Tag Archives: cute

diy

lazy friday

June 29, 2012 – 5:31 pm

i’ve had a ridiculously busy week and a half or so, ever since we returned from our trip. today has been albi and my first day off together and our first chance to finally get caught up on chores and editing videos, but mostly just hanging out.

i usually can’t stand having an unproductive day off, it feels like an enormous waste of time and I end up getting very cranky, but today it actually felt wonderful to lounge around in pajamas. also, in spite of all the lounging, we have actually gotten quite a bit of cooking, cleaning, and crafting done, so i’m feeling extra pleased with myself.

I started a little yarn wreath project last weekend when my mom was in town and she took my sister, niece and me on a shopping spree at jo-ann fabrics. usually these kinds of splurges end in a pile of unfinished projects, but I’m happy to say I was able to complete mine for once.

I’ve loved yarn wreaths ever since the first time I was invited to my good friend Sarah’s home (of sarahhearts.com) and i spotted the charming set of yarn wreaths on her front door. Now, this was at least a couple years ago, but I’ve never stopped wanting to make one. I finally got around to it and considering it was my first attempt, i’m pleased with the results. I love hanging wreaths on my front door, but until now I had this old, faded, faux floral mess up there that was starting to look a bit tacky. my bright summery yarn wreath has definitely livened up our otherwise dreary front door.

All it took was a white styrofoam base that was priced just under $5, 4 sheets of felt at $.38 each, a $2.50 ball of cotton yarn (about 86m/56.7g worth) and myhot glue gun and a scrap of ribbon (already owned). For a total cost under $10, and a few hours worth of crafting, I’d say this is an awesome project that even the uncraftiest person could rock out. I can’t wait to make another!

easy felt flowers made from a series of circles.

mom, wrapping the yarn. I started with white, then decided to add a more colorful yarn on top.

for more detailed instructions on making a yarn wreath, check out Tommy and Ellie and for some ideas on how to make some cute felt flowers similar to the ones I made check out The Crafted Sparrow.

Tags colorful, crafts, cute, diy, felt, summer, yarn | Permalink | Comment (0)

fashion my favorite things

scarfs and stuff

May 25, 2012 – 7:22 pm

warning: this post will be a bit of a plug. for my mom. my mom has recently opened up an etsy shop and she is excited and nervous at the same time because it is all very new for her. hell, it’s new for me too. i’ve been helping her set it up as much as I can, but this is all kind of a big new adventure for each of us.

My grandmother, better known as “lela”, and mom have been knitting like crazy for the last few months and have been selling their cute wares locally among friends and acquaintances, but now mom is trying to branch out.

Lela has been knitting, since, well, forever. she has always made the most adorable baby booties, sweaters and other accessories and my mom has now joined forces with her. one of their more popular creations is these neat scarfs that are made on a circular loom. they are tube shaped and knit with a loose springy stitch which makes them incredibly versatile. they are, basically, the transformers of scarfs.

i love them because you can stretch them lengthwise, and they look like an average scarf. if you stick your arms through one, like a sleeve, and spread it apart, it turns into an amazing, comfy cowl. in between those two styles are endless other possibilities: head wraps, arm muffs, tube dress. well, maybe not a tube dress. then again, i’ve never tried.

for a visual guide, see the images that follow, where I awkwardly attempt to model.

anyway! my mom and lela make these scarfs (and other neat knitted accessories) all by hand and have them up for sale at their etsy shop, spinning spiders. check them out and show them some <3. tell them i sent you

Tags cute, etsy, hand made, knitted, mom, scarf, shop | Permalink | Comment (0)

film photography

animals!

