DIY Ombre Watercolor Valentines Day Cards

Valentine's Day is right around the corner & what better way to tell your close friends and family that you love them by sending a special handmade card via snail mail? I found some adorable dip dyed cards by rifle paper company but they were $8 a piece. This got me thinking how can I make my own pretty cards like rifle paper's but for less!? After perusing the craft store (Hobby Lobby) and experimenting a bit I ended up making some beautiful cards at a great price. Follow my instructions below to learn how to make your own handmade Valentines Day cards to send out! Hope you enjoy!

Supplies Needed:

• 12 blank white textured cards
• 12 blank matching envelopes
• Washable Watercolor set (You don't need to buy a fancy set)
• 1 paint brush
• 1 black writing pen by ek tools (1 end 0.55mm & 1 end 1.2mm)
• 1 gold writing pen by ek tools (1 end 1.0mm & 1 end 1.0mm)
• Paper towels
• Cup full of water 
• Heavy books 

STEP #1:

Lay out a paper towel and place an open card face down on the paper towel. Lightly dip your paint brush in your cup of water and dip the brush into your maroon watercolor paint. Paint the bottom section of the right side of your face down card about a 1/4 way with this color. 

STEP #2:

Dip your paint brush into your cup of water and dip your brush back into the same maroon colored water color paint, making it more watery. Paint another 1/4 section right above your last painted section but ensuring that this sections color is lighter.

STEP #3:

Dip your paint brush into your cup of water, swishing it around and drying the brush with a paper fowl to remove the maroon color from the brush. Lightly dip your paint brush back into the cup of water and dip the brush into a pink colored watercolor paint. Paint another 1/4 section right above your last painted section on your card.

STEP #4:

Dip your paint brush into your cup of water and dip your brush back into the same pink colored watercolor paint, making it more watery. Paint the last 1/4 section at the top of your card but ensuring that this sections color is lighter than the previous sections. 

STEP #5:

Lightly pat your completely watercolor painted card dry with a paper towel and place it underneath a book so it will dry flat and not curl. Leave under the book for 30-45 minutes. Once the time has passed if the card still feels wet, leave it by a window so natural sunlight can dry it. Repeat this process to make more cards.

 

STEP #6:

Once your card has completely dried use your black and gold writing pens to draw a design on the face of your card. You can use your imagination to design whatever message you want for the face of your card or you can print My V-Day Card Designs  and  hold your card up to a window and trace my designs! Once you have completed the designs on the face of your card, write your very own personal message inside and mail them out! I chose to stuff heart shaped confetti in my cards before sealing them out to make them a little more fun to receive :)

Hope you enjoyed making them and I hope your loved ones enjoy receiving them! :) Happy Valentine's Day! 

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Cleaning your Closet & Making Money From it!

With the holidays in the past and after all our spending on gifts, party outfits & more it's always nice to make some extra spending money! One of the easiest ways to make some extra cash is by cleaning out your closet and getting rid of the things you don't wear anymore and will never get around to wearing this year! It's always good to clean and organize your closet as the seasons change but why not use the new year as a point of motivation to clean out your closet?  

My Tips for Cleaning & Organizing your closet are as follows: 

Tip #1: Group together like styles! For example, in my closet on the top rack I have blouses and dresses hanging and on the bottom rack I have jeans/bottoms and sweaters/jackets hanging. 

Tip #2: Color code your closet! In my closet my top rack contains the most colors since my bottom rack has similar colored jeans/bottoms. So the top rack of my closet which houses my  blouses and dresses goes from light to dark. My blouses and dresses are stored in this exact color pattern: white>tan/nudes>pink>red>orange>yellow>green>purple>blue>brown>black. If you wear darker colors more frequently or if it is the Fall season you could always make your closet go from dark to light. 

Tip # 3: Start at one side of your closet and work your way to the other side! When cleaning and organizing your closet it is best to start at one side and work your way down to the other side of the closet. Don't get distracted and pick out random pieces or you'll end up with an even bigger mess! Start at one side of your closet and as you move down to the other side look at every piece of clothing you come across and ask yourself when was the last time you wore this piece? How long have you owned it? Does this piece still fit you? Has this piece seen better days? If you haven't worn it in the past 6 months and don't think you'll wear it for the next upcoming season then remove this item from your closet and create a pile of these items you removed! If the piece is too big or way too small, then definitely remove this piece also! If you save it out of guilt it's only going to take up space in your closet, remember that in order to make room for new pieces of clothing you purchase, you have to remove some old pieces too! 

