Handmade Holidays: Crafting for the men in your life

Ok, so, I am really terrible at choosing presents for men.  It's so difficult!  I never know what they want and anything I make is usually a little girly.

Here are a few things that have helped me give my xmas gifts this year!

Crocheting:

 It gets chilly everywhere and everyone needs scarves and other warm items.  This year I made a scarf for my gentleman caller and a pair of fingerless gloves for my friend Ross.

Sub-zero Men's scarf (pattern and name courtesy of my friend Mary)

Supplies:

2 skeins of soft yarn in main color (I like Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand)  I chose a deep navy blue
1 skein of the same yarn in a contrasting color, I chose a charcoal gray
Size I crochet hook

Now, the trick to making men's accessories is keeping them simple and in a tight knit.  This scarf is all single crochet, easy peasy!  Start by making a chain as long as you want your scarf, mine was 300 chains long, with your base color. 

              Row 1: Single crochet into the second loop on the hook and in every chain across.  Chain 1.
              Row 2:  Single crochet into the second loop on the hook and in every chain across.  At the last loop do not pull your yarn through the last two loops.  At this point, take your second yarn and leaving a 1 in. tail pull it through the last two loops of the 2nd row.  Chain one (with the 2nd color.)
               Row 3:  Clip your first color so it also has a 1 inch tail.  Hold the tails again your second row and single crochet into the 2nd loop from the hook, around the tails.  This sounds complicated, but this is how you change colors and keep them from falling apart.  The new crochet holds the tails in tightly.  Continue to crochet in every loop.
                Row 4:  Chain 1.  Single crochet into the second loop on the hook and in every chain across.  Change colors again
    
Continue this pattern until the scarf is as thick as you want it.  Add fringe by cutting 6 in. strips of yarn and tying them to either end.

Fingerless gloves

Supplies:

Same as above, 2 colors of your favorite soft yarn, 1 skein each
Size I crochet hook
Darning needle

These get tricky depending on the size of the man's hand.  Luckily I have some rockin' students who let me measure this on their hands.  I chained 40 + 1 (for turning) and then single crocheted into the second chain from the hook with my base color (I used charcoal gray.)  Continue until you have about 20 rows, using your second color, add one more row to finish it off (I used navy blue.)  Now, you should have a large rectangle.  Fold it in half  vertically.  Thread your darning needle with your primary color and start sewing along the edge from the top of the glove (the 2nd color should be on top.)  Only sew about 1 in.  Now, skip an inch (leave it open...I just wove my thread into one side of the glove so I didn't have to knot and re thread.)  Once you leave the 1 in. gap, sew the edge shut all the way to the bottom.  Ta da!  The gap is the space for the thumb and the glove should come across his knuckles.  Perfect for use with an Iphone!


Food:

I always make my dad food for his birthday and Christmas.  He loves my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and additionally loves my cashew bark.  These are really simple.

Cashew Bark

Supplies:
Melting chocolate (I buy this at candy shops, probably about a pound)
Cashews
Baking sheet
Microwave safe bowl
Spoon
Parchment paper

Pour your chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until completely melted.  Lay your parchment paper on a baking sheet.  Arrange cashews in small circular shapes (lay as flat as possible, don't make mounds.) about 2 inches apart.

Spoon teaspoons of chocolate over the cashews.  These should look like cookies, the chocolate will cover the cashews and melt around the shapes.  make them about 3 inches big.  Pop these in the fridge until they are nice and hard.  Peel them off the parchment (best stuff ever...no clean up!) and put them into a box lined with tissue paper.  You can also make these with other nuts (almonds, pecans, peanuts) if that's what the man in your life prefers!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups flour
1 bag of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream the butter and peanut butter together.  Add the sugars and mix well.  Stir in the eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda.  Stir well.  Add the flour 1 cup at a time.  Mix thoroughly.  Stir in your chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoon fulls on a baking sheet (line with parchment paper for easy clean up!)  And bake for 8-10 min.

Once done, slide onto a cooling rack.  Package these up nice and pretty for a fabulous treat!


Other crafts:

Lego Belt

I found this online, I think I might make it for my brother next year.  So cute!  See the caption below for the blog link.  Craft-O-Maniac is such a great blog!

http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/2011/03/lego-belts.html

                

Homemade Holiday Gifts: Button Barettes

I have really short hair and the only thing I can do to jazz it up is to wear fun hair clips. This post is kind of a rip off on my Button Earrings but it's fun to have options for crafting, right?

