Faux Stained Glass Earrings

This is a play on an earlier tutorial with nail polish. I have been experimenting with different materials in the last year, and this is one of my favorite techniques. Using clear nail polish and alcohol ink, I created a resin like medium (without the super toxic part), and the effect of stained glass. You can do this same technique with liquid polymer clay and alcohol ink, but this tutorial eliminates a step by not needing to bake the earrings.

To start, you will need a pair of earrings with loops small enough for the nail polish to adhere properly. Below is an example of a simple loop style earring. Or you can follow the Simple Loop Earring I from this post.

Materials Needed:

• round nose pliers
• flat nose pliers
• 20 gauge wire (Check Joann's too)
• wire cutter
• clear nail polish (any brand)
• alcohol ink of your color preference (I use Adirondack. You can get it from Joann's)
• third hand, if you feel like you need it (I just used it so I had a free hand for pictures)\
• earring hooks/french wires (I use titanium since I am allergic to nickle)

Once your earrings are formed, mix your ink and polish. I use a scratch piece of paper to mix a small batch. Since nail polish sets really quickly, I only work in small batches. I put a couple of drops of clear polish down, and then a drop of ink. Mix it together with a piece of wire.

Gather a drop of the polish on the end of your piece of wire and place it in one of the loops. I use a gentle circular motion to lightly touch the insides of the loop, then pull the wire out. If the nail polish pulls from the middle and doesn't cover the loop, try adding more polish. If adding more polish doesn't help, then your loops might be too big and you will need to adjust them.

Once you have each loop filled, let it set for a few minutes. I have a wire 'tree' where I hang finished pieces to dry so they are out of my way. You want to keep the earring from laying flat on a surface while it dries, for the polish might pool onto the surface and out of the loop.

After both of your earrings are dry, you can put your hooks on. Use a flat nose pliers to open and close the loops on the earring findings. Now you are ready to rock your earrings! I love the way the sun shines through these little beasties.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments and check back often for more projects. I just can't stop making things. It's a problem.

Floral Headband

This is such a 'springy' headband. I had an abundance of flowers stashed in my container of old hair flower supplies and I thought 'hey, let's make something!'. If you have seen my Simple Hair Flower tutorial, this one starts out the same. The only difference is the headband, really. To be honest, this headband is not my favorite. Probably because it's fall and pink is just not a fall color. Oh well! It was fun to make!

I much prefer metal or plastic headbands to elastic bands. I explained in my Lace Headband tutorial that me and elastic bands just don't go together. Weird shaped head? I don't know. This could be adapted to an elastic headband, but it would require some excessive sewing, but I chose to stick with a simple plastic headband. These actually stay on my head.

Materials Needed:
   headband (I bought a three pack from Target)
   glue gun
   glue sticks
   fake flowers (from home decor)
   buttons (or anything else you prefer)

You could make some fabric flowers out of ribbon or fabric scraps if you can't find any fake flowers you like, but you'll have to guess how to make them since I haven't tried that yet. Someday! I'll keep you posted.

When you find flowers that you like, disassemble them like the third picture. You want each layer to be separated so you can glue them for security.

I wanted to do three flowers. Two flowers consist of two layers and a button center, and one flower consists of three layers and a button center. Start by applying a little bit of glue to the center of your first layer. Let it cool a few seconds and place your second layer on top. I turn the top layer a little so the petals cover the gaps between the first layer's petals. Pinch them together until cool, then add your button.

Repeat this for all of your flowers. Once your flowers are done, it's time to glue them to the headband. Squeeze a generous dollop of glue onto the back center of one of your flowers. I started with one of the two layer flowers.

Place the flower on the headband and give a squeeze. Hold until the glue sets. Next, I placed the second two layer flower. I wanted the two small flowers to be on either side of the larger flower. Lastly, place the third flower. Again, hold it in place until the glue sets.

I think I might set this headband aside until next spring. Or maybe I will go find some festive fall foliage and make another one for this season. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Thanks for visiting!

DIY Styling Hair Paste

This is some sassy styling paste for those who hate store bought products with crazy chemicals. Jake has super fluffy hair after he washes it and loves to use this paste to give it some direction. I've used it to tame down frizz. A little goes a long way. Unless you like the feel of a lot of product in your hair, then pile it on!

