Glass Bottle Vase

Today my mom was doing some tile work in the kitchen, and I decided to try to use the tile cutter to cut some glass bottles lying around.

1. I taped off where I wanted to make the cut.
2. adjust the tile cutter's guide to match where you want the blade to cut your bottle.
3. add water to the tile cutter, and start cutting by rotating the bottle around slowly.
4. After cutting, remove the tape, and wash the bottle carefully. The cut part is sharp so do not touch it.
5. Start sanding. I used a sanding attachment with a drill, and sand all sides dipping in water once in a while.
Wash again, and you are done!

Taped off before cutting

unwashed after cutting

after washing

unsanded

My beer bottle cracked at the end of cutting. The glass was much thinner on the beer bottle, so I would recommend using a bottle with thick glasses for cutting.

After sanding

It is not perfect, there are areas where it chipped a little but it's fine for what I'm using it for.

Flowers

I love taking pictures of nature, especially flowers. I am still learning how to use my camera (Nikon D5100), it's definitely a challenge so far. Here are two of my favorite shots so far.

I just ordered the 35mm F/1.8 lens online, and I can't wait to try it out! I am also thinking about getting some macro attachments, if anyone have any experience with those, please let me know!

Glass Pendant-Making Class

Last week, my friend and I bought a Groupon for a Pendant Making class at Smashing Times in Dallas. When we arrived at the class, We realized we were the only ones attending this class on that day. It was such a fun time picking out our glass, and learning the process. Here are some pictures!

Before the pendants went in the Kiln

After the pendants were fired and bails were attached

The purple/pink one was mine, and the one with blue in it is my friend's. I am overall okay with the results, the only thing about them is that they are not smooth like I thought they were going to be after firing. The samples that they provided were all very smooth, and leveled. I just wish the "instructor" would have told us more about how they were going to be like when we were making them.

Dollar Store Find: Grow your own Crystal

This was in the craft section at Dollar Tree. They also had pink and green, but this was the only purple left. I have bought something similar to this before from Earthbound, but it was more expensive, and crystals were not what I expected.. (they just looked like white salt accumulated on the rock) I am hoping for better results this time.

Crystal Growing Kit

Crystal Growing Kit Back

opened kit

Here is what It came with. Tray, Stir Stick, 2 Rocks, and a pack of "Crystal Chemical". 

I made a mistake on this part, you are supposed to use HOT water to dissolve the chemical, but I was lazy and didn't want to use another container, so I didn't want the tray to melt if I put boiling water inside. so I only used warm water. After stirring it for 5 min, the chemicals did not dissolve all the way. 

After putting the rock in the water, I followed the instruction and sprinkled the rest of the chemical on the rock, and it accumulated itself on the rock, making it look like its growing crystals already.

The tray is very flimsy, so make sure you place the tray in something sturdy so if you can move it around if you desire.

I hope I'll get some beautiful crystals, but if not, its okay, because I still love watching the process of crystals forming. I will keep you updated on how this turns out!

UPDATE:

Here is my end result of my crystals.

A little disappointed that the crystals didn't end up on the rocks, but still pretty cool.

Dollar Store for Inspiration?

I love going to different stores for inspiration. Anthropologie is definitely one of my favorite. But have you guys ever heard of someone going to the Dollar Store for inspiration? Sure, you can get inspired by all the finished products that you see on the shelves saying, "Oh I can make that!", but for me, supplies and "raw materials" are also great inspiration to me. Of course supplies and materials that cost a dollar is just the icing on the cake!

A little searching around showed I am not the only one who browse through dollar store to find things to use in their projects. There are websites such as Dollar Store Crafts, where people use all kind of stuff from the dollar store to make wonderful projects. I even found a Dollar Store Challenge, too bad that was over a while ago, or I would have entered my projects there!

I will be showcasing several of the project that I have done using things I found at the dollar store on this blog. So please stay tuned for more!

So this lead to the surprise that I mentioned from an earlier post. I had finally finished this project after having it sit there for a while. So here it is!

This pillow is made for less than $4! The casing is 2 Microfiber cloth from the dollar store! It is actually really really soft and fluffy. If you have some stuffing from around the house (in old pillows that you longer use) this project could be done for $2.00! 

The  microfiber cloth came in a rectangle shape, so all I did was cut it to a square and sewed them together leaving about 3-4 inches open on one side. After stuffing it,  I just hand sew the sides together. Super easy! it only took me so long because I couldn't find my needles to sew the sides close. 

The finished pillow is about 13in. X 13in. It is not huge, but just the right size for my bed. 

Please let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Glass Bottle Necklace

I made a necklace out of the nail art glitter glass bottles I mentioned in the last post. It was really easy. The heart was from a pair of earrings that looked horrible on my ears. and I got the flower from my front yard. The purple flowers were perfect. They were tiny enough to fit into the bottle. and the leafs looks wonderful with the color contrast. I have no idea how long I can wear this for before the flower dies. But I will definitely  enjoy it while it last!

