DIY Monkey Canvas

Hello again!

 

I just realized I haven't posted anything since November 4th. Sorry! I'm not dead, just busy with school and preparing for finals next week!

 

I have tons of posts to get caught up on and I've finally started working on the honey one I've been promising you for forever! I would have done that one first, but I just had to post this one because it seems like everyone I know is having babies and this is the perfect personalized baby shower gift!

 

I made this canvas for some of our friends who had a little girl and they absolutely loved it!

 

What you need:

• Canvas (I used 18x24" from Wal Mart)
• A sponge brush (I got this one from Michaels)
• Acrylic paints (I got mine from Wal Mart and Michaels and used: White, Green, a Baby Blue, Brown a Light Pink, Black, and Red)
• Paint brushes of different sizes (I got mine from Wal Mart)
• A plate for mixing paints
• Some plain white printer paper
• Scotch tape (Or you can improvise with duct tape like me)
• A Pencil

Step 1. Take whichever color you want to use as a background and pain the entire front of the canvas with this. I used my light pink for this step.

Step 2. While waiting for this paint to dry, start sketching out your monkey (Or whatever animal you choose).

 

You can always print something and trace it, I just googled cartoon monkeys and free handed this one.

As you can see, I had to tape two pieces of paper together to finish my monkey, which wasn't a big deal, other than the fact that we had no Scotch tape, so I improvised!

Step 3. Now paint the sides of the canvas with your background color. I find that the easiest way to do this is by lifting it up like I am doing below.

Step 4. Now, paint the general outline of your vine. This doesn't have to be perfect, so don't worry about super clean lines!

Step 5. Take your drawing and scribble all over the back with your pencil, making sure to cover all spots where there are lines drawn.

Step 6. Now, place the back side of your drawing (the one you just scribbled on) onto the canvas however you want to arrange it. With a dull pencil, press down firmly (but not too firmly) and trace over all of the lines.

 

You should have something like this:

(Sorry about the terrible picture, but the lines were so faint it was hard to get a good shot)

Step 7. Now outline all of the darker body parts with your brown, basically, leave out the hands, feet, and facial area.

Step 8. Fill what you just outlined in with a slightly larger brush.

Step 9. Now, mix a couple of drops of white paint in with your brown to create a lighter brown for the hands, feet, stomach, and face.

Step 10. Fill those areas in.

Don't be too worried about the color, though. I honestly hated this color when I was first painting it, but I figured there was no turning back so I left it. I'm actually glad I left it because it looks much better now that it has dried!

Step 11. Mix your pink with a few small drops of red to make the color for the ears.

Step 12. Fill the ears in.

Step 13. Fill your eyes in with white then add the black for the pupil.

Step 14. If you're adding a name, you can either print the letters and transfer them like you did the monkey, or you can freehand them, which is what I chose to do.

Step 15. Fill your letters in and let dry!

 

My little sister was hanging out with me when I was painting and she wanted to paint on my drawing of the monkey, so I decided to take some pictures to share with you all!

 

We were both exhausted because I was doing this at 10 at night and didn't finish until like midnight, but we had a great time!

 

If you have kids, this would be a fun thing for them to do while you work on painting the canvas!

Here is her finished product! (She hung it up on the fridge after this for my mom to see in the morning!)

Let me know what you guys think!

Don't forget to post your recreations to #countryclassdiy

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DIY Bow Accent French Tips

Happy Monday Everyone!

 

I'm still extremely behind on my blogging and have tons of drafts sitting out there waiting to be shared with you all!

 

I'll keep pressing on between school and work and eventually I'll get them all caught up!

 

But for now, I'll show you all how to recreate my manicure from 2 weeks ago!

 

This is the same process as my breast cancer manicure which you can find at the link. I'll include all the steps here, just not in as much detail.

 

Here is the finished look:

 

What you need:

• A neutral base color (I used Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect in Satin)
• American Classics Gelous base/top coat
• A color for your tips (I used Essie Bikini So Teeny)
• Black Polish (either in a decorating bottle or use a nail art brush)
• Top coat (I used Seche Vite)

 

After this manicure only lasted 8 days, I decided to try something different. I didn't dot his technique with this manicure, but I'm going to post it with this one so you can all actually enjoy your manicures for longer than a week as well! Coming soon will be my tutorial where my manicure lasted about 11 days!

