My Etsy Store!

Hey yall! So in case you didn't know, I'm selling some crafts in my own Etsy store! So you should totally go check it out! Everything is custom made and pretty cool! Also, every dollar made from my Etsy store goes toward funding my study abroad trip to Italy in September. So long story short, I desperately need this money, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me out! 

I also just added the ever-so-popular Harry Potter melted crayon art to the store and it is much improved from the original post! So check it out and spread the word! Thanks yall!! 

Etsy!!!

Hey Guys!!!

If you like what you see, please check out my Etsy store! Yeah, I'm on Etsy now!!! Please check it out, please. I can do custom orders and help you decorate your space with some cute stuff! Besides, I'm trying to go to Italy and Greece next fall for a study abroad trip and the extra money is seriously needed. So yeah, just follow the link below! Thank y'all!!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/southernsassydesign

Here are just some pictures of my recent creations! Sorry I've been super inactive lately but hopefully since I am home from school I will be back up and running!

Polka Dot Quote

Alright guys, I know I have not posted in forever. Sorry but school and life in general has been consuming all of my time. But this is just short and super simple craft that I made for a friend for her graduation. It can be used with several different quotes and colors so the possibilities are endless.

What You Need

1. Canvas. This is actually a wooden board from walmart but either wood or canvas works fine.

2. Paint. Pick whatever colors and however many colors you want. And can be found for less than a dollar at any Walmart or craft store.

3. Q-tips. Used to make the polka dots

4. Sharpie or paint pen. Used to write the quote

5. Brushes. I prefer to use sponge brushes since they are a little less streaky than the normal paint brushes.

How to Make It

1. Paint your first coat of your base color on the canvas. Wait for it to dry COMPLETELY. Seriously, don't make the same mistakes I did, let it dry. And repeat until you are happy with the color and texture of your base color.

2. Take a Q-tip and dip the tip in paint and then lightly smudge the Q-tip onto the canvas. Ta da, instant polka dot. Again, before you carefully add another coat of polka dots, let it completely dry. Otherwise they will smudge, and all be different awkward sizes and such. So moral of the story, let the paint dry. 

3. When you have polka dotted your canvas in whichever way pleases you, take a sharpie or paint pen and write the quote over it, and you'll probably want to go over it again to make the writing darker. Also feel free to write it with a pencil first and then go over with the sharpie. 

Harry Potter Melted Crayon Art

So almost everyone knows about the typical melted crayon art where you just line up crayons on a canvas and apply heat to get the streaks of melted wax. Well here is a different version of that same concept, however I added my own little geeky, fan girl twist...the deathly hallows symbol. 

What You Will Need

1. Canvas. It doesn't really matter what size or type of canvas you used. However if it's your first time trying this then I recommend using a smaller canvas just in case you mess up.

2. Crayons. In my experience, it doesn't matter what brand of crayon you use, I used both Crayola and the cheaper brands. However it's whatever you prefer. Just make sure you get different shades of the colors you want to use so it has more of the watercolor effect.

3. Masking tape. This will be used to trace the outline of your design. I found masking tape works a lot better than painters tape since it sticks to the canvas a lot better.

4. Hair dryer. This is used to melt the crayons.

And you're probably going to want some sort of sheet or something to do this on since the crayons do tend to splatter bit.

How To Make It

1. First you want to take the masking tape and outline the design you would like to stay white on the canvas. You might want to lightly draw the outline in pencil first and then tape over it. You're probably going to have to cut the tape in small strips, just try to get the edges as straight as possible in order for your design to be straight. Also I would try to stay away from more circular designs unless you have an exacto knife and can just cut away the extra tape. However, to make the circle, such as the one in the deathly hallows, just cut really small pieces of tape instead of using larger strips in order for the shape to actually look circular. It's a pain in the butt, but it can be done.

2. After you are satisfied with your outline, put down whatever sheet or trash bag or whatever you are using to protect the surface

3. It's time to melt the crayons! This part is a tad difficult to explain but I'm going to try my best and hopefully yall with be able to follow. Turn the hair dryer on High (varies with hair dryers, but high works better when trying to initially melt the crayons) and Hot. Grab a crayon, hold it away from the canvas to begin with, and start heating up the crayon; twirling it in your fingers to make sure it gets melted all the way around. Once you realize the crayon is starting to get more wet and melted, while still applying heat, put the crayon on the canvas until you are satisfied with the blob of color. Does your blob just look like a muddy blob of crayon? No worries. Just keep applying heat to the blob until the wax is melted enough that you can control its movements throughout the canvas using the hair dryer.

4. Okay here is how to get the effect like the one I did. I started using the darker colors in the corner and then just began layering the lighter colors as I went across and down the canvas. To try avoiding the sudden contrast of color I tried to pick shades that were close to each other, so the colors gradually got lighter. Another way of avoiding the sudden contrast is when you have different colors heat them enough so both colors are melted enough and position the hair dryer in different ways around the canvas until they are sort of combined. The good thing about this project that if you aren't satisfied with the way it looks, you can always reheat the melted crayons and just try blowing the wax in all different directions and adding different colors until you are satisfied. I'm really sorry if none of that made any sense, but it's one of those projects you just have to experiment with until you like what you get. And don't get discouraged if after five minutes it doesn't look the way you want it. It takes a lot of layering and melting to get these results.

5. Once the melted wax has cooled and dried (it doesn't take long but if you're really impatient use the cool setting on the hair dryer to speed up this process), carefully remove the tape so that none of the crayon around it comes off as well. Some of the crayon might have ran under the tape, but it's fine unless your design is completely unrecognizable. If your design does look horrible (and I'm pretty sure it doesn't!) you can always just cover it up with more melted crayons so the entire canvas is just melted crayons!

