DIY Fourth of July Headband

  

Here's a quick and inexpensive DIY on how to make a festive headband for the Fourth of July!

 

 All you'll need are scissors, glue, ribbon, a pencil, and foam sheets. I chose red, white, and blue, with glitter, but you can certainly get creative!

With a pencil, draw stars (or whatever) on the back of the foam sheets. I made mine about 3 inches tall. Cut them out with scissors.

 Glue the foam to the ribbon. I put mine in an overlapping pattern. Make sure your foam is centered on your ribbon and you have enough to tie at the back of your head.

For extra stability, I sewed my stars onto the ribbon. I made my stitches small so they weren't too noticeable. Place it where you want it and tie it on! Use bobby pins if you're afraid it won't stay put, but I've been wearing mine and it hasn't caused me any problems. :)

To everyone in the USA, have a fun and safe fourth of July! I'll be back to Blogging on Thursday, if not sooner! Thanks for reading my blog!

Well this is embarrassing..

Friday night there was a huge storm that knocked out the power to our house. The power is back on now but my Internet is still out. I have a bunch of DIYs and fun art and stuff saved on my laptop and ready to show you, but I can't post it because my only Internet connection is on my phone. :-/
And tomorrow I'm leaving on a family vacation to Michigan and I won't be able to blog again until Thursday. :( I'm really really bummed that I lost a whole freakin week of blogging. umm try to use a friend's wifi today and bring you a little 4th of July DIY, but no guarantee . I haven't abandoned the BEARSHAPED blog, I promise!
I'll leave you with this picture of my cat looking sexy. Hopefully that will tide you over until my next post!! ;)

What $25 bought me at Valley Thrift.

There's really only one thrift store I go to. It's called Valley Thrift and it's in Kettering, Ohio. This thrift store has so much great stuff at awesome prices. You have to devote at least two hours to combing through it all though, but it's totally worth it. Today I stopped in, with nothing in mind really, and this is what I came home with:

 Super Size Me ($2), Knight's Tale ($2), Star Wars Trilogy Bonus Material ($5) - I'm pretty excited to watch that one.

 Warlord Comic Book, issue 69, May 1983 ($5) - A silly gift for The Mister.

 (The whole, "tacky-skulls-and-flames-and-overly-macho-with-questionably-gay-undertones-1980s-hairmetal-twisted-sister- ozzy-kiss-ridiculousness" is totally up his alley, being in a heavy metal band, and all.)

 Pyrex bowls, big one ($1), little one (69 cents), and small milk glass vase (9 cents) -being almost free, I had to buy it.

 This nifty summer purse ($3) - it's not vintage, it's ColdWater Creek, but it's vintage inspired.

 Bear Band wrapping paper (50 cents) and early 90s kitty cat wrapping paper (50 cents) - the cat one reminds me of the stickers my older sister used to have when I was little.

Yellow daisy invitaions (50 cents) and yellow birdie invitations (50 cents) - I have no idea when I'll use these or what for, but they were so cute and so dirt cheap, I got them anyway.

 Cactus string lights ($1) -the first thing I found at the thrift store. It made me laugh, so I got it.

Glass bear mug (69 cents) I thought it was cute and it has something written on it on Japanese. I'm a sucker for anything Asian. Can anyone translate this for me??

 Polaroid Land Camera - Pronto! SE (69 cents) I looked up film for it on my iPhone before I bought it. I found some on Amazon here, for $8 (which I bought when I got home.) There was another Polaroid camera there for the same price, but I looked up film for that one and it was $43! Back on the shelf it went. That's the joy (one of the many) of having a smart phone. You can see what you're getting yourself into before you buy it.

Magazines for kids (9 cents each)- I'll be teaching a kid's art class this summer at Hobby Lobby. The first two days of the class, we'll be doing collages, and I wanted the kids to have something they would like. All I have in my magazine stash is Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Whole Living.

$25 got me all this! Woo! In the afternoon, a good friend of mine came over and we made crafts and chatted about work and life and other girl stuff. My New Pyrex bows were perfect for snacks. :) What's the best deal you've ever gotten at a thrift store? Anyone have any thrifting horror stories??

Outfit Post: Strawberry Fields Forever

Hi everyone! My blog has been around a little while now and I realized I haven't done any posts about my daily outfits! Which is weird because I like to dress up whenever I get the oportunity, and now being summertime especially, I've had a lot of days off, so I've warn a lot of cute dresses lately! ;) Here's what I wore yesterday!

[my necklace got flipped around in this picture: oops!]

Strawberry dress: Mimi Chica from Marshall's // Strawberry necklace: Dot's // Metallic sandals: Target // Red Belt: Forever 21 // Red Bolero: Marshall's // Headband: Handmade by ME! (see an a post about it from my old blog, back when I had long hair!)

