Category Archives: Crafty

For the times I feel creative and want to make things with my hand and head.

Five Things (28)

Posted in Bookish, Crafty, My New York, Thoughts by

What happened to September??

— Thing One —

One thing that I did for the first time ever – seeing a WNBA game in person at Barclay Center (my first time at that venue). I had an absolute blast at the game. While not a sports fan in general, watching a game in person is always thrilling and I always leave with an understanding of why sports fans are the way they are. Liberty won their match that night, and as of writing this, they are playing in the finals!

— Thing Two —

I finished two craft projects, the first is the blanket below – which came out so beautifully, and which I gifted to a neighbour. The next was the scarf I’ve been knitting, I finished the pattern but I may want to repeat it a few more times to make it longer, I’m still deciding.


— Thing Three —

I saw three movies recently, Barbie (at the end of August), A Haunting in Venice (which was so different than the source material!) and You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. I would recommend each of them to different audiences, but all were great.

— Thing Four —

I went out to four dinners with friends in September. We went to Lil’ Frankies – get their Spaghetti Limone, Jongor BBQ – sweet cocktails and amazing BBQ, Tea and Sympathy – always a fan, and always a fan of their sweet shop next door, and Tacombi – the location we visited had these cute little coatracks at each table for your coats and bags!

— Thing Five —

Five books mysteries that I’d recommend (including some read in September) are, The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto, Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel, The Mountains Wild: A Mystery Maggie D’arcy by Sarah Stewart Taylor, and The Manners and Monsters series1 by Tilly Wallace.

~*~

1. Not a single book, but I read the entire series in August and September and it was quirky and I loved it.

… I’m free and I love to be free, to live my life the way I want… to say and do whatever I please.

Lesley Gore; You Don’t Own Me

Five Things (27)

Posted in Ballet, Crafty, My New York, The Telly, Thoughts by

August was unexpectedly busy?

— Thing One —

My car’s AC died during the first heatwave of the summer. I knew there was a small leak so I expected it, but it came earlier this year than last year. When the mechanic looked over the car they told me that there was a large leak and they would have to dismantle part of the car to fix it. So, I decided to buy a new car.

I have been thinking about buying a new car for quite some time now1 but this AC situation was the tipping point. I crowdsourced people’s experience with buying a car2 and decided to go with a car broker. We spoke about what I wanted and decided to go with a Rav4. This ended up being a stress-free process for me and I would highly recommend using a car broker if you can! The new car was delivered to my driveway five weeks after my AC died, and I didn’t step foot into a dealership. Now I’m ready to drive long distances, and also trying to learn the new tech.

— Thing Two —

Earlier in August I went to see Alvin Ailey in Bryant park. They had a pre-show dance class which I sat out because it was on the other side of the park from our blankets. The show was great, but being there reminded me of all the times my friends and I watched movies in the park during the summer. We’d spread out our blankets and bring our dinners, then we’d hang out together until the sun went down and the movie started, it was an amazing bonding time and I’m sad I let that go3. I think I’ll try to do it once or twice next year, for the experience and for the fellowship.

— Thing Three —

I finished two crocheting projects which means I only have the scarf I’m knitting and the blanket I’m making for my neighbour left to complete.

Last month I finished a headband which took me about four hours to make, and then a blanket which started out as a project to finish some yarn I already had, only to end with me purchasing three more skeins of yarn and taking me 35hrs to finish!

— Thing Four —

Later in August I went to see a documentary following Alex Honnold as he climbed Ingmikortilaq in Greenland. This time, instead of being solo he had some scientists for part of the journey and his rock climbing friends for the rest. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how they shot the documentary, were there drones? Who did the sound? I have so many questions about the production!

Overall it was a great experience, we were on an incline in Central Park and the screen was at the bottom of the incline which created a natural stadium seating so seeing the screen was not a problem! I don’t know why I don’t hang out at Central Park more, it’s really beautiful there4.

— Thing Five —

The rest of August was pretty busy, I think I had more events closer to my home for the first time since I moved. I felt as though I was finally building a community close to home. I hope September carries on with more of the same. Here’s to the fall, the PSLs, the cozy decor and friendships5!

~*~

1. Five years ago my car stalled over a wintry President’s Day weekend and left me stranded for the night (thankfully with friends nearby).
2. Facebook has its uses.
3. It’s really surprising to me at times how much I have to intentionally step out of wanting to be alone.
4. Except for the rats that came out at night while we were walking back to the train.
5. And no more crazy encounters that leave me slightly traumatized.

August slipped away into a moment in time, cause it was never mine…
Wanting was enough… to live for the hope of it all cancel plans just in case you’d call.

Taylor Swift; August

November’s Dottie Box

Posted in Crafty, Fashionista by

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November’s Dottie Box came this weekend and I felt a little surge of excitement as I opened it up. I was enjoying things from the previous month’s box and I kept thinking about the fact that I would probably never have heard about them or even think to use them if it hadn’t been for this box.

After briefly admiring the packaging I opened up the box to find this month’s haul.

20141108_092759The first thing I opened up was the Lillian Eve Royal Affair nail polish. On the site it says it’s a blue hue but this looked greenish blue to me when I put it on my nail. I don’t usually use nail polish, except once in a while on my toes, so I gave this one to my sister.

