On Vacation

Lolita's Beach Blanket by jenaardell

Hi all, I'm on vacation! I will be gone for awhile so the next Sunday Linky Party will start on June 24th. Meanwhile, here is the continuation of the Linky Party from last week (#66). The links from that Party will be featured on the Sunday of 6/24. Hope you're all enjoying this weekend and have a great Father's Day on the 17th!

Sunday Linky Party #66 + Goodies

Hi all! Hope you're having a good Sunday morning (and rest of the day!) I will be going on vacation for two weeks so there won't be a Sunday Linky Party for the next two weekends. The next Sunday Linky Party will start on June 24th! The links from this Party will be featured on that Sunday. Sorry for the inconvenience, I'm definitely going to miss out on some good stuff during that time. Anyway, get a load of the projects and recipes in the gallery below :) Enjoy!

Celebrate summer and beachy escapades with this cute starfish garland from Shaken Together! These are so adorable and easy to make. I also love the twine strings :)

Sunday Linky Party #65 + Goodies

Happy Sunday all! It's graduation season, which means lots of celebrations and traveling. I'm going to my husband's graduation in NYC this week (he can finally add "Dr." in front of his name!) and I'll be celebrating another good friend's graduation from my alma mater! I'm also planning to adopt a dog! Yay :) exciting stuff.

I reeeaaallly like some of the tutorials from last week (featured below), so I hope you'll like them, too. The last recipe makes me want to throw a themed party :)

This clutch is the perfect clutch, as Sew Into This calls it, and I don't see a reason to disagree yet :) It's super cute, I looove the fabric and admire the way the pattern is aligned even when closed. Great craftsmanship! Where can I get this fabric??

What Kind of Geek Are You? {infographic}

I found this infographic on Flavorwire and thought it was pretty cute. I think the "craft geek" should have also included "owning an Etsy shop," but clearly, a craft geek did not make this infographic :) Which one (or ones) are you?

via Flavorwire

Sunday Linky Party #64 + Goodies

Hope you're all having a wonderful Sunday! What did you guys do for Mother's Day last weekend? I spent the day hanging out with my mom and mother-in-law (separately!) and it was pretty relaxing :) This week is full of some very inspiring tutorials and some really great recipes (especially all the dessert ones). I'm so lucky because whenever I want to make something new, I can go back and look through all the Linky Parties. Now let's get on with the features!

Babies grow up super fast (which most people seem to agree with) so keep those memories close with this diy baby's footprint necklace, with your own baby's footprint! Seriously! And it's really easy too, and I love that it's so personalized. Get this tutorial from Hubby Made Me.

You Are What You Read

It's been awhile since I've curled up with a good story book (I've been reading a lot of how-to and informational books lately), so I think summer's the perfect time to get started on a new novel. After all, isn't there a whole section of books called summer/beach reads (or am I getting the name mixed up)? Anyway, you've probably already theorized this, but never found much evidence to back it up, until now, which is: when you read a work of fiction, your thoughts and behavior can change to match those of your favorite character, according to a study published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (via an article I found from The Body Odd).

We'll be a legend tomorrow by pintameldia

Sunday Linky Party #63 + Goodies

Happy Mother's Day! Hope you're all celebrating in your own special way :) Below is a gallery of great crafts and recipes that I'm sure your mothers would love (except that it's a little too late to make them today :) but I'm sure you've already got something planned!

This is really cool! Transfer your favorite photos and messages onto wood blocks with this tutorial (plus tips) from Bliss Images and Beyond. It's a little late for Mother's Day, but I'm sure you'll find some occasion to use this method ;)

Mothers

Mother's day is this Sunday... so let's reminisce our good old days together, of when we were young (and our moms were too!)

Mother and Child by ElayneInspired

Whether it's feeding us our bottle...

Sunday Linky Party #62 + Goodies

Happy Sunday! Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, anyone spend the day/night partying? I actually didn't, but I watched the Avengers instead :) Anyway, next weekend is Mother's Day, so here's your chance to get some gift/recipe ideas if you're spending some time with her. I really like the bunting necklace tutorial below and I think I went on an unintentional small/portable dessert theme this week. Oh well!

Make this super cute fabric bunting necklace, and you don't even need to know how to sew! This necklace is seriously adorable. I want one so badly :) Good thing Twigg Studios made a tutorial. Check out her other amazing tutorials such as decoupage nails, birdcage business cards, silk flowers, and book/fabric cover.

What Success Looks Like

I'd like to be successful in life, (I'm sure most people do), but I'm still grappling with what it means to be successful. I think what I really need to do is to itemize what's most important to me over the course of my imagined lifetime and I'll find my definition somewhere on that list. But until then, this image that I found on Business Insider makes me feel much better about all the struggles I've encountered :) It's a tweet from Unilever's vice president. What do you think?

via babs rangaiah on Twitter and Business Insider

Sunday Linky Party #61 + Goodies

Spring has been going on, the weather's getting better, and it's not too late to start planting your garden! I bought some air plants (succulents that don't need soil or very much water) several months ago. The people at the store said that they'll pretty much live forever, but mine aren't looking too green anymore... Guess I need more practice as a gardener. Anyway, I can't wait to plant my own vegetable garden one day so I won't have to depend on the grocery store so much :) Do any of you grow your own veggies?

