The Golden Hour

                             

The Golden Hour

"In photography, the golden hour (sometimes known as magic hour, especially in cinematography) is a period shortly after sunrise or before sunset during which daylight is redder and softer than when the Sun is higher in the sky." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_(photography)

I decided yesterday to find a field where I could capture this golden hour, and I was successful!

As you may or may not know, I recently bought my first DSLR camera (EOS Rebel SL-1, white body). As a child, I always had a point and shoot, and sometimes I would play with my mom's Nikon. I have hemmed and hawed over purchasing one, as they are quite expensive, especially compared to a point and shoot. But, I had wanted one for a very long time and finally I decided it was time. I got a great deal too, it came with another lens (long lens) and a camera bag, all for $600! I think I saved myself well over $300.
But anyway, I am trying to improve my amateur photography skills and possibly earn some extra income with my new and improved skills!
So I had an idea to capture the golden hour.

Spooky Spider Web Wreath Tutorial

Halloween is coming!!! Which means, it's time for some spooky decor! DIY is my favorite decor. ;)

Upon searching Pinterest for the perfect DIY wreath, I didn't find anything that I absolutely loved, or it was too complicated. (I'm all about the actual easy stuff that is basically fool proof. A lot of Pinterest fails haunt me...) SO, I decided to create my own DIY.



P.S. If you're like me, and despise reading alllll the way through a blog post just to find the product list, I will spare you the trouble!
Supply List:

• 1 wire wreath (any size you like) from the Dollar Tree, or Michaels, even Walmart might have one!
• 2 rolls of Halloween themed tulle (I have blood splatters and spider webs, or red and silver)
• 1 roll of white tulle
• 1 roll of black tulle (or scrap black fabric like me! I used about 2 fat quarters. You might want three, just in case.)
• I package of fake cobwebs (I found mine at the Dollar Tree. It came with 4 fake spiders!)

Back to finding my own supplies:

I knew I had some Halloween tulle hiding in my craft stash, so I went on the hunt.

FOUND IT!

P.S. The white tulle I also already had; bonus!!

Next I needed a wreath. I found a perfect wire wreath at none other than... The Dollar Tree! Yes, you read that right! I couldn't believe it either.


Here you see the wire wreath and my spooky spiderweb tulle from Michaels.
I am cutting 6inch squares and I am cutting 15 of those.
Repeat that with the other spooky tulle, along with the white tulle.
Now, the white tulle was hard to see, so I used a 6inch piece of black paper that was in the spooky tulle as a template.

Perfect!
After I cut all of these, I decided I needed a black accent for the wreath. I didn't feel like going out to the store for any, so I found some scrap black fabric (yes, fabric) to use. You can use tulle if you'd like. I just didn't have any, and usually when I DIY, I prefer not to have to spend any money....
Okay, back to the tutorial.

By now you have 15 beautiful squares of two spooky tulles, white tulle, and black tulle (or fabric).
Hooray!
Now, I hope you have each different tulle in separate piles, stacked on top of each other.
You do? Awesome! Take you sharp fabric scissors and your measuring tape, and cut 3 2inch strips through the entire pile. Since it's tulle, this shouldn't be very difficult.

Ta-da! (This picture was before I decided to add the black.)
Now you have lots of little strips!!
Time to start tying.
It's best to start with the outside and work your way in.
Now, you can choose how you want to put your different colors, but I did it in a rotating way, in which I started with white, then red, then silver, and so on.
White, red, silver, white, red, silver, white, red, silver...
Yes, the entire way around!
Then, for the second round, all black!
Then for the third, white, red, silver.
And lastly, for the fourth, all black!

Your hands might be tired of tying... But congrats! Did it take you as long as you thought? Probably! I can't remember how long it took me because I often get distracted and do something else before completing a project. Maybe an hour?

But wait, there's more. I promise this is the easiest part.
Web-ify!!
Huh??
Take your super cheap spider web stuff that you found, cut off a section and STRETCH!
Then, simply stretch it onto the back side of the wreath and around to the front. Trust me, it will stick. That's what the package claims, right? Pull it to different spots and then attach your fake spiders! If you are worried this might all come undone, I suppose you could reinforce with some hot glue, but mine is still in tact!
Okay, finished results:

Save it on Pinterest!

Arm Knit Throw

Have you seen the latest trend in arm knitting?

It's knitting with your arms!

I was skeptical at first, not knowing how successful this attempt would be. Of course, I have been knitting since I was a little girl, but I wasn't sure if I could actually knit with my arms. It's a different concept, but as I found out, an easy one to learn!

Of course, you need super bulky yarn, and even multiple strands of it, which becomes quite expensive. But looking in my stash, I found 4 skeins of Bernat Blanket Yarn -- just what I needed! (It was probably for such a project that I abandoned.)

I found an awesome tutorial and got to work. I made this blanket in an hour! Can you believe that? I usually abandon projects that take too long, i.e. knit blankets. But not this one! 1 hour, folks. Now, the pattern says it takes under 3 hours. I suppose it depends on your speed. (I found this pattern on yarnsiparitions.com, if you're curious. http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/arm-knit-3-hour-blanket.html)

Want to see some photos??

Yes, I modeled my own blanket. It was super fun though! I also took these pictures. Self-timer is a great feature on a camera!