Delicate & pretty paper roses.

I had sort of a bummer day, sorry if this video seems low-energy hah

Time for a confession -- I'm a total rock geek.

Ever since I was a kid, I've picked up the dullest, blandest rocks, collected them in piles until they overflowed on my shelves, hid under my bed, found their way into my backpack. I've always thought they were beautiful. I guess I had some stupid, childish hope that if I cracked them open, clear, smooth crystals would be hidden on the inside, contrasting the ugly exterior.

So when I stumbled across this simple tutorial on the web, I had to try it out! It's a do-it-yourself science experiment growing your own geode in only a few hours. All the credit for the idea goes to Martha Stewart and her genius home-making empire.

Here's what you need:

1. Blown-out eggshell
2. Alum powder
3. White glue
4. Paintbrush
5. Hot water
6. Food coloring
7. Spoon
8. Latex gloves
9. Newspaper

Now let's start growing our own geodes!

1. Poke two small holes in an egg, one on either end. and gently blow the egg out of the shell. Once the shell is empty, take a small pair of scissors and cut the egg lengthwise so that you have two halves.
2. With the paintbrush, apply a layer of white glue to the inside of the egg half. Once the concave is coated in glue, sprinkle with alum powder. Allow to dry overnight.
3. After waiting at least 6 hours, prepare your "growing solution." Boil 2 cups of water and add in a minimum of 30 drops of food coloring, the more drops, the more pigmented the geode. Fewer drops produce faintly colored, almost transparent, crystals, which are also quite beautiful. You can even skip the dye, the crystals come out clear and milky, like quartz.
4. I suggest wearing latex gloves to protect your hands from the dye. Add 3/4 cup of alum powder and stir with the spoon until the powder is completely dissolved.
5. Remove the solution from heat and let it cool down slightly for about 30 minutes. 
6. Pour into the plastic container and submerge the egg shell. Allow it to rest on the bottom of the container with the alum-coated side facing up.
7. Set it aside and let the crystals grow, undisturbed, overnight. The longer they're allowed to sit, the larger the crystallization. I recommend shooting for 12-15 hours.
8. Put gloves on to avoid staining hands with the dye. Remove the geode from the solution VERY CAREFULLY, I learned the hard way that the crystals are fragile before they've fully dried.
9. Place the egg on newspaper and let it dry completely before handling it.

And there you go! This can be a festive decorating idea for Easter, coming up in a few months, or just a pretty thing to set on the shelf. I leave mine out all year, dyed varying shades of blue and green to compliment the colors of room.

I wanted to share with y'all a little project a did a few months back. The inspiration came from my old kindergarten teacher, actually. She would give us kids coloring books, but instead of markers she would give us colored sand. You could paint a section with glue, throw sand on it, and the idea is that the sand only sticks to the glue. Since then I've played around with the idea, tried different mediums, different techniques, and such.

I finally decided I wanted to put a quote on my wall.

What I should tell you upfront is that this is - as far as i can tell - PERMANENT. You might be able to sand it down or chip away the grainiest pieces... but I wouldn't count on it. Think of it as a tattoo. Put in a lot of thought and make sure you're happy living with the design.

You only need regular ol' elmers glue and some sand. I've collected little jars of sand from different beaches I've been to around the world, so now there's a little bit of Hawaii on my wall forever. :)

The premise is simple, squeeze the glue onto your wall in a pattern and throw the sand on it. You can glue as you go along or map out the whole design, but you're going to need to work quickly if you go that route. Fix all mistakes before the glue dries. The lines aren't perfectly perfect, so I went back with tweezers and a Q-tip to make it look more polished.

You're going to get a lot of sand on the floor! You're going to get a lot of glue on your fingers! Things are going to get messy, but it's worth it!

There are a few variations on this I can think of. If you want colored sand, just fill up a ziploc bag, add food coloring, knead, and let it dry in the sun. It might also be pretty if you use things that are similar to sand: small beads, broken glass, glitter. You could get really creative with it!



The final result is really beautiful. Sand is so small that it's possible to get really, really intricate, I'm so pleased  that I'm considering doing an elaborate mandala on the wall in my bathroom. The variations in the color of the sand add dimension to the design, and the tan could contrast really nicely on any color of wall. I like that the design is 3 dimensional. It comes off the wall and adds texture and uniqueness to blank walls. This idea is perfect to add a cute, beachy vibe to your space!

Leafy veggies are good on salads, and apparently they also make pretty floral stamps!

This is a really simple idea, I just used a knife to cut the base off of a head of treviso radicchio lettuce.



Press it on a stamp pad and then paper, wiping with a paper towel between uses.

