Tag Archives: how to

Clay Beads Necklace

DSC_1002

Monday was my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday again, Mama! Since she was coming into town to visit us, I wanted to give her something extra special. My mom loves jewelry, so I decided to make a necklace for her birthday gift.

This was by far the most intense and time-consuming craft I’ve done so far. I usually stick with projects that take 5 minutes so I don’t get frustrated and give up. But since this was for my mom, I wanted to try something a little more difficult.

Supplies needed:

  1. Rolling Pin
  2. Polymer clay
  3. Parchment paper
  4. Chain
  5. Clasp
  6. Split-rings
  7. Pliers
  8. Paintbrush or a tool to make a small hole in the clay. (I thought the small screwdriver (pictured) would work. It did not.)
  9. Small cookie cutters or a tool to make a shape. (I used an empty beer bottle.)
  10. Exacto knife
  11. Optional: clear spray paint

DSC_0994Step 1: Roll out your clay. Try to make it approximately 1/8 of an inch thick.

DSC_0995Step 2: Punch out the shape of your beads. This is easiest to achieve with small cookie cutters or a tool, like the top of a beer bottle, but you could cut your shape out with an Exacto knife if you are good at free-handing shapes.

DSC_0996Step 3: Touch up the edges of your newly-made beads by cutting away stray bits of clay with an Exacto knife.

DSC_0998Step 4: Carefully punch out small holes in your beads using a tool, such as a thin paintbrush end. I cracked several of my beads during this process. Be patient and make more beads than you think you will need for a necklace.

Step 5: Bake your beads on a piece of parchment paper according to the clay manufacturer’s directions.

Step 6: (Optional) After beads are done baking and cool, spray with clear spray paint. This will give your beads a glossy look.

DSC_1012Step 7: Pry open the split-rings and slip through the holes in the beads.

Step 8: Determine where on the chain you want the beads to be placed. I skipped this step at first and started placing the beads on randomly. The necklace didn’t look very pretty with random beads everywhere. I would have saved myself a lot of time if I had put the chain on and determined exactly where on the chain I wanted the beads to be placed. I would have also saved more time if I had made sure I was placing each bead on face-down, so when the necklace was worn, the beads would lay flat and face-up.

DSC_1015Step 9: Slip the split-ring through the links in the chain and using the pliers, carefully close the split-rings.

Step 10: Using the pliers, attach the clasp onto the end of the necklace.

And voila! You have a beautiful, stylish, one-of-a-kind necklace to keep or give as a gift!

love,
melanie

Easy Wedding Favors: Printed Brown Bags

Wedding favors on paper lunch bags

During the wedding planning process, DIY projects were not high on my list. I did manage to carve out some time to do a few easy and inexpensive crafts though. And I plan on sharing a few of them with you! I was super pleased with the way my wedding favors turned out. So, I’m sharing the how-to on those first!

For this project all you need is a little photoshop know-how, paper bags and a printer. (I would recommend a top-loading printer. Although it is possible to do with a bottom-loading printer. I have just found the top loading printers work better with the bags.)

wedding favorFirst, we designed our logo in Photoshop. We used the image of George and myself on our wedding invites too. Your design doesn’t have to be anything as elaborate as ours, a monogram would look nice too. If you don’t have Photoshop skills, you could even create your design in Word and then change your printer settings to the size of the bag.

Next, we changed the dimensions of the image in Photoshop to the dimensions of the paper bag and did a couple of test prints. After printing each bag, we added a can of RC Cola and a Moon Pie. In the South, an RC Cola and a Moon Pie is known as a working man’s lunch and both George and I have fond memories of eating Moon Pies and drinking RC Colas as kids.

Finally, we punched two holes in the top of the bag, looped a ribbon through and tied a bow. Quick, easy and cheap! Done!

