diy : return postal labels

hey guys! so after many hours browsing and pinning on pintrest, i found a pin on how to make return labels for like mail and letters and such. i made some of my own and i am in love love love with them! so i thought it would be a cute diy to share with you guys! i hope you enjoy. xx 
o1. First you wanna start by opening up Microsoft Word. Go ahead and create a “New From Template” document and search in the search box (in the upper right hand corner) label, then go ahead and click label wizard. This is what should have popped up : 

o2. Go ahead and enter in your address into the little box. after that make sure that you have selected  Full page of same label NOT  Single label! Press okay and after your page 

should look a little something like mine did :

(mind you this is a made up address haha i do not actually live there)

o3. Lets move on the the pictures and the fonts and the colors! Find a image you would like to use. I wanted something colorful and cute, so i found this watercolor little bow and watercolor jack rodgers. Then proceed to copy and paste it into the document and adjust the size. (you might have to mess around with it for a little : it helps if you make the image square and adjust it that way! Place it in the front of each label (it might be easy just to copy and paste into each little address). 

After doing so it should look a little something like this :

o4. You might need to adjust your font in order to get the font you want and the picture to fit! I went ahead and changed to colors of my font to a mauve color and a darker green color! I also used the Century Gothic font in size 11, but you can really use any font or color of your liking.

o5. In order to print them, your gonna need sticky labels which you can find them at your local office supply store, such as Staples (thats where I purchased mine). I highly recommend using Avery labels, personally i think they work the best! PSST : You might wanna do a test run on a clean sheet of paper first to ensure that you like your design and that they will fit!

christmas bedroom decorating idea's

sooo as per usual, plans have changed here in my house and I'm home for christmas ... well off to nyc for christmas eve and home for christmas day. but when arriving home i walked into both a messy and blue (literally though my room is blue) room. sooo i decided to clean up and dress it up.   after looking at alanna's blog, i was inspired to post this. so here are a few easy  last minute decorations and some diy idea's for your bedroom for christmas.

if you have browsed over at alanna's post you can see that she and i did the same thing. these have been in my room since august. i decided that instead of having them go up and down on the walls, i just put them around my headboard. i used lights that have white wire so that they would match my headboard as well as my room. 

if your friends with me on facebook, or if you follow me on twitter, you will see that i made a diy video on how to make these super cute and easy mason jar snowglobes. also i purchased a candle from marshals with a christmas scent to it : Candy Shope Peppermint Bark.

many of you know that i keep blair, my mannequin, up all year round and since my senior prom she has been rockin this dress. i decided to add a little christmas spirit to her and put on the red chrimson bubble necklace that my big bree gave to me for my birthday. i also put my red bathrobe over her for a wintery chill effect and topped her off (literally) with my santa hat. how preshh, right? 

now up above my little night table stand if my white baby shelf. i have had this in my room since i was a baby, it has moved with me and gone through so much, but alas it still remains in tact. soo i took off all my blue decorations and added some garland i got at michaels for 70% off. i also went sifting through my basement for some old vintage christmas decorations and i found these old pals. three nutcrackers, each from different versions of the nutcracker i performed in, a mouse stuffed animal back from '94 and some vintage christmas ornament escc candle holders! 

ahhh literally my favorite part of my room. my first teddy bear with his christmas santa robe finally was resurrected. then i went ahead and made this awesome centerpiece from my old vase and old wreath trinckets. this literally adds that vintage vibe to my room and i am completly obsessed.

{ pssst. also check out my upcoming  post on how to make this fresh and presh christmas pine 

centerpiece/decoration for your room or your christmas table }

last but not least, I put up my classic red christmas tree (not pictured) and its fake sorry i hate fake christmas trees. #sorrynotsorry but below i found some old plaid fabric that i used for the skirt of the tree and i made these little peppermint boxes with two tray boxes i picked up at the dollar store. i simply glued those two together and fit some white tissue paper between the handles to make it look a little bit more like a peppermint candy. so cute, so fun, so easy.  

