Tag Archives: DIY

A Binder of Letters

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I’m very lucky that while my boy is in the MTC, we can send and receive letters same day. Since I live on the same street as the MTC. I actually drive past it on my way to and from work. Yes, I’m always hoping I see him, but I never do. I can’t wait until he goes to France so I can stop giving myself anxiety attacks!

So Sundays are craft days for me, and this past Sunday, I made a binder in which to put all his letters:

First, I photocopy all the letters (color looks way better than B&W, even if he writes w/ black pen, by the way) and hole-punch them, put in the binder with a divider between the different letters and put the originals back in their envelopes.

I made my own dividers out of construction paper and labels. I used lime green and lemon yellow colored paper, alternating between the two. I took shipping labels in the neon color and folded them to look like tabs, then numbered them. The blue-grey paper on the top is just my cover sheet. It’s blank and just for looks!

Then, I numbered all the letters with these little circular labels and green sharpie. I thought it was cuter to have the circles, rather than write directly on the copies.

I still wanted to keep the original letters close, so I took a plastic sheet cover and put all the letters in it, then folded it over so they weren’t all flopping around, and sealed it with one of the labels I used for the tabs.

When that was all finished, I made a cute cover to decorate the outside and the binding. I attached a ribbon with the binding, just in case I ever wanted to take it out, because it’s impossible to get paper out of that little space! And it’s cute!

Voila! My binder of Letters from the MTC! It’ll be a great memory. I especially love it because the letters are all copied. It makes it so I’m not always fiddling with the originals (but they’re still there). It’s nice since the letters come all folded and creased, but this way, they’re just flat and easy to flip through and read all at once!

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The Importance of a Good Man

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Leave a comment after you read the book and tell me what you think!

A few months ago, one of my very best friends gave me a copy of “He’s Just Not That Into You.” I had seen the movie, but never read the book. I love the movie! I still think every girl should see it, but after reading the book cover to cover in just an hour or so (granted, it’s only 80pgs) and highlighting the heck out of it, I’ve decided that every human–especially women–should either read the book or be exposed to the things it teaches.

At the time, I was just getting over dating who I like to refer to as my Evil Ex. It helped confirm to me exactly the kind of person he was (and probably still is), but I couldn’t help but wish I had read it years earlier. 

Recent circumstances allowed me to think of the book again, so I went through and picked out all the qualities listed in the book that have become my new standard. Instead of helping me get over an ex, I read it with the mindset of appreciating and being able to recognize the type of man that I will one day spend my life with.

It also occurred to me that this might be useful to some of you.

I made it all into a pretty book, extremely convenient for you to download, print and make into a little cheat sheet of your own! I’m not saying that these are the end-all, be-all of standards, but they are mine and maybe it wouldn’t be bad if they were yours too.

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DOWNLOAD HERE: FutureHusbandBOOK

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Keep up-to-date on my new postings by following me on Twitter. You can also contact me through my website here, email me at brittany@lacelollipops.com, or send me a message to my Facebook. Thank you!

Monday With Maria DIY: Tank Top

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If you haven’t checked out Pinterest, you must! It’s awesome! This week’s post is inspired by the picture above. Now my shirt doesn’t look quiet as fabulous but I figure it would with practice.

I am using one of my boyfriend’s old T-shirts and a ribbon that was laying around my house. That’s really all you need!

If you outline your shirt, it makes cutting it easier.

I love DIY projects that are simple and easy. This shirt was both. Sorry I’ve been so MIA these past few weeks, I have been super busy with work and school. But I promise no more excuses :)

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Monday With Maria DIY: Wedding!

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I know I missed my weekly DIY post last week, but it was because my big sister was got married! The wedding was in North Carolina and everything was absolutely wonderful.

Weddings can be so extremely expensive. However, with my DIY state of mind, my family and I managed to do a lot of projects ourselves. This way, my sister could have exactly what she wanted and we saved some big bucks!

Here are some pictures of the items that were DIY:

Here is the card basket. The colors for the wedding were shades of navy and royal blue. We had this basket sitting in our attic, so I just wrapped some ribbon around it and made a pretty bow for the side.

The next challenge was the Matron of Honor’s bouquet. It sounds complicated to do, but it was very simple. We used mostly silk flowers for the wedding because real flowers do cost a lot of money.

All you have to do is arrange the flowers in the order you think is best, secure with floral tape, and wrap some pretty ribbon around it.