Thanks guys for bearing with me through this post and I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Gotta love that work life...anyways I hope this post helps you in creating a unique version of the melted crayon art. And just so everyone knows, I found this technique on Pinterest from another crafting blog, I just added the Harry Potter effect :) Happy crafting!

She's A Rose, She's A Pearl...

This is just something I made after my initiation into my sorority, Sigma Alpha Iota. You can write whatever you want on it but here are instructions on how to do the simple layout! Also, excuse my gross handwriting on this

What You Will Need

1. Canvas or Wooden canvas, either can be purchased at Walmart or your local crafting store. I used a wooden canvas for this.

2. Paint and paint brushes. I suggest acrylic paint from Walmart or a local crafting store in whatever colors you wish to use.

3. Pearls. I purchased these in the beading section at Walmart. I also suggest buying the larger pearls, they are far easier to work with than the smaller sized.

4. Hot glue gun. These can be found pretty cheap, especially at Walmart (can you tell that I do a lot of shopping at Walmart?)

5. Paint pens or Q-tips or Sharpie.  You can either make the polka dots using a paint pen or Q-tips and normal paint. I find paint pens to be easier however and the finished product looks cleaner using a paint pen. You can also use either a paint pen or Sharpie for the writing. 

How To Make It

1. Paint the entire surface of your canvas/wood/whatever you are using. It will probably take several coats to completely cover the surface and eliminate brush strokes. To improve quality, be sure to make each stroke in one direction instead of all over the place. It looks cleaner and will take less strokes. Let the paint COMPLETELY DRY, otherwise it'll be messed up and you have to start over.

2. Take either a Sharpie or paint pen and write/draw whatever you would like. You could lightly write/draw first in pencil and then trace over with the Sharpie or paint pen to make sure everything looks the way you would like it to. You may also have to trace over it several times with the sharpie/paint pen to get the color and boldness you would like. Let this completely dry

3. With either a paint pen or Q-tip, start making the polka dots in the empty spaces.  Depending on the paint pen, you might have to draw the circle and fill it in or you might just need to press down the pen on the surface. If you are using a Q-tip, dip the end of the Q-tip in paint and make the outline of the circle then filling it in. If you don't like the borders of the circle, the just make the circle a little bigger, painting over the old border and forming a new one.

4. Here comes the annoying part...easy, but annoying. Plug in the hot glue gun and after you are sure the glue is hot, start hot gluing the pearls to the board. Make a small dot of glue on the pearl, and firmly press it to the canvas for a few seconds. Warning, some of the pearls might fall off over time, so you will probably have to re-glue them at some point. It takes a while to glue all of these on but it's easy and it looks really cool! And after this part you're done!!!

Painted Letters/Monograms with pictures

These are letters I made for a friend for Christmas. I made something similar for my dorm and she asked me to make one for her as well. These are really simple to make and make great artwork for a wall.

Items You Will Need

1. Wooden letters. These can be found at any craft store.

2. Paint. You can find at either a craft store or Walmart.

3. Brushes. I like using the sponge brushes since they tend to leave a more ever coat and it's less time consuming. However, if you plan on painting the edges a different color than the top, then I would recommend using a smaller brush or a q-tip to avoid getting the color on the top.

4. Pictures. The pictures I used I just printed out from my computer and printed them in black in white. Cheap and easy. Also have a separate brush for the mod podge part.

5. Mod-podge. This is what keeps the pictures on the letter. This can also be found at Walmart or any craft store.

6. (optional) Borders. For the letters pictured above I used some leftover "teacher borders" type things that I had leftover from a project from sixth grade or something. I have no idea where they came from but I am sure they can be found at craft stores. You could also cut out small squares or scrapbook paper, and then place the picture on top of that to also obtain a border effect.

How To Make It

1. If the wood of the letters is rough, I recommend taking a piece of sand paper and sanding it down a little until the wood is smooth. I promise this will be a big help to you when painting. Painting will go on a lot smoother, requiring less coats. Also, it will just look neater.

2. It's time to start painting. I start out with painting the top of the letters first. Paint your first coat and then let it completely dry. Repeat until you get the color desired. Then I moved to the edges. This should be done carefully to try to avoid getting paint on the top you just painted. Also, depending on the letter, you might want to only paint certain edges, wait for them to dry, then paint the others in order to avoid sticking your hands in wet paint. If you get paint on the top part, just carefully touch it up, let it dry, and repeat until it's back to normal. An easy fix.

3. After the paint is completely dry, and I do mean completely, it's time to mod-podge your pictures to the letter. First, layout your pictures across the letter to make sure they fit and are ordered the way you want them. If need be, snip some of the pictures accordingly so they fit on the letter. It might take some trial and error and a little time. When you have the pictures placed where you want them put a little, and I really do emphasize little, mod-podge on a brush and brush it all over the back of a picture. Seriously guys, little bit of mod-podge. If you use too much, it'll ruin the picture and just really messy. Then place the picture on the frame. Make sure the picture is laid out evenly, if not just run your finger over it to straighten it out. Then repeat with the other pictures. If you are using scrapbook paper to create the border effects, mod-podge your pictures to scrapbook paper first and then mod-podge it on the frame. Once the pictures are on the frame, some people like to do a layer of mod-podge on top as well, but I do not and my pictures currently look fine on the letter. 

4. If you are using borders, trim the borders to fit around the pictures and lay them out over the pictures first to make sure everything is the way you want them. If they look good, go ahead and brush a LITTLE mod-podge on them and lay them down around the picture. This may get a little frustrating and messy since they are so small, but it's worth it. 

5. Enjoy!

Here is a picture of the first letter I made for my room. It's not my favorite, but here is just another option. I also added music note stickers to mine since I'm a music major and I feel like my letter needed something extra.