Paintings

Every once in a while I concentrate and paint something that usually

takes a lot of time. Most of the time my paintings are

given as gifts but here are a few.

Kristina's x-mas gift

I traced out a skull & cut it out
and then traced the cut out onto a canvas 
(BTW I reuse every canvas, meaning I buy already 
used canvas at the thrift store and paint over it) 

 I started with the darkest parts on the painting and then later
shaded the edges out to flow.

Just starting, do you see all the paint I used!

Almost done, except I moved the cheek hollows down.
I also showed my inspired original photo next to it.
I didn't like the original skull structure so I changed it up a bit.

This is the original artwork

Kristina wanted something in the background so I
watered-down paint & dripped it.

                    Tara's Birthday gift

She often says "Let go and let god" when she is frustrated about one of our 911 callers not giving enough information. (BTW I'm a 911 operator) I thought this would be a great reminder.
I painted a slanted blue ombre, I ruffed up the canvas a little with all the layers of paint I put on (because I painted so many backgrounds before I could decide) and then I painted the quote in silver metallic and added decorative mandalas.

Rachel's Birthday gift

I painted a black background, then splattered on all the bright neon colors I could
 find and then painted her name in metallic silver. 

Maria's no-occasion gift

Hamsa hand

Tree in my hallway

We actually have painted over this now but when I painted it
I added more frames and it was about 4 ft tall. 

Map of the world 

Metallic silver background. I traced the world in pen from a paper
outline that I cut out.

Finished

Keith's 18th Birthday present

Keith's logo

I made a cut-out of his logo and traced it on a white canvas.
After I painted the logo and let it dry I covered it up
and splattered black paint on the background. 

Things I've made but haven't documented the process

I've made a lot of things that I did not document all the way through but I want to share anyways.

Baby Girl Diaper Cake for a Baby Shower

Tiffany's baby shower gift

Supplies:

• 1 box of size 3 Pampers swaddlers (I believer 164 ct) - I only used half ($25 for the box)
• Baby girl ribbon
• String
• Gold plastic embellishment plate
• Rubber bands (at least 15)
• 1 teether
• 1 rattle
• 1 toy
• Baby girl hat
• Stretchy baby head band
• 1 pack shrink wrap

The base is a plate from dollar tree

I then rolled all of the diapers (the same direction so it would all match)  

and placed a rubber band around them. 

I made a circle of five rolled diapers and then tied a string around it. 

After they were secured I took off the rubber bans. 

I repeated this step by putting more rolled diapers around the already made 

circle, tied it, took off the rubber bands. 

Repeat this step until you get a good-sized base.

Repeat the steps for the next 2 tiers.

I tied all the tiers with ribbon leaving enough room to make big bows as embellishments

 (This also hides the string holding it together).

I placed little baby toys, teethers, rattles around the tiers and added a baby girl hat & head band at the top. The best part of these projects is the shrink wrap, the only time I really use my blow dryer. 

Then top it off with some more ribbon!

Total: around $21

Baby boy diaper cake

Gina's baby shower cake

This was actually my first go at a diaper cake and I think it looks better
than the one above (mainly because this one is pictured before I put
on the saran- wrap) The theme was Sesame Street which I found at the
Dollar Tree. I also added Q-tips to look like candles.

Total: $18

Drunk Barbie Birthday Cake

Brittany's gift

For my friends 21st birthday I made a drunk barbie doll cake. 

Which is pretty self explanatory.

I bought a barbie ($1) with a cute "clubbin" dress and added smeared

 make-up for also obvious reasons. My friend wears glasses so I was luckily able 

to find a pair from my old barbie toys 

I used sprinkles to mimic throw up and also inserted a small plastic shot glass 

into the cake and added sprinkles in it to look like a "puke bucket"

Leave one shoe off & scattered somewhere to make it look even 

more realistic to how the night will end

Then I add mini bottles of alcohol (I found the girliest ones - Kinky & Rosa)

Whatever you can find to add extra "umph" like mini handcuffs, 

small shot glasses/wine glasses and crowns.

