Heart Accent Nail

Hi everyone! I wanted to post this before Valentine's Day incase you wanted to get a little festive but didn't know how! I'm going to show you an easy way to paint an Heart Accent Nail. Hope you like it! ^.^

Materials:

- 2 shades of nail polish (I used grey and pink!)
- Tape
- Scissors




Steps:

1. First paint your base color on your nails like you normally would. I used a subdued grey color as a base, but you could use red or pink if you wanted to really jazz up your finger nails for Valentine's Day!





2. Once your nails are dry, take a piece of tape and fold it in half. Keep in mind you'll have to be able to pull it apart though!

3. Now cut half a heart onto the folded part of your tape. Then open up your tape to find a heart shape cut out! I love this because there is no need for you to go out and buy a scrapbooking "heart hole punch", unless you have one already...

4. Tape that piece of tape over the nail you want to accent. With your accent color (I used pink), paint over the heart. If it gets on the tape no worries! I ended up putting it on my index finger nail on one hand and the ring finger nail on my other hand! Trying to keep things exciting, hehe.

5. Take the tape off and voila! a perfect Heart Accent!

What I've learned:

- Make sure your base color is completely dry! The tape could peel some of it off if you didn't wait long enough.
- When you fold your tape in half, fold it off center so that it'll be easier to pull it apart.
- When you paint the heart, try to use minimal nail polish. if you gob it on, it might smear when you take off the tape.


I am by no means a Nail Guru (a beginner if anything!) and I think this is a great step to trying much more elaborate details. I'm going to keep trying to improve and show you more quick and easy ways to "pretty up" your nails! I really like how my nails turned out and I hope you like this simple techinque too! :)


Happy almost Valentine's Day!


Alison

Adjustable Necklace Knot Tying

Hey everyone! For those of you who enjoy making your own jewelry specifically necklaces and bracelets, this might be able to help you! This is super easy to do so I hope you try it out!

Materials:
- Bead/beads
- String


I love that this can make the simplest jewelry a little more versatile!

Steps:

1. Tie a simple "Overhand Knot" with one end of your string to the other end.

2. With your loose end, do the same thing on the other end of the string (that you just tied). You should be able to move the knots along the string! This allows you to adjust the length of your jewelry!

Great! Here's what your necklace/jewelry should look like:

What I've learned:

- Make sure you use the right kind of rope or string. You don't want anything easily frayed or roughed up!


This is great for simple necklaces and bracelets! I really like that you can wear the necklace long or short depending on your outfit. I hope you enjoyed this post and that you use it too! :)

Keep on crafting!

Alison

DIY Corner Bookmark

Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile and I promise to try my best to blog more! I've bee doing a lot more reading on my commute to work and decided to make myself a simple, yet functional bookmark! This corner bookmark is super easy to make and you can really personalize it and make it your own. Keep on reading to see how to make one! :)


Materials:
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Paper
-Tape/glue
- Markers, pens, pencils etc.


I used a plain sheet of paper but you can use cardstock or construction paper of any color to personalize your bookmark! Make it really fun!


Steps:

1. Using my ruler, I cut the sheet of paper down into a 5x5 square. Then I trimmed the edges so that they were even on both sides, like in the picture below.





2. Now (this gets a little weird to descibe), cut what would be a small square out of one side of your paper. You should have an "arrow" shape now!







3. Fold the two ends of your "arrow" down so that you have a small square! After the second flap, take some tape or glue to secure it in place. Double sided tape works well or roll up your tape so that you won't be able to see it.





4. Decorate and personalize your bookmark! I wanted to keep mine fairly simple but decided to write a quote about reading on the back. Cheesy, I know... :)

Here's my Corner Bookmark!

What I've learned:

- Mark your measurements down in pencil lightly. They help a lot and you can go back to erase them.
- Whie plain paper works pretty well, I think using cardstock would be better especially if you want your bookmark to last you a long time.



I've recently started reading a lot more books which is actually part of my New Year's Resolution so this DIY Corner Bookmark project was great! I hope you liked this simple craft and that you try it out for yourself. What books are you guys reading and do you have any recommendations?



Alison :)

DIY Paper Gift Bow

Happy holidays everyone! 'Tis the season to be crafting! I tried making my own Paper Gift Bow this year because it's not only cheap but you can reuse paper that you were going to throw away anyways. Hope you get a chance to make some for this gift giving season!


Materials:
- Sheet of paper
- Scissors
- Tape
- Stapler


Steps:

1. Cut your paper strips out! You will need:

- 3 long strips/width of the sheet of paper (mine was 8.5 inches)
- 3 shorter strips (7.5 inches)
- 3 even shorter strips (6.5 inches)
- 1 very short strip (2.5 inches)

Depending on the size you want to make your bow, change up the measurements. Also the wider the strips the more difficult it might be to twist, so keep that in mind!




2. Take each strip and twist both sides so that the ends meet in the middle. Do each side one at a time and tape it so they won't move. Leave that little piece for later. Hopefully my pictures will help!

<<<<<<<<<                     >>>>>>>>>

3. After you make all your pieces, put together each layer (of 3 pieces of the same size) so that they kind of make a 6 petaled flower. Then staple all of them together. Largest one on the bottom, with the other two on top. Take the smallest strip and make a loop, holding together with tape. This will be in the middle of the bow, covering the staple. ;) Don't know if I'm making sense but I'm trying to... Pictures always help!

Here's my first Paper Gift Bow!




What I've learned:

-You can have pointy corners or rounded ones depending on how tightly you decide to twist your paper strips before taping them.
- I tried to twist them together more so that the corners would be pointy!
- Card stock might be a good alternative to paper if you want a "tougher" bow.


Why not recycle and save money at the same time! Added bonus: impress your relatives with you're crazy craftin' skills!

I liked this project so much! I want to try making similar stuff especially around the holiday season! Stay tuned for more! 

Alison :)