Green Thumb?

Hello everyone!

Growing up, I've always been surrounded by plants in the house because my mom has crazy green thumb skills. Unfortunately, I don't think I inherited her green thumb because I've already killed a bamboo plant during my undergrad years, and I've heard that those are virtually impossible to kill... you know me, always trying to do the impossible.. ha. ha..

Anyway, David and I are currently in the process of moving to a new place, and we have always talked about getting a puppy together.  Unfortunately, the apartment doesn't allow us to keep pets, so I thought maybe we'll try a plant baby together?

and that is how our first plant baby was born!

I did some research, and learned that succulents and cacti are also pretty impossible to kill.  Since I've already tried and killed the bamboo, I thought we'd try the other impossible-to-kill kind.

So I got all of the ingredients including the vase, potting soil, decorative rocks and sand, activated charcoal, and 3 different succulents, and got to work!

my new babies!

The process was really quite simple:

First, I put down some bigger rocks,

then, smaller rocks,

some activated charcoal,

then the succulents!

sigh.. my bangs never stay clipped back..  

Tada~ 

the finished product!

Actually, I ended up putting down some white sand on top later, which also looked good.  However, I don't mind the way it looks just like this  =)

Wish us luck with our new plant baby!  Hopefully this one survives!
Thanks for stopping by,
--Janny

DIY :: His and Hers Wall Art

Hello everyone!

David and I are looking at a year (hopefully only a year) of long distance, and well... who likes long distance relationships, eh?  but having something close to you that reminds you of your loved one will definitely help you get through it!  

Thinking about decorating my new room and apartment in Boston really gets me giddy, and during one of my daydream sessions about the decor, I thought it would be nice to create something to hang over my bed in Boston!  Then, I thought it would be nice to create something to hang over the bed together with David!  I had the idea of what it would look like  (something like this)

and pitched it to David over the phone (because we were apart for the whole summer) but he wasn't really able to visualize it, so we put that on hold until we were back together in Houston.

When I got to Houston, I went to go pick up the supplies at the art store, and lo and behold! the canvases were buy 1 get 1 free!  so the idea of creating something to hang over my bed became, let's create 'His' and 'Hers' that can stand alone, but still work together when they come together!  so 'His' will stay with him in Houston for the next year until David (and the 'His' painting) can join me (and the 'Hers' painting in Boston!  =D   yeah I know.  it's cheesier than nacho cheese, but hey, we're looking at an impending long distance relationship here.  we'll take it!

So with our supplies in hand,

--2 canvases

--paint brush

--paints

we began our art project.

Now, if it was up to me, I would just dumped the paint, and begin creating something. and then we would see where that leads us, and then make things work with the rough idea of what I wanted it to look like in my mind.  but it wasn't 'MY' project, it was 'OUR' project, so this is where we ended up. A rough draft of what our handy work would look like on a white board.  haha  We each designed our own, and then tweaked them to make them work together

Throughout the project, we just had to step back and laugh at how different we are as people.  I think it works though because I would come up with these crazy ideas, whether it's for an art project, or for our dance routine, and then David would set about making the ideas come true.  and we're pretty good about being flexible... like if I really don't like the placement of the word 'love' on David's design... then he would let me change it  mmhmm  ;)

David wanted a certain type of blocky/bubbly lettering, so we put down a layer of masking tape, and drew the letters out.  Then, we cut it up, and placed it on the canvas so that we could paint the background over it.  We used the plastic wrapping of the canvas to use as a backing for the tape, but we wouldn't really recommend doing that, because after we cut it out, it turned out to be pretty difficult to take the plastic wrapping off of the tape..

For mine, I just wanted a free-hand cursive, so I just free handed mine.

So this is what David's looked like in the middle of the project,,

and what mine looked like haha

so different..

For the colors of the background, we used blue and orange because they are complementary colors, and to apply the paint, we just balled up some paper towels and dabbed it on.  We didn't want a super precise line between the colors and the white part of the canvas or anything, and wanted a more hazy look, so dab, dab, we went!  It felt like a 2nd grade art project, and we loved it!  haha

Then, I free handed my gold fireworks, David and I dabbed some orange paint to make the spheres on his canvas, painted the edges of the canvases gold,,,

and tada!!  Our His and Hers Wall Art  =)

looks a bit different than our original designs, but that's the beauty of art, isn't it?  ;)

Now we just gotta transport my half safely to Boston this year, and David's half next year!

Did you do anything crafty this weekend?

thanks for stoppingy by, and have a great week!

--Janny

T-Shirt recycle!

