Category Archives: she’s crafty

These are some more of my Favorite Things

Whew, I finally got through most of the Royal wedding coverage. I was thinking of how ugly the enclosure we bought to contain Livzilla whilst I do chores, take a quick shower and even happily play in when I’m blogging, like she is doing right now. So I was looking for a remedy from this gray eyesore when I stumbled upon this

HOLY SHIT!! I am drooling…I must make this card table playhouse!! So incredibly adorable. If you aren’t brave enough to take on a crafty project like this yourself, you can purchase them from MissPrettyPretty on Etsy. With the cuteness and detail she has created, I find the price is quite reasonable. I can see Liv having tea parties in there *we’ll have to add a lamp for her*
Smila Blomma looks like a good option.
Another favorite thing is this sweet gift from our friend Dave who just returned from Russia.
I am a huge fan of nesting dolls. Love the artistry, thanks Dave!
So, how about this?
This guy is a strong contender for Liv’s birthday present *I am contractually obligated to shut my fat mouth about any other details*
My very favorite thing is the engagement photo shoot of my friends Carlos & Stephanie *I’m officiating their September nuptials*
GORGEOUS!! Loving their photographer me, my camera and you

Ahh, Steph is a pretty awesome jumper, love it!

They are super rad. Earlier this week I received their Save the Date in the mail and it’s just as adorable
The C&S is interactive by flipping the string it animates an arrow going through the heart *Fancy!*
Another favorite thing I failed to post about on Wednesday was my shopping trip with Aimee. I was so tired to blog about it but we went pre-shopping for Aimee’s apartment and I finally used the $50 giftcard from Anthropologie for my birthday *Merci Story & Chris* 
I bought this FABulous shirt, the London kids cards I mentioned earlier and these super fantastic eyeglasses strap *I am really nerding out about my Librarian chic style*
I think I’ll wear it tomorrow when we take Liv to the park to meet her BFF Charlotte *if the weather is nice*

Me & Bestie being silly

She scored this cute infinity scarf on sale at Urban *she’s gonna kill me for posting this wonky pic of her, haha!*
They are so stellar, they look awesome in person. My only problem is when I hold Liv, she tries to eat them!

My shirt says “This means RAD!!” however in all honesty, it’s written in Japanese. For all I know it could say This means LOSER!! We went to BabyGap so I could buy a swimsuit for Liv but they didn’t have it in stock yet. So I went to BabyGap in Glendale *who was having a big sale* but they didn’t have what I wanted either so I’ll have to wait until next week to get it for the San Diego trip. I am thinking of some sandals too
I’m usually not a fan of a 2-piece for a little girl but I love this rashguard and the boycut of the bottoms. The coral color is fantastic, I wish Gap had this in my size!!
Havaianas ‘Baby Pets’ Sandal
My last favorite thing is my new book *I picked it up at Target last night*

Tina Fey is remarkable, I’m sure I’ll be laughing throughout this book.
Hopefully, I’ll have time to finish it before Liv graduates from high school!!

Less than 12 hours countdown!!

Until my Prince William will be married away from me!!

I have been fascinated with UK royalty ever since I was a kid *come on, I am named Elizabeth and I’m a bit of an Anglophile* I was 4 years old when Diana & Charles were married in 1981 but over the years I have always dreamed of being a part of that lifestyle. I love the formality, the tradition, the grandeur and the stiff hoity-toitiness of it all. Last time I was in London, we skipped out on the changing of the guard *well, Antz and Aimee overruled my idea of waiting in front of Buckingham Palace for hours to see the ceremony* but I did talk them into visiting the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London. Seriously, the funnest, most rad time of my life!!
As close as we got!

