Getting Into The Spirit

    There isn't much I love more than the holidays. Soy peppermint lattes, lights and garland hung on the railing outside, packages with ADORABLE toppers under the tree. Which brings me to the best part. The tree and all the trimmings on this magnificent beast of perfectly twisted metal and probably some terrible cancer causing plastic pine needles. *Sigh* sounds so wonderful when I put it that way huh?

Hello My Dear Old Friend

    HOLY COW! It has been QUITE a while since I've blogged. School and work has taken up more than its fair share of time. Time to load up some inspiration! (I must confess... most of what I've made can't be shared online for fear of spoiling Christmas presents for some of you out there =P OR completely dedicated to a class drawing assignment) That being said, I think I should share some of the stockpile I have of adorable ideas cooped up in a dusty file on this old laptop.

Whoopie Pies Anyone?

  
    Off I went on my baking adventure again today. On my list of things to make; Whoopie Pies. Let me tell you... theses are EASY to make, really hard to mess up and no one could eat just one. (Ask my uncle D., he couldn't shove them in his face fast enough.) I'm not much of a chocolate girl, but these are divine. Recipe after the jump!

That's Just Vial

  
    eBay and craigslist are my nemesis. Not because they are evil and destroy the universe, (ok maybe just a little) but because I always find little trinkets and things I can use a gajillion times cheaper than any craft store can offer me. The latest find came to me in the form of that image as a tiny thumb nail ^^^. I had no idea what I would use all ten precious vials for, but I knew if I didn't get them an amazing potential craft would pass me by. Here are just three I made.

UH-DICTED

    I think I should just own stock in a nail polish remover company because my mother swears I drink the stuff at the rate I go through it. Every couple of days my nails are a new color. Why? Why not?! It's an innocent addiction I must say. Having used just about every brand of nail polish known to man I can safely say this is the best I have come across. Sinful Color is by the bestestestest brand... the best part... $1.99 a bottle at Rite Aid. Epic win right? I've used $9 a bottle polish before, it was nice but nothing so spectacular for 9 bucks a bottle. Amazing how the cheaper stuff can end up being the best stuff out there. I decided to get a little creative with it. *Cue evil laugh*

I Don't Need HGTV To Make My Space Awesome

    It is no surprise to anyone that I love to make things to decorate the space that I call my own. I have my innocent obsession with HGTV makeover shows. Now, this has its downfall... I get way too many ideas to make my space look radtastical (yes, that is a word... in my mind at least) and I either don't have an unlimited amount of money to make my gold leaf wall paper line the room or I simply don't have enough room left to make a project happen. So, what do I do? A ton of little epic things! Off I go to the thrift store and dollar stores. They always have such awesome things to either make other items with or fun little trinkets you can make better with very little effort. A mini show off after the jump!

Reginald, My Deer Reginald

   
    Ok, even I'll admit the title is a little corny. Ever so fitting though, don't you think? I was moseying around on pinterest.com and came across these felt mounted animal heads. There was a precious little doe, a soft bunny, a squirrel looking chipper and I believe an adorable skunk. They were all a little too whimsical and didn't have enough of their attributes played up. I thought to myself, "Hmm, I'm sure I could whip something up that looked halfway decent." That is exactly what I did, I made a buck named Reginald.

No Creations Doesn't Mean No Creativity

    I haven't exactly been super busy photographing any of my latest creations. However, I have been thrift store hunting and craftgawker.com stumbling (oi... that is a death trap... got stuck flipping through the endless pages for HOURS!). After creating Reginald, to be explained in a post in the near future, I needed to give my little fingers a break from creating things. What I have book marked, saved into the all important "art ideas" folder on my laptop, and just plain jotted down in my idea book has come to a point where I feel I must share some inspiration. Don't need to be selfish with my collected goodies, now do I?  Ideas after the jump!

Hot 'N Steamy

    My love of all things steampunk never fails. I have FINALLY received my long anticipated package from India with a handful of old watch faces and guts. So what did I do?

All Nice And Cozy

    Prepare for a post that is fairly obese with pictures!

    My lovely neighbor/crafting companion Denise asked if I would make a bunch of coffee cozies for her fellow officer's wives. Happily I obliged. Each lady had a special color felt picked out just for her personality as well as a button (or two) that matched her disposition. I felt like I knew each of these gals a bit after I made each piece. Some were organic in nature, light hearted and girly, bold and fun, and there were also a few refined and classic. Crazy what you can get from two pieces of felt and a button or two. Needless to say, I had a ton of fun making these little cozies.

