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!

World's Best Marinara Sauce

This sauce takes only 5 minutes to make and is flavourful and fresh. Perfect for a quick dinner and lots of leftovers for lunches!Prep time: 5 minutesServes: 6-8 

Ingredients:

• 28 oz. can whole tomatoes (San Marzano type if possible)
• 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 5-6 large fresh basil leaves, torn
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning

Instructions:

1. Combine whole tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth (30 seconds).
2. Add crushed tomatoes and seasonings and blend until smooth.
3. Heat in a pan on medium-high until warm.

Serve over cooked pasta and top with parmesan or bocconcini cheese.

Homemade Fruit Snacks

I find a lot of amazing things on Pinterest and sometimes I actually get around to trying some of them. This is one of those lucky pins that actually became a reality.  

Here's the original pin that inspired me, thanks to Six Sisters' Stuff.  Elyse writes that they're the same texture as actual fruit snacks but I have to disagree.  The ones that I made (and I followed the same recipe) turned out to be like a Jello Jiggler - just a bit more firm.  They were still delicious though, and the fact that they don't need to be refrigerated makes them that much more appealing! 

Here's what you'll need: 

• 1 box of jello powder
• 2 envelopes of gelatin 
• 1/3 cup water
• ice cube molds

 

 Combine jello powder, gelatin and water in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat and stir until everything is dissolved (you can't see the powder anymore).

 

Pour into ice cube molds.  I used these cute shaped silicon ones from IKEA.  The silicon make them a lot easier to get out of the molds once they're set too.

Let them set for about 20 minutes and then peel out of the molds and pop 'em in your pie hole.  YUM! 

Enjoy!  This recipe made about 24 individual fruit snacks. 

Criss-Cross Coasters

I was looking through my collection of fabrics the other day and noticed an assortment of fat quarters and other fabric scraps.  I'm not really sure when or where I acquired the fat quarters but they are quite pretty and I needed something to do with them.

So in usual Kirsten form, I googled "what to make with fat quarters".  This lead me to a great post by Jenny B Harris over at Allsorts.  She had a really neat tutorial on how to make cute criss-cross coasters.  Her instructions are perfect so I won't go too crazy replicating them, but here are the steps briefly...

You will need:

• 3 fat quarters (different patterns)
• Heat Bond (Lite)

To make a set of four coasters, you will need to cut a number of 4.5" squares.  8 x fabric for the backs (white), 8 x fabric "A"(big circles) and 8 x fabric "B" (small circles). 

Use the Heat Bond to fuse two backing squares together - this gives you some extra stability.  You should now have four white "backs".

Fold all of your "A" and "B" fabric squares in half wrong sides together and iron them.  

Materials required for one coaster

Now its time to start layering.  Put one of the backing squares on the bottom, then begin stacking the criss cross pieces.  Make sure that you place the squares with the folded edges towards the centre (raw edges towards the outside). 

Steps 1 and 2

Step 3

Step 4

Pin your layers together and machine-sew all the way around the outside of the square.  Clip the corners.

Turn them inside out by pulling through the centre.  Use your favourite poking tool (I like a kebab skewer) to push out the corners so they're nice and crisp.

Iron the finished coasters and voila!

Textured Pillows

I found this sewing project on Martha Stewart's website for textured pillows and thought they looked gorgeous. Unfortunately the directions were quite confusing and I still wanted to make them. So what's a girl to do? Google it! I followed this really helpful tutorial on how to do honeycomb smocking courtesy of The Handmade Dress and my first pillow turned out great! If you're going to attempt this project I recommend that you watch the tutorial video below, but here are the basic steps I followed...  

What you'll need:

• Mid-weight fabric (I used a drapery fabric with a bit of sheen that was on sale at Fabricland)
• Embroidery floss to match (or in a complimentary colour)
• Erasable/Fast-fade fabric pen
• Embroidery needle
• Measuring tape
• Sewing machine with matching thread

Instructions:

Measure your pillow form (or an old pillow that you're going to cover). Purchase enough fabric to add 2 inches extra on all sides. For the side you're going to create the smocking pattern on, cut a piece of fabric that's 2-3 times as wide as needed. For example, if your pillow form is 15" wide, cut your fabric 30-45" wide.

 

 Use your measuring tape and fabric pen to mark out a grid on your fabric. TIP: If you use a regular pen or marker, you will ruin your project - so use pencil or splurge ($4.49 woo hoo) on the fast-fade pen. For my design, I placed my dots 2 inches apart. Remember to have "pairs" just like is mentioned in the tutorial.

 

 Split your embroidery floss so that you're working with 3 threads at a time; thread your needle.



Create your design by "pinching" pairs of dots together and holding them in place with a couple of stitches. You will work on alternating pairs to create the triangular/diamond design. Take a look at the video for step by step on this part.