There was a strict no pictures policy inside the Crown Jewels but I did manage to snap this pic. See how my camera mocks me by flashing out the Henry the 8th crest *the camera curse has been lingering around for awhile*

It’s funny because when I asked to take a photo with these “Bobbies” the guy in the back chose not to be in the picture…jokes on you buddy, you made it.
So you can see this was pre-digital camera era *shocking I know kiddos* but I vow to return and take a bajillion photos and finish all the cheesy touristy stuff I couldn’t convince the gang to do the first time.
Eat at an Indian Restaurant
Take the Jack the Ripper Walking Tour
Ride on a double decker bus
Eat fish & chips at a proper pub
Cruise the Thames
Ride the London Eye *even though I’m terrified of heights*
Take photos at Postmans Park as seen in one of my favorite movies, Closer
Stay at the W London, obviously!
I also must heckle a British guard a la Lucy Meets the Queen.
I won’t wake up at 3am to watch live but I am DVRing the coverage on CNN all day. My friend Mia suggested we post pics of our daughters wearing their royal tiaras to celebrate so when Antz gets home we are going tiara shopping *don’t gasp, at Target!!*
CHEERIO SLAGS!!
I’m back…we went to Target and found the ugliest kiddie tiara’s ever *Dora the Explorer tiara’s, barf!!* so we decided I can make her one with my handy dandy sewing machine. I wanted to make her a Union Jack crown *since I kick ass at making Union Jacks* but I got carried away and didn’t measure her head so it ended up being huge so I fanagled it into a flag. I did make her this to wear tomorrow
taa-daa…
She’s asleep so I can’t test it out but I’m hoping fits. YAY CRAFTINESS!!

Sew Rad!

Awww yesh! Monday I picked up my Mommy-in-law, Maria so we could go fabric shopping and give me my first sewing lesson. The plan was to make Liv a T-shirt dress using my Golden Girls tee.

Prudent Baby *I adore this blog*

 

Easy T-shirt dress
That was the plan, then Maria measured Olivia’s tiny frame to discover that my size large *yep, I’m a giant* would make the stitch go right across the Golden Gals faces. GONG! The tee is much too large for her so I nixed that idea and decided to try to make a pillowcase. I had tons of felt material so I wanted to try to make this personalized pillowcase.
Then I realized that would be too much of an undertaking for my first lesson so we settled on recreating the Karen Hilton Union Jack Pillow I’ve been wanting from Etsy for years!
I didn’t have the colors I wanted to use but since it’s my practice, I used what I had.
Antz kindly made a template and cut the fabric for me while I practiced stitching. The machine is very simple to use, it’s practically foolproof. Maria helped me pin the Union Jack in place and set up the machine.

 

It was nerve-racking trying to keep my stitch straight, once I got going I would veer to the right for some reason. Needless to say, I had to remove the seam several times to re-stitch.
The pillowcase took close to 4 hours to finish! I was moving a snails pace and finishing off the corners was tricky. I wouldn’t have finished without Maria’s expertise. Okay, please don’t laugh…

 

We did an envelope pocket so I can take the pillow out. It’s lower than I wanted but I don’t mind so much.

 

While I was practicing, I attempted to make Liv a felt tiara but Antz thought it was superhero pants instead. They actually work better that way. Next I have to make her cape.
Next on my wishlist is the famous pillowcase dress which is on my Life List and I would LOVE to make this lovely dress to wear this summer.
Ardisia Maxi Dress
Maria thinks we should be able to do these with no problem. She made all her stepdaughter’s prom dresses in the 70’s so the skirt has the same style. Merci beaucoup Mommy Maria for giving me my first lesson. I am already getting requests from Aimee to make curtains for her apartment!

The Bathroom is el FIN!

Today we put the finishing touches on our bathroom makeover. We met Story & Chris at the Montrose farmers market for a quick snack *Antz had meat skewers and I had peanuts*

Spuzz was giving Liv puppy kisses but I never caught her on camera

 

 

 

These were the biggest strawberries I’ve ever seen. We bought a little basket because whenever I buy a giant box they always spoil before we eat them.
Story & Chris gave me a belated birthday present of a $50 Anthropologie gift card *Yay!! You know I’m itching to spend it* I am thinking of applying it to my favorite $88 pillow
We had to stop by Paper Source because last night we ran out paper for the medicine cabinet.
Look how pretty it turned out!!
We can’t get over how lovely our poop room looks!!
I adore my Anthro knobs, they make our tiny sink look lovely.
Hello Antz foot!