Ingredients:
   2 tablespoons shea butter
   2 tablespoons beeswax
   3 tablespoons sunflower oil
   10 drops sweet orange essential oil
   5 drops grapefruit essential oil

The beeswax give the paste its structure. If you really want to give form to your hairdo, beeswax is the thing to use.

Shea butter is solid at room temperature to help provide structure, but it is also moisturizing.

Sunflower oil is gives you a little shine and also keeps the mixture at a softer texture so it's easier to use. I wouldn't use too much paste, because sunflower oil can give you the greasy look. I have read recipes where people use jojoba oil, which is supposed to be more of a 'dry' oil, but it's a bit more expensive. Someday, I will splurge on the jojoba, but not today.

You can get sunflower oil in any grocery store. It's usually with the vegetable oils. For my other ingredients I like to use Bulk Apothecary. I bought yellow beeswax, but you can also get white wax if you like a cleaner look to your final product. Shea butter comes in refined or unrefined. I have used both and prefer the refined butter since it is smoother. The unrefined shea butter feels a smidgen grainy and doesn't mix as well as I would like it to. It's personal preference, though.

Materials Needed:
   pan with about two inches of water
   glass or metal bowl
   spoon
   container for final product (I used a 4 oz mason jar)

Heat your water on medium heat. It doesn't need to boil, but mine usually does, because I'm impatient. Dump all of your ingredients into your glass or metal bowl. You can either set it in the water or use a larger bowl to set on top of the pan like a double boiler. Stir the ingredients every so often until the mixture is completely melted.

Remove the mixture from heat and let stand for a moment. If you are adding essential oils or fragrance, this is the time to do it. Always add flavors or scents during the cooling phase. I added my oils after I poured the mixture into my jar. Give it a quick stir and allow to cool. You can put it in the refrigerator if you want it to set faster.

Give your container a cute little label and say goodbye to store bought styling paste. With this mixture, you have to dig into it a little and let it melt on your fingers before applying it. Be aggressive, B-E-Aggressive! Pictured below is my goofy husband after our paint photos done by P&T Photography. Besides the bit of blue, his hair is perfectly styled with my homemade paste. Success!

Courtesy of P&T Photography

If you want to see more paint photos, visit P&T Photography to flip through our album. It was a blast. Or check out my Paint Fight Photos post if you would like to try something like this on your own. Do it.

Anywho, thanks for checking out my post. Leave questions or comments below! If you enjoy this recipe definitely try my Shimmer Body Butter or Natural Face Cream.

Simple Hair Flower

A few years ago, I decided to cut all of my hair off and rock a pixie cut, but there was a part of me that thought "I might look like a boy". I figured if I put flowers in my hair then people would be a little less confused about my which gender I identify with. I never really did anything with my hair before that point so I didn't have more than bobby pins and hair binders at home.

As always, I am a cheap shopper and found that most hair accessories in stores are easily made and over priced. Instead of hanging around that aisle, I marched on over to the home decor section to pick out some fake flowers. Why not just glue a bunch of stuff together and stick it on my head? (Little tip: one of the craft stores near me sells bags of miscellaneous flower 'droppings' for a few bucks. Try asking what your local craft store does with the flowers that fall off the branches.)

I picked out some small sprigs of red blossoms that were probably on sale. I wanted flowers that were petite and vibrant. Keep in mind that you will be taking flowers apart so it really doesn't matter what the whole branch looks like. Also, I use fabric flowers so they are less rigid. I want my hair flowers to be soft and able to rustle in a breeze! Psh, rigid flowers. So limiting.

Materials Needed:

• Fake flower(s)
• bobby pin(s)
• button(s)
• hot glue gun
• glue sticks

Skills Needed:

• Ability to work through the pain of hot glue sticking to your fingers. You can do it! 

I thought it would be cute (as a button! ha) to use a button for the center of the flower. I ended up buying a crap ton of buttons when I started making these hair flowers...so many buttons that I need to find more button projects. 

Side note: I am completely aware that when I think "Oh, this is too expensive to buy. I can make it myself!" I actually end up spending way more on materials than if I would have just bought a ready-made product. But where is the fun in that?