A Battle Entered And Won

Working the the wedding industry I have seen every type of cake/cupcake flavor imaginable; strawberry and lemon tart, coffee and caramel, chocolate, vanilla and orange, and yes... red velvet. I generally stay away from eating the sweets at weddings because lets face it, eating cake every weekend can have quite a negative effect on someone. There is one weakness though, red velvet. It is quite a trendy flavor in the industry currently, but I have loved that flavor since who knows how long. Having never been a fan of chocolate, this very light hint of chocolate was surprisingly pleasing to my pallet. However, MOST bakers DO NOT get the cake right. Too much chocolate, a cupcake paper full of frosting and a smidge of cake, too dense,  and the worst... too dry.

Up On A Pedestal

    As many of those in my life know, I LOVE old school/classic/retro things. Mildly obsessed? Maybe.. but I haven't acknowledged I have a problem yet, therefore my problem doesn't exist! (Perfect logic... don't question it.) As most of you also know, I refuse to pay top dollar for pretty much anything. I'm a college kid dammit! Haha! What I can't purchase on a budget I create, and I create quite frequently. It has its downside and upside. I may not be able to have the snazziest store bought things, but no one else has the nifty little trinkets I make with my own two hands. Personally, I think that results in some of the more unique pieces.

The Topiary I Can't Kill

 
  I have loved topiaries since forever, they are fancy schmancy and frankly just adorable. However, I  don't have the patience for the ivy bush to grow nor the skill to make a chunk of ivy look like an elephant balanced on a ball (it would end up looking like I had a mild seizure while wielding garden shears, yikes).

    Soooooo, instead of going grand, I thought small scale. I didn't think it was absolutely necessary to have a giant potted ivy bush in a 2 foot tall pot on my porch to sport the topiary look. A small 3 inch tall pot seemed to do the trick just fine. Since keeping plants alive is not exactly my forte, I opted to go the nifty not live route. Some foam core as dirt, a styrofoam ball to shape the top, moss as my ivy, and a wooden dowel for the trunk and I had myself a suitable base for my topiary. Lets not forget to mention the grip of hot glue used to make these suckers. I didn't have too much trouble with this project surprisingly, though I will mention that hot glue is hot (duh) and it oozes up to the top of the moss when you press down on it to adhere it to the core. Learned that one the hard way. Oops... haha. See my result after the jump!

Blue Ribbon Worthy

    While tooling around the craft store (bad idea to go into one with out a list... I always walk out with more than I intended), I saw the most adorable paper ribbons. The precious zig zag/crinkle, a little sparkleness tossed on, a nice message proclaiming a job well done, and that sharp look of the paper ribbon tassels below all the decoration. Then my eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw the price tag. How can three layers of paper, a bit of adhesive and glitter be damn near $7?! The supplies cost $1... maybe... $1.50 if you wanna get real fancy with it. Being the crafty chick we all know I am, I said, "Nay! I will not pay seven times the cost of supplies for something that can easily be made!"

The 70's, A Little Upcycling, And A Lot Of Creativity

    My lovely Aunt Anita was kind enough to send me a bunch of old and dead watches for my ever growing love of steam punk art. There was one watch in particular that she warned me I was getting, not wanting to spoil the surprise I forbade her from revealing its glory before I got it in the mail. All the information she gave up was that it was gaudy and straight outta the 70's. I might have squealed a little and possibly did a little happy dance, but I don't have to ever confirm or deny those facts. (Who am I kidding? We all know I did that and possibly tossed a handful of glitter in the air and danced under it.)

    I patiently waited for the mail to come. Once it did come, I nearly ripped the box into two very distinct pieces the moment I got my hands on it. The other watches suddenly seemed less important. Don't you dare think I didn't cherish each one for their guts after my eyes soaked up the glory of the mystery 70's watch. I digress! I present to you... my magical 70's watch.
 

So what do I do with a summer that's all mine?

    I'll tell ya exactly what I do, I make stuff I have never attempted. What exactly is that? Jewelry. I've been on quite a jewelry kick lately (mostly rings) and have tried quite a few methods of making different little pretties. The various metal mediums have caught my attention. The two different styles are crazy different, kind of a pain in the ass to accomplish and frankly... pretty charming once finished. Slicing my fingers with the thin wire and later gluing them together with all purpose glue that is a total bitch to get off a are only two of the problems I encountered, but I think it was well worth the struggles to get to the end result.