Santa's little helpers

Hello! Happy thirsty Thursday! To celebrate this day of thirst I enjoyed a cup of mint hot chocolate today. Oh yeah good stuff. Since it was so cold today I was more than happy to drink something nice and hot. Yes it does get cold in southern Cali. Definitely not as bad as the Midwest but hey when I'm making gizmo sounds as I run towards the office from the parking lot than yes it's cold. Oh yeah, I should mention when I'm really cold I shake like I'm spastic and make Gizmo noises... I can't really control it it just happens...

 Anywho! Today's blog is about a little story that happened to my sister and I this holiday season. It was Christmas eve and we received an email from Santa saying that the ribbons for Drake and Penni's gifts (my youngest nephew and niece) flew out of the slay because apparently the elf's fed the reindeer's some Red Bull and the reindeer's were going cheetah fast! Like way fast! So Santa was wondering if we would put a nice big red bow on the kids gifts for him. Unfortunately my sister didn't have any big red bows so we had to improvise. I decided that since we didn't have any big red ribbons or bows lying around I would have to make them somehow. Trust me when a fat jolly old man has been flying in a slay full of Christmas gifts all night and has been from here to Beijing you do as you're told! So I did what any extremly intelligent college graduate (I graduated from two colleges booyah!) would do.. I Googled! I Google searched images of red ribbons and began sketching out a ribbon. Once I felt the ribbon drawing looked Santa approved I began cutting it out and turning it into a ribbon pattern so I would be able to trace the sketch onto red cardboard paper. I have to say that I think that Santa would of been pretty proud of my design. I didn't stay up and wait for Santa because well I didn't want to piss the big guy off. He's got presents! Below are some pics of the Santa ribbons.

Left: ribbon sketch Right: The final result it reads Santa, always believe.

Santa left Drake and Penni some sweet easels for Christmas. I was so jealous!

THE END.

DIY Gift Ideas Take 2

Happy Monday! Just four more days until the weekend! How sad am I? I remember when I was a teenager and I swore I would never have a job where the most exciting thing to look forward to would be the weekend. I can just see the sixteen year old Mae shaking her head at me with her arms crossed. She's mean mugging me as I stare at her over sized soccer uniform, orange/blonde hair and barely there eyebrows. I almost feel guilty but then I realize I'm a grown up so step off kid! Yes, that just happened. What can I say my writing is more loopy at night. Tonight's post is the second part to last weeks DIY gift ideas. Below are a few more homemade gifts I recently made for birthday's and Christmas. Enjoy ☺

Wood transfer of the NY Giant's helmet for one of Brian's Christmas presents.

I have already provided a brief tutorial on how to create a wood transfer in an older post in November called DIY Wood Transfer: 

http://amaezingadventuresinlalaland.blogspot.com/2012/11/diy-wood-transfers.html 

Refer back to that post to learn how to create a similar version to this DIY gift idea.

Hair accessory organizer for my niece Penni Pies birthday.

What I did: 

I purchased a pink picture frame from Michael's. Disposed of the glass and used a purple fabric to cover the card board. Glued on pink polka dot ribbon to the fabric to create sections where the hair pins would be placed. I super glued rhinestones to the sides of the frame and glued a few rhinestones around the front edges of the frame. All of the materials were purchased from Michael's and Jo-Ann fabrics. 

More b-day gifts for Penni's birthday.

What I did: 

Penni Necklace & Princess Necklace: All beads, bead tips, jump rings, clasps, chains and wire were Purchased at Michael's. Step one I cut off a piece of wire a little longer than the actual size that I want the design to be. I tie a knot on one end of the wire and place a bead tip on top of the knot and clamp it down with pliers. Next I place the beads on the strand in the order that I desire. Once I am finished with placing the beads on the wire I place a second bead tip at the end of the wire and tie a knot as close to the bead tip as possible. I follow by once again clamping the bead tip on top of the knot with pliers. Once that step is complete you can hook the chain onto the bead tip by using the hook end of the bead tip. Use the pliers to press down on the bead tip to keep the chain and wire in place. For the Princess crown necklace I used a jump ring to attach the crown pendent to the chain. At the end of the necklace use a jump ring to attach the clasp to the chain.