Last but not least I added tattoos, "I <3 Mom" "Happy 21st B-day" 

and you can add whatever tattoo that your birthday girl really has to make

 it extra special!

21st Birthday survival/puke bucket

Maria's gift

All this stuff is basically from Dollar Tree

So grab a large colorful bucket ($1) and personalize it

and then add all the things your friend needs to survive

a massive hangover : )

Supplies:

A full on picture (a tad blurry) 

• Powerade/Gatorade (this is Maria's cure)
• Mouthwash
• First Aid kit (Maria ALWAYS stubs her toes)
• Headache medicine
• Make-up remover wipes
• Mini face wash
• Mini-shot glass necklaces 2 pk (personalized with puffy-paint)
• 21 birthday candles
• Condoms
• Pregnancy test (more as a joke but you never know!)
• Snack (I went with veggies straws because she is vegan)
• Hand sanitizer that conveniently attached to the bucket handle 
• Gum 3 pk
• Sunglasses
• Hair scrunchies 
• And a balloon attached (not pictured) 

Total: $19

Hand-made mini shirts

Keith's anniversary gift

My boyfriend is a mentalist & his logo is a gorilla (his last name is Kong)

I cut out 2 mini shirt patterns from 1 large shirt & sewed them 

together (inside out so the seam would not show)

I then used puffy pant to make his logo.

I will admit if I could redo this project I would because the way I

 spread the puffy paint it snagged the shirt & caused

cotton hairs to rise and mix with the paint

(But it's still cute!)

I also inserted two magnets (one in each Gorilla) where their

lips are so they would "kiss" but I suggest using strong magnets

because the material between them makes it hard

to keep them together. 

Total: $2-$1 per gorilla (Dollar Tree)

I already had the old shirt, puffy paint, & magnets

Bachelorette crown

Liz's bachelorette crown

I bought a Dollar tree crown (they only had Mardi Gras at the time)

I had to remove the Maridi Gras colored jewels up top and replaced them with 

silver jewels I already had on hand with hot glue. I bought a small roll of tulle 

from Dollar Tree in the wedding section. I cut up 6-7 long pieces 

of tulle (the strips are approximately 5-6 inches wide so you'll 

need multiple strips) I scrunched the tulle just a bit & then hot glued

 each strip to the back of the crown towards the top. I then hot-glued

silver jewels on the tulle to make it look more authentic and festive.

I found a large sheet of black jewels at Dollar Tree and

hot glued on "BRIDE"

Total: $3 

but I ended with extra materials for another project (tulle & jewels)

Bachelorette sash

Liz's sash

I can't remember the exact measurements for the sash material

but really I just eyeballed it. I found a wide ribbon at 

Joan's Fabric Store (my 2nd favorite store) and luckily

had a 50% off coupon. I used some left over iron-on letters

and jewels to decorate. I sewed together the bottom part of 

the sash and used fabric glue for the jewels. 

Total: I also can't quite remember but less than $3

Glittered Birthday Bottle

Kedisha's Birthday bottle

I taped off the label to keep it clean from the glitter and then

sprayed Elmer's Spray Adhesive. I quickly added a mix of all the 

glitter I had on hand. I sprayed if with the adhesive again and gave

it an extra coat. After it dried I sprayed it with clear spray paint

so the glitter would not fall off or rub off when picked up. Add

some decorative ribbon and its a perfect party gift!

Mother's Day Topsy-Turvy Planter

I made this for my momma in 2014 (it was a big thing then).

I used a large planter that I had on hand and bought

4 Dollar Tree planters. The first 3 smaller ones (from 

the bottom) were all the same size and the top one

is the smallest. I went to Home Depot and bought (approximately)

a 7 foot nickel pole (about $8). Now I asked one of the employees which 

 type of metal pole do they recommend for outdoor and they

did say that the one I bought (the cheapest) would rust fast. 

Any-who you need a long pole so it can be buried at least 

a foot in the ground. I stuck the pole through the pot into the ground

(Find a place that you want to keep it) I added soil and

then added the rest of the pots, slanting them to get the look. 

