DIY Glitter Mix

Random Fact #1 - I love the color blue :)

I am working on a small project and decided it needed some sparkle. I prefer to add in that sparkle with either a gloss glaze/topcoat and/or glitter. I know a lot of crafters shy away from glitter for the mess it creates, not to mention the fact that it gets EVERYWHERE. But I figured that as a crafter, things are already destined to get pretty messy. So no need for me to try and create less mess and risk being disappointed in the results. 

The exact hue of blue I was looking for, I did not have. However, I did have a pretty aquamarine and a royal blue that I thought would look amazing together. Turns out I was right :) The royal blue stands out as the main color, but there are some pretty awesome specks of light given off by the aquamarine. 

Just in case you are wondering, I purchased the small glitter packs from Michaels in the kids crafting section. There are a multiple glitter pack combos to choose from at only a couple of dollars. 

Don't shy away from the glitter! Try out some mixes and let me know what you come up with! 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

P.S. Photographing glitter to capture the beauty of the bright colors is hard! I hope these pictures do help give you a good idea of the actual color :)

Crafter Tip #1

My best friend as a crafter is my hot glue gun. I love it for a quick bond and its simple design and function. 

However, sometimes things can get a little messy as far as burning fingertips and hot glue drips on various surfaces when not in use. 

While shopping at Walmart, I ran across some silicone pot holders with groves placed throughout. This silicone oven mitt is now my hot glue gun's best friend. It catches all the drips (which do not stick) and the gun is able to stand upright in the groves when not in use. 

If you are looking for a cheap way to keep your hot glue gun ready on any project, I feel this is your best bet. 

Try it and let me know what you think! 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 

B  

DIY Tree Skirt

My daughter has an adorable mini tree in her bedroom during the holiday season. It sits on her dresser and livens up her bedroom with it's bright gold color. We purchased the tree from Target's Dollar Spot last year along with the mini ornaments. She is fascinated at the fact the  tree is gold and loves having it in her room. 

This year, I decided the tree needed a simple tree skirt to cover the unsightly base and bring a lil more pizzaz to her bedroom. 

I used a large pasta strainer to cut a circle of felt. The circle I needed was bigger than the felt so I just hot glued two pieces together. I used two complimentary hues of pink to add some extra eye candy bordered with glittery gold ribbon to match the tree. The final details included adding some pink rhinestones around the edge and a small bow made with pink ribbon. 

As all the actual gifts will be placed under the bigger tree in our family room after Santa comes, we added some Doc McStuffins characters to keep the tree company :)  

We absolutely love how it turned out and hope you are inspired to make your own! 

Enjoy scrolling thru some more pictures and let me know what you think :) 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 

B  

New Logo!

I made myself a logo, y'all! 

If you have been following me for a bit, you may have already noticed the new logo as I completed it this past summer. However, I figured I should also officially post about it as it is a pretty proud moment for a self proclaimed non-tech persons like myself :) 

It took some time, but I was able to play around and create something that I like :) I have always had a fascination for flowers and the color blue, so of course thats what I used. It was a process, from playing around with some intricate geometric shapes and then ending up with this. 

I did all my creating and editing online at PicMonkey, after a ton of doodling, and saved the image to my computer. 

Yay for diy logos! 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Banner #2

Didn't take long for the banner bug to bite again - and this one I can keep up all year long :) 

Of course I had to make something for my daughters room. Her current bedroom is Doc McStuffins themed and the main colors are pink, teal, lime green and a touch of purple. I didn't want to make her banner super busy and decided to stick with only the main 2 colors. I am happy with how it turned out. My daughter loves seeing her name on the wall and that's all that counts! 

As always, the fun is in the embellishing! I added rhinestones, bows, hearts and paper punched shapes. I also outlined her plain white letters with a neon pink highlighter, for an additional pop of color. I left the hanging ribbons pretty long, but may trim it down at a later time, if I don't decide to tie them into bows :) 

For the time being, the banner is hung above her "Hello Beautiful" sign, purchased at Target. Unfortunately, the poster is not available online, however, you may be able to find it in Target stores. 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 

B  

Winter Garden

Cold, wet weather for me means I am staying indoors and bundling up. I am a summer baby and do not enjoy being outside for long periods unless I absolutely have to. 

However, I do have somewhat of a green thumb, passed down from my grandmother, and I love to garden. I was on Pinterest the other day and ran across a pin of regrowing green onions and even romaine lettuce indoors in a glass of water. Of course I had to put this one to the test. 

I love green onions as a garnish to many of my dishes and am always picking up a new bunch on trips to the grocery store. Green onions are not super expensive, but if I can save a couple of dollars, I will. Also, i think this counts as a pretty cool science experiment. 

A few nights ago, I cut off the root of my onions and placed in a shot glass of water. Today, you can see they are already sprouting, so cool! 

Excited, to see them full grown and ready to be used :) 

The picture above was taken with my Samsung Galaxy S3 and posted to my Instagram, be sure to follow @onnahandmade 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Winter Body Moisturizer

With the winter season officially beginning on December 21st, not to mention all this cold and rain we have been having, my skin has been craving a body butter. 

