You will need:

• robe
• sewing machine
• scissors
• iron

I didn’t photograph this step, but, you first want to try the robe on.  You want to see wear it needs to be edited.

After trying mine on, I decided I wanted the sleeves shortened and the sides taken in about an inch on each side.  I could have taken in more on the sides and lifted the sleeves up some, but, I wanted to achieve a relaxed, oversized looked.

First cut off all belt loops and other things that may be attached.  They will only get in the way and make the finished product still look like a robe.  Next, to shorten the sleeves, decide how short you would like them.  Cut at a mark that is about one inch longer than the sleeve you want.

Once you have cut the first sleeve, fold the robe in half vertically so that you have matched up both shoulders.  This will help you find the exact line to cut on the other sleeve.  Once lined up, the cut sleeve should lay on top of the other, cut across the other sleeve at this line.

(after first fold that has been ironed)

(after second fold that has been ironed)

Once both sleeves are cut, plug your iron in and turn the robe inside out.  Find the sleeve, and roll about 1/2 of an inch over and iron to create a seam.  Fold over again about 1/2 of an inch and iron down.  This will help you when you go to sew.  Complete these steps with the other sleeve.

(Here is a view of the stitch when the robe is turned the right way)

Head to your sewing machine and do a simple stich around the sleeve.  Make sure you are paying attention and don’t sew the sleeve hole together.  Once the first sleeve is completed, do the same with the other.

(sorry for the yellowish tint; next time, I’ll take the picture with the sewing machine off)

After the sleeves are complete, keep the robe inside out.  To take in the sides, I found the side seam and folded in vertically at the crease.  I lined the inside of the sewing foot up with the crease and used this as a guide.  Stitch all the way down the seam until you have gotten to the end.  Do the exact same with the other side.  You are done!

I thought it gave off a boho vibe, so, I went with it.

 Be sure to find us on Instagram:

@alex_bubblyonabudget

@kristin_bubblyonabudget

Well, today I have one of my college time projects to share with you.

This delicate fancy jewellery set inspired by Fuschia and Gejje Vastra (a traditional art) consists of an emphasizing pendant and a pair of voluminous ear-hangings made of woolen yarns and silver metallic strips.

Fancy Thread Jewellery – Neck Piece/Pendant

Fancy Thread Jewellery – Ear-hangings

This funky set being designed for a feminine look, suits for a range of occasions like both party and casual. The large pendant worn on forehead is the best for ramp and party. This junk accessory goes well with casual and beach mood when worn with or without the pendant as a neck-piece.

Fancy Thread Jewellery – Casual/Beach look 

Many many thanks to Ms. Shwetha Ulhas (my model) and Mr. Ashwin Asha Studio, Puttur (Photographer).

Now, it is time for me to say bye. And it is the time for you to leave a reply below . Promising to come back with new exciting project,

Take care!

Bye until the next post!

There’s nothing like the taste of fresh, organic fruit whipped up in a drink!

These days, i’m a little more into ‘Juicing’. If you’re not familiar with juicing, it’s absolutely brilliant for your health. You simply add in different fruits AND VEGETABLES and end up with a healthy mix that you can drink in one sitting. One cup full of amazing nutrients, vitamins and minerals that you usually wouldn’t eat in a weeks worth of meals!

But here’s my quick and easy recipe for a fruit smoothie!

VEGAN FRIENDLY FRUIT SMOOTHIE:

1 cup of strawberries (tops cut off)

1 1/2 cups of banana (peeled and roughly chopped into 1″ pieces)

6-8 peach slices (I used a container and added a touch of the syrup for sweetness)

5-6 cubes of ice

1 cup of water

2 1/2 cups of soy milk

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Add all ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth consistancy (Approx. 1.5 minutes)
• Serve in a glass

Makes 2.

For extra sweetness, add agave syrup.
To make mixture runnier, add extra water until desired consistency is reached.

Enjoy! x

I found the fonts on free font download sites (just type that into google and there are a couple of good sites), it really makes a difference being able to choose a beautiful font and one that is exactly what you want.

I loved making this last one and I think it turned out really well. And all it took was tracing it onto a canvas and colouring it in! You don’t need any artistic skill and it turns out really neatly and looks like it has been printed.

