Ear Candy: Karmin & Diego Boneta

It's been a while...

So I have two songs.

Song 1:

"Hello" by Karmin

Weirdest thing.
I was just messing around on Pinterest (typical) when I came across a hair styling tutorial.
I was like "why yes, I would love to learn to curl my hair that way.", 

and it took me to the Karmin youtube page.

I loved her tutorial and her personality so much that I decided to check out her music
and fell in LOVE with this song.
(just goes to show you, talented citizens of the world, you could be the greatest thing ever but if you're a dick nobody's going to like you.)

I was actually really surprised that I liked this song because I'm not huge into female rappers.
To be totally honest, I don't really like rap at all.
But for some reason, lady rappers annoy the fuck out of me.
But I actually really like her.
I think it's because her personality shines through.



Song 2:

"Simpre Tu" by Diego Boneta

Not gonna lie folks,
I think he is a-goddamed-dorable.

I first saw him on Rock of Ages
(great movie by the way; funny, heartwarming, and it's a musical!)
And then I saw him again on a few old episodes of Pretty Little Liars.

He's actually a really good actor.
Not to mention he has a smile that will melt your heart.

The song isn't exactly deep, but it's fun and upbeat, 

and he really does have a beautiful voice (it matches his face ;)

Enjoy :)

D of C

long time no see!

Which, I'll admit, is utterly and completely, one hundred and ten percent my fault.
But don't hate me just yet, I have a good excuse!

Everyone, meet Kelsie.


As I've mentioned before, I'm originally from the state of Washington.
(and no, it doesn't rain all the time)
I moved to Virginia about a year ago right after
(literally like 2 days after)
my wedding.

Kelsie was my Maid of Honor.

She's awesome, one of the best friends I've ever had.

AND GUESS WHO CAME TO VISIT ME THIS WEEK?!

YAY!

She had never been to the east coast before,

and neither of us had been to Washington DC, so we made a week of it :)

Oh, and guys, I dunno if I've mentioned this before...

American History is one of my favorite things in the entire world.

It's like crack to me.

So needless to say, we had an INCREDIBLE time.

 

 

  

 

 

 The best part,
I got to see Abe.
=D

So, again, I am very sorry that I have been AWOL for the last couple weeks.

I was off having an incredible adventure.

DC is now officially one of my favorite places EVER.

I hope you can forgive me :)

Night loves.

DIY: Button Band

So...

Today I was cleaning out (who am I kidding? ransacking) 

my closet when I came across all of my wrapping paper from the last year.
There were about 5 rolls in total; some were from 

last Christmas and others I have on hands for bdays and other miscellaneous gifts.
And, like all the other things jammed in the closet, they were a mess.
The paper was coming off all the rolls, resulting in A LOT of ruined wrapping material.
Boo.

But then I got an idea.
A very simple idea.


What you'll need:

I went and found a handful of rubber bands,

a baggy of buttons,
(I had a TON leftover after my Button Bracelet tutorial)

and a pair of scissors.

WARNING:
This is the easiest tutorial EVER.

Step 1:

Cut the band.


Step 2:

Thread the band through the button.


Step 3:

Tie the band together at the end.

^^ and your done :)



Hold the button and wrap the rubber band around the tube.
Once its all the way around, take the end of the band and loop it around the button.

You can use it for any "bunches".
Pens, wrapping paper, paint brushes, thick ribbon, cords, ect.

Like I said, 

this is one of the easiest tutorials on the face of the planet.
But I thought it was a cool idea so I thought I'd share it with all of you :)

Have a great day :)

Ear Candy: Awolnation

good evening loves : )

I downloaded this song FOREVER ago but didn't actually 

listen to the whole thing until a couple days ago.

"Not Your Fault" by Awolnation

I loved "Sail" and "Jump on My Shoulders", 

so when I saw this song I figured that I would enjoy it too.
One of the things I really enjoy about Awolnation is that all their songs are a little bit different.

One will be slow and intense, another will be fast and light, 

and another is a mix of everything.
This one is my favorite by them so far.

And the video is actually really cute.
It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it's still fun to watch:)

Enjoy!

Ear Candy: Daniel Ahearn

hello my lovelys!

Found another song for you to feast your ears on!
(see what I did there? ^^ :)

"I Will Let You Go" by Daniel Ahearn

This is another song I discovered while watching Pretty Little Liars.
It's super slow, absolutely beautiful and very, very soothing.

And the guy isn't bad looking either.
Well, other than the 'stache.
I know that they're in right now, but I haven't really jumped onto the hairy lip bandwagon.
And  I can't see myself doing so soon.

Anyway, enjoy :)

Father's Day

yes, yes I know...

Father's Day was MONTHS ago.
I am aware.
I did the same thing when I posted about my mom's mother day gift.
Something about parental holidays I guess.

But never the less, I am very proud of my dad's gift so I'm going to share it with you anyway :)

 

Let me give you a little back story.
My dad collects beer steins, and he's the best dad in the world.
So this year, I decided that, since I've been on a bit of a creative DIY kick,

that I would make (or at least paint) one for him.

It took me forever to decide how to decorate it, and after a week long debate, 

I decided to go with a Wenatchee theme.
For those of you who don't know, 

Wenatchee is a small (but not too small) town in central Washington.
It's where I grew up.
The valley is separated down the middle by the Columbia River and is known for it's agriculture.

In fact, we are the Apple Capital of the world :)
no big deal :)

I painted the whole stein powder blue and cream.
In the center, I painted an emblem with the Columbia River and the George Sellar Bridge.
On either side of the emblem I painted cherry blossoms.

