these are a few...

... of my favorite things. <3

currently im obsessed with:

spring florals.

source

hair bows.

 source

fake glasses.

painting.

 source

watercolors.

source

abstract organic-geometric forms.

source

what makes your heart pitter-patter?

sloths

meet my new favorite animal, the SLOTH. <3 how could you not love that funny little face? :)

april showers raindrop curtain

last spring i saw the lovely handmade paper garlands and curtains by the etsy seller kategreiner. i was inspired to make my own april shower paper curtain back then, but never got around to it. reading a post on elsie's blog, a beautiful mess, about her shop decor, i was really inspired to get off my butt and make something.

sorry- these pictures arent the best. :-/ but i wanted to show you the process so you can make your own if you wish. this looks much better in real life. :-P

first i found some scrap papers. in this case i used a small pacsun bag and a few pages from a free people catalog. i chose a color palette of white, aqua, and seafoam green, and randomly brushed it on the papers. i wanted to make sure all my raondrops had the same colors to make them look cohesive.

while the papers were drying, i hung up the strings, spacing them about 4 inches apart. i used cotton yarn, but any yarn or thick sting works. i taped them upside down first, then went over them again with one long piece of tape. this gave it strength and made it look a little more clean. (uum.. i dont have trim around my windows yet.. we got a good deal on this house because it needed a lot of work.. the to-do-list is very slowly getting checked off..)

once the papers dry, fold and cut out little teardrops the way you cut out hearts for velentines- this ensures your ends all match up and stay clean-looking.

then all you have to do is glue them to the strings. i tried to spread them out pretty good at first, just in case i ran out of rain drops. but i ended up having a few extra and a full curtain of drops. :)

hehe i think its pretty cute :) a fun little springs craft that took less than an hour to make. awesome. :D

to my lovely ladies

i've said it before, but i'll say it again: i don't have many girls in my life. i feel like ladies are much harder to get along with and form bonds with than guys. i can never tell what a girl is thinking, and i never know if she's being genuine or if she's just being polite. (guys are tricky too, but easier to figure out than girls)

with that said, i want to say that i really appreciate the few girls that i DO have in my life. you know who you are. <3 well yesterday i told you i baked cookies to deliver to my boys, but i wanted to so something for the girls too. so i sat in the library today and made these watercolor valentine cards! :D i think they turned out pretty cute. i havent got to give them to my girls yet though.. i got a little side-tracked and stayed too long delivering cookies to my BFF while he was at work at the hardware store. we were laughing at the names of paint colors and fighting over whether or not flat paint worked as a chalkboard paint. (that is an experiment you can look forward to me getting into later) but tomorrow, girls, you shall have your lovely valentines! :D

oh, and i would like to say that i LOVE this new spot i discovered in the library, by the way. on the 3rd floor, very quiet, soft chair and big table, right next to a heater vent! warmth at last!

awesomest valentines eve

all via weheartit.com

cookie time!

 

kitchy photo booth pic from the theater

i spent the day with a very special little lady. i picked her up after church and we got mcdonald's, then went to see justin bieber's movie, never say never, in 3D. [oh boy.] after that we went back to my house and made valentine's cookies. we split the batch and she's going to give her's to her teachers. i'm bringing mine to my guy friends between classes tomorrow.

if i had a date for valentine's day

still crossing my fingers that one of my dear close male friends asks me to be his date this valentine's day. only three days away, soo not likely.. but wishful thinking, if i DID have a date, i would wear this lovely outfit. <3

*drools* i just discovered the addictive virtual shopping outfit making goodness that is Polyvore.com. this is going to be another painful obsession. look out.

so january went like this:

for christmas last year i got myself a present; this little diary from atSeoul.com. it's layed out by week so you can write a paragraph or so every day, and it has places to keep track of your spending, journal how the hours of your day are broken down, keep lists of anything you want, sections of graph paper for free drawing, and some extra lined pages just in case you're feeling like getting some things off your chest.

one of my favorite features is the blank calendar pages before each month. if i do something cool in particular, i may write about it as well as do a little doodle on the calendar.

so january went like this:

• started out crappy; my BF dumped me at my party because we were too different
• i was depressed about it for a few days
• started spending time with another cute boy and cheered up
• busy spending lots of time with friends
• working on abstracts in drawing class
• boy drama (baaaagh)
• spent time with my ex's little sister - she missed me :]
• longing for spring

i love my diary. <3

no-cost gift bow tutorial

once i saw how easy these bows are, i thought, "i am NEVER paying for a gift ow again! tutorial on the lovely blog How About Orange.

start by taking a magazine picture and cutting it into 9 strips of 3/4 inch width paper.

leave 3 full size, cut one an inch off of three of them, and two inches off of 2 of them. then 1 of them should be 3 1/2 inches long.

the next step is to make loops with the strips and staple the ends in the center. the one short piece just makes a little circle.

very important: make sure your loops are at an angle where there's more space in the middle. where the tips get more pointy. i made the mistake of not putting enough space in mine and they wouldn't fit together. had to take them apart and redo them. :(

next, put them together with glue dots. start with the bigger ones and the little circle piece goes in the center. BEAUTIFUL! 