FOR THE FACE
What you will need:

1) 1 Teaspoon of  White or brown sugar
2) Your facial wash ( I’m using Clarins Cleansing Milk With Alpine Herbs)
3) Water

Add a teaspoon of sugar to your facial wash

and masage gently over face, then rinse with water.

Sugar is one of the best scrub you can get in this world.
It’s CHEAP, it’s NATURAL, it SMELLS NICE and most important of all, IT WORKS WONDERS ON SKIN!

FOR THE BODY
What you will need:

1) 1 Cup of coarse sugar
2) 2 tablespoon of olive oil

Mix both ingredients and scrub the whole body with it.

Wash it with water and you will be surprise with how smooth your skin becomes instantly!

FOR THE LIPS
What you will need:

1) 1 Teaspoon of brown sugar
2) 1 Teaspoon of honey

Mix Both to create a paste.

Coat lips thickly.

Leave it for 5 minutes.
Then start scrubbing gently with your finger.
Wash off and apply lip balm to moisture.

I’m using CLARINS  MOISTURE REPLENISHING LIP BALM WITH ESSENTIAL ROSE WAX

FOR THE HAIR
What you will need:

1) 1 Tablespoon sugar
2) 1/2 cup hot water

Dissolve the sugar in the hot water, then cooled.
Pour the cooled sugar water into a spray tube. (ignore the wordings on the tube as that is actually my old ionic hairspray tube.)

Spray onto your hair for styling.
It works great as your very own DIY hairspray!

As this is not the convention hairspray, you will have to spray it in thin layers and let it dry between layers.

You will have to practice for a few times to familiarize yourself with its holding power and how much you will need for your hairstyle.
The holding power is considered okay but this is definitely a great alternative if you’re very much of a person who would die without a hairspray because the convention hairspray contains too much chemicals and definitely will harm your scalp for long term users.

Related articles

• Refreshing DIY Body Scrubs (naturallydonna.wordpress.com)
• Easy Homemade Face Scrubs (huasisbeautysalon.wordpress.com)
• Sleepy Baby Sugar Scrub and Sugar Lip Scrub! (lifeofanightowl.wordpress.com)
• Seeking for CLARINS Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs Normal or Dry Skin Save NOW! (qlms9y4v.wordpress.com)

Light-colored roofing is a great investment. By using a lighter color you can reduce the amount of heat absorbed into your attic. Simple tips like the color of your roof can add up to big savings over the lifetime of a roof.

Downspouts, gutters and chimneys often do not get the attention they deserve in an annual maintenance schedule. These systems are vital to the safety of your home; you have to inspect them regularly and fix problems immediately. Water damage from clogged gutters can be avoided by regular cleaning. Chimneys need a yearly inspection and sweeping to prevent disastrous chimney fires.

When you are considering home projects, be creative and think about what you aim to accomplish. Planning a project will help keep errors to a minimum and will save time. There are numerous sources of inspiration for your next home improvement project.

Even newbies can repair leaky faucets. If you can easily find the leaks, you can save quite a bit of water – and money – each day. This can keep you within even a tight budget.

Try keeping your building materials up between the ceiling rafters. You can put up your big pieces of molding or wood in these areas. Just tuck the pieces away for later.

Purchase draft excluders or sealant strips to stop air from getting out. A draft excluder is placed under the door and will prevent hot air from escaping out while preventing cold air from coming in. Sealant strips do the same thing and fit around the door frames. This can be purchased at most hardware stores.

If you lack experience and skill in home repairs, do not hesitate to seek advice from a professional contractor beforehand. A professional can give you information that could save you hundreds or thousands fixing an improper repair job. If you fail to speak with a professional, you may make some very costly mistakes.

Using wall mounts for TVs can free up quite a bit of space, as you can remove the stand or just clear the stand to be used for other things. This can be done in half an hour or less.

ryobi parts One simple way to add fresh touch to where you live is by replacing old outlet covers. Your outlets will look discolored and old over time. So, changing them out for new, fresh covers, can have quite an visual impact on any room.

Whether you have just bought your home or have lived in it for awhile, you may decide that it requires some improvements. The tips from this article will help you on your home improvement journey.

El DIY de hoy es un proyecto divertido y sencillo que requiere poca inversión y los resultados son adorables. Estas bolas pueden utilizarse para nuestra casa, una fiesta o para hacer un espacio colorido en nuestra oficina.

Una vez empieces te aseguro que no podrás parar, las hemos bautizado como burbújas de pensamiento.

