pinterest love.

{caramel topped shortbread}

amazingly i haven't been spending as much time as i was on pinterest. that's not really saying much though because i still get on it every opportunity i have. these are some of my favorites.

{i have a weakness for shoes}

{cute diy idea}

{festive cards}

{♡}

creative gift-giving.

this holiday season i don't have too much money to spend on my family & friends unfortunately. but lucky for me i am able to make a lot of the gifts i give which i think is better than spending loads of cash because it gives a personal touch that you wouldn't get otherwise.

{merry christmas! love kermit & miss piggy}

while my brother was in alabama, he collected quite a few bottle caps off the ground. he sent them home hoping i would do something with them for him. well i never really got around to it so i thought a christmas present would be the best thing to do with them.

i took a plain black photo album with a smooth cover from wal-mart and hot glued the bottle caps on in rows. i glued a little foam piece to the inside of the bottle caps to have a sort of platform to glue to the photo album so i didn't have piles of glue around the base of the caps.

for a personal touch i added one of his missionary badges in the center. afterall, this will be used for his many pictures from the mish.

turned out pretty cool right? i think he'll like it.

happy holidays everyone!

celebrate.

i LOVE birthdays. not just my birthday, but really anyone's. i love that there is a special day to celebrate specific people for no specific reason (other than the obvious of course). mostly i just like to celebrate.

saturday was this beautiful girl's birthday--the big 19!

katie is my best friend kamrie's little sister and i have basically adopted her as my own. she is beyond gorgeous and very talented. check out her sweeeeet tumblr here.

celebrating also gives me one more reason to get crafty! thanks to pinterest i get unlimited inspiration and here is what got me inspired:

aren't they pretty? i fell in love. how cute would they be for a little girls birthday (or a big girl...why not)? mine didn't turn out as festive as these, but next time i go to the craft store i will make sure to pick up some fun patterns & glitter paper to make the next ones just as fun.

how about you try making your own? the person who receives it will be thrilled!

what you need:

cardstock or pretty heavy scrapbook paper

this template (thanks to the wonderful blog Oh Happy Day)

pencil

tape

stapler

exacto knife

hole punch

scissors

any embellishments you want to make it awesome:

{i.e. strands of sequins, fabric ruffles, ribbons, crepe paper or tissue paper (for homemade pom poms and ruffles), glitter}

*i enlarged the template a little bit to make it fit for an adult head but it should be fine for little kiddies heads depending on how big (or high) you want them.

i used Oh Happy Day's instructions for the basic party hat right here and then embellished as i pleased. here are the instructions in case you don't want to go to her blog which i most definitely recommend checking out.

step 1: download pdf template. print & cut out template. trace template onto heavy paper.

step 2: cut out traced party hat.

step 3: put tab into slot.

step 4: punch a hole in each side for ties.

step 5: push ribbons through each hole and tie a knot to hold it.

step 6: embellish.

cutest sisters around.

i think it turned out pretty dang cute, and she of course wore it very well.

music lovin.

i really liked these covers. i thought maybe you would too.

meg & dia are darling. go listen to their other covers, you will enjoy i know it.

pinners anonymous.

{daily inspiration}

i'm addicted. i will admit it freely & i'm not ashamed. pinterest is where i spend most of my free time. so i thought i'd share some of my favorite pins thus far. i will make this a weekly feature so you can all keep up with the things i love -- so nice of me i know.

{i absolutely adore anything coconut}

{i obviously will be making this--stay tuned for a diy}

{i'm in love}

{chocolate labs melt my heart}

*click captions for sources.

we did work.

this is what my mom & i did today:

before:

after:

cute right?

happy weekend!

burnt the cookies.

so if you know me at all, you know that i love to bake. through all of my experience baking i have learned a thing or two about the do's and don'ts of cookies, more specifically my favorite white chocolate chip pecan cookies. these really are the best cookies i have ever had and i'm not just saying that because i make them. they really are so good! and easy which is the best part. and even better, you can add any mix-ins you want (but i would definitely recommend white chocolate chips & pecans.)

the most important thing i have learned making these cookies is that you cannot use melted butter! when the recipe says "room-temperature" or "softened", this DOES NOT mean melted. if you melt your butter, the cookies will not bake properly. just a fun fact for you all.

oh, and on monday when i was making a batch of these for some cute missionaries, i accidently burnt one batch. but in the end it was ok because one of the missionaries specifically said he likes his chocolate chip cookies burnt. weird but whatever. they were supposed to get them today so i hope they enjoyed!

here is my almost-famous recipe. try it out:

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 - 3 cups flour (i usually use about 2 3/4)

1 cup of your mix-in (or more if you feel the need)

Cream sugar with brown sugar and butter. Add eggs & vanilla, blend well. Add dry ingredients: baking soda, powder, salt & flour. Mix in the good stuff. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes (watch them starting at about 10 minutes.)

