Dia de Los Muertos Sugar Skull cake pops

AHHHHHHHH.

The fall crispness is in the air (finally!) and Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is just around the corner and I must say it's going to be a serious celebration this year!!!!!!

And nothing says celebration quite like cake...

 AMIRIGHT??!!!

Luckily, I have a gorgeous, talented, baker for a sister who has the raddest, most creative edible ideas for all of our family occasions. This time she showed me the art of cake popage.

I even got to try my hand at decorating the cake pops and they came out pretty flawless, if I do say so myself.


For inquiring minds, here's a list of products we used:

• Pillsbury Funfetti boxed cake mix
• Pillsbury Funfetti Frosting (to bind the cake)
• Wilton's lolly pop sticks
• Wilton's candy melts in red, black, yellow and green (for decoration)
• Nestle's premier white morsels (these add a lot of flavor and really nice coverage as well as a bright white finish)
• vegetable oil (for thinning out the candy melts and white morsels to make them easier to work with)
• Wilton's red sparkle gel
• Styrofoam block wrapped in tissue paper for presentation   

And now, for the goods:

How to: A Sugar Skull Makeup Tutorial

Over the course of the last few years,  I have been painting my own face in a sugar skull style for the annual Day of the Dead (or Dia de Los Muertos) celebration on November 2nd.

People are always hitting me up on my Instagram and Tumblr, asking what products I use and how to paint the decorative designs that make the sugar skull so distinctive,  so I made a video to show you how I do it.

I've used everything from my sister's makeup, clown-grease makeup and even regular craft paints. Hands down, I'm loving the Tulip Body Art line by iLovetoCreate.  It goes on like buttah and feels really light.

So, enjoy my tutorial. Hopefully it will inspire you to create your own amazing sugar skull. :D

DIY Ombré Painted Jeans

When I had the chance to head up north and visit iLovetoCreate's HQ in Northern Cali with Maya in the Moment, I knew I'd have markers and paint and glitter and beads and tie dye at my fingertips.

You know I had to do a lil somethin' somethin'. 

I had pair of these white jeans I bought from H&M that looked so plain and sad and whatnot. I had to give it some life with a little ombré.
Check out my ombré tutorial:Make sure you follow @Boifromipanema and @iLovetoCreate on Twitter Instagram and Tumblr!

DIY Stenciled Frida Kahlo Tank

So lately, I have been on a big tank top kick.

 Being that I live in "sunny SoCal" the temperature is still in the 80's and 90's well into the beginning of October. 

Meaning??

Summer is still in full throttle mode.  

...le sigh....when will it be scarf, boot, hot cider weather yo?!!

I figured that the opportunity was still ripe and ready for just one more Summa-time Shenanigan post. Just to really seal up the deal. Although you can use this method on any fabric surface of your choice,  I decided to create a stencil of the beloved Frida Kahlo on a tank using DecoArt's SoSoft acrylic fabric paint.

Um, bewbs.

Frida was so butch.

Step 1: I started by printing out a few images of La Friducha that I liked from the interwebz. I was partial to these two, for obvious reasons. I found a really cool tutorial by Kathy, The Crafty Chica on how to cut graffiti-styled stencils which you can peep below.

Step 2: Make the stencil. I didn't have that cool little knife that Kathy had in her video, so I used a #11 X-acto blade. Try not to cut, stab, or dismember yourself like I always seem to do.

My stencil in progress.

All cut out and ready for some paint.

Kathy used spray paint, but I decided to apply the SoSoft fabric paint with stippling brushes.

Making sure the paint goes on nice and smooth.

SoSoft fabric Paints by DecoArt.

I can't rave enough about DecoArt's SoSoft fabric paint. The stuff is hashtag totes amaze. Since it comes in so many colors as well as glitter colors, I decided to make a few tanks for the ladies. Yeh, that's right, I said it...for the ladies. ;)

Step 3: Final step...bask in your the glory of your handiwork. My tanks came out bad ass, just like Frida herself.

Even the stencils turned out pretty dope at the end. I think I may frame these bad boys.

And there you have it, your own stenciled Frida Kahlo tank. Go forth and embrace your inner bad ass.