DIY Coffee Cup Ornament Tutorial

Recently I was at a Peet's Coffee store and saw some absolutely adorable little ceramic coffee cup ornaments, similar to the ones that Starbucks sells every year. I work for a Peet's Coffee and I think that their coffee is delicious, so with this and my crafty Christmas side in mind (why pay for something you can make yourself!) I knew I had to figure out how to make a similar ornament.

This was my finished product!

And here's how I did it:

1. Start with an aluminum foil base, to help support the body.

2. Roll out enough clay to wrap around it and 

wrap around the foil body, smoothing as you go.

3. For the top, make a circle slightly bigger than the top of the body.

4. And another circle slightly smaller than that.

5. Smooth them together and make a little indent in the top (where you would drink from)

6. Mold onto the body, smoothing as you go.

7. Stick a little wire loop (I used a piece of a paperclip) in the unbaked clay.

8. Bake, cool and then paint away!

My modeling clay said to bake at 275* for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch. 

These cups took about 10 minutes to be finished. 

You can obviously paint however you wish, be it Starbucks' red cups, Peet's cups, 

or some obscure little coffee shop that we've probably never heard of. ;)

-Rachel 

Burlap and Jute Note Board

Ever since Sean moved into his apartment last December, I have been wracking my brain for something to put on the wall in the dining room. It's blank, white wall stared at me day after day with a cold and taunting look, but practically the moment we got home from our honeymoon, I knew exactly how to vanquish it! It normally takes me a few days (or months) to figure out how I want to work a project, but never have I been inspired to make something so quickly and had all the materials at my fingertips. It was awesome! Our living room was full of our wedding decorations...which included burlap, jute, and clothespins. Bingo! I've also had an old canvas that I grabbed for free on Craigslist and never knew what to do with.

I tacked some twine around the back and then spray painted some clothespins with our leftover wedding color spray paint.

I originally intended to use it for notes and such, like a bulletin board, but I never ended up hanging anything on it because I'm an OCD spaz about balance and symmetry.

After it hanging exactly like this for a month...
(Aren't those dahlia's gorgeous?)

I decided to turn it into a photo display board.

My husband and I took our film SLRs out the other night and had fun taking pictures of fall...turns out it was the last sunny day we'll see for a while. Not that I mind, rain makes my heart happy. :)

DIY iPhone Engagement Ring Pictures

I had some free time on my hands this afternoon and decided to snap some pictures of my engagement ring! I absolutely love what I came up with and wanted to share how easy it is! So often I see blurry, out of focus pictures of engagement rings and it makes me sad that they aren't being displayed to the fullness of their beauty!!

Here are a few tips.

1. MACRO. If your camera has a macro setting, find it and use it. It is your new best friend. This setting allows you to get up close and personal with every detail of your gorgeous new ring. iPhones have this setting built in to their cameras (at least the 4s and 4Ss that I know of). It will also bring your ring into focus while blurring the background, which makes your ring pop!

2. Focusing the iPhone camera: Just point your phone at what you want to take a pic of and tap the screen over the part you want it focused on. You will see it adjust and all you have to do is push the camera button!

3. Don't get too close. The iPhone is still a phone, so it's macro isn't perfect. I have found that if I get TOO close, it won't focus, and I also have trouble getting clarity in direct, strong sunlight.


4. Background/setting: This is the fun part! Find some flowers, stumps, trees, ribbon, old books, anything that exemplifies who you are! If you love to read, maybe place your ring on a stack of or between the pages of your favorite books! If you're a nature girl like me, find some flowers to tuck it in to add some vibrancy and life to your photos and so your ring has something to be propped on other than your finger (as gorgeous as it may be!)

Have fun and experiment!! Mine were all edited with Snapseed. Love that app!!

-Rachel

Twig Luminary Tutorial

I love being surrounded by woodsy, nature inspired crafts, especially in the winter time when the mountains are full of snow and hiking is on the back burner for a short while. I found these twig candle holders on Pinterest and pinned them for a "someday" project. I saw that my friend Lexi pinned them, too, and when the ice storm here brought down a plethora of branches, we got together as soon as we could to make them.

Source: webecoist.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I didn't read the tutorial until later so I didn't know that they used some kind of special adhesive for glass. Lexi and I used a glue gun and at first it the branches kept popping off, but once the glue got nice and hot, we didn't have any more issues.

I got some clear glass candle holders at the dollar store. I couldn't find any good round ones, so I got square instead, which I ended up liking a lot. 

The greenbelt behind her apartment had a ton of branches and we found some delightful red colored ones with clean bark (as opposed to the soggy, mossy ones that are so prevalent in these parts :P).

We dried them off and cut them down to the length we wanted. 

And then we started gluuuuuing!! I did mine in sections, putting the hot glue on the glass and then smooshed the branches...and my poor fingers, occasionally...into the glue.

I had some gaps between the branches...

Which I filled with smaller branches and then tied some raffiki..raffeta..rastafarria..crinkly plant tie stuff.

I always call it papery twine stuff. Whatevs.

I also found some tiny pinecones which I used on the other one I made. 

Here they are, all lit up! I love the branchy shadows they cast. 

There's something so magical about the power of hot glue. It's so wonderful for instant gratification type personalities such as myself! Lexi texted me later that night telling me that she was wandering around her house trying to find other things to hot glue. Seriously...I want to glue branches on everything now. Must gluuuuuue! 

Rachel

I linked up to