Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

The Nail Network Decks the Halls: A Look at My DIY Christmas Decorations

Most of you know that Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and that I get really into decorating for it (sometimes in the middle of November...). Last year, I got really crafty and made a couple fun decorations for my house and this year, I continued the streak. I love crafting and it's so nice to save a few bucks by making something yourself instead of buying it in a store. Plus, you get to brag that you made it when people ask you about it! ;) Today I'm going to give you a quick little tour of my Christmas decorations and give a couple short little tutorials about a few of my favorite crafts.

Nail Polish Ornaments
Of course you've already seen the nail polish ornaments that I made last year! The tutorial on that is here if you missed it. These are so simple and inexpensive but turn out stunning. I've been putting polishes aside throughout the year that I think will look great as ornaments and I can't wait to start making some again now that I've dug my leftover clear ornaments out of storage!


Mason Jar Snow Globes
I also made a whole bunch of these adorable mason jar snow globes last year. I have three or four of them in my house, plus I made a bunch for gifts too and they were a hit! You need spray paint, candlesticks, mason jars with lids, snow-like glitter, E-6000 craft glue, and little trees. I bought a package of the trees from Amazon for a pretty good price. To get started, glue the lid of the jar to the candlestick using the E-6000 glue (if you use hot glue on glass candlesticks, it'll just peel off). Let it dry for a few minutes and then take it outside and spray paint the whole thing white (or any other color you want). Once the spray paint is completely dry, you can bring the bases in and glue the trees to the inside of the lid. To finish it up, fill the mason jar with glitter (I went about 1/4 full for mine), screw the lid on to the jar, and then flip it over to see the finished product!


Ornament Wreath 
This ornament wreath is a new addition to our house for this Christmas season. I've seen these in stores but they are always so expensive, so I've been hunting in thrift stores and dollar stores for cheap ornaments to make my own. You need a ton of ornaments and a wreath base to make this, plus hot glue to hold it together obviously. Take all the tops off of the ornaments and glue them around the inside and outside of the wreath base with the open top all facing up. Then, flip the base around and start filling in the spaces! This works best if you have a bunch of different sized ornaments to fill in all the little holes and leave as little of the base showing as possible.


Salt Dough Ornaments
I also attempted to make salt dough because I wanted to make dog paw ornaments for my pups and I wound up having a lot of fun experimenting with different things to make the ornaments. I made the paw print ones and one with the print of the key from our house, but my favorites were like the one pictured below. To make them, I rolled the dough out, pressed a piece of a pine branch into it and then used the cookie cutter to cut out the tree shape. I also tried some with rubber stamps that turned out really great! The salt dough is super to easy to make too; all you need is one cup of salt, one cup of water, and two cups of flour. The recipe makes a lot of dough, so I ended up using the ornaments as gift tags for all my gifts too!

 Did you DIY anything fun for the holidays this year? 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

How to Make Your Own Nail Polish Ornaments!

Good morning everyone! A couple of days ago I went Christmas shopping and picked up some clear glass ornaments with the intention of using them to make some ornaments for my tree. I have a bunch of different ideas for them, but the one I was most excited about was nail polish ornaments! There was a lot of interest in them when I posted about them on Instagram, so I thought I would make up a tutorial post with step by step instructions on how to make them! :)


These are a really great craft because you don't need many supplies and what you do need is pretty cheap! You'll need a bottle of nail polish (which I'm sure you all have bunches of!), a clear glass ornament (you can find these at any craft store, I think mine were $4.99 for a pack of 12), and a small jar with a paper towel in the bottom of it. I used China Glaze Santa Red My List for this one.


Remove the little silver cap from the ornament (duh). They pop out really easily, you just have to pull a little.


Dump a whole bunch of polish into that sucker. You'll be dumping most of the excess back into the nail polish bottle so don't be afraid to pour a lot in. It'll make your life easier!


Swirl the ornament around to completely coat the inside with the polish. Do it slowly to avoid bubbles. This can get time consuming if you are using a slightly thicker polish. I made some ornaments using textured polish and they took a while to coat and I had to keep adding more because the polish didn't flow as smoothly, BUT they turned out amazing, so it was totally worth it.


Once your ornament is thoroughly coated, pour the extra polish back into the bottle.


Once you get most of the polish back in the bottle (or you get tired of holding it), place the ornament upside down on top of your jar. The paper towels will catch the leftover polish and your ornament has a safe place to dry. Once it's dry (I left mine overnight), pop the ornament top back on and go put that beauty on your tree!


I used about 1/5 to 1/4 of a bottle of polish for each ornament. Pretty much any polish will work for these, but glitters/heavy shimmers/holographics will have the most stunning results. From left to right here I have:
Row 1: KBShimmer Don't Pink Twice, Teal Another Tail, Will Yule Marry Me?
Row 2: OPI DS Pewter, OPI Silent Stars Go By, Zoya Chita
Row 3: China Glaze Santa Red My List 


And here is my beauty Will Yule Marry Me? on display. These little ornament hooks are a great way to show off your favorite polish ornament!


Will you be making some of these? What polish are you dying to see an ornament made from?