Beach Zen Garden

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram then you know that I just finished a brief vacation in Monterey. It is good to be home and to have access to my craft supplies again, but honestly I miss Monterey very much. The vacation was greatly needed and I have returned to real life feeling inspired. My mind has been racing with all of my ideas for projects inspired by Monterey or travel. I have also been obsessing over Pinterest so I will be sharing some boards with you, as well as some projects I have modified from existing pins. I have so much work to catch up on from being gone, but I couldn't wait to start my first project: a Beach Zen Garden. I miss Monterey: the sand, the shells, the water, and the wildlife. Before I left I knew that I wanted to make a beach scene, but I honestly wasn't sure if that would be a zen garden or a shadow box of my trip. Again, I obsessed over Pinterest, which gave me some ideas, although I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. With the ideas I did have, I made sure to take lots of photos and collect shells in Monterey. When I came home I had a much better idea of what I wanted to create and using existing supplies, with a few additional purchases, I created my own version of Monterey or a Beach Zen Garden. 

I apologize this isn't much of a tutorial, but I created this project quickly and honestly it was fairly easy to make. If you want to make your own beach zen garden, then the supplies you need are:

• A wooden tray or some other container to hold your garden; Hobby Lobby sells ready-to-finish wood trays for $4.99.
• A lid to a cardboard box, unless you don't mind your sand going everywhere. I used the lid to a See's Candy 1/4 lb box.
• Sand, which can be purchased at Hobby Lobby or collected from a beach trip.
• Rocks, shells, and any other natural embellishment. I already had the rocks, I collected the shells, and then bought a few more at Hobby Lobby. The shells I collected from my trip were mostly broken pieces so I supplemented them with nicer looking shells.
• Popsicle sticks, I used the standard craft kind and was able to buy a pack of 50 from Walmart for $0.88. I only needed 23 so it worked out perfectly.
• 2 plastic trays, I already had these plastic storage trays that I purchased from Target 2 years ago. I used plastic trays because they actually contain water, but if you used a resin to recreate the look of water then you could use any container you wanted. 
• Pictures of the ocean floor or the bottom of a tide pool. I used a picture I took from my trip. I printed out the picture on regular printer paper, cut out, and glued to the bottom of the containers.
• A glue stick and E6000 glue to glue the pictures and to assemble the pier.

Normally when I am working on a project, but am not 100% about how I want it to look I draw my idea on paper and then am able to tamper with the final layout. This time I chose not to draw the layout and instead dove right in, which didn't seem to hurt the final outcome. I started with the first water container and placed it into my tray where I wanted the "ocean" to be located. I then found the lid to a box that fit into my tray and the space I wanted the "beach" to occupy. The beach was going to be larger, but the only lid I could find was half of the size so I had to improvise. I filled the lid with Kinetic sand that I already had. I planned on collecting sand in Monterey, but I didn't think about it while I was there. Kinetic Sand is great for this project because it stays clumped together and is easy to shape into the beach you want. I then placed the shells into the sand. 

Originally, I was going to use the smaller container to hold a Bonsai tree, but then I read the instructions for a grow-your-own Bonsai tree kit, again something that I already had, and it said the tree needed to be directly in the sun. I didn't intend for my beach zen garden to be sitting in direct sunlight or on a window sill so I had to scrap that idea. Before I decided to scrap the idea, I began gluing rocks to the edge of the small container using E6000 glue. Since I was already committed to the small container being covered in rocks, I decided to make a tide pool for my beach zen garden. It didn't turn out exactly as I intended, but it works for now. The great thing about assembling this zen garden in pieces is that I can redecorate it as many times as I want. 

I waited until everything was in place before I decided to glue pictures to the bottom of the containers, which I don't recommend doing because I almost destroyed my pier. So before you add your pier make sure you have glued on the pictures you want to the bottom of your containers. Then you can add your pier. I made the pier using Popsicle sticks glued together with E6000 glue. This took some time and was a bit messy. I cut pieces of Popsicle sticks and glued to the bottom of the pier to make legs. You can't see the legs, but they made the pier more secure in the tray. I took 3 Popsicle sticks glued together and glued them to the top of the pier to fill in the gap between the tray and the sand. I found this little wood boat and Hobby Lobby and I thought it would be a perfect addition to my garden. Unfortunately, it was bigger than I wanted it to be in the garden, but I think I will leave it, at least for now. I also added a sea otter magnet that I purchased in Monterey and thought the star fish looked cute placed on top, almost as if he was holding it. 

