Snow Globe DIY: Cheap and Easy.

Dare I post two DIY's in a row? Well, if we're being real (and we always are) I am not very organized this time of year, so yeah man. We're doin it!
If you (like me) wait until the last minute to get your kids teachers gifts, or more specifically, you forget until the night before the last day of school that you need to get your kid's teachers a gift: This is the DIY for you.
quick, cheap, easy.

my favorite words.

oh, and add adorable in there too. That's a good one.

For this DIY you'll need:

-Jars with lids that screw on securely- (you can get fancy and go to Hobby Lobby to choose from their huge variety of jars (no canning lids, they'll leak.) OR. Baby food jars are the tops. Cheap, and you may have them in your house already. The jars I used were leftovers from our wedding. We have so many jars.
-Photos- You can zip down to CVS or Walgreens to print some off for super cheap, if you don't already have some you'd like to use. You can even connect to facebook to snag some off of there, or directly from your phone via their photo kiosks. The size of your photo will depend on the size of your jar. You'll need 2 photos per jar. Mine were wallet sized, and I still trimmed them a bit.
-Glitter- I used white confetti glitter, but hey, it's your snowglobe- go crazy.
-Glycerine- I read that you can also get this in any drugstore pharmacy section. Well, not at the CVS I went to, so I opted out of the glycerine. It's purpose is to make the glitter float down a little slower.
-Water- from the tap is dandy.
-Packing Tape- for waterproofing your photos.


Here's what you'll do:

1. You're going to use two photos per jar. They'll be connected in a circle. You'll just need to measure to see if you'll need to trim them a bit. You want to make sure they'll fit in your jar.

2. Using your clear packing tape, "waterproof" your photos by covering both front and back. Then Trim the sides.

3. Connect your photos (with clear [packing] tape) so that they make a ring, photo side out. (this is so no matter which way you turn your snowglobe you'll see that snazzy little photo

4. Pour glitter in jar. Just Enough to fill the bottom, plus a shake more. You don't want to over-do it.

5. Put your photo ring in the jar upside down.

6. Fill the jar halfway with water.

7. If you're using glycerine, add about a cap full

8. Fill the jar the rest of the way.

9. Close the lid tightly and shake it a few times to make sure there's no leaking.

10. turn your jar upside down, and VIOALA! your very own snowglobe!


** You may need to settle the glitter a bit, it tends to stick to the photo initially.
*** You may also want to spray paint the jar lid. I sprayed mine gold, because how could I not? This is a fancy little touch, but not totally neccesary. I also wrote Fern's name and the year on the top of the lid for keepsake purposes.


let me know if you have any questions about this DIY, I'm not very good at giving instructions. I'd be happy to explain further or add more photos if my ramblings only make sense in my own head.

Also, I'd love for you to let me know if you end up making one of these beauties! I' really wanna see!

DIY Christmas Ornaments

Every year, much like our October 1st tradition, we have a December 1st tradition. It's to go and buy one new ornament each for our Christmas tree. This year, instead of our usual shopping trip, since we're on this crazy saving budget- We're making our own ornaments.
All you need for this easy DIY is:
* clear glass (we opted for plastic) globe ornaments (you can find these almost anywhere. I bought a box of 4 at hobby lobby)
* whatever you have in your house to fill it with. (whatever you can find to fill them or wrap them in! The whole point is working with what you have as to not spend too much. We're all budget friendly here.

Here are a few special ornaments we made this year:

For these ornaments I used:

1. felt! Just scallops and scallops of felt. easy peasy. Overlapped, and tied off at the top with a sweet little bit of twine. I found these sweet little gold leaf sequins I bought months ago for another project, and snuck them in for just a fleck of gold. You know, I love my gold.

2. Dried flowers! I took some of the dried flowers from my wedding bouquet, and snipped a few. It's the perfect way to commemorate our first year as a married couple! You could add a wine cork from your wedding, lace, anything that will fit inside to make it special.

3. yarn. pretty self explanitory.

4. glitter! I'm considering buying a white paint pen to write on this one, and the last. You could write anything about the holidays. "joy", "merry & bright", "2013",  "glad tidings" are a few little phrases I'm considering. I haven't quite made my mind up yet.

Guest Post: Rivers and Roads

hello! i'm meg and i blog over at Rivers and Roads. it's a lifestyle blog full of pictures, mini adventures, my faith, and DIY projects. i was so excited when shayla asked me to guest post and then i freaked out a little because i wasn't sure what to post about! don't worry, i figured it out. i did this paper flower project a while back, and i loved it so much, i wanted to share it again! out of all the various paper flowers i've made, this one has been my absolute favorite! mostly because one of the main ingredients is glitter. sparkly goodness.

what you'll need:

cardstock // color of your choice

scissors

circle cutter // i tried both a 1" and 1 1/4" circle and ended up liking the larger circle better

hot glue gun

glitter

step 1: cut circles from your cardstock. i wanted to try out the ombre effect, so i have a different color for each layer of flower. i used approximately 8-10 circles per color. you'll use more depending on how full you want the bloom to be.

step 2: take your scissors and cut a slit halfway up each circle

step 3: put a dot of hot glue on the left side of the slit and slide the right side on top of the left. this will form a cone. repeat.

step 4: put a dot of hot glue near the seam of one cone and place a second cone (usually the flattest side) on top of the seam.

step 5: repeat steps 3 and 4 over and over and over. you'll want to make the cones less severe as you go so that the flower looks more open once you're finished.

step 6: smother the center in hot glue and cover it in pixie dust. if you don't have pixie dust, i guess you'll just have to settle for regular old glitter ;)

i hope you all enjoyed this little tutorial, and i hope you try it out! it really is very cute and simple.  happy honeymoon to shayla! thanks so much for having me this week! i cannot wait see pictures from the wedding!!

Guest Post: Elah Tree

Hello lovely Moons & Junes readers! I'm Samantha and I blog over at Elah Tree - a lifestyle blog full of creativity and encouragement. I also run a lovely little shop full of fun accessories! I am so honored that Shayla has allowed me to take over her virtual home for the day. Shayla is so sweet isn't she!

There are so many things I wanted to share with you today, but of course I had to narrow it down or we would be here all day. Is it to early to talk about Christmas? I know it's not even Halloween yet, but I have two very exciting things related to Christmas that I want to share. First, hop over here and learn more about The Great Christmas Exchange! I am ecstatic about The Great Christmas Exchange and I hope you decide to join us in this year's fun festivities!

So in honor of The Great Christmas Exchange I have put together a fun and easy Christmas ornament craft.

Because of my shop I always have lots of fabric scraps and thought this project would be perfect. You'll need fabric, something to trace a circle, I used a mason jar. A pen or pencil, a rotary cutter or scissors, and stuffing of some kind. A thought about using fabric to stuff the ornaments, but then remembered I had some left over stuffing.
1) Trace and cut out the circles for the ornament. 2.) Pick out and cut fabric to decorate the ornament.
3.) Cut fabric stripes for the ornament loops. 4.) Sew decorative fabric to ornament circles.
5.) Place ornament pieces together, don't forget the ornament loop. 6.) Sew around the outside of the ornament, remember to leave a whole for the stuffing. 7.) Stuff the ornament with stuffing and then sew up the small hole.
All done! I hope this little project has inspired your creative side. Did you notice the Star Wars ornament? Yep, that one is for the Husband.  And last I leave you with a couple creative tips. Remember that creativity is just problem solving and it's a process. There is no failure in art unless you quit trying. Think of art as exploration. Don't focus on getting it right, just explore different ways to create.

Thanks for having me! Happy creating!