Saturday, April 20, 2013

Pencil Cases

We all know that amazingness of pencils and pens and all those wonderful little trinkets, right?
But since I have so many pencils and pens and I love them all so much, I am never able to take any out of my pencil case once I put them in, resulting in many broken zippers while trying to force all of those little wonders in...

So here's a pencil case that's simple and easy, but looks like a lot of work:

Chain as many as you think is right. I made mine sort of small on accident, so make sure you don't make the same mistake as me! It's okay if your pencil case is a little too big, but for it to be too small is a real problemo.

1: single crochet all the way across

2: Repeat 1

3: Repeat 1

4: Double crochet


So there you go! crochet until you think it is long enough!

You can also make this for any bag... I made a tiny one because I didn't have enough yarn, so super sorry!


(Pictures coming soon)

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Goin' Green

Hey guys! Sorry about the lackage of new posts ~ just been busy lately! But here's a post for those of you who are crazy about the earth, just like me :)

If you are someone who likes recycled plastic pens or used cardboard boxes, this is the notebook for you!
Pistachio is one of the most earth-friendly notebooks on the planet: it's printed with soy ink, 100% recycled paper, it's processed chlorine free, and the cardboard-like covers are also recycled and recyclable! How amazing, right?
These Canadian books are pretty awesome, and 100% earth friendly. I'm pretty sure even the metal used for the spiral has something good for the earth in store...

But there is a downer with these earth-friendly little packages: the price. For my 6x9 notebook, I had to pay a whoppin' $11.95.
I guess because I'm used to the cheap-o ones you get in the $ section in Target, this seems like a lto to swallow. But the pages are nice and thick, and there are a lot of them!

So I really think that this is the most amazing notebook there.

But if you haven't found this out yet, I am totally in love with writing and reading, so I am constantly looking for and buying new notebooks!

The cover ~ I added stickers and wrote on it :(

What the lines of the pages look like

The back cover

Ignore the 2nd notebook... Sorry about that -.-

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Making Puffs ~ Puff Blanket

If you look to a later post, you'll see the infamous puff blanket, which took up about half my day yesterday to make, and that was just a fourth of it.

But if you are like a me from about a year ago, whenever someone asked me how to make a puff (even then, I had this blog, but it had nothing on it :P ) I wouldn't know how to answer them. So I was super happy when my friend Chen Chen (happy birthday to her! ) told me how to make those amazin' little puffers in a matter of seconds.

So here are the instructions that I got from the birthday girl:


What you'll need:

Scissors
Yarn (and lots of it!)
   You can have many different colors and make a puff that is multicolored.


Instructions:

1. Cut off about 4 inches of yarn from your skien
2. Take the skien and wrap the yarn around your fingers, loosely
3. Cut the yarn when you think there is enough yarn
4. Take your yarn-ball off of your hand and place the 4-inch-yarn in the middle of it
5. Tie the yarn-ball with the yarn-strip
6. Cut the loops


DONE!

On reading this again, I realized just how confusing it seems. To make it easier here are some pictures. The number below them shows the step number that it is representing:


2

5

6



Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Let's Talk Love

We all know the famous and wonderful Taylor Swift, right? She pours her blonde heart out for the world to listen to. Now I know it's been a whole good part of a while since she's released her new album, Red, but I thought that it would be nice to know what you're thinkin' of this country rocker.
I just wanted to write this post because everyone I know has mixed feelings about this girl and I wanted to know if it's just me rubbing off on them or if this is the norm for all of America and possibly Europe :P

But I just wanted to ask those of you who really are in love with this girl "Why?"
I mean, she has had about a million boyfriends in the past 10 years... Now for you hardcore fans who are saying "But she only dated 5!" here's a little something: If she only dated 5 in the past 10 years, that means that every boy probably inspired her with one album apiece. That doesn't sound like a healthy relationship. And plus, why is she even dating a guy if she "Knew he was trouble"?

Anyway, sorry you had to read this little rant by me, I guess I needed to get it out of me system. I mean, only a few people can put up with their friends singing Red for hours on end at a par-tay, right?

And I mean, does this girl really know about the love she sings about in every song? Love is something that you find only once in a lifetime. And that person that you love is your soulmate. It seems as though the way Taylor dear sees it is that she has about 18 of 'em.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Goodbye Freedom :(

Well, this was wonderful... being able to post so many times a day I felt like I might be boring you (which I probably am)...
But the last break of the year is over and I still have exams to study for and things to do besides blog, sadly. So for the next 5 days, don't think I've completely disappeared from the face of the Earth. Rather, I'm stuck in school or busy swimmin' my teeny heart out!
So while I love those of you who actually take the time out of your day to read the words that I ramble on about, I have other pressing matters, and I think you'll be busy enough with your normal day stuff and the projects that I've lovingly ( :P ) given you... Hahaha, I'm kidding! Happy April Fool's Day!

Of course I'm going to blog, even if I have a project due the next day! I am so boring that I will use this blog as a way to procrastinate (don't we all?).

So until tomorrow...

Love ya!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Well, it's Spring now! The birds are chirping and the butterflies are flying! Bees are buzzing and plants are growing! So what better thing to do than make a flower pen?

Now this pen ain't gonna last a week, and it most certainly won't last forever. But, if you want a fun, springtime-y pen that will look good for two days tops, then here it is! But I must warn you, this is so simple that you might think I came up with the idea while eating Lays and watching TV (I'm not saying no).