What is your favorite beach activity? What are some of your other favorite vacation spots? I would love to hear about your travel adventures and to get ideas about where I should travel next!

In Loving Memory: Memorial T-Shirts

Regardless of where you live, I feel quite certain that you have likely known or heard of someone who has passed away and the resulting "In loving memory of" items for that person. These items are for personal remembrance and sometimes for distribution to raise money for the family or expenses. Either way, these items can have a lasting impact on friends and family and can be easily created with love. This is an especially important topic for me in July because July represents the death of four very important people to me. Almost every week of July is the anniversary of the passing of a loved one and each person is remembered in different ways. This year, I have created memorial t-shirts for two of my loved ones. The decision to make t-shirts for only these two was based on the circumstances of the anniversary of their passing this year. The first being it is the first year since his passing and the second being that we are remembering her by going to iFly, an indoor skydiving experience. Both t-shirts were fairly easy to make, but were time consuming (paint takes time to dry) so if you are planning to make a memorial t-shirt then I suggest allowing yourself plenty of time. 

For this project you will need a t-shirt, fabric paints, a paintbrush, freezer paper, a computer, pencil, and Xacto knife. You will also need an iron and a piece of cardboard to put in between the layers of t-shirt. Depending on the number of colors you use to paint your shirt, the project will take anywhere from a day to a few days to make. 

1. Use a computer and Microsoft Word to create a design that you want to use on the t-shirt. I usually have the paper set to landscape orientation because it gives me more room to design the t-shirt. A single sheet of paper is approximately the size of a small/medium t-shirt so if you are making a large/x-large t-shirt design consider using multiple sheets of paper for your design. I don't recommend using pictures of the person since it would be difficult to make a stencil from their printed image. The words and graphics that you use do not need to be flipped like they do when you are using transfer paper. I like to print the page(s) in the colors I plan on using for the t-shirt as it helps me to visualize the finished project better. Print out your pages and save the finished document if you plan on making additional t-shirts. 
2. Freezer paper typically comes in a long role, as it is traditionally used in butcher shops for wrapping meat, so you will need to cut the paper down to size. I typically keep the freezer paper the same size as the 8.5" x 11" printer paper. Save any scrap pieces of freezer paper as they can be used for smaller designs at a later time. Small scrap pieces make excellent stencils for when you want to add designs to the sleeves or pockets of a t-shirt.
3. Lay the freezer paper, shiny side down, on the top of your design paper and using a pencil trace the design. I found that using paper clips at the tops of the page help to keep the pages still so the design turns out straight. Once the design is traced on the freezer paper you can either cut it out or trace the pencil lines with a marker. Retracing your pencil lines with a marker makes your design easier to see, but it also allows you to store the design without your pencil lines rubbing away. When you are ready to cut, carefully use an Xacto knife to cut out the design. Remember to save any pieces that are going to be a different color, like the middle portion of an "O". These pieces will be ironed on to the t-shirt with the stenciled design. I found it helpful to use a marker to mark these pieces so I knew quickly which pieces to save.
4. When you have made your stencil, carefully put the stencil on the t-shirt, again with shiny side down, and iron onto your t-shirt. You want to make sure the stencil is adhered to the t-shirt because if it begins to lift up while you are painting the paint will spread. The pieces you saved also need to be ironed on at this time. These pieces require individual ironing to make sure they are properly adhered. 
5. Choose the fabric paint you are going to use first and carefully begin to paint within the lines of your stencil. If you are right handed, it is easier to paint from left to right to reduce the chances of unnecessarily smudging or spreading paint. I recommend only using a paintbrush and not squirting the paint from a bottle as it creates a more even design. You will likely need to add a few layers of paint to your stencil. When the design is the color you want then lay the t-shirt somewhere that it can dry. Drying can take anywhere from 4 hours to a day depending on the fabric paint you use.  
6. When your paint is completely dry and no longer sticky, you can remove your stencil. Removing your stencil will take time so be patient. You may need to use an Xacto knife to lift up pieces of the stencil. Depending on how much paint you got on your stencil this might be a time consuming process. When your stencil is off of your t-shirt you can fill in any mistakes or begin to paint your next color. Most fabric paint recommends you wait 72 hours before you wash your t-shirt and when you do wash it to turn the t-shirt inside out so the design is protected. 

