Cell Phone Charger Holder (upcycled from a lotion bottle!)

Today I have a project that I have been meaning to make for a long, long time!  If you happen to follow my Pinterest account, you still might not have seen this project that I pinned because it was from 2 years ago!!!

This is not a super-detailed tutorial because the original from Make It & Love It is just fantastic and you can definitely refer to it!  However, I did make a few tweaks, so don't leave just yet!

Oh, and are you wondering why you would even want this?  Well, just think about all those times you have to charge your cell phone and leave it on the icky floor.  Or sometimes the cord is too short, and you have to leave it hanging.  :(  Well you no longer have to do that!  Let's get to the quasi-tutorial.  :)



Cell Phone Charger Holder
What You Will Need

• Empty Lotion Bottle
• Marking pencil or pen
• Scissors
• Box cutter & protective surface (cutting board, cardboard, etc.)
• Optional:  Fabric & Mod Podge

Directions

1.  Remove all stickers and labels.

2.  Mark your pattern!  Check out the original tutorial if you want to make the shape she suggests.  However, I wanted to do something different...

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Inspiration galore!

Now that the graduations, birthday parties, and national holidays are over, my weekends are just a little bit less packed.  However, we still have lots of invitations and my weekdays are still crazy too!  Here we go with another weekly wrap-up.  :)

Precap:

• Eats: Little Sparrow, ARC food & libations, Seoul Sausage, Beard Papa's, Blockhead's Shavery, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse
• Activities: Running shoe shopping!, furniture inspiration @ OC Mart & IKEA, The Bungalow, Blue Windows

Thursday

This is probably the least exciting lead-in picture ever, but I'm over the moon about my new running shoes!  I have a knee problem that surfaced several months ago, which kept me from running during my gym workouts.  Definitely a bummer...

Well, it's been healing for a while now, so I went to the running store to have my gait analyzed.  The barefoot shoes that I started using before my knee problems surfaced were completely wrong for me!  Actually, I had put 2 and 2 together after realizing that I couldn't even do normal activities in those shoes even after breaking them in.  Also, the knee problems really only showed up once I started using them.  Hmmm...  Waste of money for me.  :(

I probably should have taken a picture of the shoes, but I was just ready to lace them up and run out of the store!

Friday

I actually had a really late meeting again, so I had to skip dinner with my guy and his friends.  Instead, I opted to meet up later with the group at Little Sparrow for dessert and drinks.  It was a really great menu and the cocktails were really inventive!

Delicious rosemary madeleines!  I didn't get a picture of the delish crepe cake.  :(

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Weekly Wrap-Up!

This weekend was a fun one, with a couple of yummy meals and the Patchwork Festival, like I mentioned on Saturday.  Lots of things to share!


Precap (Jump to):

• Sights: Patchwork Festival
• Eats: Blackmarket Bakery, Taco Asylum, Schooner or Later, Tavern

Friday

There was lots of work to be done, so by the time I finished, it was really late!  Luckily, everyone was still out and I met them at Blackmarket Bakery.

Don't you love the light fixtures?  The whisk one is my fave.  :)

Then, we went to Taco Asylum for a little bit of food.  Or at least I thought it was going to be a little!  First, a steak & potato taco.

And nachos with potato chips for the table.  Mmm!!!

Saturday

I planned to do some sewing, and I finally did!  I'll share soon.  :)

But first, we went to breakfast at Schooner or Later.  We hadn't been here before, even though it's relatively nearby.  It's been on the Food Network, and we ended up ordering all of the featured dishes: Crab & Avocado Benedict, the Belgian Waffle, "The Mess," and a couple of others too!

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Black & White Challenge - Final Projects!

The last item that I worked on prior to leaving was the peplum top that I was making for my Black & White challenge.  I have yet to totally resolve the problems involved, but I wanted to share the other group members' progress so far.

Right now, we're deciding on our next challenge topic, so I'll update you as soon as we've picked our next one!

First of all, here is my top!  I'll work out the kinks soon...

*Update* I redid the top so most of the kinks are worked out now!  See it here!

Sabrina from Sweet French Toast made these incredible shorts!  Click here for her pattern information and the adjustments she made, for a super cute and modern pair of shorts.  :)

Tiffany of Tiffany's Notions and Knits has a top with a cute piping detail to share right here!

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Sewing Rewind: Grandma Edition!

Last week I promised it was my last sewing rewind and that I would focus on my future projects. I have to admit that I always planned on featuring a couple of my grandmother's old projects, some of which inspired my love of sewing.