Button Barettes

Supplies:

Your choice of bobby pins
Cute buttons
Glue
   -I like E-6000 or Amazing Goop

Sort through your buttons and find some small, flat-backed ones that you like.  I used some of my stragglers from my last project and stacked different size buttons make different designs.  To glue your buttons together put a little glue on either side of the objects and let the glue set for about 1 min.  Press the buttons together and let them harden for a few minutes.

Grab your bobby pins and choose the ones you want to use.  I like the small 1.5 in. ones in the blonde shade. 




The blonde just looks so much better in my hair!

Take your buttons and squeeze a little glue on the top of the bobby pin, where you want the button to be placed.  Add some glue to the back of your button and let the glue set for a minute or two.  Press the button onto the bobby pin.  Presto!  Cute hair clips in 5 min. or less.  Let the glue set for 24 hrs. before wearing (you don't want to get any of the glue in your hair!)

These would be great accessories for holiday parties

If you're gifting these cut an index card in half and decorate it.  Make two small, vertical slits in the center with an X-acto knife and slip the barrettes on!

Try mixing it up and adding rhinestones or glitter.  Or, if you want different colors, try spray painting your clips different colors before adding the buttons.

Homemade Holiday Gifts: Nightmare Before Christmas Earrings

Got a quirky friend on your giftlist that likes Halloween more than Christmas?  I created these fun earrings that would be perfect for her!  These aren't anything from the film "The Nightmare Before Christmas" but when I finished them they seemed as though they'd fit in perfectly in the costume department of that film!

As you've heard before my mother is a collector of many crazy things.  She sent me a bag of diary keys recently that she had found at a garage sale.  Remember those tiny little metal keys you had for your middle-school diary?  I have about 15 of them now!

Nightmare Before Christmas Earrings

Supplies:

Two matching diary keys, about 1 in. long
Mod Podge
Black glitter
Two dangly earring blanks
4 jump rings
Needlenose pliers
Paint brush
Disposable cup

At least these keys will be good for something...they didn't do much for those diaries. 
My brother found out he could break into mine with a bobby pin!

Lay the diary keys out on your work surface.  Pour some Mod Podge into your cup, slowly add your glitter, stirring with the paint brush.  Keep adding glitter until it is a very glittery consistency.

Dip your brush into the glittery mod Podge and paint a thin layer over the top of your key.  Keep it thin or else it will clump.  Do the same to the other.  I poured a little dry glitter on top because I was impatient to finish these!  Let the first layer dry for about 20 min and repeat.  It should take about 3 layers of glitter to get the key completely coated.

Let them dry for 1 hr. and then flip them over and repeat on the other side.  Let dry for another 20 min. and coat with a thin layer of plain Mod Podge.

Let these dry for about 30 more minutes (they shouldn't be tacky) before assembling the earrings.

Open one jumpring with your pliers.  Loop it through the hole in the top of the key.  Loop another jumpring into it and close up the jumpring.  Take your dangly earring blank and open the loop at the bottom.  Link it through thr top jump ring and squeeze the loop shut with your pliers.

Slightly creepy but still pretty fancy!

These one of a kind earrings will be a hit!  Try using different colors of glitter if black isn't your recepients style!

Homemade Holiday Gifts: Egg Carton Jewelry Holder

I went to visit my fabulous cousin, Sharon, this weekend.  She is similar to me in her DIY efforts and we always have such a good time together.  She showed me one of her quick and easy projects...something we all might have made in elementary school but kicked up a notch!

Egg Carton Jewelry Holder
Supplies:

Empty cardboard egg carton
Spray paint

Cardboard egg cartons work best for this project.  Take your empty egg carton and cut the top off.  You'll just use the bottom of the carton for this.



My cousin could have a career in hand modeling

Take your egg carton to a well ventilated area and spray it with your favorite color of spray paint.  Let it dry for at least an hour.  If you're so inclined, fancify it with some glitter or rhinestones (this addition would be perfect for a tween or teen girl gift!)

My cousin painted this one silver

The cups are perfect for earrings, brooches, charms or necklaces.  The tall dividers work perfectly to hold your rings.  Need more jewelry to fill this?  Try my Button Earrings


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Homemade Holiday Gifts: Cat Toys

Don't forget to make some gifts for your feline friends!I love to give catnip filled toys to my friends who have cats, it's a fun way to include their whole family.

