Music I LOVE: New No Doubt - Settle Down

I cannot properly describe what a huge No Doubt fan I am. I love them and have been totally committed since I first heard "I'm Just a Girl" on the radio. Their first new song in nine years is here and it pays tribute to everything they've done.

I love seeing the easter eggs... especially for Tragic Kingdom (the orange), the Harajuku Girls and even Gwen's work with Cover Girl.

Speaking of Gwen, she's still one hot mama - look at that bod!

Just watch it!

Tangle-Free Headphones

If you're like me, you have two problems when it comes to your headphones:

1. They're dirty
2. They're tangled like nobody's business

Lucky for you, I have a solution for both.  This is going to cause you to reach back into your childhood... think Grade 6.  The epitome of cool was having an arm full of friendship bracelets and I'd like to think that my headphones will get me the same status (fingers crossed!)

I saw this idea originally on Apartment Therapy and they give a pretty good idea of the instructions and link to a page that shows you how to knot the actual thread (so I won't repeat all that here).

My favourite part about my DIY headphones is how colourful they are and they truly do "knot" get tangled (ha ha ha that's a knee-slapper).  Plus, the materials only cost me a total of $0.78 at Wal Mart. Can't beat that!

Here's how mine turned out...

Materials needed are 2 skeins of embroidery floss in your colour of choice and, of course, your headphones

I started at the end by tying a knot nice and tight

Follow the "Chinese Staircase" knotting pattern for the entire length of the headphone cords.  You can vary the colours if you choose but I'm personally a big fan of pink so I just stuck with that.

These babies will never tangle again... BAHAHAHA

Look at how pretty that looks!

Music I Love: Iron and Wine

About four or five years ago I was really into this band and find that I can always go back to them for some great tunes.  Iron and Wine is headed by the amazing Sam Beam and produces songs that are especially beautiful for the warm summer days (and nights). 

Here are some of my favourites...

 

Homemade Tzatziki with Bite

Besides the magic stuff they serve at Souvlaki Hut, this is by far the best tzatziki I've ever had.  Now, I don't know about you, but I looooove garlic.  I don't just like it as in "oh yes put a clove or two in my pasta sauce please"... I like it as in "load up that shiz with 5 or 6 cloves... oh heck, let's just go with 7!" ... YUM!!!

Anyways, my DH is the best cook ever and makes homemade tzatziki for us.  It's super garlicky and thick and creamy and delicious.  Here's the recipe (as dictated by him) so that you can eat it by the spoonful just like me...

What you'll need: 

• Medium tub of greek yogurt (Danone Oikos is what we used)
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, put through a garlic press
• 1/2 peeled English cucumber, diced very finely and drained of all liquid
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• A "good drizzle" of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• Salt and pepper

What to do: 

1. Drain all liquid from the cucumber by wringing it in a cheesecloth or tea towel.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate overnight to blend flavours. 
3. EAT lots and taste garlic for the rest of the day

Eat up loves

Adjustable Initial Rings

Okay its time to show off... look at what I made!

k <3 r

Adjusts to fit any finger

Purple wire "k" ring

Adjustable to fit multiple sizes

Textured Pillows Part Two

Not long ago I wrote this post on textured pillows. I found the original idea on the Martha Stewart website and modified it to make my own pattern on a second pillow.

I used the same materials (different colours, mind you) for the second design but mapped out a diamond pattern instead.

Diamond pattern using pairs of dots 1 inch apart

Pairs of dots marked using erasable pen

Once your dots are mapped out, "pinch" pairs of dots and sew them together using your embroidery thread. The video linked on my original post is really helpful to see how this is done.

Here's the finished design:

Now at this point I ran into a bit of a snaffoo because the pinched design created a lot of bunching along the outside edges.  Not very seam-friendly! 

Completed design... so pretty!

I decided the best way to tackle this would be to sew in some darts to help bring the fabric back into a more square shape. I used 1" darts at the top of the diamond (long end) and 2" darts on the sides.

Pinning for the darts

Once this was completed, I took the other side of the pillow (16" square), pinned and sewed it to the side with the design.  Remember to only stitch along three sides so you can jam the pillow form inside! 

Once the pillow form is inside, pin and machine-stitch the final side closed.  This can be a bit tricky depending on how fluffy you've planned your pillow to be.  The fluffy-er, the harder it will be to sew on the machine.  You might want to consider hand-stitching this seam depending on your dimensions.

Once I had it all done, my pillow was complete! What a beauty!!

New L'Oreal Nail Polish

I love this new colour I picked up for free with my Shoppers Optimum points today.

It's called Versailles Romance (310) by L'Oreal and it goes for $7.99. The colour is softer than the picture shows (less orange) and is a perfect shade for summer that can still be worn to work.

Also right now if you use your Optimum card at Shoppers you will get a ballot to enter a contest where you can win 3 million Optimum points. Sign me up!