DIY Toy Story's Woody Disney Fund Jar!

Howdy!

I have a Disney DIY today! I have previously done a DIY Mickey Mouse Disney Fund Jar and now I've done another Disney Fund Jar, this time in the shape of Woody from Toy Story!

The Materials:

• Mason Jar - I used a Quart size. You can get a pack of 12 from Amazon for about $8. (Mason Jars)
• Masking Tape
• Sponge Brush/Paint Brushes (A big one to paint the jar and a thin tipped one for detailing) 
• Blue Paint (For Woody's Jeans)
• Yellow Paint (For Woody's shirt)
• Red Paint (For the lines of Woody's Plaid Shirt)
• White Paint (For Woody's Vest)
• Black Paint (For the Cow spots on Woody's Vest)
• Brown Paint (For Woody's Belt)
• Gold Paint (For woody's buckle) 
• Sheriff's Badge (I got a pack from the dollar store)
• Red Bandanna 
• Two Buttons (optional) You can opt to draw these on instead. 
• Glue Gun
• Sealant 

The first thing you will need to do is to tape the masking tape a little bit more than half way down the jar. This will be where you paint Woody's jeans. I wanted to focus on the top half of woody so I only designated a little bit for his jeans. 

Paint the bottom half of the jar blue - I used 3 coats. Take the tape off and let it dry! 

Once that is done you will use the yellow paint - I chose a muted yellow - and paint the top half of the jar. You don't have to worry about this TOO much. I only used one coat for the entire jar and two coats only on the front of the jar and the line between the blue and yellow. We are going to paint white over most of the yellow, so it doesn't have to be perfect. 

After the yellow is dry, I went in with a precision brush and used the white paint to draw in Woody's vest. I used about 2 coats for this. Remember this will go around the entire jar, front and back. 

I let the white dry and then drew on the red to make his shirt into a plaid shirt. You can tell that it is no where close to perfect. I had a bit of trouble keeping the lines straight all the way down and all the way around the jar. You just have to be really patient and keep a steady hand when drawing the lines. 

After that was dry I drew on the black cow spots for Woody's vest. I outlined each spot first and then when I was sure I liked where each was located I colored in the spots. 

Front:

Back:

Again, let the dry for at least an hour or so. After that was dry I drew on Woody's belt. I started with his belt buckle and just drew a gold oval and colored that in. I really did not like the gold paint I used because it was rather streaky, but it'll do. After I drew that I drew the belt straps. I kept a couple of spaces between the belt to mimic belt loops. I had to use about 3 coats of the brown paint. 

Once that is dry, bring out the hot glue gun! I took a sheriff badge and broke off the clip on the back and hot glued that onto Woody's vest. Hold that there for a couple of seconds and then do the same for his two buttons! 

Lastly, Woody's bandanna! I took a regular size bandanna and cut it down to a smaller square. I just eye-balled this and just keep cutting it smaller until it fits the size that you want. Roll it down like you would a regular bandanna and then hot glue it onto the neck of the jar.  

TA-DA! That's it! This would be a cute way to encourage your kids to save up money and put it in their own little jars for souvenirs and what not! I hope you enjoyed this DIY, feel free to leave comments, questions or suggestions! :) Have a great day!

- Laura 

DIY Harry Potter Advanced Potion's Book

Hello once again! 

In my last post, I did a DIY on a Harry Potter, Hogwart's trunk for your Harry potter books (click here if you missed it: Harry Potter Trunk) and keeping on key with that Harry Potter theme, I am back with another Harry Potter DIY. I show you how I made the Advanced Potion's Book from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! 

This isn't an ACTUAL potions book because who am I kidding, I'm just not THAT creative. But rather this is a fake book that you can open to put keepsakes and knick knacks in! 

I unfortunately don't have a separate picture for every step of the process, so I'll just talk you through it! 

First: The supplies!

1. Wooden Book (I got mine for about $3 on Michaels) I think Hobby Lobby sells cardboard ones and those should work just fine
2. Black and White Paint. This you can choose your colors. White is for the pages of the books and the Black was for the "binding" and the inside cover.
3. Mod Podge or some type of glue. (I used Mod Podge because it was what I had on hand and because I can use it as a glue as well as a sealant) 
4. Masking Tape
5. Foam Brushes

In addition to these craft supplies, you will also need a computer and printer.

First, I painted the "pages" white. This is where your masking tape comes in handy, tape off the parts of the book you don't want to get paint on.

Second, I painted the inside cover black.I found it easier, to unscrew the hinges and take the entire top cover off so that you can paint it easier as well as later glue on the image seamlessly. 

Don't forget to paint the bottom inside cover black as well. The bottom cover does not open BUT, there is a little piece running around the edges of the "pages". 