Anywho, plug in your hot glue gun and start taking apart your flowers. The flowers usually have a plastic center piece that holds it to the branch. Pop out those pieces and arrange the petals how you like. I chose to use two pieces of petal layers. It just felt like the right thing to do. Use more if you like. Use less if you are feeling the minimalist vibe. I don't judge. 

Squeeze a little glue on the first petal layer and place the second layer on top. A little glue around the center will do. I turn the second layer a bit so the petals match up with the gaps between the first layer's petals. Give the glue a few seconds to cool and then squeeze the layers together. Next, glue the button on.

Lastly, the bobby pin. Squirt some hot glue onto the back of the flower and place the bobby pin. make sure the flat side of the bobby pin is what you are gluing down. Once you place the pin, if metal is sticking out of the glue, squirt some more glue on top so it is completely covered. Now let it cool. There. Wasn't that super simple? Also, I'm quite entertained by the word 'squirt' right now. Just FYI. 

Wow, I have a lot of baby hairs. I've got the hair line of a toddler. On that note, if you have questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. If you also have a lot of baby hairs: *internet high five*! 

Nail Polish Earrings

For those of you that don't know me, I am a freak when it comes to harmful chemicals. When it comes to making jewelry, there can be some hazardous materials involved. Usually, if something says that if causes cancer in California, or needs to be used in a well ventilated area, I automatically think I am dying when I use the product.

Once, in a college art class, we were using wallpaper paste to make paper sculptures and after I had been immersing my hands in this stuff for a few hours I happened to look at the label and immediately started to freak out. "Why are we using something that causes cancer without gloves or masks or haz-mat suits!? Do my hands look funny to you? I feel dizzy." Yeah, I'm that girl and then some.

Anyway, I wanted to add some colored areas to my jewelry, but I didn't feel comfortable using epoxy resins, so I improvised with nail polish (which probably isn't much better, but at least doesn't come with as many warnings). I started using liquid polymer clay and alcohol inks to add colored areas, but I am incredibly impatient, and the method I am about to show you eliminates the baking step involved with liquid polymer clay.

Materials needed:

• wire (20 or 22 gauge)
• round nose pliers
• wire cutter
• nail polish 
• ear hooks (I use titanium since I am allergic to nickle)  

Wire Basics:

The smaller the gauge number, the thicker the wire is. Wire in the higher 20s is used more for wrapping projects so it won't work well for stability. You may get away with 24 gauge wire for the earrings, but you would want to be a bit more careful with the final product (don't sit on them--or anything weird like that).

Before you can fiddle with the nail polish, you will need to make a pair of earrings with small loops. Cut two equal pieces of wire and follow the photos below. You will use your round nose tool to shape the earrings. You don't want your loops to be too big, otherwise the nail polish won't hold across the entire loop. To get the right size, I use the skinny ends of the pliers to form my loops.

After you have your pair of earrings formed, you can move on to the nail polish steps. I use an extra piece of wire to 'stick' the nail polish into the loops. Place a few drops of nail polish onto a piece of paper, dip the extra wire into the polish. I used a third arm clip to hold the earrings as I put the polish into the loops, but that was only so I could also take photos. You can easily hold the earring in one hand, and use your dominant hand to handle the nail polish dipped wire.

I use a light circular motion with the wire while inside the loop to deposit the polish onto the earrings, then gently pull the wire out. If the nail polish doesn't hold tight, then your loop may be too big or you didn't add enough polish. Try dipping the wire again and adding more polish to the loop if that happens.

I use an old scrap piece of copper to hang the earrings on to dry. Let the nail polish set for about 10 minutes and then you can add your ear hooks.

Little Tip:

• If you are just starting to work with wire, go to a hardware store and get some cheap copper and a tool kit. The hardware store most likely won't have the round nose pliers, but you can get the wire and some other small pliers for a lot cheaper than you would at a craft store. I like to sample inexpensive materials when I get into a new medium so I don't feel bad 'wasting' materials when I have no idea what I am doing. Just don't get galvanized wire. 

As always, leave questions or comments below! I would love to hear what you have to say. And stay tuned for another nail polish earring tutorial, this time involving alcohol ink. (Update: click here for the new tutorial)

DIY Lace Headband

Even though I have the wrong head shape for elastic headbands (if I look up they just slide right off my head), I still like making them. If you are lucky enough to have the "right" shaped head, or the discipline to not move your head too much while wearing a headband, then this may be the project for you!

