DIY Coasters

Are you ready for this?  I am turning crafty :)

After talking to my friend Allie, she gave me this great idea on how to make my own coasters.  Not only that, she was gifting them for Christmas presents which I thought was an amazing idea as well.

After taking the reins and trying it out myself (along with my sister) I wanted to share with all my lovely followers.  So here we go....

Supplies:

• Modge Podge*
• Polyurethane*
• Paper of your choice* (a little bit thicker paper is better)
• 2 Sponge Brushes (one for the Modge Podge and Polyurethane)*
• 4-6 Tiles (Depending on how many you want of course)**
• Rubber or Felt Pads/Dots (To place on bottom of tile to avoid slipping- I prefer rubber)*
• Scissors
• Plastic Bag 
• Pen/Pencil

* Can get at Michael's or Hobby Lobby

**Can get at Home Depot ($0.16/ea)

Step 1: Lay out the plastic bag and set all supplies on the bag to avoid making a giant mess of yourself. 

Step 2: Trace the tile on the paper using your pen/pencil.  Cut out each square.  I found that even tracing them the paper is a tiny bit too big when placed on the tile so you may need to trim it down a bit to fit right on top of the tile. 

Step 3: Lay out your tiles.  Use one of your sponge brushes and either dip into the Modge Podge jar (option to pour into a bowl - may be easier). Paint the top and sides (just because I like to get all my grounds covered).

Step 4: Place the cut out squares of paper on the top of each tile.  Hold down for a minute to make sure to get any bubbles out.

Step 5: Apply Modge Podge on top of the paper (and on sides of tiles to make sure paper is secured to the tile).  Wait for first layer to dry (wait about 2-3 minutes) and add a second layer. Don't glop on the MP!

Step 6: Wait about 30 minutes for the tile to dry. Take the second sponge brush and dip it into the Polyurethane can.  Brush all of the tiles with the Polyurethane.  A little bit goes a long way.  Brush the top and the sides again. This will help make your tile waterproof so when you put your cup on the tile it won't ruin the paper on top.

Step 7: After the tiles are dried, add either the rubber or the felt pads to the bottom of the tile.  Another option, provided by my mom, is to add an entire layer of felt padding on the bottom of the tile.  Totally up to you!

And you're done!!! Check out our final product....

Mine 

Katie's

In fact, I am using mine right now.  Now go one and try it out yourself! Good luck and let me know how it goes.  I'd love for you to send pictures and I can post them up on my blog to show off your great work.

As for the giveaway winner... drumroll please.... the winner is:

Rachel with "Reckless Abandon Cook"

Thanks everyone for participating and thanks to Alana from Make Pie Not War!!! 

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Fish Tail Braid Tutorial

After many requests I figured it was high time to show this.... It's awkward, self made and amateur but hopefully someone gets something out of it.  Feel free to email me with any questions at lmajor9 (at) gmail.com.

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Teach Me.

So this year I stumbled across this blog called "From Me To You."

I LOVE this blog. There are always unique photos I can look at to get inspiration to continue to practice my photography skills.  Recently I've become intrigued by her cinemagraphs. I lied, this is not recent, this has been an ongoing. Every time I see her post one of these I am always in awe on what beautiful pictures they are and how in the world she does it!

Anyone else ever heard of a cinemagraph? Me neither.  Well not until I Googled it, determined to figure out how to do a photo like this myself. My Googling got me here while "From Me to You" also shared some juicy deets. While I am still trying to figure out how to get this to work, I thought I'd share it with you in my exploration phase.

Has anyone tried this photography technique before?  Feel free to send it to me and I'll share it with everyone.

Pretty cool huh?

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Canvas & Cocktails

So this work life balance stuff is a lot harder than I anticipated.  By the time I get home I'm wiped out and finding time to blog has been a little more challenging than I'd like to admit. But here I am! I will NOT give up!

But trying to work on the "life" side of things, I wanted to mix up my weekend activities.  My friend Kara had showed me this place in Denver called "Canvas & Cocktails" a while back and thought it was high time I checked it out. After looking through their different canvases for the weekend, I made my decision! Sunday night painting the mountain lake canvas it was.

