Graduation Sombrero

Last Saturday was my graduation from the University of Florida (can i get a "huzzah!" and "go Gators!"?). I just so happened to be graduating on Cinco de Mayo. I feel this was very appropriate, since Cinco de Mayo marks Mexico's victory over The French and graduating marks my victory over my French degree. Since these two dates alligned so perfectly, I decided to turn my graduation cap into a graduation sombrero. Viva Mexico y viva graduacion!

The Ingredients
32 mini pompoms in the color of your choice (I used my school colors--Go Gata!)
1 child's size sombrero
Yarn
Large needle
Small needle & thread
Scissors
Hot glue
Optional: black sharpie for a very necessary finger moustache


Oh yeah, and your graduation cap. Duh.


The Steps

Thread your yarn through a large needle. To facilitate this process, I taped the end of my yarn so it wouldn't fray as I was threading it (well, my mother did. I never would have thought to do that on my own and would have therefore never finished my hat out of frustration and defeat).

Thread your yarn through your pom-poms.

As you thread them, push them together along the yarn.

Once you have all your poms poms on the yarn, move thneedle and make a knot and the end. Push one pompom along the string until it reaches the knot. Then make another knot about 3-4 inches away from that one and repeat the process.

As you go along, cut the yarn at the base of the pompom, right below the knot, creating the creppy tadpole like things pictured above.

Now, knot the yarn you've attached your pompoms to onto another long strand of yarn.

Because you are no good at sewing and have two hours until you need to be at you graduation, have your mother sew the Strand of pom-poms onto your hat. Space them put so there is 8 on each side.

Next, cut off the brim of your sombrero and hot glue it to your cap. Make sure you only hot glue the back so that you can move your tassle from right to left.

Ay chico! That's it. All you need is a Mexican finger moustache, and you're all set.

Melted Crayon Art

I have seen this melted crayon art all over Pinterest. So, of course I wanted to try it. Here is how I did it and some tips to make it awesome.

What you need:
- Canvas (I used a 16x24 inch canvas from Michael's)
- Crayons (I used to 24 packs of Crayola crayons. You might want to get 3 packs just in case you don't want to use certain colors, like brown or grey)
- Hot glue gun
- Hair dryer

First, lay out the crayons on the canvas in an arrangement that you like the most. You can go horizontally or vertically on the canvas, it all just depends on how many crayons you have and how long you want the wax to drip.

Next, hot glue the crayons onto the canvas. It is a little tricky to make the line stay straight, so take your time.

Once all of your crayons are on the canvas tight, stand over the canvas with the crayons facing away from you, and tilt the canvas towards you. This will allow you to get the right angle when melting the crayons.

Blow dry the crayons at the tip of the crayon, not the top. Make sure to blow at a downward and straight angle. Otherwise, you'll get some wax flying out onto random parts of the canvas. This part only took me about 15 minutes. Be creative with your design by making some colors drip further down the canvas than others.

Let it dry and you're done. It was pretty easy and looks awesome!

Good luck!