** also feel free to check out my room tour from this summer, some things have changed, but if you were wondering, this is what my room looks like, on the off christmas season! **

halloween tutorials : the little mermaid

happy (almost) halloween to all my witches and ghouls. for the remainder of this week it will be halloween diy tutorials gallor! also feel free to check out my youtube channel, where there will be some diy video's you can follow along to! xx  (btw this is my actual halloween costume this year lol)
so i made about half of my costume, yes made it!! haha i was determined to make a tutu since my friend mary kate has talked about it, so i did it!! it took a lil bit of time and patience, but it all worked out.  below are the supplies that you will need for making your puuurfect tutu.

your gonna need :

- tulle - 

i got mine from an etsy shop, and did have to get some more, just because i wanted it to have volume.

- grosgrain ribbon - 

again got this off of etsy for me and my friend, so i got a ton of extra. i got it in mint green though.

- stretch elastic - 

again another etsy purchase. what a shocker haha, i got to much of this, but its in the mint color again.

- sewing kit - 

this is my new best friend, i got mine from joannes, but all you need is a needle and thread and scissors.

i dont actually have any picutres of me making this, but i do have videos of it, which i could post, just let me know. but click here on how to make a tutu. it really helped me and came out amazing! 

my hair was one of my main focus' for this costume, i really wanted to do her signature hair, but i was not gonna die my hair red and not gonna pend a bagillion dolars on a wig lol! so i went for a grecian/realistic mermaid kind of look. i found this tutorial on pintrest, so feel free to check it out! 

but here is how i did it

your gonna need : 

- a hairbrush -

mine is just my simple conair hairbrush, which you can get from a drugstore or anywhere lol

- hairspriay -

you can literally use any hairspray that has a firm stick to it, i just love the tresemme hairspray ;)

- curling wand -

i used my conair curling wand because i love it so so so much, but you can use any curing wand for it

- bobby pins-

you absolutely need these to hold your hair together and up

- starfish hair clip -

this is just an extra thing that completed this look and made it more mermaidian haha 

sooo i just used my hair from today which was half curly half messy. it was a lazy day especially because i woke up about fifteen minutes before class haha. so here is how i did my hair : 

( 1 ) so i took two pieces of my hair, one on the left and one on the right and i braided those just a normal braid and let them drop so i could do my next part.

( 2 ) then i sectioned off hair from the front crown of my head and sectioned those into four parts and tease each section.

( 3 ) i used my regular hairbrush for it, but i would highly recommend using a teasing comb, only if you have one to use. you can get one at your local drug store! 

( 4 ) after getting this puffy disaster all together, i took my brush and then i gently smoothed out my hair 

( 5 ) then take the two braids and pull them tightly back so the crown of your hair has volume to it, like a snooki poof, but not all that snooki haha

( 6 ) then i took those two and bobby pinned those tightly to my head so that i could ensure that they would not drop or fall. 

( 7 ) so as i said, my hair was about half curled so i took my infinity curling wand and curled my hair, like i do almost everyday

( 8 ) after finishing that i took my starfish hair clip, that i made with a dried up starfish, a barette and some hot glue and covered my bobby pins with that to give it more of a mermaid vibe.

so this was the finished look, i did very basic and neutral makeup, but you could totally mermaid glam it up, but i wanted to stick with a more neutral vibe! i hope you enjoy this post and i cant wait to make a few more before all the ghouls and the goblins come out, or before you go out to a halloween party!! xx 

PSSSTTTT. 

check out the fabulous alanna's tutorials where i got this idea to post this from xx 

vampire tutorial

cat tutorial

dorm room diy : sorority glitter letters

so the countdown winds to an end, just two more days until this chick is dc bound! i can not say how excited i am for this semester and for sophmore year! i am even more excited to put together my dorm room and make it more homie! also could not be more excited to live with my new roommates.   so last year i pledged for a sorority and got it (yay me) so last year i purchased wooden letters and glittered them; so this year i thought i should do the same. this is honestly so simple to do, but it is a diy that i think should be shared!! hope you enjoy!! xx 

1. wooden letters in any color (mine are from michaels and they came white)  2. mod podge (mine is from michaels) 3. glitter (mine is from michaels) 4. a foam paint brush

first thing first, mod podge. you want to take your foam brush and dip it into the mod podge. you want to make sure you spread it all around for a nice and even coat. 