Now, you can let that dry and print off your image. 

I got the image off a Harry Potter Forum on therpf.com - you are going to have to make an account in order to get onto the forum, but it is totally free and they have same amazing cosplay and crafts ideas. Since, it is not my image I won't post it, but you can go onto the website and do a search on Harry Potter and you should be able to find the image. 

The image you download from the forum is rather big, which is good because that means the quality of it will be clear. Measure out the length and width of each part of your book, cover, back cover and spine. The image is downloaded as one image so you're going to have to disassemble it and make is so that it fits the length of your book. The easiest way would be using photoshop BUT using paint works too. You measure out how big the book is compared to the computer paper and fix the sizing and margins accordingly. It took me a couple of tries and prints to get this to work. I recommend going a little bit bigger so you can wrap it. (I printed the front and back cover on card stock and the spine of regular computer paper) 

Print the spine first, use mod podge to adhere it to the book. Let it sit and dry. Make sure the spine can wrap around and little bit.Then I printed the back cover and mod podge it on and the same with the front cover. After that I used an x-acto knife and cut out the wholes for where the hinges are supposed to be and I re-attached the front cover to the rest of the book.

Mod Podge the entire book to seal it and you're done!

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or if something wasn't clear! 

The hardest part is just playing around and getting your image the right size. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

- Laura 

DIY Harry Potter trunk!

Hello All!

I'm back and this time with a DIY! Keep in mind this DIY is not meant to be accurate! I am a huge Harry Potter fan! I've read all the books and seen all the movie multiple times and I just love the entire series! I decided to make this trunk as a birthday gift for a friend! It's not accurate simply because that wasn't in my budget. IF you want to make one that looks more like Harry's trunk in the films, I suggest looking up steamer trunks! (Keep in mind, those are usually $100+). 

Supplies:

• Trunk
• Brown Paint (or your color of chose) 
• I chose the folklore Antiquing Medium in the color 2937 Espresso - I wanted an aged, antique look. You can also opt to use a stain instead
• Black Spray Paint (optional) 
• DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Metallic Acrylic Paint in color Emperor's Gold 
• Sponge brushes 
• Hogwart's Crest + Printer 
• Modpodge or Spray Adhesive   
• Mod Podge Hard Coat sealant + Acrylic Spray Sealant (optional) 

I found this trunk on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $30.59 down from $89.99. I had been doing a lot of shopping and this was the cheapest I was able to find for the size. The dimensions are: 21.2x13.3x11.8in. Honestly, to fit the entire collection of books you don't need a trunk this big, but it was a good price and she could always put the HP movies in and other knick knacks in as well. 

First thing I did was take my brown paint and a sponge brush and paint the entire trunk.

I immediately regretted this. haha I suggest taking the hardware off BEFORE you paint instead of after like I did. That would have been the smart thing to do. haha No worries though, after I took the hardware off I was able to wipe the brown paint I accidentally got on it with a wet wipe. 

I painted the first coat. You can tell it was pretty splotchy and brush strokes were very obvious. 

I waited a couple of hours and went in with a second coat. I let the trunk dry overnight. This paint does dry pretty Matte, so if you want a satin sheen I suggest picking a different type of paint. I kept it the way it was because I wanted a used weathered look. 

In the morning, I spray painted the hardware. Originally I spray painted them gold but then decided black looked better. I only spray painted the 8 corner pieces and left the rest silver. 

Then  I printed out the Hogwart's Crest (I got mine from a Harry Potter forum on therpf.com) I used regular Mod Pdoge to glue this onto the trunk. I took a book and placed it on top of the crest and let it dry. 

While doing that, I went onto the side of the trunk and used the gold paint to paint on her initials. 

After both were dry, I used Mod Podge Hard Coat and brushed this over the entire trunk. Again, I let this dry and then painted on a second coat. The Mod Podge does leave some brush strokes on the trunk,  I didn't mind because it just looks like textured wood. If you don't want to see brush strokes I recommend using a different sealant. I then went in with an Acrylic paint sealant spray and sprayed the entire trunk and TA-DA! You're done!

This is the finished look:

Here's a picture of the inside and things you can put in there, As you can see the Page to screen book was a little too long so I had to turn it sideways. All the other Harry Potter books would have fit fine the other way though. 

Thanks for reading! :) Feel free to ask me any questions or suggest any new ideas! I would love to see how your projects turn out! 

- Laura 

Packing!

I am a textbook over packer. I've always over packed clothes, shoes and makeup! I can't help it, I always think "what if?" and half the time I don't need all of the things that I pack. Since I am leaving for a 2 week trip on Tuesday, I decided to try my bet not to over pack this time. 
I'm not going anywhere new, therefore this trip is a very casual trip where I do need to worry about packing fancy clothes or heels or too many necessities since I know if I forget anything I will have them on hand or simply buy them. 
At the same time I know that we won't be going out as much as I would if I was going on regular trips to sight see and what not, So let's see how I did on not over packing, shall we? 

