New Year's Resolution Tutorial: Positive Affirmations

New Year's Resolution: Think More Positively

Many people have the resolution to think more positively throughout the new year. One way to do this is through positive affirmations. One way you can use positive affirmations is to make a journal you keep every day with positive affirmations that will help you think more positively.

Supplies:

• Blank Journal: Look for a blank journal that will hold watercolor paint or other materials you want to use.  I used a small sized journal, but you can use any size you wish.
• Watercolor Paint: This is for coloring the background. You can use any watercolor paint you have.
• Marker: I used black sharpie marker for mine, but you can use any type of marker you have.
• Scissors (optional): This is for if you want to turn your journal in to an oracle deck.
• Stickers (optional): This is for labeling the topic of each affirmation.

Instructions:

1. Set up an area where you can journal. Lay newspaper or wax paper beneath your journal. Have a cup with water and paintbrushes.

2. For each entry, you want to start with a watercolor background. This is to set the mood of the affirmation. You can just use your instincts and go with what colors work with you. I like to use about two colors for each background and blend them together. You can use any watercolor techniques you like. You can also draw shapes or symbols such as hearts or stars.

3. Wait for your background to dry. Add the topic for your affirmation. I like to split my affirmation in different categories such as wealth, relationships and self. You may choose a sticker for each category to label your affirmation. I like to put my sticker in the upper right hand corner. For example, if the topic is self you might do a star sticker. If the topic is love, you might do a heart. You may also draw or paint your symbol. This step is optional, but I like to do it to categorize my affirmations.

4. Now write your affirmations. Affirmations should be positive and in the present tense. If you want to write about a negative topic, you canYou can look online for inspiration or just do what feels right to you. Once you write a few affirmations, you will get the hang of it.

Another idea is to keep a journal with things you are grateful for. Either way, your journal is meant to keep you thinking positively and record the things you go through. You can create art while learning to think more positively.

Do you ever use positive affirmations?

New Year’s Resolution Tutorial: Positive Affirmations

New Year’s Resolution: Think More Positively

Many people have the resolution to think more positively throughout the new year. One way to do this is through positive affirmations. One way you can use positive affirmations is to make a journal you keep every day with positive affirmations that will help you think more positively.

Supplies:

• Blank Journal: Look for a blank journal that will hold watercolor paint or other materials you want to use.  I used a small sized journal, but you can use any size you wish.
• Watercolor Paint: This is for coloring the background. You can use any watercolor paint you have.
• Marker: I used black sharpie marker for mine, but you can use any type of marker you have.
• Scissors (optional): This is for if you want to turn your journal in to an oracle deck.
• Stickers (optional): This is for labeling the topic of each affirmation.

Instructions:

1. Set up an area where you can journal. Lay newspaper or wax paper beneath your journal. Have a cup with water and paintbrushes.

2. For each entry, you want to start with a watercolor background. This is to set the mood of the affirmation. You can just use your instincts and go with what colors work with you. I like to use about two colors for each background and blend them together. You can use any watercolor techniques you like. You can also draw shapes or symbols such as hearts or stars.

3. Wait for your background to dry. Add the topic for your affirmation. I like to split my affirmation in different categories such as wealth, relationships and self. You may choose a sticker for each category to label your affirmation. I like to put my sticker in the upper right hand corner. For example, if the topic is self you might do a star sticker. If the topic is love, you might do a heart. You may also draw or paint your symbol. This step is optional, but I like to do it to categorize my affirmations.

4. Now write your affirmations. Affirmations should be positive and in the present tense. If you want to write about a negative topic, you canYou can look online for inspiration or just do what feels right to you. Once you write a few affirmations, you will get the hang of it.

Another idea is to keep a journal with things you are grateful for. Either way, your journal is meant to keep you thinking positively and record the things you go through. You can create art while learning to think more positively.

Do you ever use positive affirmations?

New Year's Resolution: Vision Board

A vision board is a good way to keep track of your goals. A vision board helps you visually see your goals and get clarity on what you want for the new year. It will also help you focus on your goals when you see the vision board every day.