¿Qué necesitas? Cuerda o lana, globos, pegamento y un frasco o recipiente de algún tipo. Te recomendo que utilices diferentes tamaños y formas de globos  para que tu colección sea más interesante.

Infla un globo y átalo de algo que te permita colgarlo. Esto hará que sea mucho más fácil cuando estés envolviendo la cuerda alrededor de ella. También te recomendamos que untes de vaselina el globo, será mucho más fácil que se pegue el cordón.

Corta una sección de cuerda. Pon enrollado el cordón para evitar nudos y pasalo a través del agujero de la tapa.

Llena el recipiente con pegamento para que cubra la cuerda.

Ata el extremo de la cuerda alrededor de nudo del globo, y comienza a envolver el hilo alrededor del globo, tanto vertical como horizontalmente.

xo. Brie

A few beauty tips and tricks I hope you might find useful…

Skin:

Before applying any make-up, make sure your face is clean and has been properly moisturised, to protect and slow down the aging process of your skin, I’d suggest you use a moisturiser that contains SPF 15 or higher all over your body, I use Vaseline Even Tone on my body and Nivea Visage Daily Essentials for Dry & Sensitive Skin- they’re both in powder pink packaging. No matter what moisturiser you use, make sure it contains sunscreen.

For those who have skin that is prone to pimple outbreaks, I’d suggest you eat garlic, it is a very good skin cleanser, just a little cube at night each night should help, and results begin to show after a week.

Make sure you remove all make-up before bed, petroleum jelly is a good remover; I just dab cotton wool or cotton bud into Vaseline and apply it onto the areas where there might still be mascara residue.

Face:

When testing the colour of your foundation, I’d suggest you test it onto your jaw line instead of the inside of your wrist; this becomes increasingly imperative the darker you are.

When applying foundation, a foundation brush is a good instrument to use if you have time on your hands – I use a sponge for a quick and even application, I wouldn’t suggest fingertips to anyone because it gets messy, time-consuming and only a few can get it right. Immediately after you place the foundation onto your forehead, cheeks, nose and chin, even it out onto your skin- don’t wait for it to set.

If you have dark or red under-eyes, use concealer instead of applying more and more foundation. You can apply concealer either over your foundation or on its own. Do not sweep the concealer over the area as this is where I suggest using your finger-tips, place a little concealer onto your finger-tip (preferably ring finger) then blend it over your skin then, use a sponge to make sure it is blended properly.

When choosing a concealer, make sure it is either your exact skin tone or one shade lighter; mine is a shade lighter.

After applying foundation and/or concealer, settle the two by applying powder, you may also use powder on its own. You may use a puff or a powder brush in loose powder and make sure you shake off the excess to avoid uneven application.

If you have wrinkles under your eyes, avoid using powder in that area as it will make them more obvious.

Eyes:

When choosing an eye-shadow shade, keep in mind that a pastel shade will look softer while a darker shade will appear more dramatic when applied.

Don’t pump the applicator wand in the mascara tube. Doing so will trap air inside and cause the mascara to dry out. Instead, twist the wand to collect more mascara on the brush.

If you have false eyelashes that are falling out, don’t pull them off, first soften them with petroleum jelly and they should slip away easily without any of your natural lashes.

Make the precision-angle brush your friend especially if you want lovely eyebrows, to achieve the “perfect brow look”, this is what you do:

1.    First make sure your brows are clean and aren’t oily, they should just be moisturised from when you had moisturised your face.

2.     Brush out your browns and shape them.

3.    Then, using your preferred brow pencil colour, apply it over your brows as you usually would- following the shape of your natural brow.

4.  With your precision-angle brush, dip the ends of the brush into your liquid concealer/liquid foundation (I prefer liquid foundation). Line your brow line with the brush to make it neater; first start at the bottom then you may do the top. Once you’ve done this, do the front of the brow (where the brow begins), I usually sort of smudge the brush here- I don’t apply any foundation to clear this area.

5.    Using your sponge, pat the foundation lines that you had drew in order to blend it in with your skin.

6.    Apply a similar coloured eye-shadow onto your brow to settle your brow pencil.

You’re Done!

If you have mascara that you want to throw away, save the wand and wash it then you can use it as a brow brush.

Lips:

Make sure your lips are cleansed moisturised, moisturise them throughout the day using petroleum jelly or a lip balm of your choice.

