Thursday, December 29, 2011

Red lipstick, Iced coffee, and New Year's resolutions

Part one of my day: I made my twist on "iced coffee." I did something similar in a youth group once, and since then have made it my own. I didn't make coffee, then drink it cold with ice. I did something a bit different.

I used: 1 cup of milk, a lot of ice, a tablespoon of expresso, about 5 shakes of cinnamon, and a lot of chocolate. (I didn't put as much in this time, as we were running low).


And here's the chocolate!



Sometimes I add more or less of some stuff, depending on how my taste buds are feeling that day. =]


It gives me a nice frothy, icey drink with flavors I love. =]


And here I am, sporting red lipstick. I don't think I've ever worn this kind before. I think it goes well with the headband my mom gave me for Christmas.



Part 2 of my day: I finished my New Year's resolutions. Just in time, eh?

Short and sweet

  • Learn a new word a day (either English or other)
  • Try not to buy the same colors in my wardrobe all the time (e.g. black, grey, blue)
  • Treat my hair healthier (less flat iron usage)
  • Update my blog more often (at least every 2 days)
  • Learn now to sew (Maybe a skirt or something more than a straight line)
  • Get my homework done the day before it's due
  • Get all As
  • Take time to hang out with people I don't see on a regular basis


And there they are. I think it's challenging enough and do-able.


And I leave you with this video of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is perfect. I just figured I'd share it with you all. (She's my favorite)

What are you doing New Year's Eve?



Love love,
-Kate

Attempting Festive Nails

    Currently I'm sitting in bed typing and eating cookie dough. It's been a very unproductive day, as the only thing I did was paint my nails. I figured I'd take some pictures. Why not, right? I was trying to paint my nails all pretty before all the New Years parties, but they didn't come out as spectacular as I hoped. So I redid them and painted them a bit more simply. I'm posting the ones that came out well, and a picture of my first attempt. =]


If you can't tell, I'm an Essie nail polish fan. 



I saw tape used for straight lines when painting nails (here) and I find it works really well. However, you have to make sure the surface is even, so use the side of the cut piece of tape, and make sure it's pressed down on the entire nail.



And below is my failed first attempt. I kind of want to try to do it again. I used toothpicks to draw the lines and dots.


Anyways, just a quick hello and pictures of what I did today.

Love love,
 -Kate

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Wire Heart

As I was falling asleep Last night, I put this little ditty together. I kind of like it, in a thrown together, don't care type of way. =] I'm thinking a longer chain might be the finishing touch, but for now, this short one will do the trick!


It's really easy to shape wire when you have the proper tools. I used round nose pliers and regular pliers to shape the heart.






Then I took a smaller gauge wire and started wrapping it around the heart.



Then I just added a small link to put the chain on and it was finished. =]




 Love love,





-Kate

Monday, December 26, 2011

Resolutions and Happiness

Happy Holidays everyone! I'm off to celebrate Christmas again (round #3!) and I woke up early just to clean my room and go through all my new "toys" again like a little kid.  I may be in my 20s, but I truly am a little girl at heart.

The people who love me, know me so well and I'm so very grateful and happy to have them all in my life.
  
And even though I'm still in "Christmas mode" New Years is fast approaching and I must get my New Years resolutions in order! Last year I accomplished about 80% of my resolutions, and I intend to beat that this year!

The trick is to not make your list incredibly long and to not make the resolutions too broad. I find that if my list is too long I lose steam pretty quickly and give up. If my resolutions are too broad, I stop at a mediocre level of accomplishment instead of accomplishing something specific and meaningful.

Hope the holiday season is treating you all well!

Love love,
 -Kate


Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Knitted Bow Ear Warmer

Today I spent my entire day knitting away. One of the things I worked on was this bow ear warmer.


I knit a long rectangle long enough to go around my head and make a bow.

Then I gathered a section of the rectangle together to make a bow and secured it.




I flipped the project upside down to sew the fold down and then started wrapping yarn around the middle of the fold for the middle of the bow.




After that I just sewed the two ends of the rectangle together and it was finished!


And here's me just messin' around. =]



Let me know what you think or if you have any improvements I could add to it! My sister wants me to make one, so if you have any suggestions I'll try it on hers. =]

-Kate

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Bird Nest Earrings

Happy Holidays everyone! To celebrate finishing up my finals for the semester, I made some earrings.

I always like seeing bird nest jewelry and I hadn't seen anyone make earrings out of it so I figured I'd try!

