On a whim...

My cousin posted something on fb about a similar dress in an attempt to win a drawing from a stylish boutique. It would be an Easter dress for her toddler. I then decided to go out and try to make it. I found a similar pattern and set to work making modifications to make it look like the picture.

It came out nearly perfect... The only problem was that it was a little big... Easily solved with a cardigan. Plus side: she can still fit into it a year or two later!! Rare with fast growing children!

Mermaid Costume DIY

When my friends were having a big Halloween party (with a cash prize for best costume) I took my obsession with costumes and my general competitive nature and went crazy. The cash prize wasn't much incentive (I spent more than what I would win on contacts alone) but the desire to win was a huge draw. After spending a ton of time on Pinterest I decided I wanted to be a mermaid. I'm no twig so bikini was definitely not an option ... Especially during fall in New England. I sewed the skirt myself and bought the crop top from a clearance rack at the mall. I dyed my hair red, bought turquoise contacts and used the Pinterest-famous fishnet stocking trick to give myself scales. Half pearls were glued on using eyelash glue.

Sadly I suck and didn't get a picture of me in full costume with makeup etc.

In case you were wondering, yes. I won ;)

I made that.

Yes. I made that genuine one of a kind handmade, hand sewn teddy bear... Soft brown fleece with floral accents on the paws and ears, jointed arms and head... Really quite a gem. 20+ hours of work right there. That bear is the reason I then learned how to use a sewing machine. Life changer!

DIY Ice Cream Cake

As I mentioned in my last post, in one long night I made 21 different cakes. One of these was an ice cream cake. My mom used to make these for parties when I was a kid so for this party, I called her and asked how to make them. Turns out it much simpler than I expected. Why spend $30 on an ice cream cake when you can make one for about $5?

What you need:

-Ice Cream (I used vanilla)

-Hostess Ho-Ho Cakes 

(Do they still exist? I'm sure you could find something similar.)

I used a bundt pan because it looks pretty and it has slots making it easy to know where to cut slices. I took the ice cream out to soften for a little while. You do not want it to be liquid but you need to be able to squish it. While the ice cream was softening I unwrapped a bunch of Ho-Hos and squished them into the pan and packed it down as best as I could. How much you use depends on what pan you are using and how much cake you want in your ice cream cake. Once I had the Ho-Hos squished into the pan, I then squished the ice cream into the pan and then made sure it was flat. I put it back in the freezer to solidify a bit and then popped it out of the pan and put it on the plate when I was ready for it. Yum!

Beach in a Block

When I was fourteen, my family went to NYC to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center along with some other touristy sights. I barely remember the day except for the fact that my older brother had asked if he could bring his "friend" with us. We then found out that she was his new girlfriend. Fast forward a few years, Bethany came on a family vacation with us to Aruba. We had a blast. She was already a part of our family. One night, Ryan and Bethany took a bottle of wine and two glasses and went down to the beach to look at the stars. When they came back, they were engaged. My brother married his high school sweetheart almost two years ago and I am so happy because of it. I could not have picked someone better for Ryan. 

All of that back story is to give this DIY some meaning. I like to give gifts to people that will mean something. The first Christmas that they were married, I decided to make this for them.

All I did was take a simple craft block that I bought at Michaels like this one

and filled it with sand, a few shells, a cork and a picture from that night when he proposed. It probably cost less than $20 for the whole thing and turned out beautifully. I have seen some really clever things done with craft blocks. People use them as wedding centerpieces, fish tanks, they fill them with candy, Christmas lights, cover them with paper mache and light them up... you name it. What have you done with craft blocks?

My Broken Heart

So when you have such a messy room as I did growing up, breaking things is inevitable. Fortunately I am not superstitious because with the amount of mirrors I have stepped on and broke, I would have bad luck for the next few decades. Most of the time I did not care too much. This one mirror though was pretty nice though. it was a weird squished oval shape with a handle and it was salon quality. It was a gift from my mom so of course I felt bad when I broke it... When I was cleaning out the mess I saw that some of the pieces broke in some pretty cool shapes. I played around with it for a little while and then grabbed some sticky tack and this is what I ended up with.

While it might not work out so well if I tried to duplicate it, I was really happy with how it turned out. I love having mirrors in my room. The way they reflect the light, it just makes everything brighter and lovely! I ended up taking the mirror down when I had to repaint the walls and I still miss it to this day... I did however cut my hand really badly on the sharp edge as it came down.... So yeah. If you ever try to do something like this, broken mirrors and broken glass are actually sharp and dangerous. Who would have guessed. So go make something beautiful out of a stupid mistake! Let me know if you create something awesome that you want to brag about!