We went to our favorite toy store, Wackos and spent forever trying to come up with which theme we were putting on the shelf over the mirror. I wanted Calveras, then I saw Gloomy Bear toys…

But Antz vetoed it and there was only 2 toys and we wanted to fill the entire space
This guy is adorable but more suitable on our bar
I almost went with the Yo Gabbs plushies but Antz reasoned that the fabric may get wet and mildew from the moisture. *Still super cute for Liv* I want to get them but they have to have the complete set!

I was sold when I found this Bride & Groom

It took some convincing for Antz but I love the Calveras/cute style of these guys and the $8 each price tag was right but they are a little smaller than we wanted.

 

I wanted this guy soooo bad!! It’s so fucking rad but it cost $130 and our total budget was $100 bucks. I have to buy it for our next house. Love this artist, Nathan Ota.
There was a art show going on and I LOVE these pieces!!! Too bad they were all sold.

I am no fan of Betty Boop by any means, but the artist depicted her voluptuous shape that is exactly like mine!

These pieces remind of art Antz did in college. He has a painting of Micky cheating on Minnie with Jessica Rabbit and Minnie getting her revenge with a gun in Liv’s nursery. He also has Donald Duck holding the decapitated head of Mickey while standing on a balcony of the Enchanted Castle. *Any grotesque art of Disney makes me happy!*
Antz picked out these creepy cartoon vinyl cats and we ended spending $100.97!
Here’s how they look in the bathroom.
Bathroom Makeover (20)
Now we realize how small the skeletons are we may buy a few more *I liked the Tiger, Koala and the sheep* So we are going to take a house improvement break but sometime in May we will start our veggie/herb garden. This week is going to be my lazy week *aren’t they all lazy?*
In 2 weeks Liv starts World Citizen Dance Class so that will be radness.
Peace Out!!

Most Likely to Succeed??

Possibly Maybe!!

So, Antz and I are embarking on a new venture that I am super excited about!! After much deliberation we are opening our own Etsy shop *All is Full of Love*. Björk’s probably gonna sue my ass because I am constantly using her song titles because my brain isn’t clever enough to be original. I like to think of it as a sincere form of flattery. I would have loved to name it Tout est plein de l’amour *French translation of All is Full of Love* but it’s not catchy enough. So, you must be on pins and needles with wonder of what we shall be selling in our new fabulous shoppe??!!

 

So far we have our glitter name banner listed but once we get our marketing campaign started, we may add customized mobiles like this one Antz made for Liv.
I am hoping I priced the banner competively enough, yet affordable. I’m going to Michaels tomorrow to buy more foam board to make some more samples. Antz is working on a shop header and I still have some editing to do but I am MAJORLY STOKED!! Hopefully we’ll really have a prosperous New Year. Please check our shop out.

A Christmas Cookie

More of a Christmas Tale, I was having visions of Sugar cookies, decorated beautifully dancing in my head and all I ended up with was oddly shaped cookies with a drizzle of sprinkles and a headache. This morning when we came home from dropping off Antz Mom I noticed I had a sore throat *BOO*, now I’m sniffling, sneezing, coughing, achy, stuffy head and pretty sure I have a fever. I, of course, took some Dayquill but I am not feeling the love. I had to watch a youtube video to figure out how to use my cookie press and even after watching it 5 or 6 times, I was still not getting the hang of it. Meanwhile, I was on a tight deadline because Antz was coming home to pick up the cookies to pass out at his Secret Santa party. I ended up using what I determined to be the best results *nowhere near Martha approved* but I did have fun using my Kitchenaid Mixer for the first time. I still have no idea on how to detach the wisk to wask it but I’m in no mood to read instruction manuals. I made close to 60 cookies/30 bags of cookies. I am praying I didn’t forget anyone…*I made one extra bag without a nametag* so Antz will give me feedback when he passes them out. So far Antz is Mr Popular at work, this is his office.

