Emi Makes Stuff

If you are anything like me, any time you successfully carry through a d.i.y. project, no matter how small, you are disproportionately impressed with yourself.

Today I came across a pin on Pinterest that claimed you could make custom/colored nail polish by mixing eyeshadow powder with clear nail polish. Now, this is actually really logical and seems like it should work, but I have deep skepticism of a.)”easy” D.I.Y. projects found online, and b.) my own inability to make anything turn out like it should – so I wasn’t sold at all.

But, guess what guys?! I am here to tell you it did work, and it was amazing (and therefore, I am amazing?)!

Step One: Gather your shiz

We clean out and save random food packaging and the like for just these sorts of purposes – so I used the top of a pudding container as my palette. I also grabbed a q-tip I didn’t end up needing, a couple shadows to play with (though I only tried one), the clear nail polish, and a paintbrush.

Step Two: Put some loose powder on your palette

Step Three: Drop a few drops of clear nail polish into the polish, then mix!

The coolest part about this little D.I.Y. is that you control the translucency of your homemade polish – play with the amount of pigment vs. clear polish to get a look you like and create depths of color that are hard to find in store-bought polish.

Step Four: Assess and Admire

I need to get a better camera/set-up, but maybe you can sort of see the clumpy quality of the polish on the middle nail. As one might assume, this stuff is more apt to clump, so mix and apply quickly for the best results. I let mine dry then went ahead and put a clear coat on top.

I’m excited both because a.) SUCCESS!, and b.) next I want to try mixing pigments to make custom colors. GUYZ!

Tags: do this at home

Since my brother’s wedding is officially only about a week away, I decided I should probably get around to making the photo booth props I said I would. I wanted something sturdier than paper/cardstock, so I decided to try foam core, on the advice of a d.i.y. tutorial.

Let me tell you, that ish is hard to work with. In theory it seems simple. 1. Trace desired shapes, 2. Cut them out, 3. Paint/spray/decorate them and glue on the wood dowels. Easy, right?

Except cutting through foam core without massacring the edges, let alone the shape itself, is next to impossible. Luckily, painting said foam core after the fact really disguises those flaws pretty well. Still, after three only semi-successful prop attempts with the foam core,  I was on the verge of resorting to the heaviest cardstock I could find when Trevor pulled some “fun foam” out of his ass.

Okay, it actually came out of the crafter’s paradise that is his office. But who else just has this stuff lying around? I’ve never been happier that my husband is so craft-y. This stuff is amazing. It’s thinner than the foam core and because it is more solid, the shapes I cut out actually resemble what I originally traced. The only downside is that the material isn’t as paint-friendly, and right now he only has green colored fun foam on hand. I’m going to Michael’s tomorrow and I hope they have some different colors for me to work with.

Anyway, I still need to attach the dowels, and make more props, but this is what I’ve got so far:

Tags: do this at home