Tuesday, December 30, 2014

DIY Sharpie Mug

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas with your families! I know I said I was going to share this before Christmas, but I forgot that one of these mugs was for my little sister and I didn't want her snooping on here and finding it. So, I'm sharing it now!

I'm sure if you are on Pinterest, you've seen the new "Sharpie Mug" craze. Well, I thought this would be the perfect craft. Especially, when my sister told me she wanted a mug with a music quote on it for when she drinks tea. So as usual, I began doing some extensive research. And I mean EXTENSIVE.  I literally googled for days before finally starting this project.

Some of the most helpful videos I found with tips and tricks are here and here.

What you need:
  • Oil Based Sharpie Paint markers (I got mine at Wal-Mart)
  • Cheap White Mugs (I attempted to find some at my local Dollar tree, but they were all out, so I went to Wal-Mart and got these for $1.75 each. And of course, a few days later, Dollar Tree stocked back up)
  • An oven


Step 1. Wash and dry your mugs.
 
Step 2. Now add your designs.
 
I scoured Pinterest for ideas for my mug (the far right) and finally just decided to wing it. You can either freehand the designs with the paint marker (which I did) or draw with a pencil so you can erase mistakes. If it's a big design (like the middle cup) then you should go over it twice.
 
Step 3. Let your mugs sit for about 24 hours.


Step 5. Place your mugs on a cookie sheet in a cool oven.
**Keep in mind that some colors will change when baking! My yellow turned out more of a gold and the pink ended up darker**
 
Step 6. Put your oven on 450 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.
 
WARNING: Your house will smell terrible while doing this.
 


Step 7. Once 30 minutes have elapsed, turn off the oven and allow your mugs to sit in there until it is cool. (I let mine sit overnight)


This is my finished product. As you can see, the colors did change a bit, but not too drastically.


I did not test these in the dishwasher because I was too scared to mess them up. One of the videos I linked to tests them and they do fine. However, I chose to hand wash them so that they will last longer.

Let me know how this turns out for you!

Recreations? #countryclassdiy

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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

DIY Honey Spot Treatment

Hello again!
 
I've been super busy lately looking for a car (I finally found one) and I'm also starting my own store on storenvy.com to sell scarves and stuff!
 
Here is a review/test that I've been promising you for who knows how long! I'm finally going to tell you about the DIY honey spot treatment I've been trying out.
 
What you need
  •  Organic honey (I used the stuff from my local Meijer, because that's what we had!)
  • Q-tips
  • Gauze/band-aids (optional)
 
I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the strange faces in some of these pictures. I never know what to do with my face, and I don't want to look angry.
 
This is what my face looked like the day I started using this spot treatment:
 

To use this, simply take a Q-tip and get a small mount of honey on it. Then cover any pimples with the honey. You can then cover those spots with cut up gauze or band aids. Then go to sleep!
 
I used the gauze the first few times, but it kept falling off while I was sleeping and I would find it all over my room. So now I just put the honey on and go to bed. It's much easier!
 
What my face looked like with the gauze and honey:
 

This is a week or so later and you can see that the larger pimples have started to fade:


This is a little over a month after I started using this method:


Unfortunately, I stopped taking progress pictures, but as you can see, the honey treatment really helped my skin.
 
I will say that you do have to be persistent with it because it won't really help you if you don't keep on it.
 
I have since switched my skincare routine and began using an Avon face wash line, which has substantially helped to get rid of my acne. You can try it out here. The great news is that it is currently ON SALE for $19.99 which is a great deal!
 
I now use honey as a spot treatment whenever I get a problem pimple and it still works great!
 
Let me know what skin care tricks you use!
 
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Once it's up and running, you can shop my storenvy store here
 
 
 
 





Monday, December 15, 2014

Teal crackle nails

Hello again!
 
I'm super excited for my current DIY project to be finished so I can share it with you all! But for now, I'll share the manicure I did for my cousin's wedding in September (I'm behind, I know)!
 
This is a super simple mix and match manicure that you really only need a few simple things for!
 
Here is the finished look:
 

What you need:
  • Black polish(I used my Art Deco polish because I apparently don't have a regular black polish)
  • Gelous
  • Top Coat (Seche Vite)
  • Black Crackle polish (Sally Hansen Ink Splatter)
  • White Polish (OPI Alpine Snow)
  • Mint Polish (Wet n' Wild I need a refresh-mint)
  • White detailing polish/polish brush
  • Dotting tool
***See my tutorial for DIY Gel Manicure here

Step 1. Paint a layer of your base coat.
 
Step 2. Paint a thin layer of white on your thumb nail.


Step 3. Paint the rest of your nails with your mint color.


Step 4. Now paint one of your teal nails with your crackle polish. Also, add another coat of white if needed.


Step 5. Take your dotting tool and place dots on your thumb nail. I think I had too many, but really, it's all up to you!


Step 6. Again, using your dotting tool, place two dots at the base of your pointer and ring fingers.


Step 7. Take your white striper and place some stripes on your pinky nail.


Clean up your nails with a concealer brush, or in the shower and you're done!


Let me know what you think!

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Recreations? #countryclassdiy







Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Navy and Glitter Nails

Hello everyone!
 
I want to apologize in advance for the terrible final picture of this manicure! I literally have no clue why I thought it looked good! Terrible clean up on my part!
 
Enough of that, though! Yesterday, I was rear ended on my way to work and things aren't looking good for my beloved Escape, so how appropriate that this post features it's steering wheel as a background?
 
I did this manicure a few months back and it's super simple, but I absolutely love this color from Essie called No More Film!

What You Need:
  •  Top coat (I use Seche Vite)
  • Base color (Essie No More Film)
  • Glitter Topper (Essie Stroke of Brilliance)
  • Base coat (Avon Ridge Filling Base coat)
  • Gelous Nail Gel


I'm not going to go through and tell you step by step how to paint your nails, since this manicure is so simple, but below, I will tell you my fool proof method of getting your nails to last 12 days or more!








To get your nails to last with Gelous, I have found the best method to be as follows:
 
Step 1. Paint a base coat of your choice. My current favorite is the ridge filling base coat from Avon. You can purchase it here.
 
Step 2. Paint one thin coat of your base color. Let dry.
 
Step 3. Paint a thin layer of Gelous. Let dry.
 
Step 4. Paint another layer of your base polish (if needed). Let dry.
 
Step 5. This step is optional, but if you're doing and designs, do those now. Let dry.
 
Step 6. Paint a layer of your top coat. Let dry. (A fast drying top coat like Seche Vite works best!)
 
Step 7. Paint one last layer of Gelous and let dry.
 
Below is my wear test of this manicure using this process:
 

As you can see, by say 7, there was minimal wear to the tips.


By day 12, I had to take it off because of how much my nails had grown out and I personally can't stand when my nail polish chips, so I started peeling it. Bad habit, I know!



I absolutely love this method and hopefully you all do too! Don't worry, I have plenty of tutorials to come! Hopefully I'll figure my car situation out!

Let me know what you think in the comments section!

Recreations? #countryclassdiy

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