All photos taken by The Mister, Edited by me.

Artists I love: Gingiber

While browsing the Ruche website, I saw the January Fox print by Artists Stacie Bloomfield. I was kind of infatuated by this little fox and wanted to see more, so I googled her name and found her blog and etsy shop. Goodness, her work is beautiful! So fresh and fun and the animals are so cute! She's really talented. I mean, I can paint like a beast, but creating cute, stylized modern things like this is something I struggle with. I couldn't help myself. I had so have some of her work, so I bought a little collection of post cards for $8 in the clearance section. I'm all about supporting artists, but I'm also kind of broke. This was all I could afford, but if I had the money, I'd totally buy one of everything!

This will be arriving in my mailbox very soon! CAN'T WAIT!

 This is one of those things you pin to your board, "For the Kids I Don't Have Yet."

 WANT.

 Aren't skunks just the cutest? I love how they waddle. I want a pet one some day.

Godda include some bears in the BEARSHAPED BLOG! ;)

Really though. Check out her shop and blog, and buy some of her work if you can!

A Busy Weekend in Columbus

Sorry for slacking a little on the posting this weekend. I had a busy one. Friday I worked on getting the sign-up information set up for the art class I'll be teaching at Hobby Lobby. Then I went to work, then I packed my bags and slept. Saturday I had work early in the morning and as soon as I got home I was picked up by my sister and we went to Columbus, Ohio with a couple of her friends. We were celebrating the beginning of her new life. Newly single and just been recognized as a registered nurse! Trust me, both of those things are blessings. 

 My beautiful sister sending a few texts on our way out to dinner.  

 Nationwide arena was just down the street, so were in the Arena District, apparently.

 Really? Well I wonder what's in the salt packets.

 My sister posing with her friends as we waited for the fooood!

 Gorden Bierch Summer Brew

 One of the talented and funny pianist at the piano bar. I think her name was Lola.

 The band, "Your Villain, My Hero" at The Saloon. FYI the basist isn't naked, she's wearing booty shorts.

We arrived in Columbus and checked into our hotel, then went out to Dinner at Gordon Bierch Brewery and Restaurant. I got a wonderful veggie burger with their signature garlic fries and summer beer. Then we went to The Big Bang piano bar, which was fun, although not my personal preference for entertainment. Then we were off to The Saloon, a crazy big, dark, LOUD, crowded bar/ club thing with sticky floors and long lines to the ladies room. Where I got hit on by a middle aged bald man with one earring. And last we went to The Patio. Where I sat.

I would like to point out the fact that every last person on these bars was a skeeze ball. Ho bags and douche bags. All of them. It was shocking. My sister said, "There's not even one guy here I would want to go on a date with," and I replied, "There's not a guy here I would LET you go on a date with." Why aren't there places for girls like me to go mingle? I'm more of the quite type with a head always full of deep thoughts. I'm more like Zooey Deschanel rather than Kim Kardashian or Megan Fox. I'm a big believer in using your brain to generate thoughts and ideas, not your nether regions.  *cough cough* Moving on.

After we got back to our hotel, we each had a piece of cake and a bottle of water and went to SLEEP. It was great. In the morning we went swimming and took a soak in the hot tub. Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then we were officially homeward bound! I'm absolutely and unashamedly a homebody. All the way.

The only time I ever get bored is when I'm "partying." Please tell me there are other people out there who feel the same way!

Penne alla Norma

 This is a lovely recipe. I took a recipe from Martha Stewart and altered it a little. It took me much longer than I expected, but I imagine if I would have had things prepped and chopped before hand, it would have gone much quicker.

What you'll need:

• 1 pound box of penne rigate, but any pasta will work. I cooked the whole box but only used 3/4 of it. I set the rest aside and saved it for later.
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 medium or 3/4 of a large one, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped into small chunks
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• optional fresh basil for garnish
• optional ricotta cheese for garnish

Step one: cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.
Step two: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. (A LARGE skillet. This recipe makes a whole lot of food!) Add onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Step three: Add eggplant to skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and cook until eggplant begins to release juices, about 5 minutes. Uncover; cook, stirring, until tender, 3 to 4 minutes (if the bottom of your pan browns too much, add a few tablespoons water, and scrape with a spoon).
Step four:  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and 1/4 cup water to skillet; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.
 Step five: Add pasta to the sauce and reheat if necessary. Top each serving with a spoonful of ricotta, and garnish with fresh basil.

This is a perfect dish for summer entertaining. It's healthy and hearty. I'm a vegetarian so I really like to make hearty food like this- I'm not a "rabbit food" kinda' girl. I need to feel full and satisfied after a meal, and this pasta really does it for me! I hope you try it and I hope you like it!