Crocheted Catnip Octopus

supplies:

- Any color of yarn you want
-Small length of contrasting thread for the eyes
-Small crochet hook, I used size "F"
-Catnip
-Something to put the cat nip in, I used the toe of an old pair of pantyhose (clean!!)
-A darning needle

Using your hook and your main yarn color chain 4 and slip stitch the chain into a loop.  Single crochet (sc) 8 into the loop and slip stitch the first sc into the last. Chain 1 and sc one into each single crochet around, slip stitch together.  For the next 2 rows, sc 2 into each single crochet, slip stitching at the end of each round.

Next, sc into every other stitch, slip stitching at the end of each round.  Continue this pattern until you only have about an inch wide opening at the bottom.  At this time, take a scoop of catnip (about the size of a ping pong ball) and put it into your pantyhose (or whatever you are using) and tie up the end.  Stuff the catnip filled sack into the body of the crochet.  Continue crocheting around single crocheting in every other stitch until the hole is completely closed up.

Once it's closed, it's time to make the legs.  Chain 10.  Skip the first chain from the hook and single crochet into the next 3 chains.  Double crochet into the next 3 chains and triple crochet into the 3 after that.  Slip stitch the leg to the body of the octopus.  Repeat this 8 times.  It will get a little crowded, but they will all fit!

Next, take your length of yarn in the the contrasting color. Using your needle sew two eyes in the top of the octopus.  These don't need to be perfect, it's cuter if they're a little quirky!




Such a cute little guy!

 Don't worry if you make mistakes with this project, chances are, the kitty won't notice!





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Homemade Holiday Gifts: Button Earrings

Happy Holidays!  Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  I get so excited to see all the lights, decorations and eat all the delicious food!  I especially love making gifts for the people I love.  Handmade gifts are always better, and your friends and family will appreciate the time and effort you put into the gift.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite gifts to make over the next few weeks.  Hopefully you will be inspired to make your own gifts as well!

Button Earrings

I happen to have an extremely crafty mother who collects the most random things.  Due to this, I have an extensively large collection of buttons that serve no purpose except to add a bit of vintage awesomeness to my craft projects.

Flat backed buttons make adorable and kitschy earrings.  To make earrings you will need the following:

several pairs of flat backed buttons
        -Try raiding your mother or grandmother's sewing stash.  Vintage buttons are much more intricate and artsy looking than modern ones
        -Go to your local thrift shop and buy shirts and sweaters for their buttons.  They'll only cost a few dollars and you can repurpose the clothes after you cut off the buttons.

Flat backed earring posts
Jewelry Glue
       -I like E-6000 or Amazing Goop

Go through your buttons and sort them, matching up the ones that are the same.




My mom has way too many of these!

Get creative with the design of the earrings.  Stack a smaller button on top of a larger one.  Try different colors, designs, and placements for the buttons.  Try using small, flat backed rhinestones on top.  Once you have the designs put together, use your glue to attach the buttons together.  With the adhesives I've mentioned, it's best to put a little glue on both sides and then let it set for 1-2 min. before attaching them together.  Here are the designs I created.

Don't forget to make a pair of each design!

Once you've glued your buttons together, let them dry for about an hour.  After that, you can attach the earring post to the back.  Let these dry face down so the post doesn't shift.  The earrings should be completely bonded after 24 hours.


If you're giving these as a gift, cut a blank index card in half and draw a pretty design on it with different colored markers or pencils.  Using a pin, poke two holes about an inch apart in the center of the card.  Attach the earrings to the card and wrap them up!

Give these to any of your friends who appreciate sewing or vintage clothing and they'll be a surefire hit!

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Beautiful Darling!

Hello my friends!  It's been awhile since I've posted, I'm sorry to keep you waiting!  Since my last DIY beauty post I've discovered a few new things that I thought I'd mention. 

1.  Lately I've noticed that my hair has been dry, and just not as cute as it could be.  I read somewhere that cider vinegar works well as a hair rinse so I thought I'd try it.  This morning I took a bottle of cider vinegar into the shower and after I rinsed my shampoo out I poured a little bit on my hair.  I worked the vinegar through as though I was shampooing and then rinsed it out.  I smelled strongly like an Easter egg; however, once I rinsed and applied a yummy conditioner the smell went away.  The vinegar worked!  My hair was soft and had no product build up today! I'll probably start using this treatment about once a week.

