December 24, 2009
December 16, 2009
DIY Gifty Gifts:)
Here are some pretty pretty DIY gift ideas:
Jarred Treats. You can give jars that will make cookies, or hot drinks, or soups! Once the jar is sealed these are so easy to ship too.
Ornaments or Wreaths. You can use colors or embellishments to suit the person you are making them for.
Pumpkin Bread or other easy and delicious quick breads. Tie them up in a little parchment paper and ribbon and they are a wonderful homemade treat!
Lately on my blog I have been sharing a few DIY gifting ideas, most of which are under $5.
felt oven mitts
a decorated mug+hot chocolate on a stick
chalkboard label flower pots
decorated holiday tins with puppy chow (yum!)
crocheted gloves (or scarves, or hats...)
And don't forget to wrap up those special presents in your own unique way:
Go green and use recycled materials to wrap up your gifts.
happy holidays! -emma
December 14, 2009
Pandorable Mittens Tutorial!
Ok here it is! If you have basic knitting skills, then you should have no problem completing a pair of these. Or maybe 2 or 3? It would be a cute gift idea if you're still trying to think of something last minute. I made this pair for a friend of mine (secrets). :)
For the mittens, I combined a few basic mitten patterns to get the one I wanted. I used this pattern from Color It Green, and one from Silje. It's just a matter of finding one that you are comfortable with. Any mitten pattern will do. I knit the cuff in black, and then switched to white yarn for the rest of the mitten.
To embellish the mittens, you will need:
-black felt
-embroidery floss in black, or a contrasting color (I used pink)
-4 small buttons
-embroidery needle & yarn needle
-more of the black yarn & a crochet hook
Cut out the black eye areas from the felt (about 1" x 2"). Four of them. Stitch them to the mitten with the embroidery floss and needle. It can be a little tricky, but it works if you put your hand halfway into the mitten.
Attach the button eyes to the black felt areas, and secure by tying the loose ends in a knot, on the inside of the mitten (turn it inside out to do this). With the same embroidery thread, also stitch a little nose/mouth onto the mitten itself. I just used a simple 'x'. Again, secure it by turning the mitten inside out and tying the ends in a knot. Now it should look like this:
Next, crochet some ears.
I crocheted them with black worsted weight yarn and a 4.5mm crochet hook as follows:
Slip stitch onto hook, and chain 6. Single crochet (SC) into 2nd chain from hook, and continue with another 4 SC until end of chain, turn. Slip stitch into 1st SC from hook, skip next SC, and then do 6 double crochet (DC) into next SC. Skip one SC, and slip stitch into the last SC. Finish, leaving a nice long tail to sew to the mitten with.
Use the ends and a yarn needle to sew the ears to the mitten wherever you see best fit.
That's it! If you have any questions about this tutorial, feel free to ask in the comments.
Happy knitting!
XO holly
speaking of pandas....
I'm off to work, but I will post the tutorial tonight!
Happy Monday..
xo, holly
December 12, 2009
Dear Panda Trend...
you can stay a while. we don't mind.
and this is pretty rad... all of my favorite foods come in a panda version!
Don't forget to check out all of the cute panda stuff in our store! this is my favorite print, right now..
XOXO. Elsie
December 11, 2009
Oh Brown, I love you.
So pretty, so understated, so brown.
Coffee sleeve wreath
Tree branch ornaments
Special hot chocolate recipe
Cute little party dress
Gingerbread Mad Men!
love love, emma
December 10, 2009
help?
i really want a pair of leather (doesn't have to be real leather) driving gloves in white, aqua or pink. something like these, but without the metal studs... any sources?
thanks for your help! Elsie
December 07, 2009
i love Luella.
well, it's not Friday but i wanted to drop in and share some inspiring fashion 'just because'! :D after i read this very sad news a few weeks ago, i thought i should do a post about Luella... one of my favorite pretty labels. so gorgeous. enjoyyy.
are you in love yet?
me too. XO. elsie
December 03, 2009
10 Things I Love About You: Scrapbook how-to
hello hello! i am embarrassed that it's taken me so long to complete this project, but it's finally here... YAY! I photographed every page in my '10 things i love about you' scrapbook and i'll share tips, tricks and instructions for you to make your own! you can use my exact designs or you can use the ideas to design your own book.... here is a link to the kit we still have a few up for grabs! :))
i really enjoyed putting this kit together. first, i layed out all my supplies on the table. i used the trading card pages and 6 of my own pieces of 8.5x11 cardstock. i organized what photos i wanted to use on which pages and planned out what my '10 things' would be.
1. on several of my pages i created a square/rectangle using several different pieces. i rounded the corners on only the outside edge of the design as a whole for a cute effect. on this page i also used lion brand yarn to hand stitch on the page and i journaled directly on the page with an acid free/permanent pen.