A bunch of these are for me and Liv too! Love our amigos!!
So I started out with all my ingredients which….left me no counter space to prep. I really need to figure out a new space for Lola *maybe move the dish rack, and give Lola that counter?* so I can fit the mixer in the corner to free up more room.
I only used 2 of the 5 bags of cookie mix and that was more than plenty. Here’s the first batch
Pretty wonky-looking!
While I was waiting for them to bake, I tested what the cover of my new baker’s cookbook would look like and I thumbed throught my cookie book
Yuck!
See! They look decent going in but coming out they spread out. I had a vision of glitterly snowflakes and this….not so much
I adjusted how much dough I used and made sure the press was working properly
I was still bagging when Antz got home to pick them up but he was totally happy with the cookies. I guess I’m proud being that I didn’t burn them and despite the lack of prettiness, they do taste yummy!

 

I suppose he’s getting a good return on his investment *and I am happy we have something to give our friends*
So, I was totes gonna post an all new Mixtape Friday *I know it’s been MIA for weeks* however you must forgive me. I am illing and I have a BIG day tomorrow, so I need to rest and fight this headache. Antz is going out with a bunch of our friends to see Tron * Lame to the max* so I’m babysitting while he nerds out.
Sayanara

To Wrap, or not to wrap?

That is the question! I am overwhelmed with Christmas decorating *I’ve been watching tons of Martha Stewart show, HGTV and DIY shows as well as every magazine has great ideas* so now I’m conflicted with going through the trouble of wrapping Liv’s Christmas presents. You may think, just do it, it will make for sweet photos and recently, Liv has been attempting to destroy her books when I read to her so she may be able to rip open the boxes. However, a few of her presents are oddly-sized and we don’t have a tree *per say* to put the pressies under. Well, I’ll make up my mind by Thursday when I go to Target *and I wanna buy all the pretty wrapping paper*.  I really, really want to buy these rad cookie cutters for my Christmas cookie gifts *our friends would die* but I doubt this would fly with Antz. I also just bought a cookie press but in retrospect, I am planning on putting walnuts and white chocolate chips and I don’t think they will fit in the press. Last night I watched Goddess Martha’s Cookie Special but her cookies were too over the top *gold guilding, anyone?*

So this week is pretty busy *as always* Not much scheduled until Thursday, we are taking Liv to Antz Mom’s, then picking up Aimee, going to see Black Swan, pick up Liv, go to Afloat Sushi, then Target, and back to Aimee’s house to help her hang frames and attempt to turn this…

You can see the Mona Aimee Antz painted for Aimee’s birthday
Total blank canvas, I would paint but *I’m too lazy and it’s a rental*

Her son, Holden’s surfboard and setsuit dominate the room

Icky, reminds me of our house the day we moved in, it’s GTG *got to go!*

Into this…

The Happy, Happy Post

I seem to be pretty disgruntled lately, I was looking at my last few posts and I’ve been on a emo, angst-ridden campaign. I took my dose of Prozac and as Aimee loves to tell me, “Spider Mike says chill the fuck out!” *sorry, inside joke* and now I feel much better. Today *after spending all morning with the DirecTV guy* I finally got our new telly/DVR set up.

I love you, technology!
Buh Bye old satellite
Hello, new fancy-pants HD Dish

 

That’s the good news, on the bad news side I still can’t get our Wii and our new surround sound system working. I am at a loss. I’ll have to find a video on youtube because I am standing here with question marks over my head. The new DVR is HDTV but I really don’t see a difference, my friend told me I need to change my settings. Well, I bought the wrong printer ink from Target yesterday *this is the second time I’ve done this* so I had to exchange it. I checked out the Christmas decor aisles to see what I could jazz up the house with so maybe some Holiday cheer can melt my icy, black, Scroogey heart. I still haven’t found anything that blew me away so I popped into Macys *my Target is in the lamest mall in the planet but at least there’s a Macys* The decor was pretty but a little too frou frou for my taste.