This also works with other vegetables: artichokes, the stem of romaine, etc.
I thought this was a cute idea for cards and scrapbooks :-)

Infinity Bracelet

Recently I've been doing a lot of rock climbing, which requires learning a whole bunch of tie-in knots. My favorite one looks like a little infinity symbol, it's called the Figure 8 knot. Here's a basic diagram of how a Figure 8 is tied:

So I built on this idea and turned it into a really simple bracelet :)

The only thing you need is some chord! I've also tried using embroidery floss, twine, and hemp, which are cute variations. The embroidery floss is one of my favorites because it comes in so many colors, but it doesn't hold its shape as well as the other, stiffer strings.

Begin by doubling the string up and forming a loop with it:

Take the top of the loop in your fingers, twist it twice clockwise, and then feed the right leg of the string through the loop:

Pull tight. It should resemble an 8 or an infinity symbol:

Cute, right?! The final step is to put it around your wrist (you might need another person to help you with this step) and tie the two legs together. Cut off the excess and wear with pride.

DIY Book Wreath

In this day and age, paperback books are almost obsolete. Nearly everyone has a kindle. Newsletters are all electronic. Heck, even college textbooks have morphed into website subscriptions.

So I've found a fun idea for those old paperbacks, that is festive and perfect for this time of year! Librarians and book lovers, please avert your eyes.

It's an adorable, ruffled book wreath, that will last for many years to come. To make your own, your going to need a few supplies.

Supplies:

• 10″ foam wreath ($1 at Dollar Tree)
• Paperback novel
• Brown and/or gray craft paint
• Glue gun & glue sticks
• Small strip of ribbon
• A few paper towels

Instructions:

1. Gather your supplies, and clear a space!
2. Using the paper towels, I applied the brown paint to the edges of the book. I simply squirted some paint onto the towel and wiped it on the book. This is optional, but gives the book a vintage feel. I painted the brown first and then applied a bit of gray. To be honest, two colors aren’t completely necessary, so you can use just gray or just brown if you would like.
3.  Tear out a page of the book ROLL it up. Do not fold or crease it, roll! Next, glue it on to the foam wreath with the glue facing out.
4. You will do this layer all the way around the wreath. When you have finished the full circle, flip the wreath over. That layer will become the bottom. If it won’t lay flat, put something heavy on top of it to flatten it out for a few minutes.
5. Continue rolling pages for your wreath. You will now fold a little tab on the bottom edge and apply glue only to that tab. Work your way from the bottom of the wreath up to the top, finishing one layer before moving to the next. Continue rolling pages for your wreath. You will now fold a little tab on the bottom edge and apply glue only to that tab. Work your way from the bottom of the wreath up to the top, finishing one layer before moving to the next.
6. At this point, your wreath will be mostly done, but there will be some sections you need to fill in. It should look roughly like this.  To fill in your spaces, you’ll simply roll a page, apply glue to the ends, and just stick it in the wreath. The filler pages don’t necessarily need to touch the styrofoam wreath; they can stick to the pages already glued to the wreath if need be. Use the filler pages to fill in holes and add some height and visual interest to your wreath.
7. After you're finished filling in, flip your wreath over and glue your scrap of ribbon on the back to serve as a hanger. 
8. Let it dry fully! As an extra step, you can spray the whole wreath with hairspray, which increases the stiffness of the pages, but it's optional.

Enjoy!! :)

Christmas Nights, Christmas Lights

So we have these beautiful lights that we picked up last holiday season to hang on our front door.

They're gorgeous, but incredibly delicate. I pulled them out of a box, smushed under a hundred and one others, in the back of our storage closet. To my dismay, 3 of the glass globes had broken. I was so upset! The package came with extra replacement globes, but we had already used them -- hanging on our front door was traumatic to the lights, every time someone slammed the door too hard the globes banged against the wood and I grimaced.

Then suddenly, a light bulb went on in my head! (Pun intended)
I decided to make my own globes from more durable plastic.

This is a super simple idea that anyone can do!

You only need:

1. A string of lights
2. Ping pong balls

I picked up 30 ping pong balls at target for my string of lights. Expect to pay about 2 bucks per pack of 6. The next step is to use a drill or nail to poke a small hole in each ping pong ball. Wriggle the light light into the hole, and voila! A glowing sphere of light.

The best thing about this project is the versatility. The possibilities are endless! You can use a ping pong ball per light, but spacing them out also looks quite nice. Get festive with colored lights.

My personal favorite is blue light. I took a strand, popped some ping pong balls on them, and strung them around my room, which now looks like a gorgeous starry night.