Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Pool Party

I'm in Pennsylvania at a summertime sleepover pool party with my friends.


Crafting will resume when I get back to Ohio...
Happy summer!
xoxo
Laura

Monday, July 29, 2013

The Month in Instagram Photos

As July draws to a close, I thought I'd share with you what this month has looked like for me according to my Instagram photos.


I've been doing my show makeup with a pretty fairy palette, listening to Justin practice the guitar, buying fresh produce from a local farm, taking care of my muscles with a little acupuncture, going to Mexican (and Japanese and Vietnamese) restaurants with my friends, and knitting with pastel yarns.  It's been a great month!

If you're on Instagram and want to follow along, you can do so here.

Happy end of July!
xoxo
Laura

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Sewing a Circle Skirt


I've decided to learn how to sew.  I made this decision partly because I have access to a couple machines and a teacher (thanks Justin!) and partly because I stumbled across Madalynne's beautiful sewing blog and fell in love with the whole idea of sewing my own clothes.

I'm starting with a circle skirt because I love wearing them and I heard that they're a good beginner project.  Have you made one before?  Would you agree?

I found a pretty great tutorial on Made that explained how to make a pattern for the skirt with my exact measurements, so I did that, and then Justin helped me make a muslin prototype of the skirt.


Here's what I learned from the prototype:

1. I'm terrible at sewing a straight line.  I had no idea it was even possible to be that bad at it. I'm going to do a lot of practicing on scrap fabric before I attempt to sew the elastic onto the actual skirt I'm making.  Are there any tricks to help me on this front or will it just come with practice?

2. I don't want my circle skirt to be an actual circle.  When I tried on the prototype, it looked noticeably longer in the front than the back.  That makes perfect sense to me because there's a lot more of me to cover in the back.  ;-)  I'm going to amend my pattern to add a couple more inches of fabric in the back while leaving the front the same length that it is now.  I guess I'll actually be making an oval skirt?

Adding length in the back to make a garment perfectly compliment my body type is what I love about the idea of being able to sew.  I don't want to blindly follow patterns; I want to make patterns work for me.  I want my clothes to be custom!

I know my grand plans don't match my skill level at the moment (duh), but wouldn't it be awesome if they did match up one day?  (I'm pretty sure step one is mastering a straight line, haha.)

Do you know how to sew?  Do you have any tips for a very beginner?
Thanks for humoring me!
xoxo
Laura

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Blotting Papers


In the sweaty world of ice shows, powdering your face is a necessity.  I don't love caking on powder, though, because it tends to settle into all the fine lines under my eyes and make them look like full-on wrinkles.

For that reason, when I'm not too sweaty, I try to use blotting papers to soak up any shininess instead of adding more powder.  This leads into today's showgirl beauty tip:

If your face is shiny and you've run out of blotting papers, use one of the toilet seat covers provided in public restrooms.  The super-thin paper works just as well as the blotting papers do.

Happy mattifying!
xoxo
Laura

Monday, July 22, 2013

Link to Love: Knitters of Cool


Here's today's link to love:  Wool and the Gang blog

They are a London-based knitting company that sells knitwear, yarns, and knitting kits, but above all, they create an aura of "cool" around knitting that I've never seen before.

Their manifesto states "We believe in fashion that's #madeunique, with love and never from a factory." Yes, they do have a hashtag in the middle of their manifesto.  You can read more about it here.

I've always thought of knitting as cool and it's so nice to have some reinforcement from these guys.  Wondering what their cool tactics are?  They sit on windowsills with a brash disregard for safety.  They collaborate with trendy yoga gurus (pictured below).  They revere vintage icons like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis.  They are young and beautiful.  They knit.

Image via Wool and the Gang

Happy browsing!
xoxo
Laura

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Potato-Crusted Fried Green Beans


There's a TGI Friday's near our apartment so we hang out there sometimes.  My friend, Katie, orders the fried green beans every time we go, and I always feel a little bit jealous.