When brushing your teeth; gently brush your lips as well; this exfoliates your lips.

Uleiul de masline are un continut bogat de vitamine A, B1, B2, C, D, E si K, fier si acizi grasi nesaturati in proportie de 85 la suta;  este exterm de benefic pentru piele si ten, nu doar pentru gatit. Iata mai jos, o serie de motive pentru care, nu trebuie sa ne lipseasca din casa uleiul de masline.

Uleiul de masline reface tenul deshidratat: pentru tenul obosit şi uscat, uleiul de măsline se foloseşte sub formă de comprese călduţe pe pomeţi, pe frunte sau tâmple. După câteva minute, compresele se înlătură şi se clăteşte faţa cu apă călduţă. Uleiul înmoaie pielea, o curata, hidratează si regenerează.

Acneea poate fi eliminata cu ulei de masline: faceti comprese cu amestecul urmator: ulei de masline, plus 100 de picături de ulei aromat de lavandă (ulei esenţial, nu industrial). Se amestecă bine şi se aplică pe coşuri sub formă de comprese sau se fricţionează uşor. Primele efecte apar după câteva zile.

Parul uscat si deteriorat se hidrateaza cu ulei de masline : Uleiul de măsline conferă strălucire părului uscat şi deteriorat. Pentru acest tip de păr este indicată o mască hidratantă pregatită dintr-un gălbenuş de ou şi o lingură cu ulei de măsline, frecate impreuna ca pentru maioneza. Părul se masează cu acest amestec cu 20 de minute înainte de baie.

Am decis sa incerc o combinatie de ulei de masline cu ulei aromatizat, fara nici un alt fel de adaos pentru protectie fiindca oricum de cativa ani buni evit sa fac plaja la orele amiezii. Daca voi constata ca nu este suficient doar uleiul de masline voi cumpara o solutie cu protectie solara pe care sa o folosesc in combinatie cu ce voi prepara eu. Am doua feluri de uleiuri aromatizate: busuioc si portocala. Voi folosi un ulei de masline de casa, cumparat din Creta anul trecut. Voi prepara o cantitate mai mare intr-un recipient de palstic in care initial a fost dus gel si la plaja voi folosi o sticluta draguta primita cadou de la Ica, amica mea care imi face un masaj minunat si pe care o recomand cu caldura daca locuiti in Cluj. Ma voi ocupa in aceasta seara de prepararea propriului meu ulei de plaja fiindca, DA, vinerea asta plec in concediu. Voi ajunge spre sfarsitul saptamanii in Creta.

Daca aveti idei sau sfaturi de dat le primesc cu mare drag!

I never draw up plans i just make it up as i go along as i have said the only limitation i have is money and sometimes a third hand would come in handy, Woden and the rest of the rat pack do little to help but they do like seeing my face when they run off with the next bit of wood I need to use lol

Just to add so far Bella and Woden have both ended up in the pond (they back up and can’t understand why they end up wet) so I may have to build a fence around it. I hoped not to need a fence but pulling 12+ stone dogs out of ponds is not much fun.

Captain on Deck

The blue blanket i just winged it on.. Cut out strips and sewed. The chevron quilt took a little more planning, you can look at THIS tutorial to get started.

My products have been undergoing design change and improvement during my time as an on-again-off-again crafter/entrepreneur. My designs started quite simple, and very often I would make jewelry using only jump rings and glue buttons onto various materials. Finding inspiration is what helped me improve, and I found it through a few different sources:

• Etsy
• Pinterest
• Arts&Craft Shows

I will be incorporating all of these sources of inspiration into this blog

This website will contain a few key weekly posts, and I will try my best to stay on this schedule:

• Treasury Tuesday – I will share my treasury lists and those created by other users on Etsy.com for inspiration and to spread the love to other craft entrepreneurs
• Pin of the Week Wednesday – I am a Pinterest ADDICT, but every so often, one pin in particular will really catch my eye. Sometimes they are DIY projects, fashion ideas, or just beautiful pictures of the craft room I’ve always dreamed about…
• Tutorial Friday – I will post weekly step by step instructions for different projects I have been working on
• I would also like to add a review component where I try and review craft tutorials from other blogs. Through this I hope to connect with fellow crafter/bloggers and learn new techniques while providing my readers with ideas other than my own.

