Confession

 Last week while home I made candles with my mom! She read my post here about recycling candles and started saving all hers so we could do it together! It's super awesome to have someone read your blog and then want to recreate something you posted, even if it is only your mommy. :)

 We made eight or nine candles in pretty jars she had and I did one in a beautiful antique China tea cup she gave me for Christmas. FINALLY I succeed in my longstanding dream of making my own teacup candle! Most people my age would say this ironically, but just to be clear I am serious here. My crafting dreams are never to be made light of.

Anyways they turned out pretty and we infused them with blood orange essential oils (I'm counting each sniff as one of my five-a-day...) but we had the same problem I had last time where the wax formed a little valley in the middle as it was drying (not on the teacup but the other ones). We even waited til they were partly dried and poured more over the top but the candles weren't having any of it. Any candle-makers out there? How can I fix this problem??

***

Now. confession time. Things are about to get real on Pearlswirl Journals...

I spent eleven hours in the library today. ELEVEN. Let me put that into terms that those of you lucky enough not to be there might understand. I walked into the library at noon. Sat down at a desk. Logged onto the computer. Pulled out my notebook and my doodle-drawing pencil. STAYED THERE FOR ELEVEN HOURS. And left at eleven pm. 

Now many people [biology students, no doubt, and others who do 'real' science] would laugh this off like it's no big deal, 'haha, only eleven hours working in one day, you're so mediocre!' To them I say, 'shut up'. I have been working on this for weeks. It would have taken less time to finish today had I not had a genius lightbulb moment around Hour 4. But so there you go. My data assignment is beautiful, complete, and should preferably be gold-plated. 

But now the real confession: upon finishing working, what did i do? I came home, sat on my floor, lit all my candles around me, and attempted to destress by meditating. I kid you not. Sat on the carpet, in the dark, surrounded by fire, attempting to clear my brain of all thoughts. So naturally all I could think about was, 'i must take photos and put this on my blog!' How sad is that?! HAHA. I fail big time at meditation.

 

And then to top things off I realized that 6 open flames on the floor in a cluttered and dusty apartment probably constitutes a pretty big fire hazard. So I blew them out and now I'm here.

 

The end

xoxo

Beschäftigt But Fun.

Oh, so it seems I've been quietly neglecting my little bloggy for a couple days, but in reality I've just been a bit beschäftigt. This word is German for 'busy' or 'preoccupied'. In my opinion, the two puny English syllables in 'busy' just don't cut it. The German is much more fitting for the state of having 50 boring things on your to-do list but only enough time to complete 5 of them. How do you prioritize? Seems to me, the easiest thing to do... is to sit down with a cup of tea, and watch an episode of New Girl. Now, normally, this is my routine. No problem here. Last week was spent in exactly such a way.

But, these last couple days were a bit different because I was lucky enough to go visit my parents in Germany and some truly wonderful and incredible friends who were in town for just two wee days, and the incredible Katelyn who will soon be moving away... sniff [I also needed to fill out some important bank paperwork and have a dentist appointment, but whatevs.] Thus, during this time, I was not beschäftigt with the normal tasks, but rather beschäftigt with relaxing. For which I will revert back to the less harsh-sounding 'busy'.

Basically, folks, I been lazy. I also done got pink eye (conjunctivitis), then some form of sinusitis/laryngitis/whatever-itis. My flight connection was through Amsterdam and I was sort of afraid my small bloodshot pink eyes might be mistaken for someone having too much fun in Amsty and trying to sneak through security, but I guess they're used to such sites cause it didn't faze them! :) 2012 has not been the year of my good health so far, but I've decided that will change in March. It's Vitamin C time!

Anyways, now you've read my novel, I reward you with pictures.  

I rekindled my romance with this flufflball this weekend.

        "Are you my friend?"        "I'll let the sniff test be the judge of that."          "Oh. I'm afraid you failed."

Just like old times. Actually she and I had quite the little lovefest going on! :)

I baked Valentine's fairy cakes, and stuck to my Vitamin Resolution.

 My friend Harri and I made these chocolate cake balls again but this time put the Oreo cream filling to good use! Those are cookie crumbs and whole cloves for his appendages. [I know how ridiculous he is but he's too cute not to share...]

 Some supreme lovelies from high school. 

And... it's been a good month for being featured in Etsy treasuries too! I added arrows to make my items clearly visible but I don't think it helped...

                          Brown Sugar Blueberry                        Rising Sun

                                    Venetian Blues                                    Rusticly Rustic

I also found this link to a lampshade tutorial I made and completely forgot about way back when! I don't think I ever blogged about it here on Pearlswirl Journals, so if you're interested in the tutorial or where I used to work, go take a look!

Two beschäftigt and busy weeks these have indeed been. But I do love it that way. 

xoxo

Refashion

 Last week I got a crafty craving and decided to transform something I already had. I took an old turtleneck (I'm ashamed I even had this in my closet in the first place) and made it more interesting with 4 key ingredients and tools: scissors, bleach, fabric paint, and sewing machine!

I started by dipping it unevenly into a bucket with 10 parts hot water to 1 part bleach. It turned pink almost instantly- much faster than I expected. It's also more pink than I anticipated. I was going for more of a corally orange (which I would have preferred), but I'm not the boss of bleach. So pink it is! 

After bleaching, I soaked it in lukewarm water with a bunch of salt to help remove the excess bleach from the fabric. I did a final warm rinse and let it dry overnight. 

