Broadway Nails imPRESS Press-on Manicure!!!

I was lucky enough to be chosen by Influenster for their UniVoxBox, directed to college students.  The box had a lot of REALLY cool items that I was legitimately excited to try, one of them being Impress Broadway Press-On Nails!

Okay, so I only have one picture of my nails when I had them on, but I LOVED them!!!

So cute right??? I'm so happy I received this design.  They have a ton of cool ones but this one is more me.  It's really mod looking and you'd be surprised by how many compliments I got.  Friends kept asking me where I had gotten them done and strangers took time out of their day to compliment me.  I am used to having some attention brought on by my nails, but never over press on ones.

I am an acrylic addict.  I love fake nails sooooo much.  But they are time consuming, expensive, and PAINFUL.  I'm sure I will go back to them soon, but I really really like these press-on nails for my time in between.  I'm trying to grow my natural ones out and make them healthier, so these are perfect! 

These nails are SUPER affordable at $6 [Walmart.com].  They last about a week too! Which is incredible! They'd last longer with some super glue, which is what I would do if they popped off individually.  

I REALLY recommend giving these a try.  They feel just like real acrylics to wear.  You can put weight and pressure on them and they work great.

♥♥Riley

P.S. Have you given these babies a try? How did you like them?

Big and Little Week Crafts!

Big and Little craft time!!! :]

I've made sooo many crafts over the past couple of weeks. It's been crazy!

I was lucky enough to have gotten TWO littles this semester!! I now have triplets.  Which is intense. 

Anyways, here are some very simple ideas of crafts you can make littles or anyone else in your life!

For the first craft you will need:

• Clothespins [$1, Dollar Tree]
• Mod Podge [Michael's, Walmart, Hobby Lobby]
• Sponge brush, or another kind of cheap brush you don't care about
• All Kinds of Glitter. All kinds. 

 This is the simplest craft, I swear!! 

Take a clothespin and brush or dab on some mod podge!

Start sprinkling on the glitter!  Do this over a piece of paper or box that can collect the glitter.  This way you can pour it back into the container and save it for another time!

By now your clothespins should look like this! 

Actually, scratch that.  I did two coats of glitter and mod podge.  This is what yours will look like with two coats!

Two coats of mod podge allows more glitter to adhere to the surface of your clothespin.  It also helps to keep the glitter on.

I chose to do red and green glittered clothespins to represent my sorority, as our colors are forest green and red.

They're so cute.  They'd be perfect for holding pictures or cards!

On to the next craft!

You will need:

• Corkboard [Daiso, $1.50]
• Puff Paint [Michael's, Walmart, <$1 a piece]
• Pushpins
• Anything else you wish to use! [Glitter would have been mad cute!]

Take your corkboard and pick which colors you want to use, as well as what you want to write or draw on it.

I chose to do our sorority's name along with our motto.  I alternated our colors to make it more exciting, since it started out as the most boring brown thing.

That's literally all for the corkboard. SO. EASY.

This next one is pretty universal for any sorority, or special person in your life.

GIFT BASKETS!

Here are two baskets I made my littles. I like to go to the Dollar Tree for these because of the selection and the price is right.  I added flowers and easter grass for some flair.

Putting someone's favorite snack or candy is always a crowd favorite.  It's a perfect way to show that you care about them and what they like! Same with the flowers, I used my littles favorites!

I also made sparkly letters [as in their first intial], and made them door hangers! 

Here is a door hanger and a little flower frame I found and decorated for my little Carina!  

The door hangers I found at Michael's were uncomfortably expensive.  What I decided to do was to by foam sheets [they sell them in large packs with multiple colors for about $8], and cut them into door hangers.  I saved a bunch of money and now have a bunch of foam I can use for other crafts!

The flower frame is from Michael's as well.  I used paint, glue, and glitter to decorate it, as well as some puff paint to add her name. 

The door hanger is a great way to express your creativity while further showing your interest in this person.  You put stuff on it that represents them or their style, and it can be quite personal.

Here's the inside of another basket! [I ♥ Baskets!!]

Inside of it I put a cute pack of tissues, an adorable pocket mirror, a little teddy bear with hello kitty ribbon on it, a pen, and two easter eggs filled with loving notes.

Our big/little week is full of surprises for our littles.  They don't find out who we are until we've spoiled them!

I didn't want my littles to know for sure that they were twins, so I tried to switch it up a little bit. 

Instead of a corkboard I did a mirror!  I tried to make the colors more cohesive, and added more swirl detailing to this one.

Another picture of a basket, with a fishy plush!

This basket was filled with candy and bubbles!

