Finding more inspiration in everyday things

I have this great fitted sheet. But it doesn't fit my current bed, and I really had no place to store it anymore.

                                                            
So I got this idea.  Use it to make a cool cotton dress.  So I cut out a circle skirt . . . 

And a Top . . . 

Then I pinned it all together and realized that it was just a little too much of a pattern for me to wear as a dress.

So I took some left over fabric, made a tie back waist band and sewed  it to the circle skirt.  (Please excuse my horrible need for a manicure)

All done.  I made myself a circle skirt for summer.

With a little tie back detail.

While the tank top I am wearing works with this skirt I have some other fun ideas for dressing this skirt up (like maybe this lace top from Forever 21.  I can't wait to wear my new skirt out into the world.

Come On Get Happy

     About a week ago, I had a meeting with my boss, her business partner, and some of the contributors for the online magazine/blog site I work for (http://mortarnbrique.wordpress.com/ if you haven't started reading yet, go catch up now) when we started discussing the way politics and racism are firing people up these days.  Every news story is about who has the right to do what to whom, who has the power to take away or give those rights, who is willing to fight for those rights, and how far does fighting for those rights go.  Because I don't talk politics, religion, or sex in any group over 3 people (self-preservation and all) I was happy that this conversation was really to encourage the contributors to steer clear from making statements that would excite people in a way to make them react negatively (i.e. Spike Lee giving out "George Zimmerman's" address causing an elderly couple to have to leave their home).  But what really stuck out in this conversation was when someone in the meeting said, "The fact is that people today are just so unhappy."
     Wow, what a statement.  What a TRUE statement.  In an economy where people with an education and work history cannot find a job, and politicians are trampling over the rights of the every day man, and on and on and on . . . it is easy to understand why people are down.  But what I don't understand is why people won't take this time to get back to the simple things in life to make them happy.  During my 2 months away from my blog, I have been thinking about just that, what do I do to make me happy during the hard times.  Below are some of the things I do/have that keep a smile on my face even when I don't think I can smile anymore.  

Getting funny photos of my nephew

Crocheting (a fun pastime even in the warmer months)

Designing earrings. A girl can never have too many fun earrings.

Silly time with my husband (who is such a great sport).

Día de San Valentín

I am a sucker for love.  Or at least all things that represent and celebrate love.  Yes, I am that girl that LOVES LOVE and I am not afraid to show it.  So when February comes around I get EXCITED for Valentine's Day!  You would think that I would be more excited about the fact that my birthday is in February, but nope.  I started crafting and crocheting gifts for my family and sending cards to people early.

I described my excitement to a friend on Facebook like this, " I'm such a little girl, I love Valentine' Day. In my head, I am the girl who still gives out cards to everyone in the class to make everyone feel good today. I even made myself a glitter heart shirt to wear when I am not going anywhere today. "  So what does a girl like me do for Valentine's Day--nothing.  My husband I have never really celebrated Valentine's Day.  He used to work at a restaurant and that was a big money day so I never needed us to celebrate that day.  Instead, we do little gifts and I spend the rest of the day making sure that I make everyone in my life that I love know it.  I sent gifts to my new nephew, I watched some sappy movies, and I made my husband dinner.

But since I am that little girl in my head who loves Valentine's Day, I needed something festive to wear for the holiday--even if my only plan for the day was to work out.  While reading my Glamour magazine last month, I saw that shirts and sweatshirts with glittery hearts on them were all the rage.  I thought PERFECT, but spending $45 on a sweatshirt is not my idea of money well spent.  So out came the paper stencils, glue, glitter, and $7 thermal from Wal-Mart.

I made stencils out of paper and my favorite heart shape.  Taped them to the shirt with paper tape.

I mixed the glitter and some glue and pained it inside the stencil.

 While the glitter glue mixture was still very wet, I added extra glitter.
I then removed the extra little hearts and placed them around the big heart and repeated the process.

 I let the glitter and glue dry a little more and removed the stencils.  Then I let the whole project dry for 24 hours, and followed up with an extra layer of glue to set the glitter.

See, I didn't do much for Valentine's Day but work out, but I was still festive.  (excuse the pic, I really took it right after I worked out).