If you want this to last forever, you can make this out of those fake flowers from the craft store. I recommend that you take your glass jar with you to make sure that the flower will fit inside nicely. 

Hobby Lobby also sells these jars with a cork top if you cannot find these at the dollar store. (you may also look in scrapbooking section if you don't see them in the jewelry isle.)

(Another option for your flowers to last is to let it dry first. After wearing this necklace for 2 days, the flowers has closed. but the leafs are still very green.)

Nail Art Supplies

I love going to Dollar Tree for nail art supplies. They have the "L.A. Colors Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer", which I own in almost every color. And recently, I found these tiny little glitters in glass bottles! (Donna Michelle Nail Art) These are the cuttest thing ever. You get 8 of them for a dollar, I am going to pick up more. They are just too cute.

I am going to use these glass containers for some necklaces too! The cap already have holes in them, so it would be really easy to make these into pendent/charms for necklaces. you can even leave the glitters in bottle which I might do. They also remind me of those rice necklaces that used to be popular.

Avocado in your Hair?

I love avocados! I love them with my burgers, tacos, in guacamole, smoothies, and avocado ice cream (By the way, Avocado ice cream is so easy to make! and it is delicious!!)! yum!  One more thing to add to the list would be.... avocados in my hair! Yup! When avocados go on sale at my local Sprouts farmers market, I always pick them up. If I can't finish eating them before they go bad... I use them in my hair as a hair mask/treatment. Every time I use it, my hair is so soft and silky. Here is what I do.

Avocado Hair Mask recipe:
1 Egg
1 Ripe Avocado

Mix the egg and avocado with a fork. When the mixture is smooth and there are no more big chunks of avocado left, apply to your hair. I like to separate my hair into sections and apply the mixture starting from the crown. Pile the rest of my hair on the top of my head after each section is applied. After all the mixture is applied to my hair, I massage the hair for a minute or two , and put it in a bun on top of my head. Leave it alone for about 30 min. After that, I simply wash my hair using shampoo and regular conditioner.

Avocado Hair Mask

I prefer this avocado mask with egg mixture because 1. It is super simple to make, and 2. It's easy to wash out. The egg also have protein which is good for your hair as well.

New Toy

DIY: Jolly Rancher Infused Vodka

I made some Jolly Rancher Vodka. It's super easy! I didn't even measure. ha

My bag of jolly ranchers came with 10 green apple, 11 blue raspberry and 15 watermelon. (16 for cherry, and 16 or 17 for grape)

You can follow the instructions from here. They also made Skittles infused vodka as well, but I think I'll stick with the Jolly Ranchers because you do not need to strain it since Jolly Ranchers will fully dissolve.

I only made Watermelon, Green Apple, and Blue Raspberry because I heard the Grape and Cherry taste like cough syrup. 

I used Kru 82 vodka! I bought it for the Bottle. Isn't that cool? I've never seen anything like that before, and this thing is seriously huge!! It weighs like 10 lbs!

Now I'm still waiting for the candies to fully dissolve. Can't wait to try them!

Poly-Fil's "Stuffing Stick"?

I was happily stuffing my newly made pillow with some Poly-Fil, and I felt something in the middle. I excitedly pull it out like a little kid pulling out toy from Cracker Jack box not knowing what it could be...

Turns out, it was a "stuffing stix". Before opening the package, I thought, "Oh interesting, I never bought stuffing that had one in it before." and then I tore open the package, and it was a CHOPSTICK! no, it doesn't just look like chopsticks, it actually is the exact same thing that you get at Chinese restaurants, but instead you only get one... It even has poorly printed instructions on the back. I guess the stick isn't too bad, considering I didn't expect it in the first place.

By the way, in the photo, my pillow was only half stuffed. I wanted to make a post about my uber cool "stuffing stix" when it was fresh on my mind. More about this pillow later! stay tuned!

You can NEVER have enough nail polish

Okay. I admit, I might have a little obsession with nail polishes, so you might not want to take any Nail-Polish-Buying advice from me.  Whenever I see a color that I do not own at the store, I want to pick it up. When I read forums/blogs with pretty pictures of swatches, I want to go to the store and buy more polishes. If I see polishes for sale, I will probably pick out a couple. Buying 1 or 2 a week or even month can really add up. Over the last couple of years, my collection grew from 20-30 bottles to about... several hundreds? The truth is, I am a little afraid to count them. I upgraded from using clear plastic shoe boxes to "Melmers", which is a cheaper Michael's version of IKEA's Helmer. The Melmer is actually very famous on the interwebs, if you do a search on google for Melmer, alot of images come up. I personally got the Melmer for several reasons:

1. Cheaper
2. More storage
3. Made of MDF instead of Metal
4. Its Modular, so I can get more if I wanted.

I actually use several drawers to store tissues, lotions, and just random stuff. It doubles as my night stand. I used this system for about 2 years. and I had ran out of space and had some over flow of polishes where I store in a crate (or just random places around my room). 

