the DIY: BOOK OF SPELLS WITH MOD PODGE

Mod Podge was kind enough to send us a box of goodies, and with Halloween around the corner we decided to use their products to make this Book of Spells. We love how the book turned out, and were glad to create something non-traditional for Halloween. The surrounding decor was added for effect. Read on for the tutorial for how to make the Book of Spells.


You will need: An old book, some craft paper, the Mod Podge Foam Applicator and the Mod Podge of your choosing.

Having trouble picking the perfect Mod Podge finish? This picture shows you the finish of 8 different kinds of Mod Podge on paper. (1.Antique Matte 2.Matte 3.Outdoor 4.Sparkle 5.Glow in the Dark 6.For Kids-Gloss 7.Super Gloss 8.Crackle )

If your book has a paper cover, take it off.


Crinkle up your craft paper a good amount.


Place your book on the craft paper...


And cut/tear a piece of the paper that is a little larger than the book.


Pour your favorite Mod Podge (we used Antique Matter for a more vintage look) into the sponge roller squeeze bottle.


Roll Mod Podge onto the book cover.


Press the paper down onto the cover.


Open the book and put Mod Podge on the edges of the craft paper. You will need to tear the top and bottom pieces by the spine so they will fold over without bringing the rest of the paper with it.


Fold each side over one by one onto the inside of the book.


Finish Mod Podging the rest of the book.


You can use the Professional Decoupage Tools by Mod Podge to help the paper adhere better, and with less air bubbles.


Once you've finished the whole book you will have little pieces of paper hanging off of the spine of the book.


Just tear them off!


Then you will need to add a layer of Mod Podge to the rest of the book.


Now to add the writing on the cover of the book you will need to print out your word on the computer- in the font of your choosing.


Tape the sheet of paper down right in the middle of the book.


Trace the outline of the letters with a very pointy pen or pencil and press down hard.


Your outlining should make an indention in your book cover. This is barely noticeable in this picture but there is a "B" there.


Trace over all your indentions.


Then fill in your outline with a permanent marker and your book is finally done! Use this book to add to your Halloween display to add a special touch!

Have we ever mentioned how much we love Mod Podge? We use it all day everyday and twice on Sunday (ok not really) but it is one of our most favorite craft supplies ever. There is nothing more versatile.

Find my post disclosure here

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the DIY: COPY SKIRT

So I have this skirt from Forever 21 that I got not too long ago and I ABSOLUTELY love it. It was super cheap and I just love the way it fits. It's almost like a full circle skirt (that tutorial is coming soon) but it's a little more fitted at and under the waist. Anyways, I wanted to recreate the skirt because they don't have it in any other colors and I want it more colors. It's super easy to recreate a skirt as simple as this. You can do this with almost any skirt.

The original skirt was made out of 4 pieces but I'm going to make mine out of only two pieces. My fabric is folded twice. It's folded once- the way it usually already comes- and then I folded that over again but, just long enough to fit the skirt on. My skirt is folded in half and one edge of it is placed right on the fold.

I traced around the skirt about 3/4 inch away from the edge.

Cut out along the lines and you should have two pieces.

Your two pieces should unfold into this sort of shape.

Put the two pieces on top of each other with like sides together. My fabric is basically the same on both sides so it is hard to see the difference through pictures. Sew along the edge on both sides of the skirt.

For the waist I folded the edge over and pinned it. I folded it over just a little wider than the elastic I'm using. I used 1/2 inch elastic.

Sew along the edge.

Leave an opening so you can insert the elastic. I forgot to take a picture of me putting the elastic in, probably because I was frustrated. Pushing elastic through fabric is always the dumbest thing ever. Put a giant safety pin on the end of the elastic to make it easier to pull through.

Once you get it through, sew the elastic together and stitch up the fabric over it. Make sure you never sew over (or onto) the elastic. It will prevent it from stretching. Since I chose a knit fabric, I didn't even bother with hemming the bottom of the skirt so... I'm done! You could hem the bottom if you would like.

The finished skirt! You can see more pics of the skirt in this outfit post. I also made a full circle skirt right before I made this skirt so I will be bringing you that tutorial soon!

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eat THIS: CAKE BATTER DIP

Anyone miss Dunkaroos? Some people don't even know what they are...? WHATTTTTTT. Anyways, they were amazing and I've heard that people randomly find them in Dollar General stores. Since I've never been so lucky, we decided to make this cake batter dip that's been all over the place. It's a colder version than actual Dunkaroos but it is AMAZING and it is very few Weight Watchers points (good for us).
Go check out the recipe on our skinny blog!

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visual JOURNAL 101: USE YOUR WORDS

As we promised, our first Visual Journal prompt! You've seen what we have worked on in our visual journals already (if you haven't you can see them here.) Now we want to go through prompts with all of you so we can Visual Journal with some structure. We hope these prompts will help you (and us) to not stare at your empty journal page for an hour before you decide what to do. Hopefully this will provide a little direction. Next week we will show you our finished "Use your words" pages. When you have finished your page, snap a picture and send it to us at ohsoprettytheemail@gmail.com. We will choose a few pictures to share on the blog alongside our own pages! Just remember, all you have to do on the page is "Use you words." The rest is up to you! Happy journaling!

*** Edit 4/1/15 if you have come here from Pinterest we apologize for the confusion. We had to take the pictures down due to some copywriting issues. ***

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the DIY: PERMANENT MARKER TIE DYE

I decided to try the "Sharpie Tie Dye" technique and figured it would be better to start off with something small. And we have plenty of fold over elastic to experiment with so I figured this would be a good place to start.


I'll be doing the same design on 5 different colors of elastic.


Squiggle some sharpie onto random parts of the elastic.


Fill in most of the gaps with any kind of permanent markers.


Place the elastic on a paper towel.


Drizzle rubbing alcohol onto the elastic. Make sure the whole piece is covered.


Fold the paper towel over and dab the elastic to smudge the designs a little more.


Let the elastic dry completely and then rinse with warm water.


Lay the elastic out to dry and then create some hair ties out of the pieces!
Go here for detailed instructions.


There you have it! Some one-of-a-kind hair ties or whatever else you want to sharpie tie-dye.

P.S. We have added these tie dye colors to our Etsy Shop!

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