change, change, change

my other blog is getting a much needed makeover. i am also spending more time and energy on that blog. i definitely plan to continue crafting as much as possible and dreaming about someday being a stay at home crafter something. an itty bitty survey has convinced me to combine for a while. this blog will still be here, but for now all my latest crafting will be on my other blog. come on over to the party. http://aubreyzaruba.blogspot.com/

if i get really ambitious, i will post a link over here when i do a crafty post over there, but no promises...

natural face products

sometimes i read things online and think...i really need to try that. sometimes i love it and sometimes i don't. i read about using coconut oil for eye makeup remover, and absolutely love it. i also read about making toner from water and apple cider vinegar. i have been waiting forever to run out of my clinique toner so i could try it out. let's just say i didn't love it. the recipe is 3 parts water to 1 part apple cider vinegar. i was pretty excited to know exactly what was going on my face. i expected to love it. i gave it a good couple of weeks, and it's just not for me. i patiently waited for some store to have clinique bonus time and marched my little self straight to the mall to get my old toner. i'm so happy to have it again. i guess all natural isn't always better. let me know if you try it. what all natural products do you use?

Itty Bitty Baby Skirts

The last time I made these skirts I never got around to posting a link to the tutorial. I searched online and found this tutorial. I actually liked it better than what I did last time. This time I gathered the top by pinning like crazy...more pinning than I have done in any other project. ever, but it worked. Last time I gathered by doing a basting stitch and pulling. I kept breaking the thread. This was was much easier. It definitely helped that these are the itty bittiest things I have ever seen. Someone have a girl baby fast.

Gluten Free Lemon Bars

I already confessed over on my other blog that I watch the Bachelor. I know it's a total waste of time, but it's practically the only TV time waster I have. When Tenley from the Bach tweeted about gluten free lemon bars I was so excited. My initial thoughts were...a. i love lemon bars and b. finally something good is coming from the bach. They weren't terrible, but they weren't as good as I hoped. They were pretty eggy tasting. I really liked the crust. The top just tasted too much like eggs for me. I really want to make it again. I love anything that's no flour and no sugar. How can I get the top layer to have the right consistency without tasting like eggs? Let me know if you try it out.

Go here for the recipe. Maybe I did something wrong.

going clean

 a couple weeks ago carrie, celsey, and i did a crazy cleanse. my eating has kind of been all over the place lately, i was really excited to get a little control back. the best thing to come from the cleanse was a re commitment to clean eating. i am not a complete freak about it, but i try to be aware of what i'm putting in my body. when slow cooker blogger karen posted a link to homemade taco seasoning i had to try it. it was super easy and cheap to make. i plan to use it this weekend so we'll see how it tastes.

i bought the container at winco for $1.30
i also bought my spices in bulk at winco (definitely the cheapest way to go)

equal parts (i used 4 TBSP)
chili powder
ground cumin
garlic powder
onion powder
1/4-1/2 part crushed red pepper

now i know exactly what i am putting in my body when i use taco seasoning

days 26-31

march kind of flew by. i'm glad i've worn so many hair accessories. it reminded me of all the fun things i have.

Z on a bobby pin

 
houndstooth felt bow (with my houdstooth toms)

little black felt bow

this is my own hair as a braided headband, but by day 30 that counted as an accessory

purple felt bow

bracelet. this got the most compliments. thank you @hdofblog


now that march is over, i'm done with #monthofhairaccessoriesnew goal...#lightitupbluei'm wearing blue everyday this month in support of autism awareness month

tomorrow is WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY. everyone should wear blue!

days 16-25...more accessories

i wish my #monthofhairaccessories was a cute as blogger Reagan. i'm losing steam with this hair challenge and can't wait for the month to end.

silk flower shoved in the side of a side chelsea do
air dry with vintage paper clip. these things are so cute.
failed at taking pictures 2 of the days. wore bows with regular pony.
half back with silk flower
curly with hat
curled with blue headband
curly with rolled fabric flower
straight with blue headband again
curly high pony with black elastic headband and tiny felt bow

days 11-15

#monthofhairaccessories

This week has been super warm. Even though this hair challenge is kind of kicking me in the rear, the warm weather kind of makes up for everything else. I've also been wearing green all week since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. Apparently I have enough green clothes to last a month. I have a ton more things I haven't even worn.

casey s braid with felt bow

my current fave...high bun with felt flower
fish tail with a little bit of regular braid in the middle with felt bow
remember topsy tails from back in the day??? it's so hard to see, but i did a topsy tail then a bun at the bottom with a silk flower
another high bun with silk twisty flower

days 6-10

i never posted on this blog about #monthofhairaccessories. one of my favorite bloggers, reagan over at hdofblog.com is doing a challenge in the month of march. read all about it here. after doing different hairstyles every workday last month. i was ready for a new hair challenge. i have so many accessories that hardly ever get worn. so far reagan is doing way more awesome styles with great accessories. it's been fun and sometimes a little annoying trying to put all my stuff to get use. friday was roommate nettie's wedding. instead of a hair accessory i went with pink lipstick instead. i rarely wear lipstick and i NEVER wear pink. i  think i kind of like it.

this week i wore

red beadband

small gray felt bow

itty bittiest bow you've ever seen

cream polyester flower

pink lipstick

the high bun and messy bun with a flower/bow are getting a little old and boring. i might have to get a little more creative this week.

baker's twine

i'm loving the baker's twine that's basically everywhere these days. when i saw this tutorial for making your own i nearly died. with an extremely limited budget for young women at church, i decided to decorate with it. it was so much cheaper than anything else and turned out really cute.

supplies
thin yarn
cardboard (or a ruler)
masking tape
markers (i used sharpie)

1. cut cardboard into strips about 2 inches wide by about 12 inches long or use a ruler if you have one
2. cover with masking tape so the marker doesn't make a huge mess

3. wrap cardboard with yarn. you don't want the yarn to overlap. i wrapped it with a lot of space and scooted it down.

4. color lines all the way down. i used a straight edge to make straight lines. the tutorial suggests diagonal lines to look more authentic

5. unwrap and voila...baker's twine

boo boo bunny

I saw this bunny on a random blog and had to make it. It can be dipped in water and frozen to make an ice pack. In an effort to spend less I used rhinestones for the eyes and a short rolled crochet chain for the nose. Since sometimes life struggles=crying=headache, it was the perfect I'm thinking of you gift.

heart wreath

This wreath is all over the internet. I've been dying to make it so I finally did. I love it!

I used the tutorial from the idea room and adapted it a little. 

I didn't think about this until it was too late, but next time I MIGHT wrap it in red yarn or fabric so white doesn't show anywhere. More felt for more circles would be good too, but due to the spending freeze I had to work with what I already had.

Supplies

heart wreath (found at Hobby Lobby)

red felt (i bought 3/4 yard but wish i had a little more)

pins

circle pattern (i used the inside of a roll of masking tape and a wooden circle)

pen for tracing

1. trace circles (I used 2 sizes to give wreath a little more dimension)

2. cut out circles. i used gingher scissors and could cut 4 layers at a time

3. fold circle in half

4. fold in half again

5. pin base of folded circle into wreath

6. i started out super close together..probably too close together

7. cover wreath randomly using big and small circles

8. attach ribbon (i used hot pink) with a pin and hang

these are officially the crappiest cell phone pictures i have ever taken. i really need to stop being so lazy about my picture taking.

who wants to craft?

CRAFT NIGHT OUT

People have been asking for a craft night so I'm finally doing it. I've been making these rosettes for hair for a while now, but I nearly died when I saw the key chains from vixen Made. They are super easy. Anyone can make them...promise. Check out the tutorial  here, and then come to my house next week and make them.

when: Thursday, January 26, 2012 7:00
where: my place (email/text me for my address aubreyzaruba@gmail.com)
who: everyone is invited..the more the merrier
what to bring: glue gun, fabric if you have something in particular you want or I have a lot of scraps, $1
rsvp so I have enough supplies: comment or email me aubreyzaruba@gmail.com

ya never know

Please excuse the pictureless post. I'm supposed to be working right now (It's 7pm though so I don't feel too guilty), but this is blog worthy if you ask me. I've kind of been dying over the blog world lately. Confession...I'm a little jealous of all the bloggers who have tons of followers. I kind of want to be one of those, but I usually feel like only 2.5 people read my blogs. Well, I guest posted last week over on roommate Suzie's blog. Only 2 people commented which made me think less than 2.5 people actually read my blog. Roommate Suzie just called to inform me that 66 people viewed my post and in her words "you're way cooler than you think you are". Way to make a girl's day! I feel so popular even if it really is only for a minute. Thanks for reading people (whoever you are).