Bedroom Makeover and DIY Yarn Wall Art

After getting home from our honeymoon, I spent a couple days cleaning up and reorganizing everything in our bedroom.  It makes me feel so much better once everything is in it's place - clutter and messes give me terrible anxiety and I can't get any work done until my space is tidy!  Before the wedding, our bedroom was packed full of wedding stuff (decorations and various odds and ends), and with it all gone I could finally get our bedroom back to looking like a bedroom rather than a storage space!

Matt and I have come a long way with our home.  If you would have seen it a couple years ago, you would barely even know anyone lived there.  Our living room was especially barren - no couches, no TV, just a stereo, a table, and our fish tank.  It didn't matter to us as much when we were younger and weren't really spending much time at home.  But, now that we're older and are busy, busy, busy all the time we really wanted to come home to a nice place and be able to relax.  So, being the geeks that we are, we furnished our living room, complete with a 3D Smart TV, 3D Blu-Ray Player, and an Xbox.  Now, we have a space to come home and just relax (and by relax I mean play video games).  Over the past couple of years, I've been working on decorating our then-bare walls and shelves.

Now, to the point of all this.  I had spent so much time focusing on the "public" spaces of our home (Living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc.) that I had completely neglected our bedroom.  Currently due to lack of space, our bedroom also serves as our "office" area.  Both of our computers and desks reside in our bedroom.  Since "upgrading" our living room, we have not been spending our time in our room at our desks surfing the web or playing games as we had in the past, which resulted in all the other rooms in the apartment being beautifully decorated, but the bedroom remaining to be boring and blah.

Well, I'd had enough of boring and blah!  I recently found something called yarn wall art on Pinterest and I loved it.  What a creative way of adding a little something to the plain walls of the bedroom!  The idea is simple:  decide on what image you want on the wall (I went with a saying, but you could do tons of other things besides letters!), add some nails and yarn, and BOOM - creative decor that everyone will love and ask you "where did you come up with this?!"

DIY Yarn Wall Art
What you'll need:

• Nails (do not underestimate the amount of nails you will need - I bought twice as much as I thought I would need and used all of them).
• A hammer
• Lots of yarn in various colors (you will need a lot of yarn, depending on what image you're creating).
• Either a printer or projector to put the image on the wall
• Painter's tape (if using a paper printed image - or any other "less sticky" tape that won't pull the paint off your walls if you need to readjust).

I began by choosing the phrase "Sweet Dreams" for our bedroom wall (appropriate, right?) and also choosing the font that I liked best (I picked Impact to make the letters stand out boldly).  I printed the letters out with one letter per page in order to get them to be the size that I wanted.

Next, along with the help of my wonderfully handy husband, I measured out the spot I wanted the image to appear.  He helped me a TON with this part of the project.  Here are some tips on getting the image to be centered:

• Take lots of measurements - measure the total length of the wall as well as the total length of the image will be placing on it.
• Have a calculator handy - Calculate the length of half the wall.  Measure from one corner and make a mark at the length you calculated.  Do the same from the other corner.  The marks may not match up exactly, and that's okay.  The center of the two marks is the true center of the wall.  Do the same to find the center of the image.
• Match up the center points of the wall and image - This was not as easy for my project because the center of my image fell somewhere in the spacing between the two words.  Make sure you have reference points to work from (for example, 10 inches from the center should match up with a certain letter/point on the image).
• Tape is your friend - If you've printed the image onto paper, use painter's tape to tack the paper to the wall.  Painter's tape is easy to remove and re-stick where you need it.
• Use a level -  If you want your image to be properly leveled, you will need a level.  There are apps that are available on both iOS and Android that can do this for you.  The one I used is called iHandy Level Free (you guessed it - it's free!).
• Have someone else eyeballing it - instead of running back and forth from the chair I was standing on to the other side of the room to take a look at the whole image, I had Matt stand on the other side of the room and help me in making sure it looked just right.

After getting the image set up where you'd like it, begin placing the nails.  My best tip this step are to put one nail at each point where the image's outline curves or takes a turn (corners for example). 

