Merry Christmas!

Monday starts my posts on easy & cheap Christmas presents. To get you in the mood here's my Christmas tree!

Painted Bottle

I'm amassing an impressive collection of bottles. Or, at least, I think it's impressive. I've been collecting them since I was in high school and these are the ones that have made it through all our moves.

I recently added a new bottle to my collection, but it was very plain. I decided to dress it up a little.

You'll need:
a bottle
hot glue
spray paint

Create some sort of design on the bottle. Let the glue set.

If you need to, draw the design on the bottle first using disappearing ink.

Spray paint it and let it dry.

It may take more than one coat. Be sure to
let each coat dry before applying a new one.

Done! Now it doesn't look quite so out of place.

OH-Next week starts my series on cheap/easy Christmas gifts for all you last minute Santas.

Fabric Rings

Our new place has 2 bathrooms! We feel like we've really stepped up in the world! That means 2 bathrooms I get to decorate! Woohoo! I did our bathroom in white: white shower curtain, white bathmat, etc. The guest bathroom I wanted a beach theme because, ya know, we live at the beach. I wanted the people visiting us to really feel like they're welcome, too.

I found a cute shower curtain on the cheap:

I don't know if you can tell, but it has seashells all over.

I hung a picture that I did that I thought looked like the sun (sort of):

It's actually a slice of grapefruit on a negative scanner.

My mom gave us some cute lighthouses:

The picture was from a vacation we took to Cozumel.

And I made these guys:

You'll need:
embroidery rings
fabric
glue

Cut the fabric a little larger than the rings. Apply glue to the inside of the rings & press the fabric into it. Trim off the excess fabric. Tada!

Glue artwork

I hate bare walls. I think no matter where you live, you can always make it "home" with something on your walls. Whether it's pictures (I have tons of them) or art (not so much), decorated walls makes a place more lived it.

I decided to make some art, but I'm not all that artistic. I mean, I take pictures, but that's where my art life ends. If you're less-artistically inclined like myself, this may be for you!

You'll need:


a blank canvas
glue (I used hot glue because you'll need it to stay 3-dimensional)
stencil, optional
paint (either spray or regular) (one color)

Put glue on the blank canvas. You can cheat. I did:

Let it harden & then paint it!

It took 4-5 coats of paint to properly cover. Be sure to let each
coat dry between applications!

Boom! Done!

Look how crafty you are!

Painted Canvas Shoes

I'm a photographer. However, since I'm so new to "the biz" I'm also an underpaid photographer. To supplement my income I work at shoe store. It's perfect really because I'm obsessed with shoes. I think "obsessed" may be an understatement. What's worse than obsessed? Possessed? Nah.

Anyway, my store sells these white canvas shoes. They're comfortable & all, but man are they boring! See for yourself:

Bor-ing!

So I had a friend help me out. She has the awesome precision cutter. It's so awesome I can't remember the name of it. Yep, it's awesome.
     ...Anyway, her & her awesome precision cutter made me a cut out of some branches with birds on them.

Besides the cut-out, these were my supplies:

 I used fabric markers because it was easier to stay within the cut-out and also aren't as messy as paints.

Awesome precision cutter. Awesome friend. Awesome shoes. Awesome.