The Single Girl's Guide to Organizing Personal Files

I am what I call a selectively organized person.  My car, closet, bathroom cabinets and work space are always mostly in order.  My clothes drawers? Disaster.  My desk? HA.  And my personal files? Until today, I wouldn't want to talk about it.  Being organized is one of those things I just sort of assumed I would magically get better at as I got older.  Well, I'm now a little ways into adulthood and unfortunately, there are yet to be elves organizing my shoeboxes full of receipts at night.  Turns out you actually have to work at it.  Oops.

As my family is in the process of moving house, getting organized is at the top of my list.  I refuse to move one more time with boxes full of stuff "to be sorted through later".  As I've been going through my things, the mantra in my mind has been, "If it's not useful or beautiful, out it goes." This has surprisingly worked well for helping me to let go of random odds and ends I've held on to for years.

One thing I've always had trouble staying on top of in particular is my personal files.  For awhile, I was using a rather complicated system of manila envelopes and Ziploc bags to hold records, but they got full quickly and I always had to dump out them out to find something.  Also, as the years go by and I acquire more responsibilities, the amount of "stuff" I need to keep track of is growing.

It's not cute to be 25 years old and have no idea when I last got the fuel filter in my car changed.  It's really not funny when an application is due and I'm hunting for a copy of my transcript that USED to be in that one drawer in my old desk.  It's adorable when a four year old accidentally draws on the back of your utility bill but I'm here to say that we twenty-somethings are TOO OLD FOR THAT NONSENSE.

SO. I went to an office supply store, picked up a few things, and spent an entire day playing catch-up to the rest of you stable, mature adults.  It is not the most exciting way to spend a Saturday but boy is it satisfying.  I thought I would share my process with any of you people out there who are working away at this whole "adult" thing, with jobs and responsibilities but no one to share the burden with (except maybe your cat).

Not that I'm against being married and well-grounded, but married people tend to have extra things to worry about than me and the Teen Girl Squad, you know? Like kids, and multiple vehicles.

On the Witchcraft of Craft Stores and Pinterest

Witchcraft you say? Yes, witchcraft.  That can be the only reasonable explanation for the trickery that occurs the minute you walk in the door of a store that sells craft supplies.

Let me elaborate: the other day I went into Hobby Lobby with one goal in mind: white sugar pearls.  "That's it," I firmly told myself, "that's all you need from this store. You have exactly twelve dollars in your pocket today but only two or three of them are to be spent."

The why I needed sugar pearls is unimportant (for a particular batch of cupcakes, if you must know) but you already know the ending.  I walked out with far more than just sugar pearls.

How much more? Let me count the ways:

One jar of sanding sugar, a box of pastry bags, a frosting tip and coupler, Halloween-themed cupcake liners, two spools of ribbon, a bag of candle wicks, and an easel. An easel.

WHAT. IS WRONG WITH ME.

What did I need out of all of those things? Nothing.
I blame it on the atmosphere.

The very second you enter, your senses are assailed by the faint comforting scent of cinnamon and your grandmother's kitchen and all of a sudden you feel like all of your dreams will come true if you just believe.  And if you purchase four bottles of ultrafine glitter.

Now, I'm well aware that craft stores do not have this affect on everybody.  For example, the only way I would get either of my brothers to go to Hobby Lobby with me would be to somehow trick them into it or to actually tie them to the roof of the car.  Once I asked Spencer to go with me and, with a massive eye roll and all the disgust of an unwilling 10-year old, he said, "Why, so someone can carry your stuff for all your art projects?" Like I had just asked him to help me pick up trash on the side of the road.

But for those of us with the urge to create, to make bits and bobs with our own two hands, craft stores and hobby shops are like crack dens.
Except for all of the crack.

While this is something that has always appealed to grandmothers, school teachers, and resident assistants dedicated to providing alcohol-free activities to college students, crafting has only fairly recently become popular among a much larger portion of the female population (she said, with zero factual basis for this statement).  Suddenly it's cool to know how to knit a scarf if you're in your twenties. It's less a sign of "old maid" and more "self-sufficient young thing making her way through the world with a neck that will never be cold".

I blame Pinterest.  Like the fleas on the backs of rats that brought the plague to Europe, so too Pinterest wantonly spreads the disease of craftiness to unwitting Internet users. Beautifully-lit photographs of holiday wreaths, complicated wedding cakes, and intricate sewing projects lure unsuspecting browsers into believing they too can weave a basket that would make Martha Stewart nod in approval.

"If I build this bookshelf out of old pallets, I will bring honor to my family.  Just like my great great aunt Constance, when she used the slats of her family's broken Conestoga wagon to fashion a raft to take them over the Missouri River, I too am doing a great and noble thing."

Except the difference is that I call it "upcycling", and dear old Constance called it "survival".

