DIY: Glitter Reindeer Silhouette

This project has been floating the internet (ahem...Pinterest) for a while and I finally got around to doing it. It stuck with me one, because I have an increasing love for deer (which sounds strange out-loud) and, two, I. Love. Glitter. But kind of in a secret glittered-toenails-in-the-winter and glitter-pillows-on-my-bed rather than the every-top-i-wear-is-shiney kind of way. Actually, I don't think I own any clothes that glitter at all. Anyways, back to what we're really here for: 

 Most, if not all, of the versions that I've seen have done it with glue and sprinkled glitter on top. Which, I think looks super great. However, I was at Target the other day browsing their dollar section (which I absolutely love!) and I found a bottle of silver glitter glue for, you guessed it, a dollar. So, I decided to do the project with glitter glue. It definitely looks a little different, but I like it. Also, it only cost me a dollar, which is rather nice for this college student (: 

 What I used:

:  

- Paper (A heavy, card stock kind or, in my case, a piece of old sketchbook paper) 

- Reindeer silhouette (I googled it, printed off one I liked, and cut it out so that I had the outline.) 

- Glitter glue

- Pencil & eraser 

- Scissors (for cutting out the silhouette to trace) 

- Strong coffee. This is optional, obviously, but gosh coffee makes things that much more wonderful.

 How I did it:

   

First, I traced an outline around the picture I had cut out in pencil. Do this lightly, or else it might end up showing through the glitter. Then make sure you erase any pencil marks outside of the lines that you don't want to show in the final project. It's a lot easier to do before the glitter is added, trust me on this one (:

Then, I just applied the glitter glue in a pretty thick layer (think: the amount of frosting you'd like on a cookie, rather than the amount of paint you put on a wall). After that I just let it dry for the rest of the day and it was all done!

Heads up, the glitter glue takes longer than you think it would to dry because we're applying it on so thickly. So, give it plenty of time to dry out and try not to poke at it too much (I'm totally guilty of this!) because it leaves funny little marks all over it once it's done.

   

And that's it! It seriously is that simple, but it's such a cute little piece! I think it'd be really fun to do a saying in glitter, or maybe some other silhouettes in different colors. You can really take this project anywhere. The sky is the limit. 

 Yay!

DIY: Pretty Circle Cutout Garland

 

Currently, I live in the biggest room of a house shared with two other roommates. We affectionately call it "The Cutest House In GV". I've lived here for a little bit over a year and I'm still slowly making the house "cute". Sure, we've lived here for a while and all of the basic things are in place, but a lot of the things that make it look lived in and welcoming are still being added.

If I think about all of the things I want to do in the house at once (baskets here, new floors here, shelves here, etc), then I become incredibly overwhelmed. However, if I think it about it in sections, then suddenly I'm superwoman and I can do anything. This month my section is the corner in my bedroom that houses my keyboard and guitar and this project is the first thing I've done to make it look a little more delightful and a little less sterile.

I made a garland, or banner, because it was something that I already had everything I needed to make it, and because it's something that's easily changeable/removable. So, without further-ado, here's how I did it:

What I used:

- Paper doilies

- Tissue paper in white with sparkles and silver

- Pages from an old theology book

- Large hole punch (mine has scalloped edges and is about an inch across)

- "Rubber cement" because I find that it dries faster and holds better than normal liquid glue

- Scissors

- Tape

- Mini hole punch (which I actually didn't end up using)

How I Did It:

First, I punched out a ton of holes from each of the papers that I had picked. The amount that you make depends on how long your garland is and how far apart you space them. I wanted mine spaced pretty closely, but my garland isn't all that long. So, I ended up do way more than I needed to, but I just put the rest in a plastic baggie for another future project.

From there, I cut the twine in the length that I wanted (you could also totally use clear fishers line or floss if you don't want your "line" to show up!) and started rubber-cementing (gosh, that sounds silly) the circles to one side of the line. I did mine so that the "heights" alternated, like this:

After that, I put the same type of dots directly over the backs of these so that my twine wasn't showing through. Then, I hung it up where I wanted it on the wall with some tape (until I find some thumb-tacs!).

Super simple! 

(I also made the doily one while doing this, but it was so simple that I figured a "tutorial" wouldn't really be worth it. All I did was cut another piece of twine to the length I wanted it, folded four doilies in half and placed them on the twine once I hung it on the wall. Easy peasy.)

Slowly, but surely, this little corner in my room is becoming a whole lot cuter. Hallelujah.