Easy & Cheap Party Decorations

Summer time is party season! The beautiful weather is just aching to have music and grill fumes fill the air. Whats great about outdoor parties is how naturally beautiful everything is, you hardly have to decorate at all. However, sometimes you just need to add a little extra to set apart your seasons big shindig from the regular warm day cook out. 

The one down side about decorating outside is that outdoor decor can be PRICEY! So here are a few  cheap ways I found to add some extra pizazz to your outdoor space while also saving your wallet.  Sometimes, simply adding a table cloth can do so much but other times we need just a bit more going on. 

One of my all time favorite ways to add that extra oomph is with balloons. But not the traditional way balloons are used for parties. I like to glue on some pretty little glitter, just enough to cover the bottom. Then when you hang them over your table you have a whimsical table scape made from nothing but balloons, glue, and glitter! C-H-E-A-P :) 

Another cheap way to add some whimsy glow is with tea lights. I simply saved up some tin cans, poked holes in them, glued on some glitter and placed my tea lights inside. Easy and cheap way to add a nice glow to any table. Fresh flowers and bright foods are amazing to add pops of color too. Thankfully the summer provides lots of natural elements, these daisies and dandelions I picked from the yard, the plates I got from the Dollar Store and well then there is awesome that fabulously fresh fruit! 

Errbody is happy when you can get a pretty and simple table scape :) This pretty girl came over expecting a easy birthday BBQ but luckily I got a little sneaky and added in some pizzaz to her day with all these decor ideas. 

For the food table it's always a plus to display your tasty goodies on pretty platters. And as often as I try and use my beautiful "real" serving pieces sometimes you need something a bit more durable than ceramics. When you need that less valuable piece but still want the pretty look hit up the dollar store for the plastic pieces. For this brownie tray and cake platter I picked up 2 faux silver platters and a set of plastic faux crystal bowls. Then I simply glued the bowls upside down to the bottom of the platter creating a simple, cheap, and pretty serving piece.

I just love outdoor get togethers, and love, even more, being able to make my parties special with out emptying out my wallet! How do you guys prepare for a summer get together?

Basic Watercolor Supplies

Last week I shared some of what I've been going through as far as finding what I want to be doing, here. It has been a long process but basically it all boils down to me missing my artistic roots. I've been creative through out this year, but it's been fun little DIY projects around the house and nothing that I've really used my knowledge of art and design for.

So, to solve this issue I decided I wanted to pursue fine art and its techniques and history with YOU! I'm not sure how long this will last, or how good I will be at it but I do know that I will be doing what I enjoy and hope you enjoy it too!

For my first lesson (hahah yeah right) I figured I could chat with y'all about all these watercolors I've been sharing on my Instagram feed and adding to my shop. Watercolor is something that I've always LOOOVVVVEEEDDD but didn't get a chance to do much of in the past 4 years. Watercolor is so naturally pretty that sometimes the best pieces are when all you do is drop in color. It's amazing!

This post is going to be kinda boring. But if you are interested in pursuing watercolor these are a few basic things you need to know before you dive in. These tips should help you have a smoother transition between regular (acrylic) paint to the world of water color.

Lets talk about brushes. There are all kinds of brushes with all different purposes. The best brushes are pricey, so as a student I obviously went for middle of the line. The high end watercolor brushes are made of Red Sable (type of mink) hair, yep just like a fur coat. So these have become super expensive because of the nature of the material. There are other types of hair (like squirrel) that also make great brushes, but they still remain on the upper end of brushes. I have synthetic brushes. I am NO PRO but do enjoy my brushes. 

Something that is really important is that you keep your watercolor brushes separate from all your other brushes. Watercolor reacts to oil so once you mix brushes with other types of paint (or even just handle them too much with your hands) they can deteriorate quicker and give you not so pretty lines. 

Next up is obviously the paint. Well with watercolor you have lots of options. If you aren't confident in your painting ability (you don't need to be, and I will touch on this later!) then go for a watercolor crayon or pencil! This allows you to get the pigment down on the paper and then blend with water. It is a great way to introduce yourself to how watercolor will move on the paper and even better if you are really interested in details. 

But if you are interested in the most common form of watercolor then you probably have a pallet of paint with either tubes or cakes. I prefer tubes because I can lay out my pallet exactly the way I like. But that doesn't mean tubes are any better for beginners!
Obviously there are different brands of paints and as a beginner it is hard to tell what you need. So I would say stay with student grade paints until you decide if you really wanna pursue watercolor. These paints will give you everything you need to learn from watercolor while not breaking the bank.
I have 2 sets of tube paints one is Reeves and the other is Windsor Newton, I prefer my Windsor Newton pallet but that is because of the colors that came in the pallet pack.
When you purchase watercolors remember that it is better to buy the basic most natural colors possible so you can mix with out making muddy colors. My pallet consists of Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red, Cadmium yellow, Viridian green, ultramarine, ivory black, and Chinese white.

Finally, lets talk about paper! Paper is soooooo important with watercolor, it literally can make or break a painting. If you know you are going to be doing lots of washes then you need to find a thicker/ heavier weight paper. Similar to this Strathmore 140lb pad. The weight is important because the heavier the paper the less likely it is to warp when you add your washes.

But I also have a smaller pad that is only 90lb. This pad does warp when you use washes, but if you are interested in adding inks or other dry media lighter weight paper can be the way to go.  You can also have your personal opinion on paper, I really love paper that can rip nicely. I feel like watercolor is such a natural process that sometimes the edges need to be a bit natural too.

I know this was a lot of technical information packed in to one post. And if I'm honest this isn't even close to all the detail I could have shared with you. This is just the basic of the basic information. I hope this will give you a little help when you walk in the craft store and are overwhelmed with the selection of beginner paints, papers, and brushes. If y'all have any other questions about how to find your starter set let me know!