Snow Flakes Star Wars Version

Came across Anthony Herrera's designs a couple of month ago and I was mind blown! This guy is awesome and you can just download the patterns for FREE straight off his website.

They are a little challenging to cut but with a pair of sharp sharp scissors, exacto knife and time it is doable! TIP: try to cut maybe 2-3 pieces at a time when it is folded.

Here is my Darth Vader Snowflake!

Floral Nail Art

I know I know back to back nail art tutorials. What can I say a week of traveling has left me nail polish deprived! I used liquid sand while I was on vacation because it is super sturdy. But by the time I had my lay over in SeaTac ... there is a Butter London nail polish store there!!! The only one in the world!!! I was looking at polishes ... the more you buy the more you save! It was 2 bottles for $27.00 and I do not remember the next bracket price. But the girl saw me and asked if I was interested in a 20 minute mani for $26.00 ... I was like ummmmmmm because I usually do not like paying for manicures when I can do my own. So I said sure why not I have 3 hours to kill here. Then she said ... yeah you look like you needed one hahaha I am not offended because I knew they were quite raggedy for sure! And there is something about traveling that makes my hair and nails grow super fast.

What you will need:

Tools:
CD and paper towel
Nail art brush and little container of nail polish remover

Polishes:
Base and top coat
Blue - China Glaze: Electric Beat
Light purple - OPI: Done out in Deco
Dark purple - OPI: Louvre Me Louvre Me Not
Green - OPI: Jade is the New Black
Teal - China Glaze: For Audrey

Brushed Nail Art

What you will need:

Tools:
Nail art brush
Little container for nail polish remover (to rinse the nail art brush)
CD and paper towel

Polishes:
Base and top coat
White - used OPI: Alpine Snow
Grey - China Glaze: Recycle
Black - China Glaze: Liquid Leather
Sparkle (optional) - China Glaze: Tinsel Town

Start by applying the top coat and painting the nails white and letting it dry. Then going from lightest to darkest color (grey to black) leaving the sparkles last brush on little streaks of color. Finish off with the top coat. Done like dinner!

Brasil - Rio De Janeiro - Paraty - Sao Paolo

Hey guys!

Sorry for being MIA for the month of November! Anytime I go and come back from vacation there are many things to take care of around the house. Keeping a house hold running is not an easy task!

I went to Brasil for one week. Taking shuttle buses, over night shuttles buses around the country and local buses and subways is a very safe thing and not at once did I feel sketched out. Although everyone speaks Portuguese in Brasil my friend and I found the common language of hand signals works fantasically!

Do not go to Brasil thinking things are cheap because they are not! One night my friend and I wandered into a clothing store and the quality of the goods there were not so great but the prices were way higher than in Canada. We also saw many signs with 5x or 10x assuming it was an in store reward point system they had. It was not. The lady at our hostel in Sao Paolo informed us they were monthly payments, 5 months or 10 months. People in Brasil finance their clothing. This was something new to me and my friend. Imported products get taxed heavily and are prized in Brasil. Goods made in China are an everyday common thing to us Canadians but in Brasil they have a dedicated tag to themselves 'importato producto'.

Not everything is ridiculously expensive in Brasil there are street vendors and markets as well. My friend and I randomly wandered to a craft store that can rival those in Hong Kong. It was at least 5 stories high! A must see is the Saturday flea market in Sao Paolo, this is one true antique flea market. We were also lucky enough to catch the Sunday Hippie Market in Rio before I had to fly back home.

Side note: do not think you can tour around the fancy hotels in Rio De Janeiro. My friend and I decided to take a look inside the ballin' Copacabana Palace ... we did not make it past the second step inside the lobby ... we got escorted out not by one but two security guards in suits and ear pieces :D  

Would I recommend traveling to Rio De Janeiro - yes. Sao Paolo - maybe. Beach town of Paraty - yes but one day is enough if you are not doing the wilderness excursions.

Pumpkin Carving - using semi pounce technique

The previous post described how Michelangelo transferred images onto a canvas. I did a similar technique in transferring an image onto a pumpkin for carving.