 

Step 1. Paint a base coat on your nails. I use one that I bought from Avon recently.

 

Step 2. Paint your neutral color and allow to dry.

 

Step 3. Now take your tip color and wipe the brush so there's a small amount of polish on there. Carefully paint the "outline" of your tips.

 

Step 4. Paint a thin coat of Gelous over top.

Step 5. Paint a second line over your tips.

Step 6. Choose your accent finger and paint a black line where your tip ends.

Step 7. Paint 2 triangles that meet on the line.

Step 8. Paint a layer of top coat.

 

Step 9. Paint one last layer of Gelous and let dry.

 

Now, as I said, I didn't follow this method. I used the first method which is mentioned at the beginning of the post. I think what happens when you use gelous as a base coat is that it doesn't stick well to the nail, which seemed to cause my manicure to peel right off my nail. When I used a different base coat, my manicure lasted much longer, as you'll see in my next post!

 

Here is my wear test for this manicure!

Notice the "crack" on my pointer finger? I had to seal this with another
layer of Gelous.

Send me any questions or concerns and I'd love to see recreations and hear your comments!

 

Also, I recently started a Tumblr to help promote this blog! If you'd like to follow me, my URL is: countryclassdiy.tumblr.com

 

Want to buy AVON form me? youravon.com/dmalloy

 

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Recreations? #countryclassdiy

 

 

Blue Daisy Toenails

Hello everyone!

 

I just realized that it's been a while since I last posted! I've just been super busy getting ready to go back to school tomorrow and not to mention working on continuing education for my insurance license (yay). I have tons of things to share with you all but not enough time in the day to post it!

 

This is a pedicure I did a few weeks ago. I got my inspiration fromthis pin:

 

Here is the finsihed look:

 

What you need:

• White nail polish (OPI Alpine Snow)
• Blue Nail polish--or whatever color you choose (Sinful Colors Cinderella)
• Top/base coat (Essie All-in-one)
• Gold Polish (Ulta) 
•  Dotting tool
 

Step 1. Paint your base coat.

 

Step 2. Now paint one coat of white polish (optional) to make your original polish pop.

 

Step 3. Paint a coat of your colored polish. 

 

Step 4. If needed, paint a second coat of your colored polish.

 

 

Step 5. Take the small end of your dotting tool and place random gold dots on your big toe nail.

 

***I was unhappy with the final look because I put too many dots. I would start out with a few dots placed farther apart. You can always add more if you want!***

 

Step 6. Now use the small end to place five white dots around each of your gold dots.

Ths is what mine looked like when I was done.

 

Now clean up around the edges and you're all set!

 

I have plenty more awesome tutorials for you guys! And I know a while back I mentioned I have a different use for honey, and I still plan to share with you! I just have to put together the pictures so that I can actually write a post for you all!

Let me know what you think!

Recreations? #countryclassdiy
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Fourth of July Nails

Hey everyone!

I hope you all have a chance to relax tomorrow! Here's a quick, easy, and super cute patriotic nail art tutorial!

What you need:

     Silver glitter polish (I used silver glitter by nail art duo)

     Red nail polish (I used opi red and Art Deco red)

     Blue nail polish (I used Sally Hansen hard as nails peek-a-blue)

     White nail polish (I used opi alpine snow)

     Top/base coat (I use Essie all-in-one)

     A dotting tool

     Something to clean up with

Step 1. Paint your thumb and ring finger red. I only needed 1 coat.

Step 2. Paint your pointer and pinky blue. I used 2 coats for this.

Step 3. Paint your middle finger white. I used 2 coats.

Step 4. Paint a diagonal line with your silver glitter on each of your nails except for the middle finger. I did this in multiple steps because I was waiting for my other nails to dry.

Step 5. Using the dotting tool, place dots on one half of the nail with the other two colors.

Step 6. Take your blue and paint half of your middle finger nail diagonally with it. I free handed it but you could easily use some striping tape.

Step 7. With your glitter polish, draw a line between the 2 colors.

Step 8. With the small end of your dotting tool, place white dots on the blue part of the nail. 

Step 9. Take your red detailing polish and draw vertical lines on the white part.

And you're done!

Let me know what you guys think!

I hope you all have a wonderful fourth!

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