WE'VE MOVED!

We have updated, relocated and are E-lated to share more with you! We've packed our little baggies and moved.

http://blondestrands.blogspot.com/

It's still the same me writing the same way, just about more things! I hope you come over and follow me there!

Wrap N' Roll

Has your hair ever had one of "those days" or maybe one of those hair weeks...months?

When I found out I was pregnant, I decided I would attempt to grow out my much favored A-line haircut. (I haven't had long hair since I graduated high school) With the wonders of prenatal vitamins causing me hair and nails to grow at a much more rapid pace, it's been fairly easy. However, my hair has finally found that awkward stage between a short hair cut and my mid-length goal. When I'm doing things around the house or running errands, sometimes I just don't want to fight with my hair.

So, when I stumbled across this amazing head wrap DIY project I simply HAD to give it a try! All you need is a large T-shirt, a ruler, and a pair of scissors.

This link is the original DIY. Alisa Burke's blog and artwork is BEAUTIFUL!

http://alisaburke.blogspot.com/2012/02/fashion-friday-turban-headbands.html

The website also has the full instructions and how to twist it onto your head.

I went to H&M and picked up two large men's shirts (one teal and one white and navy striped) for 9 dollars and some change. However, ANY old shirt will work perfectly! When I got home, I laid the first shirt on a flat surface and measured 8 inches from the bottom. I used several straight pins and eyeballed a line across the shirt. Then using the scissors, I carefully cut the fabric along the line. It creates a large loop and once it was cut I was ready to go!

You put the loop over your head and on your neck and then twist it over your hair. If it's too big, you do the same thing again. (A great visual instruction is on the link above) It's so quick and easy and keeps the hair in place and out of the way. Plus it gets you in touch with your slightly hippy bohemian side. They're also great for working out because the double as stylish sweat guards. You can layer them, twist them, and wash them with the next load of t-shirts. Here's me sporting the two I made on a recent trip to Rocky Point Mexico. I hope you enjoy making your own and adding a new friend to your hair accessory collection!

Mangos on the beach? Yes please! This was the teal head wrap.

A very pregnant me and my husband venturing to some amazing seashells on the reef. 

Of course sporting my navy and white striped head wrap:)

My Little Nest Egg

Hello fellow DIY-ers! I promise you that I have not died, been smitten with a disease where I cannot use my hands to type or delivered the very large basketball under my shirt! I have been exceptionally busy since the beginning of June with two friend's baby showers, finishing up working, going on vacation, hosting two house guests, being involved in my church's international bible conference AND getting ready for our little bundle of love to arrive.

Whew, what a month! I knew I should have written at the beginning of June something about the fact that I might need to take a month off from blogging, but alas, I thought I could be Wonder Woman and do it ALL. I laugh at myself for such a silly presumption.

ANYway, while things have been absolutely nutty, I have still been DIYing. My husband and I have been working on some great Pinterest DIY's that I cannot wait to show you!

The first project I did was for one of my lovely friend's baby shower. I wanted to give her, as the momma-to-be, a little something special just for her. I had pinned this DIY project a while back and thought it would be the perfect "little something".

DIY project by blogger Sarah Ortega. (http://www.sarahortega.com/2011/05/diy-bird-nest-necklace.html) Her blog on this project is SO thorough and beautifully photographed. Definitely check out the link above if you're interested! 

I love the concept of the precious baby in her belly being the little egg in her nest hanging close to her heart. I know, I know, but I have always been a hopeless romantic! I went to Michael's Crafts and bought the needed supplies. A large container of glass beads, necklace chain, 24 gage jewelry wire, jump rings and clasps. Also, if you do not have any, you're going to need some wire cutters and needle nose pliers. A nice aspect to this DIY is that I have quite a large amount of wire, jump rings, clasps and beads left over. Like enough to make everyone in our neighborhood a little "nest egg." (Which is certainly not a bad thing if you are a crafter!) The good thing about this project is that if you're already a beader-jewelry maker, you probably have all these things lying around, equalling minimal or no cost.

Everything you will need! 

If you're not an experienced wire-worker (like myself), it can be a bit challenging getting your fingers working with the beads and the wire. However, just keep stretching, reforming, tweeking and playing and you will have an absolutely gorgeous result! For my compadre, I used three different beads representing her, her husband, and their baby boy. It was completely from my heart and really a little gift of love.

My friend's Nest Egg

(This photo is of the back. You can see where I cut and twisted the wire to get it all to stay)

Carrying a baby is such an amazing and beautiful thing. I feel so privileged that God has given me the chance to be a momma. Even as I type, my little one is squirming away, using my kidneys for soccer practice and anxiously awaiting his debut into the world. As I wrapped and bent the wire around my own glossy mint colored bead, it made me think of how my husband and I plan to wrap our little boy in love, adventure, and protection. How we cannot wait to cradle him in our arms and welcome him into his new home. This made me realize, even more so, how much God loves each and everyone of us and wraps us in His care, protection, and destiny if we let Him. I guess my little nest egg is as much about my son as it is about me. My son entrusted to me and my life safely entrusted to God.