My iphone camera didn’t really capture the true essence of this cupcake tree. Well, I found a few things to spruce up the fireplace mantle *and showcase my new B stand from Anthro!*

Me and my bright ideas. I put up the garland and while I was humming silver bells and putting away the groceries, I heard the garland fall and a tragic shattering followed. LAME!! I accidentally maimed my groom Calavera that Story & Chris brought us from New Orleans. I thought, okay, I can salvage him, I’ve got krazy glue. Well, I tried to gather his broken body and I only recovered his legs and torso. Sadly, I couldn’t locate his decapitated head. I feel horrible!

 

*My headless Groom*
On a lighter side…I got my stand mixer on Thursday. I was out all day so I didn’t get to play with it yet but I’ll whip up something this weekend.
Sooo pretty!! I was jumping up and down when I got the box *which was as big as our house*
Today we are meeting Jenn, Cobb & Charlotte at the Hollywood farmers market. Last night Story made an impromptu appearance which was great because she helped me set up the HD *I really see a difference now, whoa* and I set up the Wii *still clueless about the surround sound*
Tomorrow I’m going to see Black Swan with Aimee
Antz is babysitting for me. I love Darren Aronofsky. Requiem for a Dream is one of my fave movies and I really loved The Wrestler *I really gravitate to dark, depraved films*

You’ve made my Pet Peeve List

Lady at Michael’s who saw that I was waiting patiently with my daughter as the next customer in line, you ran over when a new registered opened up and cut and made no apologies about it. You are the Grinch who smells like fart and you live alone in a dark apartment with 17 cats and you eat the same soup every night while watching the Lifetime channel.

Seriously, why is it the closer to the holidays we get, the shittier people behave? This entire weekend I was apprehensive to go out into the fray because big crowds equal major bummers. I can’t stand the parking situations, the ridiculousness when it comes to what used to be simple shopping now is dog-eat-dog, I’ll trample over your ass, and aisles of disarray. It’s not just the people, I’m looking at your GIANT EVIL CORPORATIONS!!! Example, I happily shopped online last month when I was invited to the Friends & Family 30% discount for BabyGap. I love this sale because 5% of whatever you spend goes to the charity of your choice *World Wildlife Fund*. I was able to buy all her holiday clothes online before they were in stores and I saved about $85, I was perfectly content. Then Gap decides, a few weeks ago, to have a one day only in-store sale where everything *even sale items* was 40% off. Well!! I went to the mall and amid the pandemonium I saw almost everything I just purchased for Liv online, in store! I could have saved 40% but I wasn’t that ticked since my money went to charity. Antz and I picked up a few things *well, the few things we could find in the huge piles of clothes since the store looked like a hurricane hit it* and we felt good about our savings….UNTIL…Black Friday decided to show it’s ugly side and of course, Gap decided to have another one day only sale on Saturday where the entire store was 50% off. Talk about con-artists! This is why I was so reluctant to buy our Samsung TV from Best Buy. I ended up calling and actually talking to a rep that found a terrific price $497.99 *I was going to pay $699.99 online* so I was quite pleased with this particular purchase *we are picking it up on Wednesday* but I’m certain that by Christmas that same TV will go on sale for 99¢!! I am usually all about the holiday cheer and I do enjoy many aspects about the holidays but I do have a few, small pet peeves:

