Urban Inspiration

Urban Outfitters', Target's and Anthropologie's home sections are always filled with cute, and completely unaffordable frames. So when I was in Urban Outfitters a couple weeks ago and I saw crochet covered picture frames I knew it was time I took things into my own hands.

I rummaged through my antique chest and found a crochet table runner my great grandma made and decided it would be the perfect thing to repurpose for this project. I ran down to Jo-Anns grabbed three wooden frames and some yellow spray paint and went to town.

First thing first before the crochet even came into play I took the plain wood frames and spray painted them yellow. Any color or stain would work I just wanted something bright.

Then I cut pieces of crochet to cover the entire front and sides of the frame, crochet doilies from a craft store would work too.

After I cut the crochet to the correct side I flipped the frame over and simply used a staple gun to staple the fabric to the frame. I then flipped the frame back over and cut the lace out where the picture is supposed to go.

And there you go! Easy, stylish frames that are completely affordable. I made three, one of which was a different size just to add some variation. Feel free to play with this craft after all you could use any fabric scrap to cover an old frame thats laying around your house. 

Also sorry for the hiatus this new semester of classes and the start of work has kicked my butt. But now that I'm back in the swing of things posts will be back to normal!

Candle Makeover

I love candles. They are a sick obsession of mine and I have numerous candles cluttering my desk back home. But I also love style; so one of my biggest pet peeves is ugly candles.

I've had this candle, from a local shop in one of my favorite scents, sitting in my desk drawer for years. It's made one appearance and then went right back in the drawer. Now, I asked myself why am I not using a $25 dollar candle? Oh, yeah, because it's ugly. So the other day when I was at a garage sale and I happened across and Anthropologie-eqsue vase I decided to turn my ugly, and oh so delicious, candle into something worthy of being in my room.

My basic supplies: ugly candle, wick, cute vase (pictured), microwaveable bowl and spoon

I spooned the wax out of the old candle and threw it all in the microwaveable bowl. And yeah, it was a mess.

Then I stuck the bowl in the microwave and put in there for 45 second intervals and stirred in between each interval until it was completely melted. Then I stuck the wick in the vase, tied the wick around a pen so it didn't fall in and poured the melted wax.

After sitting out for the night the candle was complete! I cut the wick a little shorter and immediately lit it. Finally enjoying the candle that has been imprisoned in my desk for the past 3 years.

Peppermint Bark

With it officially being the new year and Christmas being so many days ago I can't keep count I don't understand how I can still open the cupboard and find Christmas candy--namely candy canes.

So to officially bid farewell to the holidays I decided to use up the last of the candy canes in homemade peppermint bark. Now, this is not your grandma's peppermint bark; this is gourmet peppermint bark complete with homemade chocolate.

I scrolled through the internet and after my "homemade chocolate" search results coming up short I toyed around with a couple ingredients and came up with my own, gluten and soy free, white chocolate and dark chocolate.

Warning: cocoa butter is hard to come by; I ultimately found it in the skincare section of my local co-op look for "food grade" on the label to ensure it is safe to cook with.

White Chocolate:

• 3 tablespoons cocoa butter
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-4 tablespoons powdered sugar 

The process is pretty darn easy:

• Melt the cocoa butter in the microwave
• After melted add vanilla
• Then 2 tablespoon at a time add the powdered sugar until the consistency is like melted chocolate
• Place in fridge to let set

Now for the dark chocolate; the recipe is basically the same except with cocoa powder in place of a lot of the powdered sugar:

• 3 tablespoons cocoa butter
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2-1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

And the recipe is exactly the same as white chocolate plus cocoa powder:

• Melt the cocoa butter in the microwave
• After melted add vanilla
• Add 1/2 tablespoon powdered sugar
• Add cocoa powder
• Add another 1/2 tablespoon powdered sugar if your tastebuds call for it
• Place in fridge to let set

Now time to put together the actual peppermint bark! Aka the fun part!

