POTD: Guess who?

You gotta hand it to Jeremy Scott- these sunglasses are unique. But the ridiculousness doesn't end there friends- check out the whole collection. Featuring, but not limited to these patriotic bad boys.

Why I Love Awkward Family Photos

If you are not familiar with  AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com, this slideshow captures the kind of glorious awkwardness you could be experiencing every single day. Heart.

I Made This: Valentine's Cards & Wrapping

I've been loving the recent trend of gifts wrapped in brown paper with twine and Valentine's Day was a perfect time for me to try it out for myself. I used regular old brown paper bags, some bakers twine bought for $4 on Amazon, and some silver heart ribbon I had on hand to whip up some cards and wrapping paper for my sweetheart on Valentine's Day and came up with these!

I Made This: Toiletry Bag

Before

As a crafty person, I feel like I should have some basic sewing skills. I have a lot of big plans for future sewing projects, and I actually own a sewing machine even if it's at my parent's house since I don't have room for it in our NYC apartment. So when I saw a Groupon deal for a 2 hour Beginner's Sewing Class at The Sewing Studio, I pounced.

Tonight, I attended the workshop and was more than pleased. It made me feel a lot more at ease with a sewing machine and was overall just a great experience. They let us pick from a few different fabrics for our project, they were all cute, but the polka dot was just a no brainer for me. I came home with a new handmade toiletry bag! 

It was cute, but I just felt like it was dying for a bow. Of course, I just happen to have some pink, polka dotted ribbon lying around. So when I got home I heated up the glue gun and got to work. Ideally, I would've purchased a thicker ribbon, but in this case, the best ribbon for the job was the one I already owned.

After

I also took copious notes so that I will remember all the valuable stuff I learned, since it will be at least a few more years until I have a place big enough for my sewing machine. If anyone is interested in step-by-step instructions, leave a comment and I'll take the time to type them up!

I Made This: Seashell Shadow Box

Seashell Shadow Box

We have 3 Shadow Boxes above our bed in our bedroom commemorating special occasions in our life. One of them has the leis from our Honeymoon in Hawaii, another has the medals and race bibs from Mike's 2 Half Ironman and Full Ironman races last year. The third had Mardi Gras beads from my Great Aunt Eda's 75th Birthday Party in New Orleans. I was never very happy with the way that turned out though, I was just never able to get the beads to fall in a good way.

I had a bunch of shells from our First Anniversary trip to St. Martin that I wasn't sure what to do with, so I thought this might be an opportunity to redo this box. What happened next was totally organic, I just started lining up the shells in rows and was really happy with the result. I also made a little sign signifying which beach vacation these shells were from on some scrapbook paper. I rearranged a couple of times to get the right mix of textures and colors, but it was actually pretty quick and easy. After I got the layout set, I pulled out the old hot glue gun and went to work.

For anyone interested, here is the link to the shadow box I used available from Target.

I Made This: Beach Vacation Jar

Beach Vacation Jar

I've had a bag of shells sitting around from our Puerto Rico Vacation last year that I wanted to do something special with. After seeing some inspirational ideas on my newest obsession Pinterest, I finally knew what I wanted to do. I got really lucky, when a coworker left behind a short glass vase with a very slight bluish tint. I claimed it, especially for this project and knew it was perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't bring home any sand, so I ordered some craft sand from Amazon.

From there, it was a super quick and easy assembly. I filled up the vase with sand, then chose my favorite shells to place on top. I decided to throw in a tea light candle, although I don't really intend to light it, I just liked the way it looks. I also made little flags out of toothpicks and sandy colored scrap-booking paper to commemorate which trip they were from. I had a bunch of really neat sea urchin shells left over that seemed a shame not to use, so I hot glued them to a silver, wire-edged ribbon to go around the vase.