Showing posts with label Crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crafts. Show all posts
Chase and I hopped on over from J building to H building back in March! Oh the TVA life, it's a good one. (TVA is our apartment complex name for BYUH married students). Let me tell you, upgrading to a one bedroom from a studio felt like Christmas! I couldn't believe how many extra drawers we had and space in our bedroom. It was pretty cool to have more privacy as well for when visitors come. Plus, we got a corner aparment on the second floor which means a little bit of extra square footage and an extra window (the one with the leis). Can't complain about getting extra light. I love light!
Most of these pictures may come off boring or pointless to many of you. But I posted them each for a reason. I love this little apartment and cherish the memories Chase and I have made here. Living this simple life has been hard at times, but beautiful overall. We watch movies on our computer from bed, always getting neck cricks and back pains from searching for the perfect position. Our mirror has fallen off the wall many times and broken its frame, but I finally found a way to make it stick! I have downsized the amount of clothing, shoes, and jewelry I own and at times still find myself wearing the same 3 outfits and pair of shoes. There's an annoying wall separating the living room and kitchen to trick us into feeling like they are actually two separate rooms; while there is even a more peculiar space in the wall separating our bedroom from the living room of which we have hung a shower curtain for privacy. Our surf rack was handed down from a friend covered in ugly red spray paint that I never got around to re-painting. Ghetto, perhaps. Functional, absolutely.
There has been so much good that has happened to us here to outweigh the bad or dare I say ghetto-ness. I make all of my decor from shells, sea glass, driftwood, and paint and I LOVE it. I love my home because it is just that, home. Chase may think our beaded doorway is way too hippie but I just love it and wish it was fuller. My sisters and I used to have a turquoise beaded doorway in our room during high school and we thought it was the raddest thing ever.
My style I have discovered is very bohemian beach free spirited, because that is where I find all my inspiration. I have a beautiful vision of my future home, an adorable colorful beach cottage. My husband and I are on exact opposite sides of the spectrum as far as our dream home goes, but I always say, "I'm the one who will be home with the kids staring at it all the time, so I'm gonna make it look the way I want and you'll just have to deal with it." Hah! Ok, I will let him give some input and of course won't go cheesy overboard, but I must say. I have a pretty ideal picture in mind, and it includes a beautiful garden, sea foam green front door, lots of flowers, and bright colors!
PS, we are moving from Hawaii on December 20th. It's official, our flights are purchased. Tear, lots and lots of tears.
So back in March Chase got this brand new board, custom made. The day he got it he was so giddy, I had never seen him so stoked. It was the perfect shape, perfect length, and even had the perfect black and blue zebra deck pad he had wanted for months. Unfortunately, one day Gas Chambers decided to screw him over and snapped it in half! We were all in shock, he was almost in tears. It had only been ridden three times and was barely a month old.
You see, Chase has a few items that I call his "special" things. First, his surf board. I am not allowed to touch his board, nor move it, nor hold it, nor load it in the car. No touchy for Lisa, I surely will leave a huge ding in it and life will be over ;). Second, his shoes. He always keeps one pair of nice Vans that he will not wear skating or in the rain. He keeps them outside of the shoebox in his "special" place to never be moved unless by him, in fear of getting scuffed, misshapen, or heavens forbid, dirty. Third, his hats. He loves those flat billed New Era hats, especially the San Diego ones. Go chargers! So, they are stacked in just a way that they will not get bent or change shape. I mustn't touch. It's hilarious I tell you. Ok, moving on.
Since Chase seemed to have an attachment to this board and he couldn't bear to get rid of it, I decided to find a way to preserve it. Fixing it would be a joke, it was a clean break all the way through. So, I opted to painting it! Chase at first found the idea dumb and not at all what he wanted, but I found it a clever idea! What better way to keep the board in our family than a cute decor item! So here we have it people. A mini tutorial. Enjoy!
Supplies:
Top half of a broken surf board
Black chalkboard paint
Sponge brush
Blue painters tape
Chalk
Gorilla glue
Metal wall hanger
- First you need to prep the board for painting. Chase had a clean break on his board, so I didn't bother sanding the bottom to make it flat. Although, that is definitely an option if you want a clean perfect type of look. I kept it rugged and real, for memories sake. I then removed all the excess wax by using one of my old cards and hot water to scrape it off. Once the wax is removed, use a paper towel to wipe it dry.
- Grab some blue painters tape to mask off the shape you want to paint and begin painting by filling inside the tape lines. Painting a surfboard is pretty tricky because of the material it is made of. It's super shiny and smooth so it will take many layers. Honestly, I lost track of how many I did. Surely it was probably around 10 or so? But the trick is, let it dry completely between coats. I had a hard time being patient with that, but it helps keep the chalkboard smooth and glossy instead of rough. You want it to be consistent with the surfboard so waiting for it to dry completely between coats is a bonus.
- Once you have painted it to the desired darkness and thickness, allow it to dry for a full 24 hours. When it has dried completely, slowly and carefully remove the blue tape. Peel it off slowly, because it can easily pull up the chalkboard paint with it. Again, the nature of the board makes it easy for the paint to peel off. Be wary of that.
- Now it is time to culture the chalkboard. Take a piece of chalk and place it flat on the chalkboard. Coat the entire chalkboard with a layer of chalk. Once this has been done, take a damp paper towel and wipe the board clean. Now it is ready to be drawn on!
- Lastly, use gorilla glue to fasten a metal wall hanger to the back. The gorilla glue takes hours to dry. I just did it over night and placed a heavy pot on top of it to secure it. Follow the directions on the gorilla glue bottle. This is the only type of glue that will work on a surf board, do not try any other type or your chalkboard will fall and crash off your wall, not fun! You can find this glue at Ace or any hardware section.
