Merry Christmas from the Lee Family

By | December 25th, 2015|Handmade, Holiday Fun, Oh My Crafts!|

Lee Family Christmas 2015

My cousin walked through the door and asked, “What games will we be playing this year?” My sister and I were absolutely thrilled that games were a big hit from last year – so thrilled that we’re doing it again this year prior to dinner and presents so that everybody can and will participate.

The first game was wrapping a box with a partner of your choice. Each pair was given the same materials: scissors, wrapping paper, a box, tape and a ribbon. The only requirements were to wrap a Christmas present using one hand of yours and one hand of your partner’s. And the team to wrap their box the fastest and make it the most presentable wins. My parents were one team, while my cousins paired with their significant others and my aunts paired with each other. When we gave them the green light, the teams went at it. Across the board, you can probably see the women taking the lead, doing the cutting and taping while the men were good at taking direction. You can also notice that hands sometimes got a little twisted as they led over verbal communications. There was a lot of energy and tension to get this small box wrapped. Sometimes you even saw four hands to a box over two. My parents were taking the lead. There was no surprise there, since my Dad started telling the story that he’d been with my Mom for over forty years and you just sort of ‘pick up’ on these things. In the very end, it looks like the years of experience and partnership triumphed as my Mom and Dad won the competition. They got crowned Mickey ears and Santa hats along with some sweet treats. Congratulations, Mom and Dad!

Gingerbread Houses for Christmas

For the second game of the evening we decided to bring back the gingerbread making houses – an all time favorite. Instead of teaming up to build larger gingerbread houses, we each got our own mini gingerbread house. Assorted gum drops, m&ms, confetti and icing were available to dress each person’s house to their liking, that’s if they can even put together the foundation of the house. After a few attempts at the icing, my hands were sticky and white. The walls could barely hold the roof, which could barely hold the candy. Yikes, mine looked like a snowstorm hit San Francisco. Clifton filled his house with candied windows along with his initials on the rooftop. Bernice made cute little snowmen, xmas trees and a dog. My Aunt Julie couldn’t help but try to copy my cousin in putting together the base of the house, where my Mom was concerned with decorating the rooftop. Jeffrey got his hand all muddied up in icing, while Laura seemed to have the magic touch to making the house look homey. In the end it was unanimous and Laura took home the trophy for the best looking gingerbread house in town. A concession prize went to my Aunt who didn’t even get her house to stand. What a fun evening that was and you still have Clifton in the background claiming he too is deserving of a prize – any prize.

What a fun evening of games.  I think we all worked up an appetite. Now onto to dinner, presents and more festivities. I hope your Christmas is just as exciting, warm and eventful as ours.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from the Lee Family!

Mosaic Cross

Mosaic Cross

Earlier this month, I took two classes at the Artistic Home Studio and it made quite an impression that I came back for more. I must admit it was a little daunting to be working so up close and personal with glass, since I was always told to stay away from sharp edges. Since I learned how to use glass-cutting tools, mix and match colored glass, and adhere them to a surface – all having done so unscathed (!), I became inspired and am looking forward to discovering more about this new found hobby.

I am enthralled by the fusion of glass, mirror and marble, and the bold, statement pieces you can make for the home. After making the mosaic turtle and rock, this time around, I’ve decided to make the mosaic cross, since this would be a perfect Christmas gift for a special someone on my Dad’s side of the family. The toughest decision this time around was choosing from the plethora of colored glass. Warm palette or cool palette? One marble or ten marbles? Decisions, decisions.

As fun as it was to make this gem,  I can’t wait to see the look on my cousin’s face when she opens it, since it was made with extra TLC this holiday season.

Painted Wine Glasses

By | April 19th, 2016|DIY Home, Handmade, Learning from the best, Oh My Crafts!, Painting|

Painted Wine Glasses

I’ve spent quite some time at the Artistic Home Studio and it only left me hungry for more. They offer so many classes that I’m going to go back, and take each and every one of them. This time around I decided to try out the Painted Wine Glasses class. I was greeted with tubes of acrylic paint and a handful of assorted paint brushes. Okay, I can do this.

As I began to mix and layer on the first coat of paint onto the glass, I realized this is going to be more challenging than I had anticipated. I’ve painted with acrylic before, but with glass as the medium, one coat of paint would hardly suffice. In fact, I could hardly even see two coats. Wow, this is going to take some time. I decided to nix the idea of doing some fancy shading and wiped the glass clean. Water and paper towels make for a good eraser.

Instead, I opted to paint these spring-like flowers (yes, spring in the winter!) keeping in mind the transparency of the glass. It took about 10-15 coats of paint to finally get the full effect of each color. Between the layers of paint, take a mental note of how you blended the colors since you’ll need plenty of paint. It’s also handy to have a blow dryer plugged in between the layers.