Supplies:

• Bulletin Board: Use a blank bulletin board, poster board, photo frame or other item to keep your vision board on.
• Images: Find inspiring images for items you want to complete goals on. You can look on magazines or print out images from online.
• Glitter: I used basic white craft glitter.
• Glue: I used a glue stick. You can use any type of glue or adhesive you have.
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Start by cutting out images of items you want on your board. Look for goals you want to complete for the new year. If you want to travel more, add images of places you want to go. Also look for motivational words and quotes. You can also include other images you want on your board such as fabric, decorative paper or stickers.

2. Arrange the images the way you want them on the board.

3. Start gluing the images on. Start with background images and then later images. For example, you might glue on decorative paper first and then add smaller images.

4. This step is optional, but I like to add a little glitter to my vision board to make it sparkle. Add glue to the places you want to glitter. Gently sprinkle glitter over the areas you out tie on. Throw out excess glitter in the trash.

5. Put your board on display. You want to see your vision board every day to stay inspired. Your office or bedroom are great places to hang your board.

If you use this tutorial, let me know in the comments. Have you ever made a vision board?

Happy New Year's!

Happy New Year's! What are your resolutions for the new year? Let me know in the comments!

Blog Anniversary and Giveaway!

This week is My Thread of Thought's anniversary. To celebrate, I'm having a giveaway. The prize is a greeting card of your choice from my shop. To enter, you just have to leave a comment in this entry. If you post about the giveaway somewhere else (your blog, etsy forums, twitter, etc.), just let me know and you'll get an extra entry. The giveaway will be up until July 18th.

I can't believe it's been two years since I've had this blog. I posted my first entry on the Fourth of July of 2008. This blog has been a good way to talk about my Etsy shop and things going on in my life. I find it helps organize my thoughts and relieve stress when I write things down. I've gained 269 followers which is great. I thought I'd post some of my favorite entries over the years:

Fourth of July (July 4, 2008)
Getting Etsy on Other Sites (July 14, 2008)
First Sale! (July 21, 2008)
Craftster Challenge: Playing Cards (July 22, 2008)
Halloween Cards Tutorial (September 20, 2008)
Election Day Giveaway (October 28, 2008)
Valentine's Day Items (February 14, 2009)
World Autism day (April 1, 2009)
Record Store Day (April 18, 2009)
Etsy Day (April 23, 2009)
First Craft Show (July 13, 2009)
Luna's Famous! (July 21, 2009)
Vote for my Journal to be in the Gift Guide (July 28, 2009)
Giveaway and Hippo Treasury (August 11, 2009)
Vatican city Photo (August 24, 2009)
Worldwide Moment (September 8, 2009)
My Cousin's Wedding (October 24, 2009)
10 Things I'm Liking and New Card (November 17, 2009)
Gift Guide Part I (December 11, 2009)
Christmas & Snowflake Journal (December 24, 2009)
YouTube & Tumblr (February 6, 2010)
World Nutella Day (February 5, 2010)

Good luck on the giveaway!

Sea Themed Appliqués

The last Etsy event I went to this summer was on July 28th at the South Steet Seaport where we made sea-themed appliqués. It was nice they had an event somewhere other than their Etsy labs. The Seaport area was really nice. There were a lot of cute shops around and they had free ice cream right outside where the event was being held.

I sewed a whale cut out on to this sea themed fabric. I might try to do something else with it, but I'm not sure what yet.



I get used to doing paper crafts and journals so it's fun to do different crafts like sewing, which I don't usually do. If you're ever in the New York area, stop by the Etsy Labs. They always have events going on.

Halloween Costume - Spider-Man

Being a superhero is a fun costume. My favorite superhero is Spider-Man so this tutorial explains how to get a Spider-Man costume. You can customize this costume however you like or get inspired to make your own superhero costume.

Costume:

You can find a Spider-Man costume at Halloween Express or other costume stores. This costume is for women:

If you don't want to buy a costume, you can use any red and blue outfit. You can even draw spiderwebs on it in black sharpie marker.

Accessories

If you want the Spider-Man mask that covers your whole head, you can buy one here. You can buy Spider-Man gloves here:

Makeup:

There's a good tutorial on how to get Spider-Man makeup here:



Nails:

If you're not wearing gloves, paint your nails a fun Spider-Man design:

First YouTube Video

I made my first youtube video to promote my shop. :) I started it way back in August, but finally got it uploaded. The song I used is "Wishful Thinking" by the Album Leaf. Since I made it a while ago, it doesn't have my newest items in the slideshow, but maybe it will help promote my shop. Tell me what you think of it. And feel free to rate/comment it on youtube.



