how to: splatter mani

Hey there...here's a fun and easy mani that you've got to try sometime right now...splatter nails!!! I don't do much nail art but doing them once in awhile is kind of fun.

Warning: this mani is a little bit messy. I highly recommend you put wax paper down on the surface you are working on, also makes for easy clean up after. You'll also need a couple of regular drinking straws and tape.

First, choose a base color for your nails. Paint as usual and let dry. I used OPI's Can't Find My Czechbook for my base. Then choose a couple of other colors you'll want to use for the splatter effect. I chose Orly's Sapphire Silk and Barry M's Peach Melba.

After your base color is dry, put tape around your nails. This is optional but helps a lot during clean up.

Take one of your splatter colors and drip a few drops onto your wax paper. Dip one end of your straw in the little puddle of polish. Make sure you get a good glob of polish then hover over your nail and blow hard at the other end of the straw. Repeat over the nail until desired splatter effect is achieved, then proceed to the other nails. Repeat for any additional colors.

Carefully remove the tape and begin clean up. Let the splatter set on the nail for a minute or two before sealing with a top coat. I did two thick coats of Seche Vite to smooth out the splatter.

Now sit back an enjoy your beautiful work!

in the shade

Here's my first splatter mani that I did for Independence Day, last year.

If I ever use that color combo again, I may use red as my base color otherwise the red splatter almost looks like a crime scene! haha!

Tips:

• You might want to play around with the lengths of the straws you use and distance from straw to nail. I preferred using shorter straws to blow through on the nail at about 3 inches away. You also get different splatter effects depending on how strong you blow through the straw
• It's easier for me to do one hand at a time.
• For clean up, I use a small make-up brush for better control.

thanks goodness for tape!

Are you going to try doing a splatter mani?! What color combo will you use?

Thanks for stopping by!

Update - 3/14/13

I mattified my splatter mani with Essie's Matte About You...

Love!

Linked up with Polly Polish's Polish Days 'Vintage' theme link party.

This mani has a vintage type feel to me...looking like a Jackson Polluck piece of art!

Also linked up with:
F-it Friday Round 14 at Parlo & Logi
What's Shakin' Link Pary #51 at Shaken Together

euro photo grid

Earlier this year, I went on a trip of a lifetime with three of my girlfriends to Europe visiting London, Paris and Barcelona. We took a lot of pictures and I just now finally put something together with the picture we took.

For months, I couldn't decide on how I wanted to display my travel memories. Good 'ol Pinterest came to the rescue. I kept seeing awesome photo grids and decided on going with that to display my favorite shots from my Euro trip.

When I moved into my apartment 2 years ago, I had big ideas of creating a piece of artwork to hang on my wall. That never happened. I'm glad I did a photo grid instead. Sorry for the horrible pics. The lighting in my apartment is horrible!

Among the 4 of us, there were a lot pictures to go through, hundreds of photos! I wanted to pick my top 3 shots from each place. It took me a week to narrow it down to just 9 shots!

I chose to make a photo grid using 8" x 10" black and white photos in matching 11" x 14" frames. I got the frames from Michael's. They came in a pack of 3 and I got them on sale for $9.99 a pack (regularly $19.99) plus I got to use a coupon to get an extra 25% off my entire frame purchase. Score!

I knew I wasn't going to have help putting this grid together so I order some helpers from amazon.com: this picture hanging tool and a laser level. I also ordered this pack of photo mats.

I love the helpers I got! You can't really see the laser too well in picture but it really helped me when aligning the frames. Some look a little off but I'm blaming it on the frames! haha. Some of the hangers on the frames were kind of crooked so I had to adjust when needed. Even the picture hanging tool has a level on it too. You hang the frame on the tool and it helps you level the frame and mark exactly where you need to the nail into the wall.

I really love the way it turned out! Do you display your travel memories?

Linked up with:
DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff

my not-so-christmasy christmas wreath

I finally got a chance to put my Christmas wreath together. I used to make wreaths for every type of occasion or season but the time flies by so fast I can barely keep up. It also doesn't help that I only had one wreath to use to change up every time! I figured that Christmas time is not a time to skip making a wreath.

This was my Christmas wreath last year.

Pretty simple. I like peacocks. They're so beautiful. Especially love their peacocky colors.

For my wreath this year, I used the same grapevine wreath, peacock, white poinsettia, and Christmas picks plus added a white feathered boa and a few new picks.

I didn't really know how I wanted the wreath to look like, so I just put the boa on and randomly stuck everything on.

There was glitter and feathers everywhere! But that's ok because I love the way the wreath turned out!

It looks like a whimsical wintry wonderland.....that will never happen in Texas! Today's high temperature was almost 80 degrees!

Do you put up a wreath for Christmas? or make ones for certain occasions? 

Linked up with:
Craft-o-Matic
Darnice's Holiday Blog
Happy Hour Projects
Hi Sugarplum!
Homemaker on a Dime
The Ivy Cottage Blog
Keeping it Simple
Lil' Luna
Savvy Southern Style
Sugar Bee Crafts
Thrifty Decor Chick