Here is little Alma's door hanger, with a fish on it! :] 

In the back you can see the "A" I made for her wall.  It's so pretty in person, the glitter is amazing.

I made a lot more things, so hopefully I'll get to posting them too!

I hope this has been helpful :]

Are you in a sorority? Do you craft? Let me know! :]

♥Riley

How-To: Engagement Ring Holder!

Once my best friend's engagement party was over and done and all there was left to do was pack away leftovers and chat, she realized that she did not know what to do with her engagement ring.  We joked about it and found a solution.

When I went home, I started working on a little holder that she could use when she wasn't wearing her ring, whether for sleep, showering, or cleaning. 

This craft is very simple and cute, and makes a great present. 

To read about her engagement part, click here!

What you will need:

• Small frame
• Flowers, buttons, pegs, etc.
• Glue
• Paper
• Scissors
• Pen

I spent under $5 on it, and it turned out adorable.  They are really easy to customize to the person's unique tastes.

 First thing you will need to do is take the paper insert out of the frame and trace it onto some pretty paper.  I chose to use blue card stock, though it looks green in this picture.

 This is the frame I used, still with the paper insert inside.

 Switch the paper insert for the piece of new paper you have traced and cut out.

 Pick what you want to add to the frame.  I chose to use one of the darkest paper roses I acquired from Michael's.

 Take the foam sticker off and glue the rose down using some sort of glue.  I chose to use E-6000 because it is the strongest stuff I had on me. 

 I think the rhinestones, bow, and flower combination make this frame super adorable.

 I was working on my sister's bed, which is why my background looks so fabulous! This is how a ring will fit on it.  It will hang down, which is fine.  I chose to use a rose that was a bit snug, so that the ring would not fall or slip off.  There are many ways to make these ring holders.  I have seen many on pinterest, but did not like them enough.  I decided to make my own.

How it looks standing up.  

It really is adorable, and Hayah loved it! :]

Happy Crafting, 

♥Riley

P.S. Do you have any engagement crafts you'd like to share? I'd love to see! :]

Valentine's Day!: Cookie Valentine Pockets ♥

Here is another quick and easy craft, just in time for Valentine's Day!♥

For this craft, you'll need: 

• Two or more colors of felt, 25-33 cents each
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks, or another kind of glue
• Puff Paint or other paint in a couple colors choices

All together this craft should cost you less than $1!!

 Cut out a good sized heart out of paper for your pattern.  Place the paper on biscuit colored felt and trace two hearts. This is how much of the felt sheet my biscuit pieces took up.

 A closer picture of the hearts traced on the felt.

 Then I cut out a smaller paper heart with rigged edges to look like frosting.

 You can see here, I drew a heart and then drew wavy lines around it to make it look more symmetrical.

 Here is what you should have by this point. Two biscuit heart pieces and one icing heart piece.

 Hot glue gun the pink to one of the biscuit pieces so that there are no holes.  Another way to do this would be to only glue the bottom of the heart so that it could be a pocket.

 Then glue the bottom edges of the biscuit hearts together, so that it forms a pocket.

 Here you can see that it is a pocket.

 This is what the edge looked like.  I hot glued the edges together, to save time but still make it cute.  You could also sew this all together.  Another way to do this would be to glue or sew all around the biscuit hearts and stuff them, then leave the frosting as a cute little pocket. 

 Then add some decorations! I put little blue sprinkles on using deep turquoise puffy paint.

Then I added little pink dots to add some more dimension to the heart!

Thank you for reading! I would love to see if you made a biscuit heart pocket like this! 

♥Riley

P.S. I think this would be a really cute way to give candy or a note to your Valentine! Send me a picture if you make this craft and show me what you put in your pocket! :]

Valentine's Day!: Puffy Hearts ♥

Here is a very simple Valentine's Day craft!

You could make one as a Valentine for someone, or you could even make a bunch of them and hang them from a tree or around your house!

The best thing about them is that you can personalize the colors and styles.

You will need: 

• Two colors of felt, 25-33 cents each
• Embroidery floss
• Needle
• Stuffing

All together this craft should cost you less than $1!

 First thing's first! Make a stencil.  Now, we all know how to make a perfectly symmetrical heart! Think back to elementary school and fold a paper in half.  Cut a half heart out of it and unfold it. Voila! A perfectly symmetrical heart.

 Cut two larger hearts out of red if you're copying mine, or whichever other colors if you are making it different from mine!

 Sew a smaller heart onto the front of one of the larger hearts.

 Here is a zoomed up picture of the top heart.  It isn't perfect, but that's why I like it!

 Sew the two larger hearts together! I pinned them together to try and keep them straight for this step.

 Before you have finished sewing it all together, stuff it to optimal stuffiness.