2. i used on of the faux instax photos that come with this kit as a journaling block here. there is some more hand stitching and a pieces on the striped fabric (best used in small swatches, in my opinion!).
3. this is the first page where i used to trading card page. it is almost invisible in this photo but in real life it looks more like this....
(so keep that in mind)
it's best to use glue dots behind every single button/image piece unless it is squeezed in there tightly. just be sure that if you hold the page upside down nothing falls out! fill most of the spots on these pages with photos, journaling spots, faux instax photos are adorable little textured elements (aka scraps). if you want, you can line the back of your photos with another color of paper so that it looks pretty as you turn the pages, but it isn't essential. these pages will make your total book look amazing and really fun to flip through!
note: there is a little gold spot on the side of each plastic page. i covered all of mine with folded fabric and papers.
4. this photo is stitched on with machine stitching and then i illustrated the page by hand. the journaling block is laying on it's side for style. use hand sketching to add really personal elements that fit your photos and theme!
5. try cutting out a number or a monogram with on of your faux instant photos. another fun idea to try with these pages is to cut your photo into several different pieces before inserting them into the trading card page. so cute!
6. for this page i used a mini collage of photos and i hand cut a cute little tab to journal my 6th thing on.
7. this was actually my favorite page. 'you make a good cartoon' is a really fun thing to love about my boyfriend and it really is true that i've drawn his cartoon hundreds of times in these past two years. i added the little mustache which is cut from the patterned papers to the page with glue dots. i think it's cute that it's just floating there.
:))
8. this is my most simple page, but it's also a favorite. the keys to this page are the matching photos, the rounded corners and the one piece of masking tape. it's pretty straight forward, but pages like this work out really well for a 'guy' scrapbook!
9. for this page i used masking tape to adhere my larger photo to the page. if you have a photo that you want to use, but you don't want to crop it too small use it like this! just make sure you fill all the spots you want with 'little treasures' before you use the masking tape!
10. ok... maybe this is my fave? for the pretty heart i used a brown pipe cleaner and wrapped it in green yarn! this is an easy and cute way to make custom monograms, frames and elements for your scrapbook pages.
[i adhered it to my page with small glue dots]
for the cover, cut your title using the letter template enclosed on your kit. or you can cut them by hand (that's what i would do). you can adhere them to your felt using fabric glue, machine or hand stitching! them glue the felt to a piece of foam or another piece of felt to make a thick cover. stitch the edges.
i didn't put my book together yet, but i'd still like to explain to you how to do it. if you don't want to use page protectors for your scrapbook pages (i personally hate them) you can adhere your pages to a piece of felt, chipboard or foam and leave a one inch border on the left hand side (so you have something to punch holes in, like the trading card page protectors! then just punch holes with a cropadile and use rings, ribbon or yarn to tie the pages and covers together. Ta-da. I can't wait to see your book. please post photos in the RVA flickr group! :)
XOXO. Elsie
November 29, 2009
My Advent Calendar
I am starting to decorate for Christmas and I saw this really cute advent calendar on How About Orange's blog. She has a link where you can download it for free. So I did.
Isn't it super cute? And it comes with easy to follow directions to put it together. But I wanted to really make it my own. So I gathered up some crafty scraps I had around and went to work:
It's hanging in our kitchen now, even though December doesn't start until Tuesday. I didn't want to wait. This was a really fun and easy project that only took 20 minutes to complete from start to finish!
love love, emma
November 24, 2009
Feeling Festive?
Have you already started your Christmas decorating or are you waiting until after Thanksgiving (U.S. Residents)? How do you get in the mood for decorating? Do you have a favorite holiday movie you watch or Christmas album you recommend? Are you adding anything new to your decor this year or keeping it pretty similar to last year's spread?
My ideal decorating time would be a relaxed morning/afternoon that involved help from Sebastian, Frank Sinatra Christmas tunes, popcorn, hot chocolate, and watching Elf that evening. I'm adding a few new handmade items to the decor but sticking with my color palette and elements from last year. Can we say paper chains and bottle brush Christmas trees in every room? xoxo, Rachel
November 23, 2009
Style School & Coming SOON....
hi there! i am teaching a brand new online class called Style School... check out all the details here!
SUPER EXCITED!!!
also... i wanted to let you know that i am finally FINISHING the 10 things sample/instructions & it will be posted veryyyy soon. today or tomorrow! Thanks for being patient with me!! I didn't intend this to be sooo late. The new baby, birthday, updates ect have put a HUGE dent in my schedule and i am working on playing catch up right now! :D sorry.
if you still haven't grabbed one of these kits look here before they are gone!