This turned out to be so pretty!

My next project was a boutonniere. Just like the bouquet, arrange the flowers in whatever order you like, add some greenery and babies breathe, and secure with floral tape. Then just make sure you have a pin to secure.

The programs were done by my father. He designed them and printed them off.This saved the cost of just sending it to a printing company to decide the layout, ect. This way we knew exactly how it looked before the big day and we knew that nothing would be spelled wrong.

The last thing that I did was the bridesmaid’s jewelry. My sister wanted us all to look uniform and instead of trying  to go out and find something that every girl liked, I just decided to make them!

We did a bracelet and earrings. You could make necklaces, or anything you want but because our dresses had ruffles around the neck, we figured a bracelet and earrings would look best.

Even though the DIY projects I did were small, we did do a lot of other things that were DIY. I, however, didn’t get to take many pictures because we were so busy.

To help bring down the cost of food, my mother bought a lot of the food herself. This way she knew it wasn’t gross (lol) and that we didn’t get overcharged by the caterer. We also had all the decorations for the centerpieces at home.

All these things could add up in a wedding, if you just have to pay for it all. DIY weddings are so great because you know what you’re getting and you’re not surprised if something comes back wrong or just not the way you wanted it.

Congratulation Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sullivan!

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Monday with Maria DIY: Braided Shirt

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My new obsession is Pinterest. If you haven’t heard about it, you need to go check it out! I found this while searching DIY projects. It was originally posted by Welcome to the gOOD life. It’s this amazingly cute braided shirt. So many times I go into my closet and find things that I don’t use anymore. One of my new years resolutions is to revamp old clothing instead of just giving it away and buying new clothes.

I found an old blue shirt in my give-away pile that I wanted to try this style on. It was extremely simple and took no time at all.

The supplies you need are:

A shirt (crew or V-neck)

Scissors

Sewing or fabric glue

Something to hold onto fabric while you braid it (safety pin or clip)

I am using a regular crew cut t-shirt. It would make it easier to just use a V-neck. However, if you don’t have an extra one laying around, you can make a V-neck like I did.

 You just fold the shirt in half and cut directly down. You can cut however low you want. Then cut outward toward the neckline to open it up.

Then cut the bottom off of the shirt to make the braid.

 Then cut the bottom half of the shirt into three peices and secure.

Then secure the braid on the shirt with fabric glue or you can sew it on, which ever one works for you.

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Homemade Lip Exfoliant

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I know Maria is usually the DIYer, but I saw this adorable idea on Pinterest and had to try it out! I also had a Bridal Shower to go to and I figured it’d be a cute gift! So I made it–and then tried it out, and then wrapped it up all nice. Voila!

1 part Brown Sugar

1 part Olive Oil

1 part Honey

Mix and enjoy! Although I added more brown sugar and if I had to redo the recipe, I’d add a little less olive oil.

For the container, I used an empty ELF Nail Polish Remover (obviously sanitized) holder. I was/am pretty proud of myself.

Monday with Maria DIY: Make-up Brush Cleanser

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The biggest staple of a make-up collection for a girl are her brushes. Even if you’re not a “beauty guru,” brushes are a must. Think of it this way, it’s like telling Picasso to paint a great work of art with a kindergartners paint brush.

Brush cleansers can run anywhere from $13-$50 depending on the brand. Today I will show you how to make your own make-up brush cleanser. Now you may not think that you need it, but it is actually really gross how much dirt and bacteria are in your make-up brushes.

These are the supplies you need:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: the soap will dry out the brushes by itself, the oil will allow the moisture to be restored in the brushes

Any antibacterial soap: this is to kill any bacteria on the brushes

This is the brush I use the most. It is the e.l.f. professional Total Face Brush. I use it for my powder as well as bronzer. It is a fantastic brush!

First put the antibacterial soap on a plate.

Then add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Start swirling the brush around in the soap and oil mixture. Sadly, the discoloration isn’t from the brown brush, but rather the dirt and caked in make-up. Gross!

Then rinse!

When you leave it to dry, hang it upside down. You don’t want any water getting into the shaft of the brush because it will cause the glue to loosen and the hairs to fall out.

When you use your make-up brushes, which I do every day, the make-up and bacteria from the day before is re-applied  to your face over and over again.

With the New Year just starting it’s good to start fresh with some clean brushes and a clean face!

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