My Nest Egg 

Happy Hemping! Josephine Knots

The hemp bracelet project. The link from this Pinterest DIY is below.

http://factorydirectcraft.com/factorydirectcraft_blog/adding-josephine-knots-hemp-bracelet/

I was in sixth grade when my mom bought me my first roll of hemp and showed me how to macrame. Mom measured several lengths of the tannish cording using her right arm as a ruler. She had me sit crossed-legged on my bed and, with a safety pin, she knotted the hemp and pinned the knot to my jeans. She then showed me how simple knots repeated, in different order or inserting a bead at the right time made the coolest designs for bracelets, necklaces, anklets, anything!

Mom was cool before it was cool to be cool. She recycled cans and the newspaper before it was popular, she macramé-d purses in college during the seventies, she DIY-ed built in book shelves and altered curtains before it was called DIY, and she wore big sunglasses before anyone in Hollywood picked back up on that trend. Mom is just so cool!

When she taught me how to macrame in middle school, it was several years before it would become popular again. I can't say many people, save for my bestest friend who daily wore the bracelet I made for her, were too thrilled by the slightly strange smelling grass bracelets I was creating. But, true to form, what goes around, comes around. I gave up making the bracelets until strumbling across this awesome knot on Pinterest.

So, I guess my interest in this DIY is more of a wonderful flashback to crafting with mom on my homemade pink quilt and a mini tribute to the fact that I haven't forgotten everything she taught me. I had never made Josephine Knots before and at first it was a little bit challenging. But I am happy to say I conquered my clumsy fingers and wrangled the hemp into shape. I love the results!

It's a super fun and quirky summer bracelet to add to any stack of bracelets. The total cost was 1.49 (after coupon) and the paper clips I scrounged out of a desk drawer. There's enough hemp left over to make another two bracelets or a necklace. I highly recommend getting a little in touch with your hippy side and making this fun rather organic bracelet. Happy Hemping!

It starts off really simply. Measure the length of hemp across your right arm and chest. Super simple measuring. You can use as many strands as you like, I chose to use three like the DIY image.

Using the plastic loop on the lid of my Nalgene bottle, I wove the paper clip through the loop and through the top knot. You can definitely use a safety pin or anything to keep it from moving and freeing both hands.

This was the next step and it seemed pretty easy...until...

The next step. Lol! It took me several tries to get this step right.

But I promise that it really does eventually turn into a really neat knot. :)

When you're done, you can either tie the bracelet straight on your wrist, or you can make another knot and push it through the first loop you made to make a little clasp of sorts.

The final result, as you can see, is a pretty shnazzy, super inexpensive, definitely original summer accessory! The directions on the DIY video were easy to follow, but if you any questions, please don't hesitate to message me! :)

Operation Project Pouf: COMPLETE

GoodNESS! What a crazy (almost) two weeks it has been! I have been "pouf"ing right along, but progress has been slowed by a nasty case of the flu (which was not good for this little pregnant lady), a backed up sewer trap (which was quite the surprise on this past double-barreled Monday), a weekend trip, graduations, grad parties, preparing for an up coming vacation (much needed and much anticipated) and a week-long house guest. Whew! So needless to say life has taken over and away from Project Pouf.

However, I am happy to say...big breath in...Project Pouf is COMPLETE. Woohoo! Two skeins of yarn, 90 rows and an "almost" all-nighter with my husband at work later, I have an adorable and fun pouf/pillow/cushion for our son's nursery. I can't wait to see him climbing all over the pouf, using it to prop his head while he reads, throwing it at his not-yet-conceived siblings. I can't wait!

Here are the remaining pictures of Project Pouf (slightly humorous was the stuffing process, but totally worth the effort). I would recommend to anyone attempting their own pouf to maybe look into getting a slightly thicker yarn. Once I stuffed the pouf, I realized you can see the white pillows pretty clearly through the seams. I actually really like this look since our son's nursery is green, navy, gray and white. However, if you want a more solid pouf, I'd recommend getting a thicker yarn.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and the best of luck making your own pouf! :)

The final tools: the two white fluffy, the knitted rectangle, large plastic kneedles, fine yarn, and a crochet hook.

(I had all the materials except the large plastic needles which cost 2.00)

I threaded a large plastic needle with some a good doubled length of the fine yarn and stitched in large basic running stitch across the top and the bottom. Then, I cinched it to form the two gathers. (That odd looking ball of yarn is what I set aside in the very beginning of the project)

My darling husband helping me stuff the pouf with the two fluffy Ikea pillows. As you can see the shape is...intersting. Haha!