**A helpful hint is to buy more bags than you need and be patient! If the bag has any kind of small tear or inconsistency, the printer may eat it. Just keep calm and carry on!**

Questions? Leave ’em in the comments!
love,
melanie

How To Set Smart Goals

This baby knows how to create S.M.A.R.T. goals!

This baby knows how to create S.M.A.R.T. goals!

 

In general, New Year’s resolutions aren’t kept. It’s two weeks into the new year and resolutions are already being pushed to the wayside. Let’s be honest– how many times have we all resolved to “get in shape”? Since resolutions are so easy to break instead I like to make goals. What makes goals different than resolutions? Well, resolutions are broad, sweeping, overly ambitious changes. On the other hand, goals can be S.M.A.R.T. In order to be S.M.A.R.T. goals must be:

S Specific
M Measurable
A Attainable
R Relevant
T Timely

How to create a S.M.A.R.T. goal is by far one of the best things that I have learned in the past couple of years. By using this method, I’ve attained almost 100% of the goals I’ve set for myself.  And the ones that didn’t work weren’t S.M.A.R.T.!

So, what’s an example of a S.M.A.R.T. goal? Well, let’s say you want to “get in shape”. We all want this. So take that broad goal, and start thinking more specifically. Your brain might sound something like this: “Well, I am pretty happy with the way I eat, but my workout plan is horrendous.” Now, you’re narrowing it down, your making a goal more specific.

Next look at the measurable aspect. This should get you thinking about a specific outcome. If you currently work out sporadically, you might want to set a time and date to go to the gym or workout from home.  This is also the time to think about attainability. Let’s be real, none of us are going to look like a Victoria’s Secret model overnight and maybe we never will. But that’s ok. Maybe just loosing 2 inches off of your waist by working out at the gym 3 days a week is an attainable and measurable goal.

The last two aspects of a smart goal are relevance and timeliness. Now, I always struggle with relevance because sometimes it causes you to think very broadly. Relevance asks you if this is the right time in your life for this goal. If you just took on 15 other goals, this might not be the time in your life to take on working out too. (Although, you should always have time for your health.) Relevance just causes you to think deeply about the worthiness of the goal at hand.

Finally, we come to timeliness. This one is easy! By what date do you want to accomplish your goal? Going on vacation this summer? Bam! You’ve got a date.

The broad resolution “to get in shape” now turned into the smart goal of “Loosing 2 inches off my waist by June 30, 2013 by working out at the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in order to improve my overall health and appearance.” It’s not quite as catchy as “get in shape,” but it is a heck of a lot more attainable.

Now after all this, I’m going to let you know that loosing inches off my waist is not my 2013 goals. I’m actually going to share my goals with you all later this week. I just wanted to share my successful goal setting strategies in the hopes that it will challenge you to make better goals and achieve your dreams. Corny, huh?

Did you set any resolutions or goals for 2013? Let me know in the comments!

love,
melanie

How to Deal with Disappointment

Remember that job I told you all about? Well, I didn’t get it. Recovering from the disappointment and starting a new school semester has been difficult. In fact, I haven’t been blogging much lately because I’ve been both amazingly busy with the rush of students and I’ve been busy moping.

I’m not afraid to admit to you all that I cried when I found out that I lost the job to another applicant. I’m also not afraid to admit that I ate way too much and maybe drank a little too much that evening in the hopes that it would make me feel better. I didn’t feel better. I just felt bloated.

To cheer myself up on this rainy Monday morning, I made a quick list of things that I am happy about. I forced myself to write 20 items. It was difficult to write at first, because I love to be a pessimist. It’s just my nature of self-improvement, I suppose. But after the first couple of list items, it became much easier to think of things I am happy and thankful for. I have a wonderful life.

There will be more job opportunities in the future. In fact, I applied for one over the weekend. I can’t—I won’t let this get me down.

How do you fight disappointment in life? Let me know in the comments.

love,
melanie

Pre-Wedding Money Saving Tips

My empty wallet.

