Tutorial

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Mother of Dragons

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I made dragon eggs!!! Ok technically they are supposed to be pine cones but they definitely look like what I imagine dragon eggs look like. 

  
Start with some squares of paper 

  
Or alternately short lengths of ribbon (I used sticky back ribbon for extra ease) 

  
Fold your ribbon or paper so you have a peak and pin them onto your styrofoam ball 

  
Start with four “scales” all pointing towards one another, overlapping them in the center

  
Then cover your outside corners with four more

  
After that you can just start spiraling around with your “scales” being sure to overlap and cover your pins

  
It can be tedious

  
But so worth it

The if you want them as orniments simply find a means to hang them

  
For my first one (the ribbon dragon) I found one of the old drawer pulls from my infamous desk 

  
I (ok my dad cause I was a scardey cat) drilled all the way through, I used some guilding wax on it and strung some twine through.

  
 Then I just hot glued the repurposed handle to the top of the ball  to create a hangar  

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Lemon aid 

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When life gives me lemons…. I remind myself how much I love lemonade, seriously it’s an addiction. Know what else I love 

Put it this way, when life gives me scraps, I make bows.

  
When we were visiting Mr. Smith’s Aunt she kindly gave me a ton of amazing (adorable, wonderful, darling, “OMG I need this in my life!”) scrap material 

One stipulation… I had to make bow ties for her new yorkie… 

  
Oh what a hassle that would be (can I just inform anyone unfamiliar with tinybows that statement was dripping with sarcasm) 

I got started right away

  
Just use the same template found on this blog post for my felt hair bows and cut two pieces of the bow loop part of the template. 

  
Cut them at the same time with right sides facing towards one another and take into account seam allowance

   
Sew the two pieces together (still with outsides facing towards one another)

  
Then turn the piece right side out and flatten your seams. If needed (or wanted) you can iron it to get the seams to cooperate, I didn’t because the bows tend to be a little fluffier if you don’t flatten the seams with an iron.

  
Then cut a small rectangle of fabric about 1 inch by 2 inches and sew the long sides together with right sides facing together and again turn right side out

As a tip I had to use a pencil or sometimes a crochet hook to turn the pieces.

  
Then sew the two ends of the bow loop together.

  
Sew the center piece to the side of the back seam of the bow loop.

(Optional if you plan on attaching it to a collar) Sew a small strip of elastic on top of the  center piece

  
Wrap the center piece around the bow loop and sew it on the same seam as it started

  
Here comes the hard part, you have to stretch the elastic and sew it to the remaining centerpiece so that it rouches the fabric and allows the elastic to stretch

  
Trim any excess fabric and elastic and sew the end to the opposite side of the back of the bow 

  
You can of course adjust the size of the pattern based on how big you want the bow for your fur baby but the elastic allows it to easily stretch over the latch of a collar.

  

  

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This Week on Tiny Bows

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I kept coming across all of these DIY dry erase boards on Pinterest a while back, where you just take a frame and put in whatever lovely paper you want and use the glass as your board. I thought “how cool is that” then I remembered that I have absolutely no use for a dry erase board. That is until recently. About a month ago I started working as a recept— nope my official title is Client Relations associate… Meaning yes I’m a receptionist, I also run social media and newsletters and anything else that deals directly with our clients on a more personal level— anyway — at a small (as in I’m one of three people) business. Well, I’m a very visual person and sometimes unless it’s right in front of me I won’t remember to do it, so long story longer enter my awesome dry erase calendar. 

  
I ran across this frame(s) on sale at Kohls and knew it would work great. So I rushed off home and got to work. 

I pulled out all of my fabric and paper and decided on a theme. Our office is pretty sparse at the moment but has a teal lamp and abstract painting in it. 

  
luckily I’ve got lots of teal to go around thanks to recovering my dining room chairs and my experiments with fabric dyeing. 

  
So then I just took the stock images from the frames and used those as templates to cut the fabric and paper I had chosen to size for the frames

  
A little jaunt in publisher to make some labeles for days of the week and notes and I’ve got myself my very own Pinterest inspired dry erase calendar.

