Craftyminx

Be Mine Headbands

Sheldon got me a huge amount of glitter for Christmas so I've pretty much been glittering things since December. The dogs better watch out, they're probably getting some kind of glittered accessory soon. I wanted to make something fancy and pink to match my pink explosion outfit for valentine's day so I decided to sit down and make a crafty heart headband and of course, cover it in glitter.

These are really pretty self explanatory. You cut out felt, glue on some glitter, glue it all on to ribbon, and tie it around your head. So I'm really just going to go over how I made my hearts because those are the things that caused me grief. 

You will need: Felt, scissors, glitter (the colors I used from Martha Stewart glitter are below), a high temp glue gun (this won't work with a low temp), a lot of glue sticks, ribbon, parchment paper (not pictured), and elastic (optional)

Why am I using hot glue? Because it's my favorite. I have a drawer full of "special" glues and I always throw them back in the drawer and grab my hot glue gun. You want a glue that is going to stay flexible after it dries for this since it needs to kind of curve to fit your head. 

Cut some hearts out of your felt. I just kind of free handed mine, but you can draw some on paper and cut out templates if you want. In the top example I layered some together to make it look extra crafty. Make it your own by doing some embroidery or adding buttons. The sky is the limit here these would be awesome if they were made to look like conversation hearts with cute little messages. Ok, on to the glittering...

Make a parchment paper sandwich big enough to fit your heart and have a little space around it. 

Use a lot of glue and get it as close to the edge as you can. Work really fast here, You don't want it drying before the next step. Cover it in more glitter than you'd think you would need.

Smoosh it down (yes that is a technical term). I even used a glue stick as a little rolling pin to flatten it all down evenly.  Now let it cool completely! Otherwise, the glue could still stick to the parchment paper as you try to peel it off. 

Peel it off the paper and cut off all the excess. Yes, you will get glitter all over the place... sorry about that. I didn't say this method was completely perfected!

See, the hot glue makes it nice and bendy and keeps all that pretty glitter trapped in the thick glue. 

That's it, now glue everything down to ribbon with more hot glue. It can be a little tricky glueing already glittered hearts together so you may have to work with those a little more. 

For the backs, I like a little give so I used a couple of different elastic options. You could always just tie the ribbon on if you don't want to sew anything.  I also glued some onto a headband and it worked out as well. In fact, I kind of like these kind of headbands better than the around the head ones with my short hair. 

the day I made these I wasn't feeling very photogenic so I snapped some iPhone photos tonight of me wearing these :)

Glittered Valentines

Since one of my big birthday goals is weekly DIY posts and it is February I thought I would start off with some Valentine DIYs. If you're not into the lovey dovey holiday don't worry, you can change up these projects to go along with anything. I think this project in particular would look great with black glitter for anti-valentines. 

You can really be as simple or elaborate with your supplies as you want. I used pre-made card banks from hobby lobby (but you can cut your own from card stock), Paper Glue, Glitter, double stick tape, scissors, paper trimmer, and a couple of border punches (these are a new obsession of mine and I keep buying them when they are 50% off or I have a coupon so you might see them in a few diys throughout the year). This isn't pictured, but blue painters tape could come in handy too, but it's not required. 

You're going to use two cards for this project. Trim up the edges so they are aligned when you over lap one card on top of the other then on the top card cut off about half an inch. Punch the edge that you trimmed. Now when you put the two cards together you'll have this edge that we're going to glitter.

Tape off the edge if you want, then add the glue. I painted it on nice and thick. The thicker the glue, the better your glitter will stick. Cover the whole surface with glitter. Tap off the excess and peel off the tape while the glue is still wet. Let the glue dry. Make sure you do this a day before you really need to so everything can be completely dry before the next step.

Your glittered card will be wrinkled from the glue but don't worry! Iron the card (glitter side down) on a no-steam setting and it will crisp right up.

*My friend Reagan says "Chin-up buttercup" all the time so this is a little nod to her :).

Use your double stick tape to tape all the edges of the card together get as close to the edge as you can if you overlap you can always trim the tape off later. Trim up the edges when you're done if you need to and fill it in with your own heartfelt message. 

Pin It

Want more fun Valentine's day inspiration? Check out the tutorial page! Valentine's Day is apparently one of my favorite holidays to do tutorials for.

A Little Weekend DIY

Thursday night I was at Target and saw some moccasins that were on clearance for $6. They immediately reminded me of a tutorial I saw on the Five Sixteenths blog and I knew I had to get some so I could paint my own. 

Tutorial: Five Sixteenths - Neon Moccasins

The only thing I did differently from her tutorial was to add textile medium to the paint to keep it from cracking over time and I added some freehand chevrons to the gray mocs. I'm in love with these and can't wait to wear them :) Thanks for the great idea Moe!

