DIY Christmas Wreath

   

     I finally have a Christmas wreath! I've searched for years, but have never been willing to shell out the $40-60 the stores want for one of those. I've even looked at the "discount" stores like Home Goods and still I thought the price was steep.  So when my sister said she wanted to make Christmas wreaths, I agreed hesitantly. For some reason, it just seemed hard, 

     I studied up on You Tube and found a video that used a wire hanger to string the ornaments on.  The women bought cheap balls at the dollar store and had to glue each top to the ornaments so they wouldn't fall off. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was 80 balls!  

     Fortunately, my sister had a better plan.  She found wire frames at JoAnn's for $3 that the ornaments could be tied too. Now we did have some cheap dollar store balls that did fall off after being attached. So I recommend either purchasing better quality ornaments or gluing each and every top on so the ornaments stay put.  

     The wire frame had 6 sections so I attached about 5 ornaments to each section with pieces of pipe cleaner.  Then I filled in the space by wrapping garland around the ornaments, This added a fullness to the wreath and further helped secure the ornaments in place.  There were still some gaps so I filled those in with smaller silver balls and used wire to secure those.  I also added two sparkly bows!

     For  about $20 I made my own Christmas wreath. It was easy and fun, it just took some patience and time.  I am impressed at how nice it turned out.  It looks like something I could have paid $40-60 for at the store.  If you have been wanting a wreath, this post is for you. This would also make a nice gift.  Thank you to my sister for suggesting this DIY project! 

Standing Desk Project

      I have been wanting a standing desk for some time now, because sitting all day is killing my lower back.  My cubicle space had a cabinet hanging from ever wall, so elevating a computer monitor was not possible. When a new cubicle space opened up and I saw it had an open wall, I started planning my stand up desk!!!

     Now you can buy a pneumatic sitting/standing workstation for $500, but there are cheaper DIY options. So I started searching the interwebs and came across this YouTube video.  I knew this was the hack I had been looking for: simple, affordable and it used Ikea furniture. Here is the stuff needed from Ikea:

• Lack table 
• 2 Ekby Lerberg Brackets
• Ekby Laiva shelf
• 4 screws

     I told my boss and he seemed very open to the idea, but once he saw the You Tube video he deemed it "jankie".  My dream of a stand-up work station was shut down.  However, I wanted to share this information in hopes someone else can take advantage of it.  If you need convincing siting is bad for your health, read these articles:

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/25/135575490/sitting-all-day-worse-for-you-than-you-might-think

http://lifehacker.com/5879536/how-sitting-all-day-is-damaging-your-body-and-how-you-can-counteract-it

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/sitting-unhealthy/#axzz2iaUlPNe4   

     If anyone else has other suggestions please let me know.  I am not giving up on this yet and neither is my chiropractor.  Where there is a will, there is a way.

DIY Halloween Costume V: Happy Halloween!

   

     Happy Halloween!  This is the final installment of my quest to make my own Halloween costume and I think I actually pulled it off!  Last year, I stressed about my Halloween attire.  This year, I enjoyed making and wearing my costume. 

    I was very hesitant to do a DIY costume. I didn't think I had much crafting skill.  My costume wasn't perfect or professional looking, but I was okay with that. It was fun, flirty and comfortable. So what where my DIY takeaways:

Cons:

• Cost. DIY does not mean cheaper.  The costume http://www.costumecraze.com/SA970.html I was considering buying was about $200. I ended up almost spending that much on my DIY peacock (dress $85, tulle and ribbon $40, feather and tiara $25)
• Time.  I spend a good amount of time planning and crafting. Clicking a button online and typing in a credit card number would have been a lot faster.
• Quality.  I am a perfectionist and my costume definitely looked DIY. Also there were no guarantees that any of my ideas or plans would work.

Pros:

• Crafting confidence.  It got the creative juices flowing.  I really enjoyed planning it out and being crafty.
• Multiple uses.  I have a semi-dressy blue dress that I can wear again. (I already planned to pair it with a lace jacket and wear it to my birthday dinner).  Also the leftover tulle was used to make other outfits (see the Facebook page for the mini Roxy peacock and Octoberfest running tutu).
• New Skills.  I learned some new skills in makeup and tutu making that will last me beyond Halloween. I may also get a color analysis done and really get my style on.

