Brilliant!

this clever individual turned junk mail inside out to make cool graphic envelopes:

i am constantly frustrated by all the wasted paper i get on a weekly basis from credit card and car insurance promos {i wonder if we the people can take a restraining order out on them?...}.  but now i at least have a use for the envelopes.  who wants to send me their address?

Dinner Spinner

i absolutely love this idea.  

what a fun and helpful way to deal with indecisiveness! 

a brilliant DIY from dionne of the blog city of dionne.

holiday gifting ~ new uses for old sweaters

it's official - tis the season for holiday parties and gift-giving!  and wine is a great choice for bosses, hosts/hostesses, and your wine aficionado friends.  i spotted this DIY gift wrapping idea recently and thought it was such a brilliant way to spruce up those wine bottles.  for these warm, fuzzy bottle covers you can use the old sweaters in your closet or pick some up at the thrift store.  then after you remove the sleeves, you can use the vest part for ugly sweater parties!  i know, i'm full of great ideas.

DIY wine bottle gift wrap found on grey likes weddings.  

{you can find more elaborate instructions in the link above.}

a homemade holiday

have you flipped through the adorable holiday magazine from ruche yet?

in addition to a few of their pretty dresses, this online magazine is full of beautiful decorating ideas, delicious recipes, and other cute DIY projects perfect for the upcoming holidays.  check it out:  

                             Open publication - Free publishing - More arts

let's get on to the important stuff

you know, the stuff that matters...
...like what you're going to be for halloween!

there's only 1.5 weeks before the big night.  crazy isn't it?  the other day i was reminiscing some of my favorite halloween memories from when i was a kid.  i always loved this holiday.  what's not to love about dressing up in creative costumes, wandering around with your friends late at night, then eating a bunch of chocolate when you get home?  and now that i'm an adult, i get to throw in dance parties and spiked cider.  yup, puh-retty fun!

so okay, let's get down to business.  what are you going to dress up as?
or are you having trouble coming up with ideas? in case you need a bit of inspiration, here's a little help...

{diy rag doll costume using yarn, felt, & hair combs.}

personally, i'm a fan of the clever homemade costume.  one of my ideas is to have someone dress up like a giant elephant to follow me around everywhere, only we would never ever talk about it.  if people inquire about the giant elephant, i would quickly change the subject or beat around the bush. "oh, um... yeah... hey look over there!" dannon's idea is to go as complimentary colors.  he'd be blue, i'd be green, and we'd walk around saying things like, "i just love your costume!" and "you are an awesome dancer!"

{diy owl costume made from a pillowcase. decorate a mask from the craft store to complete the look.}

of course, there's also the route of classic characters, like fraggle rock or jem.  one year we went to bay to breakers as the beastie boys from the sabotage music video {yes, i went in drag}.  or there's the barely-any-effort-at-all costumes.  perhaps wear a lampshade on your head and call yourself a one nightstand {get it?}, or throw together any of jim's costumes from "the office."

{rosie the riveter - such a simple but classic costume.}

you could also get creative with clothes you already own.  one year i put on all the striped items i could find in my closet and made a crazy name tag with "Dr. Seuss, PhD."  i attempted to solve people's emotional problems with silly creatures and rhyming.  another idea is to wear all black, attach socks and
underpants all over your clothes, and frizz up your hair to be "static cling." funny right?


so those are a few of my ideas.
 how about yours?

25 ways to wear a scarf

i'm going to go ahead and embrace my denial about the hot weather we're STILL having in LA, and move on with all things autumn.  it's going to be nothing but hot cider, gourds, and cozy sweaters from here on out, even if that means packing said sweater with bags of ice to keep me cool.

one of my favorite things about fall {and something i miss most about living in san francisco} is the ability to wear scarves every single day.  some girls love shoes, some love handbags, but not me.  my heart belongs to scarves {yes, i may have been just a little crazy to think i could live in the desert}, so i was excited to
see this video making the rounds in blogland, sharing 25 different ways to wear a scarf.*

see? informative and fun! the gal behind this video is wendy, from wendy's lookbook.  she's a fellow bay

 area lady, and in addition to having a killer style, she is actively making the world a better place through her job supporting incarcerated youth, helping them receive a good education and a second chance at life.  yay!! 

is it getting cold where you are?
sigh...

* yes, it does look like two of them are the same, but they aren't. see wendy's explanation of the difference between them in the info section here.

DIY t-shirt tassel earrings

have you noticed the recent trend of long tassel earrings? i love them!! and lately i've been getting pretty crafty in my spare time, now that i no longer have to worry about  a job search {i'm still not over how awesome it is to finally have a great job!}.

after a little experimentation, i discovered that it's so easy to make your own tassel earrings! you can use leather, beading, or any other material your heart fancies.  i happen to have a lot of old t-shirts lying around, so i decided to make mine out of that.

here's what i did...

what you'll need

t-shirt

earring hooks {i took apart an old pair of earrings}

scissors

pliers

thread
fabric glue or hot glue

{before: an old dusty t-shirt in need of a new fabulous life}

instructions

step 1
lay your shirt flat, cut off the bottom hem, then begin cutting horizontal strips about 1/2 inch
wide all the way across the bottom of your t-shirt.  cut 10 strips total.

step 2
once you have all your strips cut, gently stretch your loops until the t-shirt curls, and trim off the two side seams.  you should have 20 long, curled pieces of t-shirt when you're finished with this step.

step 3
divide your t-shirt strips into two piles and thread each pile through the two
earring hooks, stopping once the hook is in the very center.

step 4

tightly wrap your tassel just below the earring hook with thread and tie a knot.

step 5

wrap a small piece of t-shirt {which has been stretched} several times over the thread {hiding it}.
use a dab of fabric or hot glue to hold the ends in place at the back of your tassel.

step 6

finish by making sure the earring hooks are closed tightly with a pair of pliers
{no gaps in the loop}, and trim your tassels to a desirable length.

step 7

put them on and look cute!

{after: who knew an old, worn out t-shirt could look this good?!}

easter surprise!

over the weekend i discovered an awesome easter tutorial over on just.lovely.things, which i simply had to share with you guys.  by the way, can you believe easter is in two weeks?!

this exciting project is brought to you by not martha {don't you love those gals?}.  

sure, these look like your typical unassuming easter eggs,...

...but when you crack them open, all sorts of goodies await!

this actually looks like a simple project if you have a wee bit of time to spare.  the basic steps are draining the egg yolks/whites {which you can then use for all your easter baking, right?}, dying the shells, filling
them with candy surprises, then glueing the open part to a cute mini cupcake wrapper.
oh and don't forget your "crack me" signs!

click on the link for step-by-step instructions,

and have a blast planning your easter extravaganza!