Sew it shut and you're done! This is a really easy craft to do if you know how to sew or are learning how to sew.  It is very inexpensive to make and I think they are very cute!

DIY Glitter Ocean Chevron Themed Phone Cases!

DIY Glitter Ocean Chevron Themed Phone cases!

It's so much more beautiful in person, but hard to photograph!

What you will need for the Chevron Print:

• A Plain Phone Case, Plastic Preferred, $~2 on Amazon
• Glitter in a Couple Different Shades, Any Craft Store
• Mod Podge, Craft Stores/WalMart
• Electrician's Tape or Any Other Non-Sticky Adhesive
• Foam Brush or a Throw Away Brush

For the 3-D Elements you will need:

• Sea Shell and Bubble Buttons, $2-4 a Pack at Michael's, I Used Parts of 3
• Any Other Decoration
• Rope for a Bow, I Already Had Some on Hand
• E-6000, Hot Glue, or Another Strong Adhesive
• Nail Clippers

"Tiny Seashells" and "Bubbles" from Dress It Up, found at Michael's

"Seashells at the Seashore" from Dress It Up.  I chose to use plastic seashells for durability.

Here are some of my glitters I thought about using.  The teal and blue in the fat containers are the ones I ended up using, and are found in a set of 12 at Michael's.  I used a 40% off coupon and they were around $5-6 I think.  

The long skinny containers are from Walmart and were much less in price.  They are much chunkier.

The ones in the little baggies are from the Dollar Tree. 

The gunmetal glitter in the big ziploc is from Hobby Lobby.

I first tried to figure out how I wanted to use the bubbles.  When I bought the buttons I had no idea how I was going to use them.  I thought it would be cute to focus them around the top of the phone, where the camera and speaker are!

These are all of my buttons laid out.  To get them to stick to the case, you have to clip the backs of them off of the buttons.  The little semi-circles in the box are what the backs look like after they had been clipped off.  I have found that nail clippers work the best for taking these off, thanks to a suggestion from my dad!

Then I got to work on a stencil for the chevron print.  Electrician's tape isn't very sticky and leaves no residue, so I used it.  I took cardstock and drew a little chevron print.  I measured it out but I don't quite remember my measurements. I just wanted it to be very uniform.  Then I took electrician's tape and covered the card stock.  I cut the excess off, so that the points were cut. 

This is what my measurements looked like on the front. 

After I had cut out the points, I put a strip of Electrician's tape over the other tape.  This way, I could peel it off itself, and not touch the tape on the paper.  It shreds the paper if you peel it off.

Then I cut the excess black tape off and peeled it off.

I put it on the case where I wanted to protect it.  I centered it the way I wanted so that I could add Mod Podge.

This makes a pretty good stencil, but I'm sure there are other ways too! I might have made it sound complicated, but it really wasn't.  I had to replace my tape a couple times, because glitter would get stuck to it.

These are the supplies I needed for the next part.

Dab the Mod Podge on generously.  Don't drown it, but make sure it's covered well.

Add the glitter! I used a translucent kind of white shade, that I would probably describe as snow colored, for the top.  I let it dry for a minute and shook of the excess.  Then I dabbed on more Mod Podge and gave it a second coat.  This is the easiest time to give it a second coat, before all the other layers have been applied.

Decide how large you want your second stripe to be, and secure your stencil.  Then repeat dabbing on the Mod Podge and sprinkling on the glitter. 

This is how I ended up doing mine!  It's very different than what I first wanted to do, but I like it so much better!  The glitter had not fully dried for any of the layers before I would go on to the next.  I was impatient!  The only problem with this is that it's still a little squishy and easy to mess up, so be careful :]

I used E-6000 to secure the bubbles where I wanted them, around the top.  Then I used it to secure the seashells.  I started with the bottom shells, then attached the other seashells where I wanted them.

It took me a couple tries of moving them around to get them where I wanted.  I remembered I had beachy looking rope and tied a little bow with it.  I used E-6000 for this too, which surprised me.  I thought I might have to use hot glue, but the E-6000 worked great!

 These were taken very early in the morning by whatever possessed me to make this phone case so late in the night!  This craft took me a couple of hours to do, but I love the way it turned out! There is a lot of glitter fall out, but I don't mind.  If you don't want yours to do that, dab on Mod Podge over the finished piece.  It won't be as sparkly, but you won't lose much glitter.

The snapchat I sent out once I had finished it! Ignore me.

I loved doing this phone case! Please let me know if you make one like it or completely different!

♥Riley

P.S. I'm considering making phone cases for my Etsy store.  Any thoughts on price or variations of my design? Thanks! ♥