During the warmer months, I tend to solely use coconut oil. My preferred brand is Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil and at $5.99 it's one of a kind :) However, when that cold weather hits, my skin needs more moisture. 

To make my body butter, I melted a mix of unmeasured butters, oils, and fragrance to create a fabulous moisturizer that lasts. I have listed the ingredients I used below. 

Shea Butter 
Cocoa Butter 
Coconut Oil 
Olive Oil 
Honey 
Vitamin E Oil 
Lavender Essential Oil 
Bramble Berry Vanilla Bean Fragrance Oil 

I melted the butter, oils, and a squeeze of honey in a double broiler on my stove. Once melted, I turned off the heat and added in the Vitamin E Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, and Fragrance. I then let this mixture cool, whipped with my hand mixer, and added it to my repurposed Talenti Gelato container. 

Side Note: If you have not yet gotten on the Talenti Gelato bandwagon, I highly recommend it :) The flavors are absolutely amazing, my personal favorite is Carmel Cookie Crunch, and I have a habit of saving the containers to repurpose. 

This butter was very easy to make and smells delicious! The whipped consistency stays soft and is the perfect body moisturizer. 

If you do try this, tweak the recipe and the scents and let me know what you come up with! 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Happy Holidays!

Somehow every year, after Thanksgiving, when the tree goes up the holiday season finally seems real. I start getting in the spirit and wanting to play Christmas music all the time. I am no longer annoyed at the sight of Christmas decorations in the stores and the days seem to fly by while we are all busy counting down. 

After the family and I put our little tree up this year, I realized something was missing. My wall was a little too plain next to the beautiful tree. I didn't know exactly what to put there until I watched Belinda Selene's YouTube video on DIY Holiday Room Decor A banner was a perfect idea! I immediately grabbed some large stencils from Walmart and got out my stash of scrapbook paper. I measured and cut the banner shapes out myself and strung up the letters between ribbon and some thumbtacks. The letters themselves were a little too plain for me so I added on some gold christmas trees and pretty bows made with thin ribbon. 

I am so happy with my little wall :) I might be more than a little sad when the holidays are over this year, but I am enjoying it while I can! 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Pretty Bows!!! :)

Played around with some scrap ribbon to create some new bow designs for embellishment of cards, artwork and such. Also, with the gift giving season right around the corner, this would make a great gift topper! 

I used a hot glue gun to hold everything together quickly and made sure to burn all my ends to prevent fraying. 

After I was done, I got a little carried away with picture taking and have posted a few for you to view too :) 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

New Project in the Works

I was in Michaels not too long ago and did my normal, "I already got what I really needed and am now walking thru each aisle to grasp some inspiration". I am happy I had some time to spare and did so because I ran across some mosaic tiles. I also picked up a wooden picture frame and will be attempting my first project. I am excited! This will be my first attempt at this type of craft so I am hoping for  a happy ending. I have been self taught with each new thing I try and always learn from trial and error. Hopefully I will be posing a completed project  I am proud of very soon. 

Such gorgeous colors and composition! I have to find some other ways to incorporate these tiles into my other projects, namely jewelry ;) 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Operation: Fancify Desk

As of today, my daughter is 6 years old. I saved one of her old formula cans and have been using it to store a couple of my crafting supplies. The other day it occurred to me I should at least make it pretty as I do have to look at it everyday. Also, my crafting/work desk in in my master bedroom and I do not need any eyesores :) I painted it with white acrylic paint and lined the top and bottom with ribbon and rhinestones after a coat of glaze. I am very happy with how it turned out. 

It's all about the simple things :) 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

All you need is love - the BLUE kind...

When you have beautiful yarn, where can you go wrong? These standout bright blue shades are Knit Picks Palette in Jay and Crystal Palace's Mini Mochi in Neptune Rainbow.  I did order the Knit Picks yarn online, but the Mini Mochi was purchased in person. I had the pleasure of visiting the famous San Francisco yarn store Imagiknit a couple of years ago. Yay me for using up my stash! And if you have never been to Imagiknit, you must go. Both the customer service and the yarn selections are AMAZING! 

I recently watched Too Too Amy's great YouTube tutorial on quick and easy crochet hearts and found this yarn combo to be perfect. As you can see, I could not stop making them :) 

The turquoise section of the Mini Mochi proved to be my favorite as you can see :) But for each of the hearts, I have to say I am head over heels, goggly eyed for the Knit Picks Jay. Literally the perfect beautiful, bright blue. 

I'm now leaving you with two more pretty pictures, just cause I couldn't stop snapping and I'm hoping you can't stop looking :) 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Hand Sewing

Completed my first kit from Daiso! 

I found this store a couple of years ago and am so happy I did. The prices are amazing and the crafting items are perfectly cute and fun to play with :) 

I picked up the Felt Sweets Kit - Fruit Tart, earlier this summer and just recently had the time to sew it up. 

