DIY Friday Saturday!

Hey there fellow crafters! I have three more tutorials for you today, and they are so much fun! 


The first tutorial is great if you're looking for a way to spruce up an old pair of shoes before a night out. Shane and I are going back to visit my 
friends and family in Cedar Rapids the first weekend of March, and I have been planning out a "Super Fancy Dress-Up Party With Wine and Stuff" and 
I really wanted to look nice. I don't have a lot of money to spend on a new outfit or anything (although I do plan on buying a new black dress to replace
the one I lost several months ago ( *SADFACE*)... Anyway, I have about 4 pairs of black high heels in my closet, so I decided I would fix up a pair 
for our Fancy party! 

Fancy Party Shoes:

What you will need: 

• spray paint (in your color of choice)
• shoes
• mod podge 
• foam brush
• disposable cup (for mod podge mixture)
• tube of glitter (I used a 0.6 oz tube of glitter...if you are doing a larger area, you will obviously need more.)
• paper towels (or something else to put inside the shoes to block paint from getting inside...plastic bags work well too.)

I had all of these materials already so this didn't cost me a cent, but if you use your own old shoes and a standard 16 oz. bottle of Mod Podge, 
you should be able to aquire all of these materials for under $20.00


Once you have your materials together, put the paper towels inside the shoes to ensure no paint is sprayed on the inside.
Take the shoes outside (or in a well ventilated area) and spray paint them. If you don't want paint on certain areas, make sure you tape them off first. 

I personally wanted the whole outside of the shoe painted, so I didn't need to tape them.
Once the paint is dry, take the paper towels out.


Then, make your mod podge mixture. 
Mix the glitter and the mod podge together in your cup, it should look like this:

Spread a thick layer of the mod podge mixture onto the area of your choice. I chose the heel of the shoe. Make sure you layer it on fairly thick. Once this dries (which should take 30-45 mins depending on how thick your layer is), do one more layer. This ensures that any bald areas are covered and you can touch it up, if need be.

(this is after the first layer.)

Let the shoes dry (I would suggest letting them dry overnight before wearing them, just to be on the safe side.)


I did mine this morning, so they haven't had as much time to dry but here's how they look after 2 layers of mod podge glitter and about an hour of drying time...

Once it is completely dry, the glitter will be much more sparkly. :) I will post an updated photo tomorrow morning so you can see them in their full glory!


There you have it! Awesome shoes that I didn't have to spend any money on. They are my new favorites, and I can't wait to show them off!

Newspaper Nails: 

I am loving doing these nail tutorials! Here is one I've seen on Pinterest for a long time and I finally got a chance to try it out.


What you will need: 

• light colored nail polish (mine is Essie "Topless & Barefoot")
• clear topcoat
• newspaper strips a little wider than the width of your fingers. 
• rubbing alcohol
• small disposable cup
• your hands!

Start by cleaning your nails and removing any nail polish so you have a clean slate to work with. Then paint them with your light colored nail polish (I'm no nail expert, so if you want to do a clear basecoat or whatever, go for it. You should know how you like your nails painted by now.) 
Also, I have the ugliest, most unsteady hands on the face of the earth, but here is a picture of what mine looks like so far:

Once you have the light nail polish on and it is dry (if you're not sure, test it by lightly clicking two nails together. If it feels tacky, they still need drying time) put a bit of the alcohol in your cup. Soak your nail in the alcohol for at least 15 seconds. 

Immediately after pulling your nail out of the alcohol, apply the strip of newspaper. Make sure that once the newspaper is on the nail that it is pressed on and doesn't move. Make sure that the whole strip looks wet. If not, dip a finger into the alcohol and press it on top of the newspaper.

If there is a dry secton, the paper will stick to your nail and you'll have to start all over.
Once you've done that, pull the strip off and you will have whatever was printed on the paper on your nail! 


After all your nails are done and dry, finish by applying a clear topcoat and you're done! 

Experiment with this a bit, I used sections of comics, small pictures (there is an random asian man's head on my thumb, endless entertainment.), crossword puzzles, sudoku, ads, and mazes.
Don't limit yourself to text only (unless that's what you want, because, after all, it's about you.) 


My favorite is the little monster on my right middle finger. :)

DIY clay beads & pendants!

What you will need:

• an oven
• polymer (or "oven-bake") clay
• wire/toothpick (for making the hole in the bead for stringing)
• cookie sheet
• glaze/gloss varnish
• aluminum foil (i don't know if the clay will ruin the cookie sheet sitting on it directly so i use the foil as a barrier, just in case.)
• your imagination!

Make the beads of your choice (here are some of mine if you would like inspiration.)

Poke your holes with the wire or toothpick. 


Bake on cookie sheet covered with foil at 275 degrees fahrenheit for 25 mins (I know the package says 15 per 1/4 inch of clay, but I like the results better when I do it for 25 mins.)


Let your beads cool for a couple hours, then glaze or add the gloss varnish to them, let them dry, and you have made your very own one-of-a-kind beads to work with!


I love making these and have been thinking of making them and selling them at my shop. It won't be immediate, because I want to have some that are a bit more 
impressive. But look out for those! :) 


Here is a necklace I made with a purple clay bow. :) 

So there you have it. Three tutorials to get busy on this weekend! Have fun! 


xoxo, 
Meagan