Five for Friday (a day late)

I'm still trying to play catch-up this week. That's why this post is a day late! Ha. For some reason my week got really busy and I apparently lost track of time. I am not entirely sure where the week went, but you know what? That means I'm so much closer to leaving!


I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I only have a few books here with me, and I can't wait for the time when I am settled down and able to have a library again. A library with a secret door? Now that would be awesome!



This was my favorite hat from the Royal Wedding yesterday. Umm, Princess Beatrice? What were you thinking? Hello, antlers.



Starting last night, thunderstorms have been pretty much nonstop. They don't happen often in Korea and I love listening to the storm rage outside while staying dry in my apartment with no power outages...yet. I like being reminded of God's awesomeness in a thunderstorm.



Just a reminder this week to pay attention to the small things around me. It's easy to get caught up with big issues and problems and think those are the most important parts.



I'm now in love with felt. I've been working with it on some projects this week and I'm intrigued by all that can be constructed with this. Loving it.

Hope you had a great week and that you also take the time to breathe and relax a little bit.

20 in 20 project- 2 more projects

Ok, here are a couple more projects from my challenge. There are 2 more projects to finish this out and then I will be done with this!









I LOVE working with felt. I feel like it gives a vintage look to stuff, soft and still nice though. What I like about this challenge is that I have tried my best to make things I've not done before, trying new techniques, working with different mediums, etc. It's been a learning journey for sure!

20 in 20 project

So I posted day 15 at work without being able to check that I was on the right day. Haha. I've got a backlog of pictures I need to process, so I think today there will be several posts as I get work done. It's rainy today in SK and I'm recovering from my Royal Wedding party last night. It was so much fun hanging out with new and old friends. Eating too much curry, playing drinking games with the wedding coverage, and laughing at the funny hats we saw on TV. It was a good time for sure.


I started working with felt finally. It's really easy to do and I've been able to try out some new sewing techniques. Namely blanket stitching. I think I could have figured it out on my own, but luckily I didn't have to test that since the visual directions for that were on the back of the felt packets I bought.





I've made throw pillows before, but I have not done much with applique and certainly not with felt before. This pillow is just asking me to put my head down and take a little nap at my desk (I did this at work this week).

The second project you get to see here is a facinator I made in honor of the royal wedding Friday. As I mentioned above, I had a party at my place last night to watch the wedding coverage on CNN International. Part of the party was a hat competition. Well, only one lady came with a hat and as I was the host, I certainly couldn't win it! But I found an image earlier this week for a felt facinator for sale and I immediately thought, "Well, I can make that for sure!" Here's the inspiration--Lovely and here is my own version of it.

20 in 20 day 15 (considerably late)

I know I'm behind on my postings, so I'll just keep putting them up as I get the time. Schedule be damned! haha. This one was a very simple necklace. I took the sleeve of a tunic I cut up a month ago and cut it up more. Resewed it to make a long skinny tube and stuffed and knotted it to make this necklace. The post I stumbled on for this suggested stuffing it with foam balls. Well, I can't find those in Korea and wadded up paper worked just fine.

20 in 20 day 12 and 13

I think we all need to accept that you'll be getting two crafts in one day. hehe. Ok up first is a headband upcycled from the band of an old t-shirt I cut up earlier for a scarf. Simple sewing and some ironing and I can proudly show you a chic, comfy headband that cost nothing.






Today's project was supposed to be an earring holder. When I tried to punch holes through the metal with a nail and a wrench (I don't own a hammer in SK), I discovered that it took too long and hurt my hand. Plus with it being after 10pm when I started this, I got worried that my neighbors would actually bang on my door. So I switched gears and decided another ring holder was in order. I read a tutorial a couple weeks back about making a ring holder in a high heeled shoe (very clever I might add) but I had no intention of buying shoes in order to do this, nor would I sacrifice any of my own shoes.

5 for Friday

Another week is done. Yay! It's been another strange week, but I'm getting through them slowly but surely. I rode my bike to and from work 2 days this week. I may have damaged my bum in the process. It's a difficult ride to work, not so bad from work, that mostly consists of hills. Great exercise though. I also started doing sit-ups regularly. I'm doing 50 sit-ups tonight. It's invigorating to know I can do full sit-ups without dying. Slowly but surely my exercising is paying off. Today I've been monstrously hungry- I'm going to blame all the exercise I've been getting. So this week's top 5.


How delicious does this salad look? So good. I can't wait for strawberry season to really kick in here!



I thought this was cute. I can't help it that I'm a sap.



This is how I feel every time I put my earbuds in...I get to escape, if even for just a little bit, the noise and dirtiness of Korea.