Adding the soil also keeps the pots slanted. I added the flowers after

which I also bought at Home Depot (about $1 each)

Total: $16

Broken Mirror book shelf

A DIY for me!

I found the book shelf on the curb during one of our scavenger hunts
 (my mom and I).

The shelf had minor water damage to the top from cups so I knew
 I had to cover it up some how. I also found a large mirror on the curb but when I brought it home it cracked! So I
 re-purposed my "bad luck" buy breaking
it further into small pieces. 

I bought a small bucket of white grout from Home Depot ($5) and then laid

out the glass. I grouted multiple times
(this was the hard part) and it was hard to clean the grout film from the glass.
But after it looked

AMAZING!

Total: $5

Baby Shower with a Rubber Duckie theme

So my boyfriends cousin (Liz) is having a baby boy, yah!, and a group of us
(Kristina - Liz's sister- Stan -Liz's brother-in-law)

are planning the baby shower.

And we're creating as
much stuff as we possibly can

for decorations.

BEFORE THE BABY SHOWER

I created a couple of things on the computer.

I just made this simple sign to post around because this trend is in.

The final product looks a bit different and Kristina added more decorations before printing. 

Seed packets are the perfect favor for a baby shower.
I still don't see the point of favors for adults,
(Favors are for children at birthday parties)
but its a tradition. This baby shower will have a lot of
guest because it is co-ed and we're expecting 40 attendees.
Kristina & I have been looking for less-expensive gifts &
 we thought even shopping at Dollar Tree for each person would
 cost around $40 which is unnecessary if you still have to pay
for EVERYTHING else. So I thought maybe make individual duck
shaped soaps or even duck chocolates but then I ran across this idea
 on Pinterest I thought YES!!!! The saying is cute & you can personalize
 it by the flower & dates & blah blah blah. I researched what flower
belongs to the month that Liz is due: Larkspur. I googled blue Larkspurs
& found that Etsy had the  best price: 500 seeds for $3.78 with shipping
I found them on Etsy.

I think this was a bargain since they're $0.99 on eBay for 30 seeds.
So you can supply your guest with a lot of seeds
& keep some for the mother-to-be & hopefully yourself.

*Remember if you buy 4 packets for $1 (probably not finding the flowers you want)
the packet will probably include 5-10 seeds which only 3 seeds might
work so I suggest supplying a lot*

Also if you are lazy (not the point in DIYing) than there are sites that will do this for you.


AFTER THE BABY SHOWER:
 Here are the decorations around the house:
As our guest walk in they are greeted with our homemade sign & piñata

Kristina printed out the letters & decorated a large yellow poster board with mini ducks & 

larger duck cutouts that we found at Dollar Tree in the teaching section.

I made the pinata with cardboard & tape (I probably made it too durable
 since it was hard for the kids to break) and then decorated with yellow streamers.
To get the pinata effect with the streamers I cut 3/4 up the horizontal streamer. 

Here is an example (not my own picture) of how I cut the streamer. Then 

I attached it by gluing the top uncut piece with liquid glue (it works better but messier)

and started at the bottom so each later on top would cover the uncut pieces. 

After all streamers are in place, I ruffled some pieces up to give it some dept.

I added orange construction paper around the beak & black paper for the eyes.

For the feet I cut a long piece of orange paper & folded it like a fan

& then glued the feet on.  

Decorations:

• Balloon/streamer wall
• Blue/yellow pom-poms (5 pk garland or 2 pk fan ball)
• Hanging dots
• Piñata 

Easy background. Color themed balloons on top of twisted streamers
and a sign on top. This background was next to our activity table
with all the games we were going to play.
$4 with extra supplies

Just another angle

Tissue pom-poms 5 ct pom on 1 string $1 D.T.

Hanging colored themed dots.
 I collected paint samples from Walmart that went with the color scheme.
I went through 3 whole punches (Finally found  the right one from Joan Fabric's).
I punched out 1 1/2 in circles and then hot glued circles back to back with fishing line in between.
The clear fishing line gives the whole thing a nicer effect.
I looped the top so it would hang easier. 