2.  If your hair is still dry, you can try a quick and cheap deep conditioning treatment.  Spread your favorite conditioner on to wet hair and put a shower cap over your head (I steal these from hotel rooms when I travel.)  Leave the shower cap on for about 10 min. (I do this while I'm cleaning the bathroom) and then rinse.  This is much cheaper than the expensive conditioning treatments at the salon!

3.  Olive Oil.  I've talked about using Olive Oil in my previous post DIY Beauty; however, I just keep finding new uses for it.  Add 2-3 tablespoons to a hot bath and grab your Lucky magazine for a nice soak!  The Olive Oil leaves your skin moist (and it smells delicious!)  Just be careful, it might make your tub a little slippery.

4.  Coffee grounds.  Again, I am a coffee addict.  I have been known to mix some used coffee grounds with some olive oil and use it as a body scrub.  Apparently the caffeine in it is also good for reducing cellulite. 

5.  Lemon juice.  My friend always teases me because whenever we're at restaurants I squeeze a little lemon juice on my hand from the wedge in my water.  Lemon is a natural cleanser so if you ever don't have a chance to wash your hands or have hand sanitizer, a little squirt of lemon will work, and it smells yummy!

Hopefully you enjoy my second round of DIY beauty tips.  If you have any of your own, please feel free to share!

Color Me Happy!

I've been seeing two things this season in magazines that I've been very excited about.  Colorblocking and captoe pumps.  Now, the modern woman has no real need for a traditional captoe shoe...steel toes won't help me out too much dealing with college students all day.  However, they are rather cute and of course, I always love me some color!

I found an old pair of ugly brown heels while cleaning out my closet the other day and inspiration struck.  Why not upcycle them using my two new favorite trends?




I had some bad taste in shoes for awhile...


Colorblock Captoe Pumps

Materials:
Shoes-plain solid color works best
Spray paint in your color of choice-I used Krylon Short Cuts
Masking tape
plastic grocery bags


First you need to decide where you want  your color to go.  My shoes had a bow on the toe, so I taped off about a 2 in. section in front of the bow, on the tip of the toe.  I wrapped tape around the sole as well to protect it from paint.  I then cut up a plastic grocery bag and taped it around the rest of the shoe to protect it.


Plastic grocery bags are a cheap way to protect your work surface too





Find a well-ventilated place to spray your shoes.  Shake your can of spray paint thoroughly.  Then spray one coat of paint on the shoes in long strokes, being careful not too close (hold the can about 10-12in. away.)  Once the first coat is dry to touch (about 30min.) spray a second coat, making sure to hit any spots you may have missed.

Let the shoes dry for at least 30min. before taking the tape off.  Let them dry overnight before wearing them.



Tada!  I used purple paint to add a little pizazz





Customize your own makeup

I believe I've mentioned before that I have quite a fondness for beauty products.  I love makeup, I tend to buy some when I'm in need of a little pick me up.  I realize that I don't wear a lot of makeup, and yet, I still love to buy it and play with it.  Perhaps it's a throw back to my childhood when I loved to play dress-up!

I have two different shades of blush that I absolutely love.  They are vastly different shades of pink; however, they both look great.  I accidentally shattered the remains of both containers (probably because my makeup bag is overflowing) and I've been looking for a way to repurpose them so I don't have to buy new.

I typically wear bronzer underneath my blush for a little extra "glow."  I decided to mix my 2 blushes with some bronzer to see if I could create a fabulous color that would perk up my complexion a little.

One of my shades happened to come in a little box in which I could easily mix my colors.  If you're not that lucky, you could easily find a small lidded container in the travel/trial size section of most stores.  I began by using a spoon to mash the rest of my blush into a powder.  I then scraped the remains of the other blush into the container and mashed and mixed the two.  Then, I took 2 different shades of bronzer (yes, I tend to buy a variety of shades of everything) and mixed them into the 2 blushes.  I found that it was easier to use a small makeup brush to scrape the bronzers into the blush and it made it more powdery and less chunky.  I kept adding a little bronzer at a time until I came up with a color that looked nice on the back of my hand.

Using a chopstick to stir was easier than a spoon

I like it!

In the kitchen with Lindsey 2!

