St. Patrick’s Day is a yearly holiday named after Saint Patrick and celebrated on March 17. It began as a Catholic holiday; An official feast day in the early 1600s and now a secular celebration of Ireland’s culture. The color that was originally associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Over the years, green ribbons and shamrocks were worn to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, thus becoming a ubiquitous feature of the day.

Pinching those not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day is an American tradition, having really nothing to do with Ireland or Saint Patrick. It’s thought that if you wore green, it made you invisible to the Leprechauns, which was good because they would pinch anyone they could see. So the pinching is to warn and remind you about the Leprechauns.

To read more about St. Patrick’s Day, visit Wikipedia.

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This is my interpretation of a tutorial I came across on the Internet. Using Adobe Photoshop, you can create this abstract watercolor effect with any photo using layers, masks and splatter brushes. You can find parchment paper texture from Bashcorpo and download free splatter brushes from Brusheezy.

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I’m using 1920×1200.

Copy and paste your photo onto the canvas. Even though the photo I’m using here has small resolution, it won’t matter since I will be using filters that will remove any sort of pixelation.

Use transform and scale it to fit our canvas by going to Edit → Transform → Scale. Hold down the Shift-Key to keep the original aspect ratio of the photo.

Go to Image → Adjustments → Brightness/Contrast to add more brightness and contrast.

Turn the photo into grayscale by going to Image → Adjustments → Desaturate, then duplicate the layer. Name the original layer “Watercolor” and the duplicate layer “Threshold”

Apply Watercolor filter to the “Watercolor” layer by going to Filter → Artistic → Watercolor. Use 12 for Brush Detail, 1 for Shadow Intensity, and 2 for Texture.

Select the “Threshold” layer and go to Image → Adjustments → Threshold. Move the threshold level to anywhere between 160 and 180.

Set the blending mode of the “Threshold” layer to Multiply. Merge the “Threshold” layer to the “Watercolor” layer by going to Layer → Merge Down. Rename this merged layer to “Photo”

Now it’s time for some painting! Create a new layer called “Brush” and select some splatter brushes and start painting over your photo.

When you’re done painting, select and copy the “Photo” layer. Go to the “Brush” layer and add a Layer Mask. Alt+Click on the layer mask and you will see the canvas is now white.

Paste the image copied from the “Photo” layer.

Go to Image → Adjustments → Invert. This will hide the blacks in the layer mask to reveal the whites of the photo.

Click out of the layer mask and delete or hide the “Photo” layer. We can see our image is now in abstract watercolor!

Add a nice parchment paper texture and place it on top of the other layers. Set the blending mode to Linear Burn.

Finally, add some more watercolor splashes and a fancy text and you have your abstract watercolor design. Have fun!

For more information about the Abstract Watercolor Effect, check out Tutorial Magazine.

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Whether you’re trying to catch an episode of your favorite TV show you may have missed, or watch movies without going to the theater or video store, most likely, there is a website that has what you’re looking for. Here are a few of the web’s best free video sites.

Watch-Movies

This gold mine of a website has gone through about five domain name changes over the past couple of years, but that hasn’t stopped it from providing the largest source for free online movies. Like many websites offering free goodies, it has a lot of ads and popups so be warned! There’s also heavy traffic to this site so have a little patience and you will get your movie.

Quick Silver Screen

Quick Silver Screen is a website that organizes movies and TV shows from Megavideo into a YouTube-like layout. This site is much easier to navigate, and you can watch movies directly within Quick Silver Screen, without having to switch to Megavideo.

Luutit

Luutit is like the IMDB with links to actual movies and TV shows. Of course, not all listings have links, but many of them do. You can also submit your own links and help expand the database!

For more websites that offer TV, PPV and movies, check out the Online Video Guide.

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Makeup brushes come in all sorts of materials, with the cheapest being made of sponge, plastic or synthetic hair. High quality natural brushes used by professional models and makeup artists are made of goat, badger, pony, sable or squirrel. Using high quality brushes is a big investment because one brush can put a pinch in your wallet so its a good practice to keep them clean.

Properly cleaning your makeup brushes will save you time, money and even your face! You’ll save time because clean brushes make application easier, so that loose powder goes where you want it instead of clinging to an oily brush. You’ll save money because they’ll last longer and you won’t have to replace them with new ones. You can also save your face from breakouts associated with bacteria and oil build up.

I typically wash all my brushes every two to three weeks. It takes just five minutes, a little sudsy water, and your makeup brushes will stay fresh and new for a lot longer.

1. Start by wetting the brush bristles thoroughly, then apply a small dab of shampoo or liquid soap directly to the bristles.
2. Swish the bristles around with a little water in your palm to work off any stubborn makeup residue.
3. Rinse the bristles thoroughly under lukewarm running water when your brush is free of debris.
4. Gently squeeze the excess water out and reshape the bristles to their normal shape before laying the brush on the towel in a flat position.

Always allow your brushes to air-dry. Drying your brushes with a blow dryer can damage the natural bristles and you’ll end up having to buy new brushes more frequently than if you were to lay them flat. A good practice is to clean your brushes at night so they are completely dry and ready to go in the morning. Be careful not to overwash your brushes, as this can make the bristles brittle and scratchy. And if a brush becomes stained or misshapen, throw it out and get a new one.

To read more about how to care for your makeup brushes, check out FreeBeautyTips.org.

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Here’s a little inspiration if you’re in the mood for decorating your home. Photographer Douglas Friedman takes us inside some celebrity homes to show what’s behind the doors.

For more inspiration, visit Douglas Friedman’s website.

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