Everyone helped decorating by adding dots anywhere we could

fill space. Also in the background is a blue pom pom from

tissue (Dollar tree- 2 pk) and a balloon attached below. 

When the guests come in the first table has the themed clothes pin

for the Don't Say BABY game. I also laid out the guest sign-in sheet,

 the ABC book (see below), Alexanders baby notes for 21 years (see below),

and "guess when the baby will be here" calendar.

The favors (gardening seeds) already on the table so they

 know to grab them when they leave.

Food:

• Tea sandwiches (cucumber & cream cheese, tomatoes & cream cheese, tuna salad, & buffalo style chicken salad)
• Babies in a blanket (pigs in a blanket)
• Veggie platter
• Fruit in a watermelon baby basket
• Cheese & quackers (duck shaped cheese slices)
• Pretzel chicks (chocolate pretzels)
• Deviled eggs (died blue)
• Duck Krispies
• Bow tie pasta
• BBQ meatballs
• Floating ducks (blue Jell-O, whip cream, yellow Jell-O ducks)
• Cupcakes
• Blue punch (lemonade, blue Hawaiian punch, lemon-lime soda)
• Water bottle w/ personalized labels (I made the labels on word document w/ rectangles as long as the page [about 6 to a page] I added the nutrition ingredients (image found online) and personalized it w/ the shower information) 
• Wine/beer

Pretzel chicks

Not exactly duck themed but no one said anything.
Its yellow chocolate melted down and added to pretzels, Small
chocolate chips for the eyes and orange chocolate beaks.

Baby basket- fruit dish 

Duck rice krispies
small chocolate chips for eyes and then they same

melted down chocolate from the pretzels we used

to cover the beaks.

We created water bottle labels that were personalized to the baby and then taped it around the bottle. They sat in the large duck tub (Target $13) which doubled as a baby bath tub (the real purpose of it) and a gift for the parents.

We also made a bow tie napkin holder. Its a small piece of paper wrapped around a cocktail napkin in the middle to where the ends flare out like a bow and then they paper is secured with tape and we also added the silverware under the secured paper so it would be easy to grab.

We also made the tier stands with different size plates
and used heavy duty super glue to attach.

For the cupcakes we actually planned out something totally different but when time is running out, plans change. We printed out tiny ducks and glued them back to back on tooth picks.

Games:

• Don't say BABY (painted the clothes pin blue & glued on yellow cut out ducks)
• "My water broke" (small babies frozen in ice cubes- I suggest having all the cups ready first with extra ice cubes, after its set up plop in the baby cubes fast and distribute. Our's melted too fast)
• Feed the baby (one person blind-folded and feeding their partner the whole jar before everyone else)
• Candy poop in the diaper (Identify the weird looking melted candy in the diaper. We printed out sheets for them to write their answers on and tallied who had the most right)
• Guess how many goldfish (duck food) is in the jar (that's their prize too)
• Build a baby (who ever creates the best play dough baby according to the parents)(Dollar Tree has mini play dough jars in an 8 pk!)
• Baby bottle chug (we filled ours with beer & who ever chugged fastest won)(2 pk at Dollar Tree)
• Guess when they baby is due (We printed out calendars [July & August when she could possibly be due] and had the guest put a sticker on the date and initials)
• We also put out filler games just in case like animal baby names and baby unscramble
• And we found Baby's against Parents (cards against humanity) and Baby Taboo

Crafts:

• Alexander's ABC book- this is the best idea that I have found on Pinterest for a baby. Create your own ABC book by printing out each letter on a page & of course an awesome cover. Give the guests crayons/colored pencils and have them personalize a letter. Kristina had the book binding materials at work and it all turned out.
• 21 years of birthday wishes/advice- we printed out note pages for the guest to write on and then put in an envelope with the corresponding birthday year. He'll  get this extra treat every year.

ABC book