crafts

+ & –

by Lara on December 14, 2010

in + & -

  • The bf will indeed be in town for New Years Eve so, I took matters into my own hands and made reservations at Acacia. We’ve wanted to go for so long and they’re doing a 4-course dinner for NYE. It was voted restaurant of the year in March. I. Cannot. Wait. Now, what to wear?!
  • This is an oil painting! Click here and here for more! By Korean artist Kwang-ho Lee.

  • Super easy and inexpensive Christmas ornament tutorial. My mom and I used to make these when I was a kid and the varieties are endless.

  • Okay, this just cracks me up… especially when Oprah starts strutting.

(for you Jen!)

{ 7 comments }

+ & –

by Lara on December 1, 2010

in + & -

  • Thanksgiving weekend is OVER!!! The bf was gone TG morning until Saturday night. I had to be at my parents’ house on Thursday & Friday anyhow. My dad went hunting, mom and I watched the dog show, and I cooked all day. We all had a quiet dinner together and I went home and decorated my apartment.
  • Color Splash w/ David Bromstad made the cutest wonky trees on HGTV. The bf and I really wanted to make them ourselves but had no idea where to get the huge birch trunks. He drilled holes in the top half of the wood and then snipped off branches from an artificial tree and made his own! He put fuzzy white garland in clumps on the branches to look like snow! They’re so whimsical and Dr. Seuss-ey! This was the best pic I could find.

  • Hello cute and easy Christmas wreath! Click here for the tutorial.

  • I’m almost done with Christmas shopping! The last few things are easy to get online and 2 stores right next to one another at the last minute.
  • Oh. My. God. Jean-Charles de Castelbajac Bambi pumps.

  • Our pet Toki the rat passed away on Thanksgiving. The night before, I thought something was wrong with him. He was having trouble lifting his head to drink water and was sleeping by the water bottle, when usually he curls up with his brother Barnaby. On Thursday morning, I checked on him before I left for my parents’ house. I held him and he let me. He was never the cuddly one. He seemed lifeless. I came home that evening and he was curled up dead. He’s now in the freezer until we can properly bury him. I don’t know what happened and there wasn’t much I could do. Rats can live up to 3 years and he was a little over 1 year old. The bf is taking it kinda hard since he never really had pets as a child. I’ve gone through so many, I feel a little disconnected from it all but, it’s still sad of course. I feel bad for Barnaby having to live the rest of his life out alone. We’re spoiling him rotten.
  • I haven’t been able to comment on WordPress blogs for a couple weeks now. No clue what’s going on. I use Firefox and have made sure 3rd party cookies are enabled, logged out and tried to comment etc. When I try to comment the same thing twice, it says that I already said that so… the comments are obviously registering somewhere and disappearing. Anyone know what’s up?
  • This is insane to me: In Entitlement America, The Head Of A Household Of Four Making Minimum Wage Has More Disposable Income Than A Family Making $60,000 A Year

{ 4 comments }

easy chocolate fudge

by Lara on November 29, 2010

in crafty

Fudge at a candy store sells for at least $8 a pound. This is a super easy & inexpensive recipe that just requires just a bit of stirring and makes 3 pounds!

I like making this around Christmas. I can fill a few small tins from the dollar store and those random gifts for your neighbors, coworkers, etc are covered!

Here’s what you need:

13″ x 9″ glass baking dish (glass since you will cut the fudge in the pan)

medium sized pot

wooden spoon or heat safe spatula

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 sticks of butter or margarine (margarine has a longer shelf life, if you’re making this a week or so in advance)
  • 5oz can evaporated milk
  • 12oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips
  • 7oz jar of marshmallow creme
  • 1+ cup of nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, black walnuts, hazelnuts… it’s up to you – if you want to sprinkle some on top of your finished fudge, get a bit more.) Or, leave the nuts out! You can get creative with toppings after it’s in the pan, like butterscotch chips, mini marshmallows, coconut flake, etc.
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease your glass pan with butter. Set aside.

Add the sugar, milk and butter into a pot and bring to a boil. STIR FOR 5 MINUTES while boiling. Set your timer and just stir like a zombie. (This set time eliminates candy thermometers and all that mess.)

Take off the heat and add marshmallow creme, morsels, nuts and vanilla. Stir some more, until it’s a consistent rich brown with no marshmallow swirls.

Dump and spread out into your glass pan. You can add some more nuts to the top if you like, while it’s still hot.

Yup, I just made this!

