DIY – Shaunanagins

Christmas DIY: Holiday Season Earrings

December 15, 2012December 22, 2012 by Shauna V, posted in Homestyle, Seasonal (Winter)

This year, I decided to add a couple things to my holiday season closet. First on the list was a red cocktail dress. It came to my attention earlier this month that my only dress appropriate for any sort of big-kid-party is…well, it fit me in Grade 10? Yeah. Living the dream.

I may need to get rid of some of this high school stuff.

I found the dress (which I will post ALL about soon, dun’worry), and decided was time I put together some Christmas season jewelry. So last night, after mashing up “99 Problems” and “Where’d You Go?” on my keyboard and eating chicken that I’m 80% sure was properly cooked (you know, typical lifestyle choices), I pulled out the old craft supplies. When my roommate walked in to see my wire, glue, pliers, and bead organizers laid out on across kitchen table, he looked slightly confused.

“I didn’t know you made jewelry. This explains so much. Like why there are always single earrings lying around.” He paused. “But it still doesn’t explain why they are always on the first step of the front porch.”

(I promise I’m a good roommate. I think.)

I hadn’t made earrings in far too long, so I put together some simple pieces to start:

Red & green chains (the result of a painstaking 20 minutes spent struggling with beading pliers) — Red & green chains

Next, I found some old unused holiday trinkets lying around, like small ornaments and decals. Using wire & glue, it’s easy to add some earring hooks to just about anything:

These are the smallest bulbs from a set of ornaments I bought last year. Facial expression gets the same justification as the first image. — These are the smallest bulbs from a set of ornaments I bought last year.

(Note: Blame the facial expressions and general headspace on the fact that I had just finished “rapping” to my broken keyboard when this picture was taken. Because that’s what all the cool kids do. And this is the face all the cool kids make.)

I also decided that this year, I wanted to have some jewelry that connected me to my spirituality–I feel like the usual cross symbol doesn’t really fit the whole birthday theme. I decided to snip some of bits of the birth story out of the New Testament to make this necklace and earrings:

Matthew on the earrings (1:22-23 and 2:11-12)

Luke 2:10-15 on the necklace. Pretty sure Charlie Brown and Linus would be down with this one. ;) — Luke 2:10-15 on the necklace. Pretty sure Linus and the rest of the Charlie Brown Christmas crew would be down with this piece. 😉

I’m thinking that’s enough creativity (and patience-testing meddling with wire) for today! Between the red dress and the Christmas-themed jewelry, I am all set to go for my holiday season shindigs!

[Note: I ever use the term “holiday season shindigs” in real life just…make me leave.]

Counting Down: CD Case Advent Calendar

November 30, 2012November 30, 2012 by Shauna V, posted in Homestyle, Seasonal (Winter)

Alright, brace yourselves. Here’s a confession for you. Ready?

…I don’t really like chocolate.

Maaan, it feels so much better to just SAY it.

I don’t really like chocolate, but I do like tradition. I like family. And my childlike excitement in December is still ever-present, even if my sweet tooth is long gone.

After moving out, I tried to continue with the advent calendar thing. It didn’t really work. Every year, I would buy a chocolate advent calendar at the grocery store. And every year, I would neglect this calendar. My roommates would end up taking it over after the first few days. Why? Because I don’t really like chocolate, guys. It sucks.

This year, I decided to do something different. I decided to make an advent calendar. The specifications were simple:

1) What went inside the advent calendar would have to reflect what was important to me about even having one: family, tradition, and just having something to smile about in the morning.
2) No spending money, especially not on 24 cutesy boxes. If the project was going to cost anything, it couldn’t cost more than the cheesy inexpensive chocolate calendars from the grocery store.
3) It would have to be awesome.

I looked around the apartment for inspiration. Do I have 24 of any sort of container? How can I make this work? The answer, it seems was right outside my bedroom door:

And for my second confession of the day...yes, I own the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. — And for my second confession of the day…yes, I own the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

Oh right! Music! There’s something that I’m…well, marginally obsessed with, actually. This means that I have a ton of CDs–we’re talking boxes in the back room full, along with this sample. I have a ton of CD cases, too. CD cases can hold notes. Notes can be awesome. Wheels are turning now.

I called my parents and the siblings who still live at home, Mike and Adam, to ask if they were up for the creative task. I told them the notes could be anything, as long as they could fit in a CD case and were folded/enveloped. My friend Caitlin jumped in and put together the first few, just in case my family contributions didn’t show up in the mail by December 1st. And, of course, I sent out a request to my two favourite little artists.

The notes could be anything, really:

Recipes
Doodles, drawings
Comics
Photographs
Articles cut out of magazines/newspapers
Warm fuzzies
Quotes
Project ideas/inspiration
Challenges or reminders (random act of kindness, call me, etc)
Memories
Little haikus or poems

That took care of the inside of the advent calendar. Now, I just had to get my CD cases in seasonal shape to make for a cute display.

Using seasonal paper to ready the CD cases!

You can use old cards, wrapping paper, or decorative seasonal paper for the covers.

The CD cases, ready to be stuffed with notes!

Searching for the right number every day is part of the fun, so I mixed the numbers up a bit, — Searching for the right number every day is part of the fun, so I mixed them up a bit.

There you have it! I will definitely keep you updated on how the notes turn out. Knowing how my crazy brothers greet these challenges, I’m sure they will be anything but boring.

Let’s do this thing, December.

Bonus Post: Blackboard Pumpkin Update!

October 19, 2012October 19, 2012 by Shauna V, posted in Homestyle, Seasonal (Fall)

My advice if you try the blackboard pumpkin idea, which I still maintain as awesome, would be to buy a craft pumpkin. I think I’ll pick up a few of them if Michael’s has post-halloween sales. I feel like a pumpkin made for crafting would be better for a project like this…and it would be cool to be able to reuse my beloved seasonal countdown.

Still: Awesome.