Every Thursday my friend Lindsey and I get together and cook dinner.  Now, of course, we gossip and chit chat and drink wine as well, but the dinner is the main attraction.  This week we decided to make my famous Ritz Cracker Chicken.

Katie's Famous Ritz Cracker Chicken
Ingredients:
1 pkg. boneless, skinless, chicken breast
1 pkg. italian dressing mix (the powedered kind)
2 Tb. (approximately) grated parmesan cheese


Preheat your oven to 350.  Crush about 10 Ritz crackers into a bowl.  I used the bottom of a water glass to crush the crackers very finely.  Add the package of italian dressing mix and the 2 Tb. of parmesan cheese.  Mix together well.  Dip the chicken breast into the mixture until it's completely coated.

 This stuff is amazing!

Place the chicken breasts on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 min. at 350 degrees.  Take the chicken out and flip it over.  Bake for 10 more minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked (not pink in the middle.)

Should be a lovely golden brown

This is a great breaded chicken that can be served with spaghetti and marinara or with some veggies.  Lindsey and I ate it tonight with edamame (frozen, from Kroger.)

Dee-lish!

Coffee Talk

Most of you know that I am addicted to coffee.  I especially love this time of year when all the fall and winter flavors are offered at the coffee shops.  Really, who doesn't love a delicious Peppermint Mocha?  Unfortunately, I can't necessarily afford to spend $4 on a flavored latte. 

Luckily, my dear friend Laura bought me an espresso maker and milk steamer for Christmas last year so I can make all the lattes at home that I want.  This is a lot cheaper than the local coffee shop and I can personalize my drinks in any way I choose.

The seasonal drink craze got me thinking.  What flavors represent fall and winter the best?  For me, winter always smells like my mother's cinnamon rolls.  I don't actually like to eat these cinnamon rolls; however, they smell amazing and it's not Christmas without them.  These particular rolls are a Finnish family recipe called Nisua.  Not only do they have cinnamon sugar in them, but they have cardamom and a drizzle of vanilla icing.  The cardamom is what gives them that particular "Christmas-y" smell for me.  I decided to try to create a coffee drink that embodies all the qualities of Nisua. 

Cardamom is hard to find.  I bought mine at Central Market

Nisua Latte Ingredients

Simple Syrup:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
1 T. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cardamom

Latte:
espresso (dark coffee would work too)
1 cup milk
cinnamon

Making your own coffee flavoring is really easy and super cheap.  A basic simple syrup is 1 part water and 1 part white suger.  For my Nisua simple syrup I poured one cup of water and one cup of white sugar in a saucepan.  I stirred the mixture continuously and brought it to a boil.  At this point, I took it off the burner and added 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of cardamom.  The syrup was a golden brown color in the end.  I let the syrup cool then transferred it to a glass bottle using a funnel.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month

Now it's time to put together the latte.  I brewed about 3 oz. of espresso (if you don't have an espresso maker, you can use whatever coffee you choose.)  I poured a small amount of my syrup into the bottom of a mug.

I put a wine pourer into my bottle to facilitate pouring, it also acts as a lid for storage

I then sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon in the mug and swirled it around to mix the syrup and cinammon together.  I then poured my shot of espresson over the syrup and swirled the mug to mix again.  Next, I steamed about 3/4 cup of milk until it was the correct temperature and poured it over the syrup/espresso mixture. 

If you pour your milk so it hits the side of the mug it will mix the drink for you.

Dee-lish!  You can make any variation of this latte, now that you have the basic steps.  Try adding peppermint extract to the syrup instead of vanilla.  You can also add a little chocolate syrup before adding the espresso to make it a mocha instead of a latte.  All in all, this latte probably cost me about $1.  Plus, I could hang out in my jammies to drink it!



These boots are made for walkin'

I love Fall.  I think it is my favorite season.  In Ohio, Fall is absolutely beautiful. Crisp, cool, with spectacular orange and brown colors popping up everywhere.  Texas autumnal weather is not nearly as fabulous.  Still beautiful; however, it's still 80 degrees and sunny.  I'm waiting for the 60 degree scarf weather with bated breath.  Oh well.

Since Fall is upon us I decided to inventory my Fall clothing options.  My favorite pair of boots are brown knee high boots with a short wedge heel.  They go with everything and work for both Fall and Winter.  Unfortunately, the zipper broke on my boots last year.