Let cool completely. Get a sharp knife, a bowl of hot water and a towel. Slice in 1 to 2″ squares, cleaning your knife off after each slice for clean cuts.

Line tins with plastic wrap or wax paper, and add wrap between layers.

You’re done!

Also check out my pound cake and apple pie recipes!

{ 6 comments }

felt and fleece flower pins

by Lara on November 8, 2010

in crafty,fashion

There’s something about longer nights that makes me want to get crafty. Cozied up on the sofa, I can keep myself busy for the holidays. I’m officially obsessed with felt and fleece right now. I doesn’t unravel or need to be hemmed. You just cut and minimally stitch and it doesn’t make too much of a mess.

In my last post about the Fossil catalog, I showed this 5″ yellow felt flower pin, selling for $15.

How easy would that be to make? Well, let me tell you, it was REALLY EASY!

I went to Hancock Fabrics and checked out their felt. The cheap 9″x12″ sheets weren’t going to cut it for this project. I bought the heavier stuff sold by the yard. I think it was about $4 a yard on sale but 1/2 yard will make a TON. They didn’t have all the colors I wanted in felt so I looked at the fleece. I bought a 1/2 yard in yellow and found two remnant pieces in black and dark grey for dirt cheap. Fleece is more limp and floppy than sturdy felt so keep that in mind.

I traced around various containers I had with tailors chalk and made 7 circles in felt. (Cut 5-6 in fleece for this style since it’s so thick.) Some I had to trim down freehand since I didn’t have the perfect sizes. I then cut the petals on each circle. To get the pom pom effect for the top two circles, I pulled some thread through the centers and bunched them a bit and secured with a few stitches on the underside. Then I pulled the thread through the centers of the rest, made a few extra stitches and secured them with a knot. Sew on a pin back  closer to the top (so it won’t flop over) and you’re done!

I saw these curved petal flowers online and tried them out with floppy fleece, with a gem button sewn in the middle.

I cut 5 circles in fleece (6-7 in felt) out like the one above and then cut the petals freehand, sewed the button to the top circle and stitched through the rest. Add a pin back higher up and that’s it! This one took a bit longer since the petals required more work. I still managed to make both in about 1.5 hours, farting around and taking my time.

I think a set of grey, black and yellow would make a nice gift and would look awesome grouped together on a coat lapel or cardigan!

{ 9 comments }

chipmunk glove plushie

by Lara on November 6, 2010

in crafty

I finally made him! I got a pair of cheap gloves for $1.40 and had everything else on hand. It took maybe a total of 2 hours, stretched over 2 days.

Bigger instructions are here.

Then, I discovered that the lil’ munk came from this book, another one of those awesome Japanese crafting books!

There’s also this book by the same author:

{ 3 comments }

+ & –

by Lara on November 4, 2010

in + & -

  • This home is pretty much killing me. I could do without all the stacks of books and small old paintings everywhere but other than that, I’m in love! Click here for the gallery of pics. Check out the coral in the fireplace!

  • I’ve never painted with oils before but these paintings by Theo Altenberg are tempting me to experiment with their depth and richness (via)

wow wow wow

  • This will be my 2nd and last mention of the Lanvin for H&M collection (in stores November 23). Totally out of my price range (skirts will retail between $150-$200) and a bit underwhelming for all the hype, but if I could have any piece in the entire collection, it would be this skirt (also in black).

view the entire collection here

  • Did you watch the first episode of The Walking Dead on Halloween night? If you like zombies, you will love this new series! Get caught up for this Sunday and watch it here.

  • Since late Sunday night, the bf has been dealing with kidney stones. Well, we think it’s kidney stones after a ton of symptom research online. I’m exhausted.
  • I simply cannot exercise. I don’t get that energetic rush after I’m done. I feel like achy crap the next day. I hate hate hate it. I do like Slim Fast meal replacement bars for breakfast and lunch though. That seems to be doing the trick for getting my ass back in shape.

(via)

{ 7 comments }

easy felt bird ornaments

by Lara on November 3, 2010

in crafty

This project was inspired by these felt bird ornaments from Purl Soho.

purchase kit here

The complete kit costs $45 + shipping to make 16 of these wool felt bird ornaments. You do all of the cutting.

OR you can spend less than $5 to make 14 like I did.

Mine are less detailed with less sewing and are made from STIFF polyester glitter felt instead of wool.

I made my stencil on cardstock.

