Oh the Cuteness!

Happy How-Tuesday! This week I found a yummy breakfast bread, an easy face scrub, and really cute necklaces to make! This breakfast bread is super healthy and easy to make! Check out the recipe here . Honey has so many amazing uses, and it really is great for your skin. A lovely and easy DIY face wash recipe can be found here . These thread wrapped necklaces are too cool and would look great in the hot colors of the season or a combination of neutral and neon. Here's the tutorial.

Last week we watched Johnny's two nieces for a few days in a row and instead of plopping them in front of the T.V. we did all kinds of arts and crafts! They had seen my craft room on a previous visit and thought it was the most magical place in the world, so I wasn't surprised when they asked to hang out in there when they arrived. They taught me how to finger knit and then asked me about my pile of roving, and I explained a bit about spinning yarn and felting. They seemed really interested in wet felting so we decided to make felt beads for necklaces. I only had purple/brown and blue/white but that worked out just fine. We tore off little pieces, got them wet and added a little soap, and rolled them in our hands until they became nice little beads. For the bigger ones we rolled them on a sushi mat for extra friction. We even made flat ones that looked a little like agate with the help of a felting needle.  They finished their beads the next day and did such a goo...

Happy Fancy Friday! I had so much fun putting together this look! It's part flapper, part hipster, part librarian, and part Zooey Deschanel. I tried to do a lot of color play in every element. For the makeup I fell in love with this look and was able to recreate it very well, though I realized afterwards that my new bangs (Thanks Sissy! ) kind of obscure the look haha. There's pink on the lids and taupe in the creases from my Revlon pre-matched set and the blue highlight is Sephora shadow. For the lips I layered orange lip stain underneath a lipstick called "Rich Girl Red". (There's a really cool edit of this photo on my flickr here .) The orange on my lips picks up the orange on my little Son of a Sailor necklace, and the pink eyeshadow compliments the lucite flapper beads and beaded headband. There's also my locket with a pink chrysanthemum cabochon and blue jade bauble. I love love love this hairstyle! It looks fancy but took about 5 minutes ...

How-Tuesday time! This week I have a fun camping dessert, a cute bag to sew, and a site full of photography tips. These campfire hobo eclairs look fun and delicious! Learn to make them here .  This super cute tote bag is a free pattern on an adorable blog! Check it out here.   This site has tons of photography tutorials for all levels of people. Go try it out here.

It's finally here! I made the PDF version of my owl plushie pattern available for download in my Etsy shop ! I decided I'm probably not going to make these plushies anymore as the pincushions always sold much better, so if you want one you better go grab one here before they're gone! But I couldn't let my time spent drafting the pattern go to waste so it's now available to buy, and it's a Creative Commons license so you can do whatever you like with the finished product, including selling them at craft fairs. All of my free and for sale patterns are licensed this way, so feel free! I'm incredibly excited about this because it's the first sewing pattern I've ever sold and I hope to write many more in the future! Hope you like it!

A couple weeks ago my craft room unveiling got noticed by the folks over at Craftaholics Anonymous , a totally awesome and very large craft site! I took more pictures for the post detailing my organizational ideas used in the space, so go check it out and be sure to leave a comment letting them know you liked it!

Ah Fancy Friday. This week I had the urge to do some gardening on Friday, so my outfit turned out to have a very flower-child vibe to me. Super posh gardening gloves no? They're actually jersey over-the-elbow gloves I bought from Daiso for $1.50 (Everything in Daiso is $1.50, you should check them out!), and I just scrunched them down.  I wanted to go a little more natural with the makeup, while still keeping the hippy vibe, so I got some white eyeliner and lined the inner rims of my eyes, then used dark brown liner and mascara and swept on a little copper on my lids. A slightly darker powder and a bronzier blush helped keep the palette neutral, and the Revlon lip stain is a nude-pink called Honey.  Accessories! The hat is my all-time favorite sunhat, found at Target ages ago. I added the sheer pink ribbon. I left my hair to dry naturally after adding a little leave-in conditioner and scrunching it to increase the waviness. The single braid is held with a ...