As I said before, and as you can now see from my photo, you will use tons of nails, especially on "curvier" letters/images (like the "s" above).  For a finished product that is closer to the original image and less blocky or angular, you will want to place several nails closer together in order to direct the yarn.  We're working with straight lines here, people.  Just use your judgement - you don't want them too close together either or you'll lose the look of the yarn to the nail-heads.  Make sure you have plenty of nail sticking out of the wall as well.  I recommend about an inch of room, especially if you want your image to appear "fuller," as you'll need to wrap yarn around the nail several times.

After setting the nails in your desired pattern, take down the paper used as the template.  Make sure to get any little scraps left behind and clean up any pencil markings you made on the wall when placing the template.  Once the template is gone, it's much harder to visualize the image that you're trying to create.  This is one reason it would be easier with a projector as you could keep the image on the wall as you string the yarn.  Unfortunately, I don't have a projector so I had to go the old fashioned route!

 

Once the wall is cleaned up, the fun begins!  Tie the end of the yarn to one of the nails and begin twisting and wrapping the yarn around the nails.  It's very important to remember the outlines of the image while doing this step so that your yarn doesn't cross outside of the image to reach another nail.  To match the decor of our bedroom, I knew that I wanted my letters to have a fuller ivory area on the inside with a black outline and some lighter crossings of black on top of the ivory.  I started by criss-crossing ivory yarn all over the inside of each letter, filling in the image.  Once I was satisfied,  I cut the yarn with a good amount of room on the end to work with and tied the end around a nail, similarly to what I did to start the design.  Next, I started a black yarn and strung the yarn around the edges of the letter to give it an outline and then did a few crosses with the black on the inside of the letter.  I cut and tied off the end just as I did with the ivory.

Rinse and repeat on each letter or until your image is to your satisfaction.  Be creative!  Use multiple colors, designs, or textures!  I'd love to see what you come up with!  I'm hoping to continue my bedroom makeover by doing a few more DIY projects.  I want to do a rearrangement of the furniture and make a big upholstered headboard to go beneath the yarn art!  Also would like to paint the dresser that you can see peeking up from the right corner of the above photo.  I'll be sure to post more on my bedroom makeover adventure as it unfolds!

xo,

C

Wedding on a Budget: Painted Bottle Centerpieces

I swear, Matt and I should just change the theme of our wedding from "country chic" to "Pinterest," because that is where ALL of my ideas have come from.  I knew from the get-go that I wanted to have a DIY wedding for a couple different reasons.  First, because it would be much cheaper than buying and/or renting decor.  Secondly, because I just love doing crafty projects and this gives me a really good excuse to do them!  And finally, because (as I've said many times before) I can make my wedding exactly what I want it to be.

My first project that I took on was possibly the simplest: the centerpieces.  I found a photo of glass bottles that had been painted - on the inside.  I loved the look.  It was clean and simple with a pop of color.  And, with the paint on the inside of the bottle instead of the outside, it looks much more elegant and less "crafty."  You'll be much less likely to scratch or chip the paint when it is on the inside of the bottle.  But, be careful, because the paint is water-based, you cannot put flowers directly into the bottle (unless you want the paint to dissolve away!).  If you'd like to fill the jars/bottles with flowers, I'd recommend putting a small cup of water into the jar/bottle first so that the water doesn't touch the paint.

I enlisted the help of my friends and family members on this one.  I sent out a request via Facebook that all my friends and family members would save any clear glass jars or bottles that they may have and give them to me to be "recycled."  As a result of this request, I got tons of unique glass items of all shapes and sizes - liquor bottles, jelly jars, pickle jars, mason jars, beer bottles, salsa jars, and many many more.  This made my inner environmentalist feel really good about keeping these items out of the landfills!

For this project you will need:

• acrylic paint - use a few different colors or even mix a couple colors in one jar and make it marbled/swirled.
• something for the paint to drip into while drying (I used plastic cups and an empty pizza box!)
• CLEAN glass bottles and/or jars of all shapes and sizes.
• Patience!!
• Small sized paintbrush (that could fit inside the top of the jar/bottle)

You want to start off with clean, dry glassware.  Dirty or wet glass will not hold the paint and it will come right off.  Pour a bit of paint into the jar/bottle being careful to not get it everywhere!  Depending on the size of of the jar, you'll want to have about 1/2 an inch of paint in the bottom for a medium sized jar.  Cover all of the inside with paint by slowly tilting the jar around until all clear sides are covered (this is where the patience comes in!).  Once most of the jar has been covered, use the small paintbrush to touch up any parts that are missing color, especially right inside the mouth/neck of the container.  Leave the bottle/jar to dry upside down until you think the majority of the extra paint has dripped out (I left mine overnight).  After most of the excess paint has dripped out, turn the bottle right side up and let dry completely.  I'd recommend leaving them overnight once more.  Once dry you can clean up the paint around the mouth of the container by simply scratching it off with your fingernail.

