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3-minute DIY Earring makeover
Hi all!
So this DIY is another super quick and easy transformation.
I never liked silver hoops. Until I saw Jersey Shore. J-Woww made them work. And at the time, on the show, she was going through a breakup and I was relating to her situation. Long story short, I decided to be adventurous and try out some silver hoops. Now, they didn’t reach my shoulders, but they were big. This people is what is adventurous to me. Switching from fake diamond and fake pearl studs to huge silver hoops. But I liked them. Ever since, it’s been more then simple studs for me.
In addition to not being adventurous, I also do not like to pay a lot. Heck yes I’ll shell out $135 for a pair of dark green Hunter boots. Heck yes I’ll buy $80 Sperry Topsiders and $70 Rainbow flipflops. $200 North Face jacket? Sign me up. But, those are staples. All of those things last. I have my first pair of all of those as well as my newer ones. But I’m not big on spending a lot on trend pieces. Especially ones that don’t fit in with my same thing every day look. I don’t even want to pay more than $5 for a pair of silver hoops.
So how does one try new styles when they are cheap and wear the same pair of studs for a month straight?
DIY. Michael’s has Bead Landing hoop earrings for $2.99 for a pack of two. And they’re nickel free, so thumbs up for that.
I can totally wear them plain but I’m dressing them up with something I have plenty of…nail polish.
On this pair I used “Jane” by Julep which is a rose gold glitter polish. Pretty much all you do is paint it on like you paint your nails. Which, I did after I painted the earrings.
Excuse my messy nails but I only did one coat because I hate taking glitter polish off and I figure it’ll clean itself up when I wash my hands. I paint my nails like a 6 year old. I don’t care if it’s messy. I wash my hands enough that what’s not on my nails will wash off soon enough.
My next mission is to figure out how to not get crappy flash pictures from my iphone 
DIY Washi Tape Phone Case
I have many obsessions. Two of them are washi tape and phone cases. Unfortunately I only have one phone and tons of phone cases. Sometimes I can’t decide which one to use. To make matters worse, I made my own phone case so that I have one more case to choose from.
It is super simple to do and totally unique.
All you need is a plain phone case (I got this one from amazon. When I bought it, it was like 17 cents but has now gone up. But it’s amazon so there’s like a billion more of the same to choose from for various prices), washi tape (or duct tape or masking tape or any cute decorative tape. you could even use stickers), modge podge, and a craft knife.
All you have to do is layer the tape on the case, using the craft knife to cut any ends. I also used a bone folder to smooth the pieces down but you can do that with your fingers or the end of the knife or whatever. Then after you have it the way you like, use a paintbrush to spread a thin layer of modge podge over the tape and case so it won’t peel off in a couple of days. After its dried, use your knife to cut off any other stray ends.
And you have your own personalized phone case for a fraction of the cost of a designer case.
Note: As you can see, the case I got has the hole so you can see the apple logo. Next time I’m going to get a case without that hole. It’s just something to have to work around and it just makes for more tape ends that can come lose.
Garden Update
Sunday, while in the midst of watching the entire series of The Office before Thursday’s finale, my dad told me to put some shoes on and go outside with him. This was around 8:30 pm. At first I was confused but then I realized we were finally going to plant the raspberry plants I had got from Aldi’s.
Instead of planting them in the ditch towards the front of the yard, we planted them next to the house in a good spot that has lots of room for further garden additions.
The entertaining part of it all was the fact that you have two people from Jersey of partial Italian descent outside at night digging some holes.
Here are some pictures of it. And I added in one of just Heidi looking adventurous for good measure.
I can’t wait for the plants to bear fruit so I can make some raspberry cheesecake 🙂
First Illustrator pattern!
First off, I know its really bad of me to go almost two weeks without a post after just starting a blog. But I just had to finish up the semester and it is finally over!
So, just like I couldn’t wait to start the blog until after exams, I couldn’t wait to write a new post until after I had finished one of my planned projects.
Tonight, I was bored, as always. I hadn’t used Illustrator in a few days because I told myself I wasn’t allowed to until all my school work was over. So I opened it up. But what should and could I do at midnight?
Learn.
One of my favorite blogs right now is goinghometoroost. The lovely lady behind GHTR, Bonnie, started a membership called the Roost Tribe and I’m so happy I joined. It’s only $5 a month but it’s worth much more. She sends members tons and tons of content every friday including vector/clip art files, patterns, backgrounds, printables, and my favorite, illustrator tutorials. Plus there’s a facebook group for everyone to connect on.
