stripes and a how-to for braided bangs

jeans: ae, striped top: f21, tank: zara, wedge sandals: graceland, watch: michael kors

not ok: 

the weather since we got here... no real summer in sight!

writing all these blog posts in my head during the few minutes it takes me to fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning and always being too tired to actually take down some notes, then of course forgetting everything.

being away from the hubs for another 3 weeks.

having to wake up at 6.45 am every morning due to my own personal (and very cute) alarm clock.

all this delicious food that constantly screams "eat me!"

having to drive a manual for the first time in years tonight - not looking forward to that.

totally ok:

several wonderful and lovely emails i've been receiving from you guys - wow, i really appreciate those :)

going to yoga and pilates class with my bestie tonight

all this delicious food that constantly screams "eat me!"

a bang braid on bad hair days

the little man's rad walking skills

seeing the huge smiles on my family's faces every day, mostly due to the little man of course

watching euro cup soccer games every night

taking walks through the fields

and for all of you who'd like to know how to braid your bangs:

1. part your hair pretty far on one side (whichever side works best for you)
2. select three strands of hair to braid with and do a reverse/inverted french braid where you simply braid the hair under instead of over and keep adding hair in mostly from the top of your head
3. important: don't braid too tightly! keep that braid low on your forehead as you go
4. pin somewhere by your ear or finish off braid and tie with a skinny hair tie
5. i also use some hair spray to control fly aways
6. practice, practice, practice! 

it's really super easy but it may take you a few tries to get it right. i seriously wear the bang braid all the time now, especially on a bad hair day when i don't get to wash it. 

diy: lace inset jeans

when my mom is in town we always do a lot of shopping. it's fun and definitely part of our girl time. we have a local discount store where you can find some really amazing deals on name brand clothing. some of the things they sell have minor (or major) imperfections so you have to be careful and selective. this time and thanks to my mom's hawk eyes, i scored a pair of Joe's jeans for $2!!! they had a 4 inch rip right below the right side pocket but were otherwise in perfect condition and fit like a glove. i fell in love with them and figured i could do something to that rip to make it less revealing. i contemplated adding some floral fabric over top or some vintage lace on the inside. i didn't want the embellishment to be too attention grabbing and a little more subtle so I opted for the lace.
i am a big fan of iron on transfer paper and usually do all my appliques with it before sewing to add some extra detailing. i noticed before that it doesn't work as well with denim but since i didn't want to pin the lace i used it still.

here are instructions on what i did:

you'll need

a pair of jeans to embellish
some sand paper
scissors
a piece of lace or fabric of your choice
iron on transfer paper
iron
sewing machine
matching thread

i first cut the rip in the jeans a little bit bigger and sanded the edges to give it a more natural look

then cut out a piece of lace and a few small strips of iron on paper which will go on the edges of the lace. make sure not to cover all of the lace with the iron on paper or all kinds of debris will stick to it once you peel the paper off. it also wouldn't be sheer anymore.

turn your jeans inside out and place the lace and transfer paper in the right spot. iron on and let cool completely before removing the paper.

be very careful when you turn the jeans back out because the iron on bond won't be very strong. now your lace should stay in place well enough for you to easily sew around the edges with the machine.
i used a zig zag stitch and really like how it turned out. i also accidentally sewed over the pocket a little but it's still usable so it wasn't a big deal.

that's it! you just gave a ripped pair of jeans a whole new life.

diy: a first birthday party

so i am fully aware that nobody except for me wants to see this many pictures of my child but it was his first birthday and he is the cutest so you'll just have to deal with it :)

we had a great party on memorial day weekend with a ton of cake and a pancake breakfast. he loved it all: the people, the presents, the food. we were so happy most of our friends and family could share this special day with us. logan only had one mini meltdown when one of his little friends started crying and it scared him into a hysterical cry as well. it was actually a little bit funny for us parents to watch.

my mom and i made a banana shaped cake, cinnamon cupcakes, a chocolate coconut loaf, an apple cinnamon loaf and my all time favorite: my godmother's recipe for carrot cake. we also had fruit salad, strawberry and pineapple skewers, a vegetable pizza courtesy of the MIL, iced tea with mint from the garden and freshly squeezed lemonade.