Happy painting surfer friends!
Bust out the box, it's craft day! YES I get so excited just thinking about it. High up in my cupboards sits my little blue box. Inside my little blue box is all my paints, shells, sea glass, driftwood, canvases, fabric, yarn, hemp, glue, sand, beads, you name it! It's a huge mess but a happy mess. Just looking in it gets me excited for my next project. It's hard to make the time to craft having two jobs and all, but I manage to squeeze it in here and there.
While I was in Mexico in December I collected a few sand dollars to take home and paint. I decided to share them with my sis and neighbor Morgan so we can all paint something together. We were inspired by this and after finishing one and seeing how long it took we couldn't believe it! Kylie isn't too into crafts unless it's a holiday, which I suppose surprised me! I thought my sisters and I all loved crafts, guess I was wrong. Kylie wasn't quite patient enough with her sand dollar so decided to bust a "Picasa" and get modern. And the underside of her black sand dollar glows, totally awesome. Glow in the dark paint is so rad you should buy some. My friend Morgan got really fancy and took the same amount of time to paint one that I did three! Hers is the beautiful brown and sunset colored one. Mine are the remaining three of which in my mind were ok but I could have done better (hah). I was getting in patient too and was a little distracted by our fun conversations! That's another reason I love to craft. It's so fun getting together with the girls and kickin' back while making something beautiful.
PS. I have some exciting news up my sleeve that I'm not quite ready to share yet (no I'm not prego yet, hah). But I have been thinking about this for months, since I painted my first canvas over a year ago. My mind is buzzing with ideas so I am making a plan to execute these ideas and see where they go. For now, don't get too excited. It will be a long process for me and take some time, but I am surprised at my excitement at this lil' plan I have rollin' around in my head. And when it comes into action I think I will have a wonderful little hobby to entertain myself :).
recently, i've had a few painting projects! the very first painting i ever did was the one on the top left of chase and i surfing. it is hung in our living room and it always brings a smile to my face. clearly, i am inspired by where i live and the beautiful artist heather brown. shortly after, i painted my sister megan a vw bus for baby van's nursery. and most recently, i painted my beautiful friend erin who is expecting baby boy on mothers day, a series of three lil' grom (hawaiian for child surfer) paintings. i thought the chalkboard one would be fun for mama to write love notes to baby. my next project is another painted driftwood mobile that my sis kylie has been long waiting for :).
can't wait to get my paint on! oh, and exciting news. chase and i were exploring art galleries over the weekend in haleiwa and discovered a painting class i can take! it's directed by a local artist who sits in front of the gallery and we basically copy what he does. i will get my own painting aisle, brushes, paint, canvas, the whole loot! best of all, i will get to take home a beautiful (hopefully) painting of my own. we haven't signed me up yet, but we will depending on what the artist will be having us paint. it changes weekly, so i have to call in and book a class when it's something i will be excited about! fun times ahead.
i'm so sad i forgot to take before pictures. but when i first moved to hawaii i bought this bike off a friend and painted the frame yellow, the fenders and handle bars coral, and the front wheel bars purple. it was super cute and happy and i loved it. but, after a few years in the hawaiian sun and rain, it rusted, peeled, scratched, and chipped. so it was time for a makeover, and then came the purple and red spray paint! nice and bold yet still cute. i love it and now am so happy i get to ride my bike everywhere again, including to my new job. so i hope the "girly-ness" of it will prevent it from getting stolen, as bikes often do around here. in the meantime, you can find me cruising around on my cute purple and red heart bike!
last year i discovered that i really love to paint. it seriously makes me super happy. in a funny, "i can't explain it," kinda way. when i'm painting my mind is clear and all i am thinking about is how to be more creative (haha, takes some digging for me). and i guess that brings me to driftwood, real nice ;).
living in hawaii and developing such a love for the ocean, i feel that most of my artwork thus far has been inspired by the beach and the waves. the beaches around our house are covered with driftwood, especially in the mornings and after storms. so obviously i'm going to collect them to paint! i like to paint with acrylics on canvases, shells, beads, and sticks to try and add something cute to our tiny apartment.
whether it's painting driftwood, collecting sea glass, leaving love messages in a bottle, or keeping pretty shells from beaches chase and i have been to, i feel like i use nature to make my home feel "homey" and "rondo-y" -- fake word. my most recent invention, my necklace holder! kinda excited bout that one.
recently i attended a fun craft night where we had the choice of making a be merry garland, driftwood star, or trees. i obviously chose the trees because look how dang adorable they are! i am so happy with how they turned out and they sure make my table look a whole lot cuter. not to mention, they were super simple to make and the supplies were cheap. it's not too late for you to make your own! all supplies can be found at your local walmart or craft store.
supplies
4 cardboard cones (can get three different sizes and just do three, super cute)
6-7, 11x17" pieces of felt in desired colors (or the size that comes pre-cut)
4 bells in gold, silver, red, and green
fabric scissors
hot glue gun with glue
directions
- on a piece of felt begin drawing circles with a marker, or free hand it. cut out many circles of desired sizes for one of your cones. begin gluing circles to cone. i found it easier to put glue on the cardboard instead of the felt to prevent burning myself.
- pick another color of felt and cut a long rectangle with many small slits, leaving some space at the top to glue to cone. repeat with other small strips of felt of same or another color, to ensure the entire cone is covered. hot glue the strips to the cone close together so the tree looks full and fluffy. the closer together the slits, the more fluffy it will look.
- choose a third color of felt, or array of colors for the third tree. i chose blues to make it look icy. you can either cut long wavy strips or scallops. either is super cute. glue to third cone.
- once all cones are covered with felt, top with a cute colored bell.
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