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    Food & DIY

    DIY Floral Coasters

    October 1, 2014

     

    Today I’m excited to bring you this floral coasters DIY tutorial. I have to admit that the reason that I decided to make these, is because I figured that if I’m going to spend money on DIY projects, I might as well make things that I already need. I’ve been meaning to make coasters for a while, but I just didn’t know what materials I wanted to use. Luckily for me, I found these metal and cork squares that were exactly the same size, on my last trip to Michaels. I decided to paint a floral design on them using acrylic paints and permanent marker, and I’m super happy with the way that they turned out. The best part is that they only took about 20 minutes to make. Keep on reading if you want to learn how to make your own!
     
    MATERIALS:
    Metal Coasters
    Cork Coasters
    Tacky Glue
    Acrylic Paints
    Paint Brushes
    Sharpie Permanent Marker
    Optional: Clear Varnish
     
    STEP 1: Use tacky glue to adhere the metal plate and the cork square together. After you do this, place the glued pieces under a heavy book for about an hour or two, in order to put some weight and pressure on the coasters. This will ensure that the two pieces don’t become unglued later on.

    STEP 2: Draw flowers on opposite corners of the metallic side of your coaster. Don’t worry about having to  be very artistic to draw this floral design–As you can see, I basically just drew a couple of squiggly shapes on each side.

     

    STEP 3: Fill in your design using acrylic paint. I would suggest adding white or black to whatever color your using, in order to make the paint more opaque. If you use certain colors, such as yellow or red, they tend to be very translucent; adding white gives these types of colors a more “matte” effect. Make sure not to layer too much paint over your design, so that you can still see the outline of the permanent marker.

     

    STEP 4: Lastly, once the acrylic paint has dried, once again trace over your original design with permanent marker. Acrylic paint and marker don’t come off very easily if you just use a wipe to clean your coasters. However, you may want to consider also adding a layer of clear varnish to make sure that your design doesn’t wash off over time.

     

     

    That’s it for this tutorial! I really hope that you enjoyed reading it, and will be inspired to create your own project.  Please let me know if you do decide to make this project by leaving me a comment, or tagging me on Instagram @sweethelengrace.  I would love to see what you come up with!
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace

     

    Outfit, Travel

    Lazy Weekend in Boyfriend Jeans

    September 15, 2014
    Photos by Sara Hatakeyama
    Outfit Details:
    H&M Tee (Old)
    Old Navy Boyfriend Jeans
    Lotta from Stockholm Peeptoe Clogs in Tan
    Straw Tote bag (Gift from my Dad from his trip to Mexico)
    This weekend, I definitely made an effort to get out of my neighborhood of Pasadena, and spent some time in other parts of town. L.A. is such a big city, that sometimes it is easy for me to get lazy and stuck in a routine, and frequent the same places week after week. But I need to remember that having access to so many cool places is why I love living here. My friend Sara and I tried to do some exploring on Saturday–I use the word “tried” because the 100 degree weather this weekend drained us of our energy before we could even accomplish much. However, we did manage to have a delicious brunch at Auntie Em’s Kitchen in Eagle Rock, and then made our way over to Highland Park for some refreshing horchata lattes at Café de Leche. Caffeinated drinks and a good meal always make for a successful outing, if you ask me!
    My outfit definitely reflected my lazy mood, in a good way. I got these boyfriend jeans from Old Navy last month, right before I embarked on my 6-month shopping cleanse, and they are super comfortable. The loose fit makes them appropriate for hot weather, since the don’t stick to your body like skinny jeans do. I’m really looking forward to transitioning these into fall and winter, because I think they will look great with oversized sweaters and coats.
    If you’re ever looking for a place to eat brunch in the L.A. area, you should definitely head over to Auntie Em’s Kitchen, which is one of my favorite spots. I wish I had taken more pictures of the place to show you how adorable it is inside. The restaurant has a very cute bakery and shop at the entrance, and I love how homey it feels.I decided to venture out and try something other than my usual order of french toast during this trip, and instead I ordered some delicious pancakes with a peach and whiskey glaze. I’m glad I did, because they were delicious! Sara ordered a Caprese sandwich, which also looked amazing.
    Café de Leche is definitely one of those coffee shops that I need to visit more often. It’s really cute inside, and it seems like a great place to read a book or spend some time studying. More importantly, they also make really delicious drinks. I usually don’t like flavored coffee drinks, but I love their iced horchata espresso. Sara got their iced horchata chai, which she said was also really good.
    I hope you enjoyed reading about my weekend adventure. I need to remember that I started this blog as a way to motivate myself to get out of the house, and not just post my outfits. I’m hoping to have more energy to run around town once this heat wave disappears.
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace
    Outfit

    Queen of the Fairies [Raina Roo Giveaway!]

    August 18, 2014
    Photos by Sarah Veyna
    Outfit Details:
    ASOS Leather Belt (Old)
    Raina Roo Queen of the Fairies Headband
    Floral Dress (Old)
    Seychelles Pumps (Old)
    Forever 21 Clutch (Old)

     

    As you can probably tell from all of my recent posts, lately I’ve been doing a whole lot of shopping in my own closet.  I’ve made a personal goal to really work on paying off my car and saving up some money in the next year, so I can’t splurge on clothes as much as I used to. Although it’s been a extremely hard to fight off the urge to indulge in some retail therapy, I’m determined to practice some self-control. As I’m working towards my goal, it really helps me that the joy of rediscovering a piece that I forgot that I had in my closet is just as satisfying as purchasing something new.
    My latest closet find was this floral sundress that I purchased a couple of years ago. Upon rediscovering this dress, it really blew my mind that I hadn’t worn it at all this summer. The cutout in the back and the breathable fabric make it perfect for the intense heat that we’re experiencing in SoCal. I decided to pair this dress with my new Queen of the Fairies headband from Raina Roo’s Etsy Shop, and it totally made me feel like a magical nymph.
    My younger sister Sarah takes most of my outfit photos for my blog, and it’s been a true bonding experience for us. Thanks to these outfit shoots, we both manage to get dressed and out of the house every weekend. This weekend we took my outfit photos by a pond at Caltech in Pasadena, and we decided to take a break by taking some nature shots. It was a good way for both of us to get some practice photographing different subjects. I can only hope that one of these days, Sarah will  finally allow me to photograph her outfits.
    Putting together this post was very exciting for me because this is actually my 50th blog entry. I started this blog a couple of months ago as a New Year’s resolution, in hopes that it would serve as a creative outlet and give me a reason to be more socially active. This blog has definitely served that purpose, and has even turned into part of my weekly self-care routine. When I’ve had a tough week and all that I want to do is lay around and watch T.V. on the weekend, it helps me to have something that motivates me to actually get out of the house. I’m also very grateful that this blog has helped me keep in touch with friends that are far away, and has even connected me to other amazing people with similar interests.
    In celebration of my 50th blog post, I’ve teamed up with Raina Roo to offer you a chance to win the two beautiful, handmade crocheted headbands pictured below. I’m very excited to collaborate with Raina Roo because I have been a huge fan of Raina’s shop for a long time, and I love that she makes beautiful handmade items that fit a variety of styles. You can enter to win some of her wonderful creations below! I will announce the winner here on September 1st.

     

    a Rafflecopter giveaway