My suitemate's and hallmate's birthdays fell over winter break, so I wanted to bake a cake for them when we returned to school. The last time I made cheesecake I was in 7th or 8th grade, so I decided it was about time to make one again!
I even had enough leftover cream cheese and graham crackers to make a second cake...
The only downside to making cheesecake is that it takes a LONG time to set. It already takes a few hours to prepare, and on top of that, it has to cool down and then rest in the fridge for another few hours. While a long process, however, I do believe the end product is well worth the effort.
Inspired by the holiday season, I also wanted to make some peppermint bark. Though I had never made it before, this treat was extremely quick and simple to prepare. I just microwaved a (large) handful of semisweet chocolate chips, spread the melted chocolate onto a foil sheet, and crushed peppermint candies to sprinkle on top. After allowing the chocolate sheet to cool in the fridge for two hours, I broke the bark into smaller pieces.
Here it is wrapped with a bar of Godiva peppermint chocolate, which I gave to my suitemate who likes peppermint.
<3 Mandy
Inspired by Rookie Mag's eyeball bows, I decided to use various sizes of plastic googly eyes and different colors of felt to make some creepily cute new jewelry. I sewed hair pins to the backs of some bows and attached safety pins to the backs of others so they could suit various uses. I may even attach one to a hairband. What I especially like about using safety pins is that I can easily pin the bows to anything I want to embellish, and if I ever decide to change my mind, they can be easily detached as well.
To make the bows, I cut little squares out of scrap felt I had.
I folded each square into a tri-fold bow shape and then sewed around the center to hold the bow in place.
Using tacky glue, I attached different sizes of googly eyes to the bows.
These are fun to make in an assortment of felt colors and googly eye sizes!
These brooches be worn with ones of other styles; I paired this bow with a felt bird I made a couple years ago. I love to mix and match!
<3 Mandy
To get into the holiday spirit, I've been cutting hundreds of paper snowflakes to hang on windows, bookshelves, and from the ceiling at school. I wanted to make some at home as well, so I made this mobile using white and pale blue paper, hemp string, and a clothes hanger.
Since the snowflakes are hanging from strings, I made each blue circle double-sided so that snowflakes can be seen on both sides of paper when the strings spin.
Here are some photos of the snowflake-cutting-and-making process.
Happy Holidays!
<3 Mandy
I recently went yarn shopping so I could begin some new knitting projects. I found a skein of teal wool yarn, which I used to make a circle scarf, and a ball of variegated self-striping multicolored (blue/orange/grey) wool and nylon yarn to make a pair of socks.
Though I had never knitted socks before, I thought it would be a fun project to try.
To make the socks, I combined instructions from both the back of the yarn package label and from watching this video. Since the instructions varied in how many stitches should be in each round, I tried doing rounds of 60 stitches but found that the sock was too loose. So I restarted with 44 stitches per round for a perfect fit.
After completing this pair of socks, I realized there was enough leftover yarn in the skein to make another pair!
My mom knitted my sister and me each a circle scarf, but I wanted to try knitting one by myself, too. The one she made for me is very colorful and voluminous, so it will keep me extra warm as the weather becomes colder. Using a thinner teal yarn, I knitted a less bulky scarf to wear when it is only slightly chilly outside yet still cold enough to need a scarf.
There are 50 stitches (2 knit, 2 purl ribbed) in every row.
What I like about circle scarves, versus classic long scarves, is that they are very easy to just throw on, and they stay bundled up to keep you warm.
Keep cozy this winter!
<3 Mandy
Sometimes an outfit needs a little something to finish it off. Sometimes it might need an extra pop of color or a piece of jewelry to make a statement and add to the look.
I decided to make a collar necklace - it can easily be added to an outfit, but it also can be effortlessly removed, rather than being permanently sewn onto a shirt.
I embellished my collar by sewing on gold tube and seed beads. There are 95 tube beads and 1 seed beads on the collar face.
To strengthen the collar, I glued and sewed another piece of felt and a patterned blue and white piece of fabric to the original piece after sewing on all of the beads.
And to finish it off, I cut and sewed a rose gold chain to the collar tips. I added a gold lobster clasp to the middle of the chain in order to make it adjustable.
I look forward to wearing this collar when I want to dress up, as well as when I just feel like wearing something I made.
<3 Mandy