Give these mixed wildflower seed bombs to friends and save some for yourself. What a surprise it will be when the flowers start blooming and your friends will finally know what they've planted! Check out this idea at Cookin' Up Good Times.

Sunday Linky Party #60 + Goodies

Hi all! It's a busy weekend for me so this post and the descriptions will be quick and easy! I'm visiting my old alma mater and helping my husband move into a friend's place for his next month-long rotation (he's graduating from med school at the end of May! yay :) Anyway, here is the gallery for some super awesome projects and recipes!

Make your own chic and simple maxi dress with this pattern from 2nd Story Sewing!

A Day on the Internet {infographic}

Ever wonder what happens on the internet within 24 hours? Well, here's a great infographic (yay!) that shows us the big picture of how huge the traffic is on the web. It makes me feel quite insignificant, actually.

via Adverblog


And below is an infographic telling us exactly how addicted (or not) we are to Facebook and Twitter :)

Sunday Linky Party #59 + Goodies

Well, it's been a rainy week and sunshine has just started showing. I just hope the sunny weather holds up because I'd like to do some hiking without getting sucked down into mud :) Now, let's get onto this week's gallery of features!

If you don't know what washi tape is, it's essentially really cute tape from Japan that can be used for decorations AND for taping stuff. It can also be hard to find, so the resourceful Nifty Thrifty Things shows us how to make it ourselves. These are perfect for brightening up presents!

Does Green Spark Creativity?

So I've been reading The Body Odd again and found an article that goes perfectly with Spring. It's a study that found that people who glanced at the color green for two seconds before starting a creative task performed more creatively than those who glanced at other colors.

Flower Photography by CarolynCochrane

In this study, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin journal, 69 men and women were given two minutes to write down as many uses as possible for a tin can. A coder then rated each idea for its creativity and cleverness.

Sunday Linky Party #58 + Goodies

Happy Easter Sunday! I remember when I used to wake up to a candy-filled Easter basket on the breakfast table, with a note saying the Easter Bunny stopped by. Well, that doesn't happen anymore. I know it's not the meaning of Easter, but it sure made my mornings back then :) Anyway, hope you're all having a wonderful morning. Now onto the features!

You can have this beautiful wire ring that looks like spun gold and all you need is some copper wire. It's really really easy, as you'll see from A Rosie Sweet Home's tutorial. What a great idea!

What Do You Know About Coffee?

For all the coffee addicts out there, I've found a bunch of infographics that'll float your boat! :) Click on the image for the original source to larger (and more readable) versions.

via Explore

Sunday Linky Party #57 + Goodies

Hi all, hope you're having a great Sunday. Unfortunately, I have some sad news to tell you, which is, this will be the last Sunday Linky Party and I will be closing down this blog, selling my house, and going to travel across the world doing odd jobs in order to experience living in the moment. I'm not sure where to start yet, but maybe begin in South America, cross over to Africa, then up to the Middle East, through Asia, up to Europe, cross over to Canada, and eventually end back in the United States again. What do you think?

Anyway, I'm just kidding, because it's April Fool's Day! :) And I don't actually own a house to sell. So enjoy this gallery and the rest of your weekend! Oh yeah, this blog and the Linky Parties will continue ^___^

Happy spring! If getting fresh bouquets of flowers to fill your kitchen with are a bit pricey or causes allergy issues, you can still have a gorgeous paper flower bouquet that requires no maintenance for the rest of your life :) Make some for yourself by following the tutorial from Inspired by Family Magazine. Also, get inspired by decorative ideas from their April showers party.

Regrets at the End of Life

At some point in our lives, we begin looking back and thinking, if I were younger, I would have done this or that, spent more time on this or that. And as more time passes, what we think we should have spent more time on also changes. Well, I found this blog post by Bronnie Ware on Inspiration and Chai, who shares the top five regrets of the dying from her time working in palliative care with patients who spent the last weeks of their lives with her.

Courage by SilverHorsePhotos

1. "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."

Sunday Linky Party #56 + Goodies

It's spring which means it's time to get out your gardening gloves and test how green that thumb of yours is. Live in an urban environment with no outdoor space? You can still grow a few herbs on your window sill for those special home-made dinner occasions. I found this great article that teaches you how to start plants from seeds. For even more (and simpler) veggie-growing tips, read Sew & Dipity's post (featured below) and what to use a seed trays without spending any money. Have a great Sunday!

These round paper lanterns are not hard to get (I've gotten a few at Ikea before), and now you can add texture and softness to them with 'A Casarella's beautiful petal lantern tutorial!