How to paint a Universe T-shirt- With Planets and Galaxies

Every time I see new photos from NASA I feel so tiny , and so amazed by the beauty of the Universe.It's silent, mysterious and so abstract with all the merging colors on a deep black background. It is truly a great source of inspiration and a very cool theme to use on your products or clothing.

There is a trend circulating lately , with Galaxy DIYs, where it shows you how to obtain those abstract patterns and colors of galaxies, so I thought I would show you a more complex design with a piece of the Universe, that includes planets, stars and galaxies.

So to make this very useful for you , I thought of a T-shirt with Universe design, because clothing with designs like that can be very very expensive.

Let's get started! But before we begin here is something to pin :

You will need:
1.A black cotton T-shirt. Don't invest too much on this one. buy something simple and comfortable, so in case your design doesn't work out, you can wear the shirt as a PJ
2.Fabric Paint- I bought the cheapest ones - that include only basic colors- and that's ok because I'm going to show you how to mix them to obtain diversity.Here is a suggestion:

3.A sponge- again- nothing fancy- I'm using a dish washer sponge

You will also need a paint brush and some water.

 I'm not going into details with the whole process of painting because it's very well illustrated in the video down bellow. But here are some tips and tricks :

1. Since the T-shirt is black , don't paint colorful planets directly because they will not stand out. First paint some white circles  and use color on top of that.
2.Choose one of the circles to be a source of light -like a sun or a star-and paint the circle with a very light light yellow/orange. After that don't draw lines around it like in preschool.Use the sponge and tap around it. Use one layer of the same light color, one layer of white and again a layer of light color- but one on top of the other and not one next to each other.
3.If you have your source of light, imagine that it spreads light on the surrounding planets as well- so the light will touch the other planets perpendicular.
4. To illustrate that , paint the planets in blending shades of color.
For example if you want a green planet  :
       -First mix green with yellow or white and paint the top edge where the light from the sun "touches" the planet
       -Go further and paint bellow that an other layer of simple green
       -Mix green with blue and paint an other layer bellow the the anterior one.
       -Paint the opposite side of the lighted area (like the dark side of the planet) with a mix of black and green
       -Try to blend a little these layers where they touch each other

This advice is for 4 layered color planet but you can stick to basic of 3 layers :
-white + color
-color
-black + color

And that's about it. I hope you find this useful. Here is the video I promised :

All Natural Lip Balms DIY- Yummy and Cool

A lip balm or a lipstick is something that every woman should have in her purse. It happens many times to have pale or cracked lips, because of weather or dehydration and it's important to take care of them and use all natural ingredients. That part is very important , and not only because chemicals can worsen the aspect of our lips , but also because we inevitably swallow lipstick components and that may cause some stomach problems.
Nowadays it's easy to find organic and BIO lipstick and lip balms but I personally find them very expensive. Also, the recipe for making one is very easy, and as for containers, you can recycle old ones.

Working on a lot of craft projects has made me realize that the glue sticks we use for paper crafts have the same principle as lipsticks, so why not recycle them?

Here is my recipe + instructions for the glue sticks.

I made 3 lip balms with 3 different flavors. Please watch the video at the end of this article to see my impressions for the final product.

Ingredients (for 3 lip balms):
-2 tablespoons of jojoba oil
-2 tablespoons of coconut oil
2-tablespoons of beeswax

Where to find them:


You can use any type of oil, as long as it's organic, with lots of vitamins, and with no strong odor or taste. Just remember that the oil : beeswax ratio is 2:1

For color and flavoring I used :
-honey
-cocoa
-pink or red jam - I used homemade rose jam
-mint essential oil
-lemon

For containers I recycled some glue sticks. You can also find containers to buy, but usually they come in a large pack. Here are some suggestions:




For decorating the containers I used
-Nail polish
-A container full of water that you don't mind throwing away after

This part is optional. You can leave them  white and simple or you can decorate them with washi tape.

Instructions:
-Remove all the glue from the glue sticks, then leave them to soak in hot water for about 10 minutes
-Wash them with hot water and dish soap until all the glue is dissolved and all the wrapping is gone
-Let them to dry
-Pour in the container full of water that you don't mind throwing away stripes of nail polish of different colors
-Put on the lid of glue stick container and dip it in the nail polish mixture. The nail polish will stick on the glue stick and you will create a marble effect. Leave them to dry at least 30 minutes.
If you want to skip this step you can do so, and decorate the containers with washi tape.
-Next prepare the 3 flavors.

You can use 3 plastic cups to mix the ingredients in them :
In the first cup add half  teaspoon of cocoa and 5 drops of mint essential oil
In the second cup add 1 teaspoon of jam
In the third cup add half  teaspoon of honey and half teaspoon of grated lemon peel .

- Next it's time to melt and mix all the ingredients.
If you are using a stove, add in a little pot the oils and beeswax and then put the pot above a bigger pot filled with water. Don't put the mixture direct on the flame. Just wait for the water to boil, and the heat from the water will melt slowly the oil or the beeswax.

If you are using a microwave, put the oils and beeswax in a bowl safe for microwave and let them for about 1 minute. If still not melted after 1 minute , leave them for more time.

