DIY: Microscope Slide Jewelry

I've gone through a lot of jewelry phases. First [besides the plastic beads] was 'junk jewelry' or repurposing cans and bottles caps and things like that. I'd take apart calculators and computer chips and odd looking industrial things and make bracelets and earrings and necklaces out of them. Then I briefly transitioned into a glass soldering phase, which is what this post is about. I don't have any steps pictures, but they really are easy-peasy to make.

Supplies: Soldering gun, solder, flux, microscope slide/half marble, copper tape, jump ring, cord or chain, art for backing

1. Cut the piece of art you want to show through the marble to fit. 

2. Secure art to marble by backing with copper tape, the more you smooth it down the less bumpy the back will be and the more secured it will be. Make sure it covers sides as well! 

3. Smear flux on tape, cover the tape with solder, attach jump ring [ also smear flux on jump ring]

4. Attach to cord or chain. 

5. Work it girl! 

For more extensive directions on how-to solder with the copper tape check out this older post. 

[note: not all metals will adhere with the solder, so be sure to check that your jump ring will]

-E

My College Kitchen: Sauce-less Veggie, Feta, and Sausage Pasta

This picture makes me miss my darling little electric cooking pot. Here are some spare pictures from a meal I made back in school in my literal college kitchen! This is a white pasta with no sauce, but all the flavor from the cheese and veggies and sausage was enough for me! This pasta is also great cold! 

Ingredients:

olive oil

onion

asparagus

lemon

tomato

garlic

sausage 

noodles

salt&pepper

First put your pasta on to boil [ I would recommend penne pasta but I didn't have any]. Saute the onion and asparagus together. Onion is cooked when it is clear and asparagus should still be firm, not squishy! Then I squeezed a lemon on it. I halved some cherry tomatoes and cooked with olive oil and garlic. You don't want them to get squishy either, just soak up some of the flavor from the garlic. Low heat.

I bought sun dried tomato and basil chicken sausage but any kind you pick will do! Throw them in the pan as well. I like when they are a little crunchy on the outside so I let them brown for a while. 

Mix asparagus, tomato, and sausage with feta cheese and pasta. Olive oil and salt to taste. Enjoy! 

-E

San Francisco for dayyyz

I've been in San Francisco for a the past few days. I had an emotional reunion with the downtown Anthropologie store, my favorite sushi place, and all the little things in between. I love this city.

It was a leather bag and roses kind of day

If you're going to San Francisco be sure to wear flowers in your hair

China town colors

The city is stately and imposing, it is surrounded by a high, thick
wall of green marble, polished smooth and set with green emeralds,
each one facing one of the countries in the Land of Oz. 

Rare urban fish sighting

Today I am off to apply for my VISA and then back home to Sonoma to celebrate mi madres birthday!

-E 

For the Love of eBay

I love eBay. This romance was kindled over a year ago when I discovered I could purchase my  obsession's [anthropologie] apparel for a fraction of their overly priced price. And if you're reading my blog chances are you love a deal just as much as I do! I really don't shop on eBay so much as sell on it now, and there are several tricks to really improve your eBay 'store' and ratings. One of them involves some minimal crafting and is more of a nice gesture.

I noticed that when I purchased things from etsy I more often than not received a little thank you note with the item. It's cute! And it made me like the person who I purchased from even more. Tip: Make a little note and send it off with the item, it makes the buyer feel appreciated!

ALSO: Kat from That Zanni Girl left me a comment with a great tip that I figured could be added to the post! Here's what she had to say: If you've got a bunch of old thank-you cards that are blank on the back of the front flap (most people write on the other half of the fold), tear the card down the fold. That way, you can reuse the cute part of the card (and write your message on the back) when you send out thank-you notes with your orders!

Thanks Kat! I love to hear what you guys have to say, so be sure to comment!

-E

Tea Party Dress

Hey guys! Here is a little before and after of a dress I worked on. I really did like it before, but the sleeves were a little too much fabric and made the dress rise up every time I moved my arms. Sorry the picture isn't the best quality, but i guess that's what happens when you're alone in your room taking timed pictures of yourself! 

Before:

After:

 Something as simple as removing sleeves can completely transform an article of clothing. I also cut down into the back. I thought it would be a nice balance to the high neckline in the front! I did this while away from school so consequently machine-less. I'm slightly proud of my hand stitched creation! Doesn't Chelsea [the oh so lovely model] look ready for a tea party? Check out her necklace here.

-E

News!

Finals are over, and my dad and I made the 20 hour drive back home! I woke up to sunny skies and warm weather. Life is but a dream! Now that I am home, most all the papers are in, and I'm about to begin full-time work mode I feel like this is an appropriate time to share the news. I won't be going back to Washington next year for school because I'M MOVING TO ITALY [for a year]!!! Excited doesn't even cover how I feel. So bring it summer, I'll work your bootay into the ground so that come August I'll be on that plane to Florence.

 Sorry if you were looking forward to a Super Man Sunday, but I wanted to share with you all! Expect regular daily posts again guys, I just needed to focus on school :-) And a poster giveaway will be coming up as well!

-E 

Expensive Poster Problem Fix

Believe it or not I have one week left of school. As in this week. As in I go home Saturday. I'm having mixed emotions, one side is I want to get the heck out of here because then finals week will be over. The other is I don't want to pack up my life here in Pullman. Especially because I won't be coming back for a long time [that's an announcement for another post!!] Not to mention I have to get rid of most all my things. I'm convinced that if I had the space and the time, I would be on hoarders. But my mom assured me that it's okay to let things go, especially when you have a weird knack [like myself] of accumulating things at a really fast rate. All of my stuff is replaceable! Whew. Deep breathes, and cheers to eBay!

My posters are one of those things. I was thinking a potential giveaway item?? Thoughts?

But on a slightly different note, this isn't quite a DIY but a little tip. Posters can be expensive, especially when you have big walls to fill up. Try going to a decorative paper store, you can get poster like sheets [like these] for under 5 dollars. Granted you probably won't get your favorite band, but vintage looking prints like these? absolutely! Pair with some frames like these  and you've got great inexpensive wall art! Wish me luck on finals my darling readers! 

-E