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)

Washer Necklace w/ Small Tutorial

I've been working on some projects. It's kinda hard, considering my mom doesn't want me to do crafts or anything until holidays. But I can't wait that long... So I have to ask permission first. Kind of sad.

So here's a finished project: washer necklace! With wrapped wire and beads.

I saw these on craftster first, and then found a ton of other tutorials. I mixed a bunch together. One thing I don't have, unfortunately, is glaze. To make it all nice and... shiny. So I had to use mod podge instead.

All you have to do is get a washed, trace around it on some newspaper (wrapping paper, etc. At first the newspaper piece I cut out said nice words like chocolate, vanilla, caramel... but then they got cut out when I cut out the middle circle. so the only word visible was the word 'nuts,' and for some reason that just didn't appeal to me as much 'gelato' and 'caramel') and then cut the hole out from the middle. Now glue it on your washer with mod podge. When it's dry, put on several coats of mod podge. When dry, get some wire, wrap it around your washer, and string on 2-5 beads. Done! Add ribbon, yarn, hemp, etc. (I got suede cord from my sister, who got it on a package from Lucky.)

Have fun! :)

Glass and Paper Bead Bracelet Tutorial

My new fixation is paper beads. I have drooled on them for awhile (more like one day), and decided to make them. So I made some this morning, but my mom wouldn't let me bring them to school, for fear of poking someone's eye out with the skewer I was using to roll the beads on. I used an old music sheet: Family Guy. Yuck. That, and the fact that it plainly stated I was a third trumpet and not a first, gave me no qualms about cutting up a perfectly good music sheet.

So, you will need some paper (newspaper, book pages, magazine pages, etc.), glue, mod podge (optional), scissors, and something to roll your beads on.

1. Cut out long, skinny triangles. I free handed mine, but they were approximately 1" by 11."

2. Roll the triangles tightly onto your skewer, pencil, toothpick, etc., starting from the widest part.

3. For about the last inch from the tip , use glue to stick the end down and seal the bead.

4. If you have a long wooden skewer, you can leave your beads there and then coat your beads with mod podge or some sort of spray on sealer so that they're shiny.

5. String them on! Make a bracelet with glass beads, clay beads, metal charms--the possibilities are endless. I used green glass beads and embroidery floss and then joined it with a fisherman's joining knot, like so:

I got this pic from this site. Enjoy your new paper beads--I hope you like them as much as I do. :)

Wire and Glass Bead Rings

Over the summer, my sister and I made these rings for our summer school, where you do art and building and writing classes and stuff. One of the classes was jewelry, and you were able to sell the things you make. So we made these rings. I saw the project in a book in the library. I memorized the directions, but now I can't find the book. Oh well.

This is my very first ring:

And this is a plain wire rosette ring:

The rings were a success. We earned about $60. For some odd reason, people didn't want to do custom orders. They'd just choose the prettiest ring, force it onto their finger, and leave, even when I offered to do it to accommodate their horizontally challenged fingers. Some of the rings were pretty small, but for others we modeled them after a giant yellow highlighter, and this seemed to be more popular among customers. This one porky girl came up, grabbed the most elegant ring, jammed it onto her pinkie finger, paid, and left. She came back, and I was worried she'd want to return it or something. I noticed her finger was slightly purple. But instead she just said, "I am a very satisfied customer," and she left. Whatever. Whatever floats your boat, right?

Tutorial

(Sorry the x" is backwards. The camera on the computer takes pics backwards. So that's why the numbers are all wonky, cuz I drew them backwards)

Materials: wire, needle nose pliers, at least five beads (well the weird wired orange peanut-looking one only had one bead, but it was a slightly different design.)

1. Cut a piece of wire, about 18"- 24" long. Measure the circumference of your finger, and mark the measurement on your wire.

2. At the mark, bend the wire at a 90 degree angle. You will have what looks like a straight 7.

3. Now take the long end of the wire and make it into a loop.

4. With the rest of the wire, tightly wrap around the part where you marked the ring. When you're done, bend the wrapped wire around your finger, and tuck the two little ends into the loop and twist together.

5. Cut a piece of wire 10-12" long. Place it through the loop on your ring base and slide a bead on. Weave the wire into the loop.

6. Take the other end of the wire and put a bead on. Weave it through the ring.

7. Repeat till you've run out of beads, or until your finger can't take the weight and you think it may fall off. Wrap any remaining wire around the base of the bobble. Wear. When people ask you where you bought it, tell them you made it. Or that it was $80 at Anthropologie. Either way.