you can use any kind of paper for this really. ive seen it done with old maps and i think that looks really cool. :D if anyone tries this project on their own, please show me! i would love to see. :]

gifts from the heart

today my very good friend Kristin turn 18! :D note:
KRISTIN, IF YOU'RE READING THIS BEFORE YOUR PARTY SATURDAY NIGHT, STOP! DON'T SPOIL THE SURPRISE!!!!

ok well, you might remember in the months of september, i vowed to NOT SPEND ANY MONEY for a whole month. well, last month i went a little overboard and i think another swearing off spending is in order for the month of february. although its only 4 days into this month and i've already spent $30 in korean stickers- more on that later- and a bottle of nail polish and floral wire.. ok ill just stop there. EEPS! :-S  well this project cost me NOTHING! :) but its from the heart and it turned out super cute so i know she'll love it. ;) the only thing i spent money on was that i got her a disposable camera to go with it. $3.50. i can live with that.

*clears throat* okie dokie then. well TRYING to be frugal,  here's what i made, a photo album, posing with one of the cute handmade owls that the lovely Brina gave me in the Surprise Ball Gift Swap a while back. <3

cute, right?  want to make one? well here's how! :D
Materials:

1. cardboard
2. fabric
3. fabric glue
4. ribbon
5. eyelets and eyelet tool
6. clear plastic page protectors
7. scrapbook paper
8. sewing machine / needle + thread + patience 
9. scrapbook paper

optional for decoration:

1. fabric paint
2. felt
3. small beads
4. embroidery thread

ok so first thing, cut your cardboard. (i got my cardboard from the packaging insert from a calander - $0)

the back cover is 5 X 8 inches, and the front is two parts so it has a hinge. the larger part is 5 X 6 1/2 and the smaller part is 5 X 1 inch. i poked 3 holes in the small part, and 3 holes in the back cover. make sure they line up!

next, chose your fabric. i chose solid pink with a striped pattern on the inside. the fabric for the outer cover should be roughly 8 X 9 1/2. just as long as you have enough to fold over, really. i cut the fabric for my inner cover the same size as the cardboard, 5 X 8. for the inner fabric, cut out the corners, pin about a half inch inside, iron and sew. (fabric scraps i had laying around for over a year - $0)

yeah, i know it's crooked. i eyeballed this project. i wasnt exact on everything. :]

ok so now you have your covers (front and back, inside and outside) all cut out. time to make 'em pretty! :D

you can do whatever you want for this step, but i chose to use felt and spell out PICS with beaded and embroidered detail. these are all things i had on hand. $0. booyah.

cute cute cute.

i embellished the inner covers with a little fabric paint. i taped off sections and brushed over it with gold fabric paint. i tried one with stripes and one with zig zags. i liked the zig zags  :]

next,  spread fabric glue all along the cardboard out to the edges. place the cardboard on the fabric, centered. make sure when you glue on the front cardboard (the two pieces)that the gap between then is 1/2 inch, so together they are as long as the back cover, 8 inches. and keep in mind that you'll need to glue the 1 inch cardboard to your left side, since you're glueing it to the wrong side. so once you turn it over it'll be on the right.. i know that should go without saying, but hey, its something i would do. :-P

 now cut the corners out of the outer cover fabric and glue the flaps in.

   now cut the corners out of the outer cover fabric and glue the flaps in.

 next, glue on the inner covers. i shifted mine over so it would be easier to poke holes through the pink fabric for the binding.

now you'll need to add the eyelets for the binding. this part was tricky. just make sure you make your holes big enough to put the eyelets through where they won't get tangled in the fibers of the fabric.

the way eyelets work is this: they come with a little shaped piece of metal, and another one that's a little longer. you put your eyelet between them and hit it with a hammer. the two pieces bend the back of the eyelet down and hold it into place. if that doesn't make sense, there are instructions on the package of eyelets. and they're cheap. like $2.50 for a 24 pack with the special metal pieces included.

well, your cover is DONE! :D mine got a little warped and wrinkly.. :( so sad.

now for the inside. cause it's what's inside that counts, right? riight?

for this part i took regular page protectors and cut them down to 5 X 8 inches.

now stitch up the bottom and right side. make sure you leave the top open so you can slide in paper and pictures. the left side won't matter because it will be bound with ribbon at the end.

i decorated the edges of some of the page protectors with sharpie and stamps. (if you use stamps, make sure you use the Stayzon brand. other brands won't dry on the plastic and will just smear. ew.)

i also added a few random pages of paper and magazine pictures so my friend can journal on them.

now the binding part is rather tedious, but don't give up now, you're so close! :D

the hole punch i had didn't punch a clean hole through the plastic. it more like, popped it? so i had to add each page one by one and kind of struggle with it. but it was worth it. :] tie ribbons in bows and finish ends with fray-stop or clear nail polish. cute, right?

 what it looks like with photos. this is one of a good friend of mine with my kitty when she was a baby. *aaaw she was so cuuuuute!!!*

 a journaling page

another journaling page

warning: this project is likely to make your room look like this!

gaaaah! D:

wasn't that fun? gift wrap and card tutorial coming tomorrow! ;) stick around.