Monthly Favourites || NOVEMBER

It's that time again already! Time for my monthly favourites. I feel like November was pulled out from under my feet before I even knew it had been there at all, and now we've entered the last month of 2013 and I am most definitely not prepared for it. Nevertheless, here are my favourites from November.

 

It's nigh on impossible to pick one favourite song this month, so instead I'm going to give you a list of albums:

1. One Direction - Midnight Memories (It's perfect)

2. Lorde- Pure Heroine

3. Alt-J- An Awesome Wave (Seriously, give it a listen. I'm addicted to everything Alt-J (∆) recently)

4. Sam Garrett- Be Easy EP (This one is a definite must-listen if you want something relaxing and utterly beautiful.)

This outfit's only new, and I've only worn it twice so far, but I am in LOVE. It is a "hippy/bohemian" dress that I found in Tree Of Life on sale, and I had been looking for one just like it for the longest time. There will be a full post on it coming soon.

 

It seems forever and a day ago that I read Allegiant, but it was only November! If you haven't read the Divergent series I cannot recommend it enough!

I've also recently been loving the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, I know it's aimed at an age bracket younger than mine but I absolutely adore every book. When I was in grade 8 I read the first book, and now I'm re-reading them all and am up to number 5.

Click the titles of the books to read the Synopsis and find out more.

 I have two "favourite" moments from this month, but they are both sort of related. The first is stargazing. Twice this month my family and I have gone across to the oval across from house in the middle of the night and done some stargazing, it's amazing how insignificant, yet important looking into space can make you feel. We spotted satellites, venus and various constellations, and it is all so fascinating. 

The second moment is when my sister and I were driving home from work, and right infront of us we saw a bright green meteor shoot across the sky. Knowing I'll probably never see another in my lifetime makes it even more special.

I'm going to endeavor to look at the stars more often.

Relating back to what I just said, I leave you with this quote:

I hope you all had a marvelous November, and that December is just as special as it ought to be. Make the most of your last month of 2013!

Sewing || Checkered Dress

Hello lovelies,

I know I promised you that I would have much more time to make posts now that university is over, but so far I haven't been keeping to my promise. I'm sorry!

To be honest, I haven't really even had the desire to go near a computer for an extended period of time recently. Is that normal? Instead I have been spending my time reading books and sewing too many scrunchies. Forgive me! Maybe soon I'll find inspiration for more blog posts,  but until then you'll just have to put up with getting one every now and then!

Anyway, recently I spontaneously made this dress out of some fabric we had lying around. I think it turned out alright if I'm allowed to say so myself...

 

 I started out by tracing the neckline of a shirt I already owned onto a piece of paper, and then used that as a sort of "pattern piece" to make the neck. I don't ever use actual patterns, and most of it is just "guess and hope"

Then I cut out holes for the sleeves and stitched the front and back to the neck. Afterwards I cut shorter bits of material and gathered them up to make a second sort of "skirt" for the bottom of the dress. 

On its own the dress is really baggy, so I also just sewed up a long belt of material from the same white material as the neckline, to tie into a bow that would pull the dress in at the waist. This is the overall result:

 

I think it looks quite nice, and it is SO comfortable and easy to move in! It also reminds me a little bit of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

 

So what do you think? Have you done any holiday sewing projects recently?

Until my next post,

DIY || Frilly Socks

 Hi! Hello! Hey!

Do you remember me? I feel like it's been so long since I've posted but it's only been just over a week! I had university exams and was completely unmotivated to do anything other than complain about how unmotivated I was. But all of my exams are over and now I have time to think up and post plenty of things for you guys, starting with this ultra-girly post on how to make your own frilly socks. Let's go!

Back when I was a little five year old I had a pair of frilly barbie socks. They were my favourite thing in the world because I loved the lace around them, and when you folded the tops down it would reveal the Barbie "B" embroided in the side of the sock. HOW CUTE! But alas, nothing lasts forever and I think those socks got thrown out once they were worn too thin by my constant dancing around in them. But now I'm ready to unleash my inner five year old and her love for frilly socks once again, and I'm going to show you how to as well!

 

How-To:

1. Buy some plain socks. I'd recommend looking in the little girls section of the store (I bought mine from Big W) because they're more likely to have the socks you want. Don't worry about the sizing because socks stretch. I'm a size 6/7 shoe but bought Size 9-12 kids socks and they fit perfectly. It's important to have a look at what the inside of the sock looks like too, because it's going to be shown when you fold them down.

2. TURN THE SOCK INSIDE OUT this isn't of extreme importance, but once I sewed some the wrong way and now have to wear them inside out all the time. It makes you feel like you have your life together when you can actually wear socks the right way.

3. Put your desired lace and your (inside out) sock under your sewing machine foot. You should have it so your sock is on the left and the lace should be positioned so the part that you want to be the bottom when you're wearing the socks is pointing out to the right (off the end of the top of the sock)

4. Sew! But THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER is to stretch your sock out as you are sewing. You should stretch the elastic at the opening of the sock quite far as you go. This is because if you don't, if you have lace that doesn't stretch you will go to put on your sock and won't be able to fit your foot into it!

5. Finish sewing the other sock, cut loose ends and then turn your socks the right way out again. Put on your socks, play your favourite childhood song and dance around your room. YOU'RE FINISHED!

 

You can pair your socks with a lot of different kinds of shoes to add a girly edge to any outfit.

You can also do this to ankle socks, just don't turn your sock inside out, and sew with your lace already pointing in the right direction.