Once your smocked design is complete... match up your fabric right sides together and machine-sew along three sides, leaving about 1 inch around. I always double-stitch these seams for durability. Turn the pillowcase right side out and stuff your pillow form inside. Pin the open seam closed and either machine-sew or hand-stitch closed. Voila, a beautiful handmade pillow that you would probably pay $25 at Pier 1 for! Let the jealousy ensue. Here's my first one in slate gray/blue. Stay tuned for other colour and pattern variations.




 

Have You Tried These?

I keep seeing these at Wal Mart... Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips.  Have you tried them? I can't decide whether I would like having a pattern on my nails like this or not.  Some of them are particularly ugly, but some of them are cute.

I've heard that they're time consuming to apply. Please tell me what I should do!

Music I Love: Augustana

I randomly found this band on iTunes in the "you might like this shiz" section.  They're sort of indie but also remind me of country and mainstream Maroon5-esque crooners.  DH says its a mix between The Killers, Bruce Springsteen and "kinda country-ish"... if that helps.

Obviously its hard to describe them, so you should just take my word for it and give them a listen.

If you like it, totally download their self-titled album - Augustana

How to Train for a Charity Walk

Back in May I thought it would be a good idea to sign-up for the Weekend to End Women's Cancers.  I still think its a great cause and will be quite the accomplishment once its done.  The problem is that I'm not sure I'll be able to do it! Here's the lowdown:

What: 60 km charity walk to raise money for the Princess Margaret Hospital
When: September 8-9
Where: Toronto - Exhibition grounds to Downsview Park and back the next day
How Much: All two-day walkers (that's me!) must raise a minimum of $2000 in order to participate

Step One: Whine 

While I have my qualms with the "minimum" fundraising amount, I can understand that they have a very ambitious goal and if they didn't set this type of goal for everyone it would take a lot longer to raise the money.

The issue is that raising $2000 is hard! Once you've asked your family and friends, unless you have a number of other "circles" (church groups, sports teams, etc) you've pretty much tapped all of your sources.  My team and I have been holding a number of events at work, and I fear that soon we're going to exhaust that pool as well.

So - its time to get creative.

Step Two: Raise Money

First creative idea... bag groceries for donations!  I contacted a local grocery store and asked if we could do this and they were very excited to have us.  I'm thinking that if we create enough excitement and provide a service to the customers, we'll get some of their change.  Fingers crossed.

Creative idea number two... wear embarrassing shirts while training.  Think "Now Accepting Donations".  My two best teammates and I have been "training" (see: walking) long distances on the weekend, most recently along a lakeshore trail.  This is apparently a very popular spot and we thought that if we wear obnoxiously pink shirts and hats and plaster ourselves with info about what we're doing and a shameless request for donations, maybe people with throw toonies at us as they cycle/walk/run/rollerblade by. No?

Step Three: Walk... A Lot

Next to the raising money part, this is the hardest.  I'll admit that I haven't been walking during the week as much as I should BUT I've managed to get up to walking 17 kms in a single trip on the weekends.  Incorporating walks into my evenings on a regular basis has been the biggest issue and I'm not sure how else to train.

When we walked the 17 kms this past weekend it was BRUTAL.  At times I just wanted to be carried back to my car.  Maintaining a good pace seemed to have been the biggest challenge so that we could be done before the heat of the day (which we weren't).

Do you have any suggestions for me?  Have you done a similar type of event before?  What other creative fundraising ideas are there?

If you'd like to donate (and please do!), you can do that by clicking here.

Coffee Filter Flowers

I totally love this craft because it has the three most important elements - easy, cheap, impressive.  You could make about 20+ flowers for $5 or less and they're gorgeous.  Recently I made an "arrangement" of these for my grandmother's birthday using a vase from the dollar store and some snazzy-looking ribbon.  Talk about favourite granddaughter!

To view the tutorial where I originally got the idea, click here.

One modification I made for my flowers was to dye the coffee filters beforehand.  This is really easy (again, do you sense a theme here?) and I did it with water and food colouring.  Just stack some coffee filters on top of each other, fold them up and dip them in the dyed water... they will suck up all the colour they need - those thirsty little buggers. Play around with the intensity of the colour.  I found that they always dried lighter than they looked originally.

If you're impatient like me, you can use your blow dryer to speed dry them so you can get crafting right away.

Here are a few of the ones I made.  After a couple "peonies" or "roses" as I chose to call them, I varied the way that I cut the petals which resulted in different styles of flowers.  You can also cut off more paper on the ends to make smaller or larger ones.

Have fun!

The original peony

I think this one looks more like a rose

I'm calling this one a dahlia or perhaps maybe a water lily... you decide

One of my bouquets