Because I'm only using these items for a wedding and not as part of permanent home decor, I did not use enamel paint for glass.  The enamel paint is more "permanent" on glass and is harder to chip away once you've set it.  Because the enamel paint is thicker, I had a harder time getting it to swirl around in the bottle.  Because of this, I used regular acrylic paint as I'm not worried about the paint being "permanent" - it only needs to hold until the wedding is over!

As I said, I'm going to be using these bottles as part of the centerpieces for the reception.  They'll be grouped together with some "slices" of wood, somewhat like the photo below (photo credit: here).  I can't wait to show you all the finished product!  Be sure to check back in a couple months to see the photos of the wedding decorations in all their glory!

A really fun thing to do with this project is add two or three different colors to the jars.  To do this, add paint in a few different colors to the jar and swirl them around to create a marbling effect.  My grandmother and I did this with clear Christmas ball ornaments when I was a kid and they were gorgeous!

Happy painting!

-C

Wedding on a Budget: The Beginning!

Maybe you know, maybe you don't, but Matt and I will be getting married this coming fall.  This is one of the main reasons that I haven't been posting anything in a while: I've just been so busy.  Planning a wedding (in under 6 months might I add) plus trying to finish up my degree (I'll graduate one week before the wedding) and working my awesome internship have left me with very little time to spare.  But, my crazy life can be your inspiration! I'm going to be presenting a wedding planning series called Wedding on a Budget (super catchy title, huh?).  I'll be sharing with you how I put together a fabulous wedding on a tight budget.

The first thought that came to my mind when we decided that we were finally going to plan a wedding for this year was: "where do I start?"  I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of decisions I had to make.  Thus, being the nerdy girl I am, I took to Google and searched high and low for something that would help keep me on track and remind me of what needed to be done and when.  That's when I found The Knot.  This site has been a lifesaver to me.  It includes several planning tools such as a budgeter, guest list manager, and a checklist, all of which are accessible for free just for signing up on the site.  The checklist has been the best tool I have encountered for it's purpose.  It provides a timeline of "to do" items for planning a wedding so you won't forget a thing.  It's even customizable - you can delete tasks that you don't need and add custom tasks that aren't already included.  It has really kept me on track and on budget.

Speaking of budget - ours is small.  We've been cutting costs by doing a lot of things ourselves or with the help of our amazing and generous friends and family.  Most of the decorations are DIY projects that I'm working on myself, with the help of lots of other crafty ladies that love me!  The food is going to be home-made, cutting out the expense for catering.  The reception and ceremony will be held at the same place, eliminating the costs of bridal party transportation and a second rental fee on another venue.  We've had to come up with plenty of creative ways to conserve cash while planning this wedding, but I firmly believe that my wedding isn't going to be any less fabulous than even the most extravagant or big-budget weddings - I've just had to think out-of-the-box.

I'm so excited to share my journey with all of you.  I'll be posting about all sorts of topics throughout my planning process - including tutorials for some of my crafty decoration projects and recipes that I'm using - as well as posting more often.

-C

My Halloween Costume: Done!

Halloween was a success!

My costume turned out great, especially after putting it all together (Including elf ears and healthstones)!

We only had a few trick-or-treaters, which was surprising considering the amount of kids that are usually running around the neighborhood!  But, that just left more candy for us!

Now that's over and done with, the Holidays will be upon us before we know it!  Time to think about Thanksgiving, homemade gifts, pumpkin pies, snowflakes, and best of all.... Christmas music!

I told myself I'm not playing Christmas music at home/in the car until the day after Thanksgiving... we'll see how long that lasts!

Speaking of Black Friday, I think this will be the first year since high school that I don't have to work on this day!  I'm planning my shopping spree as I type.