Hello everyone,

After high school or college, you may not be sitting on loads of money, but I'm pretty sure that you'll be sitting on loads of old T-shirts.  I think I have a drawer (or 2,, or 3) full of T-shirts from my college sorority years.  It was great while I was an undergrad, and I was all about wearing those and showing our sorority some love, but when you have a new shirt for every single event, man, they sure do add up!  and while they were a great item to throw on when you're an undergrad,, well, let's just say that I don't find myself wearing those T-shirts to my grad school classes and performances!   haha

I know I can still wear some of them around the house--for sleeping or exercising, and etc--but the thing is that majority of them are boxy T-shirts that are simply too hot to wear in Houston... too much material!! I very rarely find myself reaching for T-shirts when I could be in a tank top, or a loose fitting sleeveless shirts instead, especially when I'm exercising.  So, I decided to perform some DIY magic on some of them, with a little help from Pinterest, to see if I could turn them into shirts I would reach for when I'm not attending classes.

All you need for this project is an old T-shirt and scissors.

I would recommend picking a T-shirt that isn't too baggy--basically any activity T-shirt that you used to wear should work--and that doesn't have writing across the chest.  Because we're going to be cutting the neck area and cinching the back for a more fitted look, if the shirt has a writing across the chest, it is going to look like the writing is just below your chin by the end of the project.  If you don't mind the look of that, then go right ahead!

So here is my T-shirt of choice. An old recruitment shirt from 2009.  I know, I feel so old right now,, meh..  haha   Anyway, notice how the design is at the bottom of the shirt, and not across the chest.  

Lay the shirt out on a flat surface like so, and start cutting!  I wanted it to resemble a tank top, so I cut the sleeves off first, about an inch away from the seams, making sure to cut the bottom part more (you're going to need the room because you'll be cinching the back).  For the neck, I just left about an inch of fabric for the 'sleeve' of the tank top, and cut a scoop neck shape out.  You don't have to cut the bottom, but I did since the shirt was quite long on me, and I wanted to keep the 'curving up edges' look uniform throughout  haha

Then, turn the shirt over and cut the back parts of the sleeves and the neck area more. The reason I took the sleeve area in more was because this shirt wasn't super big on me, and therefore I didn't need the 'cinching' in the back to be very extreme.  If you have a larger shirt, you can make the sleeves cut less extreme (leave it similar to how you cut the front) and that should make the shirt fit more snugly.  The reason for cutting the neck area deeper is so that when you cinch, you don't have a whole lot of fabric leftover around the cinched area.

Then, using any ribbon or leftover fabric from your shirt, cinch the back together, and voila~!
A new tank top!

I wore it to our cherry picking adventures with a bandeau, and it was so much better than wearing a stuffy old T-shirt!

and here's the back picture with the cinching.  I used the scrap material from the shirt to tie the back together, so you can't really see how it's tied, but I just simply double knotted it.  You can be fancy and make a bow if you want, but since I'm going to be using this T-shirt tank top for mostly staying at home or exercising purposes, I didn't feel the need to do so  =)

I hope you have fun experimenting with your own old T-shirts!  The best part about this is that because these shirts were not being worn anyway, you don't have to have any fear of 'ruining' a good item of clothing!  And chances are that you have more than enough of these shirts lying around, so you can experiment until you find the right fit and cut you're looking for. Nothing to lose, and so much to gain!  =D

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday, and thanks for stopping by!!

--Janny

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent and Laundry Detergent

Hello everyone!

Recently, Amulet informed me that we were running out of dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent:  

What a perfect opportunity to put my Pinterest action to good use

 and make these two detergents at home!!

Another reason I thought it was a good time to try this was the fact that Abers was visiting!

Our conversation went something like this,

J: Abers, you wanna help me make homemade laundry detergent?

A:  Oh My God...  Are we going to blow something up trying to do this?

If I die making laundry detergent, I'm so going to kill you in the afterlife.

But don't worry, the making of these detergents didn't include any dangerous activities,
they aren't dangerous to the environment,

and they were actually super easy to make!

For the dishwasher detergent, we used this recipe exactly.

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cup of Lemi-Shine (1 12 oz container of Lemi-Shine. it comes in powder form)

1 1/2 cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

1/2 Cup Arm and Hammer Baking Soda

1/2 Cup Salt  (we used the pickling salt)

and some white vinegar as the rinse agent.

I found all of these at the local Wal-Mart because Target didn't have some of the items.

Once you measure it all out, mix it all together!

(except for the vinegar, this goes into the rinse compartment in your dishwasher)

Abers hard at work  haha

and VOILA!!

SO. EASY!

I put them into a spaghetti sauce jar, and the Lemi-Shine container.

yay for recycling?  haha

To do the dishes, we just dump some into the detergent compartment,

but the original recipe is more exact in telling us to use 2 Tbs of it per load.

Of course, don't forget the vinegar as the rinse aid!

I'm happy to report that our dishes have been coming out crystal clear every time!  =)

For the laundry detergent, I did some research and came up with a modified version of my own.

I wanted it to be a dry detergent because liquid ones required me to melt things over fire and,

well, you know...

Abers was going to kill me in the afterlife if we got blown up while making some detergent..   haha

So here's the Laundry Detergent Recipe

Ingredients

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax

1 (3 lb 7 oz) box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 box of Laundry Zote Soap Flakes (2 bars worth)

1 (4 lb) box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda

and again, some white vinegar for the rinsing cycle.