  
  

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How Bittersweet it is

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Everything is coming up purple! And by that I mean Bittersweet. Urban Decay’s “signature” color. Why? Because look at that gorgeousness!!!

  

  That is the color of happiness…. Or possibly Barney the dinosaur, which is the exact opposite of happiness… I suppose that makes the name bittersweet appropriate. 

Ok on to a quick review the Revolution gloss is very long wearing. I’ve worn it a few times now including shifts at work where I don’t get the chance to touch up and it’s lasted great. The pigmentation is… Well it’s ok, by ok I mean it is super purple but because I have naturally very bright lips it just looks like a cool tone pink 

  
Yup those are my stupid bright naked lips.

  
This is Bittersweet all by its lonesome

I could A. Prime/conceal my lips (yuck) B. Pair it with a nude gloss or C. Manage to find an epically purple lip liner. I’ve just been pairing it over a Marc Jacobs Enamoured Hi-shine lip lacquer  in Moonglow that tones down my lips and eventually mixes with the Bittersweet to make a strange lilac color

  
I suppose that is exhibit B1 with Marc Jacobs gloss. It also works well over nude lipstick like Lancome Rouge in Love in 124M (a great dupe for which is Rimmel London’s Lasting Finish by Kate in 113)

  
I think this was my favorite iteration of any of them because it was the truest purple. 

Oh and not to forget the Afterglow Blush, it is … Epic! I had been on the hunt for a purple blush for a while anyway because every “cool tone” (or for that matter warm tone) blush just ends up looking a generic pink on my lovely pink skin. So I figured the only way I would get a true cool tone was to go all out. (I solved the warm tone a while back with Luminous  Peach from Too Faced, which is just straight up orange) 

  
Bittersweet delivered. I was worried at first it would just look bruise-like on my fair skin, But being light handed and making sure everything was blended it looked just dandy. You may be able to notice above the swatch I blended what was left on my finger.

I might do a tutorial for an all purple look later on so you can see everything in action along with a purple smokey eye. Let me know if you want to see something like that. 

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Caulk (hehehe)

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I’m finally, really, like for realzies finished with the bathroom. If you missed the first part be sure to click here. When last we left, it looked pretty good but lacked a backsplash and therefore lacked some functionality. I had to wait three weeks after painting the bathroom before I could do the tile work in order to let the surface fully cure. But yea! Hooray! The wait is over. So first I measured out and cut the tile. I took the easy/cheap way out of this by getting tiny little square tiles on a sheet. I say cheap but these were one of the most expensive things in the bathroom at $10 a sheet. Luckily it only took 3 of them and it means I didn’t have to buy or rent a tile saw.   Next we used tile adhesive to stick them to the wall and the tiny bit of counter. Unfortunately I’ve fallen flat at pictures for this step but it’s a pretty basic process that only requires one specialized tool called a notched trowel.   After a couple days drying time it was on to the grout. I’ve had the pleasure of laying tile before so the grout was the fun part. You just mix it per the instructions on the bag until you have kind of a peanut butter consistency (having an old hand mixer is really nice for this part) then just use a float to start mushing it into the spacing and scraping off the excess. You have to be careful not to work your grout too much or it will become stiff and crumble. After letting the grout sit for about 20 minutes (or however your mix directs you) you simply start wiping the grout down with a very slightly damp sponge to get off excess until your left with just a slight film. Let that film dry then just buff it off with a soft clean cloth. After a couple days of letting the grout dry it was on to the final finishing touch. All those raw edges of tile and grout needed to be polished up. Caulk will work just fine. Caulking is pretty easy if you know what you’re doing and a horrible mess if you don’t. Trust me, I speak from experience.  You simply run a small bead of caulk along the edge to be sealed then get your fingers wet and with very light pressure run it along the bead to smooth it out. After all that just let the caulk cure and use a grout sealer to protect the finish and prevent mold and mildew. Officially done! If you missed how i made my mason jar soap pump you can find it here  Don’t mind my half blue half beige outlets. But check out my new plate covers, beadboard to go with the ceiling. Woohoo fancy!

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The Mouse

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I thought I would take a minute to try to explain something I know I’m terrible at explaining. We will see how well this goes? 

I had to take up some straps today. It’s the bane of my fashion existence, apparently I have a short torso or something?