Because really, who are we fooling? I'm not saying there are no useful skills that come from being crafty, I'm just saying it's something we can't claim to do out of necessity anymore.  Gone are the days when it was cheaper to sew all your own clothes than to buy them from a store.  And if we're being honest, I question the structural integrity of that bed frame you found by a dumpster and refurbished.

There seems to be an unofficial contest of who will be the world's chicest DIY-er but spoiler alert, the prize is nothing. The person beating down my door to applaud my tissue tassel garlands and bottle art is named Nobody and he brought none of his friends. "The moment I saw her make her own chalkboard paint, I had to have her hand in marriage," said no one, ever.

(Not that that's what I'm looking for. In fact, that would be a super weird reason for a proposal.)

Yet onward sails the good ship Handmade, with me at the helm. "Avast ye naysayers! I shall craft on! IT SOOTHES ME."

And so I do. Enabled every step of the way by Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Pinterest, and positive feedback from you, my dear readers.

Just don't let it go to my head, ok? Keep me humble, Internet. And if we happen to be out shopping together, maybe keep me away from the craft stores.

In the meantime, if anyone needs me, I'll be over here bedazzling a sweatshirt by the flickering light of a taper in an old wine bottle.

Dip Dye DIY

File this one under: Pinterest Fail. sort of.

You guys, it would be so easy to just never share this project but this is just a reminder that sometimes, despite our best efforts, things just don't go the way they are supposed to. Plus, I don't want to be THAT blog, you know the one that only shares beautiful pictures of cakes and custom built shelves and never lets you see when things go sideways. 

If we can get real for a second, life feels sideways sometimes. 

But you just have to make do with what happens, you know?

With that said, here is the tale of the time I tried to dip dye some tshirts.

I found the tutorial over on Wit & Whistle and nothing against that blog (which is beautiful and a great source for DIYs and inspiration!) but this particular guide just did not work for me.

I mean, I thought I followed the instructions to the letter.

I carefully mixed hot water, salt, and a packet of deep blue RIT dye. 

Then I patiently dipped the shirt by degrees to achieve the ombré effect.

I tried exceptionally hard to not get any dye on the top of the shirt because I wanted that crisp white to deepen into blue without any wayward spots.

After letting it dry in the laundry room (which is where the top photo came from), I rinsed out the dye using warm water in the sink. Again, I was super careful not to let any dye run into the top of the shirt.

Then I washed it with a small amount of detergent, just like the instructions said.

BUT THE DYE RAN ALL OVER.

The beautiful deep blue dissolved into a boring periwinkle that bled into the rest of the shirt.

Color me sad, y'all.

Here my sister is modeling it for you: 

The ombré effect is still there but it's pretty subtle. And have you met me? I don't do subtle.
Ok sometimes I do subtle.
Just not with ombré.

Originally I was planning on using these shirts as another Creative Pay it Forward giveaway but because I wasn't super happy with the result, I let my mom and sister have them as sleep shirts.

I still have a box of bright fuchsia dye and if I find a different tutorial, I'll try again.
Maybe with like an old tablecloth or something.
Because that's what you're supposed to do in life when things don't go as planned: try again. 
With an old tablecloth.

Have you ever tried dip dye? Any tried and true techniques I should be aware of?

Postcard Exchange

A couple of months ago (has it really been that long?), the fine folks over at 20 Something Bloggers arranged a random postcard exchange among its members. I signed up, eager to get to know my fellow bloggers (and add to my postcard collection). I was a little disappointed at the response, however. Out of the four people I sent postcards to, I only got two back.

Rather than stick a stamp on a picture of cornfields (i.e. the majority of postcards depicting my home state), I was inspired to create my own.  Staples Copy & Print center allows you to upload your own image to its site and they will print out professional-quality postcards for you.  You can pick them up at the nearest store location or have them mailed to you.  Using an image from the Hubble telescope (all of which are public domain, how cool is that?) and one of my favorite encouraging quotes, I created this image in Photoshop:

Within an hour I was picking up 20 glossy postcards from my local Staples. Then it got me thinking.  How fun would it be to exchange postcards with my readers?

If you're interested, use the 'Email Me' link in the sidebar to send me your address and I will send you a postcard.  No obligation, but I will send you mine in exchange if you want to return the favor. Later, I'll post a picture of all the postcards I receive.

If you are a Creative Challenge winner and interested in receiving a postcard, I already have your address so you can just leave a note in the comments below.

So what do you say, friends? Let's brighten up each other's mailboxes, shall we?

DIY Tissue Tassel Garland

 My desk at home sits in front of a boring grey wall.  I tried making a grid of photos and postcards using washi tape and it looked awesome for the 4 hours that everything stayed in place.  Unfortunately, washi tape is not ideal for hanging things so over half of it fell down. Rather than resorting to using nails or pushpins, I thought I'd just hang one big piece of art to make a statement.