 

So what do you think of frilly socks? Do you love them or loathe them?

I hope you try making some! They'd even make an awesome Christmas present for a super special best friend!

How To || Daisy Chain Headband

Hello best friends!

I posted this post about my new hair on Wednesday so I thought it would be fitting to do a related post on how to make the daisy chain headband you can see in some of the photos.

I've been absolutely obsessed with this headband from the second I made it, so I hope some of you will want to make it to!

What you will need:

- 1 yellow and 1 white ball of wool (or any colours you want)

- Crochet hook (I used 3.50mm)

- Thin elastic (Enough to reach around your head)

- Scissors

- Needle and thread

 

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Steps:

1. Chain four in the colour you want in the middle of your flower

2. Slip knot through the first chain to make a small loop and then chain three

3. Crochet 8 single stitched around the circle until you reach the beginning again. When you reach the beginning slip stitch into the first single stitch you made and tie it off

4. With the white wool chain 7 (or more, depending on how big you want your petals to be.

5. Once your petal is the size you want, slip stitch into the next hole and then continue to chain stitch. Continue this the whole way around.

6.  Once you get back to beginning slip stitch and fasten off.

7. Repeat this to make as many flowers as you want.

8. With the needle and thread, sew the centre of each flower onto the elastic

9. Stitch the ends of the elastic together to make a full circle that fits your head.

10. Enjoy your new flower headband!

Alternately, if you want a bigger flower you can continue to crochet by doing 3 single stitches into each of the petals that you made.

 

What do you think? Let me know if you try out making one!

My First Hair-Dye Experience.

Hello hello hello!

I am super duper excited to share this post with you guys today because I am in love with my "new" hair! Keep in mind though, the title of this post may be a bit misleading because I didn't "dye" my hair with colour so to speak, instead I used bleach to take the colour out.... but that's just too technical so let's just ignore that and get on with the post!

Before (top) and After (bottom)

I think the technical name for what I got done to my hair is "Balayage", and I was super nervous to get it done! The most drastic thing I've ever done to my hair was when I cut most of it off to donate to charity last November. A year on and I decided it was time for another change!

I absolutely love the way it looks when my hair is up as well as when it's down. I think the bun reminds me of some sort of chocolate swirl.... yum! It's also light enough that you can definitely tell it's a different colour, but not so light that it looks white and unnatural.

 My sister was also kind enough to take some photos of some of the braids I did in my hair with her DSLR camera. I like how the braids look because I think they stand out so much more when there's a different colour in the mix. Also, let me know if you like my daisy chain headband because I'm thinking of doing a DIY post on it soon!

What do you think?

 What's the most drastic thing you've done to your hair or what do you wish you were brave enough to attempt?

Hope you all have a lovely day.

Monthly Favourites || OCTOBER

I know I said this last month, but how quickly has October gone!? I feel like it's going to be Christmas before I even know it! Which is completely fine with me, because Christmas is definitely my favourite time of the year. I've had quite a few favourites this month, so I think we should get started! You don't realise how much you can fit into a month until you try and pick one favourite of everything.

So let me know what your favourite things were this month!

 

If you'd asked me this question before a few days ago my answer would have been "Bonfire Heart" by James Blunt, but since then "Story Of My Life" by One Direction has been released and I am in love. Seriously, even if you despise One Direction just go and listen to this song, it isn't what you will be expecting at all. I've also fallen in love with the song "Young Volcanoes" by Fall Out Boy, it's a really inspiring song and just gets me so pumped up haha :)

My favourite book for this month was "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman. If you love anything to do with magic, then you will definitely like this book! I would probably recommend it to people who are a little bit older because there are a few adult themes/scenes in it. But other than that, I love it! I wasn't sure if I would like it at the start because there were a few reviews putting it down, but I'm glad I ignored them because it was an excellent book, the kind that transports you into its world. Here's the blurb:

Quentin Coldwater is brillant but miserable. He's a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he's still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless.

Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he though it would.

Then, after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real.

My favourite outfit for October would definitely be the floral pinafore that I made right back at the beginning of the month. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it's now one of my all time favourite things I've made.

My favourite moment would definitely be the day that my best friend Ashleigh and I spontaneously went to the One Direction concert. Neither of us had tickets but we went to the arena and got tickets while the supporting act was already on stage! It was seriously so much fun and I am so glad that I got to experience it with my best friend.

It's practically impossible to pick a favourite photo. You can check out my tumblr to see all my favourites but I'm going to have to say this one:

I can just imagine having a bedroom in the top left window and then sitting on the window sill reading a book and watching the snow fall all nice and snuggly warm. Heaven!

 

 My favourite blog post for October is definitely this one by Chloe at alittlebirdyblog. It's all about journalling and notebook keeping and it is actually really helpful! Plus here journal is so pretty and well kept, and she has the nicest handwriting! I am so jealous.

 

 Okay, I saved this section until last for a reason. So if you read this far I am going to let you in on a little secret. I am in LOVE with circlets. I think they are the prettiest thing in the whole wide world and I wonder why more people don't wear them. Seriously, have a look at these beauties:

 

You would look and feel like a princess if you wore one of those! There are so so so many different designs and they are all gorgeous but expensive! :O I think it may be my life goal to get one of these!

If you think they are the prettiest thing ever just like I do, I would recommend looking at some on etsy, you will not believe your eyes and may spend hours swapping between drooling over them and crying because you have no money to buy them. Enjoy!

So what have been some of your favourites this month? I can't believe the next time I make one of these posts it will already be December!