Extra Tip: A helpful tip to gage how often you wear certain items is to hang all of your items on the opposite side of the rack and when you wear it then put the hanger on the correct side of the rack. After a substantial amount of time has gone by (5-8 months) see what items are hanging on the opposite side of your rack and say goodbye to these items because obviously you're not wearing them! 

The Best ways to get Cash for your Clothes: 

So once you have cleaned and organized your closet, it's time to take a look at your pile of items that you removed from it and see what's worth saving. If there is anything in this pile that is really worn, dirty or damaged then put this item in the trash. As for the other items here are some ways you can make some cash: 

Option #1: Sell your used items to a Used Clothing Store

If you want to make cash really quick then you can bring the items you removed from your closet to a used clothing store and see what they can offer you. Below are two different used clothing stores that are probably in your area that I like to use:

 Buffalo Exchange

I personally like to sell my items to Buffalo Exchange because it's a really quick way to get some cash or trade in your items for unique items that they are selling too! Buffalo Exchange buys your used items and after they decide what price they are going to sell your item at they give you 35% of that price in  cash or 50% of that price in trade credit. You can sell gently used clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry, scarves, hats, and sunglasses to Buffalo Exchange and they even take Men's used items too! 

Click Here to learn more about Buffalo Exchange & find a location near you!

Plato's Closet

I only go to Plato's Closet to make quick cash by selling my used items, I don't trade at Plato's. I think that the items Plato's has are not as good of quality in comparison to Buffalo Exchanges items and the items are much younger looking than Buffalo Exchanges, Plato's closet targets teenagers and twenty-somethings. Plato's Closet assesses your used items and then the buyer will make you an offer for how much cash or trade they can give you for all your used items and then you can decide on whether or not you want to accept the offer. You can sell gently used clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories to Plato's Closet! 

Click Here to learn more about Plato's Closet & find a location near you! 

Option #2: Sell your Used items on Phone Apps/Online: 

If you can invest a little more time into selling your used items than I suggest you use one of these apps below to sell your items. It's totally worth it in the end because you get to decide the price at what you want to sell your items at and you can shop tons of other women's closets! Below are two apps I use to sell my used items: 

Threadflip

I use Threadflip to sell my used clothing, handbags and jewelry. Threadflip is an app on you can access on your iPhone, iPad or computer! It's really easy to create a profile and upload the items you want to sell. You choose the price that you want to sell your items for and Threadflip keeps 20% of the profit. You have the option of charging your buyers for a shipping label if they buy from you or choosing to pay for the shipping yourself, you must include a tracking number for the shipment though Threadflip gives you the option of having your profits mailed to you via check  or paying you via PayPal, you can also use your profits towards future purchases from the site. 

• PROS: I find Threadflip to be more user friendly, I love the option of not charging buyers for shipping, Threadflip e-mails discounts/coupons and credits towards purchases regularly which motivates users to buy! 
• CONS: If you don't have a PayPal account having a check mailed does take a lot longer to have your cash sent to you.
• Click Here to learn more about Threadflip!

Poshmark

I use Poshmark to sell my used clothing, handbags and jewelry. Poshmark is an app you can use on your iPhone or iPad to sell your closet and shop other women's too and works very similar to Threadflip! Creating a profile through Poshmark is also really easy,  you choose the price that you want to sell your items for and Poshmark users can comment on your listings and like them. Poshmark keeps 20% of your profit and charges the buyer for shipping, once one of your items sell you'll get a shipping label e-mailed to you that you can tape on your boxed up item and schedule USPS to pick up for you. Poshmark gives you the option of having your profits deposited into your bank account or using the profits towards future purchases from the site. 

• PROS: Once you make a profit you can have your profit deposited into your account very quickly. 
• CONS: Poshmark doesn't send users discounts or credits often, shipping is a bit overpriced, they have "parties" which require you to be available during certain times to share your postings that fit these parties themes-it's great because your items get noticed but if you are busy like me it's hard to be able to participate in these parties. 
• Click Here to learn more about Poshmark!

Whichever option you utilize, I hope that you have luck selling your fashionable used items! :) 

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