Other Valentine's extras:

Instead of my usual high bun, I wore my hair with an upside down french braid with a bun on top. And my husband surprised me with a little Valentine's Day chocolate.  So sweet.

 

Year of the Blue?

When the NY Giants won the Super Bowl, Beyonce sent congratulations and said that it was the year of the Blue.  Like most who read this I related it back to her new baby girl Blue Ivy Carter (who is adorable BTW), but as I have been seeing posts from so many NYFW events I am becoming a believer.  I think for fashion, this really may be the year of the blue in so many hues and variations.  Below are some of my new favorite blue moments so far.

Cynthia Bailey during NYFW

  

Antique Turquoise and Cabochon Ring

Ashley Nell Blue Pants

Old Navy Maxi Skirt

Old Navy Navy Blue Chiffon Dress

Jason Wu for Target

Miss Tina Colder Should Dress

Polka Dot flats for Ruche

Getting back in the habit of . . .

Why are good habits so hard to make and bad habits so hard to break?  I don't know.  I think that if I did I would be rich because sharing that secret in a book or interview or something could be worth a pretty penny.  Anyway, for 2012 I did not make any resolutions.  Instead, I decided in late 2011 to start changing my life for the better in many ways.  I started doing daily devotionals and Bible study, I started taking more time to think about the positive instead of the negative, and I am learning to be happy with what I have (i.e. my family, my friends, my life).  But that doesn't mean I don't have goals for 2012.


A few years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to Vision Boarding.  Every year on the first Saturday in January she hosts a vision boarding party.  Where she invites ladies over and basically we all collage (yes, like you did back in elementary school with the cutting up of magazines and glue sticks etc.).  But instead of just making a fun, colorful collage, we made vision boards for the things we want to accomplish in the coming year. The idea being that if you see it everyday, you can visualize where you want to be and what you want to do.  Like writing down your goals in a much more fun and colorful way.


I loved the idea, and made my first vision board with only one thing in mind--getting married.  And that year, I got married.  I was like a person who got only one wish from a genie--super happy my wish came true but left contemplating how I would do things differently if I could go back and wish again.  So this year, when I sat down to make my vision board I thought what I wanted in every area of my life and then decided to focus on 4 areas: What I want for my marriage, what I want to spend my time on, what I want for my home, and what I want for my body.


While I am far from finished with my vision board for 2012 (mostly because all of the magazines I have in the house are fashion mags and they don't have nearly enough of the images I want to use) seeing my goals for life change and improvement every morning when I wake up keeps me focused and serves as a daily reminder of what I am working toward.


I suggest everyone try vision boarding, whether it is for the year, for a specific goal, or for a short term project.

My favorite new hair tool/toy

I bought this T Studio Pearl Ceramic Curling Wand back in September 2011.  I have tried so many different curling irons over the years, but my hair never holds a curl unless I curl my hair with a curling iron or hot rollers and then pin curl my hair and then hair spray it to death.

My Natural Hair Straight with the best curl I used to get

The first time I used the curling I just washed and blew out my hair.  I did not make it too straight with the blow dryer because I did not want to over expose my hair to heat (especially since I wanted to curl my hair on the highest setting of 410).  I was amazed with the results.  It gave me a head full of soft curls that last 3 days with the need to touch up only the front of my hair on day 3.  And you don't have to

Day 2 after curling my hair

For my friend's birthday party, I straightened my hair completely and did loose curls for a sleeker look

For NYE I curled my hair tighter and teased the roots for a full look

Every girl needs one of these.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Well, I started this blog to get excited about getting creative again and . . . got lazy.  Well not really.  I got busy with life and the holidays and did not take the time to blog.

But here is a short post for now.

All you need to do this yourself is:
Make-up sponges
Glitter
Shoes
painters tape (optional)
Glitter/fabric glue

Tape off edges of area of the shoe that is not to be glittered.  Apply glue to glitter area.  Apply glitter, shake off excess, repeat.  Continue until complete.  DO NOT over glue and try to apply glue in an even fashion.  Let glitter dry completely.  Follow up with a second coat of glue.  Allow to dry completely and you are ready to wear.

I will post photos of the shoes with an outfit soon.