If you make a memorial t-shirt or have any ideas for projects I should make please leave a comment below. 

Gift Planning: Pick a Theme and Start Planning

Today is July 5th, which means we are just 5 days over the half-way mark of the year. For me, I think July is a good time to reflect and to refocus on what you want for the second half of the year. Do you want more time with family? Do you want more vacations? Do you want to be more creative and craft more? Whatever it is that you want to accomplish, you have to take time to refocus, and to begin to lay the foundation for the rest of the year. Summer is busy, life is busy, and time is fleeting. Plus we live with this concept of plenty of time until it is all gone and we are left with scraps, unable to fully enjoy the moment. July, and summer in general, for me is a time to reflect on the year, to think about the second half of the year's gifts/events, and to refocus on what I want to accomplish. Today, the primary focus is on the gifts and events that are on the horizon for the rest of the year.

I don't know if this is just me, but I really like to think of a theme when I am giving gifts. If you have read any of my Christmas preparation posts then you know that establishing a theme is what focuses me and allows me to make critical decisions about content. Choosing a theme isn't always easy when it comes to giving a gift, but I try to start with one item I know they need or that they want. For my cousin's baby shower I chose Goofy because I knew she has loved Goofy since she was a little girl. I then utilized Google to further refine the desired contents of my gift and decided upon a Goofy outfit, which I would crochet for her. I explored various options, but decided for the time constraints that I had I would combine store bought items, such as a onesie, and handmade items, such as the beanie, diaper cover, and booties. I then added to the outfit by including another handmade item, a Goofy hat for her, and a store bought item, a Goofy plushie for her baby. The gift itself was small, but it was well-thought out and took a lot of time so I don't want anyone to think that size should matter in determining a gift for someone. 

My cousin's baby shower is just one example of how I use a theme to help decide upon and execute a gift for someone, but I can't state enough how helpful it is to have a theme. As I spend today reflecting on the remaining events this year, I am thinking of themes and planning gifts, all of which include handmade aspects. The best part about a theme and advance planning is that I get to compile the gift as I go along and in this way the gift is well thought out. I am able to find things I wouldn't have been able to find last minute or I am able to find unique items from my adventures and travels that you just can't find near the gift recipient. In a previous post on  gifts I shared an idea for storing gifts, both gifts for last minute events and for the pieces of themed gifts. Using a photo storage box I am able to store most of the items I will use for gift giving. Right now my box is full of various items that can used for last minute gifts or incorporated in Christmas, such as various lotions, perfumes, and an assortment of notepads. I also have a Hello Kitty wallet and a 49ers scarf that are reserved for specific recipients. 

My most helpful tip for gift planning is picking a theme, but I know that it can be just as overwhelming to organize your thoughts after picking a theme so here are some additional tips. 

Gift Planning

1. I created a table, shown right, that allows me to write down all of my ideas and needs when gift planning. The table is explained in tips 2-5, listed below. The table includes a generic row and then a specific row with a real example of a gift I am planning.
2. Decide on a spending limit. It is important to decide on a spending limit or you will be tempted to buy more. Making a budget isn't fun, but it will save you regret later. 
3. Decide if you want to make anything and then remember to factor in the supplies you need as part of your budget. It might not seem like you are spending that much, but the cost of supplies adds up quick.
4. If you decide that you will be making a part of a person's gift then you need to realistically determine how much time you need to finish the gift. Remember to give yourself extra time because accidents happen and there are days when you just don't feel like working on it. 
5. Brainstorm categories or types of items you want to include in your gift. If your theme is sports then you might write down sports gear or an athlete's autograph. This isn't a shopping list, but a way of helping you focus when you are looking at these types of items.