Some BLUE-tiful Shoes! (Glitter shoes tutorial.)

I have been really slacking on sharing projects I have made lately (which maybe I will get caught up again soon), but this one has me so excited I just could NOT wait to show it off.

Guess what I made?

That's right! Glitter shoes! I am in love...

Here are the before:

Some really old, used-to-be cute shoes that are now really scuffed and...well, let's face it...ugly! Which made them the PERFECT specimen to experiment on the first time.

Would you like to make a pair of glitter shoes for yourself? Lucky for you, I took pictures of my process. Here's How:

You will need:
-Shoes of your choice
-Glitter of your choice (superfine seems to work best, but you could probably use other.)
-Glue (I used a Micheals-brand Mod Podge type glue.)
-Paintbrush
-Embellishments (optional)
-Hot Glue (if you use embellishments)
-Sealer (I use a spray paint Acrylic sealer. I believe it's called Crystal Clear, but any brand will work as long as it's clear.)

(Click on pictures for larger images.)

Step 1 (Not Shown): Give your shoes a good scrub down. I took a wash cloth and hot water and washed all the dirt and gunk off.

Step 2: Remove any existing embellishments if your shoes have them. I used a craft knife to cut off the bow.

Step 3:Put something inside the shoe to protect it from getting sticky or glittery. I used plastic grocery bags, but really, anything lying around would work.  You may want to tape off the bottoms of the shoes or parts you don't want to be glittered, but for this pair, I didn't bother since the soles are so small anyway.

Step 4: Use the paintbrush to coat the shoe in glue. I learned after the first one, it's better to do it in sections so you still have somewhere to hold on the shoe.

Step 5: GLITTER!!! Generously apply glitter all over the glued section, and shake/tap off the excess. (Put the excess back in the container when ready.)

Step 6 (Not Shown): If you choose to use some,  Secure your embellishments into place where you'd like. I used hot glue because I just had a few small things, but you may need to use other adhesive, depending on your embellishments.

Step 7 (Not Shown): Spray your sealer on your shoes according to directions, and wait for them to dry/set. (Mine took 2 hours.)

And.... Voila:

These pictures don't even do them justice. They are seriously sparkly and just beautiful!


I love that I took some old, dead shoes and not only breathed new life into them, but that they have been reincarnated to be BETTER than before.  I can't wait to wear them.  I could hardly tear myself away from them to come post this!

(How to Make) Yarn Wrapped Valentine's Wreath

It's almost Valentine's Day! You know what that means?! An excuse to put hearts everywhere (not that that I needed one) and a chance to make some fun crafts!

For me, that fun craft was a wreath. I decided a while ago that I wanted to make a Valentine's wreath, but did not know what. I am very into wreaths lately all of a sudden-which is actually pretty random because I never use to care either way for them before. (And I still need to share both my Halloween Wreath and my [second] Holiday Wreath from last year.)

After trying for a while, and failing, to find a heart-shaped wreath form for the project, I finally decided that I would just go ahead and make a round one. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so bought some hearts and flowers stuff, and decided I really liked the idea of a yarn wrapped wreath, so that's what I went with. I made this in about 2-3 hours a couple weeks ago.

I am really pleased with how this turned out. I just love how it's so simple, but at the same time, so charmingly perfect.  We joked that it looks like a little life preserver, and Shaun called it a "LOVE Preserver". So now that is its official name in our house.

If you would like to make one, too, here's how I did it. I am sure most of it is self-explanatory, but just in case:

1. Gather up your supplies.

You'll need:
-A Styrofoam wreath form (I found this small one at the dollar store back when I made this wreath, and just grabbed a few-it's about 9 inches across)
-Yarn in color(s) of your choice
-Things to decorate the wreath if you choose (not pictured)
-Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue

2.  Decide on a pattern for your yarn.

You don't have to mark on the Styrofoam like I did, but I did find that it helped me keep it (mostly) even sectioned and to make it easier to remember what I was working on. I actually made the yarn balls because one of my colors was tangled and after I got it sorted out, I made this size ball, and it turned out to be just about perfect for my project, but this is not necessary if you don't want to-you can just cut long lengths of yarn to work with at a time.

3. Hot Glue the edge of the yarn to the back of the wreath, and then wrap the yarn around the section for that color.  Make sure to keep the yarn tautly wrapped around the wreath so it stays in place.  Remember to hot glue the end down once you get to the end of that section.

4. Do this a few hundred (or thousand?) times... Seriously, it looks nice, but does take a while. Your wreath  will start to look like this:

5. And then this...Yay, you're getting so close! You could even stop here if you like just the yarn-wrapped look.

6. Hot Glue any decorations you'd like to use onto the wreath where you like. (No Pictures for this step.) For mine, I used hearts that came in a roses stem that I found at the dollar store-one from each of my red and pink-and for the leaves and the curly-cues, I took off of some of my Christmas floral picks. (The nice thing about those types of things, they weren't specifically Christmas related so YOU can decide what you do with them.)

And.... Voila! You have an adorable yarn wrapped wreath to enjoy!

Mine is currently on my cubicle wall at work so it can bring me joy and be showed off. It does its job well, and everyone who walks by has told me it is really cute or that it turned out well. So I am pleased.

Here it is on our wall with a cute sign I got from Michaels about a year ago:

What Valentine's Crafts are you working on? (Or probably have finished by now...)

Memory Jars to Bring Happiness

By now, I am sure you have seen the Happiness Jars or Memory Jars all over the internet. Myself, I have shared the idea on Facebook several times and have forgotten to actually create one. Lather, rinse, repeat for a few years.

Well, this year, my friend Susan and I committed to doing it. So we each got our perspective jars (and then I ended up giving her one because I had so many) and she came over and we decorated our jars.