After tooling around on various design sites for inspiration, I found Confetti System. They make really cool decorative garlands for weddings and parties using tissue and mylar paper.  Rather than shell out $130 for one of theirs, however, I decided to make one myself.  My favorite thing about this project is that you can make the garland as long or short as you like, depending on what length of rope you have and how many tassels you feel like making.

 [Let me clarify by saying I in no way take credit for this DIY, there are probably dozens of other tutorials on this as these tassel garlands are not a new thing. I merely wanted to show you how I did it.]

Supplies:

(1) Sheets of tissue paper and mylar paper (Michael's calls it "Foil Tissue") in various colors
(2) A spool of cord or string (I ended up using about 4 yards)
(3) Scissors
(4) Rotary cutter (optional but it makes cutting the tissue go by quickly)
(5) Hot glue gun

Love Notes

Hello my dears! Valentine's Day is just around the corner and as you may or may not know, it is absolutely my favorite holiday-that's-not-really-a-holiday.

I just love love and I don't care who knows.

I decided to use that as the theme for my first gift in the 2013 Pay it Forward Creative Challenge.
At the top of my list of things I love is, of course, writing. I am partial to Moleskine for jotting down notes, so I picked up a package of plain softbound journals and decided to decorate them in a Valentine-y fashion.

Here is the result:

Ha! Just kidding. As usual, I got busy with a paint brush before figuring out what I was going to do and things got weird from there. Obviously I thought glitter would make it better. It did not.

After reevaluating my skills, I decided the simpler, the better.  With a thin coat of glue, I made a little glitter heart on the second notebook (as pictured at the top of the post).

The third notebook, inspired by Cupid's arrows (so cheesy!) I painted on a big red chevron, using a bit of washi tape as guidelines.  Don't scold me for wasting pretty washi tape, it was the perfect width for my needs.

Et voila! Two simple but pretty notebooks.

So watch your mailboxes, Challenge winners, someone will be receiving these shortly.
(As for the first attempt, I am keeping it on top of my desk, as a glittery reminder that less is always more. )

Now get out of here and go write someone (or something) a love note.

I'll start:

Dear Gruyère Cheese,
You complete me.
All my love,
Ellie

---
Supply List:
-Moleskine Cahier Pocket Ruled Notebook (Set of 3) in Kraft Brown
-Washi tape
-Martha Stewart Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Craft Paint in Tartan Red and Wedding Cake
-Martha Stewart Fine Glitter in Smoky Quartz

San Antonio, Part 2

On Saturday night my sister invited all of her San Antonio friends for a night of crafts and food.  She called it Pinterest Night, and everybody who came was supposed to bring a plate of appetizers and a project from Pinterest they wanted to work on.  The crafts included painting, print-making, clothing alteration, and even crayon melting.  It was noisy and messy and just a really good time. It makes me happy to see that my sister has such a great group of friends.

Here are a few photos from the evening.  If you make it all the way there, at the end of the post, I explain the project I chose.

+ Crafts

+ Food

+Friends

+ Finished products

Painting the States

I have a mild addiction to Pinterest. In case you have a life outside of the internet didn't know, Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board, where you can 'pin' things you find all over the internet: recipes, photos, tutorials, shopping finds, etc. Your pins are organized however you like and are a great source of inspiration for style/cooking/photography/weddings/future projects. 

Well, something finally came of my Pinterest obsession. Last week, I came across this:

Source

Which led me to this:

Source

WHAT. I'm all for cute art bits on Etsy. But there's a tutorial on how to make this it myself? It looked so easy, even for someone who the last time she picked up a paintbrush was to help her Dad paint the front of the garage. 

Now normally I express myself through baked goods, but after nearly three months of kitchen experimentation, my hips have sent me a cease and desist letter. Also, my bridesmaid dress recently arrived in the mail and while I love it, I had a conference with my abs and we agreed we'd like to see a little more of each other before the wedding in December.

Henceforth, I am in need of a new pastime. 

So the Pinterest find was kismet. I got myself to the nearest craft store and found a ridiculous bargain on canvases and some of those 2 oz bottles of acrylic paint. 59 cents a bottle. Not joking.  Obviously it was meant to be.

Thus armed, I began my foray into the art world.

My first attempt: our dearly beloved Indiana

Why just do one? Another of my favorite states: Massachusetts

close your mouth, stupid.

And then, because I'm having so much fun, I did an 8x10 of the whole U.S. with a heart over Indiana.

For obvious reasons, I put the 'hot' in 'hot mess'.

After all this, a normal person would pat themselves on the back and move on with their lives.  But I'm insane I have too much time on my hands to do that. And also I have a lot of favorite states. So I went back to the craft store and went a little nuts.

If anyone needs me, I'll be painting myself into kitschy, state-shaped oblivion.

At least until I go on vacation. In two days.