**tip : i didnt put glitter on the sides, if you want it then mod podge the whole thing, if not whipe it away with your finger so the glitter doesnt stick to the side*** 

  

next up whip out that glitter and sprinkle it all over the letter. 

**tip do it over your deck, or over a peice of paper so it doesnt get so messy**

after spreading it all over, go over all the parts that you missed and add more mod podge to the area.

then go ahead and spread the glitter with your fingers and then shake it off to make sure you get off all the excess glitter. 

this is what the final product looked like after the glitter and the drying! keep posted to see what it looks like in the dorm room! hope you enjoy and happy diy! xx 

dorm room diy : painted mason jars

with move in day approaching in well about two weeks, i have been on pintrest looking for some amazing diy's to display in my room! these jars are perfect for your makeup brushes, your pencils, markers, supplies and even perfect for a (fake) flower holder! i will be putting up a bunch of different ideas in the next up coming week feel free to put in a request or ask any questions!

1. a clear mason jar (could be an aladdin jar, a kerr jar or a ball jar) 2. acrylic paints (mine are martha stewart, but any paints work) 3. mod podge (optional) 4. glitter (optional)

chose your paint colors. then get out your jar and take off the top, you will have to unscrew the top and then remove the lid with your hands because it will stick to the edges of the jar. 

after removing the lid, pour a good amount of the paint into the jar. i like this method better than painting it because to me it is less messier and it is honestly easier. what i did after putting a full coat on the bottom, i turned the jar upside-down.

after putting it upside-down, i noticed that some of the sides were not getting enough paint, so i put some more in and swirled it around to see if it would help, it did. but it did clump so i just set it upside down to dry and it is still drying lol.

next, grab your mod podge and get ready to repeat what you did from jar number one.

after pouring in the mod lodge i painted it around with a paint brush to make it go a little faster and to make the coating of the glue more even.

after i let it settle for a minute i took out my glitter and went crazy with it lol! lets just say i poured too much in. but what i did was i poured in (a lot) some and then put the lid back on and shook it around. there were some areas that needed more glitter so i put some more in and now it is still drying on my counter.

 this is what the inside looks like, and that is what it is starting to look like on the outside! 

  for my last color, instead of doing the lime green, i used a satin dark blue! i loved this color and thought it would come out nice. it came out okay, but it looks more of a steel blue then a true deep dark blue. but i did end up liking the outcome of all of them!

my colors for the jars were inspired by my throw pillows for my bed in my dorm room this year!

diy : hair ties

elastic hair ties are the new scrunchies, they are the new it product for your hair! it is so hard to find someone nowadays' who is not wearing one of these fabulous hair ties! i have been using these hair ties for almost a year now, and they are my favorite; besides not having damaging metal pieces, they can also be worn as a form of bracelets. i think my favorite part about them are that they are crease free and that they come in such a wide variety of colors!  the only thing i dont like about these hair ties is that they run from about $3 to $20 a pack, which is absolutely ridiculous, especially because they are simply elastic! these are absolutely the easiest hair accessories to make, and the cutest (if you ask me!!) 

supplies needed : a ruler a pair of scissors elastic ( i got mine from here! ) getting started: 

1. measure 8.5″ of elastic. it is up to you if you want to make it longer, you have to think what will fit in your hair and on your wrist.  i found that this length fits perfectly snug around my wrist.  also make sure to cut the elastic at a slight angle to help it from fraying.

2. wrap the elastic around your fingers to form a loop, then pull it through to tie a knot. avoid pulling on the edges to since this will make the ends fray, leave some room for the 'tail'. tie the knot at the top and make sure you don’t tie the knot in the middle or your hair tie will be too small!

these are all the hair ties i made today, the color is off because of the lighting! they are so pretty to wear and so easy to make! i hope you enjoy them!