I L-O-V-E this kitchen. Maybe not the stainless steel countertops or the backsplash of steel, but the cupboards and drawers? Oh yes.



"I need a space where I can go"~this is from the operetta The Secret Garden, my favorite musical production I was part of in high school. I love the songs and when I found this picture, this line of a song popped into my head. I'm doing my best to have a lovely little garden patch in my apartment, but I really want some space! Although- I do have cabbage growing now!

20 in 20 day 11

This one still needs a tiny bit of work on it. I did some iron-on on this bag, but unfortunately it didn't transfer properly. I'm going to make a few little flowers to cover it up, but I'm going to bed right now instead.

The owl was certainly more work than I had imagined!

20 in 20 day 10

I know I'm a day behind in posting. Such is life. Today's project was a cowl twisted scarf I saw on another blog Here. I think hers is way cuter than mine. I won't even consider keeping this because I can't stand cowl neck anythings. But it is helping me get rid of clothes from the massive plastic bag sitting under my sewing table, so there's that!

20 in 20 Day 9

So I came home tonight to discover Tai was stuck on my garbage can. He has this tendency lately to knock over my trash and shred it. He did it twice last week and I've been really good about remembering to put it up on my counter before I head off to work. Today I tied up the bag so I could take it downstairs with me when I left. I forgot. I didn't realize it until I was on the bus. So I figured I'd come home tonight with trash shredded all over my floor.

Surprise, surprise when I come home to see Tai laying on the floor wagging his tail with the trash can laying next to him. He had managed to catch a claw in the wire mesh and may have been stuck like that all day when I was at work. Don't worry though, I got him unstuck with no problems and he's been especially cuddly since his release. haha.

Today's project came from a website that I'm kind of obsessed with right now- Green Wedding Shoes. This boutonniere was my inspiration and I thought it looked so simple that surely I could do it. Well, I have to admit that doing this with a pair of jewelry pliers would have certainly been quicker and definitely saved me from jabbing myself with the pin a couple times and drawing blood. Now if only I wore pins.










Looking at these photos, I would like to apologize for their poor quality. It's been one of those days and I'm off to sleep early and hopefully have a better Tuesday.

20 in 20 Day 8

I did it, I made it one week into my project. It's definitely challenging me to make time every day to make something. Today I took an old headband and made a rosette for it like I see online and in shops. It's so expensive to buy them and I made mine with scrap fabric and my glue gun.

20 in 20 Day 6 and 7

I tried, I really tried to find the time last night to blog. But I was up until 12:30 on the phone and then tried for over an hour to fall asleep. Whatever, it didn't work. But here you go!

Day 6: Ring holder from half-dozen egg carton. I made this one up on my own. It didn't turn out as smoothly as I would have liked, but it works! Again, I bow down before the awesomeness that is my glue gun.









Day 7: embellished picture frame turned into a candle tray. I should have taken a picture of the tray I've been using for my candles. It's hideous. It's a monstrosity of a metal tray painted with bunnies and emblazoned with the logo of Peter Rabbit & Friends (a popular brand of kitchy things in Korea). Vomit. I like this much more though. John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara are much classier than rabbits.

Five for Friday

Woah, you're going to get two posts in one day! Woah. It's just because of this challenge I'm doing though, so don't get your hopes up on more multi-post days! The week is done, I got paid, it's pizza night and I'm going to buy a bike so I can stop losing money on the bus to and from school. I won't even get into how much money I lose because my body is hardwired to mess with electronics to my detriment and causes my bus card to be overcharged nearly every time I step on a bus. Really. Here are this week's 5 things that make me happy or have been in my thoughts a lot. It's been a long, strange week but I've managed to get through another one safely. 4.5 months and I'll be out of here though!


Ok, one of my favorite sites to browse in the afternoon at school is a wedding inspirations website. The photos on this site are incredible. This is from one of the wedding series that I love. Check out the website Here. And no, this does not mean I am wedding obsessed...yet. It took me years to get to this point and I still have to find someone who even wants to marry me now that I'm at this point. LOL.


This picture reminds me of summer as a kid. The quote? Too real to ignore. ;)


This week I had the biggest urge to take a trip to a tropical paradise. I can't afford one and I don't see myself taking one anytime soon, but how can you resist the Maldives? So lovely.


Another photo from Green Wedding Shoes...can't help it. The title of this photo is 'let's go.' I feel it is a very appropriate title.



I've been remembering my trip to Ireland a couple years back and knowing my best friend is going back there this summer makes me really jealous! Although I'll be traveling soon myself, I still kind of wish i was able to take loads of trips. I'd definitely go back to Ireland.