I did have a couple of mishaps on the crust and on the filling tip but, overall I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I also altered the strawberry's colors, using only red and white. The pattern had suggested using pink for the strawberry's flesh. 

The instructions were very clear and pattern pieces were very easy to follow. I would suggest making a photo copy of the pattern page to have the option of making this again and again! 

Below is a close up of the fruit details. 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Accomplished :)

It took a little while but I'm done! So happy and the floss looks absolutely gorgeous lined up showing it's the bright colors :) 

I did have more than I originally anticipated and wound up using both the box and its lid however, I am not complaining. I have exactly what I need and am ecstatic to not have to suffer through any tangles along the way. 

In love with all the colors but, I must admit I am very partial to the blues and greens :)

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Organizational WIP #1

It's been quite some time since my last post. One of the main reasons, besides uncontrollable life roller coaster events, is lack of organization on my part. I have the inspiration, the materials, the ideas, and the skills; yet lack the organization. 

I am making the conscious choice to organize one step at a time and in turn increase my productivity. This is definitely a step in the right direction for me and today is day one. 

Above you see my embroidery / craft floss collection. I have been storing it in a large freezer bag. Although this helps to keep everything together, it not very functional for when i need to use it. I have an old, durable box in the house that wasn't serving much of a purpose so i am repurposing it to store my floss. This will be very useful in keeping the floss tangle free and easy to access. 

So far, the winding process is slow yet relaxing. I am focused on the benefits, and it is making me happy.

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Mom's Day 2013

Happy (belated) Mom's Day!!! 

Above are some dishcloths/pot holders I crocheted for my lovely momma.

I used Lily's Sugar and Cream Cotton Yarn, the pattern can be found here. (Thank you Apple Blossom Dreams!) Pattern is very simple and this project is ubber quick to complete.

Side Note: I am in LOVE with the texture of these cloths. They are perfect for the real dirty work, I am all for saving elbows here :) 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Mother's Day

Happy belated Mother's Day!!! I hope it was beautiful for everyone. 

I know this special occasion has come and gone and I am super late getting this posted. I am still busy, busy, busy. I am hoping to get some blogging time in soon I really miss it and I have a million 'n' one updates for ya :) 

Anywho, getting back to the post at hand; I made my mom and grandmother some good ol' simple homemade cards and some one-of-a-kind flower pot magnets. The idea magically popped into my head Saturday night, remembering I had some tenny-tiny terra-cotta pots stashed away. 

I used felt, craft thread, yarn, paint, acrylic gems, and wire as my materials. And not to forget, the ultimate crafting tool- "hot glue gun". 

I began by crocheting circle discs then adding felt and acrylic gems to make the flower come "alive". Painted the pots in the chosen colors after first priming the pots with a white base. I attached a wire and glued it in the pot  along with some green wool yarn to serve as  faux moss. I then trimmed the yarn down so it would have that fuzzy effect.  Single coat of glaze with Triple Thick. I debated using a hot glue gun to attach the magnet and decided to use E-6000 instead. 

I am so happy with how they came out and am excited to possibly make more for sale. 

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Valentine's Day Crafts

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I was feeling crafty as usual :) I am in the process of making not one, but two different crafts.

First up is, gift tags. Earlier this week on Pinterest (love that site) I found a great tutorial from Make, Grow, Gather on making diy stamps using adhesive foam, an ink pen, and wood blocks.  I thought this to be pretty darn ingenious and I couldn't help but to try it right away. I don't have any wood blocks so I used my acrylic block designed for clear stamps. I am thinking that I can just remove the finished stamp from the block and attach to wax paper to reuse when needed.

The rinestone and paper punched heart were attached with Mod Podge.

Next up are some crochet roses. I used the method of making a scallop strip and rolling up. I had a lot of fun with these as they were super easy to whip up. All I'm missing now is adding a felt backing with a pin and hair clip. I am thinking I am going to make a ton more out of all colors and sell in my shop.

For now I am going to get back to crafting. I hope that this post has inspired some of you to do the same. Happy Friday!

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

My Poor Thumbs!

I finally made my business cards!

It took no time at all but it did require some serious thumb grease :) I had this idea floating around in my head for a while, I am really happy with how they came out.

I used:

• Avery Ink Jet Clear Easy Peel Address Lables #18660 purchased at Walmart
• DCWV Glitter Cardstock Border Stack from Michael's in the scrapbooking section
• My signature star punch and a rounded corner punch

I stared off by cutting the cardstock down to business card size, using an old business card as a template. I then attached my address label with my information printed on it to the top middle of  the card. I then used my star punch for the lower right hand corner and round punched each of the card's 4-corners.

Super easy and gorgeous! Lovin' the multi/bright-colors :)

Happy Holidays!

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B 

Etsy Sneak Peek- Polymer Clay Stitch Markers

Before:

After Glazing and Details:

I will be selling these in my Etsy shop in the very near future. Perfect for Halloween :) 
Useful for knitting, fits up to a US13 needle.

Candy Corn, Ghost, Skull, 2 Pumpkins, and a Orange and Black Polka Dot Cupcake.

Love. Peace. Happiness. 
B