Nail Art with Salon Express Nail Stamping

I've seen the Salon Express nail stamping kit on tv and have always wondered if they work.  Amazon was selling them for only 7 dollars so I decided to give it a try.  They did not come with nail polish so I used nail art polish that I bought from the Japanese dollar store.  From the reviews online people say the Konad nail polish is the best, but it cost just as much as the stamping kit so I decided to just go with the cheapie polish.  Overall I was impressed by the stamping.  I did buy other plates off ebay, that were only a couple of bucks.  My daughter loves Hello Kitty so I bought that one for her.  The patterns are pretty cool and it works well.  Nail stamping is also strangely addicting.  I normally don't paint my nails that often but found myself painting them every week just to try new patterns.

The round nail plates are from salon express, the octagon plates are from ebay.  They were shipped from China and took about 2 weeks to arrive.

Dollar store winwax nail polish.  I opened the cap for a couple of days and dried it out a bit to get it to stamp better.

Apply polish to plate

Use a credit card to swipe off.  The kit comes with a metal scraper, but I found that the credit card works better.

After you swipe off the polish the image can be seen clearly.

Use the rubber stamper to pick up the polish and then stamp on nail.  You have to do this relatively fast or else the polish will dry on the stamper and will not stamp.

Hello Kitty nails that my daughter loves.

If you do patterns you will have to remove the polish from your cuticles.  I use a concealer brush and nail polish remove to do this.  That makes it easier so you don't mess up your existing polish on your other hand.

I normally wouldn't paint my nails in Hello Kitty, but it really entertains my daughter when I do.

Record Your Childs Voice to Make a Custom Ornament

This is a simple tutorial of something that I love.  I made this custom voice ornament this Christmas.  I love it because it has my daughter's voice on it and I'll be able to cherish it for years to come.  To make this you need an fabric, felt or knitted ornament  (mine is from Target), recordable device (Amazon or Consumer Crafts has them), seam ripper, needle and thread and cotton balls (to fill the sides back of the ornament).

You want to pick an ornament that can be taken apart with a seam ripper and that is
large enough to hold the recordable device.  Record the message onto the device before you sew it in the ornament.

Using the seam ripper find a seam to remove that will fit the recordable device.  Remove the existing filling.
Mine had foam in it so I broke off the body part but left the foam in the head of the lion ornament.

Insert recordable device in (I added a little cotton to keep it fluffy.

Using a blind stitch sew back up the ornament.

Hang your ornament on the tree and enjoy it for years to come.

Here is a video of the ornament with my daughters voice:

DIY Custom Iphone Case (Cheap and Easy)

I love the custom iphone cases from Shutterfly, but at 35 dollars each they are on the pricey side.  I found a way to replicate this look for only 4 dollars.  I purchased a clear TPU iphone case off ebay but you can also get it off amazon.  The case was only $3.18 and it was delivered within three days.  To customize the case just cut out a image using the case as a template and slip it into the case.  Couldn't be easier.  And the best part?  It's interchangeable, if you get tired of one picture just cut out another.

This would make a great present for grandparents, relatives or friends.  I'm thinking of making one for a friend who recently got married.  If you have photoshop you could create some awesome designs.

Custom Iphone case for less than 4 dollars.

I used printer printed pictures, but you could also develop images or
even use magazine clippings or anything you wanted.

Trace the case template.

Cut out the image and the trace the camera opening.

Use a craft knife and cut out the opening, then slip image into case.