Unfortunately, I was a terrible planner before my trip, so I only have 3 different projects to share. She made sooo many things for us before she passed, and I could only find a few items and/or photographs of items the day before I left. Oh well!

Wine Bottle Tuxedoes

This is obviously something that my mom asked my grandma to make. Back in the day, my parents used to host wine tastings, with mystery wines that the guests would have to guess. How bourgie!

Anyways, my mom wanted something to cover the bottles that would look cuter than a paper bag. I'm not sure who had the idea to make the covers into little tuxedoes, but they are definitely cute!

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Valentine's Dinner, Anthropologie, Deals & Patterns!

Finally a normal weekend!  It seems that as soon as I started these weekly wrap-ups, my life started to get more interesting!

Book events, celebrity run-ins (here and here), sporting events, concerts, trying out new sports, restaurants (1,2,3,4,5), warehouse sales, exploring around town, trips to New York and Nashville, planning a huge trip to Europe, and about a million donuts (1,2,3,4)!

Luckily, life is back to normal with just a few fun things along the way.  This week, the high points were Valentine's dinner with my man, shopping (Anthropologie, Off 5th, Banana Republic Factory), buying fun food items at Mitsuwa marketplace, cooking up three new recipes, pattern shopping, and getting a big chunk of travel planning done.

Wednesday

Valentine's Day was casual for my guy and me.  We decided that it is crazy to fight for a reservation at a fancy restaurant and be surrounded by tons of people who are doing the exact same thing, all in the name of a holiday that can tend to get out of control with decor, food, etc.  I'm not saying I'd turn away a pink cupcake though...

We went to Simmzy's, which I went to about a month ago for the first time.

To start we shared the Goat Cheese Tapas which doesn't look like much, but it was perfect!  Goat cheese with apricots and honey!  I'm in.  :)  I was majorly hungry and barely saved any for my guy, but then again he had his beer flight!

I got their Simmzy's Burger and added roasted Shiitakes.  So yummy!

The close-up shows off all the amazing goodies stuffed inside!

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Style / Sewing Inspiration: Hart of Dixie!

I admit it.  I love a good teeny bopper show.  I grew up with My So-Called Life, Felicity, and Dawson's Creek.  Come on, remember how much you wanted to dye your hair bright red, or move to New York for a guy, or be part of a love triangle?

Anyways, nowadays my tastes have grown up.  Almost.  I can't help but watch some of the shows that are made for kids half my age!  One of my silly, guilty pleasures is Hart of Dixie.  Then again, the actors are actually still older than me, so I don't feel too bad.

One of my favorite parts is the cute outfits they wear.  I used to live in the South for a bit, so I thought maybe my taste changed to a more Southern, genteel style.  Then I found out that they wear a mix of Kate Spade, Anthropologie, J Crew, and other faves of mine.  While writing this post, I found out there is even a website that documents each episode!

Suzannah from Adventures in Dressmaking shared her love of How I Met Your Mother and other shows for sewing inspiration, and I have decided to do the same and share one episode of outfits from Hart of Dixie!

*Sorry in advance for the blurry screen-caps!  There are some better pictures here.*

I tend to prefer the Southern girls' outfits more, but this dress on Rachel Bilson's character is super cute!

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Project Inspiration + Confessions of an Emotional Pinner

Let's say that you're a reasonably crafty girl who has her sights set on making the perfect home decor item/dessert/dress.  Where do you look for inspiration?

As for me, I could not live with Pinterest.  In the old days, it used to be Real Simple magazine and Martha Stewart on TV.  But with everything digital, it is so much easier and faster to compose a board of all the things I love on this super easy website/app, especially when I'm on the go.

From there, I've found blogs that I find myself subscribing to, and then more pinners that I follow, and so on, and so on...


Then, I fall into that pit of despair thinking, "I could never make anything as lovely as her!" or "Why bother putting all this work into something that will just end up looking homemade when I could just buy it?"

Sewing fail: Drawstring mat for my scraps that doesn't close all the way.

Yes, it is easy to feel less than ordinary when you see all of the amazing ideas and projects on Pinterest.  But I have to remind myself that it is a way to receive inspiration, and although it would be great to have the perfect home, dinner, and wardrobe, I should to be thankful for what I have!

So, I think of the blogs/pinners that I follow as coaches in my corner for their respective fields.  On a day like today, when I need to take my mind off of some scary career changes, I choose to get lost in a project or a blog.


My favorite blogs, in no particular order (but grouped by topic), are as follows!

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