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