I took my boots, and several pairs of stilettos (I'm very hard on my heels) to my favorite shoe repair shop.  If you live in the DFW area I highly recommend Texas Boot, Shoe & Saddle Repair on Williams Rd. off Camp Bowie.  These amazing gentlemen are extremely nice and their pricing is fair.  As I showed them my poor, sad, broken boots they told me that they could replace the zipper pull; however, it would be tricky and could result in having to replace the entire zipper...quite expensive.  These fine Texans suggested that I replace the pull myself with a keyring.  How amazingly honest is that?  They were willing to lose my business so I could fix them in a cheaper way.  This is precisely why I continue to take my shoes there.

Anyways, the idea was brilliant!

Materials:
Tin snips (or some other small metal cutter)
2 matching keyrings
Needlenose pliers

First, I had to remove the broken pieces of zipper pull from the zipper.  Using the tin snips, I snipped the zipper pull so I could use my needlenose pliers to remove the pieces from the zipper.

Be careful not to cut the actual zipper piece, this could be a tragedy!

Once I removed both zipper pulls from my boots all I had to do was thread the keyring in to the hole on the zipper.  Easy as pie!

The ring makes a nice, sturdy pull

The best part about this fix is that it makes the boots look very '70's...very in this season

I Love Shoes!

I have been searching for the perfect pair of blue ballet flats to replace a favorite pair of mine that has bit the dust.  I don't seem to have a problem accumulating a lot of red pairs of shoes...but it seems impossible to find cute blue ones.  As I was cleaning out my closet this weekend, I found an old pair of navy suede flats that aren't too disheveled but could use a good spruce. 

Please forgive my photos, I seem to have misplaced my camera and I had to take these photos with my phone.

Flower and ribbon flats

Materials:

Ballet flats
2 strips of fabric approximately 2" x 20"
Coordinating ribbon, approximately 1" wide
Fabric Glue
Scissors

Take 1 strip of your fabric and fold it in half lengthwise.  Iron the fabric so there's a sharp crease.  Do the same to the other fabric strip.  With your scissors make small slits, about 2/3rds of the way down along the folded end of the fabric, about 1/4" wide.

Don't worry about getting your cuts even, it looks cuter if it's messy!

Next, roll your strip with the folded side on top, dabbing a little bit of glue every few turns.

Keep rolling and gluing until you have a tight little bundle. I clipped the glued end with clothespin to let it set

While both of your flowers are drying, take your ribbon and cut it into 2 6" strips.  Fold the ribbon ends under, overlapping, so the top of your ribbon is about 3 inches long.  You can measure this against the top of your shoe and cut it to whatever looks best.  Glue the ribbon so it stays together, I also clipped these with clothespins. 

Once your flower bundles are relatively dry, you can spread the loops out a bit to look more like petals. 

Now, it's supposed to take the fabric glue about 24-hours to dry.  I, of course, am impatient so I decided to put the shoes together and let it dry all together so I didn't have to wait!

Squeeze an inch long glob of glue on the toe of your shoe, wherever you want your decoration to go.  Press the ribbon centered on the shoe.  Squeeze a small dollop of glue in the center of the ribbon and press the flower (the glued, non-loopy side) onto the ribbon.  Place 2 clothespins clipping the ribbon to the shoe on either side of the flower.

Let your shoes dry for at least 24-hours before removing the clothespins. 

Voila!  A cute upcycled pair of flats!



Sweat no more!

Hi friends!  I apologize for the delay in posting, I've been awfully lazy lately.

As many of you know I have been trying to incorporate running into my lifestyle.  I hate running, mainly because I hate sweating.  However, I've been trying the Couch to 5K running program and I've actually been enjoying it.  I'm on week 6 so give me 3 more weeks and I'll be a C25K winner! 

Since I hate sweating so much, I've always wanted one of those fancy schmancy tank tops that wick the sweat away.  They are rather pricey and since I don't want to spend money on something just to get it smelly and dirty, I decided to make one instead.  A few years ago, through work, I was given this polo shirt that's made from the sweat wicking material.   I hate polo shirts and only wear them when I have to.  Since I get a new polo every year, I figure that no one will be upset that I tweaked this one.

Beige polo, uninteresting...

I took a tank top that fits me well and measured how scooped the neckline is and how wide the straps are against the original polo.

