American Sweetheart: diy

Showing posts with label diy. Show all posts

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Dream Journal

Lately I have been having extremely vivid dreams and I am a firm believer, that dreams have meaning to them. A few nights ago I had a dream that was very memorable, and when I awoke I remember nearly everything that the dream entailed. In this dream two specific animals, a buck and a black bear appeared a handful of times and I realized I needed to start keeping a dream journal.

I use to keep a dream journal years ago, and I have no clue where it is anymore, so since it is the new year I figured no better time to start a dream journal then now.

At any point in the past that I have had dreams that I can remember upon awakening, I always obsessively search online for the meaning of what I had seen in the dream. The crazy dreams I have been having seem to have positive meanings so I am hoping that I will be able to relate some of the dreams I have had to upcoming and future life events.

I made my main dream journal that I keep by my bedside with a cereal box. I folder and cut lined paper to fit the size, stapled the paper together and used hot glue to attach the paper to the cover. I used an old brown paper shopping bag to wrap the cover, and I took some scrap fabric and a hole puncher to wrap it closed, and to add a personal touch. I had some left over paper scraps, so I made a few mini notebooks that I will definitely put into use.

I have had continuous dreams over the past week that have been so vivid, so I am super happy to have made my dream journal to write it all down.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

DIY: Air Dry Clay

This recipe is perfect for making jewelry, small sculptures, or afternoon projects for the kids.

This is the recipe I use frequently. It's super easy and quick to make. You can tweak the recipe to make different textures and consistency to apply to your project. If you want colored clay, you can simply separate the clay per color,when it's cooled and add food coloring by working the dye thoroughly into the clay. For scented clay, add a few drops of essential oils or fragrance oil in the recipe.

I found through trial and error, that by working a small drop of baby oil into the clay, your end results are a lot smoother with no cracks.

This project takes about 10 minutes to make.

What you will need:

-1 Cup Corn starch

- 2 Cups Baking Soda

- 1 1/2 Cups Water

-Sauce Pan

-Spoon

-Storage Container with Lid

Step 1: Put all of your ingredients into the sauce pan.

Don't worry about completely accurate measurements, it won't effect the outcome if you over measure by a little.

Step 2: Place your sauce pan on the stove on medium-high heat.

Step 3: Stir the ingredients while your pan is heating up.

You do not want to stop stirring until your clay is done. The clay begins forming on the bottom of the pan very fast and you don't want it to burn.

Step 4: Keep stirring while the water begins to boil, you will notice how fast the clay forms at this point. Fold over all of the formed clay from the bottom of the pan, this will allow the heat to evenly distribute throughout the clay and you will avoid rock hard pieces.

Step 5: Once the clay starts to form a ball, remove the pan from heat and keep folding over the clay until there is no visible liquid left in the pan.

Step 6: Scoop the clay out of the pan and place in a plastic container. Be careful, the clay is really really hot. Allow the clay to cool for a few minutes, pop the lid on, and place in the fridge for about 10 minutes or until the clay is cool to the touch.

Step 7: Your done! Now you can have some fun molding and shaping your clay.

Allow your finished sculptures to harden over night. I placed mine in front of a small fan to speed up the process. Once my sculptures were done, I painted them with acrylic paint and sealed with modge podge.