I'll be making homemade gifts again this year.  I have a Pintrest board dedicated to my gift ideas!  It's not very populated yet, but as the holidays get closer, I'm sure the board will be packed full of ideas!  Check it out for your own inspiration!

xoxo,

-C

Halloween DIY: Armor

As you may (or may not) already know, this Halloween my costume is inspired by World of Warcraft - warlocks in particular.  Last time, I showed you how to make a fantasy inspired staff, which was the first part of the costume that was actually finished.

What's an RPG character without armor?!

Dead, that's what.

But seriously, this part in the costume making process took the most time and effort.

I would NOT suggest taking this project on if you don't have the time to go through with it because you will not be happy with the results.  Take your time with this and it can turn out very cool.

For this project you will need:

- 2-3 cans of spray foam insulation (the kind that you'd use to fill cracks outdoors - I'd recommend getting the kind that expands to the largest size you can find)

- Cardboard

- A hot glue gun (and glue sticks, of course - you will need a lot of these)

- a razor knife (I'll include a picture of the ones we used - not quite sure what else to call them)

- a sharp and sturdy pair of scissors (or knife)
- Scotch tape

- regular paper (I used the lined kind from out of a notebook - but any paper you can draw on will work)

- newspaper (and lots of it!)

-lots of white glue (like Elmer's school glue) - we used about 4 bottles

- spray paint (ours is left over from the staff project, and therefore makes the armor match the weapon)

- time, patience, and imagination!

The first step is to figure out what you want the armor to look like.  Once the general design has been worked out, draw it to scale to fit your own body on the plain paper.  This step can take a lot of measuring and trial and error - Be patient, it will work out!

Once you have the pieces drawn to scale, cut them out of the paper.  The pieces you see here are what is going to make up the shoulder armor.  You only need to cut out each piece one time and trace them as many times as needed, this way all the pieces that are supposed to be the same will be identical.

Place the paper shapes on the cardboard and trace them.  I traced four of most of the shapes (making the front and back of the shoulder pieces identical, as well as the two pieces of armor being identical themselves).  The "wing" shape you see at the bottom was a really great idea I had, but didn't turn out as I wanted - but Matt helped me save that idea... more on that in a bit.  Cut the shapes out of the cardboard using the sturdy/sharp scissors or a knife.

Once you have all the pieces of cardboard cut out, fit the pieces to your body and use the Scotch tape to hold the pieces at the right angles once you have figured out the way you'd like it to look.

After you have the angles all figured out, use the hot glue gun to fix the pieces together.  

You will end up with cardboard mockups of what your armor will look like when you're done.  Don't worry about any words or stickers that may be showing on the outside of your pieces, they won't show when you're done.  As I'm sure you can tell, the piece on the left is the breastplate, complete with awesome fake abs :)

The next step in the process (once the hot glue is dry - which takes only a matter of minutes) is to cover the entire thing with the spray foam.  Make sure you get the WHOLE outside of the piece covered completely with no cardboard showing on the front/outside.

This part of the process was simultaneously the most fun and most frustrating.  I found out some tricks via trial and error - and I will share them with you so you don't make the same mistakes!

1. The foam won't expand a whole lot bigger than it does when it comes out of the can, so really make sure everything is completely covered.
2. Follow the directions on the can of foam exactly - when it says to shake the can for an entire minute before using it, it really means it... the foam won't expand right if you don't.
3. Its okay to have more foam than you need on your pieces of armor.  It really beats not having enough.
4. If you feel that a spot isn't thick enough and it has already begun to dry (even the slightest bit), let it dry completely before trying to add more foam.  I didn't do this, and the top layer of foam I added melted the bottom layer and I was left with a giant bubble in the middle of my chest piece - which I later fixed by adding more foam AFTER it dried.

Wait overnight for the foam to dry before doing anything else.  Realistically, the foam takes about 8 hours to completely dry, so you don't necessarily have to wait overnight if you're impatient (but remember, I told you patience will come in handy with this project!).  The foam will be ready to carve down once you can insert a knife into the foam and it comes out clean.

The next step is definitely the most messy.  I'd recommend doing this outdoors (or in a very well ventilated room at least) and with something like a trash sheet or tarp underneath you while you work.

Taking the razor knife (like the ones in the picture above - which we got at Harbor Freight Tools for 99 cents for a pack that came with the two different sizes), carefully carve down the dried foam so that your armor is back into its original shape.  I didn't get a photo of this step, and as I said it is very messy.  You will have tiny pieces of foam all over the place.  Make sure that there is at least 1 inch of foam left when you are done carving the pieces out.