Mix your own nail polish

I've been wanting to mix some of my own nail polish for awhile so I thought this might be a fun little DIY to do for any of you looking for some last minute stocking stuffers to make. I had so much fun with this that I'm going to order some bottles and start mixing some more of my own creations using actual pigments and different kinds of glitter.

I wanted to make a pink jelly based polish with pink glitter so I got a pink nail polish and my glitter, then I got an empty bottle to mix in and some clear nail polish that I don't use. You can mix everything in the clear nail polish bottle, but the one I had was frosted so I poured it into the clear bottle just so you all could see it better. I also made a little funnel out of the corner of an envelope for pouring in the glitter. 

Pour some clear polish into a clean bottle, or pour out a little of the clear polish if you're just adding to a new bottle of clear polish (you need to make room for additions). Add the colored polish by 5 drops at a time and shake to mix until it is the shade you want*. I just wanted mine a pink tinted jelly and it took about 20 drops of polish. Then use the funnel and pour in some glitter. I used a little less than a teaspoon. Then shake, shake, shake and shake some more. You can add those little mixing balls (or BBs) to it if you have any. They will help the glitter distribute throughout the polish better. 

Test it out! 

I think I have a new obsession :D. 

*A tiny disclaimer... Mix at your own risk. Different companies use different ingredients in their nail polish. If you want to play it safe, only mix polishes from the same brand this will ensure that you're not going to come across any chemical reactions (do as I say, not as I do haha). Also, there are cosmetic friendly glitters out there you can buy too  Lit Cosmetics and Eye Kandy are two brands I have used in the past. 

Deluxe 2011 Preview

Deluxe is this Saturday and I'm super excited! I've participated in Deluxe since the very first year and have really enjoyed getting to see this indie craft show grow into a huge event! This year, I really focused my work as an artist into what I do best right now, crochet. I decided to forgo all the other crafty bits that I usually take to Deluxe and really made it about my crochet designs. I've been working on a digital lookbook slideshow that will loop in my booth this year to show styling options for my designs. Here's a few photos from the photoshoot: 

A big thank you to my friends Reagan and Abby for modeling for me!!!

I will also have coffee cardis and a few granny square stockings this year and maybe a clearance corner to get rid of old stock. ;)

You can also check out my Artist Profile on the Deluxe Blog. 

If you are a local reader (Oklahoma City), you should definitely go to Deluxe this Saturday from 11-5 at the State Fair Grounds Centennial Building. It is completely FREE and is the indie craft show that you don't want to miss! Come by and say hi, I love meeting my readers. 

Deluxe 2008 --- Deluxe 2009 --- Sadly I couldn't participate in Deluxe 2010 because of the stress of Bella's death and my grandfather on his death bed (geez last year was AWFUL!) but I did go as a shopper and it was amazing -- the best Deluxe yet!

Currently...

The dogs are getting along, happily chewing on their antlers. (My tiny puppy is now a 15 pound big boy)

 

These ladies are sitting on top of our T.V. awaiting a makeover.

 

Yarn is all over the house and I got new socks :)

 

I'm whipping up hats and ear-warmer headbands as fast as my hands will let me. 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We still have a lot of time with friends and family ahead of us. I'm enjoying my long weekend!

Fall Fest Guest Post - Felt Treat Bags

Learn how to make these cute felt treat bags over on Sherry's blog today! Have you been following Fall Fest on Oh So Lovely? There have been a whole bunch of fun posts all October. My favorites so far have been the pumpkin spice hot chocolate which I plan to make for our annual family pumpkin carving party and Katie's cute ornament pouches.

My Top Five Handmade Wedding Details

You all remember how much I made for the wedding, right? If you're new to the blog, you can see it all for yourself by browsing the wedding posts. I DIYed about 85% of the wedding. When I think back on all the work I put into the day I think that I was crazy. Back then, however, I needed the projects and would have gone insane without everything keeping me busy. 

The advice I give everyone else though is to NOT be like me. Don't do it unless you either need to be busy constantly or are extremely crafty and really want a full on DIY wedding. What I tell brides to be is to pick a couple of things to make yourself and buy the rest (comission pieces, or shop etsy for a crafty feel) or do without. So if I were following my own advice and doing this all again, here are the 5 handmade details I couldn't live without.

5. The quilted mason jar vases. This was probably one of the easiest projects and one of the prettiest. I loved the simple arrangements and color they brought to the reception and wedding aisles. 

4. Our cake toppers - These were made on a whim a few days before the wedding, but they are just too stinking cute and I'm so glad I will always have them. 

3. The DIY photobooth - Probably the most entertaining thing at the wedding. Everyone loved it, and now we have all these awesome photos of our friends. :D

2. My dress - Not because it was the most beautiful dress on the planet (even though I loved it) but because I made it with my mom and all those hours we spent together probably wouldn't have happened if we hadn't decided to make the dress together. 

1. Our invitations (and other wedding correspondence) - I have to admit it people--Our invitations kicked ass.