Now, it doesn't have to be decorated, but we figured something that looks pretty would inspire us a bit to use them. 

Here are our jars:

Mine:

Susan's:

I love Susan's glitter gradient look and her tiny heart on her lid. So cute!

The best part of finishing our jars was that as soon as were done, we each already had a memory to toss in the jars-spending time making crafty things with a friend. (Technically, I had already had one in my blank jar of the day my Cricut arrived, but still.)

I really like the concept of these jars because it is a reminder to remember the happy things, big and small, and technically gives you scrapbook fodder if you are one who does those things. And of course, jars are so easy to come by, who can resist making it into something happy. And I know Shaun is happy since I have a tendency to collect jars or, really, glass containers with a lid, so I am sure he is happy I am finally using at least some of them...

Did you create a happiness jar this year?

Cricut-Palooza! (Or, My first week of having a new toy.)

 Last week, My Cricut Explore Air arrived and I was very excited.

Since then, I have been playing with it and learning how to use it. I've made lots of random things so far and am getting the hang of it. This is my very first cutting machine, so I knew I would have a learning curve butI gotta say, I am hooked. :)
 

Reading instructions and learning how to use it.

Pushing the "go" button for the first time! How exciting!

 Here are things I've made with it so far:

Whee! Look at the machine go!

 The pride of the first project.

This was the card that came as a "starter" project with the machine. The software walked me through the whole process to make the card and what to do. I like that it was so easy to get it set up and running.

 I chose a snowflake to test the intricacy of how it can cut. Shaun and I were very impressed with it. This whole snowflake is only 2 inches square or so, as you can see by the measurement lines on the mat under it.  I used the pen to show size comparison, too. Of course, it snowed the next day, and we hate snow, so I joked that since the Cricut controls weather, I guess I'll make a thermometer showing 70 degrees...

Add caption

 With this, I wasn't sure what I wanted to make, but I wanted to see different sized objects, so I just stuck with a simple heart. I love that I can basically make things as big or small as I could possibly need!

 This is actually a mistake. I was trying to make simple card I designed. I thought by selecting "write"  for a certain layer and "cut" for a different part of it, it would cut out the black IN BETWEEN the silver writing so that it was both. I am still not sure how to do that part, but I know the option exists. Oh well, that's what experimentation is for, and I can always use the letters by themselves to make something.

 Here is a card I designed using a  blank pre-set card option that had the notches in the side, and used the write option to do the Thank You.

What thrills me is that you can use your own "system fonts" of fonts from your computer or that you download. I love that! I already used my fonts creatively by printing them, but now I can put it right on something with my Cricut, that is even more awesome!

 Some little speech bubbles I made with some shapes and some of my own fonts. I like that I can use the cut sentiments or the letters by themselves if I wanted.

 I had to test the "poster board" option. I cut some cereal box cardboard and just made whatever I had on the screen. This took me a few tries to get right, but once I did I was SOOO excited. I told my husband "see, I knew I was justified in keeping a bunch of random cardboard!"

Since I was getting used to the design software, and it's January and didn't have anything to decorate my desk with (I like to change the decorations every month), I wanted to make something fun for my desk. Here's the banner I designed in the software.

And I quickly learned how to place things so I can cut them all on one mat, instead of having to take everything off and replace it between cuts.  I was glad I could make that trick work. It's a big time saver when working with smaller items.

The finished banner. Not a great picture, but at least you can see the final thing.

 A card I made.  While at work, I randomly had the idea that it would be fun to make a card that says "you rock my socks" either as a Thank You card or just a greeting. So I uploaded a simple clip art image of socks and designed the card layer to be cut. I put some striped paper behind the socks, which, I have to say, works perfectly and looks like socks I would actually have. I put some other paper behind the cut out words, which I liked when I put it there, but now I think would look better if it were another shade of blue or maybe white since the rest of the card is blue. And I added the ribbon later. I was about to throw it out because it was just a scrap from the banner, but thought it would look cute, so just added it on. I like it.

And finally, something I was playing with today. I wanted to see how small I could make something. The smallest hearts are 1/4 inch each, and the bigger ones are 1/2 inch. I love that it can cut something that tiny. Which means, if I wanted/needed, I could technically make custom confetti. How fun!

I can't wait to try even more things! Those are the things I made just in my first week, I can just see how useful this will be to my crafting.  I am very excited.

Merry Geek-Mas

Earlier in the year, I started making ornaments for our tree. I was doing my usual Glitter and Paint Ornament thing and had an idea for some of the Olive-ish Green colored paint I have...

A Grinch! So I practiced a few times and then made this one:

After I made that one, and showed it Shaun and he was impressed with it (He thought it may have been store bought), I had the idea for other ones I would love to have for the tree including My Little Pony, Batman, and Captain America. We have yet to make Captain America, but we did get to make the others:

I say "we" because while it was my concept and I did the paint and some of the other stuff, It was Shaun's awesome drawing skills that really helped me bring the Cutie Marks and the Batman Logo to life.  I then wrote the names of the Mane Six Ponies on the back, in a style that they would use themselves, I imagine. I LOVE the way they turned out.

Here's how they look on the tree:

Our tree is kind of accidentally My Little Pony themed because in addition to the six cutie mark ornaments we made, Shaun gave me a set of MLP ornaments last year or the year before, and we have two foam ornaments we bought (Pinkie and Dash) and we bought a Princess Luna figurine ornament this year. So since it has so much Pony-themed  on it, I said maybe one year I will make the mini ornaments (like the paint ones) with the colors of the ponies and make it an intentionally themed tree. That could be fun.

What do you think of our "Geek Tree"? We LOVE it. Someday, we'll have even more of the things we love on it, too. :)