Make Your Own Bud Vases

I read on a blog recently (can't remember which one) that the author never throws away glass jars.  {Think:  olives, pickles, jam.}  Since then, I've been holding on to mine.  And now I have three glass jars taking up room in the pantry. 

TIME FOR A CRAFT!!

I should say, the world's easiest craft.  Like literally, anyone can do this.  It's super cute, fast, not messy, and cheap!  I didn't really take pictures of the process, but it's so easy a child could do it (with supervision). 

What You Need:

Glass Jar
Jute Twine/Ribbon/Yarn
Hot Glue Gun
Decorations if you wish

I used a glass jar that once contained incense cones.  When I finished burning them, the cute jar was calling my name, so I held on to it.  My other jar was from stuffed olives.  I washed the jar and used a pan scraper and my nails to remove the label in the sink.  If you have trouble with this, you can used GooGone or peanut butter.  OR you can opt to cover the whole jar with your jute cord.  I had leftover cord from this project.  THUS, this project was virtually FREE for me!

How To:

Start your cord with a dab of hot glue at the top of your jar.  Then place a small line of hot glue down one side of the jar.  START WRAPPING!  Simply coil the cord around the jar, keeping it even and in place using the hot strip of glue going down the side of the jar.  Secure the end of the cord on the bottom row of your jar using another dab of hot glue. 

DONE! 

For my olive jar, I just used the wrapping twine from the florist to tie a bow around the neck of the jar.  In the future, I'm thinking of painting a chalkboard strip around the jar to add some fun labels.  You could also add some scrapbooking details (flowers, buttons, letters) if you wish.  Take in to account the size of your jar, because you want your live flowers to shine! 

I stopped at a florist on the way home from work yesterday and purchased four stems for my little jars.  It was around six dollars.  I now know what my jars can take, and next time, I'll purchase a few more stems to beef them up. 

For now, I'm absolutely in love with how these turned out!!  And it seriously took me about five minutes.  They are sitting on my bar near my air plants and green jar of corks.  Looove it!

This Picture is NOT Edited :)

LIPGLOSS GIVEAWAY! {Closed}

I recently received a duplicate sample in my Birchbox.  Soooo...I'm going to share!!  The giveaway is for a sample size of Cynthia Rowley Sugar Lipgloss.  This is my first time using RaffleCopter, so forgive me if it flops, but I THINK I got it figured out correctly :)  Follow me by email and give me some topics for "Ask Mrs. O".  I can't wait to keep in touch and find some new material.  Thanks for following me!  Maybe the winner can do a guest post of their review!

Source

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Half-Braided Side Pony

Although over the past few years I have gotten much better at wearing my hair down, if it's hot or messy, into a ponytail it goes.  This usually happens: halfway through a work day, most weekends, and when any type of physical activity is required.  My hair is pretty long these days, so I've been experimenting with not-so-ugly ways to put it up and back. 

One of my current favorites is a half braid side pony.  Since my hair is thin, a braid can sometimes look a little weasely on me.  My solution?  HALF BRAID!  I don't know if that's a real thing or if I'm a genuis and made it up...but I think you should try it! 

I originally started doing it with my curly hair.  Depending on how my curls are that day, it can look really cute, or a bit crazy.  The poof at the end can get a bit wild.  Recently, I also started doing it when my hair is straight.  It gives it that effortless look and is pretty cute!

This is a not great/end of day/no bobby pins picture.

Simply pull hair to one side, braid half way, and secure your elastic about half way down your pony tail.  Then use bobby pins to keep the top half of your hair in place.  I usually have to use one  near the opposite ear as the braid and one near the back of my head to keep my shorter hair in place.  You can see in the picture above that not having bobby pins led to a little mess! 

Try it out and let me know what you think!!  Easy, casual, and fun!