DIY Ombre Mason Jars Tutorial

Last week I made a pretty cool two-tone mason jar in fall colors. It's simple and easy to do so I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 colors of acrylic paint
• newspaper
• clear glass vase or mason jar

First, I made sure to wash my jar with soap and warm water and then let it dry thoroughly so there would be no dirt or residue.

Then I squirted the color I wanted for the lower half of the jar into the bottom first. In this case, I used the yellow first.

After, I added the orange color into the middle of the bottom of the jar, and used less than I did of the yellow. This is how the bottom of your jar should look:

sorry I forgot to take a pic of my actual jar

 Then just slowly start swirling the paint around in your jar until it is almost to the top.
At this point, put your jar top-down on the newspaper to allow the rest of the paint to drip down.

After an hour of so, get a wet cloth or paper towel and wipe down the paint around the lip of the container to it does not look messy.

Place back on a clean section of newpaper and leave it there overnight.

This is what you will see in the morning:

It goes perfectly with my fall entrance table :)

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DIY Spring Bracelet!

Spring is officially at the Reyes home this week and it began with my jewelry! I made a cute (and VERY inexpensive!) Spring paper bead bracelet in about 15-20 minutes, and with a few simple materials you can make your own unique bracelet too!

What you need:
1. Scrapbook paper
2. Scissors
3. Tape
4. Glue stick
5. plastic drinking straws (coffee stirrers will work too!)
6. String/ Ribbon (better if it's more flexible)
7. Mod Podge (optional)

How to make:
1. Get a variety of scrap book paper in colors of your choice. These will be used to create your beads. The pages don't all have to be exactly the same length.

I just found a variety of scraps I had laying around

 2. draw some markings on the back of each page as a guideline for where to cut. On the left side, you want to mark every 1/2 inch beginning at the bottom of the page. On the right side, measure 1/4 inch from the bottom the page and place a mark there. Then, continue to measure every 1/2 inch beginning from that spot and connect the dots across the page using your ruler to keep the lines straight. Your goal is to get a series of long, slender triangles going back and forth across the page.

 3. Cut out your triangles! You have to be very careful when cutting because a slip of the hand can throw off the triangle significantly. The piece at the very bottom the page where you measured up 1/4-inch can be thrown away as it is not even a full triangle.

 4. Put tape at the thick base of each strip, attach to the drinking straw and start wrapping. Use your glue stick to glue down the thin end of the strip when you get to it. Now you have made a bead!

 5. Continue this process with the remainder of your strips and leave the strips at least 1/4-inch apart from each other on the straws.

blue and green beads attached to my straw

 6. You could finish with your beads after the previous step but to ensure that they will last and be sturdy, I placed one coat of glossy mod podge on top of the beads to make them harden and have a shine.
7. Once the coat of mod podge dries, carefully cut each of the beads from the straws.

attach a ribbon to the top of bracelet to hide closure

 8. Now get your string ( I used flexible, plastic string), tie a knot at one end to keep the beads from sliding out, and start stringing your beads through.
9. Tie the two ends together to fasten and put a pretty bow on top to hide the closure.
10. Now you have a Spring bracelet just in time for Easter!

**NOTE: This was my first attempt so I made it very simple but you could also attach a clasp to either end so that it will look nicer and be easier to close.

Have fun making your own unique bracelet!

love always,
 

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You Can DIY it!!!

I have found a million and one do-it-yourself projects that I would like to attempt but with my crazy schedule I haven't had the chance to do even one measly little project! Until now, that is!
Over the weekend I made a ring holder and with A LOT of help from hubster I made an earring picture frame too! So, let's get started!

Here's what you need for the ring holder:

1. A box with a lid.
I used a jewelry box that was 5" long x 3" wide x 2" high because I don't really have that many rings. However, you could even use a small shoe box if you would like. It would just be a little more work!
2. Scotch Tape.
3. A Ruler (I got this one from New Zealand and it's made with all the different types of wood they have!)
4. An old magazine, or several, depending on how large you want to make your ring holder. I only used 1/2 a magazine.
5. Scissors
6. Pretty Fabric
Now, let's make it happen!

 

 *All steps will be according to the size of my box that I mentioned above.

 Step 1: 

• cut about 5-8 pages at a time of the magazine into strips that are 3" across
• measure 2" and fold until the entire strip is wrapped.
• Repeat until there are enough of these folded strips to fill your box (I used about 12)

Step 2: 

• Use scotch tape to secure the folded strip together.

Step 3:

• wrap your fabric around each folded strip and secure with scotch tape
• place each strip into the jewelry box after wrapping.
• Repeat until the strips are tightly pressed against each other in the box.

All done!

Total Time: 15-20 minutes!

 I also made an earring holder from a picture frame, which is very easy and simple to do!

I wish I had taken pictures of the steps but all you really need is:

• double-sided tape, a few small nails or super glue (or all 3 if you are like me!)
• an old screen or some type of heavy-duty mesh fabric
• scissors
• a picture frame minus the glass and backing.

Step 1: measure the inside back of the frame and cut the mesh according to size. It's fine if you have a little extra mesh, you can always trim it later.
Step 2: attach the mesh to the frame with the use of either the tape, nails or glue.
Step 3: trim any excess mesh if needed.
Step 4 (optional): you can line the backing of the frame with a pretty fabric if you don't want it to be see-thru
Step 5: hang up all your pretty earrings!

Now for WILW!

 

I'm liking that the beach is the best spot for an afternoon picnic in the fall!

Danny and I went to Sand Key Beach over the weekend to spend some quality time together and loved the peace and serenity we found there. Here are some pics of us sitting on the rocks that overlook Clearwater Beach as we watched the boats go by. So nice!

our feet in the shade

sitting on a beach towel, enjoying our picnic

a pic of danny takinga pic LOL

 I'm liking all the new fall decor I got for the house! Here are a just a few of the things I found:

 I'm liking that there is only a little over a month before I graduate! Holy Cow!
I'm liking that Thanksgiving is right around the corner and that means I get plenty of time catching up with friends and family, plus lots of good food!
As always, I'M LOVING my sweet hubster, Daniel!

Happy Wednesday!

love always,

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