     Would I DIY a Halloween costume again?  Absolutely! Thank you for following along on my crafting adventure.  I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween.  May it be all treats and no tricks!

DIY Halloween Costume IV: Hair, Makeup & Glitter

This is the fourth installment of  my quest to make my own Halloween costume.  I struggle with all thing related to fashion and crafting, so this is going to be a challenge. My goal is a DIY peacock. Something that is not overly sexy, but still cute. So far, I've got a blue dress, a tail of tulle and a feather head piece.  This week's task is makeup and hair.

     I was just kidding about the glitter- it just made the title sound catchier. After working with feathers, I was not about to add glitter to the mix.  Makeup was going to be a challenge enough. I seemed to be missing all the girly-girl genes.  So of course, I turned to You Tube and watched a ton of tutorials on creating a peacock eye.

     Researching makeup, led me down a million rabbit trails. I ended up subscribing to a bunch of beauty channels and looking into getting a color analysis done.  This led to a cleaning out of my wardrobe and organizing of my jewelry collection.  Somehow, I also wound up online shopping for deals and signing up for ebates.

     To tell you the truth, I still have no solid plan for my makeup. What I do have is more confidence in my ability to just work with it that night. My sister lent me her Stilla palette which has a bunch of eye shadows, blushes and lipsticks and I have just been playing around with colors. The peacock will be a mix of purple, blue and green eye shadows- that's all I know for now.

     As for hair, I put on my feather tiara and took a picture of it with my hair straight and curled.  Comparing the pictures, curled was a better match for the look. Peacocks are bold animals and big volumized curls seem more attuned to the overall look.  That was easy!

     I think, I finally learned to embrace my creativity and trust myself when it comes to style and fashion. I certainly learned a lot, but there is so much more to learn and I am excited to do so.  Maybe you'll see more blogs on this topic. For now I will leave you with 3 of my favorite makeup products:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion If you eye make-up doesn't last, this is a must have. One vlogger described it as "stopping the creasing and greasing". Amen!

• Zoya Nail Polish  I rarely paint my nails because the polish doesn't seem to last.  I tried the base coat, polish and top coat from Zoya and found a polish that lasted through 6 days of life (including CrossFit barbell work).  I got compliments on my polish job- maybe I do have some girly-girl genes?

•  L'occitane Shea Butter.  I love this for chapped lips or dry skin, especially this time of year when the weather turns cold.  You can even apply to eyelashes for a fake mascara look.

DIY Halloween Costumes III: Tiaras & Feathers

This is the third installment of  my quest to make my own Halloween costume.  I struggle with all thing related to fashion and crafting, so this is going to be a challenge. My goal is a DIY peacock. Something that is not overly sexy, but still cute. So far, I've got a blue dress and a tail of tulle. This week's task is to make a feather head piece.

     For the headpiece, I  again turned to Pintrest for ideas. The majority of images were of feather clips. I thought the dress and tail of tulle were kind of subtle, so the headpiece really needed to say Peacock.  The headpiece, needed to be the center piece of the costume, so I turned to feathers and a tiara. 

     I went to Charming Charlie's and got the most basic tiara. I needed something without a lot of detail because I was going to cover it in feathers.  I got an assortment of peacocky feathers from JoAnn's and Michael's. Again I had an idea of what I was going to do, but wanted to remain open to other creative possibilities.

     First, I took YouTube's advice and covered the tiara in dark blue felt. This created a smooth surface for me to work. Most importantly, I focused on feather arrangement rather than covering the tiara in feathers. This was really key to the success of this crafting project.  Next, I laided out the feathers and glued them on layer by layer.  Feathers, feathers everywhere! This was almost as messy as working with glitter.

