Thanksgiving!

My parents came to visit us during Thanksgiving Break and it was awesome!  My parents live back in the Midwest so we don't get to see them very often.  My Dad wanted to go to the beach.  So, we spent a couple of hours playing and walking the beach.

Mom and Dad at the beach!

Gee, Gramps, and the girls!

The girls playing at the beach.

Lily didn't want to leave the beach.  She said it was pretty.

Fun things we collected at the beach.

What a great afternoon and so much fun!  Thanks Gramps for the great idea.

Upcycled Hydrangea Headband

I made this for my youngest daughter when she decided she needed to be like her big sister for Halloween.   Big sister was a queen with a crown so Little sister had to have a crown too.  I was scrambling to come up with and idea.  Yes, I procrastinated.   So, I upcycled an old headband that wasn't being worn.  It turned out great.  Who knew that an old headband could look so good.  

  Minimal supplies are need.  Here's what you will need:

• 1 White Hydrangea Silk Flower ( I got mine at Michael's.)
• 1 Headband in any color sitting around the house
• Large Acrylic Rhinestones (I used the 12mm size.)
• Matching Acrylic Paint (Craft Paint)
• Martha Stewart's Glitter Paint-in the color to match
• Glue Gun
• Paint Brush

Start by pulling off 8 flowers.  If the flowers are on the smaller side, you made need to use 10 to 12 flowers.  You will have to eyeball this. 

Paint the flowers with the acrylic paint.  I used the wisteria color of Americana acrylic paint.  You will have to paint on a couple of coats to make sure the paint seeps through.  I didn't paint the underside.  Let the paint dry.  You can use a hair dryer to speed up the process or put it in the sun.  I opted for the later.  

Next you will want to glue the first four acrylic flowers straight across the headband.  

Then, glue the next row right on top of one another.  When you glue the second row, I rotated each flower just a bit so they don't line up perfectly.   This will make the headband look fuller.  Add the rhinestone by hot gluing it to the center and you are finished.  It's that easy.  You now have a great looking headband.  

Now, I think I saw an old red boring headband laying around that needs a new face lift too.  I think it would be perfect for Christmas!

Dia De Los Muertos-Part II

I wanted to share some additional pictures of the more contemporary artwork found at the Day of the Dead celebration from last weekend.

This was an art piece at one of the altars of a young man who had passed away.  I don't know if he created it or someone else did in honor of him.  The detail was amazing.

These were skeletons were at least 10ft. tall.  They were in all different color in this one area.  

Here's a very large skeleton in green.

Here are some contemporary skeleton dolls and little ornaments that one of the vendors made.  

Coke can skeleton from one of the student exhibits on display.

Skeletons made by 8th and 9th grade students using clay and a method called sgraffito.

A lady and man skeleton made all out of rice by local students part of an after school program.  You can also see their sugar skulls (calavaras de azucar) they made too.

And this is my favorite piece.  Look at all of the detail and the time it must have taken to create this chair.  Hope you enjoyed all of the work from the celebration as I did.  What fun!

Dia De Los Muertos

Dia De Los Muertos

This weekend my daughter and I attended the annual Dia de Los Muertos celebration in one of the neighboring towns in southern California.  It was so much fun.  Everything from the art work, vendors, food and altars were muy authentico.  

If you don't know what Dia de los Muertos, it is a Mexican holiday that is typically celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November to remember and celebrate loved ones and friends who are deceased.  I have always loved mexican art and the craft art produced.  Everything from tin, paper mache, and wood carvings.  I also love the Las Calaveras Catrinas or the Elegant Skulls.  Mexican printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada create "Las Calaveras Catrina" in 1913 and this image has been incorporated into Mexican imagery ever since.

Papel Picados

(cut paper designs)

Check out all of the colors of the papel picados.  They are so pretty and definitely require a lot of patience to make.  I love how the sun light is shinning on them.

Everyone, even the vendors had their faces painted.  Look how great she looks.  A lot of people had the big flowers in their hair too.

This is one of the beautiful altars with the traditional marigolds on it.

Stay tuned.  I will do a second post with more of the traditional art work and some contemporary.

Candy Corn Nails

What great fun these were for Halloween!  I received so many compliments on them.  They have such a wide assortment of colors in nail polish these days.  I used an orange and gold glitter nail polish.  I tried using a plain white for the bottom of my nails but I didn't like the look.  It wasn't going on like I had expected.  I used an acrylic artist ink for the pearlescent color and a small paint brush.