Again, we found all of these ingredients at Wal-Mart in the detergent aisle

The process is super easy for this as well.

You just mix it all together!

(minus the vinegar)

However, because there are much more ingredients to mix,

we would recommend pouring a little bit of each ingredient at a time and mixing them up in stages.

Even when we did this, by the time we got to the last layer of the mixture, 

it was pretty difficult to mix it all together...

mixing stages...  the 4th stage gave me a pretty good arm workout..  haha

And then, Voila!

It made so much, but I put some into a smaller bottle for easier access.

I put in about 2-3 spoonfuls of the detergent per load, depending on the size of the load.

Oh, and I also put in a bit of vinegar (1 spoonful) as well,

and I promise the clothes didn't come out smelling vinegary.

They say that vinegar is really good for disinfecting,

and I'm again happy to report that our clothes came out fresh and clean!!

I also read that you could put in a couple of drops of essential oils,

but when I tried that, my clothes didn't end up smelling like anything,

so I'm not sure I will continue to add the essential oils...

The clothes don't come out smelling like 'spring meadow' or whatever else the store bought ones claim to make your clothes smell like,

but it does come out smelling very fresh, so I personally like it much better this way  =)

It was a lot of fun making these,

especially since I really enjoy tinkering with DIY stuff,

and everyone tells me that this way is also a lot cheaper than buying store bought ones,

so that's an added bonus!  =D

Hope you enjoyed these recipes!

And let me know if these also work for you  =)

 Happy Monday!!

--Janny

DIY:: Brother Album

Hello everyone!

My lil bro is graduating soon!!
To celebrate, we had a huge open house last weekend, and it was a perfect opportunity to try my hand at my 2nd DIY project  =)
Usually, when we attend these open houses, we see a poster board of the graduating seniors, but because I wanted to show more of the pictures, I decided to make a photo scrapbook album kind of a thing instead!

Tada!!
Lil bro liked it--that's all that matters right?--and it was super easy to make!

Here are the steps:

1.  Print out or compile all of your scrapbook pages.

2.  Lay them out with the pages that will be back to back next to each other.  Above, for example, shows my scrapbook layout.  The pages that are laid out with no space in between them are going to be taped together back to back.

3.  Now, it's time to bind the book!
I used a long piece of yarn to create the binding.  Tape the yarn as shown below, leaving about an inch in between.  This will give us little loops at the end so we can tie it all together to create the binding!
What is shown in the photo below is page 2 and 4.  After I taped the yarn on, I taped on the page 3 to page 4 so that page 2 and 3 lay out like pages of an open book.
Continue until you have taped on all of your pages!

When you are done, the binding of the book should look like this.  

4.  Now it's time to thread another piece of yarn through the loops in the binding of the book, and tie it into a bow, and you are DONE!!

Page 2 and 3 of the photo book.  He was SO cute as a child!

the last two pages

I can't believe he is graduating this weekend, and I am so proud of all of his achievements.
I'm sure he'll have a blast at Berkeley, and I can't wait to go visit the campus with him in 2 weeks!
ROAD TRIP!!  =D

Thanks so much for reading!
--Janny

DIY Ankle Booties!

Hello everyone!

As much as I would like to state otherwise, I am not much of a crafter,,, yet.  haha  I really enjoy seeing all of the DIY projects on Pinterest though! (I have given this site so many hours of my life, albeit gladly)  so when my ankle boots lost one of its jewels, I decided to try my hand at my first DIY project.

I had been looking for a pair of nude ankle boots for awhile when I happened upon this pair on sale!  It was I think 20 bucks?  It was too good of a deal pass it up, so I went ahead and purchased it despite the obnoxious fake jewel that was attached to it.  Luckily for me, the jewel soon fell off (I might or might not have had a hand in its demise), and I was able to find a more suitable substitute.  For awhile, I thought about wearing the boots without any decorations because initially, I had wanted just a simple and understated pair of nude boots.  However, when I found this little gem at a fabric store, and I just knew that it belonged with my boots  =p   It was perfect; simple, yet beautiful and elegant.

I thought that I would get to do some cool crafty things to attach it onto my boots--perhaps a bit of sewing??  However, the fabric lady took one look at me and handed me a bottle of fabric glue instead!  When I tried to protest, she shut me down with a "No, honey. Trust me. It's for you."  If she didn't have that awesome Eastern European accent, I might have protested a little more, but you know... she was a little intimidating!  haha  but it was probably for the best that I took her advice--the glue worked so well, that this project literally took 2 minutes!  And I'm very happy with how they turned out  =)

The nice thing about Seattle weather now is that it's warm enough to wear a dress, but cold enough to wear ankle boots with them.  So, I took my new creation out for a stroll today, and after the little outing, I went frolicking in my back yard.

and frolickings should always involve jumping!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

--Janny