I will have new items soon. :)

Orange Items & Cat + New Listings

I got a few new greeting cards listed.

Book Lover's Greeting Card



The paper from this card I bought while in Italy. I made a couple variations of this card so look out for those listings.

Purple Watercolor Congratulations Greeting Card



I made this card last year sometime, but just never got it listed. I think I didn't want to list it at first because of some imperfections (like the design on it was supposed to be flowers, but got kind of smudged and is more like a different design now), but when I saw people looking it at a craft show, I figured I should list it her etoo.

I still need a photo editing program because my Photoshop CS trial ran out. I have a really basic photo editing on my computer, but I like having a little more features. Does anyone know any good programs?

I did the Worldwide Moment yesterday that I talked about. I was just watching TV (90210 was on) and I was at home so I just took a photo of one of the cats that lives in my home. It's my housemate's cat. I think I posted two photos of the other one the other day, but this is the other cat I didn't have any photos of. She's a little older and was taking a nap on my fridge (which I'm selling). I almost went horse back riding at this time yesterday which would have been a more interesting photo, but I like how this turned out:



There was a mouse in my house last night. It was kind of creepy because it was in my yoga mat and the cats were trying to get it.

Sofar, I haven't got any sales for my EtsyVeg sale. Maybe later this week? I'm also doing a craft show on Saturday so hopefully that will get some sales. I might close my shop down for that day.

Today, orange items are on sale for 10% off. You can see all the items here.







If you didn't notice, the colors on sale correspond with the changing leave colors. So it started off green (on Monday) and goes to brown (on Friday). Pass on the word about it and check out the EtsyVeg blog to see what other members are participating in the sale.

Glitter Sandals Tutorials

I transformed some black strappy sandals I had in to gold glitter sandals. I saw some people do this online and I thought I'd try it out because it looked pretty simple to do. Here's how you do it.

Supplies:

• Old Shoes: Take some old shoes you want to add glitter to. I never wore these black strappy sandals and they were kind of plain so I thought I'd try it out with them.
• Glitter: Use your favorite color. I used gold for these shoes.
• Mod Podge: Use mod podge or another adhesive.
• Paintbrush: Use a paintbrush for painting on the glue.
• Wax Paper or Newspaper: This is for covering your area.

Instructions:

1. Start by laying your shoes on newspaper or wax paper. If your shoes have straps like mine, unbuckle them first. You might want to lay some wax paper on the sole of the shoe (cut to fit the shape) so glue or glitter doesn't stick to the bottom.
   
   
   
2. Use the paint brush to paint a layer of mod podge on the outside of the shoe. I'd recommend working in small sections. Sprinkle glitter over the mod podge and then shake the excess glitter off on to the wax paper or in to a container. Repeat this step with the other shoe (you can use the excess glitter). You can also separately mix the mod podge with glitter before painting the layer on if you'd rather do it that way.
   
   
3. I missed a few spots the first around so I repeated this step so glitter was on all parts of the shoes I wanted it to be on. Add a final layer of mod podge to seal in the glitter.
4. Wipe off any glitter or glue that got on the bottom or soles of the shoe. Let dry overnight.

You can use this method for any type of shoes. I like how my sandals came out. It was a little harder to do the sandals since they have lots of straps and details, but I think they're more unique and fun now and having the glitter makes me excited to wear them. Let me know if you try out this tutorial!

Hot Cocoa Recipe

Hot cocoa is great to warm up by the fire on a cold winter day. 

Fun Toppings for Hot Cocoa Bar:

Mini marshmallows – we like the dehydrated ones

Homemade or gourmet marshmallows

Holiday-themed marshmallows

Candy cane sticks or mini candy canes

Peppermint chips

Chocolate spoons (shown below)

Mini chocolate bars or other small candies

Ingredients: 

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar or other sweetener (depending on how sweet you like it)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup soymilk or coconut milk (can use any milk substitute or any combination of milk, half-and-half or cream)
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Instructions:

 

1. Whisk together the cocoa, sugar, salt, and about 2 tablespoons milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until cocoa and sugar are dissolved.

 

2. Whisk in the rest of the milk and heat it over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until it is hot. Stir in the vanilla and serve.

3. Add your favorite toppings such as mini marshmallows, candy cane sticks or chocolate spoons. 

What is your favorite way to make hot cocoa?