Yesterday I decided to try making them gluten free at home with boxed mashed potatoes instead of flour and it totally worked!  Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
Green beans
2 egg whites
Boxed mashed potatoes (I used Idahoan Original Mashed Potatoes.  If you use a different brand, make sure they're gluten free.)
Salt and pepper
Oil

Directions:
1.  Pour an inch of oil into a medium-sized pot and heat it to 350 degrees f.
2.  Separate the eggs and pour the whites into a bowl.
3.  Combine 1/2 cup mashed potatoes, 1 tsp salt, and a dash of pepper onto a plate or shallow bowl.
4.  Dip each green bean into the egg whites, then the potato mixture, then drop them into the pot of oil for 3 to 4 minutes, until they're golden brown.
5.  Scoop the beans out of the oil and place them onto a paper towel on a plate.
6.  Sprinkle with salt and serve!


These were so crunchy and delicious!  Justin and I also think it would be fun to try making them with flavored mashed potato mixes like the pouch of bacon & cheddar chipotle potatoes that's currently sitting in our cupboard.  I'll let you know how it goes if we do it.

Happy frying!
xoxo
Laura

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Purl-Side-Out Beer Cozy Knitting Pattern


Summer's in full swing, the weather's hot, and a cold drink is heaven on days like this.  With that in mind, I decided to knit myself a beer cozy.  (Well, technically I knitted myself an Izze cozy because I don't drink beer, given my celiac disease and all, but I digress.)

I was messing around with a stripey pattern when I was swatching the other day, and I realized that the purl side of my work held way more visual interest than the knit side.  Obviously, the knit side is traditionally the "right side" to face out, but I didn't see any reason why tradition had to stand in the way of an attractive piece of knitting, so that's why this cozy has the purl side out.

This decision also came with a surprise bonus.  Being inside-out makes the stockinette stitch want to roll in at the top and the bottom of the cozy so it perfectly hugs the curves of the bottle.  I had originally planned to knit a bottom for this cozy so it wouldn't slip off the bottle, but the slight rolling made it fit so nicely that the bottom became unnecessary.

Let's get down to business with the pattern.  I made this on flat needles and seamed it together.  I know that having a seam (and therefore a little hump) is less than ideal, but working this pattern inside-out in the round got very complicated very quickly when it came to switching colors and stranding the yarn.

Materials:
Worsted weight cotton yarn in 3 colors (I used Sugar & Cream original cotton yarn in yellow, white, and tea rose.)
Size 5 knitting needles
Tapestry needle
Scissors

Abbreviations used in this pattern:
Yarn A =  tea rose (aka pink)
Yarn B =  white
Yarn C =  yellow

Pattern:
Cast on 30 stitches with yarn A

Row 1: (Yarn A) purl
Row 2: (Yarn B) knit
Row 3: (Yarn C) purl
Row 4: (Yarn C) knit
Row 5: (Yarn B) purl
Row 6: (Yarn A) knit

Rows 7-24: Repeat rows 1-6 three more times.  There should now be four yellow stripes and four and half pink stripes on the knit-side of your work.

Row 25: (Yarn A) purl
Row 26: (Yarn B) knit
Row 27: (Yarn C) purl

Bind off knitwise with yarn C

Finishing:
Weave in the ends.
Lay the knit rectangle on a flat surface with the knit side up, fold the right and left sides (where all the stranding is; not the cast on and bound off edges) toward each other to form a loop.  Seam those two edges together, keeping all the stranding on the inside (aka the knit side) of the loop.  I recommend using mattress stitch on the purl side to make the seam invisible.


Happy knitting!  As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask them, and I would love to see a picture if you make one of these too.

xoxo
Laura

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Link to Love: Knitting Brainwaves


What happens when knitting and science collide?  Neuro Knitting!  Bam!

The short version of the story is that two artists and a scientist came together to create scarves that depict brainwaves.  Actual human brainwaves.

Image via Mar Canet on Flickr



The long version of the story is today's Link to Love:
NeuroKnitting by Varvara Guljajeva, Mar Canet, and Sebastian Mealla

Make sure you watch the video; it's really cool.

Happy reading!
xoxo
Laura

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Swatching

I'm working on a new knitting pattern.

It took me a while to figure what kind of stitch I wanted to use, as well as which yarn colors I liked together.  In the first picture, you can see the evolution of my swatches from tight ribbing to no ribbing at all.

I can't wait to show you the finished project that these swatches are leading up to!



Until then...
xoxo
Laura

Monday, July 8, 2013

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Hairspray


I've been a professional ice show skater for the past 7 years and, believe me, I've picked up a beauty trick or two along the way.  Why not share some of them?

So here's today's tip:

If your hairspray isn't keeping its hold and your flyaways are starting to act up, spritz a little water on your hair.  The water will re-activate the hairspray and everything will be under control again in no time.