Anyways, tonight I decided to try a pattern. And using May’s clip art file from Friday’s email and a tutorial from a previous month, I made this:
My first repeating pattern 🙂
And it was so easy.
And now that I’ve learned something new and have written a new post, I can go to bed.
Washi what?
I love washi tape. Whoever invented it is a genius.
Washi tape is a Japanese paper craft time very similar to masking tape. It’s unique feature is all the amazing patterns and pretty colours you can get it in.
I’ve been covering everything with washi tape since my obsession started. I put it on the front of my laptop. I put it on the space bar on my laptop. I painted my cork board white and put washi tape on that. I covered the ugly spine of my SmashBook with washi tape. I bought a mouse pad just to cover with washi.
So the other day I was bored. I’m planning on putting up a piece of twine on my wall to hang inspirational stuff from since my cork board will fill up too soon. I have mini clothespins and I wanted to spruce them up. Soooo, lemme stick some washi on that.
It is super easy:
1. Tear off a strip on washi tape and stick in on the clothespin.
2. Using an Xacto/craft knife, trim all the excess tape off. Use the blunt side of the knife to press the tape edges onto the pin so it stays.
3. You’re done.
PB&J forever
One of the things I love most in the world is the tv show The Office. If I could somehow use my obsession to make a living, I would jump at it and immediately become a bazillionaire. I’ve seen the entire series like 5 times…..in the past year. I have memorized multiple episodes.
This year is the final season. It all ends on the 16th of May. Well, no, just new episodes end. Jim and Pam have had their ups and downs and tonight it looked like it was going to end bad.
And then perfection happened. Jim hugged Pam and she thought back to the words spoken at their wedding:
“Love suffers long and is kind
It is not proud
Love bears all things believes all things hopes all things and endures all things
Love never fails
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love
But the greatest of these is love.”
And she hugged him back and they said their “I love yous” and it was perfect.
I just knew the producers wouldn’t let us down. And although it’s just a TV show, it gives you hope.
So I have a montage that follows. And I promise I won’t just spend my time blogging about tv shows. It’s just a show I love so much and its emotional to see it end. It makes me cry. Although I attribute some of that to some tears held in during President Bush’s speech today. Such a humble, noble, and patriotic man. But yea, PB&J forever.
❤
I was also stunned to see such a blatant use of Biblical text in a positive way on an NBC show. But I won’t get into that. I’ll just appreciate that they used such beautiful words in a beautiful way.
Garden
This is the last week of school, except for next week’s exams. I’m not a fan of this time of year. Summer is coming up which means lots of spare time to fill. Yet, school is not yet over which means there is still work to be done.
The problem? It’s kinda hard to get my work done when I’m busy being distracted by all the things I’m planning to do. And quite frankly it’s almost like torture to be so excited about all these projects that I can’t start on yet because I need to focus on finishing up the semester.
One project that I’m super excited about is my garden. Now, I don’t really like the outdoors. I mean, I like going to the beach and I like hiking, but I don’t like bugs and heat and pollen. But I need more vitamin D and I just really want a garden. So I am going to have a garden. And maybe then I’ll learn to like the sun some more. Maybe I will move to a darker place than “snow” on the color spectrum.
The garden will be in one of two places. There’s a ditch in the yard that I can fill in and plant all my fruits and vegetables and herbs in. My mom thinks that the landscapers will just mow over it so she wants me to put it someplace else. At this point I don’t care. It’s easy to just put some stakes around the garden with some ribbon tape and I think the landscapers will get the hint. But there’s still a week or so to debate.
What’s more urgent is my raspberry plant. Under $6 from Aldi’s and it’s already growing in its box. I need to plant that tomorrow. Poor thing needs some light!
Well hey there…
Welcome to Valentine’s Days!
My name is Katie and this is my corner of the internet. I’ll be sharing thoughts, ideas, projects, crafts, recipes, my garden, and a ton of other random things (including the shenanigans of my miniature dachshund, Heidi).
So why Valentine’s Days?
Well, the long and the short of it is that Valentine is my last name. And when you have a last name like that, might as well use it 🙂
I look forward to posting and sharing with you. If you have any questions, comments, ideas, anything, email me: katie@valentinesdaysblog.wordpress.com
-Katie
Valentine's Days 