{DIY Stenciled Watercolor Makeup Pouch}

Hey, y'all! Today is that special day of the month where I join My Favorite Bloggers to share a themed project and offer y'all an awesome giveaway!  This month's theme is Pinterest-inspired projects, and if you'll hang with me until the end of the post, there will be a $35 Starbucks gift card giveaway to enter.  But first, let's talk about my Pinterest-inspired project.

There are many makeup pouch pins on Pinterest, and my favorite comes from Minted Strawberry, which is one of my new blog crushes by the way.  There are also LOTS of pins on Pinterest about how to tie dye t-shirts with Sharpies.  I was inspired by the one from All Things Thrifty.  These tie-dyed t-shirts remind me of watercolors, so I thought a stenciled watercolor pouch would be a great project to create.

I purchased a small pouch from Hobby Lobby to use for this project.  The first step of the project is creating the watercolor effect on the pouch.

To do that, you need Sharpies and alcohol, which you should put in a spray bottle.  If you only want to color one side of your pouch, you'll need a piece of cardboard or card stock to put inside the pouch as well.  (I wanted my front design to bleed onto the back, so I didn't use an insert.)

Begin the watercolor process by scribbling on the bag with the Sharpies.  I did horizontal scribbles because that's the look I was going for.

 Once you get your bag covered with scribbles, spray it with the alcohol.  I soaked mine, but I guess depending on the look you wanted, you could use less.  Once the pouch dried, I thought the markers faded a little too much, so I repeated the process.

I did lots of scribbling the second time, as seen in the picture, and then sprayed the bag with the alcohol again.  I was happier with the pouch this time and used a hair dryer to dry it completely.

Above is what it looked like when it dried.  I think it looks a lot like watercolor, don't you?

Since I wanted to stencil the pouch, I used my handy-dandy Silhouette to cut a stencil of a quote I've always liked from Audrey Hepburn.

I used transfer paper to help adhere the stencil to the pouch.

I then used a dry brush technique to stencil in the design.

While my design was drying, I decided the cherry on top of my bag would be a tassel.

A while back, I bought this braided mason line from Lowe's.  I've been dying to use it on something, so I knew that it would be PERFECT for a tassel.

Making a tassel is a lot like making a pom pom.  I cut a length of the string and placed it horizontally on a piece of card stock.  I wrapped the string around and around vertically until I thought it was enough to make a thick tassel.  I cut the string that was leftover off and carefully slid the wrapped string off of the card stock.

I then wrapped a piece of mint embroidery floss around the top of the string and tied it tight.  I cut all the loops at the bottom and used a match to very carefully melt the ends of the strings so they wouldn't ravel later.  (You can only hold the flame to the end of the strings for like a second; otherwise, the strings will blacken.)

After I tied the tassel to the pouch, my makeup bag was finished.  I LOVE the finished pouch.

I think having the Audrey quote on my makeup bag will remind me that it's not really all about the makeup.  A smile is really the prettiest thing a girl can put on her face.  (Remember how last week, I reminded you that you're perfect just the way you are?)  I actually think it would be fun to use this little pouch as a clutch too, and this would be great to give as a gift as well! So now that you've seen my Pinterest-inspired project, check out the other great Pinterest-inspired projects from some of My Favorite Bloggers!

Red & Turquoise Memory Wire Bracelet by Kirsten at Sweet Tea and Saving Grace / Steamed Honey Glazed Carrot Medallions by Melanie at It Happens in a Blink / Pipe Curtain Rods by Kara at Happy Go Lucky / Slow Cooker Italian Beef by Adrianne at Happy Hour Projects / Stenciled Watercolor Makeup Pouch by Bethany at Pitter and Glink / Unicorn Counted Cross Stitch Pattern by Nancy at Do Small Things with Love

And now, the moment you've been waiting for...giveaway time!  You can enter to win a $35 Starbucks gift card using Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway  Good luck!