Archive | July, 2011

DIY Anthropolgie Bracelet

28 Jul

I am always astonished at how expensive simple jewelery is; maybe that is why I hardly ever wear it, and like to buy it even less (unless of course it is a gift from my darling hubby..hint, hint).

I saw this posting of this bracelet and knew I could make my own. I dug through my drawers, found some old bangles, and headed to Michael’s.

You will need:

Hemp or Bamboo in colors of your choosing

Cheap Plain Bracelets/Bangles

Rhinestone strands

Glue

Scissors

 

Begin by gluing your rhinestone strands to your bangle. You can use however many you would like. I chose to put enough on to cover what would be shown to someone looking at it on my wrist.

When the glue has dried begin by cutting 120 inches of your hemp or bamboo. I didn’t want to get a ruler so I just measured the string against my height, doubled it, and minused a couple inches. This isn’t science or Burger King, so do it your way! Find the middle of your hemp strand and pull it into the bracelet, so that if your holding the string the bangle is hanging at the halfway point.

Now this is where it gets tricky, and sadly I didn’t take any pics of this part (so I borrowed the one below from here) Cross the left string over the front of the bangle, the hang the right one over the left one, bring it under and behind the bangle. Pull tight. There is your first knot. Confusing, right? Well it took me about 12 tries to get my knots all going, so be patient and maybe just look at the picture. I found that much easier.

Once you have that down you can continue the knots, switching back and forth between the sides. It should look like the photos below.

When I got to the end I tied a super tight double knot and cut the ends!

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Chocolate Martinis

27 Jul

After having the most delicious chocolate martini at this local Steak+Seafood place a few of us decided that a martini night was in order. After finding numerous recipes, asking the bartender the ingredients of the ones we loved, and playing around with some recipes we had found our favorite.

So the hubby, Teddy, and I headed to our martini dinner party! The night was wonderful complete with amazing martinis, the best lamb I have ever had, and of course wonderful company.

Chocolate Martini Recipe

1 shot Vanilla Vodka

1 shot Godiva Chocolate Liqueur

1 shot Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur

1 shot Bailey’s Original

1 shot Kahlua

Beware: These martinis are potent. Enjoy!

 

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Playing the Part

26 Jul

As I have mentioned before, the hubby and I are heading on a trip in October. Up until this point  I have been hesitant to get too into the planning process, but over the weekend I decided it was time. Our trip is a 10 day cruise with stops in Italy, Greece, Monaco, and Croatia, and Montenegro. I am beyond excited about the trip and after years of dreaming I will finally embrace the European style I love so much.  Living in San Diego we have pretty boring style here. Most people (yes sadly that includes me) spend their days in a version of jeans, flats or flip flops, and t-shirts. As much as I enjoy the casual dress, I have been dreaming of living somewhere where I won’t get stares when I wear heels. (I also think it has to do with my height…but still). This will be my chance to dress the part with style, and for that, I am over the moon.

I have begun my search for the perfect European cruise attire. My requirements are comfy, classic, and effortless (or at least appear effortless).

After some research I wish I could afford the entire Chanel Cruise 2010 line…oh well. These photos are my inspiration for finding some (reasonable) outfits.

Ahhh! I am getting excited just thinking about it. Any ideas where I can find outfits like this on a budget? So far my greatest finds have been the Anthropologie sale section!

*Photos via Pinterest

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Thank You

24 Jul

I find that there is no comparison to a handwritten note. I love sending them, but also the feeling of opening the mailbox and finding a small note from someone I care about. I decided the other day that rather than buy thank you cards I would try out making my own. It’ll save money and add that little extra bit of personalization! I borrowed part of my mom’s massive stamp collection and headed to Michael’s for some glitter and blank cards.

It took no time at all to stamp out our initials. I had fun trying out different glitter colors and placement of the stamps. The only problem was stamping straight, I’ll have to work on that. All in all, I was really happy with my cards and am dreaming of these Martha Stewart glitter sets that I want to go back and get for future projects. Who doesn’t love pretty sparkly things?

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Chevrons

22 Jul

I’m big into stripes as some of you know. I wear them, paint them on my walls, and love them in decorating. Last week while the hubby was out of town, I had decided I needed to do something to keep myself occupied. I had bought this stencil (it was GORGEOUS in person) and was so excited to use it in my master bedroom. But sadly when it arrived and I held it against the wall, it just wouldn’t work with my wall texture. With all the intricate sections in the design my wall was just too bumpy for the stencil to lay flat. I was so disappointed having already bought the paint and the stencil. Boo. Oh well, I called my mom (aka the craft queen) for a second opinion. Sadly, she agreed. I had to find something new to do.

I was skimming through some blog posts and I found this. Wow. I loved it. After doing some more reasearch on how to actually get the chevrons on the wall I realized I would need to make my own pattern. I know intense, right? After some thinking and sketches on paper I figured out my plan of action.

My plan would use a ruler, push pins, a pencil, and twine. I try to use things around the house, or else these projects can get pricey and even more timely.

MY PLAN:

Start in the middle of my wall and measure across the top 12 inch sections. I marked these 12″ sections with a push pin. From the side I measured the distance between the connecting wall and the last push pin, I then moved to the bottom and marked it at the same distance and worked across the wall. I now had push pins every 12″ across the top and bottom that were vertically even.