I am very excited about this blog and I can not wait to share my love for buttons and crafts with you!

“Why is there a container of wet sand in the fridge?” was my first thought.  “That is really weird.”  I had never seen anything like this in Japan.  My trainer then dug into the “sand” and pulled out some carrots and cucumbers.  “Wow,” I thought, “You can keep cucumbers and carrots fresh by putting them in wet sand in a fridge!”  (Actually, in the case of carrots I believe that actually does work)  However, what I was looking at was not a container of sand, but a nuka-doko.  A nuka-doko is a bed of rice bran which contains high levels of lactobacilli to make nuka-zuke, or lacto-fermented pickles (probiotic pickles, yay!)

Nuka is the bran that is taken off when you polish rice.  To put it another way, it is the brown in brown rice.  In Japan, nuka is free for the taking at almost any rice store, but here in the states we have to pay for it (unless you polish your own rice).  I got mine from Nijiya, a Japanese supermarket chain here in Hawai’i.  It’s only a few bucks for a 2 pound bag, but I really like the Japan prices way better.  My sister in law grows her own rice, so maybe I can get some from her next time Iʻm in Japan (guaranteed pesticide free nuka, gotta love that!)

This is nuka

Because I worked in the aforementioned internationally known Japanese restaurant, I was able to acquire a little bit of their nuka-doko to start my own bed.  All it required on my part was adding more nuka, liquid, and salt.  However, I wanted to learn how to do it from scratch.  So I make another batch on the side to see if I could do it.

The basic ingredients for a nuka-doko are nuka, liquid, and salt.  At the restaurant, we used cheap beer as the liquid “because there is yeast in it.”  I didnʻt want to contradict my chef (note to all aspiring chefs–the chef is always right.  Especially when he is wrong), but I think all mass-produced beer is probably pasteurized (the yeast is dead).  I believe the real reason for using beer is that it is not tap water.  Because we are dealing with live bacteria and yeast, the chlorine in tap water (plus whatever else minerals and chemicals that might be present) will have a negative effect on the nuka-doko.  So I used purified water for the nuka, and saved the cheap beer for me.  Win-win!

The first step is to toast the nuka.  I put about half the bag (about 1 pound) of nuka on a sheet pan and toasted it in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, stirring it every few minutes so it would toast evenly.  At least that is what I was supposed to do.  What I really did was I forgot about it in the oven for a couple of hours, then scraped off the black stuff.  I put the “toasted” nuka in a bowl and mixed in about a cup and a half of purified water.  You want the mixture to be damp, like wet sand, not heavy and wet.  If you squeeze some of the nuka in your hand it should clump, but break apart easily if you poke it.  So, it is probably a smart thing to start with a cup of water, then add more if it is too dry.  I next added enough salt that when I tasted a bit of the nuka it was salty, but not so salty that it is unpleasant to eat.  I would guess about 3-4 tablespoons of salt.  This is the basic nuka-doko.

However, if you try to pickle vegetables at this point, you will be sorely disappointed.  You need to build up the lactobacilli culture in your nuka-doko, so you need to enlist outside help.  I used the peel of an apple to help jump-start my bacteria colony.  Just add it in and stir it up.  Apparently lactobacilli love fruit peels.  Then, to make the whole thing more flavorful, I threw in a small piece of ginger, 4-5 Hawaiian chili peppers, a few cloves of garlic, about a 2″ x 4″ piece of kombu, and about 1 tsp of mustard powder.

Once you have your nuka-doko prepared, pack it into your container.  A glass or earthenware container is probably the best, but I use a plastic food-grade container.  Bury a few vegetable scraps in, and press down on the surface of the nuka-doko.  You want it compacted down as much as possible.  Stir the nuka-doko every day so that air gets into it.  Donʻt forget to completely bury the vegetables and pack down the nuka.  After 3-4 days, throw away the vegetable scraps (or eat them if you feel adventurous) and add some fresh vegetable scraps.  Continue for about 2 weeks to condition your nuka-doko.  When the nuka-doko is prepared, it has a slightly sour smell, but also a little earthy and nutty.  It should not have a sharp sour smell to it.