Christmas Lights. I love seeing houses lit/decorated for the holidays but what drives me crazy is when *lazy, jerks* put up lights and half don’t work!! Or…please, for the love of God, Don’t mix white lights with color lights on the same string. Do you even know how crappy this looks? Or decorate ONE window half-assed with a sad string just throw around…what’s the point? As someone who lives in Los Angeles *eye roll* this should be a crime that needs to be punishable by law…Take you freaking lights down the first week of January!!! Oh my Gawd, pretty much every house in my neighborhood leaves their Christmas lights up ALL YEAR LONG and then they don’t even bother to turn them on during the holidays, SHEESH!!
My email inbox. Every hour I am getting close to 100 emails from various companies telling me about their Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Hanukkah sales. You are coming off as desperate *Toys R Us and Overstock* I heard you the first time. I am avoiding you on purpose. I got your ad in the mail, I saw your commercial on TV and now you’re bombarding me into submission. No way, Jose!! I am super close to taking my email off your list. You can take your measly 10% off and shove it!! And while we’re on the topic, how about you magazine companies relax with the 25 subscription cards in the mags. If I want a subscription, I know how to contact you. Do I really need every other page to be full of these annoying pieces of paper reminding me of what an idiot I am for paying full price for this issue when I could pay $10 a year??!! If I had a nickel for every subscription card…I would be a billionaire!!
Chick Fil-a. Okay, maybe this isn’t an actual “peeve” but I am totally passing the buck on this one and I blame them for opening a new restaurant in LA *and soon to be Hollywood* which has made it easier for me to frequently order their delectable chicken which is making my ass ENORMOUS!! I point the finger at you Cinnabon, for my double chin that is causing me to cringe whenever I see photos of myself. Why must you make food that is sooo scrumptious that makes me drool?? I have no tolerance for yumminess 🙁
Back to you Corporate No-Gooders!! Target, Home Depot, Vons and all you other wretched companies that are too friggen cheap to buy some new grocery carts. I am sooo sick up using the wonky, loud as fuck, disease-infested, dirty carts to put my lovely wares and food in while I shop. I have found myself looking for new Targets just so I can have a cart that has all 4 wheels working. Or what’s up with never finding a cart in the store? I can’t believe last week I had to go out in the parking lot to hunt one down, really? I work here now!! I can’t be the only one who finds this to be beyond annoying?
I could go on and on but I am currently most annoyed with Blogger, yep I said it! Why must I upload my photos one at a time now? It has taken me almost 3 hours to upload my Yo Gabba Gabba pictures. It’s so bad that I have started to delay my posts because I’m too annoyed to add photos. What’s the deal with that? Antz is telling me to cross over and host my own blog but I’m not that fancy, programming savvy nor do I feel that I’m even remotely that entertaining. Alas, I shall upload my loot from Michael’s.

I am using the cellophane bags for our Christmas cookies *I have to make 50 bags*  I picked up these gift tags at Target Saturday for a mere $4!!

Did I mention I almost choked to death and died whilst eating a pomergrante last night? I am OBSESSED with poms, they are soooo fucking tasty!!! I eat like 3 a day 🙂

Pretty Handwriting

I adore fanciful penmanship. When I was a wee lass in Catholic School we had a calligraphy class and I was in heaven. I used to play school at home and practice my cursive all day long *that’s how only children do it* As an adult, I pride myself in my nice handwriting but I have a huge problem with keeping my writing straight. I cannot correct my writing where is turns out centered and the same size. I have somehow completely forgotten the calligraphy techniques I learned so many years ago but that doesn’t stop me from buying pen sets from stationary stores. My grandmother had the most entricate and gorgeous cursive. If I was a handwriting analyst I would say her handwriting said alot about her character. She carried herself in a old-school prissy but cool sort of way. She would wear gloves *not like Madonna, more like Lucy* and match her handbag to her shoes. Her penmanship was very refined and elegant and I really want to pass that to Olivia. I feel like handwriting is a lost art in this digital age. I still enjoy sending thank you notes on paper in the mail. Anyway, long story, short…*too late* I saw this on facebook and it made me want to practice my calligraphy skillz.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12733075&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0
Legacy of Letters from Luca Barcellona on Vimeo.

Simply lovely. I think I’ll try my hand at making a video…depends on how lame or not my writing turns out. I know we are lagging on making Olivia’s video but I am making a promise to complete it by her first birthday!!