Christmas Cheer

Some of my favorite ideas to get things ready for Christmas decorating! Cheap and easy ways to spruce up your place with the changing of the season. Stockings by the fireplace, hot cocoa

and marshmallows, scented candles! My favorite is decorating the tree and watching movies! This year I am finally going to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra!

Wreath All About It!

Anyone who knows me knows I am a total thrifter. They would

also know that I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS! Since this Summer I have been gathering pieces of Fall wreath inserts to make when the time would come and the time is finally here! The firstis a wreath I got at a thrift store, pulled the flowers and glue off, thenstarted adding my own bits and pieces.

The owl was $3.00 from Savers, large glitter sunflower, pumpkins and burlap flower each around $1.75 - $2.50 from Hobby Lobby, and the leaves are from Dollar Tree.

The pinecone detail is from an insert that I found this Summer on sale from Christmas wreath making from Thai Pan Trading for $0.39!

The Halloween wreath I made was cheap too! I used foam tubing

for $1.50 from Home Depot for the wreath. Covered it with chevron fabric I got on sale from Hobby Lobby, "Boo" and "Eek" detail also from Hobby Lobby that I purchased last year for under $3.00. Witch I got at a thrift store and repainted the wording to "Wicked Wishes", and the bow is off an old headband and threw it all together with a hot glue gun!



Pinterest has A LOT of fun wreath ideas. Check it out and follow mine here! http://www.pinterest.com/taylerannette/boards/

DIY Upcycle of an Old Picture

For a while I have been toting around a very large picture of Marilyn Monroe that I had bought for my first apartment as a bachelorette. I got it for fairly cheap but I no longer wanted to hang her up in my living room. Poor Mary. I had seen an idea on Pinterest and thought I could maybe cover it with fabric

 and turn it into one of those tufted headboards. I decided to take the less elaborate road and turn it into a large chalkboard instead. Here's how!

 

I have seen many recipes for making your own chalk paint but didn't want to take any chances in case it didn't work. I went to Home Depot and they sell it for as low as $9.99 

which is what I purchased and is shown below. I looked for thumb tacks at Home Depot, which came in packs of 50, I believe, and were about $2.99 a piece. I found tacks at Dollar Tree for a dollar a piece and came in packs of 100! 

First off, I sanded over the actual picture until smooth and painted around the frame. P.S. Isn't my mermaid over my oven the coolest?! From my Hawaii trip this last Summer!

 

When that was finished, I began applying the tacks. Since they were cheap, it was a little hard to push each one by hand into the frame without the nail breaking. They are a little uneven and not all were spaced evenly but I knew in the end it would probably look ok being as there were over 500 of these bad boys pushed in by hand. I tried to use a hammer and the nail would bend beneath the head. Let me just say that my thumb hurt for days after! 

 

When I saw the final product I couldn't help but feel it was worth the pain! :) I finished with a quick sandpaper rub on the frame for an antique look.

 

In my research of chalk paint and all its glory, I read that chalk markers can ruin chalkboard paint. I have bought several kinds of colored chalk as the colors catch the eye much more than the white chalk. So far, Crayola makes the best with their basic colors of chalk that goes on and wipes off simply with water and a damp cloth. 

 

So ladies and gents, dig out that old frame and create something wonderful! - xo 

Halloween - Dia De Los Muertos Sugar Skull Tutorial

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Sugar Skull Tutorial

I got SO many compliments on my costume this year! I was really impressed with the outcome as this was one of the cheapest costume's I've ever done. It was so inexpensive as I was able to use a lot of items from my closet. Below is a picture of my costume and prices for what I had to spend to get it all to come together. The majority were pieces I already owned so I counted them at zero. Such a steal!

I used a dollar store headband and flowers. Dyed and hot glued the veil (lace I got at a thrift store for $1.00) to the headband then glued the roses on top. The pearl detail is an old necklace that just gave it that perfect little touch.

The top is from Forever XI, skirt from Old Navy. I used a black belt I already had, plucked the roses from their stems and poked the tips through the belt holes. Genius!

Shoes are Delicious which I already owned. I used temporary tattoos on my chest from Dollar Tree and I'm really glad I did. It was the perfect touch for the final product!

Now for the best part... the makeup!

I used 90% of what I already had in my makeup bag. The only things I had to purchase for the costume were the gems (Dollar Tree) and eye black (Fred Meyer). All of this purchased new would probably be about $25-$30 bought at full price. Colors are not specific for this costume. I just looked at some pictures and based what I wanted from that and made the rest my own. 
It was so fun!

1. Wash face. (I left my mascara for more substance.)

I chose not to do a white face as I liked the plain look better and the white face paint is hard to draw details on.

 

2. Using liner, draw rings around both eyes.

 

3. With Q-tip, fill in the rings around the eye. Once full, I used my fingers to give the black a more even texture as the Q-tip was less messy but left lines.

4. Draw bubbles around eye black. Colored eye pencil is fun but the black stands out best. I sugget outlining the color in black if you decide to use a colored pencil for the bubbles.

 

5. Fill the bubbles with any color eye shadow.

I used blue. No reason other than to add some color!

 

6. Dab a bit of the eyelash glue on the back of your gems and stick in the bubble area. Don't do too much as it will make it more likely to slide around and takes longer to dry.

 

7. Apply your false eyelashes.

Not necessary but with 

such a dark area around the eye, I thought it would help give the actual eye a little more attention. 

(Using colored or glitter and/or jeweled lashes could be fun too!)

 

8. I added black and red glitter on top of my eye black to break it up a little. It sticks right on the makeup so that was an easy step!

 

9. Using your eye liner, draw lip stitches across the mouth. 

Be sure to draw your lips back tight during this step to get your lip lines straight. It can be a little difficult in the corners.

 

10. My headpiece covered my ear and sideburn area so I didn't draw back that far on my face.

 

11.  I created a spade shape on my nose. This part can be tricky.

 Be mindful of what areas you want to paint black  as you will probably get an itch or two!

12. Add any finishing details you desire. I liked the look of a big jewel on the forehead and lots of detail on the chin. I did two different drawings on my actual costume and on the tutorial. Do what you want and have fun with it - you really can't go wrong!

 

Happy Haunting - XO