At this point you can add the vegetables you want to pickle.  My favorites are cucumber, carrot, turnip, eggplant, and daikon.  With the hard vegetables, like carrots and turnips, I usually wilt them first.  I coat the vegetables in salt and let them sit until they become soft and bend-y.  Then I bury them completely in the nuka, salt and all (unless I notice the nuka-doko becoming too salty).  Most vegetables stay in for a minimum of three days.  But I really like sour, so sometimes I will leave a piece in for weeks or months.  As the nuka-doko ages it changes in flavor.  I suppose you could say it matures like wine.  My nuka-doko started off with a 5 year old batch from the restaurant, so now it is about 8 years old.  I think the flavor of my pickles are better than pickles from a younger bed.  Not bragging or anything, just saying.  Anyway, when they are ready to eat, remove the pickles, rinse off the nuka, and slice them up.  Get a bowl of hot white rice and youʻre in Japanese heaven.

Because the ambient temperature has an effect on how fast the vegetables pickle, I standardize the temperature by leaving my container in the fridge.  But, I try to leave it out a few hours everyday so the nuka-doko can warm up.  I donʻt want the lactobacilli to think they are in a gulag in Siberia or something, I want them to be happy.  Refrigeration helps, because I am forgetful and a little lazy, and I sometimes forget to mix the nuka.  The cooler temperature in the fridge slows down the fermentation so a couple of days of not mixing doesnʻt really affect it.  Sometimes I have forgotten to mix for a week or two.  Then the nuka starts to go sour.  Donʻt panic!!! (AAAAHHHH!!!)  After a few days of daily mixing, the nuka-doko will return to normal.  I have found that a little more salt and mustard powder also helps to return sour nuka to normal.  Nuka is high maintenance, for sure.  But the end result is worth it.

Itadakimasu!

Here are some super easy DIY mani’s for you guys too try from Refinery 29 that are sure to get you set for summer. Just click the link above. 

I’m still thinking DIY this week, I have so much to do on my own house, I have sort of been putting it off thinking I will wait until I can buy that amazing piece of furniture etc, which I guess most of us do but I could be waiting a long time with the money that gone into the shop there is no budget for the house!. So it’s going to be designing on a shoe string and I’m thinking of basing some of my posts on the rooms I need to do.

First up is the Master bedroom, It’s going to have a paint job, so all walls and skirting’s are being painted out in a dark hue. We do have a sort of headboard which is wallpapered in a textured copper finish. If the budget could stretch I would re do this but it’s going to have to stay! The next main thing and something I have wanted to do for ages is painting the wardrobe doors, at the moment they are a light birch colour, yuk! They are melamine so this will be a quick fix as in time the paint will chip, they will get replaced when the wallet can cope! . A couple of simple side tables will also get painted. I’m sort of hoping the wall paint will be the main transformation of the room, as we are going dark we will need to break up the walls and space which I will do with large pictures, mirrors, and a wall of curtains which is going to be my biggest cost and something that is at the top of the list as it will make the room feel more cosy. It’s a newish house so no real features, If you have amazing windows sometimes leaving it simple works better! Then the final touches will be adding the interesting objects, nice lamps, will probably splash out on at least one nice lamp as this can totally change the overall feel, especially if you go super sized! Add a few vases with some greenery, books piled up, that sort of thing. You want to make the room feel like it’s lived in without looking messy. So a great little tip is plonking all your daily items like cosmetics etc on a little tray, it sort of keeps it interesting but tidy! And finally I will be hunting for a small rug to break up the carpet which is a bit bland, I’m thinking zig zag!!

Heres what I’m thinking for the wall colour, a bit risky hey!!

And a pic to show you what I mean about a tidy mess!

Have a great Wednesday!

You know, i’d like to think of myself as a practical gal. I will invest when I deem it necessary, but you just can’t beat the satisfaction of a great deal or the ultimate retail rush- thrift shopping. After finding these three beautiful art prints from Sugar Paper, I just couldn’t justify spending almost $70 (each) to frame them. That’s when my creative juices began flowing. After a quick stop at Goodwill and Home Depot, these beauties are now hanging above my bed to create an illusion of a headboard. How I did it you may ask? Well that my friends, is why I’m here.

Materials Needed: 

• White spray paint with a gloss finish.
• However many frames you need (I got mine at Goodwill but you can find cheap frames at any discount store).
• Something to spray paint on (ex. a cardboard box, plastic trash bag, etc.)

Be sure to spray paint evenly, be patient and make sure they are completely dry before bringing them inside. Also, if the frames are originally a darker color, they may require a few coats.

