Day One: Bird in a Nest Ring

I was so excited about my 365 project, I had to start as soon as the clock struck midnight. Here is my first DIY.

I was inspired by a 25 cent machine prize two days ago. A thumbnail sized rubber duck it was. I immediately got a picture in my head of exactly what I wanted to do.

It took almost half an hour. First I took wire,  wrapped it loosely and imperfectly around my fingers. Then I cut several smaller pieces of wire and wrapped them around my "nest," using them to secure it in place.

I used my secret weapon, hot glue, to attach the duck to the nest via the bottoms of each, using small dots of glue so they would not be detectable. My final step was to glue the bird and nest to a ring base, which in this case was another 25 cent prize (I would buy real ring bases, but I have no money).

Viola! Day one complete.

My 365 Project

Alright, starting next year, I resolve that I will post one DIY project on this site every day of the year. It will include a range of scarves, rings, pendants, anything and everything. Some of these will come from the website Cut Out and Keep, and if they do, I will include a link to explain the process, as well as whatever changes and tweaks I made to the process. I hope you enjoy! This will accompany my other project of thinning out my closet. :)

Success? Not so much.

Alright, so I think I talked about how I was going to use parchment paper in a project I was doing. This project was to create shirt decals from plastic bags. I attempted it today...and discovered some points.

1. Trash bags work fine.

2. The iron has to be on high heat.

3. If you don't press down really really hard really really quickly, the plastic shrivels up and and folds upon itself.

4. It's easier to do small pieces of plastic than big ones.

5. Don't use a ribbed tank top. When it stretches, the plastic peels off.

6. If you go over the created decals too many times with the iron, adding in extra decals, the original ones will melt. It's not super noticeable, but if you get close...

7. It's really hard to cut plastic with scissors and get the desired shape...if you think you're going to create pictures, start out practicing with letters. It's much easier.

SUCCESS!

Ahhh! I'm so excited! I just went to Meijer and bought parchment paper and three colors of fabric paint (black, white, and glow in the dark). I have so much in mind for them....for the parchment paper, I have a DIY that involves using plastic as a decal material. I have yet to experiment with it, but I'll post pictures when I have them.
The other project that I was thinking of using the fabric paint for is to make a galaxy shirt.I know that "cosmic couture" is a minor trend, but that's not why I'm indulging in it. I honestly think that galaxy is awesome. I would wear a galaxy shirt even if everyone thought it was awful. I love outer space. I was thinking of making a special tab for my creations, and I think that I will.

But overall, for shopping today, my thoughts are simply "SUCCESS!!!!!"

Newest Goodwill Goodies

 Alright...so this tank dress isn't going to stay all white and pretty. I have plans for it...big plans.. *evil laugh*

 So....this candle holder wasn't technically MY Goodwill find...someone else got it at Goodwill and then I won it in a white elephant gift exchange. So it's a stretch, but I love it so much I had to add it into this section. You can't really tell in this picture, but some of the holes in the mock lampshade are heart-shaped.

 This is just a pair of vintage stud earrings that I got for fifty cents. They were in a basket with other pairs of rejected earrings and I just fell in love with the turquoise color. I don't know if you can tell, but there are swirls of other turquoise shades too.

 Alright, another pair of beautiful stud earrings. This pair is a wee bit heavy, but I feel like they're pretty enough to make up for that fact.

Ahhh...I've been looking for this album for a very long time! It has my favorite SP song, "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," on it! I just love Billy Corgan's voice...he could just put me to sleep. In a good way!

I've officially been taken over by Hello Kitty! What a pleasant sort of insanity this is! :) I especially appreciate the picture of Hello Kitty waiting with a cocktail and doing her best "Come hither" wink. Not tonight Darling, I'm tired.

Nigel had a very lovely Christmas too. :) He ate much garland and was happy. Here he lies amongst tulle and pillows, exhausted from all the excitement.

Cat Earrings

Ahaha, one of my favorite treasures from this Christmas! I love these deliciously tacky cat earrings! They look like my baby Nigel! They're soooo perfect! I wish I had them in numerous colors! Aren't they just precious??? Ahh...pretty much everything else I got was Hello Kitty themed. My sister somehow managed to find Hello Kitty perfume even! It smells really good. I had a truly wonderful Christmas. I hope you did too.

Christmas Comes and "Summer Fades"

Merry Christmas! I'm celebrating by listening to some Smoke Fairies. It's the perfect non-Christmas music to listen to on Christmas, if that makes sense at all. This is one of my favorite songs by them. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2EIS_iETE8