Valentine's Day with Brittany: Glitter Heart Canvas

Hi Everyone!

So I'm back and I'm kicking off my Valentine's day segment with this really easy and really affordable DIY for your home. It's a simple way to add a touch of Valentine's Day to your home that is subtle and looks great! All you need is a few things. This is stuff that you can find around your home or that you can get at the dollar store. Let's get started!

Things You Need:
-canvas (size doesn't matter - it's up to you!)
-paintbrush
-white paint
-pencil
-glitter in the colour of your choice (I went with red)
-white glue
-newspaper (or some sort of paper to help keep the glitter in check)
-a heart shape to trace (or you can draw one freehand if you are good at drawing hearts)
-sealer spray

Step 1:
The first thing you need to do is to prep your canvas. To do this, take your white paint and paint brush and just coat the canvas in a layer of the white paint. Put the canvas aside to dry.

Step 2:
While you are waiting, you can make your heart stencil. Just take a regular piece of paper. Fold it in half and then make half a heart shape. The two points need to meet the folded edge. Cut along the line you drew and unfold your heart. You can cut it more if you need to fix it.

Step 3:
Once your canvas is dry, take your heart stencil and place it on the canvas. If you need to, lightly put some tape on the back side of the stencil so it won't move around on you. Then lightly, trace around the heart shape. Once complete, take the stencil off the canvas carefully.

Step 4:
Now, take your clean paintbrush and your glue. Put about a quarter sized amount in the middle of your heart (the amount will depend on the size of your heart). Spread it around evenly, making sure to put glue on top of your pencil lines so they won't show. Be a little generous with the glue. If you put too little on, the glitter will not stick properly.

Step 5:
Once you have all the glue spread out evenly, take your glitter and shake a generous amount in the middle of the glue. (Do not worry - you won't be wasting it. You can dump it on a paper and put the excess back in the container afterwards). Carefully, spread the glitter around making sure that all the parts with glue are covered. (The easiest way I found to do this was to beat the bottom of the canvas gently, making the glitter jump around).

Step 6:
Once all the glue area is covered, dump the rest of the glitter onto a piece of paper and tap the backside of the canvas to get any loose glitter off. Then set the canvas aside to dry (This is where you can take the piece of paper and pour the excess back into the container).

Step 7:
Once the canvas has dried, take your sealer spray and spray the front of the glitter. This will lock in the glitter so that none can fall off and get all over the place. You may have some fall off but it won't be nearly as much as it would be if you didn't spray it. Set it aside to dry.

Once it has dried, you are now ready to use it to decorate your home! I hope that you enjoyed this little tutorial. Like I said, it is quick and easy and can be personalized to the individual. You don't have to do hearts. It is totally up to you! Until next time, Happy Crafting! xoxo

Valentine's Day with Brittany: DIY gift idea for your friends!

Hi Everyone!

It's Brittany and I'm back with another Valentine's Day post for my Valentine's Day Segment. Today, I am bringing you a cheap, easy gift you can make for your friends for Valentine's Day. You may have some of these things in your house already and other stuff you can buy at places like Target and Dollar Tree. Let's get started!!!

Things You Need:
-little brown paper bags/white favour boxes
-glitter (colours of your choice)
-glue
-paintbrush
-heart template
-pencil
-scrap piece of paper
-ribbon or clothes pin (or whatever you want to close the bag with)
-gift tags (if you are giving gifts to friends)

Step 1:
Take your heart template (I made mine from a scrap piece of paper) and place it on your little brown paper bag (or white favour box). Lightly trace around the heart stencil.

Step 2:
Take your white glue and a paint brush and generously spread the glue all around the heart shape. Be sure to go over top of the pencil lines so that it gets covered with glitter and doesn't show.

Step 3:
Pour some glitter into the centre of the heart and lightly tap on the bottom of the bag to move the glitter around. I recommend doing this over a piece of scrap paper as glitter tends to get everywhere. Do this until you cannot see anymore glue. Then dump the excess onto the scrap piece of paper. You can put the excess back in the container once all your bags are decorated.

Step 4:
Put it aside to dry. Do this to the rest of your little bags (or favour boxes). Let them dry.

Step 5:
Once everything is dry, you can open them up and fill them with whatever you would like to give. I have those hair ties that don't leave kinks in your hair, a lip balm and a little packet of chocolates. I also plan on making little cakes to go in my white favour boxes.

Step 6:
Once you have everything in your little bags, fold the top over and close it shut with whatever you have chosen to close it with. I didn't get a picture of it, but I closed it with a clothes pin. I also attached a tag with each friend's name on it.

So there you have it. Simple and easy, but also really shows you care. If you want to make multiples, like for your child's classmates, you could just put the same thing in each bag and then close them with a clothes pin or sticker. That way, your child can just hand them out to each classmate and not have to worry about missing someone. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this DIY for Valentine's Day! If you try this DIY, be sure to leave me comments and pictures in the comments section below. Until next time, Happy Crafting! xo

Deck the Halls with Brittany: Holi-DIY #3!

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to come on and do one last post.... even if it is after Christmas... and New Years! I got so caught up in festive activities that I didn't have enough time to post this one before Christmas. This DIY is pretty easy to do and allows you to recycle those old Bath and Body Works candles you have that are cleaned out and laying around. Let's get started!

Things You Will Need
-repurposed BBW candle (de-potted and cleaned)
-glass candle stick holder (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
-crazy glue
-chalk board labels

Step 1:
Make sure the bottom of the candle jar and the top of the candle stick holder are clean. Then place the jar on top to make sure you get it centred. Think of this as measuring twice and "cutting" twice.

Step 2:
Once you have found the centre, carefully place crazy glue around the rim of the glass candle stick holder. Then place the candle jar on top, making sure you have placed it where the centre is.

Step 3:
Let dry. You may have to wait a while. You can also carefully weigh it down. I did this by placing single wick candles from Bath and Body Works inside the jar. I typically wait overnight.

Step 4:
Once the glue is dry, or the next day, take the jars and place a chalkboard label on the side where you want it to be. You can leave it blank or you can write whatever you like on it.

I hope you enjoyed this post. You can do this with a bunch of different clear vases to make your own different apothecary jars, instead of spending insane amounts of money on store-bought ones. I love doing this project. It took hardly any time at all and I made a couple of amazing gifts for a couple of my cousins. Be sure to post pictures in the comments showing me your DIY apothecary jars! Until next time, Happy Crafting!