Supplies Needed:

• scissors
• needle and thread
• 1/2 inch braided elastic 
• lace

Skills Needed:

• ability to sew a big mess of stitches with no particular sense of order

I bought about 10 inches of lace from Joann Fabric. I do believe this stuff is meant for wedding dresses because it was around $18 a yard. Use a coupon.  The piece I bought was around $3 after my coupon. The braided elastic was under $2 and you'll have a lot left over for other headbands or random projects.

To start, I stuck the lace on my head to see how big I wanted it and if it was actually going to look good. I mean, you can stick anything on your head, but it doesn't mean you should. Anywho, the lace went from ear to ear and I called it good there. I trimmed the edges of the lace to make sure there weren't sharp angles and then I moved to the elastic.

Depending on how tight you want your headband, you're going to have to take the reigns with how much elastic to cut. I don't know your life...or your head size. But for my head, I lightly stretched the the elastic around the back of my head from ear to ear and that was about 8.5 inches. It's a little tight. I probably should have gone with 9.5 inches, but YOLO. Just kidding. Kind of.

Now, thread your needle. I overlapped the elastic and the lace slightly, with the elastic touching the non-beaded side of the lace. Sew the crap out of it. If you think you sewed it enough, give it a tug. If you hear thread ripping then sew some more! Repeat on the other side of the lace.

And there you have it! If you have questions or anything like that, leave them below.

DIY Natural Face Cream

On an okay day, my skin kind of hates me. On a bad day, it really hates me. When I try to make it love me with store bought, chemical filled products, it throws a tantrum. I have learned to adopt the mantra 'be nice to your skin'.

I have very oily skin, so it is never happy when I wash it with harsh cleansers. Non-comodogenic, oil free lotions actually seem to make my face more oily so I stopped using them and opted for natural oils closer to my skin's natural PH. I don't like to mess with my exterior ecosystem. Balance is key.

I wanted a lotion that wouldn't irritate my skin, but I also wanted something that would help with breakouts. BUT just about all face lotions meant for acne or problem skin I have tried burn a little when I first put it on. Not enough to be like 'ow that hurts', but enough to make my anxiety brain kick in and tell me that soon my face will be red and swollen.

Story time: I discovered in eighth grade that I cannot use any product with benzoyl peroxide, because my face will just freak the f*** out. One morning, I woke up with my eye lids swollen shut. They were puffy and red. My entire face was a little itchy and burned a bit. It actually happened to me a couple of times to a lesser degree of severity because I hadn't realized what was happening.  I just kept using various products with either benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid, because advertisements told me it would make my skin awesome. Lies. Anyway, I developed a sensitivity to a bunch of chemicals, and that's why my anxiety brain kicks into high gear if I so much feel a tingle on my skin after applying any sort of product.

I'm not really sure why cosmetic companies have made us believe that oil is our skin's enemy. Honestly, since I have started to use oils as lotion, my skin seems more balanced. I still have breakouts, of course. I'm not saying this will magically clear up your skin, but I am saying that my skin is happier.

My face cream is really simple. I use two ingredients, grapeseed oil and shea butter. You can add essential oils if you would like, but I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to smells.

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
- 1/4 cup shea butter
- 1/4 teaspoon essential oils (optional for fragrance)

Supplies:
- pan
- spoon
- metal or glass bowl (make sure it can safely be heated)
- 4 oz container for final product (mason jar or plastic jar)

 

Fill your pan with about an inch of water and put it on medium heat. Put your oil and butter in your glass or metal bowl and place in the water. Stir occasionally and remove from heat once the mixture is completely melted together. Pour your mixture into your container and allow to cool. If you do want to add a fragrance, add it during the cooling process, but don't use any citrus essential oils because it increases your skin's sensitivity to UV light.

Allow your cream to cool for a few hours. It may look like it isn't setting up, but it will. If you are impatient, you can put it in the refrigerator to accelerate the cooling process. The cream should be soft enough to scoop into your hands easily. A little goes a long way. It may be a little too greasy for you if you're not used to oily skin, so take into account the level of moisture your skin needs before you try this. For me, this is a great base lotion for loose powder mineral foundation.

