Saturday, December 17, 2011

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...


Sunday, November 6, 2011

My Baby

That's right.  I have a new baby. Not really the crying, napping, diaper and bib wearing kind.  More of the staying out all hours of the night, memory making, sleek, sophisticated-ish, electronic kind of baby.  It is...



























The Canon EOS Rebel T3. I bought it just a couple of weeks before I shot my first wedding, so I was in a crunch to learn how to use it properly.  Luckily, my new baby didn't fail me, and along with the help from my extra fabulous camera assistant Rachelle, and from my seriously awesome new buddy Brian R. for letting me borrow his 50mm lens, I think I actually pulled the wedding off with a (hopefully) satisfied customer :)

I think Rachelle and I shot around 3000 pictures.  I sent them around 750 of the best ones!

The most difficult part of shooting the wedding was timing.  I was hoping to get some really nice shots of the bride in the hotel room, but we were on a time crunch and that didn't happen.  Another difficult aspect of shooting the wedding was choosing a flattering location to do family pictures.  Parking lots are generally not so beautiful, but we didn't have many options since at that particular time the courtyard was off limits,  and for whatever reason, the family gravitated toward the parking lot.

Next time if I do this again, I will be more demanding with a schedule, mostly to ensure the bride and groom get the great pictures and cherished memories that they are paying for.  I think I might also have to buy a second external flash for the assistant's camera (my old G9), since a lot of the pictures came out dark just from using the built-in camera flash.

Next time I need to also wear black.  I was in a flowered dress at the ceremony right next to the preacher and all up in the bride's grill just to get a shot.  The least I can do next time is wear black, so I blend in a little better.  I need a nice black dress with pockets.  If you see one, let me know!

Pictures of the wedding to come soon!!

For now, here are some pictures of me and my baby...

Halloween Party  (i.e. flash photography bootcamp)




















Snapping pictures at the wedding (snapped by Rachelle)






















Business cards/magnets I made for the event






























Have a great week everyone!

Friday, October 14, 2011

excitednervousterrifiedhappy

My first wedding photography gig is today!


Wish me luck!!!



<3

Monday, October 3, 2011

Rebekah

OOHH EMMM GEEEEE

It should be illegal to be as busy as I have!  So much blogging to do, and so little time!

Anyway,  a couple of weeks ago, my dear friend and style blogger extraordinaire Rebekah came to visit from a land far far away.  We spent the weekend adventuring around Los Angeles, playing dress up, and taking pictures!  You can see more of what we did here and here. (hmmm, maybe those pictures are a bit incriminating).  No matter! I had a blast and I can hardly wait to do it again!  Rebs, you should stop living so far away...

<3


Meandering around Downtown Culver City










Having a relaxing morning at my house :)










Exploring Venice Beach and Abbott Kinney


Rebekah and I have known each other for many years. We went to the same high school, but didn't really start hanging out until after.  We spent many years as close friends, wandering around the streets of West Los Angeles and Culver City.  We had a good crew back then, and times were good.  I'll never forget "The Bitch" or "The Entry System", and James Bond for N64.  hah.

DTCC meandering pics:
Shirt+ Thrifted
Skirt+ Ruche
Necklace+ ModCloth
Shoes+ Blowfish
Tights+ ModCloth


Relaxed tea party pics:
  Trollied Dolly Dress+ ModCloth
Necklace+ ModCloth


Beach adventure pics:
Shirt+ ModCloth
Cardigan+ Victoria's Secret

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

w00t!

1000 pageviews!!! (and they weren't even all from me!!)

<3

These are my favs:


Aly


Thai Style


Paula

Check 'em out if you haven't already :)