Valentine's Nails

I love valentine's day. My family has a tea party every year, and making valentine's for my friends is really fun. My friend Katie and I did our nails and we both did tutorials. Be sure to check out her design! Here is a fun design to do on your nails for Valentine's Day.

You will need:
~ Nail polish {of course}
~ Pins and toothpicks

Here are the four colors you will need: top coat, red, white, and gold.

First, paint your nails gold. I do one coat, then come back and do a second. Let it dry.

Now put a small amount of red nail polish on a piece of scrap paper or a card. Dip the pin head into the polish, and create to dots that barley touch on your fourth finger. Take a toothpick and drag it through the drops and bring them to a point. You now have a heart!

On your thumb, repeat this process on the upper outside corner. this one should be larger than the one on the forth finger. Now add a small amount of white nail polish to the card on a different spot, and repeat the process right next to the big heart on your thumb. It will be much smaller. Make sure that when you use the pin head again, it is clean, and that you use the other end of the toothpick, unless you want a swirled red and white heart.

You now have a classy, fun manicure for Valentine's Day. What do you think?

Glitter Ornaments

I love how easy these are to make, but also oh so pretty. You need only three things to make these.

• Clear ornaments (glass or plastic) that the tops can be removed from (they have them at Michael's)
• Liquid food coloring
• Glitter

Remove the tops from your ornaments. Depending on the size and shape, put a drop or two of food coloring inside. You can coat all of ornament, or create a design by swirling it in specific ways. Because of the point in my ornaments, most of the coloring and glitter collected in the bottom and fanned out from there. You can pour any extra onto a paper towel or into another ornament.

Now add the glitter. You can create a funnel by snipping off the end of an envelope, or folding a piece of paper. Now shake the ornament, covering the hole, making sure it coats all the places where there is dye.

Let them dry, then put the tops back on.

 You can put ribbon or twine through the loop if you want. These make a great gift, and it's very easy to make lots of them at one time.

Matchbox Advent Calendar

 DIY advent calendars are popular right now. I decided to do a matchbox advent. I filled mine with candies and little strips of paper I rolled up that have things to do each day. This is what you will need:

• 25 matchboxes
• Wrapping paper
• Washi tape, or any other type of colored or patterned tape (you can get washi tape at target in their office sections and most craft stores such as Michael's)
• Glue (school works perfectly fine)
• Scissors
• Cardboard
• Stamps and ink or markers
• A brush

 First I covered the front of the boxes with washi tape. I did four of each pattern and a different pattern for box 25.

Number them next. I used stamps with black and gold ink and pressed against the inside of the matchbox to keep it from breaking. You can use markers as well, though I like the uniform look stamps provide.

 

Now glue them together. I stared by gluing them across in rows first, them gluing the rows on top of another. I used a moderately heavy book to help the drying and press the matchboxes down.

When it dries, trace the size on cardboard. I used an X-Acto knife, but the scissors will work just as well. You should have two side pieces, two pieces for the top and bottom, and a back piece.



 Glue the pieces to the calendar, creating a box. When you do the back, be carful not to glue the drawers of the matchbox to the back, you want to be able to pull them out :).



The final step is to cover the cardboard with wrapping paper. I chose a neutral music print, so it would not draw away from the patterns of the drawers. Measure and cut the wrapping paper, making sure to leave about 1/2 an inch for folding.

To glue the wrapping paper on, I added one part water to two parts glue and brushed it on. Pull the paper tight over the cardboard. When you fold the ends, take and fold half the left edge of one side down first in a triangle shape. Do this to the right edge then put glue on the inside of the fold, align it and push that part down. Once dry, trim anything that overhangs with scissors.

You are ready to fill it up with goodies for the month!
~Hannah