupons, I managed to come up with hopefully a good shelving system that looks pretty good in my opinion. I still need some better ideas as how to organize or if I should remove some of the objects. Anyways, I just used 4 wooden crates from Michael's at $9.99 each (minus 40% off each ) plus one small crate at under $5. One can of black gloss spray paint and the project still came in way under 50 dollars. In fact, only 35 dollars. Here's a few photos, directions seem pointless. 

Materials:

Spray Paint

4 large Crates

1 small crate

Pretty Pretty Recipes Cards

     
      So for next installment of the pretty pretty series, I have a cheap and easy way to add some decoration to your kitchen. One of my best friends for my 21^st birthday made me a cute gift basket with Nuvo (one of my favorite drinks) and these adorable recipe cards to make drinks. They were too cute to keep hidden so I used some pretty ribbon to hang them up. They add a bit of sparkle to my kitchen and take up minimal space.

Materials:

Ribbon

Balsa wood

Markers

Glitter

Small Jewels

Hot Glue

For more in the pretty pretty series, check out these organizers, these boards and these notebooks (plus these)!

Pretty Pretty Boards

   
  I am always saving little mementos from trips be it ticket stubs to museum guides, but I never know what to do with them. Often they just get filed away in labeled shoe boxes at the back of my closet for what occasion, I don't know. My friend, Lily (of the cranberry compote and brie bites fame) has some great ideas of how to show off your little mementos or other important things. These cute boards look great when lined up or alone on a wall, and since they are made from foam board, you can use 3M wall adhesive so you don't have to use nails (a big help for those who are renting a place). With all the different themed papers out there, you can find something to match just about anything!

I just cut the boards in the center, they were the perfect small size!

Materials:

Modpodge

Foam brush

Scrapbook or other decorative paper

Foam Board

Scissors/ knife

Directions:

1. Cut the board and paper to desired sizes, the paper can be left a bit bigger to cover the sides of the board.
   
2. Modpodge the board with a light coat, then press down paper. Go slowly, and use pressure of fingers or ruler (be careful) to work out any bubbles. Lightly modpodge the paper as well once smooth.
   
3. Let dry, then coat the paper with a second and if needed, a third coat of modpodge.
   
4. Enjoy! Use push pins or ribbon to help decorate your board!

This one is for my roommate, Charlotte, who loves old keys. See you can match any theme!

Glitter Candles

      So I love candles and I love glitter, thus I combined the two to make some cute decorations. These are quite simple to make and can be customized to make a great gift. The color and style combinations are endless, so you could make one to match every room, or mood.

Materials:

Modpodge

Foam brush

Candle

Glitter (the finer the glitter the better it looks)

Newspaper or other drop paper 

Directions:

1. Use a generous amount of modpodge so outline your design on the candle. Then sprinkle the glitter over, sprinkle a lot!
   
2. Wait for it to dry, and then tap the candles to free lose glitter. You can take a damp paper cloth to pick up lose glitter off the candle to clean it up.

1. 

   
   
   
2. Good Luck!

Pretty Pretty Organizers

    
     I hate wasting things, and after everyone it seemed got sick this past month, I've gone through tons of tissue boxes. Luckily, Lily had just the idea of how to reuse them. With a few modifications, these boxes can now hold all sorts of things from pens and pencils to nail kits holding the files, polish removers and more. Plus they are super cute to make and look adorable all lined up.

Materials:

Empty Tissue Box

Exacto Knife

Modpodge

Scrapbook paper or decorative paper

Embellishments (Ribbons, glitter, stickers, etc)

Directions:

1. Using knife, carefully cut off the top of the tissue box (the part where the tissues used to come out) and try to make it a good even cut.
   
2. Take the paper and cut it to cover all four sides (make the height one inch more than needed). Then simply use modpodge to glue it down, leaving a half inch overhang on the top and bottom. (for a stronger box, once dry use another layer of modpodge on top)
   
3. Fold bottom of paper and secure the top section with modpodge.
   
4. Embellish it as you like. 

Good Luck!

50 dollar fix: Kitchen Hallway

      My breakfast nook is small. My kitchen is tiny. I like cooking stuff, thus I have an organizational nightmare trying to get all my dishes and stuff to fit without it looking like a hodgepodge mess. I needed something to hold extra bowls, cups and a few odds and ends. Plus I needed some way to spruce the place without painting.

    
     First I found this DVD case, which sleek black shape worked perfectly in the narrow space. It's just deep enough to hold bowls but shallow enough that it doesn't impede the walkway. The shelves adjust so that I could have more room on the bottom to place taller things. The doors keep it looking neat and clean even when I am in a rush to clean for company and just shove things in there.

    
       Second thing is this vintage English World War Two propaganda poster in a vibrant pink color. I could have ordered it online and paid a fortune for it. Instead, I found the image online and took it to my local print shop. They were able to print it out on glossy poster paper (about 18 by 24) for fewer than 20 dollars. Next, I went to Target and picked up a poster frame for about 5 dollars (it was on sale).

Voila! Another 50 dollar fix!