i never got a chance to take pictures of the decorations and food set up before people came so this is all i have. i used streamers and balloons indoors and out on the porch. i made logan his shirt with the appliqued number one on it and he actually kept it quite clean all day long. the birthday invites are my own design as well and will be available in my shop as a diy printable/download later this summer.

so that was his party. low key, all diy, not a crazy amount of people - just right.

i still can't believe my baby is now a toddler.

happy first birthday little man! mama and papa love you so much.

how-to: a guide to organizing and cleaning out your closet

the trouble with shopping is...

well, i guess most of you probably know just as well as i do what the trouble with shopping is, right?
if you're like me you love to shop and you love a good bargain. a combination that can be quite dangerous if you're not careful.
over the last 10 years or so i accumulated quite the collection in my closet.
a collection of things that even made it through a move from one continent to another
(no kidding, i sent about 4 big boxes of stuff which surprisingly all made it) and another move from one house to another.

now you'd think that moving may be a good time to go through your things and throw away or donate what you no longer use or wear, since you're already boxing things up anyway. well, i have a slight problem with throwing things away. they usually accumulate in a corner somewhere until one day i finally sit down to go through them, sort, throw things away and most likely create another pile somewhere else. it's not that i have a real emotional connection with these things or that i really need them but i have a need to make sure i spent the time to inspect carefully and make a conscious decision to let things go.

of course over the years i have gotten rid of clothing, given it away and even removed old high school and college t-shirts from my husbands closet. still, i always felt overwhelmed when it came to cleaning out my own mess of a closet. one time the shelving on the one side of my walk-in closet actually came off the wall and with it a big jumbled mess of fabric and hangers. so that was the first time i truly realized i probably had way too many clothes and started to fill a bag for donations and another bag to sell. another big indicator for me was that i started feeling lost and frustrated in my own closet when it came to picking outfits. i never felt that i liked most of the things i owned or that i was truly in love with a lot of my purchases.

it has taken me a lot of time to admit to myself that i need to be a more thoughtful shopper. i know what i like but sometimes that means that i have to spend more time researching where to buy and how much money to spend. i love places that offer trendy clothing for only a few bucks but i have also come to realize that those items are the ones that i hardly ever wear or that quickly end up with seams unravelling or ripping.

so last week i  got down to business once again and really cleaned out.
this time i filled up three bags, took them to goodwill and threw away a good bit as well.
i have kept my system of color coordinating so things are easier to find and you know where to look.
i have to admit that i felt such relief once all of these things were gone. i now walk into my closet and i don't feel lost and frustrated anymore.
i still have to go through most of my pants and there are a ton of purses i haven't even touched yet but i made progress and that's all that counts.

here are some pointers and rules i followed on how to clean out your closet to make it more manageable:

• if you haven't worn it in 3 months it needs to go
• if it's not in season it should be stored in a container in your attic, basement, another closet or under your bed (space bags are your best friend)
• if it has your high school/college name/team on it keep a couple of favorites and toss the rest (or make a memory quilt)
• organize your closet by color and style. that way you will see exactly where you need to lighten the load
• if it doesn't fit or you don't feel comfortable in it, donate it - don't keep it because you may one day lose those extra 5 pounds 
• if it has holes or stains that you can't fix or remove, it needs to go
• keep your favorite wardrobe staples such as the little black dress, blazer, a great fitting white t-shirt, skinny jeans etc. but be selective - you don't need 10 of the same!
• donate or give things away to friends/family - it will make you feel good and brighten their day
• sell items on auction platforms such as ebay to make a little bit of extra cash but make sure to only sell items that people want to buy
• sell things at a yard sale or consignment store/sale in your area
• leave enough room between clothes for you to move them easily, it'll help you when putting outfits together and shows you where there may be room for those items that are still missing in your closet 
• buy things you truly love that are of high quality and will last you a long time
• when buying into trends you are not 100% sure about be careful not to spend a ton of money 

so that's how i got my closet back under control. of course i still love to shop and always will :)
i would love to hear  from you on how you keep your closet under control. do you budget your shopping? do you clean out several times a year? what tips or directions do you follow? share them in the comments section, i would love to add to this list.

diy: neon and gold fashion bracelet

yup, another diy today. i am seriously dragging this week with the hubs gone and having to do everything myself. at the end of the day all i want to do is curl up in bed, have some tea and watch tv. you know what that's like, right?