What you will need:
- gutted pumpkin
- image or stencil of what you wish to carve
- small knife
- sewing pins
- exact o knife or a set of wood carving tools (purchased from Michael's for about $10.00 - highly recommended)

Step One:

Pin the image onto the pumpkin. Only pin in the area where you will need to carve.

Step Two:

Using an exact o knife make little puncture slits along the outline of the image - about 1cm in length and 0.5cm apart. Ensure to cut through the paper onto the surface of the pumpkin. Remove the pins and paper.

Not sure if you are able to see the little slits outlining the image but its there!

Step Three:

Using wood carving tools or a knife connect the dots and carve out your image! I purchased a set of wood carving tools from Michael's several years ago for about $5.00 after the 40% coupon discount  and to me its a really really good investment.

Michaelangelo and the Pouncing Technique

When Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel he used a technique called "poucing" to transfer his images onto the ceiling for painting. He would sketch the drawings on large pieces of paper then puncture tiny holes along the outlines of the images. These large pieces of drawings were then temporary placed onto the ceiling where he would dab a cloth wrapped in chalk along the punctures holes. Once the paper is removed little dots of chalk would be left behind. He would then use a paint brush to connect the dots and paint the image. 

Floss like a Boss

Yes this post is about ... Dental Floss!

It all started out when a friend mentioned about making a whole chicken but did not have twine and I blurted out non-waxed dental floss!

It worked!

There are many usages of dental floss than actually using it for your teeth. Even for flossing you're supposed to tie the piece of floss into a loop to floss instead of wrapping it on both your pointing fingers!

Dental floss is actually stronger than a lot of strings out there. If I were to pack a Bug out Bag aka survival bag I would definitely pack floss!

DIY:
- sewing - instead of using thread
- beading

KITCHEN:
- cutting cinnamon buns for baking
- sliding it underneath cookies to get them off a baking sheet
- cutting soft cheese
- tying meat for baking like drumsticks of a whole chicken
- tying herbs to throw into a stew or soup

MANLY STUFF:
- using it as a temporary shoe lace
- tying double zippers together to prevent them from opening up (sleeping bags)
- sliding it behind car decals to get them off of cars
- cleaning in between grooves of a bolt or screw 

GIRLY STUFF:
- wrapping it around your finger tightly to get rings off
- nail art
- flossing between makeup compact palettes to get them out to replace them

Adjustable Beaded Bar Bracelet ... or Necklace!

What you will need: 

- wire cutters
- needle nose pliers
- flat head pliers (optional and not pictured above)
- thin thin beading wire - 3inches
- braiding chord - 10 inches
- 1.5 inches worth of beads
- 1 bead of your choice (hole big enough to fit 2 braiding chord through snugly)

Necklace option: instead of the beading chord you will need chain (your desire of necklace length, clasp (instead of single bead), 2-4 O rings (2 to connect the beaded bar to chain and 2 to connect it to a clasp)

Step One: Wire wrapping

 Leave about 1cm of wire.

 Bend it over the needle nose pliers.

 Give it a little pinch.

Wrap the 1cm of wire around the long end with your fingers or with the aid of some flat pliers.

Should look something like the above.

Step Two: Bead and close the wire

Bead 1.5 inches of beads onto the wire and time to get the needle nose pliers again!

Cut off the excess wire and ensure no sharpness on either ends.

The finished portion should be about 1.50 inches.

**** OPTIONAL NECKLACE**** 

Instead of going further you can use the beaded bar portion to make a beaded bar necklace! Not all links of a chain can be opened so in this case you may need to use O rings on either side of the bar to attach it to the chain. SIDE NOTE: The chain method can also be used for a bracelet too instead of beading chord.

Step Three: Bracelet time!

Cut the 10 inch of beading chord in half. Tie one to either side of the beaded bar.

Step Four: Finishing off!

If you are having trouble threading the chord into the bead. Make yourself a threader using some dental floss! Thread a loop of dental floss into the bead.

Then stick the chord into the loop of the dental floss and pull the floss through including the beading chord.

The finished project should look like this! Remember to tie a little knot on either ends of the beading chord so it won't slip out of the bead.

