wood rings

My long time readers will know that I love colorful and funky statement rings! And I love using simple supplies to to make my own. Just about anything small can be transformed into a ring and one my favorites materials are beads.

With a little paint, wood beads can easily be transformed a unique ring.

I started by painting the beads a solid color.

And then added simple and tiny details.

Once the painted bead is dry, I glued the bead to the ring blank.

The last step was to add a drop of glue and add a small decorative bead to the hole.

The result...colorful and funky wood statement rings!

Looking for more ring inspiration?

wood burned rings   shrink plastic rings   stone statement ring   faux turquoise ring   colorful clay statement rings   flower rings

flower rings

I love finding ways to create unique jewelry and now that Lucy is older, I love creating cute little accessories for her. To be honest, this fun ring project started out for Lucy but I loved them so much that I made some for myself!

Oven bake clay (or polymer clay) is so much fun because it is so versatile. It is also one of my favorites for making colorful jewelry. 

Begin by selecting a few different colors of polymer clay.

Roll them out, press and sculpt into the shape of flower petals.

Press those petals together.

Continue to create petals and stack them on top of each other.

I created a variety of different flowers in different colors and shapes.

Bake the clay in the oven according to the directions.

While the flowers look great simple, I love using acrylic paint to add details to the polymer clay. 

Last, glue the clay flowers to ring back. I like using E6000 glue.

These rings are so cute, whimsical and perfect for anyone wanting accessories with a little color!

3 simple ways to transform kids clothing

While I love shopping for Lucy's wardrobe, at this point in in time I refuse to spend lots of money on the things that I buy her. She is growing like a weed (the kid is all legs) and she plays outside and creates everyday which means clothing around here gets stained or destroyed really fast!

When I find kids clothing on sale, I buy a lot of separates in neutral colors (I found the clothing above on sale for $2.99 each). Then with a little creativity, I transform the clothing into something a little more colorful and interesting. It has been a really great way to stick to a budget. Today I thought it would be fun to share 3 of my favorite simple ways to transform kid's clothing

My favorite way to transform any kind of clothing is with paint! My favorite fabric paint is Tulip Soft Matte Paint. It comes in tons of great colors, it is permanent, machine washable and dries flexible. I've been using this stuff for years and it always works great!

You can keep your painting simple with things like brush strokes, swipes of color, stripes and polka dots. 

Simple painted color is also a really fun way to include the kiddos in the process!

Or you can get really creative and treat the surface of that clothing like a canvas! 

I love creating simple patches out of my fabric scraps. 

One of my favorite ways to create a patch is creating messy little pieces of patchwork or layered fabric that I cut into different shapes.

I sew these patches to dresses and t-shirts to add a fun pop of color!

Tie Dye is my go to when I want to quickly transform white clothing or even dye over the top of stained clothing. The process is fast, easy and nothing is cuter than a kiddo in tie dye!

simple homemade planner

I really depend on staying organized, I blog, I teach, I make art, I sell products, I am a busy mom and I am juggle lots of projects. As much as I love all the pretty planners out there, I really enjoy creating my own simple handmade calendar/planner for the year.

My personal planning process is all about keeping lists. This means my planner consists of a monthly calendar and lots of pages for lists- a to do list for each day, a to do list for the week, a list for blogging, a list for class content, etc. In addition to my lists, a lot of my planning process also includes visual brainstorming, doodling and drawing my ideas for classes and new products and blog content- which means I need lots of paper. 

I've found that a cheap composition notebook or even a sketchbook works great for making a homemade planner. There are a number of ways to alter a composition notebook! One of my favorite ways is painting right over the top and then adding your own art to the cover

I used a couple layers of white acrylic paint and once it was dry I used a sharpie to cover the surface with a flower pattern.

Then I added a little pop of color!

If you don't want to paint or draw, grab some pretty paper and use it to cover the front and back of the composition notebook. I actually created a set of pretty paper from my own drawings.

I create blank monthly calendars that I glue on the pages of my notebook.

I added tabs and then I get busy planning and list making!

With a little creativity, you have the ability to transform a cheap composition notebook into a personalized planner!

I've put together a little planner download with lots of 8 pretty paper designs, two sheets of stickers that can be printed on sticker paper and a blank calendar! It's over in the shop HERE for $10!

Want more inspiration to create your own planner? Check out my post from a couple years ago when I transformed a sketchbook into a planner HERE