     The result was exactly what I wanted- a feathery headpiece that said Peacock. I had some leftover feathers, so I made an accessory for the tail ribbon where it ties up front. That means, I am all tulle in the back and all feathers up front. Yeah!  I never wear feathers in real life, but maybe I should because they are fun!  Here is how the pieces turned out:

Links:

Pintrest

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=peacock+headpiece&qpvt=peacock+headpiece&FORM=IGRE

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvl_D1CIdCY

DIY Halloween Costume II: A Tail of Tulle

This is the second installment of  my quest to make my own Halloween costume.  I struggle with all thing related to fashion and crafting, so this is going to be a challenge. My goal is a DIY peacock. Something that is not overly sexy, but still cute. So far, I've got a blue dress. This week's task is to make peacock tail out of multi-colored tulle.

     I  got the idea for a tail of tulle from Pintrest.  I heard that making a tutu was pretty easy and I thought why not do a half tutu and call it a tail? Brilliant-right?!  My next stop was YouTube for an instructional demonstration.  Remember I am bad a crafting, so even if something is considered "easy," I worry.  You Tube reassured me and I was ready to get some tulle and start.

     To foolproof this crafting event, I decided to order Tulle Spool.  The tulle comes on a roll, six inches in width, so all I would need to do is cut it to the desired length. Choosing the "right" colors was the hardest part of this project. Why does tulle come in so many different colors? I finally decided on navy blue, royal blue, purple and emerald green.  I also got some iridescent teal ribbon. 

     I felt very prepared and began working on it as soon as I got the supplies. I decided to cut the tulle into different lengths (6ft, 4 ft, 5ft and 3ft- folded over it is half the length).  I had an idea of what I wanted, but remained flexible to changing the plan up as needed. This was key to me not having a crafting meltdown.  The tulle was really easy to work with and the colors went well together. What really made it pop is the iridescent ribbon.

     Honestly, the picture does not do the colors justice. In person, it is flowly and sparkly- very flirty! I actually had a lot of fun making the tail.  I think I may have some creativity in me. In fact, check out the Rice Kracker Girl FaceBook page this week to see what I did with all the leftover creativity and tulle :)

Links:    

Pintrest

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pintrest+peacock+halloween&qpvt=pintrest+peacock+halloween&FORM=IGRE

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTXo6uv9HxA

Tulle Spool

http://www.amazon.com/Expo-Shiny-Tulle-Spool-25-Yard/dp/B007RDZSA0/ref=sr_1_13?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1380747804&sr=1-13&keywords=tulle+on+a+spool

Iridescent Ribbon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005X5OX7S/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

DIY Halloween Costume I: The Plan

This is the first  installment of  my quest to make my own Halloween costume.  I struggle with all thing related to fashion and crafting, so this is going to be a challenge.  

    I know Halloween is weeks away, but the earlier I start on my costume the better!  Last year, I was in a total panic. I ordered 7 costumes on-line and prayed one of them fit. One did fit, the last one that I got!  You can imagine how stressed I was with 6 costume fails.  Yet I am not complaining, Halloween is a fun holiday and I like dressing up. I just need to get better at it!

     This year I decided to start very early (I started mid-September).  Looking at the pre-made costumes, your choices are slutty or matronly. There doesn't seem to be anything that is in between. I wanted something that is cute and little sexy.  I decided I am going to Do-It-Myself (DIY) this year.  This is going to be a challenge because crafting is not a natural talent I possess. Thank goodness there is Pintrest for ideas and YouTube for instructional videos.

     My costume idea is peacock. So far I've got the blue dress.  I ordered 6 different dresses and this one came last (again)! It was a good fit and nice color, so the crafting can begin.  My costume crafting plan is:

• Make a peacock tail out of  multi-colored tulle
• Make a feather hair piece and a clip for the tulle tail ribbon
• Learn how to do a peacock eye with makeup

     I am going to be posting each step, to help keep my progress in check. I am simultaneously excited and worried.  One of the reasons I find crafting frustrating is it never turns out like I picture it in my head.  Oh well, I am going to give it a try and hopefully there is minimal crying and gnashing of teeth. DIY- a trick or a treat?