My neckline was about 6in. deep

Using my measurements, I marked how low I wanted the neckline to go and how wide I wanted me straps to be.  I then cut around the collar of the shirt and scooped the neckline down to the mark I had made.  I cut the straps the be the width I wanted and extended the armholes out towards the original armholes so I cut off each sleeve completely.  I didn't really make this perfect, I just cut until it looked good.

My neckline scooped down to the last button

To finish, I folded the edges of my cuts under about 1/4" and pinned them in place and stitched them with coordinating thread.  Again, I didn't care too much about making it perfect.  I'm only going to be wearing this shirt for running and sweating so what do I care about perfection?

 The end result

So, it doesn't look fabulous, and it's not a flattering color or shape...but considering I run in grungy, ill-fitting t-shirts right now I'd say this is an improvement.  Hopefully it inspires me to run more!



And a big THANK YOU to Will, my RA who was my photographer this evening.  I doubt any of my students knew they'd be taking pictures while they're working the office!

Upcycled Shoes

As I was looking at a craft store this weekend, I realized that the amount of money I spend on craft supplies each month rivals the amount I spend on clothing.  I have a large amount of supplies already in my stash so I've decided I'm going to challenge myself to use only the supplies I already have in my apartment for the next month.  Hopefully I'll still have cute stuff to post!

So, I love ballet flats.  I wear them almost as often as I wear my heels and they are more comfortable and usually just as cute.  I have a lot of pairs of shoes, but, I still want more!  My favorite pair of shoes are ancient, disheveled, and my mother told me she would disown me if she ever saw me wearing them again (I think she was joking...) 

Yup, these shoes are in a sorry state

I love the pointy toe and these shoes are so comfy.  I decided to forgo buying new shoes and see if I could upcycle these instead.

Upcycled Shoes Materials:

Scissors

Acrylic Paint

Paint brushes

Mod Podge

Fabric Glue

These shoes are fabric covered  and had some spots that had holes.  I trimmed the fabric around the holes and covered the holes with a thin layer of fabric glue to keep the fabric from fraying more.  Then, I painted on my first layer of paint.  Because my shoes were a dark color and I was using white paint for a base color, I ended up painting two layers of my base color.

I was starting to worry these wouldn't turn out

I then took a stencil brush (a round, flat topped paint brush) and started stippling on my second color.  Basically, I wiped a lot of paint off my brush so it wasn't too runny and tapped the flat top of my brush against the shoe. 

I learned a lot from mom in her stenciling days

I kept tapping my brush all over the shoe in a crazy pattern.  I wasn't looking for perfection which made it a lot easier.  I decided halfway through that I didn't like the stark contrast between my top color and my base white color so I decided to smear the paint a little bit with a piece of cloth.  This made it look more like watercolor.

Way cuter than they were!

After I finished painting my top color and let them dry, I painted a thin layer of glossy Mod Podge (don't you love that stuff?) on top to make them shiny.  The acrylic paint made the shoes a little stiffer, but they look more like a faux leather now instead of fabric.  Yet, these are still a lot better than before, and I do believe mom would approve!

In the kitchen with Lindsey!

My friend Lindsey and I have come to the conclusion that we spend way too much money at restaurants.  So, in order to justify my most recent shopping spree at my favorite vintage store, I decided that she and I are going to cook together once a week.  I enjoy cooking, but I'm better at baking.  Cooking regularly might be a challenge!

For our first cooking adventure, we decided to make my favorite enchiladas.  We have dubbed them my magic enchiladas (not sure why, but they are delicious!)

Katie's Magic Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 pkg. boneless skinless chicken breast
Frozen diced onions
1 can of Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies)
1 can of black beans
1 bottle of enchilada sauce (Ortega mild is my fave)
Flour tortillas
Cheddar cheese
Olive Oil

Cut your chicken into 1 in. pieces. 

Lindsey looking fab cutting the chicken!

Pour a little olive oil in the skillet and add about 2 tablespoons of diced onion.  I use the frozen kind, super cheap and lasts forever!  Saute them on medium heat until clear and fragrant.  Add the chicken and saute until no pink remains. 

Add the can of Rotel and stir (this helps de-glaze the pan and gets all the good flavor from the bottom.)  Drain the black beans and add the can as well.  Stir in about 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce.  Let the mixture simmer for 5-10 min. for all the flavors to kind of meld together.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray (or, you could use a little more olive oil.)  Take your flour tortilla and spoon some of the mixture into it.  Not too much, or it will overflow!

