Sparkling New Year's Centerpiece DIY

This year I thought I'd go a little less traditional for my New Year's centerpiece.  I used leftover wood scraps from earlier projects and grabbed some fairy lights on Amazon to add a little magic.  The key with any centerpiece is to go high and leave lots of room on the table for the champagne and snack trays.  Toss in a few ornaments from your tree and a strand of sparkly garland and you're ready to ring in the new year.  However you decorate for the new year, just make sure you add some sparkle!  Oh, and don't forget to Make Your Mark!

Got the mylar streamers for a song at a party store!

Laugh every day!

Watch how to make my centerpiece here!

STUFF I USED

Unicorn SPiT Sparkling

E-6000 Glue

Allure Glitter in Crystal and Silver

1" x 12" wood trim pieces (5 per star)

4" x 4" wood blocks

1/4" thick dowels about 10" long

LAUGH EVERY DAY stencil

 HERE'S HOW

1.  Drill a hole in the center of your wood blocks

*The drill bit should be the same diameter as your dowel

2.  Stain 5 pieces of the 1" x 12" trim with the Unicorn SPiT Sparkling in your color scheme

3.  Add Allure Glitter in Crystal to add even more sparkle to the trim

4.  Stain the wood blocks with Unicorn SPiT Sparkling in two colors

5.  When everything is dry, sand the edges for a distressed look

6.  Glue the 1" trim pieces to make a star

7.  Glue a dowel on the back and let dry

8.  Stencil a design on the wood using a pallet knife and Allure Glitter in Silver

9.  When everything is dry, assemble the pieces and wrap the star in fairy lights

To an amazing New Year!

Happy 2019!

Fabric and Resin Jewelry DIY

I save every scrap....I can't help it! I'm a bit of a hoarder AND I have enough different projects up my sleeve that I know I'll be able to use them all one day.  Ok, it might take 100 years, but I'll get there!  These little fabric scraps were just too cute to toss so I coated them in Americana Decoupage to get them super hard and then added a layer of Famowood Glaze Coat Epoxy resin to make them shiny and hard.  Pretty easy process actually.  Take a peek at the video and you can see just how I made them.  Have fun and don't forget to Make Your Mark!

STUFF I USED

Fabric scraps with images

Famowood Glaze Coat

Americana Decoupage 

Pin Backs

E-6000 Glue

Watch how to make them here!

Can't wait to gift these!

Thrift Store Furniture Flip

If you're trying to furnish a room on a budget with a cohesive look, here's a quick way to make random, mismatched furniture look like it came from a high end home decor store!   A little paint and some wood trim and all of a sudden your room will come together.  I challenged myself with this project and decided to buy the first 3 pieces I saw to see if I could make them work together in a room.  I was surprised at how easy it was, too.  You first want to look for shapes you like and pieces that work for the size of your space.  Next pick a color you're mad about and get painting.  Details of how I did this are below!  Happy Tuesday and don't forget to Make Your Mark!

A 70's side table, an Ikea knock off and a mission style shelf

Watch how it came together here!

STUFF I USED

3 pieces of mismatched furniture

E-6000 Glue

Spray Shelters in Small, Medium and Large

*Helped me get the pieces sprayed quickly without getting paint on my fence and lawn!

Paint Sprayer

Americana Decor Chalky Finish in Carbon

DecoArt Matte Metallics in Vintage Brass

Jigsaw

Wood trim and molding

HERE'S HOW

1.  First I put together my large spray tent

2.  I wiped down my furniture once it was inside the shelter

3. & 4. Add 10% water to the chalky finish, mix and fill the paint sprayer container

5.  With slow even strokes, spray your pieces

6. & 7.  Pop open the medium shelter and spray your medium sized furniture

8. & 9.  Pop open the small spray shelter and spray your smaller pieces

10. - 12.  Measure, cut and paint the accent wood molding and trim for your pieces with the chalky finish in Carbon and let dry

13. & 14.  Dry brush the trim with the DecoArt Matte Metallics to bring out the details

15.  Accent the hard edges of each piece with a gold metallic paint marker

16.  Glue on the painted trim pieces with E-6000 glue and you're done! 

 My new furniture set!

Flipped!

Wax Seals DIY

I love fancy snail mail!  Send me something with color, collage, beautiful handwriting and a wax seal and I'm ALL IN!  The crazier, the better!  I've had a wax seal with an "M" for a while but I decided it was time to UP my seal game and find some different patterns.  I dug through my stash of metal buttons and found a few that would be perfect for wax impressions.  The only thing I needed was a way to secure them to a handle.  I hit my pile of scrap wood and I was all set!  Remember to use what you have and always Make Your Mark!

Look for flat buttons with interesting designs
Interesting pieces of jewelry might work, too

My new stash 

A little colored hot glue and you have something amazing!

Watch how to make them here!

STUFF I USED

1" x 1" wood trim

E-6000 Glue

Metal buttons

Baby oil

Large craft knife

Drill

Glue gun and colored glue sticks

HERE'S HOW

1. & 2. Trim the end of a 4" piece of 1" x 1" trim to create a circular end

3.  Drill a hole large enough for the shank of a metal button on the rounded end

4. & 5.  Add a generous amount of E-6000 glue and set in your button

6.  When the glue is dry, coat the button with baby oil

*You only need to do this once

7. Squeeze a dime size dollop of hot glue on an envelope

8.  Gently press the wax seal in the center and let the glue harden for a bit

9.  Carefully remove the seal 

Seal of approval!

New Year's Eve Centerpieces

Some dollar store wood letters and glitter and you're half way to having an amazing holiday centerpiece for just a few bucks!  Grab a number 9 and you're ready for next year, too.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Don't forget to Make Your Mark!

So much JOY! 

