DIYs: Done

Well, I've made some bracelets from jersey scraps (ignore the scary monster nails)...

I finished a cowl. It's the scrunchable scarf pattern with the ends sewn together.

I refashioned a dress shirt (details on that in another post)...

...and my sister made a shirt with my tutorial! Didn't she do a great job? I used a strip of the fabric to make one of my bracelets. ;) Speaking of that very cool, stripey fabric, it was only $2.39 a yard.

That's all for today, folks. 

(o^__^)o

Earwarmer, a Bracelet, and Angry Birds

I took out the crochet hook and, with a scrap of gray yarn left over from my infinity scarf, made a little earwarmer. 'Course, I ran out of yarn halfway there, so it might only cover half of my ears. I used a size J hook (i crocheted very loosely), even though I was supposed to use size 15 (was the letter... P?), but I lost my super big crochet hook that I carved myself (sounds impressive, but it's not. It's just this ultra big chopstick with a very rough hook and a skinny tapered end. So it looks like a regular chopstick with some funky hook, obviously carved by someone with no experience. I carved it on the carpet on my bedroom floor with a Swiss army knife).

I also made a macrame bracelet. I thought about giving it away, but it's not very good. If I make something worthy enough for you readers I'll give it away.

And finally, my aunt came back from vacation! And she brought us some... angry birds notebooks and pencils! Aren't they cool? Yes, yes, I think so too...

Wrap Bracelet Tutorial

Back-to-basic macrame bracelet. It was supposed to be like a Free People or Chan Luu wrap bracelet, but it doesn't really look like one anyways... oh well. ;)

Materials

~kitchen twine/string

~scissors

Cut 2 very long lengths of string. Mine were approximately 172" long. Fold them both in half and tie a knot about 1/2" down from the top. You now have 2 little loops at the top with 4 strings. Now start macrame-ing.

Here's a lil' picture tutorial. If it's confusing, just look up another tutorial, haha...

Macrame till it's the desired length. Just hold one end and wrap it loosely around your wrist. Mine's approximately 32." When you're done, tie a knot, and then tie a knot over it for the toggle part of your clasp. Dun, dun, dun... No really. You're done.

Have a good weeeeeekeeeeennnndddd..... o(^__^o)

What I Got and I've Been Featured!

I was featured over at Blissful and Domestic! Go check it out!

Also, I won a giveaway over at Alyssa's! I won a little charm that says 'love' on it. Isn't it cute? It just arrived today, so I put it on a ball chain. Maybe I'll attach it to something else later, but for now it's perfect. Go check out Alyssa's blog! It's awesome!

Sorry for the grainy pictures. My ipod camera is terrible.

Vacation Time! 9 Things to do While I'm Gone

So, I'm going on vacation... so to entertain you I'm going to talk about some things so when you read this you won't be completely bored and forget about my blog entirely... ok, so, 9 things to do while I'm gone, one for each day...

1. Visit my guest post at Alyssa's! Link

2. Visit Alyssa's post at my blog! Link

3. Someday Crafts featured me: Link

4. Visit Hannah's blog, where she's hosting Creating Smiles Week. I'll be guest posting on Monday August 8. A'll (that's what i call Alyssa) be there too, and a bunch of other bloggers with tutorials! August 7th-August 13. I'll be looking if I've got wifi. To see what it's all about: Link5. I STILL LOVE COMMENTS! Don't forget that! I might be able to read them at the hotel if there's wifi, and maybe post. :{
6. It's funny, if you guest post, you get WAY more publicity, even if you only have small blogs (like me and A's... though she only has 27 more followers than me... sniff...I'm kidding...sorta...). If you want your blog to get more publicity, guest post! It's really fun, too. :)
7. I knit a beret! For some reason I like to pronounce them like 'barrettes,' like a hair clippy. If you want a pattern, it's really easy:On size us 8 circular needles, CO 76 sts. PM.K2 P2 for 2."*Kf&b, K1* repeat. You should have 115 sts I think. If you want to use a different increase, do this instead: *M1, K2*Next row, evenly increase 5 sts across the row. 120 sts. Work in stockinette stitch (knit every row) till it's about 5." Begin crown decreases:1: *K4, K2tog*2: K3: *K8, K2tog*4: *K7, K2tog*5: K6: *K6, K2tog*You can switch to dpns here, but I just found the middle of the stitches and pulled the wire through, separating the stitches on either side of the needle, like magic loop kind of.7: *k5, k2tog*8: *k4, k2tog*9: k10: *k3, k2tog*11: *K2, k2tog*12: *k1, k2tog*13: *k2tog*Now cut the yarn leaving a tail and thread through remaining stitches. Pull tight and weave in ends. I used Noro silk garden scraps (silk, mohair, lambswool) and some Noro 100% wool scraps.This is loosely based from the pattern blushing beret.