Crimpping101

Beading is easy. Get a piece of string and string beads onto it. Finishing the project especially finishing the project professionally is the tricky part. The easiest form of making a bracelet without using clasps is the elastic stretchy bracelet. Even then there are different ways of completing the project. Some may just tie the ends together and hope for the best. I say hope for the best is because elastic chords over time will stretch out including the knotted part ... then BAM it falls apart.



The best way is to use a crimp bead and some flat crimping pliers.

XXXXX NO NO NO XXXXX:

!!!!!YES YES YES!!!!:

Once the crimp bead is in place properly. Pinch it with the flat head pliers then tuck the left over string into the beads on either side (hiding the lose ends).

Wire Wrapped Pendant Tutorial

Super easy circle wire wrapped pendant! Similar ones like these are selling for about $80.00USD ... well because they are 24K gold. The above pendant is less than $5.00 to make excluding the chain.

What you will need:

- the hoop is called a 'component' they come in different colors (gold, silver, gunmetal, bronze) and sizes (one used is 1.50 inches) purchased for about $2.00 from Country Beads
- very thin gauge beading wire (ensure it fits into the bead hole) - for the 1.50 inch hoop I used 3.00 feet of wire
- small beads (1.00mm to 2.00mm) - ones used are uncut Peridot and cut Moss Agate also purchased from Country Beads (PS: left over beads are perfect for this project because you don't need a lot)
- needle nose pliers
- wire cutters



Step One: Starting off

If using a 1.50 inch hoop cut about 3.00 feet of beading wire. Fold the cut wire in half and thread a bead to the center point. Twist twice to secure the bead.

Step Two: First bead

Place one end of the wire on either side of the hoop and twist the two wires together twice with the hoop between them to secure the bead onto the hoop.

Step Three: Beading onto the Hoop

Now your first bead is secured onto the hoop and you have two pieces of wire going either side. Work one side of the hoop at a time. Going from left to right - the starting point is having the wire under the hoop then thread a bead.

Once the bead is in place, pull the wire over the hoop.

Twist the bead twice securing it onto the hoop. Then pull the wire into the hoop so it is on the bottom again - the starting point. Repeat until you have about an inch of wire left. Flip the hoop over and do the same thing with the other half of the wire until the loop of beads meet!

Step Four: Finishing off! 

Once the two ends of beading meet twist the left over wires together about 3-4 times then cut off the excess and using the needle nose pliers work the end into the beaded area to prevent any jagged edges from protruding.

And you're done!

Sugar Sugar - Sprinkles on baked goods style!

Sugar, ah, honey, honey
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
Honey, ah, sugar, sugar
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you

(lyrics from Sugar, Sugar by Archies) 

 

I made cupcakes for the first time ever in my life last week! ... no not from scratch but from a cake box mix ... still counts! I wanted to make Breaking Bad themed cupcakes for the season premier.

 

 

I needed blue course rocky sugar sprinkles and I couldn't find the desired sizes Nor was I going to pay $3.00 for a pink lid container of sprinkles. Mind you it was $3.00 for only ONE color and if I wanted the multi color sprinkles for future projects it was at least $5.00. No way jose! 

 

LIGHT BULB moment!!! There is a type of Chinese sugar used to make desserts. It is called Rock Sugar. It is course, multipurpose and costs no more than $2.00 a box. However, you do need food coloring. A person really only needs 3 colors of food coloring: red, blue and yellow. All the colors of the rainbow can be mixed from these 3 primary colors. Food coloring is a tad pricey but I chose to invest in it because it can be used for all types of projects, requires only a drop for each project and it piratically lasts forever. Even tho they have a fancy lid I still store mine in zip lock bags to prevent evaporation. 

Rock Sugar can be purchased from any Asian super market. 

 

The photo below shows how the box looks like and yes that lump between the can of Red Bull (for size comparison) is the largest lump of sugar that came out of the box I brought. Its hammer time!!! Place the lump of sugar in between two towels and go at it. This way you can control the size of sugar lumps and sprinkles you want. Place the pieces of sugar into a bowl and drip one drop of food coloring into it and mix mix mix. I used a fork to sieve out the bigger pieces from my cupcakes.