Paint + Multiple Layers + Blow Drying Sessions = Hours + Fine Master Pieces

Mosaic Turtle

By | December 5th, 2015|DIY Home, Handmade, Learning from the best, Mosaic Art, Oh My Crafts!|

Artistic Home Studio

A couple of months ago, I went to The Ultimate Women’s Expo in San Mateo for a full day of pampering fun. As I perused the aisles, bombarded by jewelers, health fanatics, massage therapists and free swag, I couldn’t help but notice this beautifully decorated, mosaic sculpture that caught my my eye. It was stunning to see how hundreds of these shiny pieces of glass stacked side by side, fit together to create a statement piece so ornate. I inquired about the artist only to realize she was standing there right before me. JaYing Wang has been a mosaic artist for over 15 years and she has a studio in Alameda called Artistic Home Studio where she teaches glass arts – stained glass, glass fusing techniques and mosaics. She’s designed a number of public-facing mosaic murals within the Bay Area and commands the discipline of mosaic arts.

Absolutely thrilled to learn that there’s a class for mosaics, I eagerly picked up one of her pamphlets and here I am signing up for both the mosaic turtle and mosaic rock class. I got a hold of my turtle and then had to make the hard decision of deciding which color glass to use and what pattern to display on the shell. I opted for my favorite color, blue and danced between both the cold and warm palette. Hard part solved.

Mosaic Turtle

Now onto learning the different glass-cutting tools. I can tell that it’s going to take a bit of practice to get the hang of it. You can either cut the glass directly using a rotary wheel, or score the glass and then split it up in twos. I used both combinations and pieced my colored tiles on the table before dressing the turtle. With plenty of references to Pinterest, I decided on creating a border along the exterior of the shell and decorating it with flower pedals in the rear. Luckily, it takes time for the cement to dry, so I had more than enough time to move things around. I ended up with this little guy to your right and topped him with some glass stones and marbles.

I’m beginning to think two projects in one day for this mosaic novice is a bit ambitious. Now onto the rock…..

Mosaic Rock

 

Glass-Blowing, Vase-Making Adventures

By | November 29th, 2015|Handmade, Learning from the best|

Glass-Blowing, Vase-Making Adventures

It’s time to redeem that birthday certificate that Susanna and I gave our Mom on her birthday earlier this year. We’re treating her to an afternoon, hands on Glass Blowing Class in the East Bay. We’ve got our closed-toe shoes and safety goggles on, and we’re ready to come face-to-face with a 500lb furnace.

This was all together a brand new experience for us. First, we got a brief overview of the facility and an orientation of the tools we’d be using. Then we were asked to think about a color and there was an assortment of colors to choose from. With the metal pole, we initially inserted it into the clear glass and formed the foundation of the vase. It was a combination of dipping it into the liquid glass, heating it in the furnace and shaping the glass on the metal table by rolling it and blowing some air into it. Coloring the glass and dipping it into the palette was the fun part, though I couldn’t make out the actually color until we began to sculpt and shape it. The instructor and his assistant were hands-on at all times and helped create each piece (which took roughly 20 minutes). Following the shaping and molding, we had to quickly stick it in the heated oven for a day until it cooled down. It was an interesting experience and I love that we got to walk away with a finished product. I think my mom enjoyed her birthday gift.

Now it’s time to go flower shopping!

50 Sucks

50 Sucks

Brett is clueless. He has no idea. Friends, family, sangria, a Mexican fiesta and this tree of suckers await the birthday boy. Hats off to the hostess for putting together this party and adding such unique finishing touches to warm up the household. Simple DIY projects such as this this foam ball with dum dums present itself as the centerpiece and is very popular among both the over 50 and under 50. It reminded me of good childhood memories and yep, I’m still a fan of the cream soda flavor. And now there are bacon and popcorn flavored dum dums?! Hmmm, I think I’ll pass, but they were a hit with the kids.

Sitting next to this tree of dum dums is a homemade album featuring the birthday invitation along with an assortment of colored index cards for everyone to send a special note to the birthday boy.

And for this, it’s reason #108 why I love these simple, yet thoughtful DIY home projects.

Pet Terrarium: Take II

By | March 1st, 2015|DIY Home, Handmade|

Terrarium

Hardly into its second week, two of my succulents died. Somewhere between the over-watering and lack of sunshine it decided to give up on me and now I have given up on it. Time to empty out the soil and dispose of the carcasses.

After a few eventful trips to Pier 1, Michaels and West Elm, I got the supplies I need for an ever-lasting pet terrarium: colored sand, assortment of stones, black pebbles, black rice, moss – and the primary ingredient: fake succulents. With these colorful ingredients, I was able to make this lovely centerpiece for my living room table.

It’s going to be a timeless piece 😉

Pet Terrarium

By | January 21st, 2015|Creative Inspiration, DIY Home, Handmade|

West Elm Terrarium

A stroll through West Elm never leaves me empty-handed. This time, the exquisite terrarium table escape caught my eye. Succulents of different colors, shapes and forms gives life to your everyday coffee and dining tables – and soon to mine. A five pound bag of soil, a container of rocks and a few succulents later, I ended up with this centerpiece on my coffee table.