With the crochet hook I stitched up the hole with the left over yarn. (A little trick that might help you if you think you may forget to save some yarn for this step: when you are getting ready to cast on in the very beginning, use more yarn than you need and then knot it at the beginning of the first row so while you're knitting you already have yarn set aside.

The finished pouf from above! After stuffing it, sewing it up and fluffing it out. I love it!

 

Project Pouf is COMPLETE! I love it! For a grand total od $19.13 I have a wonderful little addition to the nursery. :)

Knitting Right Along!

Wooohooo! That’s pretty much all I have to say about the knitting progress...which is a good thing! Between Family Day, Mother’s Day Celebrations and church, I was pleasantly surprised with many chances to knit this weekend. The project is about halfway to 2/3 of the way complete. And though I may be slightly biased, I think it's looking pretty good!

Taken while knitting at my doctor's appointment yesterday. I looked VERY mommy; knitting needles propped up on my big belly clicking away. :)

With every project there always seem to be a few speed bumps in the road. The other night I had finished knitting and was too tired and feeling too much like a beached whale to get out of bed and put my knitting back in our office. I rolled it around itself and laid it on the floor next to my nightstand. As I reached over to set the wakeup call on my phone, the charger’s cord clothes-lined the tall teal cup filled with water and sent it Niagara-falling over the edge of the nightstand. I jerked up with a yelp and rather loud, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

My wonderful husband calmly threw the covers off, grabbed a towel and was already kneeling over the spill by the time I had heaved me and my preggo eggo out of bed. The water had soaked the Pouf Project, wetted a pregnancy magazine and dampened the top of an amazing book I’m reading about escape attempts from Alcatraz. (While we were vacationaing in San Fransisco in March my husband and I visited Alcatraz. I was in history heaven! My love, knowing my adoration for books, bought me the book that I now dabbed frantically with the towel. Ironically, to pass time, many prisoners learned how to knit during their stay there, but I digress)

I was most concerned about the book, since I love my books like children, but all was wiped up and no damage was done. Crisis One, averted.

The next day I realized that I was almost out of yarn. On my way home from work I stopped at Michael’s to get another skein. Lo and behold, they had discontinued that particular color of yarn in that particular brand. I just stood there for a while looking at the empty bin, wondering how a half green, half another color pouf would look. I decided to take my chances and try another Michaels on the other side of town. They had the yarn!

For whatever reason, this store was still carrying it. With another coupon, I marched triumphantly out of Michaels with a $5.12 perfectly matched skein of yarn. Crisis Two, averted! (Just as a side note: if you have an Smartphone, you can get apps for craft stores like Michaels, JoAnn Crafts, etc, and you will always have coupons handy. It’s super easy and helps prevent you from forgetting the newspaper coupon clipping)

Life is so much about adjusting, finding solutions, and being flexible as we encounter different challenges. They say hindsight is 20/20 but, I'd say hindsight is what you make it. Looking back you have several options: to let a setback or obstacle poison your present or prepare you for the future. You can be sure the future will be set with more hiccups and learning how you respond, how to adjust and how to look back on laugh could be invaluable.

Above all else, the world will keep on turning and with each day remember, "Because of the Lord's great mercies we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23) Every morning is a new morning, afresh with new challenges, but more than anything afresh with new grace and mercies to meet those challenges and conquer the ones from the past.

So let the progress continue! I believe that within two days Project Pouf will be done and stuffed. I cannot wait to share pictures of that process! J

A Pouf in Progress



Between work, taking care of the casa and another crafty project that my husband and I needed to work on, the progress of Operation Pouf has not been nearly as dynamic as I had hoped for thus far. 16 rows later, this is how it’s looking. (You’ll have to forgive the picture quality, for whatever reason, the yarn looks a bit darker than its actual bright saturation)

A Pouf in Progress...

However, this weekend promises to give me a few quiet moments to work on my little green pouf. *fingers crossed*

You know something that amazes me about knitting? While you’re looping yarn and clacking those needles together, you can’t actually see any huge project-changing results. You finish a row, hold it out and just believe that all those little slip knots are going to create something pretty good-looking in the end.

It seems to bear a remarkable resemblance to life. Our lives are woven between circumstance and situation, between days and time. The Master weaves and loops, adds and drops stitches. At times we look at what is being created confused, apathetic, or worried that we’ll never actually become anything.

But just like my bright green yarn doesn’t question what I am doing with it or why it’s going to become a pouf and not a pair of house slippers; so we should also put our faith and trust in the fact that God is Perfect, Just, and has our lives safely patterned into something beautiful. I am certainly not saying that there aren’t hard days when you’re being stretched and yanked and twisted. Or that one day at a time can seem so monotonous or unbearable. But regardless, we need to remember to look at the Master Weaver and not think at what's happening as a measure of who God is.

Just a thought. J I’ve always been fascinated how God has filled life with parallels that draw us to Him.

More on the pouf to come!