Cute framed collage

My brother just recently got married and for their wedding presents I wanted to do something that would be cute and unique. So after looking around, I decided on something I thought they would both like that would sort of match.

I unfortunately did not think of taking any pictures during the process of making either, because hers I finished making at like 1:00 AM after working on it for several hours and his I just forgot to take photos of because I was in a hurry to finish it.

His:

Hers:

But for the most part it's a pretty straightforward project just from seeing the finished project (hopefully at least). It's a pretty easy and cheap to make. I got the frames at Goodwill and the rest of the supplies can be bought from either Walmart or Hobby Lobby.

Supplies:
Black (or whatever color you're wanting to use) sheet of heavy paper ( I bought some for about 78 cents at Walmart in the craft area) or you can buy the wooden letters or pre-cut out ones if you can find them.
 poster paper (Again cheap at Walmart)
mod podge (I made my own just using water and cheap glue)
a cheap paint brush or a sponge brush (Hobby Lobby or Walmart)
The decorative paper you are using for the collage (I used newspaper but I wanted to use old books from Goodwill but I forgot to buy some before we left and for his I just copied different eras of Batman comics and cut them out).
Backs for hanging the pictures if your frame doesn't come with one (neither of mine did. I got them at Hobby Lobby in a pack in the frame section).
a hot glue gun or strong glue (I used Elmer's strong glue)
scissors

Step 1: measure out your poster paper so that it does not show behind your frame.
Step 2: If you are cutting out the letter, measure it out so it fits so it fits neatly in the middle. As you can see I did not do the greatest job of cutting out the letters but since it was sort of a last minute gift idea I had to make do. I would suggest either using a stencil or buying pre-done letters and just painting them the color you want if you get the wooden ones.
Step 3: Cut out your background pieces. I liked to get a lot of different sizes to give it variety and I would have liked to get it from different books to give it some contrast in colors and font sizes.
Step 4: Arrange your paper how you like on the and glue them down. I liked to layer them and put them at different angles, but you can do as you like.
Step 5: Cover the background with a layer of mod podge using either the cheap paint brush or the sponge brush, being careful not to get it too thick on it. Then glue the letter down and do the same to it.
Step 6: Once everything dries, put a layer of the strong glue down on the back of the frame put down your background. To dry put it right side up and leave it on a flat surface otherwise I found that the glue doesn't dry right unless it has a little pressure (then again it might be because I was trying to let it dry in the car on the way to their house)
STep 7: If you are using a frame that does not have a hook or anything to hang with I got a pack at Hobby Lobby that don't require screws and you just have to put them in with a hammer (or as we did, with a meat cleaver since my brother has yet to buy a hammer).

This would be fun to do as kid's wall decoration too or really anything. There's a lot of fun ways you could do this. I'd love to know if anyone does it and see the results!

Fake Tattoo

So being the wonderfully wild child that I enjoy being I got to thinking about tattoos. A friend of mine who is a volunteer for three months here to El Salvador decided she wanted to surprise her boyfriend for April Fool's Day. To me it was totally a no brainer! I suggested doing a fake tattoo to mess with him because he's not really a tattoo person. She thought it was a great idea and so tonight we set to work. Well, being the Pinterest addict that I am, I had seen a fake tattoo tutorial a while back that I had been meaning to try out and thought this would be a great time to try it. Unfortunately it called for a gel pen, which we gleefully ignored as we did not have one. So we set about drawing out the butterfly she had picked out for the special occasion but no dice. The ink just was not taking to her skin for some odd reason. Well, it turns out we were using the wrong pens and so we had to find a new way of doing it. After searching for a bit she happened upon a tutorial for it, but again we were missing a somewhat major component. So we thought about it and decided we would substitute a pen in instead. And so here is how we went about it:

What you need: a rag to clean up, talcum powder, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls/pads, warm water, tracing paper, a pencil, ballpoint pen and scissors

A bottle is also good to have if you're doing one on the wrist to rest on
I accidentally forgot the pencil and ballpoint pen in the picture. Forgive me

 Step one: Draw your design first with pencil. It does not need to be too heavy or thick. You might have to play with the design a bit to get what looks best to you.

 Step 2: Use the cotton swabs/pads and alcohol to clean the area you are going to "tattoo." This prevents oils and things like that from messing up the ink. Wait for it to dry a bit before moving on to step 3.

Step 3: Cut out the design with enough space around it to keep your design in tact then place it where you plan to have your tattoo.

Step 4: Dip the rag in warm water then place it onto your paper for approximately 30 seconds.

At this point you should have a faint outline of the pencil design on your skin

 Step 5: Wipe off the excess water from the surrounding area and wait for the prepped area to dry.  Now using a black ballpoint pen go over the design again carefully. We accidentally used one with a blue tint the first time and that looked bad.

Your "tattoo" should look something like this right now

 Step 6: Pour talcum powder onto the area carefully, trying not to spill everywhere like I managed to do every time.

Now wait for about another 30 seconds to a minute for the talcum powder to set in before wiping it off with your hand or if you have it a makeup brush.

This should be your finished product! 

 Hopefully if all went correctly you should have an at least somewhat legit looking tattoo for a few days. (we're not positive on how long it will last seeing as it will probably vary.)

Our lovely test tattoo

Welcome

Welcome! If you just happened upon this blog and don't have time to waste, I suggest moving your mouse to the top right corner of your screen and hit that lovely red x. Why? Well, I'm a bit of a rambler and this blog honestly does not have a set point to it. It's here because I need a place to store the crazy things I try from Pinterest or just come up with from life. It's for the crafts, jewelry, drawings, doodles, and babysitting madness that I try out when I come upon it. i want a place I can post the things I've tried that work and are not ridiculously priced so that normal people (never thought I'd ever fall under that category under "normal" circumstances) with normal people budgets (or less) can afford to do all kinds of fun/cool stuff that you would normally think you couldn't do for whatever reason it be, i.e. too expensive, difficult, time consuming, etc. So if this gets read then it's for the mothers, crafters, and babysitters that need a fun idea without dropping a lot of money on it. If not then it's a place I can ramble and place my ideas and crafts that I need a more organized space for.