so anyway... while i went through my stash to make the earrings last week, I found some left-over gold chain and neon pink mason line that I had bought for a completely different project (haven't gotten to that one yet).

so I decided to make a bracelet...

you'll need:

larger size gold chain

neon mason line from your local home store (about $2-$3) 

a lobster clasp

some hot glue 

any tool that will help you open the chain links

measure the chain around your wrist take at least three times that length in doubled up mason line (so 6 times the length of your chain). 

loop the string through one end of the chain as you can see in the picture.

slide the loop to one side and start threading it through the chain links from underneath. i eventually added a tiny bit of hot glue to the end of my string so it would stop unravelling. that helped tremendously and also finishes off the string nicely. 

you want to go through each chain link from underneath and then stick your string back down through the loop you created. It's really easy to do just hard to explain ;) 

at the end of the chain I just tied a double knot and left some extra string. you can of course also cut it all off. Attach a lobster clasp to the other side and you are done. this seriously only takes about 15-20 minutes. super easy and super cute :) 

diy: geometric earrings

i thought i'd share this tutorial on how to make some geometric earrings made from polymer clay. i originally came up with this as a contributer post for love stitched so you may have seen this already over there. the neon trend is still going strong and I've been accessorizing with it like crazy. there are so many cute items I would love to own but don't have the money for. so instead, i went though my stash of jewelry making supplies (i am a bad craft hoarder) and pulled out some earring backs and fimo modeling clay i picked up on clearance a few months ago. with some different craft paints i created these cute little geometric post earrings all during one nap time, hey, this mama's got to be efficient :) 

here is what you'll need:

modeling clay (i used white and painted it but it is even quicker if you just buy your favorite color)

earring backs

a small sharp knife

paint

paint brushes

hot glue gun or other strong glue

the earring backs i already had on hand turned out to be too big for the small shapes i wanted to make so I had to cut them down first (big big pain). make sure you buy the smallest ones you can find. all they need to hold is a tiny dab of glue. 

then just go ahead and form a small ball with the modeling clay, about 1/2" or even less in diameter. use your knife to cut away small chunks of the clay with the knife leaving smooth planes all across the shape. save your scraps to use for the other stud. 

once you're done making the shapes stick them in the oven as per the directions on your package of clay and bake them. mine took 30 minutes at 265F. Once they have cooled you are ready to paint. i used some regular acrylic craft paints and patio paint as well. it will take a few coats of paint to completely cover the shapes. let everything dry really well. i painted the base color first, let it dry and then attached the shapes to the earring backs with some hot glue. it doesn't take very much glue at all so be careful! then I painted parts of my studs with coordinating colors for a cute pop of color. 

once the second color is all dry you are done and ready to wear your new earrings :) 

recipe: cinnamon pull apart bread

today i am sharing this recipe i found via sfb on how to make cinnamon pull apart bread.

it's a super easy recipe that does take a little preparation but has a delicious result. i made some small adjustments to the recipe as i was going along. 

for your dough you will need:

1 cup warm water (i used a little more as i was making the dough because it was too dry) 
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) active-dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon honey
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups unbleached flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

the original version only uses half of the dough recipe but i made the full amount and ended up with 4 small loaf pans.

for the filling you will need: 

3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet cream butter, melted (i started out with this amount but had to add some more) 

vanilla icing:

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted (i added more because my icing was too runny) 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

this will slowly form a dough you may or may not have to add more water to. mine was very dry so i added just a bit more. 

place your dough in a greased bowl, cover it with a towel and keep it in a warm place to let it raise for about 1.5 hours. i always put my dough in the oven on the keep warm setting, which is about 170 degrees fahrenheit. 

as i was cutting these i decided, since this is a pizza dough, they would also be great dipped in a little olive oil and italian seasoning, baked and then served with marinara sauce. yummo!

melt the butter and stir together the cinnamon and sugar. dip each piece in the butter (shake off excess) and coat with cinnamon sugar. 

arrange dough pieces in your greased loaf pans and bake at 375 degrees for abour 20-25 minutes. use a toothpick to test if it's done. 

super yummy! perfect for breakfast or as dessert or really any time of the day ;) they are also a great size to give to a friend as a sweet treat. 
Enjoy!

all images copyright the forge
original recipe taken from here