-After everything is melted and mixed pour the mixture evenly in the 3 plastic cups and stir.
-Pour the 3 mixtures in the 3 glue stick containers and let them cool for about 15 minutes

You will have to act fast at this step because the mixture doesn't stay liquid for long time.


Please watch video bellow to understand better the steps:

5 Creative Wedding Favors Ideas-DIY-Easy and Affordable

Planning a wedding can get complicated and stressful. After all , you may have dreamed about it since a little kid and maybe you feel a little frustrated that it has to be PERFECT.
Knowing this I've been planning to make a DIY specially for the future weeds, maybe to inspire them or help them with ideas for the event. 
For now I came up with some wedding favor ideas. If you think I can help with other things let me now in the comments. But before anything else what are wedding favors ? Here's a hand from Wikipedia :
Wedding favors are small gifts given as a gesture of appreciation or gratitude to guests from the bride and groom during a wedding ceremony or a wedding reception. The tradition of distributing wedding favors is a very old one. (Source)
Personally I find this tradition really cute and I would love to receive one so I can have a little "souvenir" from the people that celebrates love. Also it's important to make your guests  feel special and that you are happy they came to be with you in your special day.

Now before we begin here is something to pin : 

Wedding Favor No. 1 : Mini Flower Pot

Supplies:
1.Mini terracotta pot
2.A piece of kraft cardboard ( I recycled a cute gift bag)
3.A pattern scissors
4.White acrylic paint
5.Some sand beads ( I used white and glossy but you can go with pink or beige etc )
6.Transparent glue
7.Tissue paper
8.Mini paper flowers 
9.A piece of organza
10. Pen and brown crayon
11.A mini shape cutter 

Steps:
-Cover the mini terracotta pot with 1-2 layers of white paint and let it dry
-Write on the piece of cardboard a cute message or something simple like " Thank You!"
-Use the mini shape cutter to cut out a little piece creating a shaped hole
-Take the organza and push is through the hole then tie together the message with a little paper flower
- Fill the terracotta pot with 2-3 layers of tissue paper with glue between them
-Pinch in the middle a hole using something thin and sharp like a toothpick
-Squeeze the flower in there and add on top plenty of glue
-Then place a layer of sand beads
-Dip the crayon in some water
-Write your initials on the painted pot- this is optional- you can leave it simple if you want 



Wedding Favor No 2 : Message in a Bottle

Supplies
1.A tiny glass bottle 
2. Kitchen salt ( I used himalayan salt )
3. A piece of white string
4.Pattern scissors
5.Transparent glue 
6. Sea related objects ( seashell, pearl , glass)

Steps:
- Draw a heart shape with glue on the glass bottle
-Dip the shape in salt creating a salt heart
-Write a personal message on a piece of paper .Something like : "You're a life saver, thanks for being here!"
-Cut around the message with the pattern scissors then roll the paper creating a mini scroll. 
-Tie the mini scroll with the white string
-Now go ahead and fill the bottle -first salt, then the message, then the sea objects - I used a shell, a piece of glass and a white pearl

Wedding Favor No 3 : Message in a Box

Supplies:
1.A box of matches
2.Washi Tape
3.Pattern Scissors
4.A glass bead/stone ( I found this at the home decor section)
5. Metallic Golden acrylic paint
6.Paper and pen
7. A piece of cotton
8.Glue

Steps:

-Paint the back of the glass stone with golden metallic paint and let it dry
-Roll washi tape all over the cover of the matchbox
-Add some glue to the interior of the box and push in the piece of cotton
-Write a personal message on a piece of paper. Something like : " Your presence here is gold!", then cut around it, roll it into a scroll  and tie it with a piece of string.
-Put the scroll on top of the cotton along with the gold drop glass and close the box

Wedding Favor No 4 : Just Married Car

Supplies :
1. A toy car
2.A piece of cardboard
3.A piece of organza and a big fork ( this is for creating little bows -if you bought them skip this step)
4.Transparent glue
5.Toothpick
6.Pattern scissors

Steps:

-For creating the little bow -go around the edges of the fork twice then tie a knot in the middle. See video bellow for better understanding
-Glue the bow on the front hood of the car.
-Write a message like "Just Married" on the cardboard and cut around it with the pattern scissors
-Glue the toothpick on the back of the message then glue it all together on the car. If you want you can glue only the message if it's small enough.

Wedding Favor No 5 : Mini Wedding Cake

Supplies:
1.Three bottle caps of different sizes -one bigger than the other
2.Glue gun
3.White acrylic paint
4.Cardboard+ pattern scissors
5.Some white paper flowers

TIP : if you are making more of these use white spray paint for a faster result.
         ask your friends and family to save bottle caps for you so you can have enough of them

Steps:
-Using the glue gun stick the smaller cap on top of the bigger one creating a wedding cake shape
-Create a whipped cream pattern on top and on the edges of the caps using the glue gun
-Cover it in 2-3 coats of white paint and let it dry
-Write a personal message on a big piece of cardboard .Something like : "So sweet of you to come! "
-Cut around it with the pattern scissors then glue the mini cake on the cardboard right next to the message.
-Glue some paper flowers on the edges and on top of the cake

And that's it! Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite;
 If some of these steps are not clear enough please watch the video bellow. It shows how to create all 5 of the wedding favors: