Thursday, December 12, 2013

Pretty Paper Snowflakes

Hi guys! Today I'm sharing a tutorial for these pretty 3D paper snowflakes, which happen to be one of my favorite holiday crafts!

Not only are they completely lovely, but they're also incredibly simple to make. The best part is, you can make them in just about any size, so you could make little ones to hang on your Christmas tree, or big ones to hang from the ceiling! They're a lovely, wintery decoration that really pretties up any space you put them in. In fact, I made some to hang in the office at work out of some recycled paper, and they look absolutely lovely.

So! Let's jump into making them!
As usual, it all begins with some supplies!

To make one snowflake you'll need:

- 6 squares of paper in the color and size of your choosing. I made mine 8 1/2"x8 1/2" when I made the large snowflake and 4 1/4"x 4 1/4" when I made the smaller ones.
- Scissors
- Glue dots. Or a glue gun. Or tape and a stapler. I prefer glue dots, but you can choose what works best for you, or what you have most readily available.
- A stapler
- A hole punch
- Pretty string for hanging your snowflakes
1. Fold one of your paper squares in half along the diagonal to form a triangle.
2. Use your scissors to cut lines parallel to the non-folded edges of your triangle. You'll want to cut from the folded edge towards the center point, being sure to stop a little bit before you reach the center. Repeat until you have three lines cut into each side of the triangle. Be sure to space the lines evenly so you'll have a consistent looking snowflake when you're all done.

When you're done, you should have something that looks like the above photo!
3. Next, open up your triangle and bring the center two points up towards each other. Apply your adhesive and bring one point over the other to form a cylinder.
4. Next, turn everything over and bring the next two points up towards each other, apply your adhesive, and form another cylinder. Repeat this, alternating sides, until all the points have been joined.
5. Once you're done, you should have something that looks like this! Repeat steps 1-4 until you have all 6 squares of paper done up like this.

Aren't these pretty just on their own? Love!
6. Next, take three of your pretty shapes and bring their bottom points together. Once you get them evened out, staple the points together.
7. Next, use your stapler to join the edges of your shapes.

Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the other 3 shapes.
8. Now that you've joined your smaller shapes into groups of 3, you should have two pieces. Bring the bottom points together, overlapping them, and staple them together.
9. Then, staple the last two sides together, and you'll be just about done!
Ta-da!!!!!! Isn't that lovely???
10. Now that your pretty snowflake is all made up, you just need to hang it! Punch a hole in one of the points of the snowflake, knot a piece of your pretty string through the hole, and hang away!
Aren't they the prettiest?

I know they seem like they take quite a few steps, but each one of these only takes about 5 minutes to put together. Once you get the first one down, you'll be churning them out faster than you know it!

I hope you enjoyed following along with this tutorial and I hope you get a chance to hang some of these pretties in your home this winter!

Til next time!

-Becca
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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

My Christmas List!


Well guys, you may have picked up by now that I really love giving gifts, but let's be real, receiving gifts ain't too shabby either! So, today, I thought I'd share my Christmas list with you!

This year I'm wishing for some lovely basics to gussy up my closet and my kitchen. 

On the kitchen side, I can't get enough of these latte bowls from Anthropologie. I have a few already, but I'd love to add to the set with this collection of pretty blues. I also find that I can never have enough little tiny bowls for my mise en place when I'm cooking, so I'm pretty head-over-heels for the mini version of the latte bowls. Too cute! I also love the super classic look of these Stanley Thermoses, and even though I maybe don't need them, I do really want them...

I'm also after a couple of cozy winter dresses like this darling green polka dot one from ModCloth and this classic grey wool sweater dress from Boden. I also mayyyyyyy have shrunk my favorite western-looking gingham shirt earlier this year and think thise adorable top from ModCloth would be a great replacement. And how cute would this skirt be with it? Love!

I'm also still looking for some new shoes to take me through winter, and LOVE these suede and leather combo booties and these olive, textured mini wedges, both from Anthropologie. Ok, fine, I know these aren't the most practical picks for rainy Seattle, but I have a devil-may-care attitude when it comes to shoe materials. Suede in the rain is totally fine, right? Right. (Come on guys, just go with it!)

Last on the list is another lovely pair of glasses from BonLook. I've been rocking the Bonnie and Clyde glasses in Mystic Blue quite a bit since I got them earlier this fall and would love to have a pair in this pretty cinnamon color to round out my glasses wardrobe.

Well, that's my list! What are you wishing for this year?

Til next time!

-Becca

P.S. If you're still doing some Christmas shopping, ModCloth is offering 20% off on all gifts through the 15th! Be sure to stop by and check out some sweet deals!

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

DIY Gift Idea: Chamomile Mint Tea

Hi guys! Today I'm sharing a super quick and easy gift idea: Chamomile Mint Tea!

You may have picked up on it by now, but the bulk section at the grocery store is one of my very favorite things. Not only can you find super cheap grains, but you can also find spices and tea for a fraction of the cost you would pay for the pre-packaged versions.

I had been toying with the idea of making my own tea blend recently, and had been brainstorming lots of ideas. While rooibos chai is still in the back of my mind, I decided to whip up some Chamomile Mint tea. It's such a tasty tea that's perfect to curl up and relax with. I had fun blending it myself, partially because the ingredients are so lovely, but also because I could really fine tune the flavor to my liking!

I make it sound complicated, but it's the easiest thing in the world. The best part is, once you pack it up in cute little jars and tie it up with a bow, you've got a darling, inexpensive gift!

Here's how to make it!
Ingredients/Supplies:
- Dried Chamomile
- Dried Peppermint
- Small Jars
- Ribbon/Yarn
To get started, I made a couple of test batches to get the ratios right. I found that if I did two parts chamomile to one part peppermint, I got a great balance. Not so much mint that it overpowered the chamomile, but not so little that you couldn't taste it.

Once I got the flavor to my liking, I filled up a jar 3/4 of the way full with two parts chamomile and one part peppermint. I then closed up the jar, and gave it a few shakes to combine. The picture above shows the blend. Seriously, how pretty is that?
Next, pack the blend up into some cute little jars! I ended up filling 6 with the amount of ingredients that I bought.
Last, just tie on a little bow and you've got an adorable gift! If you wanted to really take it home, you could pair this gift with a super cute tea ball and you'd have an amazing stocking stuffer!

I hope you enjoyed this lovely, easy gift idea!

Til next time!

-Becca
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Monday, December 9, 2013

Weekly Wardrobe: Getting Festive!

 Coat: Not sure!/Similar
Necklace: Not sure!/Similar
Dress: Boden
Belt: Anthropologie/Similar
Tights: Nordstrom
Flats: J. Crew

Boy oh boy is it cold! Ok, I know it's well colder in plenty of places, but Seattle hasn't seen temperatures above 36°F for the past week. In fact, when I took these photos it was 25°! We rarely get more than a few days below freezing here, so I'm counting this as real chilly. I wish I could have shown you guys this darling Boden dress in its full glory, but I couldn't bring myself to take off my coat. Heck, I could barely bring myself to go outside to take photos in the first place!

Well, most of my weekend was spent inside cozying up and working on projects. I can proudly say that I've officially made a solid dent in my homemade gifting endeavors, and am totally loving working on them! Are you guys having luck getting your gifts together?

Work has started to pick up again, so I'm officially in overtime season. If you guys don't see me around your blogs quite as much the next couple of weeks, that will be why! Even though work is busy, I'm definitely getting into the holiday spirit and am enjoying more holiday treats, making some fun holiday plans, listening to Christmas music, and finding myself dressing a bit more festively.

A great example would be this outfit! I got this dress for my birthday a few months ago, and didn't wear it much the first couple of months I had it. Now that we're nearing the holidays, though, I find that I'm wearing it all the time! I love the bright red color and since it's a bit of a blank canvas I'm having tons of fun pairing different tights, shoes, accessories, and hair styles with it.

Do you guys find you get into holiday dressing mode? Also, hey! How was your weekend?

Til next time!

-Becca
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Friday, December 6, 2013

Homemade Gift Guide

Well, guys, it's official. I've gone completely nuts. I've decided to make all of my Christmas presents this year.

Yep. I'll be working overtime all month, posting here 4-5 days a week, and yet have somehow decided I can totally find time to make all of my presents. Well, while it may be a little over-ambitious, I really love the idea of giving my friends and family handmade gifts and love knowing that I'll put extra love into each and every one.


Today, I'm sharing some of my favorite, gift-worthy projects that I've put together on Ladyface Blog! Hopefully some of these ideas will inspire you to do some homemade and handmade gifting this year!

First on the list, are these pretty color-blocked Painted Cork Coasters

These cute coasters are super simple to make, and can be easily customized to feature the recipient's favorite colors. How cute would these look stacked up and wrapped with a little bow?
Next up, is one of my favorite projects I've ever done: String Art Portrait Plaques.

These are super fun, and relatively simple to put together. The ones I created are portraits of my cats, Buddy and Hank, and myself. Using side-view silhouette portraits, you could make one for anyone you know! You could also take the idea and run with it to create a set of initials, a home state, or the image of your choosing. String art is super fun!

Both these Crocheted Bow Hair Pins and these Fabric Bow Hair Pins would make great stocking stuffers! It only takes a few minutes to make each one, so you could make up a whole slew of these to give to  all of the adorable ladies in your life!
If you're still on the hunt for great hair accessories for gifting, this Wire Headband would be a great choice! You can whip them up in no time in all sorts of different colors and patterns, and they look great!
An Embroidered Pendant Necklace would also make a lovely little stocking stuffer. This is actually the first project I ever did on Ladyface Blog and remains one of my favorites. The tutorial shows how to make a gingham embroidered pendant, but I've also whipped them up with a chevron pattern, a honeycomb pattern, or initials. If you've got a knack for embroidery, the possibilities are endless!
You could also whip up a Wire Word Necklace! If you know a lady who can rock a good statement piece, this would make  perfect gift. It's also totally customizable and could easily be made as another word or as the name of the recipient!
And hey! If you're looking for a less time-consuming jewelry option, these Clip-On Earring Pendant Necklaces come together in no time. Since clip-on earrings come in sets of two (duh), it would be darling to give these as a pair of friendship necklaces!
Last, but certainly not least, these Printable Canning Jar Labels are the perfect way to get your home-canned goods ready for gift giving! Print them out on pretty paper, cut them out, add them to your jars and you're ready to go! You could even tie a pretty ribbon around the jar ring to make them really special.

Well, I hope these projects have helped inspire you to do some homemade gift giving this year!


I'm certainly excited to get my homemade gifts together! Wish me luck!


Til next time!


-Becca

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