As I said earlier, the "wing" decorations for my shoulder pieces didn't work out.  The cardboard guide that I made that was inside of all that foam wasn't sturdy enough for the razor knife and I sliced right through it without realizing until it was too late.  Matt saved the day (I was pretty upset at this point) by carving the foam out to look like curved horns instead, which ended up looking really cool.

When you have the general shape of your armor carved out, you can carve out details.  I re-drew the lines for the "fake abs" on the front of the foam on my chest piece with a Sharpie, and carved them down as well. Don't be afraid to make them fairly pronounced, they'll get covered up in a bit.

Once you're happy with the shape of your armor and have carved in any details you'd like, it's time to paper mache.  I had never done this before, and I felt like a kid again doing it.  We mixed the glue with water at a 1:1 ratio.  If you're using a thinner brand (pretty much anything that's not Elmer's) use a 3/4 glue to 1/2 water ratio.  This step will also be messy. We covered the entire work area (a.k.a. the living room floor) with newspaper first and then put down some cardboard on top, just for good measure.

Tear the newspaper into strips 1 inch thick.  The length depends on the piece that you're covering, but try not to make them too long or you lose some of the detail that working with smaller pieces offers.  Dip the entire piece of newspaper into the glue mix and wring it out with your fingers (I told you it would be messy!).  Place the pieces of newspaper onto the armor, making sure you are covering any edges as well, until the armor is completely covered.  Wait about an hour for the glue to be tacky-dry and apply another coat of paper mache and let dry overnight.

The next step (the most fun, in my opinion) is painting.  Make sure you get each piece covered well enough that someone can't read the headline of yesterday's news on your armor.  I had to use three coats of spray paint to get rid of Marmaduke's face on my chest piece.  The black obviously covered a bit better... the only color I really had to coat on was the red.

Once the base coat of your armor is dry, you can paint on any details you'd like.  I'd recommend getting acrylic paints for this part, but me being the thrifty (and lazy) girl that I am, I simply sprayed a good amount of gold spray paint onto a small piece of cardboard (in one small spot) and dipped my paintbrush in that.  This method forces you to work a bit more quickly than I'd imagine you'd have to with acrylic paint as the spray paint dries faster, but it worked out well as you can see from the first picture in this post.

And Voila!  You have your very own set of armor.

***DISCLAIMER****

this armor won't actually protect you from swords or magic spells.

As tonight is Halloween, I'll finally be getting dressed up in the completed costume.  I can't wait to see how it looks all put together!

But, that's a post for next time ;)

xoxo

-C

Halloween DIY: Fantasy Inspired Staff

Halloween.  My favorite of all holidays for multiple reasons:

• Horror movies are my favorite.
• Dressing up is so much fun.
• Haunted houses
• Carving pumpkins

This year, a friend of mine and I decided against spending an insane amount on a store-bought costume that we'd probably only wear one time.  Instead, we are making our own costumes.  This way, we can be exactly what we want and make it look completely unique.  So what did we decide to be for Halloween?  The obvious (and nerdy) choice: our warlocks.

Both of us being World of Warcraft players (as well as both playing a warlock as our main), this choice just made sense.    As my warlock is a Blood Elf, the inspiration for my costume was drawn from this picture.

The first step in creating my costume masterpiece: the Staff, which I modeled after the Golden Staff of the Sin'dorei.  Making this was a lot easier than it looked, and I think it turned out really great!

Finished!

Things I used to make this:
 - 1" pvc pipe (was about $2.30 for 10 feet, we cut it in half to make two 5 foot poles)
- Wooden fence post topper (what the staff's head design is mounted on)
- pvc pipe cap
- spray foam insulation (the kind you'd use to fill cracks outdoors)
- foam-filled poster board
- spray paint
- hot glue gun
 

First, I drew out the design onto a sheet of paper.  To make this easier, I just blew up a picture of the staff's design on my computer and then taped a sheet of paper to my monitor and traced the shape.  It could be even easier if you have a printer at home.  You'd just have to blow it up to the right size and print it out.

Once I got the shape that I wanted and cut it out of the paper, I taped the paper down to the poster board.  Tape all the way around every edge, that way it wont move while cutting.  I was lucky enough to get Matt to help with this part - he cut out my shapes with a razor knife.  Remember to make two of each shape - that way your design will have more of a 3D effect instead of just being a flat top.