Girly Bow's: I used felt, ribbon and fabric from an old dress, rhinestones, hot glue gun and needle and thread. First step cut out a rectangle with the felt or fabric around the size that you would like the bow to be. Pick up your needle and thread and sew through the middle. Repeat this step a few times to make sure it's securely sewed in. Cut a smaller piece of felt and use the glue gun to glue it down the middle. This piece brings the form of the bow together. On the back end of the bow glue a hair clasp on the back. 

That's all folks! Let me know your thoughts and if you have any questions about the DIY gift ideas from Part I and Part II. Have a wonderful night.

DIY Gift Ideas take 1

Hello, happy Thirsty Thursday! Today I quenched my thirst by drinking lots of water. I was feeling under the weather today so no fancy drinks for this gal. I wanted to share with all of you some homemade gift ideas that I recently made for Christmas for a few of my family members. Below are some pictures of the gifts I made and brief descriptions of what I did to create these gifts from the heart.

I created this orders of sharks sign for my brother for Christmas. 

 What I did: I first did my research on how many order of sharks exist and found pictures of one shark from each order. My boyfriend Brian helped me create this poster by using Photoshop once the Photoshop portion was complete I went to Staples and printed out the image on poster size matte paper. I purchased a wooden board from Michael's and Mod Podged the poster to the board. When using Mod Podge provide a medium coat onto the board before placing the image on top. Be sure to allow your image to dry at least for 20 minutes before continuing to Mod Podge. Make sure to also smooth out any bumps or air bubbles that may appear before beginning to lather on Mod Podge on top of your image.

Left: My brother with a big old smile on Christmas morning. Right: My brother as Lance the Land Shark.

Right: The sign I created for my sister's Christmas gift. Right: My sister posing with the sign. She was crying. Big baby! J/K

What I did: I wanted to create a sign that represented the year that she was born.  I researched all the major events and inventions from 1974. The major events I listed are The Godfather Part II was the blockbuster of the year. I also provided an image of the way women dressed that year. Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman, The Oakland A's won the World Series and Connect Four was published. The Boston Celtic's won the NBA Finals, The Miami Dolphins won the Super Bowl and Genesis's album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was the best album of the year. I also placed a very adorable picture of my sister from when she was a kid (wearing her Strawberry Shortcake shirt) on the poster as well. My boyfriend Brian designed the sign by using Photoshop and I performed the same procedure as before (same instructions as my brother's sign) as far as printing and Mod Podge is concerned.

Brother in- laws candy tin Christmas gift.

What I did: I purchased a tin from Michael's and found a photo that contained a bunch of brand name candies in the image and created a sign in Photoshop that reads "Phil's CANDY STASH." I printed out one copy of the sign and one copy of just the candy image. I Mod Podged the lid of the tin and cut out Phil's name so it would fit on the lid. I placed the candy images that matched the same candy the image of the candy found within Phil's name above and below the center where his name is located. I followed by placing Mod Podge in the center of the body of the tin and cut out the part of the sign that reads Candy Stash. I cut out the rest of the candy image and constucted it to be molded onto the sign so it fits just right. I performed the same Mod Podge technique as before.


 I hope you enjoyed reading about these three DIY gifts I created for my family for Christmas. There are more gift examples in Part 2! I will be posting up the follow up very soon. Until then Happy New Year and may you all have an aMAEzing 2013!

Holiday Party

Happy Friday! It's the Friday before Christmas... and it's dooms day. Oh boy, the Mayans are coming! Not really, I think it's safe to say we are in the clear but if not here is my final post, cherish it! 

