Friday Five DIY

As a follow-up to Monday's 'Weekend Update' post, here is a round-up of the five DIY projects that added the finishing touch to the partaaay:


1) Tissue Paper Flowers

Materials:

     - Three colors of tissue paper

     - Stapler

Step 1: Stack unfolded tissue paper in the order you want the colors to be -- 5 pieces for outermost color, 4 pieces for next layer and 3 for the center of the flower.

 Step 2: Accordion fold the layered paper and staple in the middle

 Step 3: Pull apart pieces of the flower towards each other to make them look like this...Ta da!

2. Happy Birthday Flag Banner:

Step 1: Google 'Image' search for your favorite prints. For example I searched for (i) polka dots, (ii) stripes, (iii) chevron, (iv) paisley (v) floral and printed them out on a little thicker paper at work.

Step 2: Draw out a large triangle on cardboard as your stencil. Cut the triangle shape out of each printed print.

Step 3: For the letters, I printed out in Microsoft word, size 300 font. Then placed the printed out letter on top of pages of an old book and cut out the shape of the letter. Finally stapled the cut-out letter to the flag.

Step 4: Space flags out evenly along a ribbon of your choice, clothespin together and your done!

Note: I stapled the letters and clothespinned the flags in case I want to use them again.


3. Cheese 'Flags' and Wine Labels: To give the flags and wine labels a more vintage look than regular printer paper, I soaked resume paper in tea.

Step 1: Print out the names of wines and cheeses on resume paper in a pretty font in Microsoft Word or whatever program you have on your computer.

Step 2: Make a big bowl of hot tea and soak the paper for 30-45 minutes or longer if you want darker:

Step 3: With a pencil on the dried resume paper, draw out mini flags, leaving a tail on the left to wrap around a toothpick. 

Step 4: 

- Wrap flags around toothpick and use small amount of scotch tape to secure. I stuck into a wine cork but you can stick in the actual cheese itself as well. 

- Cut out wine labels in whatever shape you prefer and secure to these vintage looking bottles (Ikea - $1.50ish each).

4. Caprese Pops: (see above)
Materials:
- Cherry tomatoes
- Fresh Mozzarella
- Fresh Basil
- Toothpicks

Step 1: Cut cherry tomatoes in half and fresh mozzarella into little circles to fit. I used a little top off a water bottle to make the perfect circle. And finally top with a little cut off basil leaf and other half of the tomato.

Step 2: Put toothpick through the caprese pop to secure. 

Step 3: Display however you desire. I also placed a little tray of olive oil & aged balsamic vinegar nearby for dipping. Yum. 

5. Cake Balls: With an apartment as small as mine and minimal 'china' if you will, I knew I needed to make everything as close to one-bite as possible. Instead of making a full cake, these mini cake-balls seemed to be the best option. 

Materials needed:

- Funfetti cake mix

- Oil

- 3 eggs

- Cream cheese icing 

- Candy melts 

- Decorative icing

Step 1: Prepare cake per box instructions and let cool overnight. Next day, crumble cooled cake with a little over half the container of icing.

 Step 2: Roll mixture with your hands into equal size balls and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Step 3: Melt candy melts in large glass bowl in microwave for one minute and then in 30 second increments until completely melted. Next quickly dip and cover entire cake ball in candy melts, top with dot of icing and insert candle. This all has to be done fairly quickly because the candy hardens fast. One down, 25 to go.

Have a happy and restful Memorial Day Weekend!

xx,

Shanelé

Stripes, Knits & Pleats

Striped shirt & skirt - H&M
Crochet vest, bracelet - Forever 21
Purse - Urban Outfitters
Necklace - J. Crew
Shoes - Marc Fisher

Finally secured internet access on the train back from D.C. so apologies for the late post (and lack of post yesterday). While this skirt is strikingly similar to the one in this outfit post, I missed the return by date at H&M so am stuck with it now. Not a bad problem to have considering I've dressed it up with a silk blouse, down with a sweatshirt and mixed with stripes and crochet here for a more casual Monday work outfit.

xx,

Shanelé

Errand Attire

Sweater & Crop Top - Booth in Chinatown
Maxi skirt - Forever 21
Flats - Urban Outfitters
Belt - Bf's closet

I wore this super comfy outfit on Saturday to run loads of errands. Our long lost friend, Mr. Sunshine even decided to make an appearance and I nearly had to take the sweater off. Right before it got back down in the 60's that night / the next day. There is no way it's almost Memorial Day.

xx,

Shanelé

Weekend Update - 5/23/2011

Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was busy wrapping up lose ends for my patio get together for my dear friend, Alexa's birthday. Here are a couple pics of the final result. Hoping this week flies by before some very special Memorial Day visitors' arrival on Thursday.

xx,

Shanelé

Rachel & Blake

Attending the CW Upfront Presentations for Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie (new show this fall featuring Rachel Bilson) and others yesterday further increased my obsession with both of these lovely ladies. Pure perfection. Have a great weekend.

xx,

Shanelé

pics: The Beauty File

Back to the Basics

pics: Knight Cat, Hanneli, Vanessa Jackman, Stockholm Streets Style

I love sequins, busy prints and bright colors just as much as the next person but sometimes you just can't go wrong plain black or white tops, simple trousers or denim or a classic black blazer with low maintenance hair and makeup. These ladies seem to have it down to a science.

xx,

Shanelé 

Steak N Shrimp

A newly discovered photography favorite of mine, Steak N Shrimp is an image-based blog with a collection of images from editors Danny Miller, of the The Bear Cave, and Paul Chang. Complex Magazine recently featured Steak N Shrimp calling it "the perfect balance of pretty girls, insane photography and our favorites from the Animal Kingdom" and I concur. Happy to have a new site to add to my daily blog perusal. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Enjoy,

Shanelé

Patio Party

I'm hosting a small get together Saturday afternoon on my back 'patio' (term used loosely given it's all of ~10 sq ft.) for a friend's birthday. Below are a few photos that will serve as inspiration as I begin decorating when / if this rain ever stops.

photos: art pixie tumblr, 100 layer cake

xx,

Shanelé

Weekend Update - 5/16/2011

A low-key / rainy weekend was spent catching up on sleep and lounging at the bf's place, where I snapped some pics of his Dad's artwork around the house (more here,  here and here and a pic of the handsome devil back in the day here [left]). With nothing but rain in the forecast for the foreseeable future, hopefully these pics will brighten up your Monday. Have a good one.

xx,

Shanelé

Strong Shouldered

Trousers - Zara
Top - Unknown
Heels - Michael Kors
Clutch, earrings, ring - Forever 21
Gold watch - Vintage

As mentioned in Monday's Weekend Update post, we started Saturday at a gallery party before heading to dinner and out for the night. These trousers, seen in my first outfit post here, were a staple in my winter wardrobe and are transitioning well into spring with warmer-weather tops. I then pinned my hair to the opposite side of the one-shoulder of this top to balance out this look.

xx,

Shanelé