It should look something like this

Add some cheddar cheese then roll up the tortilla and place it seam side down in the casserole dish.  Fill the rest of your tortillas and line them up in the dish.  Squish them together if you have to, it's ok if stuff falls out a bit.  Take any of your left over mixture and spoon it on top of all the tortillas.  Drizzle some more enchilada sauce on top and sprinkle as much cheddar cheese as you'd like as well.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15min.  The cheese should be nice and gooey.

Enjoy!

All that Glitters

Ok, so, y'all know that I love things that sparkle.  It's the child in me, I can't help but gravitate towards glittery, fabulous things!  So, when I saw this post on one of my favorite blogs, Pixie in Pumps to read I thought "I have to make those!" 

Materials
Shoes
Sandpaper
Fine glitter in various colors
Mod Podge
Paintbrush
Paper cups

I had these really ugly shoes that I purchased when I got my job in grad school where I actually had to dress professionally.  They were on sale, but are terribly ugly.

Seriously, what was I thinking?

I started by sanding the shoes down a bit, just so the Mod Podge would stick.  Then, I mixed up my glitter to produce my favorite color...turquoise!  I actually used turquoise, silver, and white glitter and came out with this:

Then, I poured Mod Podge into my cup.  I mixed it with my paintbrush and kept adding Mod Podge until it was the consistency of paint.  Don't forget to scrape the bottom or you'll have clumps!

I used  a paintbrush to lightly apply one coat over the entire shoe.  I made a thin layer which seemed to work well.  I ended up applying approximately 4 layers total to each shoe.  It will look funny in the process.

This is what it looked like after 2 coats

I kept applying thin coats until the color was even.  Make sure to let each coat dry in between!  While I was waiting for each coat to dry, I wrapped my paintbrush and covered my cup in plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

After I was satisfied with the coverage I applied two clear coats of Mod Podge, just to make them glossy.  I love how these came out!  They're a little young for me (and, as one of my student workers said, "cute in a tacky '80's way!")

I wore them to work today, possibly not a super-professional choice, but they coordinated well with my outfit!

Close up of my glittery shoes!

Lavender Hair Spritz

After weeks of working long hours, I clearly needed a little vacation; therefore, I decided to take my friend up on her offer to spend the weekend at her boyfriend's ranch in small-town Texas. 

For this suburban girl, a Texas ranch is an interesting, if not scary place to be!  For starters, this lovely princess lived in the room in which I slept:

Who knew mountain lions were so fashionable?

Anyways, at this particular ranch, the family has an in ground saltwater pool.  This is the main reason for our trip...it's been 108 in Texas, pool time is essential!  Many of you know that saltwater can wreak havoc on your hair.  Before I left, I decided to put together a little conditioning spritz that would make my hair smell nice and stay soft after repeated dips in the salty pool.  I read online that lavender is a nice ingredient for various hair and body sprays.  I also happened to buy some dried lavender while visiting my cousin in Austin recently. 

Materials:

2 T. dried lavender buds
Teakettle
Glass measuring cup
Tea Infuser
Your favorite conditioner
Small travel size spray bottle (I bought a pack of 4 bottles in the travel section at Target)

Boil water in your teakettle.  Put approximately 2 tablespoons of lavender into a tea infuser (or whatever else you have to brew loose tea.)  Place the infuser in your glass measuring cup and pour 1 cup of boiling water over the lavender.  Let the lavender steep for about 10 min...there's no exact science!

Let the lavender brew cool until it's just simply warm and pour it into your spray bottle (travel size hairspray bottles work well for this project.)  It should look something like this:

This should be very fragrant of lavender

Now, take your favorite hair conditioner and squeeze a few dollops into the bottle.  I probably used about a tablespoon of conditioner.  Then cap the bottle and shake it until the conditioner blends with the lavender brew.  It will turn a murky gray/lavender color.

Now it's time to label your bottle.  I wrapped some pretty purple packing tape around mine to make it cute. 

Spritz away!

Lindsey and I used this after the pool when our hair was still wet.  It made our hair much softer and less ragged looking from the salt.  Unfortunately, the spray will not prevent all ranch tragedies...

Due to the extreme lack of rain in Texas, the pond on the ranch has dried up.  Our friends had the brilliant idea to walk across the dried up bottom...poor guy got his foot stuck and had to be yanked out.  He lost his Croc in the process (a blessing in disguise if you ask me!)