My friend Teale came along for the ride since she was also interested in what this place was all about. I mean drinking and painting.... what could be better?

You ask drinking and painting? Why yes! Basically you buy a canvas for $25-$35 and get paint, paint brushes, and a teacher.  The teacher stands up in front of the class and paints along with us telling us the step by step on how to paint the picture of the day. In between you get to listen to music, talk, and drink.  There is actually a bar in the shop! Teale and I each bought a bottle of wine and went to town on our artwork. Beautiful, right?

My painting on the right

If you are ever in Denver, I would highly recommend it as something fun to try out! Clearly we had fun :)  What do you think of our paintings?

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Bracelet Swap Numero Dos!

I loved it the first time so I did it again!

Meggy from ChasingDavies hosted her second friendship bracelet swap and I couldn't wait to be a part of it! I had so much fun the last time making and getting my bracelet, I had to partake.  However... I did not take the fact I was moving, starting a new job, trying to get my life organized in general while maintaining some sort of social life. That aside, I made a commitment and I knew I wouldn't regret it so I took the dive and signed up for the swap.

My partner... Suzy from Bichonluvr's Closet.  She's from Virginia which made it even more fun! I've never met anyone virtually or in person from Virginia. Now I have a  new blog friend there!

With both of our schedules crazy busy we agreed on pushing the date back a bit so we could give our bracelets the dedication they needed. I took a trip over to the local Ace Hardware store and went to town. LITERALLY.  I came out with more nuts and bolts than I needed for five bracelets! Typical of me.

Welp after looking at Megan's bracelet Pinterest board, I got a few ideas. I loved making the last bracelet I made for GS Lillian based on Honestly WTF's DIY guide, so I opted to try it out again but get the right supplies this time.  Last time I used the wrong thread and leather, it turned out decent, but I wanted to do it RIGHT this time!

After finishing that one up, I was still in an artsy mood so I made another bracelet for Suzy. Megan made this one a while back and said it wasn't too hard to make, so I gave it a shot.

You'll have to pop over to Suzy's blog to check out the final products.

Now for the best part.... What Suzy made me! Would you believe it was the same bracelet I made for her! The Honestly WTF Wrap Bracelet. How funny! What was even more crazy, I decided to make mine a double wrap bracelet.  Last time I tried the one time wrap, and went crazzzzzzy this time around! She did the same thing! Great minds think alike I guess!

Without boring you too much about my obsession with this bracelet swap I'll show you the final product form Suzy.

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Love Letter.

Still pondering some V-Day ideas? I feel like now that the big day is getting closer I keep getting these random ideas that pop in my head, or someone tells me about, or I run across something in someone else's blog that gets other thoughts flying through my head, you get the point.

I love when that happens and then hate when that happens because it's never ending.  How do you know which idea to go with?

I love the idea of a love letter.  They can be long, short, straight to the point, dance around the reason WHY you love someone, from a secret admirer, from your crush, from your loved one, from your family.   If you have the ability to share with someone just how much you care about them, why not write it down and let it be known?

I took a similar approach here.  Straight to the point. "I love you with all of my heart." It encompasses all of my feelings in a short sentence, but has so much meaning behind it.

Love is in the Air...

For my weekly gift idea for a Valentine's Day, I came across this picture when messing around online and fell in LOVE with it.

I love converse shoes... and love the idea of making something that would normally not strike you as romantic, romantic. It is who is behind the photo being taken and the extra effort they go to show someone how much they love and care for them.  With that said, I wanted to attempt a similar picture of my own with my very own converse shoes inside (since it's still disgusting outside here in Kansas City).

Props to Tyler Burrus for the photo idea and being an inspiration!  If you have a favorite pair of sneaks or something with laces (i.e if you're a runner and you and your significant other are active people could be fun to use your running shoes!) you can try it out yourself.  OR if you are interested I can send you this photo!

If you want to take it a step further.... this weekend I also came across this great blog Between the Lines which featured some awesome ideas for vintage style frames that you can do yourself which would look great with any picture!  I thought this was such a cool idea and cheap too especially if you hit up your local Hobby Lobby when they are having their 50% off frame sales (which I feel like is ALL THE TIME).

"Between the Lines" DIY Vintage Style Frame