My Melmers. It is 2 Melmers stacked on top of each other with a wooden cutting board on top to increase the top's surface so I can put more stuff on it.
(the last drawer is full of my nail supplies from when I used to do acrylics, and it does not close all the way)

Then, One day my friend showed me a video showing a girl (Dulcecandy) making a nail polish rack. I loved it! I thought about it for a couple of days about how I would make it. And one day I started looking at youtube videos about making nail polish racks. THERE WERE A BUNCH, but only one stood out to me. Nguerriero19's video was clear and the finished product was what I was looking for. After I saw the video I could not wait one more day, and went out to buy the supplies right away. 

I got 3 foam board, hot glue gun, and hot glue. can you believe that's it?

I did make a few changes:

1. I did not use the Ductape on the lip.
2. The measurement for the front lip is 3/4" instead of 1'.
3. The 2 sides were 2 3/8 instead of 2 1/2 so it was completely flush with the front.

The rack is secured with some anchors to my dry wall on all 4 corners, I also put on washers to make sure it is very secure. Some of you might think, "Foam boards are flimsy! It will not hold up." I had the same thought when I first saw the video, but after I made the rack, I cannot believe how sturdy it is! If you secure it well to the wall, it should not come apart/fall off! I even put 2 rows of polishes on some of the shelves and it is not coming apart.

Here are some before and after pictures.

I am very happy with the result, my polishes are right on my wall where I can easily see them. But that also means other people can see them as well, and see how crazy I am with my polishes. 

I am planning on making one more. but next time I will probably  not use hot glue. I like the things I make to be perfect, and hot glue just do not give me enough time to line everything up exactly right. It dries way too fast and glue will seep out from the seams and if you look closely you can see the glue (I did add a line of glue to the bottom and use my finger to smooth it out, I do not recommend doing this becausemetimes so it will burn your fingers and you have to be very careful). I will probably use Tacky Glue, it seems to hold up quite well.  

Over all this project cost me a whopping $9. If you already have your glue on hand, and happens to catch foam boards on sale at Hobby Lobby, you can make this for less than $5. You just cannot beat that! I happen to like the look of white foam boards, but if you want to do black, It will probably cost a little more just for your information. 

Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from you!

DIY: Solar Light

I've seen so many Solar light jars that I wanted to make one myself, but instead of using jars and glass bottles that has a glass lid, I am simply going to use the light part as the lid! This is seriously one of the easiest DIYs I've done, and the results will surely impress!

What you will need:

Solar Garden Light - I got mine at Target for $2 WooHoo!!

Glass Bottle - I had this on hand, It was a bottle from my diffuser, similar to THIS.

Nail Polish - preferably a sheer pearly polish and a matte top coat. (optional)
E600 Glue

1. If your glass container has been used for something else, clean it thoroughly and let it dry completely.

2. Take the top of solar garden light off. If your lucky enough to find the exact same one at Target this step is easy, all you have to do is twist it off. The light that I got was designed with an on and off switch so it was meant for you to take the light off so you can turn it on and off. This is great because I am able to turn off the light when I don't want it to be on! If you have other kind of garden solar light, you  might have to use a screw to take the top off. 

Once you take it off, you want to test that the top will fit your container right. The mouth of my bottle is small enough where I still have access to the on and off switch. YAY!

3. Test out your colors! I used a clear glass lid that I didn't need anymore and swatched all the nail polish colors that I felt might work. Then, I turned off the light and took out my garden light to see which color I liked the best. I decided on a combination of 3 colors + matte top coat mixed together. I actually put a little bit of my chosen colors in a small glass container that I had just to make sure that it's the color i wanted. 

4. Pour your nail polish into your bottle. How much polish to use depends on the size of your bottle. Mine was pretty small so I used about 30-40 drops of polish total. (of course if you prefer a clear glass you can certainly skip the polish part.)

5. Shake your bottle like crazy and make sure there's an even coat of polish inside the bottle. Turn it upside down and let the extra polish drip out. Now, you have to wait till the polish is completely dry. 

6. Now all you have to do is use your E600 glue and glue the top on your bottle! Let it dry, put it under the sun, and VIOLA!

Hope you enjoyed my first tutorial!

About Me

I finally did it. My first post on my new blog. I have been wanting to start a blog for the longest time, and I finally got over the nerves and clicked on the "Start New Blog" button. I want to share things that will make me happy, and that includes my love for crafts, fashion, and beauty. I have always been very crafty, and I enjoy doing DIY projects during my free time. I'm the kind of girl that would rather go to Hobby Lobby/ Joann's/ Michaels than go to the mall. Why buy a finished product when you can make it yourself and feel so accomplished after? My crafts might be random, one day I will knit a scarf, while the next I would make a nail polish rack for my room. You just never know what I will do next, and that is what makes my blog fun. I will be sharing my ideas, tutorials, and inspirations. This will be my outlet for everything crafty! 

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for my DIY posts soon!

S.K.Y.