My empty wallet.

I talk a big game when it comes to budgets. I make lists and spreadsheets. I even use math! But I’m not great at actually carrying out a budget. On Fridays I really want to go out for a dinner and a couple of drinks. A $4.00 coffee sounds totally reasonable when I’ve been up since 6 am and I have to work late. And somehow a trip to the drug store for a $5.00 bottle of lotion always turns into a $40 affair.

I’m a impulsive spender. It’s bad, I know. But since George and I are primarily paying for the wedding, I’ve been trying so, so hard to save money. The following tips are inspired by Adrienne who has some awesome ideas for saving dough! Totally jealous that she can ride her bike to work!

Here is what George and I have been doing:

  • Attempting to eat everything out of the pantry and fridge before we go to the grocery store. (I particularly hate this one. I have an aversion to left-overs and weird food combos.)
  • Attempting to make cheaper recipes. As someone who needs to eat gluten-free, I’m not loving this one either. We’ve mostly just been eating a lot of eggs…
  • I negotiated to have our rent lowered until our oven is fixed. (It’s been broken for 2 months!) I’d rather have a working oven, but hey, it saves me a few bucks.
  • George has been selling art.
  • I sold a couple of gift cards I had lying around to Plastic Jungle, which I highly recommend if you ever get a gift card you don’t want.
  • And this summer I plan to sell some clothes that I no longer wear on Copius. (Update: I went ahead and put a few items up.)

All of these little things help, but I feel like it’s nearly impossible to save a significant amount of money before the wedding in December. Things keep coming up! (An $80 doctor appointment! Yikes!)

We’ve talked about delaying the honeymoon until the summer, which will save some money, but after all this, I need a break!

Do you have any budgeting tips? I’d love to hear ’em and make a big ol’ list for everyone!

love,
melanie

How to Make Giant Tissue Paper Flowers

field of flowers

I have very little patience for craft projects. If a craft project takes more than 15 minutes, I have no interest in it. So, when I decided I wanted a little decoration to spice up our Spring brunch table, I knew just the project. Seriously you guys, my elementary Spanish teacher taught us uncoordinated elementary schoolers to make these. You can make these too. DIY your face off.

Supplies

  • Tissue paper (6 sheets per flower)
  • Floral wire
  • Tape (floral tape looks best, but I used regular ‘ol masking tape)
  • Scissors (optional)
  • Watercolor paint & a brush (optional)

folded tissue paper

Step 1: Lay out 6 pieces of tissue paper on top of one another and face the short end of the paper towards you.

Step 2: Fold tissue paper accordion style, back and forth, as if you were folding a paper fan. Folds should be about 2-3 inches wide.

Step 3: Optional: Round the edges of the tissue paper with scissors. I didn’t round my edges because I’m a rebel.

tissue paper flower wire detail

Step 4: Gather tissue paper together in the middle with one hand.

Step 5: Take wire and wrap around middle tightly, but not too tight. It will make it difficult to pull the petals out if it is too tight.paper flower petals

Step 6: The hardest part! GENTLY pull the pieces of tissue paper apart to form the flower petals. Do not man-handle the tissue paper! It will tear. I know from experience 😉

Step 7: Wrap tape around the bottom base of your petals to ensure the wire is tightly secured to the flowers.

Step 7: Blammo! You’re done. Continue to Step 8 if you want to color your flowers. If you’re not a fancy man, stop here.

painting flowers

Step 8: If you want a bit more detail to your flowers, you can paint the edges with watercolor paint. This technique is really hard to mess up. Just grab a brush, dip it into some watercolor paint and lightly brush the paint onto the petal edges and in between the petals. Optional: Feel like you are under the Queen of Heart’s orders to paint the roses red!

Step 9: Let dry.

tissue paper flowersStep 10: Not optional: Frolic in a field of flowers.

Got any questions? Leave ’em in the comments.
love,
melanie