I also use this recipe for my winter body butter. Since the grapeseed oil is liquid at room temperature, the overall product stays creamy even when my house is only in the 60 degree range. Thanks for checking out this recipe. Let me know if you have any questions.

DIY Shimmer Body Butter

I have annoyingly sensitive skin, and shopping for cosmetics and body products just peeves me right off. I never know what is going to make my skin itchy and red, so I decided I'd just start making my own products.

I could go into how I don't trust all of the chemicals that are in today's cosmetics and beauty products, but I feel like there are enough blogs and articles about that right now. Just watch this documentary and you will know where I stand.

Anyway, whenever I shave my legs, I need moisturizer immediately after I dry my skin. Without it, my skin turns into an angry desert with oodles of bumpy follicles. This concoction has been my new friend. And it's a little sassy with a slight shimmer. Yay sassy shimmer!

Products I used:
-organic coconut oil
-shea butter
-mica powder

Optional ingredients:
-essential oils

You can use any color mica powder that complements your skin tone. This recipe could probably be tweaked to make a self tanner type body butter. (I will get back to you on that one if I ever try it.)

Supplies
-container (I used 4 oz mason jar, but you could also order jars from this site.)
-pan
-spoon
-glass or metal bowl to mix ingredients
-measuring cups and spoons if you are feeling precise. I wasn't feeling precise.

General recipe guidelines:
For a soft body butter, I used a 1:1 ratio of butter and oil. This makes the product easy to scoop into your hand, but solid enough that it won't run all over.

Coconut oil melts around 76 degrees, so right when it touches your skin it begins to melt. Shea butter has a higher melting point, and this keeps your skin from feeling too greasy. It softens on the skin, but doesn't melt completely.

Since I was using a four ounce jar, I used about two ounces of coconut oil, and two ounces of shea butter. Two ounces equals 1/4 cup, if you feel like measuring exact amounts. If you are making this in the summer, the 1:1 ratio should keep the product creamy, but if you are making this in the winter and your house is freezing all the time like mine is, then you may want to add a little bit of liquid oil (like grapeseed oil) to the recipe. My Natural Face Cream recipe works great for winter applications.

Alright, let's get down to business. Fill your pot with about an inch of water. Put your metal or glass container in the water with the shea butter and coconut oil. I put it on medium heat. You don't need the water to boil, but mine did because I was impatient. Stir the oil and butter together until everything is melted.

Use an oven mitt to pull the mixture out of the pot. I like to keep a paper towel close by to set my spoon onto so that I don't need to scrub anything off my counters. (This comes in handy when dealing with recipes that include beeswax. That doesn't scrub off as easily as oils and butters).

Now pour the mixture into your container. Measure out your mica powder. I used a 1/4 teaspoon of powder. You can do more or less depending on how much shimmer you want. A 1/4 tsp gives a light shimmer. You won't look like a pixie or anything. It just adds a little glow to your skin. I used an old chopstick to mix the mica powder into the melted oil and butter, but a spoon works too.

Now let your mixture cool. You can shake it up every now and then to make sure the shimmer powder doesn't settle at the bottom as it cools.

If you didn't want a shimmer. You can easily omit the mica powder for just a plain moisturizer. You could also add fragrance or essential oils to the mixture for a yummy scent. I have used fragrance oil from this site. The unrefined organic coconut oil I used smells like yummy coconut so that's enough scent for me, but feel free to add more smells!

I know that some people (like me) worry about artificial fragrances causing endocrine disruptions or skin irritations (which a lot of them do), but sometimes I just want to smell like something other than essential oils. So, use artificial fragrances at your own risk. When I scent my products, I use 1% fragrance and 99% butter, oil, wax, etc.

For this recipe, to figure out the amount of essential oil or fragrance to use, I convert the measurements into milliliters. It's much easier to use metric measurements when dealing with such small amounts. Let's say you use a 4 oz container, which is 118.3 milliliters. You would use 99% or 117 ml of oil and butter and 1.83 milliliters of fragrance oil or essential oil. A 1/4 tsp is roughly 1. 25 ml. Sorry if that's overly complicated. If it is, just put like 10 to 20 drops of essential oil in your recipe, and see if that's smelly enough for you. For artificial fragrance oil, try to follow the 1% measurements. If you put more in, it is more likely to cause skin irritation.