Are you ready for 2018?

Watch how to make them here!

STUFF I USED

Americana Decor Metallics and Silver and Antique Brass

Dollar store wood pieces

Various Christmas decorations and ornaments

E-6000 Glue

Gold and Silver Glitter

HERE'S HOW

1.  Glue the letters to the base with E-6000 Glue and let dry

2. & 3.  Paint them with Americana Decor Metallics in Silver and Gold

4. & 5.  Add glue and then glitter to the letters and numbers

6.  Decorate them with cute ornaments and garland

 Happy New Year!

Joy to the world!

Iridescent Mermaid Ornaments

My dad owned a car lot when I was about 6 and my brothers and I would have to spend almost every Saturday with him so my mom could have a (much needed) break from us!  One of the things I remember vividly was the oil pan in the main garage.  I thought the swirls of color on top were mesmerizing and my entire life I've been trying to replicate those iridescent colorful swirls.  I think I might be getting closer with this iridescent mermaid ornament project.  I love all of the blended metallic colors together!  Have a wonderful Christmas and don't forget to Make Your Mark!

My iridescent trio!

Watch how to make them here!

STUFF I USED

DecoArt Metallic Lustres

Lace or doilies

Plastic ornaments

E-6000 Glue

Americana Decoupage

DecoArt Extreme Sheen in 24K Gold

 HERE'S HOW

1.  Cut the lace into pieces

2. & 3.  Soak them in Americana Decoupage and glue them to the ornaments

4. Paint the entire ornament in Gold Extreme Sheen 

5. - 7.  Start brushing on different colors of Metallic Lustres

8. Glue on small rhinestones with E-6000 Glue

9.  Add a ribbon to hang the ornaments

Merry Christmas!

Fashion Drawing Made Easy

Many of you know I was a fashion designer for most of my career.  I loved it, but working with fabric just wasn't enough for me.  I wanted to work with wood, paper, paint, glitter, and whatever else I could get my hands on.  Even though I left fashion long ago, I still sketch dresses whenever I have some down time.  Today I thought I'd share with you just how easy fashion sketching is if you have a croqui and some good supplies.  I'm using Marabu's Graphix Aqua Pens which turn into watercolor if you wet them.  This is a terrific way to get an awesome fashion illustration worthy of your wall!  To start, you'll want to print out my fashion croqui below.  This croqui is the key to a terrific sketch every time!  A little practice and you'll be the next Valentino or Chanel, I just know it!  Remember, practice makes perfect and never forget to Make Your Mark!

 A few framed sketches!  LIKE the Marabue FB page and you're entered to win one!

Ready to frame!

Watch how easy it is to fashion sketch here!

STUFF I USED

Watercolor paper

Marabu Graphix Aqua Pens

Round brushes

TO FRAME

E-6000 Glue

Sewing pattern paper

Americana Decoupage

Dollar store frames

 HERE'S HOW

1. - 3.  Place watercolor paper over the croqui and with pencil, sketch your dream dress using the body as a guide

*Look at fashion magazines to see how fabric falls if you're stuck

4. & 5.  Fill in the dress with the Graphix Aqua Pens leaving lots of white space and concentrating on the creases and outline

6.  Using a clean brush with water, spread the lines inward to color the sketch

7. - 9.  Repeat on the 2nd dress and hair

10.  Add details on the face like eye shadow and lipstick

11.  Trace over the pencil lines with a black Graphix Fine Liner

TO FRAME

12. Cut an old sewing pattern into 3" x 4" pieces

13.  Decoupage on the frame back with Americana Decoupage

14. & 15.  Cut and glue a measuring tape around the edge on top of the decoupage pattern paper

16.  Tape your fashion sketch in the middle and snap the frame together

Print out on 8 1/2" x 11" copy paper

Make sure to LIKE the Marabu FB to be entered to win an original sketch!

Flow Painted Dresser Ikea Hack

There is nothing more fun than dripping tons of paint on a canvas and watching it flow together.....NOTHING!  Lately I've been seeing tons of "dirty pour" paintings and flow paintings and thought it might be fun to incorporate the technique into a furniture piece.  So, that's just what I did.  I grabbed a RAST dresser at Ikea and went nutty bananas.  Because I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to paint the drawer fronts, I had 1/4" plywood cut to about the same size so I could experiment.  If you're more confident than I am, I say go for it on the drawer fronts and skip that part! Just FYI, it's much easier to flow paint a thin piece of plywood IF the dresser you're making over is already assembled.  Remember to get messy, use tons of color and always Make Your Mark!

Getting messy!

Watch how fun it is to make here!

STUFF I USED

Americana Decor Outdoor Living Paint

E-6000 Glue

RAST Ikea dresser

1/4" plywood cut to the size of the drawer fronts

Small cups and spoons

Drill

Optional:  Decorative Glass Bubble Knobs

HERE'S HOW

1.  Pour your colors into small cups and add about 10% water to each color and stir

2. & 3.   In 2 colors, spray a shot of silicone lubricant into the paint and stir

*This will cause a chemical reaction with the other paints and give some terrific "cell" effects

4.  Paint the edges of your plywood in a solid color

5.  Drip the paints on the plywood

6.  Move the plywood in all directions so that the paints blends together and covers the entire surface of the plywood

7.  Drip some other colors on your piece if you feel like there is a blank spot

*Let everything dry for as long as it takes

8.  I painted the edges of the drawer fronts black so that each plywood piece would look like it was framed

9.  Paint the rest of the dresser

10.  Glue the dry painted pieces to the drawer fronts with E-6000 Glue

11.  Assemble the drawers and extend the original drilled holes through the painted plywood so that you can add the hardware

12.  Screw in the knobs and put in the drawers!

Go with the flow!