First! The Clothes! 

I am a very indecisive person, therefore I usually pack extra clothes so that I have a chose and have a variety of things I can choose from. This time around, I decided to just pick really regular, casual things. Things I can wear for anything and mix and match. I have two casual dresses that I can also wear out at night. Some work out clothes since I do plan on working out. One pair of shorts and two big shirts for my pajamas. Some tops, one pair of jeans, a pair of funky pants, one pair of overalls and two pairs of shorts - regular jeans shorts, and a high-waisted pair. I also included camis with my tops. These tops can be worn with jeans as well as my shorts. (Not included is my airport outfit, therefore I'll have more options with those as well). 

Also included are my bathing suits and shoes!

I have two bathing suits, regular bikini and one with a high waisted bottom. A pair of running shoes, flats and sandals. And this is my carry on bag.
Since I tend to over pack, I decided to change up my carry-on bag. Instead of carrying a rolling suit-case that has more room for me to over pack, I decided to use a weekender bag that will limit the room I have, therefore I have to pack less. I got this bag from Target! You can just use the handles or use the strap and put it over your shoulder. 

For my shoes, I want to keep them separate from my clothes, so I just put them all into these two Toms bags.

Aside from that, I also need to pack some makeup and undergarments - panties, bras, socks. 

Because I am not using a rolling suitcase I don't have a mesh bag to throw them in so I just use an over sized makeup bag to keep it tidy, hidden away and altogether. I also have a makeup bag and an empty bag to put my dirty laundry into. Don't worry, the bag looks small but it's expandable. 

I also tend to over pack my makeup, therefore I decided to try to cut that down as well. I wanted to keep my makeup brushes and tool seperate from my actual makeup so inside my Aladdin makeup bag I have smaller makeup bags.

This way I keep my makeup tidy and together and then I can keep my makeup brushes on the outside of these bags but still altogether in one bigger bag.

These are all the non-liquid makeup. I am bringing ONE trio from Wet n Wild. That is unheard of for me! I usually need to bring at least a palette! haha I did bring a color tattoo in tough as taupe, just in case I need to deepen my eye shadow for a night time look. I have a color tattoo, one NYX blush in Dusty Rose that is buildable, one NYC bronzer, my Dream Matte powder, a NYX eye shadow that I use for my eyebrows, one black eye liner and two lipsticks. A bare minerals one in Moxie for an every day lip and a Revlon Matte lipstick in Really Red for night time look. 

Lastly, I have my backpack that I will put underneath the seat. 

Included I have my "Take Charge" (How cute Right??) bag that has all my chargers. It has my phone, ipad, and camera charger as well as an external charger just in case and some ear buds. I have my electronics (not included is my phone). I have my glasses and contacts case that also has a mirror in it. My wallet, sunglasses and liquids zip-loc bag. Unfortunately my reusable TSA approved bag has broken :( so I am back to using zip loc bags. 
I also have a mini bag that includes, my inflatable travel pillow, eye mask and ear buds all in one place! And finally, the last thing I have is my travel binder. It's pretty much a notebook I use to write about my travels and what not. 

And that's it! Hopefully that wasn't too much! ;) 

Lastly, some tips I used to narrow down my packing!

1. Choose a smaller bag so that you don't feel like you need to "fill" up your suit case. 

2. Pick out shirts that you can wear with most of your bottoms. Same thing with shoes. Make sure you can wear your shoes with more than one outfit. 

3. Don't pack a bunch of single eye shadows! Pick a palette and/or trio that has more than one shadow all in one place. 

4. Use bags or shower caps to hold your shoes so you don't get your clothes dirty

5. Check the weather of your destination before you pack 

6. Wear a scarf/cardigan/jacket with your outfit when you travel. Planes and airports can be rather cold and you save room in your carry on and also have more options! 

7. Use a wristlet as a wallet, it's not only small but you can also carry that around wherever you go. 

Chicago is my kind of town!

Howdy!

On to the third part of my "Flash Back Friday" Series! This time we are heading over to Chicago! I was lucky enough to be able to see Steven Colbert's commencement speech at Northwestern university and decided to spend the weekend in Chicago! It is a beautiful city and I love the Gothic architecture. Not to mention, the weather was amazing! I'm so use to Houston's summer where it's humid and hot, but it felt great in Chicago. Alright! Onto the good stuff: The Pictures!!

(Cue "My kind of Town" by Frank Sinatra) 

Only have 2-3 days to spend in Chicago?? Well, here are somethings you should definitely do, especially if it's your first time!  

