Up-Cycled Hair Ties

Today I wanted to share a little project that I did a few weeks ago. For Christmas my dad gave each of us girls some of his old neck ties. My dad was a school teacher for most of my life and he wore a tie every day. I didn't realize how many of the patterns I would recognize. I knew when I got them I didn't want to just put them in a memory box, but I wanted to use them! I thought I could wear them, but it just doesn't suit my style. Instead I've been into these hair ties and scrunchies, so I up-cycled the ties into some hair ties! Honestly my sister did all the sewing and I just ripped them apart and ironed them. I felt a bit strange ripping them. I also really hoped that my dad didn't find it insulting at all that I was tearing up this kinda sentimental thing he gave me. In the end he seemed cool with it AND now I get to wear a little piece of him! Its official that 2019 is the year of the hair accessory! 

Before: 

Hair bow style!

Head wrap style!

Lovely Things: Peach!

In the middle of winter I always dream of peaches. In my log of memories peaches feel, taste and remind me of everything summer. I'm worried if I even buy a home all my walls will be painted peach in the dead of winter. I'm aching for sunshine and peaches! So here are some peachy finds that'll have to tie me over until spring!

How great is this peachy keen shirt? // KarlaAndCo

Lime Crime is one of my new favorite make up brands // Lime Crime

I wish I had smaller fingers and could fit more rings // LoMoStudio

Lush bath bombs are the best! I'm gonna have to treat myself to some soon! // Lush

These storage cases remind me of my childhood and I love it. // Ban.Do

This emoji peach pie looks so beautiful! I need more pie in my life. // The Food Collective

Projects: Spoons!

I posted updates about this Christmas project on my instagram but forgot to post it here also. For the sake of documentation (which is why I write this blog in the first place) I figured I should post it here too! This past year for my handmade Christmas gifts I decided to learn a new skill and pick up whittling! These are the spoons and couple spreaders that I made. They are very clunky but in kind of a sweet way, like when children try to make things that are all funky but they are so proud of it that the product automatically beams with joy when you hold it. I think this summer I'm going to try my hand at some larger spoons and utensils. Sharpen my whittling skills if you were (LOL) The kit I used was THIS one, which came with wonderful instructions and everything I needed to get started. Melanie Abrantes is somewhat of a crafty angel. I love her instagram and stalking it to make sure I was doing things properly helped also! 

Do you have any new crafts you'd like to learn this year? I'd love to hear about them!

December Art Journal

Aye! Just a wee bit behind! I really liked Decembers art journal. I used mostly pencils and THIS pen (which is one of my favorites!) The paper in this mini stapled together journal is really thin and if I wanted to use both sides I'd have to make sure there wasn't any leakage. I suppose I should've just done it one sided and not worried about it. I did enjoy just hauling around this book and pencil and mindlessly shading and scribbling over the hectic days of December. I think I'll have enough room leftover to squeeze January in there. Hopefully I don't drag my feet too much this January. 

Read It: Emergency Contact

One of my goals for the new year is to read more. I've been a wee bit lazy for a long time now about reading. Reading for me always comes in waves. I'll be obsessed for a little while and do nothing but read. When I say nothing, I really mean almost n o t h i n g. I have a hard time sleeping and I lose my appetite. Which is a bit obsessive I know! So I'm trying to gain a better balance this year! So far not off to a good start, I really binge read this one and finished it in one day. I can't tell if its because its that good, kinda short or I'm just THAT obsessive. But as I finish books this year I figured I'd share them!

Book number one is Emergency Contact by Mary H.K Choi. I scooped this one (and many others) off of a Paper Trail Diary's top 10 books for 2018. You can see the whole list HERE! She described this book way better than I ever could, you can find her post THERE!

I really enjoyed this book! I adored the layout. A lot of it was written in a texting style and the back and forth changing perspectives made the whole book move really quickly. Its fairly predictable but she tosses in bits of spice that make it delightfully insightful. The idea of exploring digital relationships is embarrassingly relatable for me. Its a different way and common way of communicating and building relationships that we don't talk about all that often. That is one aspect that she got perfectly. I highly recommend this book to anyone! If you've read it let me know! Also if you have any recommendations I can add to my list, let me know that too!

List of Goals!

I didn't want to set any resolutions for the year. So instead I just jotted down a few things to give me some direction for the new year, with out putting any pressure on myself. Is this a silly way to avoid setting resolutions, while actually setting them? Yes, possibly. In a strange way this just f e e l s better to me. Overall I want to get lost in myself this year. When I say that out loud it seems really selfish. I suppose what I mean is I want to indulge parts of myself that I arbitrarily deemed negative qualities. Things like not being social, getting lost in books and obsessing over art projects. I want to learn how to be more of myself and enjoy myself more. Again, its a bit silly but in the best way possible.

As I stumble my way though the list I'll be sure to update the blog (which is on the list! ha!)

Song and Doodle #74

Todays song and doodle is the song I've had on repeat for a few days now, To The Boys by Molly Burch. Now if you haven't heard of Molly Burch before you're in for a real treat. She has the most unique and stylish voice! At first listen it seems a little bit silly but as you track though any of her albums you realize that she has amazing range and is super talented in the way she uses her voice! This song is a favorite of mine because I feel like she singing about me (ok I knooow shes not but still). For me this song is about being a quite person. I think people mistaken meekness for weakness, but quite people are some of the best thinkers and can be badass! Beyond that I think this song is also about not changing for anyone. It about finding your style and being proud of that and not willing to change for anyone. Ok, ok so maybe I read too much into lyrics but thats why they resonate so much with me. Really good songs have a way of oozing into my ears down into my chest coating my heart and I long for that feeling that good tunes give me!

"I don't need to scream to get my point across

I don't need to yell to know that I'm the boss

That is my choice, and this is my voice

You can tell that to the boys"

2018!

My favorite part of the end of the year is seeing every ones goals and reflecting on my own. This past year has been a particularly slow blogging year for me. I put less and less pressure on myself to blog consistently and it definitely showed this past year. In 2017 I ditched resolutions and choose a theme for the year instead. (You can read about it here!) My plan was to do the same for 2018 but a theme never emerged. I waited though the winter and I still felt scattered and lost. The summer came and more of the same. Don't get me wrong I had some great opportunities arise and did some awesome things! But in between those things I was a drift and lacked any purpose. Needless to say I'm looking forward to some new-newness! I'm ready to push 2018 behind me. I hope to buckle down and focus on being more creative, being more kind to myself and lifting myself out of this fog.

To avoid making this post too terribly depressing here are my highlights of the year and all the good that I was lucky enough to experience!
1-Grid Zine! My favorite zine event of the year!
2- I also had an amazing opportunity to be interviewed about my zine! Scary wonderful stuff!
3- Had an amazing birthday with the most wonderful people in my life.
4- For the first time ever I got involved in politics! I volunteered for a political campaign and met a ton of wonderful people, learned a lot of sad things and am forever changed!
5-Took a weekend trip down to southern Utah with the campaign and learned tons about indigenous people! It was such a mind blowing experience I still am having a hard time finding the right words to describe all the feelings.

Overall not too eventful. It was filled with lots of good and lots of self doubt. But life is good. On to a new year!