According to their website, “Lillian Eve was born from a simple love of color and a desire for that color to have as little impact on our health as possible. It’s what drives each creative individual who makes up our little family.”  I thought it was nice that they are 100% American made and practice buying local.

Each polish costs $12.00, which I’m guessing is a bit on the pricey side for a nail polish. But, if you’re conscious of the things they stand for then it might be worth it.

20141108_092843Next in the box was a Crocheted Coffee Cozy from The Cozy Project, one of those things that I’d probably never buy for myself but that I could find use for. Now that it’s cold and I’m driving to the train station instead of biking, I try to take a cup of tea with me for my train ride, so this will come in handy. It has a very fall look to it, I’ll be sure to enjoy 🙂

I haven’t tried it yet (at the time of this writing), but there was chocolate from Cacao 7, a company that prides itself in making organic, nutritive, diet and diabetic friendly chocolates. I’m skeptical, but I have decided that I would keep it as a prize – hopefully it’s a good one – for when I double up my NaNoWriMo word count (which means 15k words more at the time of this writing).

20141108_093000

Finally, I opened up the Warm Vanilla Sugar Body Butter by Botanical Bars. I am not certain that this is a 100% homemade product – it seems to be made with lotion (from their etsy shop), and on the site it does have a list that looks like the ingredients found in the lotion in my bathroom right now – but since I use regular lotion I do want to give this one a try, see how different it is.

Did I mention that the smell is wonderful? The vanilla is strong with this one. I sort of want to spoon it out for eating.

If they are anything to write home about, I’ll be talking about them again in a month like I did with the last.

 

~*~

One month later …

Posted in Crafty, Fashionista by

Last month I got my very first subscription box! It was a box of handpicked, homemade, delights and as a person who likes supporting artists and their works I thought that I might enjoy the monthly goodies.

Now it’s one month after my first box, one month to use the products and form my opinions and I have to say, surprisingly, I still love pretty much everything!

20141016_211120I’m still using my Voodoo Colour Balm from Black Widow Balm. I did notice that, since the weather got colder, it’s a little harder – most likely due to the ingredients in the lip balm, but a few rubs and it’s back to a nice consistency. I love the colour and I love that it seems to stay on – something other colour lip balms haven’t been doing for me. I have really dry skin and when the weather turns it gets worse, however, I have found that if I am consistent with using this balm that it soothes the cracks.

Surprisingly I’m still using the Lip Balm Holder from Gabriel’s Good Tidings. This isn’t something I’d purchase for myself – I still don’t feel like I would if I ever lost it or had to replace it, but time will tell. However, having received it in the box along with lip balm I find that I’m using it more that I would have thought. Often it’s easy to clip onto my bag strap for easy access and because mine is so bright if I leave it in my bag it’s easy to spot it between the other things I carry around all day. I can see this and the lip balm making really cute stocking stuffers this year.

One thing that I wasn’t sure I’d use but I am absolutely loving is, Not A Dirty Hippie’s Chamomile and Lemongrass Shampoo Bar. First of all, the smell of this bar makes me think of carefree summer days and beautiful blue skies. It’s super easy to use and leaves my hair feeling clean. I use an apple cider vinegar rinse afterwards and I absolutely love the way it makes my curls look. I’m glad I used this, I will be frequenting this store a lot in the future.

Finally, Plain J Body and Home’s Soy Candle, I rarely use candles, but when I do I like them to leave the air with a lasting, but not overwhelming, scent. I used this for the first time a few days ago and I love it! Definitely a great gift for any candle loving friend of yours.

~*~

An Attempt at Fancy: Fascinators

Posted in Crafty, Fashionista by

Ever since the Royal Wedding, I’ve been hoping that hats make a comeback in NY Fashion. You see a bit of a Fedora here and there, and a sunhat every now and then, but hardly anyone wears hats anymore! It’s a shame I say, a crying shame.

So, in an attempt to add to the glamour, I decided that I’d take my mom out for Mother’s Day — where she had to wear a hat — and to accompany her, I wore a fascinator. I was looking online at Etsy for one, but they were a bit bold for my taste — and pricey. So I decided to make one myself. I wanted a really simple one to wear to brunch with friends the day before and I wanted a fancier one to wear on Mother’s Day.

As a base I used a regular long Goody hair clip. I wasn’t planning on keeping these for a long period of time, maybe a few months, so I didn’t want it to be expensive.

I used regular Krazy Glue to hold the pieces in place. I’m sure there are special glues out there, but as this wasn’t made to last, I figured Krazy Glue would work just fine. Just be cautious, this glue works fast and fingers can get glued to stuff if one is not careful. I also used piers to hold pieces in place until the glue dried.

The feather, some butterflies and the flower pieces were all purchased at Michael’s. It’s amazing what things in craft stores can be used for with a little imagination!


The feathered piece was a bit on the extravagant side, not really my style, but I thought it might be fun to wear for tea with Mom.

I made a second – less loud – one for brunch with my friends.

I think it might be my favourite one … I might wear it even on “non special” occasions. =)

There you have it! Easy to make to your own unique taste. Inexpensive and fun, oh, and did I mention fancy?