Walk the city! I love the architecture and the buildings! 
Walk through DePaul University, or go see where they filmed the famous batman scene where he's speeding down the street under the bridge!  

Hungry from all that walking? Get some deep dish pizza! Places like Gino's East Pizzeria. Not only was the pizza delicious, they also had IBC Root beer, my favorite! The walls inside are all painted chalkboard with words written from people from all over the world! 

Not a fan of Pizza? Try Rick Bayless' Xoco. Keep in mind, both of these places are extra busy! We had to stand in a line that wrapped the corner for both. Also Rick's is a smaller place than Gino's. Both were delicious! 

After eating, head on down to the Navy Pier! There's shops, games, food, and live music! Not only that, but there is also a Children's Museum! Spend sometime exploring around or if you're tired, there's an IMAX theater, stay inside and rest your feet while watching a new movie! You can even rent bicycles or take a cruise. Dinner time? Don't worry, Navy Pier has a variety of restaurants as well. Not to mention, it looks beautiful at night. 

Next day? The Willis tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) is a must! It's not a whole lot of walking so you'll be taking a break from the day before. You'll be getting a mini history lesson as well, and that view? You won't want to miss that! 

For those brave souls out there, don't forget to step out on the sky deck! I'm afraid of heights and was afraid to step out, but I'm so glad I did and was able to cross that one off my bucket list.

On to the next one! It was nice being able to stay inside all morning but how about some fresh air? Stroll on down to Millennium Park! 

Come on the right day and you'll be able to see a live performance! 

Don't forget to get your photo-op at The Bean! 

Want a relaxing evening? Take a Chicago boat tour! You get to learn a lot about all the different buildings, when they were built, and when they were renovated. At the same time you learn about the architecture as well as history of Chicago and fun little facts. If you don't care about that? Well the views are still worth the ride. 

Of course there are many other things to do in Chicago but don't forget to add these on the list!

This was my first time in Chicago and although it was limited, I had a great time in the windy city! I know this post was a little different from my other ones. I hope you guys enjoyed it and possibly found it somewhat useful :) 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Adventure is out there ;)

- Laura 

I want to wake up, in a city that never sleeps!

Hellooo!

Let's do another flashback Friday shall we? Let's go to New York, New York! I went to New York about two years ago for about a week. It was my first time going, so of course I did all the tourist-y things: Statue of Liberty, The Met, Central Park, Times Square etc.

(Cue Theme from New York, New York By Frank Sinatra!) 

We went to times square first of course since it was right around the corner from our hotel. I did some shopping and exploring the city that very first day.
Next we went to Central Park which is HUGE. I definitely wasn't able to experience every part of it (next time!)  It was beautiful though. Weather was on point and it was nice to have a relaxing stroll through the park to escape the bustling of the city around it. 

Not to mention, I loved seeing all the performers! One of my favorites: Tin Pan! They are so amazing! (Go Check them out on facebook!) Also, love this candid shot of them, it's not every day you see a sax player standing on a bass! 

You can't go to New York without visiting The Met! I really enjoyed seeing all the exhibits. 

We also took a ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty! Unfortunately, she was under construction so there was a lot going on. Also, it was an incredibly gloomy day but there was no way I couldn't go see her! I really wish I had been able to go inside her though (that's what she said? No? Not classy??).  

On the way back from the Statue of Liberty we went through Grand Central Terminal. I was in New York for the first time, there was no way I wasn't going to hit all the tourist-y spots! 

We also went to the 9/ll Memorial, which I highly recommend! I still remember that day clearly, although I was rather young. It's a nice way to have a time where you can reflect and pay your respects. I commend them for building such a beautiful place! I won't add any pictures but You have to go if you ever visit New York. 

Lastly, we spent a day relaxing and enjoying nature's beauty at New York Botanical Gardens. This is place is underrated, I do not hear about it enough but it is GORGEOUS. The flowers are absolutely breath taking, they even have a Japanese rock garden! During the time that I visited they also had a special Monet's Garden. I loved that the more you walked through the gardens you would happen upon poems set up everywhere. I'm a huge lover of poetry and this just set the entire mood of the garden for me. As much as I enjoyed walking through the city it's always nice to have a little escape like this and central park. It's just so calming and relaxing. I hope you enjoy these flower pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! Sorry I don't actually remember the names of the flowers :/ I like them but I'm not very educated about flowers.

We also walked the bridge! Which was long, but worth it. The view was amazing! This photo is one my father took of me taking a picture of the Brooklyn bridge. 

And I end this post with a view of New York from above!

Sorry for the lack of words in this post but I hope the pictures made up for it!
Thanks for stopping by once again! :)
Adventure is always out there!

- Laura