Watts up?

 

I think my mom was the first person to tell me about Watts Towers. Many a hippie in her day had sojourned to the depths of South Central to see this magnificent work of art.  Ever since I found out about the towers, I knew that one day I would visit.  The visit I had this weekend was definitely long overdue, but I'm happy to say that I can finally scratch this little Los Angeles adventure off of the list!

I think the most amazing thing about this piece is that it was created by one person, Simon Rodia, who worked tirelessly for over thirty years to create his masterpiece.  Then, when it was done, he simply gave the ownership of the property to his neighbor and walked away,  leaving behind a legacy that in its own way, paid homage to the legacies of his heroes- Da Vinci, Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus.

Its really like nothing you have ever seen! Everyone in Los Angeles should give it a visit. Even if you are not from L.A., it is definitely worth your while to make a little detour over to Watts Towers.  Tours are $7 which includes access to a small art exhibit in their visitor center and a short documentary. To find out when you can go view the property, click here.

It was a hot day in Watts and we didn't eat any breakfast, so we decided to try Hawkins House of Burgers.  It was pretty damn tasty.  Brian really liked his fat egg cheese burger, and my fish sandwich was perfectly cooked.  The onion rings are awesome, too!

We decided that we were on a roll and so on the way home we stopped by another Los Angeles landmark, Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, Ca.  I love the 50s vibe, and don't be fooled by the kitschiness, these donuts are REALLY good. We got two jelly filled for two bucks!  Can't beat that. :)

Sunglasses + Vintage

80s shirt + Thrifted

Jean Skirt + Thrifted

Shoes + Vans

zoooooooommmmm ouuuuuuuuuuuutttttttttt  :)

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How To Make an Owl Ornament

Hey everyone!  It has been a while since my last post!  I saw this really cute idea 
for making owl ornaments on Swiss Miss.  While I thought the idea was super cute, I also thought that the owls could use a little extra craft magic, so I set out to make it a little more special.  With Christmas around the corner, this would make a great DIY gift for family or friends.  Try making one!

Here is how I did it...

The first thing is getting a toilet paper roll and pressing the top down until you create two points.

Then, take a pencil and draw your owl design.  Be creative!

Next, take a sharpie or dark marker and draw over the pencil.  I used my old Prismacolor marker.

When you've finished outlining in marker, you can get to the fun stuff.  Time to choose your color palette.  I chose the colors from a vintage fabric that I bought at a garage sale years ago.

Here is the color palette I used.  I got most of the colors from the vintage fabric.

Just like a rainbow!  kinda.

Before I started painting, I made the owl's eye glittery by using a packet of purple glitter and some craft glue.  I have found that using a brush to paint on the glue in tight spaces works really well to create clean lines.  I used makeup brushes since they are good quality and I get them at a discount :).

Now it is time to paint your owl!

I got about half way through painting, got impatient and wanted to apply the fabric, so I measured out the fabric to just a little past the diameter of the toilet paper roll, then used craft glue to glue it to the back of the owl.

I glued the fabric to the back of the owl and held it with clothes pins until it dried.  Tip: Cut a little more fabric then you will need, then fold in the edges about a quarter inch.  Glue the folded in edge of the fabric wherever you would like it to start on the owl, then lightly brush on glue to the owl's back and apply the fabric.

The next morning when the fabric glue was dry,  I continued to paint the front of the owl.

If the paint looks a little messy you can clean up the lines with a marker, as long as you are using dark colors like I did for the feathers.  After that I went over it with more paint to fill the yellow back in.  I kept doing that until I got the result that I wanted.  The picture below still has messy lines.

To make the owl into an ornament,  I used ornament string that I got when I bought a bunch of ornaments at what I like to call "the fake 99 cents store".  I used a sewing pin to push the ornament string through the top of the owl.  I then tied a super tight knot.  I super glued the knot to make sure that sucker doesn't come undone.

Here is what it looks like finished!

I think it would look super cute on a Christmas tree around other ornaments and strings of lights.  Unfortunately this little Jewish girl doesn't have a tree.

I think I might do my next owl using this vintage fabric and color palette

 

And here she is all finished...

Happy crafting and Merry Christmas everyone!!!

One last note:

If you don't have all of the supplies that I have mentioned, you can still decorate an owl any way you like!  Check out these owls that my friend did.  They look amazing, and she didn't use any fabric or paint...