I cut my twine about 1′ longer than the height of the wall and connected the 2 even push pins, creating “lines” down my wall.

From there I randomly decided to use 6″ and 9″ for my chevron markings (less than 12″ yet not too small that I would have skinny chevrons). So on every piece of twine I marked every 6″ all the way down it, but every other piece I started at 3″ and the top of the wall. I hope this is making some sense.

I then took the paint tape and made straight lines connecting the 6″ marks. It can get confusing, so I drew a couple of them in pencil to keep everything sorted out. The taping takes FOREVER. Actually up until this point I spent about 9 hours on one wall, so it all takes forever.

After the taping is finished I use my original color (which for me was white) and I paint over the tape sections where I will be putting my new color. This prevents (or at least helps) the new color from bleeding under and creating the squiggly paint line. With stripes you definitely want super straight lines.

After this is done, start with your new color! I love this part because I could finally see it was coming together. I used two coats, waited about 30 minutes and slowly pulled the tape off.

Voila!! The color is a little crazy, but I love it!

If you are going to try it and have questions, please message me! I would love to help.

smittenwithpretty@gmail.com

 

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Monkey Balls

21 Jul

Or actually I think the correct name is Monkey Muffins, but as we were making them the balls name just kinda stuck. So here they are in all their amazingness! In the end we thought we cooked them too long and should have used pam in the bottom of the muffin sheets, but all in all delicious!

I had originally seen this post and was practically drooling over the photos, so I decided to call up my sister and see if she wanted to make them with me. This serves double purpose — 1. someone to chat with while its baking and 2. have someone else to help eat them since my thighs definitely do NOT need these.

So I ran to the store and headed down the street to my sister’s. Her friend Rachael was there and my mom ended up coming over, so it was a party of sorts. We baked, chatted and ate; what a wonderful spontaneous day.

You will need:

Pam

Butter

Cinnamon

Sugar

Crescent Dough

Vanilla Extract

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 375.

Fill muffin sheet holes with non-stick cooking spray and then with 1/2 tsp of butter

Step 2:

Add 1/4 tsp of sugar and 1/8 (or less) tsp of cinnamon

Step 3:

Cut crescent dough into small quarter size pieces &  add 3 pieces of crescent dough per muffin.

Step 4:

Add one drop of vanilla extract, another 1/2 tsp of butter, and another 1/4 tsp of sugar to the tops. Place in oven.

Step 5:

Let bake for about 10 minutes. Watch carefully as our got kinda crunchy in about 13 minutes. Remove from oven when bubbly and lightly browned.

Step 6:

Drizzle about 1 tbsp of sweetened condensed milk on the tops.

Step 7:

Scoop out with spoon and enjoy!

We figured a cup of black coffee or even unsweetened iced coffee would be the perfect pairing :)

Obviously we took the easy route when using pre-made dough, feel free to make your own dough if you would like.

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Race Season

20 Jul

One of my favorite things about Summer in San Diego is race season. Oddly enough, I don’t go every year, I don’t gamble, and I don’t buy a seat but I still love it! Today is Opening Day at the Del Mar Race Track and as much as I complain about Opening Day (the long lines, no room to move, and drunken shenanigans); one can’t deny the liveliness and spirit of the day. Whether it is the huge hats, bumping into old friends,  cheering on a random horse, or simply the summer sun under those huge awnings; the day is full of excitement.

This year I won’t be going to Opening Day, but am so excited for Jimmy Eat World to play at 4 o’clock Friday in August! So for those of you attending — Enjoy Opening Day!!

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5 July Loves

17 Jul

Now that my hair is finally growing a bit, I am so excited to try out some new styles (other than my usual pony/messy bun). I have been loving all the “how-to’s” on Pinterest and wish I had someone to help me out with them.


This week is my home decorating week since the hubby will be out of town. I plan to surprise him by making some (hopefully) inexpensive changes around our home. I would love to find something like this!

I have been seeing more of these types of devices around, and am really wanting one.  This one looks pretty good, or if this one wasn’t so expensive I would have already gotten it. Why can’t money grow on trees again?

The Nordstrom half yearly sale started this week and I was looking forward to going online and getting some items I have had earmarked since the day I received my catalog. Well to my disappointment I went online just hours after the sale started and most of the items I wanted were sold out! Not cool Nordstrom, not cool. So I will wait and hope they come back in….fingers crossed. This is one of my favorite outfits. Ah I love winter!!

I am getting so excited for our big trip in October, and photos like this Grecian sunset aren’t helping my patience.

Hope you are enjoying your July!

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Tight Schedule

8 Jul

Sorry. Starting this week I hope to be better :)

Source: None via Virginia on Pinterest

Happy July 4th!

5 Jul

This Independence Day started off wonderfully and ended not so well. I will start with the fun and try to forget to negative. For me, July 4th was full of beach time, margaritas, bbqs, family and friends.

This year started with a festive pedicure!

Even Teddy got into the spirit of the holiday. That was until the fireworks started….dun dun dun….and then began the insanity. Teddy barked for hours, wouldn’t sleep, and eventually chewed a hole in our drywall. Yea!! Happy 4th!

Next year we will be making some changes. Hope yours was amazing!

 

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