• Lay down parchment paper on cookie sheet
• Pour dark chocolate onto parchment paper and spread with back of spoon
• Place in fridge and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes
• While dark chocolate is cooling place candy canes in plastic bag and crush
• Remove cookie sheet from fridge and pour white chocolate on top of dark chocolate (white chocolate may need to be re-melted a little bit)
• Sprinkle candy cane pieces on top of white chocolate
• Place in fridge and let sit for 30 minutes
• Remove from fridge and break into uneven pieces for snacking

Keep in mind this is gourmet candy and with any gourmet candy it does not go very far. But what you do get it well worth it enjoy this treat as your final farewell to the holidays and I hope 2014 brings you everything you hope for!

I'm not a pink girl.

I am a self proclaimed black and grey girl only; I'm not a color girl and further more I am definitely not a pink girl.

So when my birthday neared and I had the sudden urge to wear a pink dress I had no idea what to do with myself. What better thing to do than combine hot pink with my usual black and grey.

So here it is, my first pink outfit in maybe forever and my first fashion post of the blog.

Yes, I'm that girl that spends her days on Pinterest fantasizing about glamorous outfits I can't afford, but that is the beauty of this outfit. Everything, except for the purse, is accessible and affordable to everyone.

Dress: lulus.com
Shoes: Charlotte Russe
Necklace: Forever 21
Thigh High Stocking: Victorias Secret
Purse: vintage

Glitter & Wine...a girl's two best friends

Now everybody knows that a weakness for a girl is one of two things: glitter or wine. So what better DIY gift for the upcoming new year than a washable glitter wine glass.

Supplies:

• Wine glasses (I picked mine up at the dollar store)
• glitter of your choice
• Mod Podge
• paint brush/sponge
• clear lacquer spray paint

Somewhere along the ling my photos of the beginning steps of this craft went missing but the good news is the steps are pretty basic.

• Wash the wine glasses
• Cover base, or wherever else you would like to apply glitter, with Mod Podge
• Shake glitter to cover glass
• Let dry for a day

And that's it for the beginning. Pretty easy if I do say so myself!

Next take you glittered glasses to an open space to spray them down with the lacquer.

I did three coats of the spray and waited about 30 minute between each coat. And voila, after airing them out in the garage for about three days they were ready to gift!

One thing to keep in mind the glasses are hand washable, not dishwasher safe.

Santa Cookie

With Christmas in the air it's hard to resist the perfect sugar cookie. Especially the perfectly crafted "Santa" cookie. If you have time to spare then this is the quintessential roll out cookie dough recipe for you.

I love this sugar cookie recipe, with the following changes to be gluten free:
gluten free all purpose flower (instead of regular flower)
1 tablespoon xanthum gum
and roll out with flour instead of powdered sugar

With this recipe it is essential to get the dough cold before you roll it out; do not think you can cheat and wait an hour and a half because you can't.

I used my royal icing recipe feature here, on my gingerbread post. And instead of just using white made various colors for decorating--side note I prepare gel food coloring instead of liquid  it keeps the consistency of the icing better. 

Gingerbread men.

With Christmas right around the corner what better goodie to make than the classic gingerbread men. Now I'm not going to lie gingerbread is not my favorite cookie but there is something irresistible about their smell this time of year; my family and I went through the entire batch in a matter of days.

As a gluten free baker I change regular recipes to suit my needs, I feel made to be gluten free recipes are never as good. So I played with this recipe:

And made the following changes:
gluten free all purpose flour (instead of wheat flour)
1 and 1/2 tablespoons xanthum gum (a necessity in gluten free baking)
1 teaspoon nutmeg (I love the addition of nutmeg in gingerbread)

Then I have a tried and true favorite icing. It is perfect for slathering on a cookie or for decorating. Side note, in decorating I use bottles instead of bags;they're easier to use and way easier to clean. The recipe is the following:
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder (can be found at craft stores in the baking section)
10 tablespoons water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the powdered sugar and meringue powder in a mixing bowl along with 5 tablespoons of water. Mix and add the additional 5 tablespoons one at a time. Continue mixing until it is about the consistency of toothpaste and finish off by adding the vanilla. Finish mixing until it is a pure white color and vanilla is undetectable.