100 Days of Pinterest Day #3: Sharpie Mug

Sharpie decorated mugs and plates seem to have been all the rage lately on Pinterest. This is for two simple reasons: it's dead simple and crazy inexpensive! The only difficult part to this project is deciding on what to actually put on your mug!

 

What you need:

• White mug or plate (I purchased mine at the dollar store for $1.25 each!)
• permanent markers, any colours you like
• Oven
• Creativity

What to do:

1. First, it's important to clean your mug. Make sure it is free from dust, fingerprints and naughty little specks.  Wash with your favourite dish detergent and make sure it is bone dry before you move on to the next step.

 2. Get creative! Decide on how you would like to design your mug. Look up some of your favourite quotes, designs, patterns... anything. One cute idea that would be great for your special valentine is to make a mug or a plate that says everything you love about them. That way every morning with their cup of coffee and tea, they will be reminded of these little things.

One piece of advice for this step is to practice first. Write or draw out what you plan on putting on your item. Although (lucky for me) if you do make a mistake, the marker will easily wipe away with some nail polish remover.

For my mug I wanted to write something that would inspire me every morning. I chose one of my favourite Dr. Seuss quotes:

"Today you are you,
that is truer than true.
There is no one alive
who is youer than you."

Then, on the other side I Googled an image of the iconic Dr. Seuss hat and I drew it on the other side of the mug, and I have to say, I impressed myself lol.

3. Bake it. Place your mug onto a cookie sheet and place it in the oven at 350 degrees and set the timer for 30 minutes.

The only thing I did notice after I baked my mug was that the red sharpie colour I had used seemed to fade a little bit and came out looking more orange. This didn't bother me too much, but if this would be a concern to you, you might want to stick with the darker colours.

Let me know if you have tried this popular pin and how you decorated it!

Lots of love,

Jess

100 days of Pinterest day #2: Removing wax from old candle holders

Hi ladies,

Today's 100 Days of Pinterest post is crazy simple but will be a tip you will use time and time again, I promise. If you're anything like me you have candles around your house that have been burned as far as they can and are sitting in the bottom of their perfectly useable glass container. With this tip you can easily remove the remaining wax from the bottom of the glass and recycle it to hold anything from cotton balls, q-tips, jewelry...anything!

 My finished product:

 

 My original Pinspiration:


 Original source HERE

How it's done

In order to remove the wax, simply stick the candle in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours. When the wax freezes it hardens and shrinks a little bit, causing a gap between the wax and the glass. When it's frozen simply press a kitchen knife into the wax and it will magically crack and break away from the glass. Any remaining residue can be wiped away with damp paper towel, or some olive oil. Also, if you have any difficult removing those annoying sticky labels, try a little nail polish remover.

Leave a comment below and let me know if you'll be using this tip for your used up candles! Also let me know if you have any "Pinspiration" you would like me to recreate.

Lots of love,
xoxox Jess

100 days of Pinterest day #1: Hand-painted wine glasses

Hello lovies,

Today is officially the kick-off of 100 Days of Pinterest and to be honest, I'm already questioning whether I've already bit off more than I can chew! Crafting is a LOT of work, fun albeit, but time consuming (although I'm sure we couldn't even count the hours we've spend mindlessly "pinning" away). 

Moving on, I'm excited to share my Pin of the day: Pained glass wear. Below is a picture of my "Pinspiration". I believe it's a pretty popular pin, so I'm sure many of you are familiar with it. I thought these were so cute, so I thought I'd give it a go, adding a little bit of a twist and a little Valentine's flare.

 

Original source HERE

My version:

How I did it:

1) Start off by choosing your paint and colours. I went with different shades of red/pink for Valentine's day by simply starting with red and adding increasing amounts of white, or black to go deeper. I used acrylic paint (I got mine from the dollar store for only $1!).

 2) Practice makes perfect! Before you start going balls to the wall with your glasses, take a few minutes to practice your pattern or drawing. I wanted to go with simple dots made with a small wooden dowel, so I practiced a few times on a clean paper plate.

 3) Start painting away! Let your creativity flow and have some fun with it. If you make a mistake, it's helpful to have a damp paper towel to quickly wipe off anything. The one suggestion I would make is that if your design has multiple layers, I would suggest letting your first coat dry before painting over it.

 4) Heat it up, baby! After your happy with your design and the paint is 100 per cent dry, place your glasses on a foil-lined sheet. Place the glasses into a COLD oven and while they are inside turn the oven onto 350 Degrees. Set your timer for 20 minutes then shut off the oven, keeping the glasses inside for another 10-15 minutes while the oven cools down. After your glasses have cooled completely, give them a gentle hand wash.

5) Pour yourself a glass of vino (or two) and admire what an artist you are! These glasses are dead simple to make and would also make a lovely and personal gift.

Let me know what you think of my creation in the comments. What kind of design would you like to create?

Also, if you have any requests for my 100 days of Pinterest series, I'd love to hear it!

XOXO,
Jess

100 days of Pinterest: An experiment

 


If you are anything like me you're obsessed with Pinterest. I could literally spend two hours straight pinning pictures of adorable cupcakes I'll never make, hair styles I'll never try and crafts I'll never create.

Well my friends, this is the day I declare the days of pinning and hoping are gone and the days of pinning and DOING have arrived. That's right, instead of collecting a bunch of pictures that are pretty to look at, I'm actually going to give some of Pinterest's most popular pins a go. From recipes, to crafty creations, DIYs and tips, the possibilities are endless. Now, whether or not my attempts will be a success... well  that's another story.

Tomorrow will be the first day of my series "100 days of Pinterest". I hope you'll swing by and see what my very first attempt will be. Martha Stewart, step aside...

XOXO
Jess