Happy hairstyling!
xoxo
Laura

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Glitter Water Balloons for the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!  I hope your day has been filled with picnics, friends, family, fireworks, barbecues, and lots of patriotic fun!

We had to work today, but I had an idea for glitter water balloons, and I wasn't about to let a few little ice shows stand in my way...  I filled up the balloons on our first break and then we all played with them on our second break.  It was super fun.

Here's how I made the balloons: 


I used some clear balloons and three tubes of glitter in our national colors to make these.  I went outside where it wouldn't matter if I made a mess (and believe me, I made a huge mess) and I poured glitter into each of the balloons.  Then I took them into the bathroom and filled each balloon with water from the sink.  That's it!  It only took about 10 minutes to do the whole process.

Next I went inside, did a quick ice show, and then the fun ensued:


It was marvelous.

The glitter looked great swirling inside the balloons like they were snowglobes.  

And the wet glittery mess they left on the boys was awesome!  It definitely added an extra level of crazyness to your average water balloon toss and/or fight.  Speaking of that, my original intention for these balloons was to host an orderly water balloon toss.  That clearly didn't happen, and I'm more than OK with that.  I love the less organized parts of life; the fun moments that come to pass all by themselves.


Doesn't Kinsey look adorable in these glasses?  Life is sweet here in Sandusky.

I'm going to go watch the fireworks now!  Happy 4th of July!
xoxo
Laura

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

4th of July Nails


Now that July is here (yay!) I had some fun with nail polish and came up with a patriotic nail art idea to share with you.

To pull off this look, all you'll need is red nail polish, blue nail polish, and white glitter.


1.  Paint all of your nails red except for your ring fingers.
2.  Paint the nails on your ring fingers blue.
3.  While the blue paint is still wet, sprinkle lots of white glitter on top of it.

Easy, huh?

Definitely do this outside or over a sink or trash can because the glitter has potential to get super messy super quickly.

This Independence Day is going to be all about glitter for me.  I did this to my nails and then came up with a glittery game to play on the big day as well... I'll tell you all about it soon!

How are you preparing for the 4th?

xoxo
Laura

Monday, July 1, 2013

Link to Love: Blogging for the Right Reasons


I'm kind of freaking out.  Creating Laura had over 50,000 pageviews in June!  I find that to be mind boggling.  Honestly, I was boggled when the blog hit 40,000 pageviews the month before.  Thanks for reading my blog!

Now that I'm blogging more and more and liking it more and more and having more and more people visit the site, it feels like the next logical step is to look into advertising.  Nothing too sell-outy, just some cute little ad spots on the sidebar for pretty, on-topic Etsy shops and other things that I think my readers would actually enjoy.  With this grand plan in mind, I perused Joy Cho's fabulous book, Blog Inc, and was (and still am) completely overwhelmed by all the business and banking related things that go into starting an ad program.  Even a cutesy little ad program that's just intended to look nice, link to some cool places, and provide a little yarn-funding.

Have you already gone through this process for your blog?  Was it as hard as it seems?

Anyway, with such big things on the blog horizon, I kind of froze up and got all weird about my blog for a few days.  Am I heading down the road to selling out?  With or without taking this big step, is my blog still as real and honest as I want it to be?  Why am I sitting on my couch at 1:00am, eating Nutella with a spoon and worrying about this?  Aaaaaah!

So anyway, last night I was browsing Joy the Baker's (awesome) blog, specifically her post Sixteen Things to do when you're Bored.  From there, I clicked on a link to Helen Jane's blog and man was I glad I did.

So here it is, folks, this week's Link to Love:  On Dance Floors by Helen Jane.

It's an honest, thought provoking piece about blogging.  It gets a little sad about halfway through, but keep reading, because it ends on a decidedly positive note.  It sums up all the feelings I've been having about my blog's future and if you're a blogger too, I guarantee it will do the same for you.

"When we share our realities, the truth we're experiencing right now, our collective wisdom, dreams and connections, we crack open the REAL opportunity of the internet," she writes.

Eureka!  That's what this always has been and always will be about!

I want to write about my real life and the crafty things I really honestly do like to make, just like I always have, and that's not going to change regardless of how my blog grows in the future.

Do you ever have moments of doubt like mine?
Let's crack the internet open together!
xoxo
Laura
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