DIY Champagne Glasses

So Cal and I are hosting a little New Years party and I thought that this would be fun for the guests to use and then take home with them after.  Here's a tutorial, they were cheap and fun to experiment with!

What You'll Need:

• Wine/Champagne glass (I got mine for $1 at Dollar General or Dollar Tree!)
• Black Porcelain Paint Pen
• Red (or color of your choice) Porcelain Paint (I got these at Walmart)
• Masking Tape
• Q-Tips
• Paint Brush and Painting Surface (you could use tin foil, too)

How To:

1.  With the black porcelain paint pen, begin painting the text, or in this case "2013."  Be sure to rest your hand against the glass so your hand stays steady.

This was my design - get creative!  If you mess up or don't like it, you can always wipe it off with water at this point!

2.  With the masking tape, tape the rim of the glass.  This is done because some glass paints are not food safe, so this is a sure way that it won't come in contact with the person's lips.  Be sure to press down the tape so it's secure.

4.  Then tape off your design. Keep pressing it down!

5.  Then tape around the glass, but not over your design.  This makes it SO much easier to make stripes!
- If you want to do vertical stripes, apply the tape vertically on the glass.

6.  Then apply the porcelain paint with the brush.  Be sure to put it on thick.  You may want to do two coats depending on how think you want it.

7.  Apply the paint in the taped off areas, stopping at the stem.

8.  With a Q-Tip and water, remove the 'oops' spots.

9.  Bake the glass according to the instructions on the paint (mine was 350 degrees for 30-35 min).  Then you're finished!  You can wash it, and it's dishwasher safe!

Here are my other designs.   Like I said - have fun with it!  You can do polka dots with a Q-Tip, or paint the base too!


Hope you have a fun and safe time bringing in the New Year!

With Love,
Cath

Break

Well can I just say that I don't want these two months to ever end.  Cal and I have been LOVEing break.  We've been spending a lot of time with family and friends and with each other.

The other night, the day after spending the whole day with extended family (it was.. tiring, to say the least), Cal took me through a housing track that is known for their Christmas light decorations.  He did it last year, and it is one of my favorite and sweetest memories.  If there's one thing I love about Christmas, it's the decorations.  And I'm not talking about no big plastic santa, either. I'm talking about a classy, well done Christmas.

Like this.  Cal and I rolled down our windows and clapped for this guy.
(Sorry for the awful phone quality!)

 Yesterday we went to Kohls and the mall to return some things and I got this watch and purse, both of which I have been wanting for a while.

We then went to the George Eastman House, who was the founder of the Eastman Kodak Company (which is now like in chapter 15, I know).  This man knew how to live, though!  He literally would have someone come and play the organ for him at his breakfast every morning. He went on a safari and had an elephant head hanging on his wall.  And he held weekly parties, and on New Years Eve he had 900 guests!  I mean this guy was boss.  I couldn't believe that our Rochester had such a magnifiecent house! Go us!

And this place is known for their gardens, too.  We are SO going in the summer!

OLD school cartoons.

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday with loved ones!

With Love,
Cath

Interior Inspirations: The Simple Life

Cal told me the other day that he would like everything in our future home to have a story.  It may sound crazy, but I agree with him.  What's the point in filling up your space with useless clutter? I want our house to be a place for our art, the things on the walls to remind us of places we've been, and the living room table to tell a story, even if it just is that it took us weeks to hunt that cheap thing down.  I like the idea of the simple life, where the clutter doesn't get in our way to let us live our lives.  A good professor I had told me that if you care about the things you surround yourself with and put quality in to making them (like your home, in this case) then not only do you respect yourself, you also create better things.

 

A nice light beige with the white gives this a nice clean but rustic feel.

All one nice clean color.  I like the idea of displaying your pots, also.  

With Love,
Cath

Merry Christmas!

May it be filled with much laughter and smiles with friends and family during this holiday season.

With Love,
Cath and Cal

Paper and Ribbons - Oh My!

Cal and I had a bit of a wrapping party today!

Wrapping is one of my favorite things to do... unless I'm tired, then it just becomes tedious.  Glad I had my Love's help to help me stick with it today!

All under the tree.  2 more days!

With Love,
Cath

DIY Christmas!

The semester has ended and the DIYing has begun... Friday has come, and man am I tired!  The whole combo of broke college kid and starving artist helped me decide to do a DIY Christmas.

Here are my Projects:

A sketchbook for my fashion friend who is looking to go to NYC.

Little book for notes. I designed the cover in photoshop.

A weekly planner that is hung on a wall. Also designed in photoshop.

 

Enamel-painted glass using this tutorial.

 

Crocheted half gloves.... that ALmost match!  I tried, I swear.

 

Okay... maybe I was a BIT distracted by Christmas movies.  Still comfy though!

And of course, the wreath.

Some infinity scarves. Man am I sick of crocheting!

Hat for my dad.  Cal loved this... wish I wasn't so sick of crocheting, haha.

Little account book I made for my mom.

 

There they are! Hope you enjoyed them.  If you would like any tutorials for any of these, let me know!

Just realized that I now have to wrap all this stuff... yeah.
First, sleep.

With Love,
Cath

Interior Inspiration: Text on Walls

I always love good typography when I see it, so why not place it on your walls? 

Put a page from your favorite book in your laundry room or office!

Uhhm yea. This is happening someday.

 

 Unique placement for house number.

 

All you need is some stencils and paint and you're on your way to a beautiful and unique home!

With Love, 

Cath

Sit. Stay a While.

A bit about us.

1. Our favorite song.
2. Favorite date: euchre at Tim Hortin's
3. Favorite TV show: Up All Night
4. Favorite season: summer
5. Favorite place: beach

With Love,
Cath and Cal

DIY Christmas Wreath

Don't you just love this chic Christmas wreath? I do! Reminds me of a peaceful Christmas, makes me want to light some candles and listen to some Micheal Buble Christmas...
Anyways! Ready for some good ol' DIY?

You'll Need:

• Simple twine wreath from any craft store - mine was $.99!
• Pearl ribbon from craft store
• Two favorite ornaments - these: Goodwill!
• Wire or twisty ties
• 1 ft. of thin ribbon
• 2-3 ft. of thick ribbon
•  Page from book (preferably one you don't read)
• Hot glue gun

 1. Cut your pearl ribbon the diameter of your wreath, then feed it through your ornament. This will be the longer ornament.

2. Tie the pearl ribbon at the very end.  This can be tricky. If you want, you can fasten it with the hot glue gun.

3. Take about 3-4 in. of wire and put on pearl wire. You could also use a twisty tie, just make sure it's dark so it's not noticeable.

4.  Feed wire through the wreath, twist at the top.  Make sure that it's snug and the wire doesn't move around much.

5.  Repeat steps 1-4 for the second ornament, but be sure to do have half the length of the diameter for the ribbon.

 

 6.  Loop the 1 ft. small ribbon through the top of the wreath and tie.  Then fasten at base with hot glue gun so it does not slide.

7. Then create paper roses. I simply followed this tutorial.  After it is finished, hot glue and inch of the pearl ribbon in a cluster in the center.

8. For the ribbon rose I used this tutorial.  Like the paper rose, hot glue pearl ribbon in the center again.

9.  Stick the flowers on the wreath with a hot glue gun.

And we're done!

With Love, 

Cath