When the shimmer butter cools, it's a nice solid white color. If the butter is too cold to scoop up easily, it probably means it's too cold in your house. Just hold your fingers in the jar until it starts to melt. Now slather it all over and smell the coconutty goodness.

Warning: If you have cats, they might lick your skin to try to eat the oil. My cat is a freak and tries to lick my legs when I'm not looking. Anywho, let me know if you have questions, comments, concerns, etc.!

DIY: Stenciled Tank Top

I love screen printed tees. I love the dorky sayings, and the simplicity of these shirts. BUT I don't like paying a bunch for them. I saw tutorials of DIY shirt stencils where you use freezer paper and an iron, but let's get serious: I don't own an iron. If my clothes don't de-wrinkle in the dryer, then that's that. I'm not going out of my way to smooth out the folds. I mean really.

Obviously, I didn't want to go out and buy an iron for this project alone, so I put off making my own shirt until I happened upon a roll of self adhesive shelf liner. I was using it to pretty up the bottom of a bathroom vanity, but I had so much extra that I needed to find other uses. This material works very well for stencils. The brand I bought was called 'Magic Cover' but this would work just as well.

Materials needed:

• Shelf Liner (make sure it's the adhesive kind!)
• ruler
• x-acto knife
• shirt
• makeup sponge(s)
• acrylic paint or fabric paint in whatever color you want
• piece of cardboard to put behind where you are stenciling (prevents bleeding)
• masking tape
• hard surface that can be cut on top of
• Printer (optional)

Skills Needed

• Be able to handle a knife blade without causing injury

First of all, what do you want on your shirt? I used Word to arrange my design. Since I

am cheap when it comes to printer ink, I only used the outline of my design. You can freehand your design, if you want. That's cool too. Just grab a sharpie and start doodling on the liner. 

Since I just wanted one line of text, I only needed to cut one piece of the shelf liner. I decided to cut a 3x11inch piece of liner, and I changed the paper size on the word document to this size as well. The actual design is about 9 inches wide and 2 inches tall. Take into account the size of where your stencil will go.

Depending on how your printer works, you may need to adjust what side of the liner you put into the printer. I put adhesive side pointing up, so my design is printed on the opposite side. If you are unsure of your printer, send a test page through.

The lines don't need to be very large. Just visible enough to act as a guide for your cuts. Also, don't touch the ink when it comes out of the printer. It smudges a bit. Just make sure you don't smudge the design off the liner.

I taped the design down on a scrap piece of plywood before I started cutting. It just makes for a more stable working surface. Now, take your X-acto knife and begin the tedious process of cutting your stencil. Work as slowly as you need to.

Once your stencil is cut, position it over the shirt you are stenciling to make sure it fits your area. Prep your shirt by putting something like cardboard on the inside. I had a piece of foam board handy and used that.

Once your shirt is ready, carefully peel the back off the adhesive liner. If you move too quickly, parts of the stencil will rip if the design is more complicated.

Position your design on the shirt and smooth it down. if you have letters with inner pieces, make sure to peel those off and stick them to your shirt as well. Now you are ready for the paint. I used a cheap tube of black acrylic paint. I know from experience that when I get this paint on my clothes, once it dries it doesn't come off. So I trust the paint I used to make it through the wash. If you want to invest in some actual fabric paint or screen printing paint, then go for it. Let me know what works better for you!

I used half a makeup sponge to dab the paint onto the stencil. Don't put too much paint on. You can see that I only put a small amount of paint on my makeshift palatte (more foam board). You don't want it to get thick, because it may lead the paint to crack and flake off. Keep it thin and apply just enough to get a solid color. Once you are done applying your paint, let it dry completely before you peel the stencil off.

When you peel off your stencil, peel carefully because you can use it again. You may need to make new inner pieces if they don't stick as well, but I was able to get another use out of this stencil. I could possible use it a couple more times...but I really don't need anymore 'beefcake' shirts. Honestly, one is probably pushing it.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I would love to see what you make using the shelf liner!