At any rate it’s an easy job, just put on the dress and pin up the straps at either the front or back seam (possibly both if they are super long) 

This was only an inch so the front got it, luckily due to having a tie in the back the bust was adjustable or it might have been a bit big too.

  
So once you have your straps pinned you just start sewing, nothing fancy or new. This dress had a seam along the front I could hide the new seam in. 

  
Then I took that excess material created when tucking up the strap and started to sew it down. This is where things get a bit odd. It’s a simple whip stitch running through only the underpinning of the dress so it doesn’t show on the outside of the garment… Yup I’m terrible at explaining things…

  
At any rate it makes that flap and the rest of the dress lay flat, without cutting away the excess and risking fraying. It also means that flap of fabric won’t catch on anything, particularly in the wash. 

  
(I never said my sewing was pretty, but it’s effective)

Soooo I took a dress that was originally priced $70, worth maybe $40, I paid about $25, and made it fit like it’s …. Well I still wouldn’t pay $70 for it… 

  
All done the dress lies nice and flat and you can never tell they were taken up … So technically I lied a bit like my cross stitching it’s pretty from the front but the back is a mess. 

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A Plethora of Jars

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Somebody (I won’t name names) has gone a little glass jar happy. Between candles and target bins and advantageous clearance finds I’ve accrued quite a collection.

  
The latest acquisition is these colored Ball Heritage Collection Jars (they are the 100 year old ball design) on clearance for $1 a piece

  
Anyway, what is a girl to do with a whole bunch of pretty jars? I mean I could do wedding decor, but I’ve only got my own wedding to plan and really that’s not going to happen any time soon and it’s going to be a small affair.

So I better go for smaller projects

A Frankenstein project involving an old soap pump and one of the aforementioned mason jars
First I just poke a hole in the lid of the jar and using tin snips and needle nosed pliers make it large enough to fit the base of the pump through

  
Then just seal it with hot glue or even silicon caulk 

  
Tah! Dah! Super easy!

  
You could paint the top or embellish the jar, but I’m lazy lately.

  
Also I used a foaming pump, the ones from bath and body are the perfect size and length for  a mason jar. You can use whatever pump you have after a bottle gets emptied, it just happens to be the one I had. And foaming hand soap is super easy and cheap to make. It’s essentially 1 part liquid soap to 6 or 7 parts water.

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White Wings

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I’ve been working a lot of nights lately. Nights are a double edged sword. It means I don’t get to see my friends and family (who work days) but it does mean I have all day to do things around the house and take my time getting ready for work. It tends to lead to experimentation with my makeup. More so than the usual (and the usual can get pretty crazy on its own). So when I posted a picture of me wearing “white” eyeliner a few days ago on my social media and got some positive feedback on it I figured it was about time I do a makeup tutorial… or at least attempt to do so.

This is the original look that inspired this post. Not quite as crazy as some of the things i did for halloween but still fun.  It was done with a chromagraphic pencil, Bare Minerals BB eye shadow as base, expensive pink eye shadow on the mobile lid and sketch eye shadow (both of those from MAC) through the crease and under the lower lash line and extended liner. I defined the lash line (though didn’t do a winged liner) with a Kat Von D tattoo liner (love that liner). It was very Cleopatra-esque when it was all done. That gives me more ideas for next halloween

I decided I would go for something much more subtle and wearable for the second go around, and here is how I did it. I apologize in advanced for video quality and style… this is my very first video, completely filmed and edited on my phone… considering how much I loath the sound of my own voice it may be my last.

 

Soooooooo Yeah… If you sat through that I can’t thank you enough lol. I did once again prime my lids with Bare Minerals BB eye shadow stuff of magic (no I promise it’s magic, I have no other explanation for it) and as you could probably tell my foundation and eyebrows were already done.

Please let me know if you liked this by commenting, or for that matter ways I can improve this format if I decide to do more.

I would also like to take a moment to thank California Flour, it is thanks to her that I likely have a bit more traffic than usual. She has given me a Liebster Award so watch out for my post on that next week.

Another makeup experiment born of excess time and a new found abundance of water activated face paint… Might have to find something fun to do with those.