At a craft store, I purchased 2 pieces of stiff 9″x12″ glimmer felt in white for the body and 1 piece in red for the wings (about $1 per sheet).

My birds are 4 3/4″wide. The glitter is only on one side of the felt so, on the back side, I traced out 14 birds with one side of the body stencil and then 14 on the other sheet of white, flipping the stencil over so the plain sides will face one another. Same with the wings. There was plenty of red left to do the hearts freehand.

Trace your pieces closely together to get as many as you can out of the felt. Cut INSIDE the traced ink line to keep them tidy and if they don’t match exactly when you put the 2 body pieces together, just trim them up a bit.

The felt is so stiff that sewing isn’t necessary. I only sewed the wings on because I wanted a wee bit of rustic stitching, keeping knots behind the wings. That’s enough to keep them together. You can bend the wings outward. Fabric glue would work fine too and would be a lot easier. I glued the heart between the beaks.

You can get one of those 99-cent rolls of narrow ribbon and glue the ends of loops in their middles to hang.

You could make a mobile out them, string them up as a garland, attach them to a wreath, etc. You can also change the colorway to suit your decor. I’m doing apple green and dark green too. Six to a dozen in a box would make a nice gift. It took me about 2 hours to cut all the pieces out. They’re easy to do on a boring evening but work over a garbage bag since glitter will get all over the place! :)

Of course, you can also use the softer felt and stitch them with embroidery floss just like the Purl Soho birds. At 25-cents a sheet of the softer polyester felt, you still can’t beat the price!

So… there you go!

*****************

UPDATED TO ADD:

SUPPLY LIST to make 14-

  • card stock to make stencil
  • 2 sheets stiff white glimmer felt ($2)
  • 1 sheet stiff felt in your color choice ($1)
  • 1 roll of narrow ribbon ($1)
  • scissors (on hand)
  • pen that will write on felt (on hand)
  • fabric glue (a small bottle is $1)
  • needle and white thread (triple your thread or use embroidery floss)
  • check for any other embellishments you might like to add like stick-on foam gems, snowflakes, bells, etc.

{ 6 comments }

+ & –

by Lara on October 19, 2010

in + & -

  • Entangled by Kate MacDowell – check out her site for more amazing porcelain pieces! (via)

  • Huge list of jewelry diy ideas.
  • The wedding is over, I’m unpacked, finally well-fed and well-rested! Happy cat!

  • I want to make this lil chippy munk!! (via)

  • This post about hobbies you kid yourself into thinking you’re going to take on cracked me up. I love crafts (despise scrapbooking though) and I have bought the basics for just about every craft hobby out there. Sewing, painting, drawing, cupcakery, knitting, embroidery, silk screening, sticker making, jewelry making, decoupage, you name it. Sometimes you have to be honest with yourself though, and narrow it down to a few things you really love to do and clean out the rest. I just packed up a grocery bag of my knitting supplies to give away. All I ever managed to complete were scarves. I simply don’t have the time or desire to ever knit again, when I have plenty of scarves already and can buy one for $10.

  • I’ve been having an ongoing debate with the bf about rape scenes in movies. I simply cannot watch them. I get a physical reaction – disgust, rage, an angry trembling in my core. We watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo recently. I can handle violence in movies but the rape scene was one of the most brutal I’ve seen. But she got revenge!! I don’t care. I have been feeling for a long time that these revenge flicks are just an excuse to have the rape scene. Rich Juzwiak just wrote this. He’s feeling my skepticism as well.

I Spit On Your Grave, in both its 1978 and 2010 incarnations, is a horror film with a deceptively simple premise: a woman named Jennifer Hills retreats to a house in the middle of nowhere all by herself, is sniffed out and raped by locals and then exacts murderous revenge on them. I say that it’s deceptively simple, because what sounds cut and dry has been the fodder for 32 years of debate — is the film merely an excuse to depict a prolonged and brutal group rape sequence with tit-for-tat redemption thrown in to obscure the exploitation, or is it a feminist statement of the enduring strength of woman?

{ 5 comments }

+ & –

by Lara on September 22, 2010

in + & -

  • I really like this scarf concept by Symmetry which consists of doubled up wool fabric, 6 grommets and what looks like a 20″ length of chain with toggles at the ends. The scarves are selling for $200 at Richmond’s own Need Supply but I’m not a fan of the price or the fabric choices. This would be a great DIY project! It looks like they’re long wide rectangles (measurements?) with the grommets at each corner and at the centers of the longer edges.