May 13, 2012 – 12:36 am

it’s after midnight but i’m still wide awake because I slept all afternoon because I was up until 5am last night having fun at my best friend’s going away party *sad face*.

today i spent the later part my evening folding laundry, reorganizing our office-ish room and cleaning up my hard drive. Guys, i have TONS of pictures and videos from the last few months (years actually, but i don’t want to think about it) that I have yet to even look at, edit, upload, or do anything with.

well. my office has just recently started to become a much more pleasant room to spend lots of time in, so hopefully that means i will be more prone to sitting at the desk and getting stuff like this sorted and uploaded. in the meantime, here are some animals from our last visit to miami, around mid-april/a month ago. as usual, i lugged my camera around with me everywhere and ended up with only maybe a handful of decent pictures. on easter sunday we visited the zoo (one of my favorite places in the world when i was growing up) and it was pretty much exactly as i remembered it: not the best zoo in the world, but definitely better than most. really the only thing wrong with it is how outdated some areas are. however, in the last few years they added a new amazon themed section and it is wonderful. Seriously. This is coming from someone who visits disney’s animal kingdom at least once a month, but I was seriously was blown away by this entire exhibit. Albi too, and he is critical of most things.

anyway. i quickly threw together a short video with the few clips I shot of my favorite animals at this zoo, the asian small-clawed otters. they are the cutest, especially at meal time. (is it just me or is this video slightly reminiscent of something you might see on an old-school episode of sesame street? woah. that would be an awesome job: filming those bits for sesame street. i’m going to go work on that plan and you can watch this and look at my pictures.)

Tags animals, cute, film, learning final cut, vacation, zoo | Permalink | Comment (0)

my favorite things

it’s friday and i’ve got a case of the warm-and-fuzzies

May 11, 2012 – 3:05 pm

Soooo, I was about to go do something productive… then youtube happened. I found a video that pretty much made my day- no, weekend- NO- life. It made my life complete:

a german shepherd snuggling with kittens.

SHUT.

THE.

FRONT DOOR.

i’ve actually witnessed german shepherd/kitty snuggling before, in real life, on Albi’s mom’s farm.

still, interspecies cuddling is not the kind of thing you can see just once and say “okay, that’s cool, but i think i’ve had enough of that for the rest of my life.” and if it is, you should check your pulse. you are probably dead inside.

Tags baby animals, cute, kitties, puppies, silly, things i love, youtube | Permalink | Comment (0)

film

First Frankenweenie Trailer!

March 2, 2012 – 5:57 pm

I’m sure we have all noticed that Tim Burton has gotten a bit weird and scraggly over the last few years and his movies don’t seem to be as magical as they used to be. Or maybe it’s just me. Or maybe it’s his weird obsession with Johnny Depp, who also doesn’t quite do it for me as much anymore. Or maybe it was that awkward dance at the end of Alice in Wonderland, a movie which I actually loved until that scene. You blew it, Tim.

Either way, like all things that held significance in my childhood, Mr. Burton will always have a special place in my heart. I was that weird kid who at 6 years old used to pretend that I lived in a haunted house, or a dark enchanted forest, and was always drawing dead trees and scary old houses at the tops of geologically impossible tall, skinny, winding hills.

At around this age, in the early to mid-nineties, three of my favorite movies in the world were Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I was too young then to realize that all of these were Tim Burton movies, or to even understand that this kind of connection mattered when it came to movies, I just knew that I loved them and wanted to watch them over and over again. Basically, my whole life I’ve wanted to live in a Tim Burton movie.

(does it also now make a little more sense how I managed to survive and enjoy working at a Hot Topic for so many years? I still miss that sweet discount on the NBC mercy every holiday…)

So, with that said, imagine my extreme joy upon finding out about the newly released first trailer for Frankenweenie. The movie is based on Tim’s 1984 Frankenweenie (a live action short about a boy who attempts Dr. Frankenstein his dead dog) with a style reminiscent of Vincent (a 6 minute stop motion about a little boy who daydreams about being Vincent Price, narrated by Vincent Price. In other words, the story of my childhood.)

It is also a Disney film. I admit, I am partial to Disney and I am also a fan of tim burton + disney collaborations (nightmare before christmas vs. corpse bride, need I say more?)… and Disney makes great merchandise! Soooo, I will have fun with that on my frequent visits to the parks.

Okay, enough blather. Here is the trailer. Watch and enjoy. I don’t know about you, I think it looks wonderful, and I am so unbelievably excited for a new Tim Burton stop motion in his classic, creepy style. Naysayers be damned! Besides, it’s about a reanimated puppy. Who hasn’t at one point in their life thought about attempting to reanimate their dead pet? No? Just me? Okay then.