February Freebies

I’m giving away two great digital items for February!  A lovely watercolor themed facebook cover image and 5 free digitals papers for you to use.  Check them out on my freebies page and be sure to like mod girl designs on facebook so you never miss another giveaway!

Holiday Decorating

With all of the running around Ranger and I do in the Holiday season, we haven’t found time in the past couple of years to decorate the house.  But with all the improvements we’ve made to the house and the early planning I did this year to prepare, it was almost a painless process.

I designed and Sunsational Solutions cut this holiday door film for the front.  I’ve had a blast year adding those special touches to our front and back door.  And anyone who visits gets a kick out of seeing the designs.

Our relatives have been giving us ornaments over the years, some from our childhood, some new and we love having a tree with history.  Ranger made a tree stand from a pecan tree log (thanks Pinterest!) from the backyard.  We removed the bark, sanded it smooth and put a nice matte polycoat finish on it so it’s sure to last many years. I had struggled finding the perfect tree stand or skirt to fit our house (and something that could stand up to the dogs!) and this idea was perfect.

Stay tuned for more holiday decorating posts to come!

Knitting Project for Fall

This beauty from Anthropologie is a definite must for this Fall’s knitting project list. The hardest part would be finding the right combination of colors and textures to pull this off. This color combination is stunning but might be a little too busy for me. The patterns looks easy enough, Two large “T” shapes knitted in combinations of ribbed sections, straight knitted and garter stitched sections and then stitched up.

Tags | anthropologie, knitting

Christmas in July

Ranger actually asked me what I wanted for Christmas the other day.  I was shocked. Not that he’s not the most considerate and romantic husband in the whole wide world, but gift planning 6 months in advance? … I checked him for a fever.  And then very quickly made up this list because I have learned as with many other things in life, this was a time to strike while the iron was hot.

Men’s Watch

I’ve always liked the look of a big chunky men’s watch matched with jeans, t-shirt, dangly earrings and heels.   It’s the tomboy in me.

Ukulele

Because it’s been years since I tried to learn a new instrument.

Letterpress Kit

I’ve got a ton of ideas for custom invitations and stationary.  And buying custom plates is super easy and inexpensive.

Design*Sponge at Home

There’s no way this isn’t going to be my favorite book of 2011.

Ashford Rigid Heddle Weaving Loom

More homegoods making.  I see linen tea towels and madras cloth napkins in my future….

Oxyfuel Torch Set

For those girly type welding projects.

Iced Coffee Press

So I can actually accomplish all of the above action items

Tags | christmas, gifts

Project: The Miss Divine Heels

My Friend Allye rocks.  She has taught me many things over the years, among them:

1. Glitter is like little tiny sparkles of happiness.
2. It’s important to spread happiness throughout the world.  Ergo…
3. Put glitter on anything that stands still long enough.

So in honor of Allye, her awesomeness and happiness spreading, I created these beauties based on a tutorial I found from Pixie in Pumps.

Materials:

• old (or new) pair of shoes
• sandpaper (I used 120 grit)
• acrylic craft paint
• super fine glitter
• mod podge
• aluminum foil
• painters’ tape

Time:

3 hours (plus 24 hours in drying time)

Process:

1. Cuff up shoes with sandpaper to help glitter adhere to shoes.  Considering how rough I am on shoes, I probably could have skipped this step…
2. Using painters’ tape and aluminum foil block off any areas you don’t want painted.  I covered the heel tap and rubber sole to allow for better wear.
3. Paint shoes (optional).  I did this because I was taking black shoes to a light green.  I was afraid the black underneath would throw off the look I was going for.
4. mix glitter colors to desired palette.  I find using more than one color creates complexity and interest in the shoe.  I used 3 different colors of green ranging from mint to turquoise. The result is super YUM.
5. add enough mod podge to create a thin consistancy of glitter paint.  Too much mod podge means less glitter coverage.  Too little and the paint become clumpy and doesn’t spread on smoothly.
6. Add thin layer of paint and allow to dry.  Continue to add layers until desired level of coverage has been achieved.  In my case it took 3 + some touching up.
7. Let dry for 24 hours at least before wearing.

I’m super pleased with the results but I have to say these things make more of a statement than I thought.  I think they’d look best peaking out from some floor skimming jeans and a white t-shirt. Now I may have to make a necklace to go with them!

Tags | glitter, shoes, turquoise