  • This post about t-shirts that glorify sleeping with/raping wasted drunk women pissed me off so badly. I left a comment on the site showing the first tee and I filed 3 formal complaints with and started a discussion on Amazon for the second tee. I’m hoping Amazon will quit allowing their Marketplace sellers use of the site to peddle garbage. What the hell is wrong with people?! I am all for freedom of speech. I’m also for the good old-fashioned boycott.
  • Topshop? Am I missing something here?
  • Hoodies. There has been a bit of talk about the horror of hoodies lately. There comes a time in every woman’s life where she’s dressing herself for a casual Fall day and instead of reaching for the beat up hoodie, she grabs the blazer or cute jacket instead. I just cleaned out my closet again and got rid of about 10. Ten hoodies. I’m still hanging onto a few for those days where I just don’t give a damn.

  • Super serious talk – my mom got her first bedsore. Considering she has been bedridden for over a decade, it’s a miracle that it’s taken this long. I called her nurse practitioner who came over, who then sent over a wonderful wound care specialist who will be coming a few times a week to help me until this is cleared up. I cried in front of both of them. There is so much guilt involved with being someone’s caregiver. I was reassured of the good job I’ve been doing, was given 2 long hours of great advice, and I now have access to professional supplies and techniques that are going to fix everything. She’s going to have to get a special bed to prevent this from happening in the future. I’m also having to step up my game on being a hardass with her getting a ton of protein to help the healing process. She’s having to stomach crappy tasting protein shakes and just generally eat more when she’s not hungry. I’ve also had a huge talk with my dad about what he needs to do in the evenings and on weekends. He’s being surprisingly receptive. Honestly, it was his casual attitude combined with my mom’s stubbornness when I’m gone that caused this crap. They’re both on notice.

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+ & –

by Lara on September 13, 2010

in + & -

  • Interesting article on what happened when homeless people were given pre-paid credit cards.
  • Adorable Andrea from green tea moved to Bhutan 3 weeks ago for a dream job. Follow along on her adventures! It’s all pretty amazing!
  • You know what I miss? Being a tomboy! I miss the hell out of being 12 years old, having my mom take me to the army surplus store for camo shorts and bumming around in beat up Pearl Jam t-shirts and Chuck Taylors. My shorts had a ton of pockets. I hardly carried a purse. I was a drawing machine. I loved fashion magazines but looked at it more as art than something to emulate. I had a cute dyed burgundy bob, talked on the phone too much, rode my bmx bike around the neighborhood, played Tetris ’til my thumbs were sore and only worried about getting grounded.

  • Phil lives in Richmond. I met him once through a mutual friend. Phil got his girlfriend a super romantic birthday present! Go Phil!

  • Keeping up with all the shows at NYFW is exhausting!
  • I am already thinking about Christmas shopping. No seriously. I started a list of ideas. Unreal.
  • So I tried lip stain. I gave the Maybelline Color Sensational AND the Revlon Just Bitten + Balm a shot. It’s Maybelline all the way and that’s with reservations. They both have the magic marker style applicator but the Revlon was less sharp and not as precise, it went on unevenly and didn’t have the nice scent/flavor. The balm was awkward, sticks up too high and isn’t adjustable. Either way, lip stain is strange and takes a bit to get used to. It’s not something you put on casually like gloss. You have to reapply until you get it just right and your lips have to be in super soft condition and completely dry before applying or it looks bad. I recommend it if you want some back-up color under your lipstick or colored gloss when that wears off. Also, stick with the lightest colors. They’re easiest.
  • The list of things I want to get to make all the DIY projects I have in my brain… it’s all getting overwhelming and expensive. I want to make that leather belt. I want to make that chain bib necklace. There’s another necklace. I’m still on the hunt for the perfectly large rhinestone brooch for another necklace I made (think I’ll have to wait until x-mas and the department stores get flooded with them). I want to make nonsense with felt. I have a vintage baby alligator purse that needs a new strap and I’m trying to find the perfect one. I’m brainstorming metal clay ideas in my sleep. I would love to knit a giant circle scarf… oh lord make it stop!
  • So, I switched to a new type of BC pill last month and well… my period didn’t start. TMI? Whatever. It was terrifying. I NEVER forget my pill (well maybe twice in my entire life) and take it at the exact same time every day. I looked online in a panic and apparently Loestrin 24 is notorious for this so I feel better but it still kinda freaks me out. Sometimes, I hate all the crap that comes with being a woman.

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