 Hello everyone! I made this delicious salad last week since there are so many beautiful figs in the market right now and I thought I would share the recipe. (I'm especially proud of the dressing.) Hope you like it! For the Salad: 1 Pint Black Figs 6 Slices Thick-Cut Bacon 3/4 cup Whole Pecans 1 Small Log Chevre (Herbed varieties are great in this too!) 3 Tbsp White Sugar 1/4 Tsp Salt Black Pepper to Taste Pumpkin Pie Spice to Taste 1 Container Mixed Baby Greens  Place the baby greens in a bowl. Use a spoon to break apart the chevre into small chunks on top of the greens and set aside. Cut the stems off the figs and cut them into bite-size pieces and add to greens.   Cook the bacon to your favorite level of crunchiness and drain on paper towels. Drain almost all the bacon fat, but reserve a little to toast the pecans with. Once the bacon is cool, chop it into small pieces and add to greens. Combine the sugar and spice...

Hooray for How-Tuesday! This week I found an infinity dress, helpful gardening tips, and a malted chocolate cake! I love the idea of infinity dresses and this one is made from a mass-produced model. So many ways to wear it! Check out the pattern here . This article has 5 tips for a no-work garden, and the whole website has great tips for sustainable lifestyles. Give them a look here .  This cake is called the Campfire Delight: 6 layers of malted chocolate and toasted marshmallow! Om nom nom! Go make it here .

Just a quick little post to show off another finished project: Johnny and I went to San Francisco for Valentine's day this year and bought this tea towel. We collect moon-themed things and had to have it, but we have so many tea towels in the kitchen that I decided to turn it into a pillow! I just sewed it into a tube, sewed one end shut, and added 3 dark blue satin ribbon ties to the other end so the pillow case can be removed and washed. The inner stuffing is an inexpensive travel pillow form from Ikea. Only took 15 minutes to make and it will be a special reminder of our first Valentine's day together for a very, very long time. Cross another one off the list!

Hi everyone! This Fancy Friday actually occurred on a Saturday (I know, I know) as I had a party to go to and still don't have the gumption to get fancy more than once a week. I'm sure glad we took these photos because during a water balloon toss at said party I got hit right on the top of the head and the hairstyle was instantly obliterated. All in good fun though, and I had a blast so I didn't mind at all. I'm very proud of this week's look because of my nails! Squee! I think I was in eighth grade the first time I painted my own nails and it was not pretty, and the next time was possibly senior prom. I've been trying to get better at it, using mostly clear top coat or glitter polishes to practice with so I don't make a mess. I have to say that this time was the first time ever that I didn't get polish all over the edges of my fingers as well as the first time I didn't mangle a nail while it was wet. I was feeling so bold I even used a ...

Happy How-Tuesday! This week there's tortillas, cute hairstyles, and easy gift candles! I love making quick breads at home but have yet to try tortillas. Check out the recipe here !  I absolutely love side chignon 'dos and this one looks super easy! Here's the link , plus a bonus updo! These candles would be great as wedding favors or housewarming gifts, and think of all the containers you could reuse! I want to make some out of St. Benoit yogurt crocks! The simple how-to can be found here .

Over my many years of blogging I've noticed something about myself: I'm pretty bad at posting photos of little individual finished craft projects, especially if they're gifts for people. Big projects or large batches of things sure, but tiny things seem to fall through the cracks. I can think of at least a dozen really cute things I've given as gifts that I never snapped a photo of, plus all my old collages I sold never got photographed. But I've found a tool to help me! Good old Instagram, you may be the solution I've been needing for years. I find that now I snap a quick pic and post it every time I finish something small which is awesome! I'd like to start posting them here with more descriptions than I include on Instagram. If you prefer seeing them without the longer post, you can either follow my Tumblr , or of course my Instagram (@ohthecuteness), which includes all my non-crafty photos as well. Anywho, on to the first bunch of goodies: Two sw...