Sequins & Sofas: Rag and Roll

I follow a few blogs that are fun. One such blog is 'A Beautiful Mess'...lots of Style and Beauty tips. Love.

There was a post a few months back that really caught my eye....it wanted to teach me how to rag roll my hair. Rag Rolling? That sounds weird, whatever could it be?

I'm glad you asked. First, separate your hair in sections:

Find some fabric...any kind really...and rip it up in strips. Maybe like 2 inches wide and 8 inches long. I think I used about 12 to 14 strips of fabric total. I had just washed my hair and mostly dried it before rolling, but just make sure it is ever so slightly damp. Take a chunk of hair and hold it in your hand. Wrap the hair around your thumb/fabric:

Once you get to the end, tie it off with the ends of the fabric:

Great! Keep going til all your hair is tied up in lovely little bows:

Time for bed. I was worried that it might be hard to sleep with so many foreign objects tied to my head. But it honestly was just fine, the fabric is soft and in no way impeded my ability to catch some zzzzz's.

Ok, wake up! Get ready for the day. Contacts in, makeup on, brush those teeth. Let your hair down. That's it:

Shake it out and you are done! By the end of the day, your waves will look like you just spent a few relaxing, sun-soaked hours at the beach...my new favorite:

And just in case you want another example to follow, here is the original blog post from where I was inspired to try something new:

A Beautiful Mess

Crafty Corner: Name it!

My AWESOME 2nd grader nephew has finally graduated to having his very own room! He helped pick out the paint colors and decided on a COOL DUDE sports theme:)

He also had some big wooden letters spelling out his name from his old room that needed a little TLC. Sounded like a great opportunity for a fun auntie craft project! My goal (get it...sports...goal, ha!) was to revamp said letters to get in the game (seriously, how funny am I??) of his new theme. The old:

The pre-game strategy session (yep..I did it again):

Half Time (he he he):

Score! (sorry, last one...promise):

I can't wait to deliver the new letters to my buddy and get them up on the wall! This little project was not too time consuming, pretty inexpensive and really fun! Got a theme? An empty wall? And a kid who has a name? 1,2,3...go!

Letter update: Ok...it's now the end of the day and the letters have been delivered and hung on the wall! They look great:

Sequins & Sofas: 5 Things

More things I love:

1. Fiskars Rotary Cutter/Cutting Board- In the beginning stages of my sewing 'career', I was planning on purchasing a fancy pair of shears. Instead, I went with this! And it is great. Accurate cut, goes thru many layers of fabric!

2. In keeping with the sewing theme, this book is AMAZING! Sew U by Wendy Mullin. Descriptive yet simple explanations of techniques, how to use a variety of tools, and how to use patterns for any project! Get it, love it!

3. A healthy snack- I have been trying to cut out extra sugar from my life lately and this combo is a yummy substitute. Greek yogurt is all the rage these days so why not jump on the bandwagon! Add a bunch of sweet fresh fruit to plain Greek yogurt and enjoy...lots of berries, yum.

4. Also, sometimes I still need a few squares of this.

5. Eos Lip Balm- Smooth and silky.....Makes my lips feel lovely! Lots of 'flavors' to choose from, your lips will thank you.

Yummy in my Tummy!

Need a fancy dessert to bring to future friend gatherings? Want it to be easy to prepare but look like it took many hours? Then I have the treat for you.

I found this recipe in some little cookbook of 5 ingredients or less (or something like that...wish I could remember the title exactly...sorry):

Raspberry Cream Cheese Tarts

You will need:
-1 pack of pre-made mini graham cracker pie crusts (I found them at Cub, not so much at Target)

Topping
-1.5 cups of fresh raspberries (or whatever berry you like best I suppose)
-1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

Mix up the jam to make smooth and then add to the berries. Mix together and set aside for later.

Filling
-1/3 cup granulated sugar
-1 package of cream cheese
-2 tbsp. mascarpone cheese, softened
-1 tsp. vanilla

Mix the above 4 ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. You can spoon the mixture into the mini pie crusts...or be really fancy and pipe it with an inexpensive piping bag from the craft store. Just a couple bucks and well worth the $$).

Add a pile of berries to the top and refrigerate for a few hours. BOOM!

Crafty Corner: Hoot, Hoot!

Ok, so having a sewing machine is becoming more and more fun each day! Last week, I was almost dozing off into sleepy dream land when an idea popped into my head.

My little sister is just a few weeks away from having her first baby (a cute little girl) and I wanted to make her something fun with my newly acquired skills.

I am a bit obsessed with owls right now (anyone else? What is with that? They are just so cute...I want to buy anything I see with an owl on it these days) and a possible vision of magic (maybe, if it turned out) came to me in my almost sleep....

I am going to make her an owl...that is, for my new baby niece. Could I pull this off? Not sure, but I made a plan and just went for it:

Supplies:

An example/some inspiration:

A makeshift pattern:

Go:

That's how it all went down....and I was so excited with the end result:

Hey Mr. Owl. I like you! Definitely more little woodland creatures to come in my future crazy sewing adventures...stay tuned:)

Sequins & Sofas: Cover it up!

I have been totally swamped these past few weeks and the next few are appearing to be the same...so a quick little post for your reading pleasure.

As I blogged about a few weeks back, I rearranged my apartment and started a crazy-fun 'stuff' purging party. Happy to say that I am almost at the end of the tunnel with that project...just a few more items to go thru and, bam, done!

Whilst my organizing, I was not loving the look of my closet area...see exhibit A:

Although everything had a place, the shelving area never looked organized and just made me a little crabby. So I did something about it, see exhibit B:

What's easier than just covering it up? Nothing! I highly recommend using this tactic when faced with a messy looking area that needs a little help. You can make your own or have Ikea do it for you...their curtains even come with fancy no-sew hem tape. Score. Of course, try to organize the stuff the best you can before covering it up....then cover it up.

I am much happier now when I walk into my closet...greeted by a wall of happy flowers rather than my many baskets of 'stuff'!

Toddler Talk: Shake It!

To continue with the theme of music mania, I have a fun gift idea for the young kids in your life. Perhaps for a baby shower gift (which is where this one was given) or maybe a present for that little one with a birthday coming up who already has a billion cars, dollies, and electronic devices....

....like I have said before, music is amazing! And an essential component of healthy development! Kids learn about concepts in math, social interaction, & large/fine motor skills by listening to music and by making music of their very own!

I see how my toddlers get excited when music comes on the radio and know that yours most likely do the same! Why not give the gift of music to the next toddler on your shopping list:)

Ok, enough talk! Here's what I put together:

INSTRUMENTS!

MUSIC!

A BUCKET!

The instruments were purchased at a few different stores (Creative Kidstuff, 10,000 Villages, Lakeshore Learning, World Market).

The CD's I had in my library of kid music and burned some of my favorites.

And just a side note: see my earlier post about making felt bags to 'wrap' all those instruments. From a crafter's mind, it's all about the presentation: Cute Felt Gift Bags!

I may have gone a little overboard with the number of instruments/CD's, but I was having so much fun putting it all together. I just couldn't help myself! For a more manageable gift (both in time and $), maybe just do 1 or 2 CD mixes of your favorite (kid friendly) tunes and a handful of shakers and clackers!

The bucket is handy for keeping all things musical in one spot for easy, on the go creativity! I suggest having many regularly scheduled dance parties/jam sessions with the kids to give them a chance to bust out the 'Music Bucket' and rock it....toddler style!