XOXO & Happy monday! Elsieeeee
ps... just for fun:
November 17, 2009
Recycled Shoes
I had these cute little gold flats that I realized the other day I never wear because I already have gold glitter Tom shoes. Which is probably too many gold shoes for one girl. But Instead of donating them to the thrift store I decided to try and remake them into black flats, because I don't have any black dress shoes.
Supplies: unwanted shoes, spray paint, newspaper, gloves, and if you choose embellishments (like glitter, buttons, fabric, etc) and good glue.
Find an outdoor area you can work in and cover your surface with newspaper. Also place, or tape, some newspaper to the inside of your shoes so the inner soles won't be sticky if you choose not to wear socks with your shoes. Spray your shoes, allow to fully dry before adding another layer. You may need 2-4 layers of paint. Once you have fully painted your shoes and they are dry use your glue to add any embellishments you want. And presto:
New Shoes!!!!
-love love, emma
November 14, 2009
November 12, 2009
.nine months of memories. -journal
I thought I would share with you a few pages from a journal I made using the Nine Months of Memories craft kit from RVA.
I can't wait to make cute stitched accents with the embroidery patterns as well. There's a cute one with the words 'boy' and 'girl' with check boxes, and I think that's how I'm going to announce the gender on my blog. :) The craft kits from RVA are a lot of fun to work with, and I really enjoy making journals like this one.
xo holly
November 11, 2009
thinking about the holidays..
I realize that many of you are in Thanksgiving mood, but being Canadian (or a foreigner as Emma calls me, lol), Thanksgiving is long over, and I'm in full Christmas mode!
I've been thinking about:
1. the cards I'll send this year.
2. cute handmade decor.
3. how I'll wrap my gifts.
Elsie came up with the cutest card PDF's, and that's what I'll be using this year, I love all 4 designs!
For handmade decor, the internet is FULL of great tutorials, like this one, for a great paper wreath!
and this one, for an awesome paper chain garland! (looks very advanced...)
For wrapping my gifts... wouldn't it be nice if Orla Kiely made wrapping paper?? I'm still brainstorming.
And for some inspiration...
I'm looooooving Ingrid's new album. Just fyi.
Happy Veteran's/Remembrance Day!
xo holly
November 10, 2009
Too many scarves? Never.
Another christmas present nearly finished-yay! I am putting the finishing touches on a scarf for the young lady I nanny for (I am a nanny on the weekends, in case you didn't know). Her style is sort of hot topic, Green Day, punk chic. And she loves pink. So I made her a pink and black scarf, behold:
Here are some other scarves I have been admiring lately.
grandma chic. found here.
skinny scarf. found here.
classy. sold here.
quirky cute. I love all of twinkie chan's stuff!
love love, emma
November 09, 2009
What's On Your Handmade Christmas List?
Not to ignore Thanksgiving's place as a major U.S. holiday but I can't get Christmas out of my mind. There are so many ways I want to make this year's holiday celebrations even more lovely and colorful than last year and I've already started making lists of ideas inspired from color schemes or mixes of old ideas from last year. And then there are the handmade gifts...I'd better get started.
Are you making your Christmas a handmade Christmas? Do tell!
xoxo,
Rachel
p.s. Thank you for the warm wishes this weekend. I appreciate each one!
November 07, 2009
Welcome Ruby!
Congratulations to Rachel and her beautiful family. Ruby was born at 3:45 this afternoon!
Today is a very special day. Please give her all your love.
Love, Elsie, Emma and Holly
November 06, 2009
Fashion Friday
Hello Hellooooo! It's Fashion Friday and I wanna highlight a favorite designer & a favorite current trend this week....
Miss Betsey Johnson
If you don't love her you either haven't been in one of her stores or you're crazy. I have loved her since the ripe ole age of about 12. Her style is over the top, adorable and if it was a food it would have at least 1000 calories! Here are a few peeks at why I love her so much...
her dresses are gorgeous and her branding is FLAWLESS. plus the fact that she's been putting out gorgeous things for SO many decades, like since my mom was in high school... swoon! She's a hero of mine for sure.
and here's my very own favorite Betsey Johnson necklace...
And a current trend that I'm sorta into is boyfriend jeans...
I'll be honest, I've ALWAYS loved skinny pants and when I first saw this trend I was a little bummed. I'm not exactly gonna get rid of my skinnys (no way) because I'm really short and they work on my body type, but i'll at least give this trend a try just for fun!
Happy Fashion Friday! XO. elsie
ps.a few more for the road....
the cutest dressed 'band guy', like ever!
i always wanted clear framed heart glasses.
and every time i see the Olsens i miss my sister soooo bad. they have killer style.