Across the top, bottom and handle I painted apples.
Red Delicious, Golden Delicious & Grannie Smiths :)
and that's my signature at the bottom.



and of course a little message on the back :)


I painted it at one of those "paint your own pottery" places.
It is currently one of my favorite places, EVER.

My dad loved his stein,
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
:)

Just wanted to pop in and share.
See you all soon!

Movie Time: The Dark Knight Rises

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/

 Starring: 

Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard & Morgan Freeman

Remember how I mentioned that I have things I tend to lose my shit over?
My nerdy eccentric things?
Well, Batman is one of them.

Ever since I could remember, I have loved the Bat.

Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher Nolan,
dark, campy, and serious,
I love it all.

So as you can imagine,
I have been DYING for this movie for a long time.
But sadly, I didn't get to go until last night.
And let me just say...
IT WAS INCREDIBLE.

I have a confession...

When the trailer for this movie came out, I was a little worried.
Looking back, I don't know why, Christopher Nolan's movies NEVER disappoint.
But I need to be honest, I had doubts.
Here's why:

The Dark Knight.
It was one of the best movies I've ever seen.
It was groundbreaking.
Incredible acting, story, effects, music, everything.
It pushed the limits, kept audiences on the edge of their seats, and left us all begging for more.

I watched the Dark Knight Rises trailer the day that it came out.
There were explosions, a new villain, a new ally, a flying bat vehicle, prisoners with AK-47s,
a crumbled Gotham, and Bruce Wayne in an ancient prison somewhere in the desert.
Lots and lots of new material.
And all I could think was:
"How the FUCK are they going to squeeze all that into one movie, have it make sense, AND compare to The Dark Knight?"
I was genuinely worried.

That, and, I really REALLY don't like Catwoman.
Any time I've ever seen her, whether it be in a movie, a video game, or even an old comic book,
she's always portrayed as a total SKANK.
I thought she would ruin it for sure.

But it was perfect.
Everything made sense, everything fit together wonderfully, 

and it was more than a worthy conclusion to the Dark Knight Trilogy.

Oh, and the role of Catwoman was actually not that bad at all.
She wasn't hypersexualized like all the other versions I had seen in the past.
She was just a badass jewel thief that knew how to handle herself,
the way Catwoman SHOULD be.

I can't really say anything else without spoiling parts of the movie, I'll just say that it's absolutely amazing and that EVERYONE should see this movie.
Like, now.

OVERALL:

See you all next time :)

Bullseye Tye-Dye

tye-dye anyone?

 

It doesn't matter how old I get,

I'll always love tye-dying t-shirts.

It's another thing I picked up at summer camp.

 This is a great project for both kids and adults,

because no matter what,

you're ridiculously excited when you unwrap your shirt and see what you've created.

You will need:

- a white t-shirt

- Rit dye

- rubber bands

- squeeze bottles

- measuring spoons

- a measuring cup

- hot water

- a plastic container (for run-off)

- plastic sheeting or newspaper

- gloves (I'd say they're optional, but you really want them)

Step 1:

Lay out your shirt.
As you can see, it's totally fine if it's wrinkly.

Step 2:

Grip and pinch the center of your shirt.
Make sure that you have hold of the front AND the back.

Step 3:

Lift the shirt

and take hold of the bottom.
 It should have a sort of "torpedo" look to it.

Step 4:

Take the rubber bands and wrap them

tightly around the "torpedo".
You can use as many as you'd like, but keep in mind:
The spaces in between each rubber bands will alternate in colors.

Step 5:

Time to mix the dye.
Take your measuring cup and fill it with 4 cups of water.
Microwave for 2-3 minutes.
Pour 2 cups of water into each squeeze bottle.
(this may need to be adjusted based on the size of your squeeze bottles)
Add a tablespoon of dye for each cup of water.
So: 2 cups, 2 tablespoons.
Easy :)

Step 6:

Run your shirt under warm water.
This isn't absolutely necessary but I find that it's easier to get the 

dye into the shirt if the shirt is already damp.
When the shirt is dry the dye tends to bead off of the fabric.

Step 7:

Lay down the plastic sheeting (I just used a garbage bag) 

to protect your work area.
Put on your gloves, and position your run-off bucket.

Step 8:

Apply your first color.

Cover the entire section.


Step 9:

Once the outside portion of the section is dyed,
make sure to look for white spots.
Pull apart the folds and apply dye to all the white you can find.
This is important, if you don't dye the folds your shirt will be almost all white space.

Step 10:

Repeat steps 8 & 9 for your second color.

Step 11:

Once your shirt is completely covered with dye,
you get to play the waiting game.
But the thing is, how long you wait is totally up to you.
I know people who let the dye sit over night, and others wait just a few minutes.
As for me, I wait about 20 minutes, and then I start rinsing.
(I'm impatient like that...)
Rinse your shirt, squeezing, twisting and scrunching to get rid of the excess dye.
Rinse until the water runs clear.


Step 12:

Remove the rubber bands.

Give it an extra rinse for good measure,
and then wring out the excess water.

Step 13:
Unroll it annnnnnd...

YOU'RE ALL DONE!
:)

See that shit?
YOU made that.

 Take a moment to think about how awesome you are...

WHEN YOU WASH IT:
I recommend washing it by itself the first time.
The rinsing process SHOULD have gotten rid of all the extra dye,
but just in case, I wouldn't risk ruining the rest of your clothes.

Then you'd all get mad at me, and it would just be this HUGE mess.

It wouldn't be fun for any of us.

Happy dying loves, see you all soon :)