*I make mine pretty big and it makes about 2 dozen, more if you make them smaller.

where the magic happens.

welcome to my cute little sewing/craft corner.

i made it. nbd.

that is probably the best part about diy's -- getting to say that you made it all by yourself (or with a little help from some handy assistants if needed.) i like to make anything i possibly can. this may stem from some type of control issue..whatever. if things aren't exactly how i like them, well then i will fix it and make them how i like. i also really like to be able to personalize things and make them just a little bit (or a lotta bit) different than what other people have.

so. that is exactly what i did. i got my inspiration from this picture:

cute right? but then i got thinking, how cool would it be to weave in a silk scarf instead of the same fabric? i went searching for the perfect shirt or sweatshirt to do it with. well i had no luck. i decided on a black & white *sweater from Target with a vintage floral scarf i already had. Follow my tutorial if you'd like to make one.

first i measured the sweater and the scarf to figure out the measurements for the pieces to weave. i ended up doing to the scarf strips about 2 in. wide and the sweater strips about 2.5 in. wide. i didn't want to go with the stripes of the sweater and it adds more interest. if you are using a fabric that frays really easily, which happened to be both my sweater and scarf unfortunately, make sure to sew around the openings of the sweater and down each side of each strip of scarf. (i say unfortunately because it just added another step and i wanted to get it done quickly, it really didn't take that much longer though.) i ended up with 10 pieces of scarf to be weaved in.

next i was ready to get the scarf strips lined up and ready to weave into the sweater. i pinned them along the top and had enough that i was able to overlap them to make it look fuller. after pinning them i sewed a line through the tops to secure the strips and began weaving.

because the sweater is a woven fabric, it stretches really easily. i began to notice that the strips of sweater were super baggy, not tight like it would be if you were to use a knit. because of this, i had to start tacking the sweater strips together in between the scarf weaving in and out. (along the top and bottom i had to hand-sew the whole width of the sweater.)

after i completed weaving the scarf in, i needed to secure the strips to the bottom. i simply sewed a single line across the bottom and trimmed the excess scarf off.

it was finally completed!! i turned it right-side out and put it on. i am really happy with the final result and have already gotten lots of compliments on it.

*if i were to do this again, i definitely would choose to use a knit fabric (tshirt fabric, sweatshirt, something that will not unravel. just make it easier on yourself.)

let me introduce myself....

since you have absolutely no idea who i am, let me give you 20 little fun facts about myself before you decide if you want to be my friend or not. (some are quite strange... get over it.)

1.) i HATE air blowing on my face. hot or cold. i don't know why, i can't quite explain it, i just don't like it (the only exception is when i am putting my head out of a car window like a dog.)

2.) i love using a planner. i use my $1 target day planner religiously and i look at my calendar on my phone about 3,847 times a day. it keeps me on track and helps me to feel like i have accomplished something.

3.) i am like a little kid. someone just told me this yesterday and he barely knows me. obviously i am just super immature or something. but really i am happy doing anything a little kid likes to do and this is why i get paid the big bucks to babysit because i can play duck duck goose and the tickle game just as well as the 5 year old next to me.

4.) i may be going prematurely deaf. just kidding but really i say "what?" more than most 80 year old men. i get distracted super easily and tend to not pay attention to what people are saying unless i am looking directly at them (even then it's kind of iffy.) please do not get offended if this ever happens to us in real life.

5.) i am a good friend. i know this because the majority of my besties are from elementary school or junior high (with a few new additions since college.) when i find someone who can put up with me, i hold on to them. tight.

6.) i could spend all of my days in the water. whether it be lake powell, the beach, or just a swimming pool, it doesn't matter. i have also been called a fish a time or two.

7.) sometimes it's really hard for me to retain important information. i think it's because again, i get distracted really easily and do things my own way.

8.) for some reason i have a very bad habit of pulling out my eyelashes. weird i know. it's mostly when i am anxious or bored. or if i have mascara on late at night and i want it off. woops.

9.) i hate hate hate crying in front of people. some of my best friends haven't even seen my fully cry before. i feel way to vulnerable kind of like being naked in front of people. i show my emotions in different ways.

10.) i love anything crafty or creative. i love making things look pretty, taking things apart and putting them back together in even better ways. i also love to bake and try new recipes. i am in my element creating things.

11.) i don't like scented lotions (well, very rarely.) for the most part they make me want to gag.

12.) i love getting lost in a book. (borders went out of business. the good thing about this is that i got like 100 books this summer for super cheap.)

13.) i hate fast food. i refuse to eat anything from mcdonalds & wendy's isn't even good anymore. i think this also has a lot to do with the fact that i don't like hamburgers. i also hate denny's.

14.) i don't tend to drink carbonation but when the craving strikes, i will drink dr. pepper with coconut (sounds freaky but please try it, for your sake.) for the most part though i just love good old fashioned water and lemonade.

15.) i have a weird obsession with coconut. anything coconut i absolutely love. my specialty is coconut cupcakes. click the link for the best recipe ever, courtesy of ma girl martha.

16.) i am obsessed with pinterest. but really, who isn't?

17.) i love dogs. mostly big dogs though. labs are my favorite.

18.) one day i hope to become a textile designer (if you have any tips on how to make this happen, feel free to share so my road to success can be shortened a little & i can get there faster.)

19.) i loooooove gossip girl. chuck bass is my main man.

20.) i am always cold. it sucks. and i hate winter and live in utah so it double sucks.

what's good in da hood.

well hello there.

first off i will just say that i am happy to now be a part of this blogging world (from the forefront opposed to stalking anonymously.)

quite honestly i never thought i would be one to have a blog. i am not witty & clever when it comes to writing and it just does not come naturally to me to write everything down. but thanks to my pint-sized friend hally, i am caving in and about to let you all in to the world inside my head.
this may be crafts i have done, sewing projects/tips, pinterest findings, or everyday helpful tips i think everyone else should know.

enjoy!