Next, we took to the outdoors and spray painted everything the colors that we wanted.  On a side note, the gold spray paint we got was really cool and only needed one coat to cover what we had.  This included the pvc pipe, the cutout shapes, and the fence post topper.

Be sure to get both sides of each of the cut-outs painted, as well as the edges.

Once all the paint is dry, you can start putting the staff together.

First, spray some of the foam insulation into the very top of the pvc pipe (the end that you want to be the top - the other end should have the pvc cap on it).  Set the pipe aside to let the foam begin to dry.

Using hot glue, mount your two main design pieces to either side of the fence post topper.

This photo better shows how the poster board pieces are secured to the fence post topper.  One piece is glued on either side of the square topper.  This is my friend's staff inspired by Staff of Beasts.

Once the hot glue is dry (this should only take a couple minutes), return to the pvc pipe.  While the foam is still drying, put some hot glue around the rim of the pipe, as well as on top of the drying foam.  The fence post topper should then be inserted into the foam - it will dry around the screw at the bottom of the topper and hold it in place.  Once it is in the position you'd like it, add some more hot glue around the edge where the pvc pipe meets the topper to give it a good seal and to help firmly secure the top.  This will be very top heavy - be careful!  You could add a heavy duty screw to the bottom of the pipe (secured to the inside of the pvc cap) if you'd like to even out the weight a bit.

Let it dry overnight and you'll have your very own fantasy-inspired staff!

Find the armor making tutorial here.

xoxo,

-C

Marvelous Mustache!

There are two things about me that you should know right away:

1. I love to make/decorate stuff.
2. I am cheap... or "thrifty" might be a nicer word :)

This year for Christmas, I decided to go the homemade route.  It is so special to see someone really enjoy a gift that you worked hard (or didn't work too hard) to make yourself!  I got the idea from one of my favorite bloggers, Kandee Johnson - actually where I get a lot of my ideas!

MUSTACHE MUGS!!!

     How cute is that?!  Mustaches are a really fun and quirky trend right now, and how much fun is it that when you sip from the mug, you are graced with a glorious handlebar mustache?!  Painting ceramics is always a creative and unique way to give a gift.  And, who doesn't love to save a buck or two? Especially around the holiday season, when expenses can sometimes be a little overwhelming!  I found these mugs at the dollar store, so I paid a whopping $8.00 for the mugs, and I now have gifts for 8 people checked off my list!
     All you need to start making these bad boys:

• Ceramic mugs (got mine for $1.00 each at Dollar Tree)
• A pair of scissors
• Some tape (I would recommend using regular Scotch tape, but I think masking tape would work too-just don't use something heavy duty like packaging or duct tape)
• Ceramic paint (I used FolkArt Enamels Acrylic Paint for Glass & Ceramics in color 4032 Licorice) MAKE SURE that you are using paint specifically for ceramics and that the paint can be set in order to make it dishwasher safe.  I got the bottle at Michael's Craft Store, for about $4 or $5.
• Mustache stencil - Kandee's blog has a free downloadable image that can be used as a stencil, but I didn't have ink in my printer, so I drew mine by hand, using her's a reference.  Mine measures 4" across.
• Paint brushes (If you are able to get a ceramic paint pen, then you don't need the brushes obviously, but my store didn't have any paint pens, so I had to go with the brushes.)  I used a sponge dotter on the stencil, and then used a fine brush to make touch-ups.     

HOW TO MAKE THEM:

Make sure your mugs are clean and dry BEFORE you start. - If you start with dirty mugs, the paint will have a hard time adhering to the ceramic.

Cut out your stencil and trim down the sides so that it will fit nicely onto the rim of the mug.

Line up the stencil on the mug (with the handle on the left for a right hander, on the right for a lefty.) and tape down to prevent it from moving.

Apply the paint to the stencil - I dotted the paint with the sponge and it gave the image a bit of a textured look that is neat.

Let dry just a minute, so the paint isn't disturbed when you remove the stencil, and then remove the tape and lift stencil off gently.

Go over any rough edges or lighter spots with a fine paintbrush.  As per the instructions on the paint, I let mine air dry 1 hour before baking them to set the paint.

To go with the mustache mugs, I also made hot chocolate mix to give with it.

     Happy holidays <3