After your frames are dry, take them inside and (if you’re meticulous like myself) line them up with the frame to ensure the aesthetic appeal.

Every print was chosen for a specific reason. The one on the far left is a quote from Alice in Wonderland. Not only am I a huge Disney fan but I love literature and this specific excerpt always leaves me pondering the endless possibilities of its original meaning. The middle print is a gold apple- a simple and very beautiful symbol of my passion to one day teach in the classroom. And lastly on the right is a quick reminder to always show kindness and love to others.. Even if they don’t deserve it. Instead of judging an individual, smile instead. You never know what someone is going through and a genuine smile could be exactly what they need.

1: I took the old dress and cut it open and cut off the top so I had one long piece of fabric // 2: I used my DIY Screenprint kit from Windstilte but you can read here what you need // 3:  I printed the clouds randomly on the fabric, but of course you can print a neat pattern if you like // 4: I cut a piece the size of the dress from a soft piece of thick, soft jersey, and sewed the pieces together. Right sides face eachother. Don’t forget to leave a hole of about 10 cm at the bottom so you can turn the fabric right sides out again // 5: After turning the right sides out, I closed the hole at the bottom // 6: I pressed the seams and ironed the print so it won’t wash off // 7: I sewed a neat little line across all sides. This is compulsory, if you like your blanket without it that’s fine!

So there you go, easy does it!

I day dream of having the ability to have the things I want one day.

I dream of being able to do the things I want to do.

I dream of being able to create  the things I see in my mind’s eye.

I dream of happy and calm spaces.

I know that some dreams do come true. You just need a little faith, trust, and getting off your darn ass and doing something about it! No silly pixie dust here.

Also, thanks to The Perfect Nose’s post The Bra Sewing Survey, I can’t stop thinking about the possibility of having an amazing bra that actually fits! And the awesome challenge of actually making one.  My measurements come out to 29″/33.5″ and from my understanding you round the band up to the next even number and that gives you 30C. No one commercially makes that, and it is difficult enough trying to find a 32C. I cannot find any at my local Target, Wal*Mart or Kohls! Gr. So I wind up spending $50 a bra at Victoria Secret. They are nice, I just cannot manage the price tag.

Speaking of not being able to manage the price tag…

My eyes are much much larger than my bank account.  But I have done my research!

I went to Jo Ann and spoke with the representative there for a good while trying to figure out a machine that would best fit me. As I dwell more and more on what I want, I know it has to be a role of creation. I may want to help people, but I cannot begin to help others til I can help myself.

And if I want to create I need a machine that won’t feed my fabric sideways. No wonder I can’t sew evenly. Once I figured that out I couldn’t stop laughing for a good bit. I guess my calibration is as wonky as my sewing machine!

The sewing machine we decided on in the end was the Singer Confidence Quilter 7469Q.

+ 98 Built in stitches

+ Programmable Needle Up/Down (I want this)

+ Drop feed for free motion sewing

+ Bonus Quilting Accessories

+ Extension Table

+ Drop and sew bobbin system

+ 7 Full Automatic 1-Step buttonholes

+ Automatic needle threader (Can I get a what what?)

    I know I deserve the tools I need to create the designs I dream. I have discovered sewing and drafting is one of the few things that I can use as a tool to work through my depression and anxiety attacks. It calms me down and brings me to a zen state of mind.

    On that note, I have chosen to help my good friend get the clothes she wants and deserves. I have been doing a lot of research and  looking around and decided that the Dritz My Double Deluxe Dressform (small) would be worth the investment. It has the proper measurements for us both and has the best reviews.

+ Off set center pole for hanging pants along with shaped hips, bottom and thighs for fitting pants

+ Longer pole to help out taller women and for wedding and evening gowns

+ Extended shoulder for supporting and setting sleeves.

+ 12 rotating dials located at the bust, waist and hips that can be moved in precise increments.

- Bust – 33″ – 41″

- Waist – 26″ – 34″

- Hips – 36″ – 44″

- Back ~Waist Length – 14″ – 16″ / 13.5+ (neck)

+ Adjustable neck with pin cushion

+Pin hem marker and foam back Nylon cover for easy pinning and marker

    Oh, goodness do I want these. I’m going to work my butt off doing what I can to see if I cannot deserve these gorgeous things.

What is on your wish list right now?