Stephanie Eva: 5 Step DIY Desk Decor | Life is Short. Buy the Lipstick.

Hello World and welcome to a desk decor Do-It-Yourself! I've been struggling with the decor on my work desk. I share the desk with Spencer, and although he is so generous letting me put basically anything on the space, I still don't always know what to do. He has a few things on the upper shelves of the desk that he doesn't want moved, so I chose to work with the far corner on the actual desk-top.

I swapped around knick-knacks and "dingetjes" (as I call like to call them, it's literally translated from dutch "little things" but it's cute to say... Ding-it-chas.. Cute, no?) and decided to keep my photo frames in that "far corner" of the desk top. To make things a little more girly (sorry Spencer!) I decided to make some art for one of the frames, and that is what prompted this DIY post! Enjoy!

Choose a frame that you'd like to fill and determine the size you need to make your art. If you're not the precision-break-out-the-ruler type like me, take the glass out of the frame and trace that onto your paper. For paper, choose a water color or a card stock. These are most absorbent and sturdy.

Gather three or four lipsticks and order them from lightest to darkest shade. When you apply them to your lips it is easiest to start with the light shades, and cover them with the darker shades, instead of removing the lipstick in between each color.

The four lipsticks I chose were (left to right in the above picture); L'Oreal Colour Riche in shade Fairest Nude, Wet 'N Wild in shades Cherry Picking, Mauve Outta Here and Cherry Bomb.

Kiss the paper! I went for sporadic kisses, trying to avoid something too uniform. I applied each of my four lipsticks once and kissed the paper about four times with each shade. I did not reapply lipstick in between kisses because I wanted there to be a fade in intensity. Of course, this all depends on what you want your art to look like. I can't tell you what's right and what's wrong because it's all right, it's art baby!

Kiss outside the lines if you're going for that "sporadic" effect like mine. It helps space the kisses out and ultimately makes the no-order-to-your-art look like there is a little bit of uniformity. Weird.

Let the kissed paper set for about five minutes before moving on! Depending on the lipstick formula, you may need to wait longer. Tap the print lightly after five minutes. If you can touch it and no lipstick shows on your finger, you're clear to move on!

Grab some translucent setting powder and hairspray from your beauty kits for this next step! Just like setting most liquids and creams on your face, you need to do it on paper too!

I took an old blush brush and dipped it into my NYX translucent setting powder. I dabbed the powder on top of the lip prints at a 90 degree angle. Don't swipe! That may move the lipstick around, especially if it's a really liquid-y formula! Let this set for another five minutes. Shake the paper gently and blow off any excess powder. But again, don't swipe or brush the powder off!

Now that you've set your lipstick, you'll want to set that powder. And hairspray is perfect for this! Believe it or not, artists set pastel artworks with hairspray (this is what made me think to set the lipstick with it, too!). It works really well to preserve the art. Spray extra-hold hairspray about six to eight inches away from your piece. Don't spray for too long in one spot. You want to lightly mist your art, not soak it! I set mine with two thin layers and it stuck quite well.

Now it's time to decorate! Of course you could frame your art without this, but I wanted to add some more to my piece. Do whatever you want! Get creative!

I used a Sharpie Pen for my decorating step. It doesn't bleed and has a really thin tip for great precision. An art-lover's BFF, really.

And that's all there is, folks! Finished, in place, complete with a Hello Kitty Pen disguised as some nail polish. #killingthedeskdecorgame .. Let me know if you try this out! I'd love to see what others have created.