During the holidays we all have work functions that we have to attend sometimes they are fun and sometimes they are a bit awkward. This year our office planed to have the Holiday Party at BOA Steakhouse. It's a swanky restaurant in West Hollywood. Brian was my date of course and we had a great time eating all of the delicious food and taking in the oh so cool ambiance. We were all dressed up for somewhere super chic to be! The table we were sitting at got to share some funny moments. When the "bread guy" came around to pass out one biscuit per person at the beginning of dinner Brian and I were the only ones who didn't receive any. I thought he probably just ran out and he will bring some more right out asap. Well... some time had gone by and still no bread for the two of us. Brian tracked down the "wine guy" and told him that we never received any bread. The wine guy was like "Oh well, I don't handle the bread I serve the wine but let me try and track someone down for you." Now I know I'm not the most fancy gal in the world but I have been a server at many restaurants and I never once told a customer "Well that's really not in my job description, I don't handle that product but I will find someone who does." Once the bread guy had finally came back with more bread he went around to the table where everyone had already received biscuits and is now handing them their second helping. When he got to our table everyone at our table was trying to explain to the guy that Brian and I never received any bread. The "bread guy" was like "Oh, do you want seconds?" Everyone spoke for us and told him "No they never received any." He just placed the bread on our plates and acted like no big deal. So from than on we all refereed to the servers by the item they were associated with. There was the bread guy, wine guy, menu guy, water guy, coffee guy, appetizer guy, entree guy, dessert guy. Which is kind of strange... I never worked at a restaurant where each worker handled one particular item. I didn't even know that existed. Even though the servers were a bit rude and snobbish we still had a really good time. The food was outstanding and it gave us all an excuse to dress up and enjoy a night out on the town outside of the office. Below are some pictures of the esthetics at BOA and pics of the outfit I wore. 

The interior at BOA Steakhouse. They also have a nice outdoor dinning patio as well.

Dress: Anthropologie, Shoes: Wild Pair

Necklace: F21

Clutch: Urban Outfitters (gift), Flower Ring: Aldo, Ring on the Right: Charlotte Russe, Bracelet: Homemade

Another shot of my dress.

The view of the back of my dress. Coat: Ebay 

Brian and I at dinner. ♥

Hope you enjoyed my post. More to come very soon, Happy Holidays.

Western Gal

Hi All, Happy Friday! TGIF baby woohoo! Tonight I decided to stay in and work on some homemade Christmas presents. Right now I am waiting on some modge podge to dry. I am making a pretty sweet Christmas present for one of my brothers. I can't really disclose what it is I am working on because it's a surprise! If it turns out pretty snazzy I might just post the finished product. Anywho, today's post is about an outfit I wore this week that is a bit country it makes me think that I would fit right in on a dude ranch. Check out the pics below and let me know what you think.

Sweater: ebay, Necklace: Brandy Melville, Top: Target, Jeans: Target, Ring: Unique LA event, Boots: GoJane.com

Anniversary

Happy Monday. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend I know I sure did. Brian and I celebrated our one year anniversary on Sunday. We had dinner at Wokcano the restaurant where we had our first date. We both enjoyed some delicious asian cuisine and shared a delicious chocolate and pistachio sponge cake. We had fun reminiscing about our first date and the silly things that we both did on date numero uno. Not to get to sappy but I can't imagine my life without Brian and I am so grateful to have  him in my life. He is an amazing friend, trustworthy and honest and can always make me laugh. He is such a considerate, attentive and caring boyfriend I really couldn't ask for much more. Aw, I just had me a moment! Anywho, below are some pics of our anniversary date. Enjoy ☺

Flower Ring: Aldo, Clutch: F21

Jacket: Urban Outfitters, Dress: Nordstorm Rack, Mary Janes: Steve Madden

Last but not least, Brian and I on our anniversary ❤

Hello Stranger

Hi Everyone, happy thirsty Thursday. Hope you guys are indulging in some yummy cold weather favorites like hot chocolate or apple cider. They both sound good to me. ☺Today's post is titled  Hello Stranger because for one it has been over a week since I have written a new post... hope no one forgot about me. Second because all of the pictures I posted in this blog do not show my face in any of them. The reason for that is because I don't  do my hair or make up during the week and well I sometimes look like a hot mess and no one wants to see that. The one thing that I don't skip out on is picking my outfit out the night before. I don't dress like a bum at work so I figured I could still enjoy posting some outfits during the week just as long as my baggy eyes and frizzy hair isn't in the mix. Below are some pics of the outfit I wore to work today. Hope you enjoy my pics. 

Chambray shirt: Zara. Tank top: Urban Outfitters, Skirt: Nordstrorm Rack, Flats: LuLus, Necklace: Charlotte Russe, Yellow Bracelet: H&M, Multi- Color bracelet: American Eagle, Turquoise Bracelet + Green & Pink Bracelet: Homemade