This post is part of my Project 365 where I am taking one photo every day for a year. Click here to see all of my photos in the series-- and if you want to join, feel free to do so anytime! :) (All photos taken with a Nikon D7000.)
83/365:3-23-12 Waiting at the train station in Princeton on Friday night.
84/365:3-24-12 Visiting my boyfriend at Princeton this week-- this was last Saturday when we were walking around campus, Nassau Street, and checking out the famous Princeton Record Exchange. Also, the door above with the flowering trees used to be my boyfriend's dorm door last year. Gah. #SoLucky. ;)
85/365:3-25-12 Breakfast by the golf course.
86/365:3-26-12 Climbing the Cleveland Tower up by Princeton's "Old Graduate School" and the view from the top.
87/365:3-27-12 On Tuesday I took the train to NYC and met up with some friends. We walked around everywhere but I really loved sitting in Washington Square Park. ;)
88/365:3-28-12 A day in the Met and Lauduree macaroons in Central Park.
89/365:3-29-12 The Irish Hunger Memorial, riding rental bikes up the Hudson River Trail, visiting the puppy store of Greenwich Village, and riding the Staten Island Ferry.
This has definitely been one of the best weeks ever! :D
I love finding crafty projects using vinyl records-- from making a vinyl record purse or vinyl record bowls, I think those round slabs of plastic are incredibly fun to bend, mold, shape, and cut. About a week ago, I saw this incredible idea on Gemma's blog about how to make a vinyl record notebook and I was so excited to make it.
Now, while I love using records to make crafts, my boyfriend is a huge record hipster dork. ;) (Hehe, sorry Sean!) I'm telling you-- in the many years I've known this boy, he has been such a difficult person to think up gift ideas. He is the type of person who could care less about stuff. In terms of earthly possessions, the kid loves books, fountain pens, fruit, and hand-me-down clothes from his brothers/friends/grandfathers... and records... and that's about it. (Yes, grandfathers.)
Sean's record collection at school. And guys-- *his record player is at home in Indiana.*
Right now I am visiting this stuff-hating boyfriend in Princeton, NJ and before I left, I wanted to make sure I had a little gift to give him when I got here... because I love presents. Especially giving little surprising ones. ;)
Sean writing his name in the notebook. :)
As I write this blog post in his dorm room, I can look around and see all the random little gifts and ridiculous doodads I've given him over the years-- a tiny jar that looks like Thomas Jefferson's head, a plastic animal photo holder, some vintage ship photos, a crazy/creepy little furry cat... and now a vinyl record notebook. While I'm really proud of these "gifts," I think Sean just keeps them around because I think it's so funny to give him such silly things. But he might just like the notebook. Of course I'll never know-- giving loved ones handmade gifts is like giving your mom your artwork in kindergarten. They always hang it on the fridge, (or sit it on their desk/window/bookcase) and say "Awh, thank you!" Haha.
If you want to give a vinyl record notebook as a little gift, they're actually really simple to make. :)
To make a vinyl record notebook you need:
-A vinyl record
-Duct tape
-Needle & thread
-Hot glue gun
-Recycled paper
-Scissors
-Oven
And here's a video I made on the whole process. I actually used it to enter Modcloth's DIY Boss contest-- to all you other crafty bloggers out there, you should enter too! :)
Sean's notebook and the notebook I made for myself. :)
Watch out hipster friends, you just might get one of these next. ;)
And now I'm off to eat two very large ice cream cones in the Princeton dining hall. #ImissCollegeFood ;)
This post is part of my Project 365 where I am taking one photo every day for a year. Click here to see all of my photos in the series-- and if you want to join, feel free to do so anytime! :)
*A bit late this week. Currently I am in Princeton, NJ visiting le boyfriend and going on incredible runs by Einstein's old house. :) Itinerary for next 10 days: 3 days in Princeton, 3 days in NYC. 2 days back in Princeton, 2.5 days in Boston. The end of March is looking good, my friends. ;)
76/365:3-16-12Scarf photoshoot last Friday! So. Colorful. :) More photos to come soon.
77/365:3-17-12 St. Patrick's Day! I went back to DePauw, my college, last weekend to see some friends. We took this photo by one of our friend's art projects in an atrium. And no worries about my lack of green, my pants were bright green. ;) Where to find my leopard print scarf.
78/365:3-18-12 The daffodils are out!
79/365:3-19-12 Really cool plants.
80/365:3-20-12 It's a Tuesday sunrise.
81/365:3-21-12 Have a broken watch band? Try using a silk scarf! ;)
82/365:3-22-12 A neon accent clutch I made as an upcoming blog project. :)
Have a wonderful weekend! (Or what's left of it.) ;)
When you buy most of your wardrobe off the clearance rack and from thrift stores, odds are that most of the stuff is not going to be in your size. ie: GiNoRmous trousers and teeny tops. :) While I haven't figured out a way to make small things larger, I do have a system for making shirts smaller. Fair warning-- this is not rocket science and I'm not one for specific measurements when it comes to sewing up thrift store finds. This makes my detail-oriented, sewist/seamstress of a mother VERY uncomfortable... but that's just how I sew. ;)
How to make a shirt smaller:
Step 1: Try on your extra large shirt and figure out just how extra large it really is on you. Holding the seam of the shirt together at your side, take a ruler and measure how much you want your shirt to be taken in. Remember that number.
Step 2: Take off the shirt and turn it inside out. Make sure all of the seams line up straight. With a piece of chalk or a pencil, measure the number of inches that you wanted the shirt to be taken in from the previous step. ie: If you wanted your shirt to come in 2'' then measure 2'' from the seam and mark it. I would say be a little bit conservative with the amount you measure in-- it's easier to sew in more than it is to rip everything out if you sew your shirt too small.
Step 3: Sew it up! A couple of notes-- be careful around the arm pits. DO NOT TAKE TOO MUCH IN. This will make your shirt very uncomfortable. If I said be conservative in the amount that you take your shirt in at the waist, be REALLY conservative around the armpit and on your sleeves.
Extra tip: I pinned the shirt in place along the chalk like that I wanted to sew up-- this just keeps everything in place and it makes it so that there is less that could go wrong.
PS-- Sorry I don't have more tutorial photos. I accidentally deleted them off my camera. :/
One of my favorite things to do at work is go on photo shoots... especially photo shoots that involve glitter, confetti, suitcases, SCARVES, and Polaroid cameras. (Yes, I get to do that at work.) :) The photo shoots are also wonderful because my coworkers are all babes who can master the art of the arched-eyebrow-cheeky-smile thing.
This Polaroid above is from our latest shoot, last Friday. (Theme? Umbrellas, spring colors, scarves, handbags, sunglasses... the whole shebang.) ;) When a couple of the girls were taking this photo:
I was thinking, "Dang. Everyone looks so cute. I actually want to take a Polaroid right now." So I did. And this Polaroid is up there in the top 5 of my favorite Polaroids ever. The colors, the company! :D
After staring at that Polaroid all weekend, I decided I need to start taking more Polaroids of people. Enough with the buildings and scenery already, Stacie. ;)