I think they turned out adorable. =]

I just needed 6 white beads, wire, and earrings.




I stranded the three beads and wrapped them so they made a triangle.




Then I just wrapped around the beads a few times.

 Then I put the earring back in the wires and wrapped that tight into the rest of the nest.


And here's half my face! Haha and the earrings of course. Hope you like it!


Tell me what you think!

-Kate

Thursday, December 8, 2011

My 3 Dollar Window

One day I was driving back from church with my boyfriend and I saw these old windows lined up by the curb of a house we passed. I really wanted this long big window, but alas, it wouldn't fit into his car. Instead I grabbed a smaller one and we shoved it in the back seat.

I instantly thought of something I'd seen here as something I'd like to do with it.

Here's a picture I snapped with my phone when we got it. (I forgot to take one before I started decorating it so this will have to do)


I found some cute floral lining at Michael's for less than 3 dollars and decided it would be perfect for the window. After washing the window, I cut squares to fit the panes and stuck them on.




Then I crocheted little squares and strung them on a string across the entire window. (Someone gave me a bunch of yarn for free!)

All that's left is to starch the squares so they lie flat, but I was too excited to wait until then to post this!



And that is it! I'm pretty much in love with it. And the only thing I had to buy for this was the lining! In total, it cost me around 3 dollars. =] Tell me what you think!

-Kate

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Framed Twine Earring Holder

I decided late last night that after two nonstop days of work on final projects, it was time to let some stress out. It was 12am, but it seemed like the perfect time.  I had gotten a bunch of frames for free from this resale shop that went out of business and wanted to do something with one of them. On top of my craft box was my roll of twine and the idea just came together!



It was really easy and simple. I only needed my glue gun, an empty frame, twine, and a ribbon!


First I cut strips of twine the length of the width and glued them to the back of the frame. Then I glued a few strands of twine the long way to give it a little bit more detail.


And as just a little something to add, I made a bow and glued it to the corner of the frame!


And here's the finished project!


Hope you like it! =]

~ Kate

Friday, November 25, 2011

Happy Black Friday!


The winner of the My Memories software giveaway is:



      Congratulations to Crazy Cat Lady Courtney! Hope you have a lot of fun with this software during the holiday season! =]

      Even though the contest is over, you can still use my code STMMMS34906 and get $10 off the  My Memories Suite software!

      So what are some of your Black Friday traditions? Here's a secret about me, I've never gone Black Friday shopping. Today is my first time! I'm excited! My cousins are arriving in a few hours and hopefully I won't spend too much! haha

Have a great holiday!
-Kate

Sunday, November 20, 2011

My Memories Suite Giveaway

I'm excited to announce and present to you my very first giveaway by My Memories! My Memories is giving away their My Memories Suite software for free to one of my lovely viewers! My Memories lets you make scrapbook pages, calendars, photo albums, etc. right from your very computer, however you want!



I've been playing with this software all week and here is one of the things I've been working on:


Some guidelines to follow!
Check out My Memories and leave me a comment back here telling me your favorite theme! I will pick a winner randomly and announce the winner on Friday! Make sure you leave your e-mail address or a way for me to contact you if you win!

For extra entries, follow their
Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite

And then comment back here!




For those that don't win you can use this special code and get $10 off the My Memories Suite softwareSTMMMS34906
         




Hope you all have a lovely day! =]


-Kate

Friday, November 18, 2011

Grey and Blue Scarf

Last month, I was working on a scarf and then forgot about it in all my business. So today I picked it back up and finished it!

Perfect timing for the cold!

The body of the scarf was Half Double Crochet Stitches. The name of the stitch that I did the outer rows with slips me, but I chained 3 for every stitch. Maybe you guys could help me figure out what that's called?


Have a great weekend!
-Kate

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Rainy Day Fun: Bow ring

It's raining outside. So to distract myself from the weather, I made a cute bow ring!



Materials for this are:

Ribbon
Metal wire
Pliers
Iron
Glue gun

In order to start with a flat ribbon, I ironed it.

Then I made my bow and cut it off at the right size.



I glued the bow in place so it wouldn't move, however this step is optional.

Then I wrapped the wire around my finger to get the right size and cut it with about half an inch extra wire. This extra wire is used to make loops to connect the ends of the wire.

Then I strung the bow on the wire and glued it in place so that it wouldn't slide.



Here's the final product! Tell me what you think!



-Kate