And this is the typical, artsy, hipster pic, with the cool awesome camera... that your sister saved from being thrown away at an e-waste program where people throw away old electronics... Of course, it doesn't have any film, but it's still a super nice camera don't you think? (and who's that gorgeous girl there? oh, it's me... just kidding...)
8. As simple as it may be, I made a necklace! A simple little one that you might see on Etsy--except they probably use quality materials, clasps, etc.
String on the beads.Tie knots at either end so the beads won't slide around.Tie a fisherman's knot so that you have an adjustable necklace, and tie a knot on the ends.
EDIT: added. Another thing for you to do while I'm gone.
9. We made these in advance for some nice dessert/breakfast treats on the road. Black bottom cupcakes!

BBC

Topping: mix together till chunky. The texture for us when we make it is usually chunky and sticks to a spoon when you spoon it into the cake.

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese

1/3 c sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1 c chocolate chips

Cake Part: mix together till smooth.

1 and 1/2 c flour

1 c sugar

1/4 c cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 c coffee (already made)

1/2 c oil

1 T vinegar

Fill cups 1/2 way with batter.

Put 1 Tbsp topping in each. DON'T MIX. Just plop in some topping. It might sink a little, which is fine.

Bake 350 F for 30 minutes.

Makes 18-24 cupcakes. For some reason something went wrong and we got BBM--black bottom muffins. 'Course, if you rearrange the letters--BMB--without the 'o' that would be the 'bomb.'

Our topping for some reason was liquidy, and we used a lot because we had so much. I think itwas the order we mixed the ingredients, because usually they look like this, if not better:

SourceHowever, they still tasted good. Unlike the recipe above, we use coffee in ours. Which usually gives me a caffeine/sugar high, but it's all good...
That's all for today!If you actually listen to the things listed, you'll have 8 9 things to do before I come back. Then you'll just have to wait two one days. ;)See you in 10 days time! :{
o(^__^o)

Happy Belated Father's Day! (and my fisherman's bracelet)

Sorry I didn't say Happy Father's Day on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday; I was a bit busy and only available to complain about swimming. Anyways, what we did was:

1. we went out shopping and driving around at Palo Alto on university avenue

2. we had a delicious home-cooked meal of pulled pork bbq sandwiches

3. gave our daddy our presents.

All in all it was a fun day for me.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! o(^__^o)

Oh and I made a new icord bracelet. I like to think of it as a fisherman's bracelet because of the natural color and the large knot in the center.

I used some thin string/twine and double pointed needles.

What i did was:

CO 3 sts, leaving a long tail, about 5" to tie the bracelet off with.

K the first row.

Now flip the needle around so the sts are at the bottom.

Then slide the sts up to the top so the working yarn (string, whatever) is at the bottom stitch.

(see? the yarn is coming from the bottom stitch)

Now k the row again, bringing the yarn up from the bottom. Now slide the sts to the other end, flip the needle over, and k the row again.

Repeat till the length around your wrist plus a little more. To bind off, just pull the string through the sts and pull tight. Cut the thread about 5."

In the center of the icord, tie a figure eight knot: Make a loop, twist it once, and pull the end through.

To close the bracelet, tie overhand knots on the ends so they don't unravel and use a fisherman's knot for an adjustable bracelet! Tada! You're all done.