The good thing about stretch jersey is that, not only does it not fray, but it rolls nicely and forms a really pretty edge if you cut it across the weave. After bleaching, I cut a boatneck and removed the bottom seam. I kept the turtleneck excess fabric to sew up into a little front chest pocket.

As a last step, I painted a motif on the front using Dylon fabric paint. I cut my patterns out of clear contact paper, positioned them where I wanted on the front and back of the top, and sponged the paint on. This paint looks and feels really professional- once it's dry you iron it on low to heat set it, then you wash it and it feels soft like something you would buy in a store! 

I love it now! Much more my style, and the bleach made it soo soft (I guess because it technically destroys the fibers?). I can see myself living in it for a couple months. SUCCESS!!

Oreo Cake Balls

Or, How To Gain Twelve Pounds in One Day.

 

 Holy mama, these are good. The recipe is based on this one. Don't you love how on the Kraft website they present them on a fancy plate like they're fancy expensive chocolates. These are made with OREOS and CREAM CHEESE, people. Not that that's a problem for me. But let's call a spade a spade. These ain't no classy eats.

I used:

*18 Oreo cookies, cream filling scooped out 

*5 Chocolate bourbon cookies, cream filling again scooped out

* 1/3 pack (about 3 ounces) of Philadelphia (or generic equivalent :) cream cheese

*1 tablet dark (70% minimum) baker's chocolate

*Optional girly sprinkles

Crush the cookies til they're a very fine powder. A mortar and pestle would be ideal but I happened to be having a very frustrating conversation with my roommate about how wealth has NOT trickled down and why can't rich people be decent and we're all humans and should all share the wealth and love and all pay our taxes, etc etc. and I took my frustration at the world out on them cookies til they were ground to a pulp. (Just to be clear, we were not arguing; we were in agreement.)

Stir in the cream cheese. Doing it with clean hands is probably the easiest way.

Once you get an even creamy consistency, roll the cream into bite-size balls and let sit on a sheet of wax paper. Throw them in the freezer for about 20 minutes so they harden.

During this time, melt down the chocolate using a double boiler on medium heat.

Pour the liquid chocolate onto a flat plate and roll the cookie balls around til they're totally dunked. Replace them on their wax paper. 

If you desire sprinkles (or leftover cookie crumbs), make sure you're working in a warm environment so the chocolate stays gooey enough to stick to the sprinkles. 

Cover the wee cake balls and let them sit in the fridge overnight (or at least for an hour).

Devour your Oreo cake balls, or, if you know what's good for you, take them to a Create Society meeting and sit on the opposite side of the room from them.

xoxo

Ode to a Skirt

You're stretchy and so soft, and you give a bit of curve (kind of),

Please don't ever leave me; won't you be my lurve?

You're comfy and delightful and pleasant to the touch,

When I rubbed you on my face in public, people guessed as much. 

I sewed you with love on my little machine,

But didn't realize you need a hand-wash only clean.

So please, dear skirt of mine, stay true,

Let neither dirt nor stains touch you.

   

  I have a skirt that's this shape from H&M in a stripey cotton that I practically live in. It's soo comfortable and easy to throw on. I was thinking about replicating it for a long time but never settled on an idea. Then, a combination of finding this great tutorial from Cotton & Curls, inspiration from here, and gift certificates to this store (do my ever-loving people know me or what?) happened and my lovely crushed-velvet skirt was born! I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon making this, drinking tea, and watching Yes Man (very inspiring), then wore it out for (now weekly) salsa dancing and a Latin club. Perfect day. I will honestly report back that it rode up a little too high at times to be a repeat salsa skirt. The room was dark. These things happen. But I think from now on it might just accompany me to more sedentary activities. Don't tell it.

I never hated the buttery yellow of my walls as much as I do now. Next time I'll go outside with a friend and try to take better pictures. The color is a rich jewel-tone blueish green and these pictures do not do it justice!

I got a huge fabric haul all at once, so I'm now fueled for weeks of sewing! And I signed up for a free trial of Love Film (the British Netflix) so I don't see much schoolwork happening over here any time soon... but surely I should get credit for writing that poem?

xoxo

Nostalgia

 I came across these photos from NYC on my phone the other day and remembered that I never uploaded them! So now I'm taking a mental trip back to that awesome city and that awesome vacation... Of course my camera battery ran out almost as soon as we got onto the Brooklyn Bridge to observe the skyline, i.e. THE reason why people go to New York. At least I got a few.

 

Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn. 

 Some might know that Davide is currently in Shanghai and will be for the next six months studying at a Chinese language school and working and just generally being super awesome. I'm so happy for him but also missing him beyond words. I know for some it's not that long apart-- even for us, since we haven't lived in the same country for 1.5 years! But the combination of him being so far away, and the time difference, and the bad internet connections, etc, etc. is just a lot. I miss him!!!! I am generally the anti-cheese (in the sense of romantic, cheesy mushiness), so for me to be publishing these thoughts online is a big deal. (I will probably cringe tomorrow when I re-read this in a less emotional mood.)

I will be lucky enough to visit him there in April (!!!) and I know it will be an unforgettable experience but until then I'll have to satisfy my sadness with these pictures...

***

On less of a downer note, I'm really getting back into sewing these days. My inspiration is back for sewing garments! I just finished a tee-shirt refashion and will show that as soon as I can get decent pictures! :)