So here's the simplicity of it:

Get a flower.
Get a pen.
Take the ink thingy from the pen.
Put the ink thingy inside the stem of the flower. TADA!

I put wrapping paper around the bottom part of the stem to make it pretty, too :)



Of course, you can do this with an artificial flower and make it last a long time... But a real flower feels happier and smells nicer :)

ENJOY!

Please Think of This:

Hey y'all, this just came into my head: copying. If you know away from my blog and Pinterest, you would know that I never think of the phrase "Copying is the best form of flattery" or something like that. No. I think that it is a stupid thing and that anyone who does it can go straight to... you know... there.
But seriously, please remember that. If you have a website or Instagram or Pinterest and you take a picture of something that you have done from my blog, please be considerate of my feelings and the amount of time I took to come up with that pattern or that idea. If you really feel like copying, go do it at school and get an F on your exams... Really, I love flattery, tell me I'm amazing, PLEASE, but don't go off and say "Oh yeah, Jim, I created this dog cape all on my own! I mean, the idea was all mine and so was the pattern!"
UGH! If you do that I will be on your doorstep with a sledgehammer. I'm not kidding...

So please take this to heart, and if you have then I love you and if you haven't I will take your heart and put it in there for you :P

Out of Halloween Candy?

I hate to break it to you hard-core Christians out there, but I only have one motive for Easter, and it isn't going to a sermon... Replenishing my candy stock! Every since January I my hidden shoebox filled with delightful goodies has been empty (mainly due to the fact that my brother knows where it is). Now, the time has come to get as many little eggies as possible to replenish and fill that 13 x 9 shoebox!

For once, I am going to tell you something that has almost (note: I did say ALMOST) nothing to do with crafting anything! It's a Grace record! Anyhoozie-moozie, if you take a 15 minute trip to Target right now, I will bet my imaginary Mercedes that they have tons of eggs, and that your familia is going to buy some (unless you are like my family and save EVERYTHIN'). But what happens to those eggs afterwards? Usually, I just put them in a bag, but never find them again. Now, though, not only am I finding them... they are helping me find other things!

Organizing isn't my forte. Neither is baking (just ask those cookies I burnt for Santa last last December... this Dec. I just decided to buy some from the almost-world-famous Sam's) or listening or printing. But with the help of the little eggies that give you candy, I finally know where all of my bobby pins are!

When you're done with egg hunting, there are probably going to be three types of eggs left:
1. Normal-sized and plain
2. Large-sized and plain
3. Strange and interesting designs

I love pastels, and since my family is big, we had enough eggs for me to be picky about the color, size, and design. I took all of the large pastel-y ones (the ones you want are highlighted in the list above). You may not be like me and want some with patterns... I just thought that they would attract way too much attention!

Well, I put stuff in the eggs and they are like my little organizing helpers! Use old egg cartons to hold a bunch together and you can have a magical, wonderful room!
(If you are using large eggs, you might not be able to put them in old cartons ~ they might not fit!)


I may have spelled "tacks" incorrectly :P

These hold my paper clips and rubber bands

Review: Restaurants

If you know me, then you will know that I live in New Orleans, a... vibrant city. But if you're gonna visit or if you're here already, here are some places that will make your standards so high that even salmon won't do:

*NOTE: The numbers have nothing to do with the rating of the restaurants... they are just a way of listing them

1. Cowbell
     You can visit this lively place at 8801 Oak Street in New Orleans, LA. Their slogan? Eat Happy. May favorite quote from them, though, is "Locally World Famous." You gotta love 'em! Their food just... It's like eating a delicious angel for lunch and dinner. When you go to Cowbell, it's like going to heaven for an hour.

2. Houston's
       This place isn't so relaxed. It's pretty intense, all fancy-like and stuff. You can reach 'em at 1755 St. Charles Ave. They have live jazz playing and while you wait (there is almost always a wait) you can watch the chefs do their magic! The food here is as good as Cowbell's, but maybe, just maybe, a teensy-tiny bit better.

3. Taqueria Corona
      Mexican food... YUM! 5932 Magazine Street is where they are, or one of their locations. This is the place that I normally go, and good God, it is GREAT (though I always order the same thing because I'm me). 



So that's all I got in me today. There are many good restaurants in New Orleans and Louisiana in general, but these are 100% my top three. I hope this has helped those of you out there who have no idea where to go because everything seems so good :)
If your opinion is different from mine and you think Reginelli's is better or Ninja is better, I'm not saying that they aren't. I'm just saying that these are my favorites and you should try 'em. I'm not saying that your thoughts are stupid or anything. 
Someone told me that I was "forcing" them to do some stuff because of my blog and they were complaining about the stuff that I said. For example the "smartish-boringish" stunt, they didn't like it because they thought that I was implying them. I wasn't... I was implying that group in general, and if you're in it, I'm sorry, but I doubt you would have a dog. Maybe a cat would better suit you...

Gettin' to Know Me

I guess with my few (what, 8?) posts, you might just barely get my drift, and my personality. So you can follow me at Pinterest.com... My name is Grace Linh* (Don't forget the *)

But really, most of the stuff that I write here is more detailed than the stuff goin' on there, but enjoy and go follow me! <3

The News

I hope you didn't think that I would give you bad news on such a wonderful day like this! The clouds are looming in the sky, all dark and depressing... The birds are nowhere to be seem... I can't find my glasses....

Really, Spring is in the air! (If you haven't yet realized, I am sarcasming right now)

Anyway, it seems that with this weather many people are coming onto this blog! Yahoo and three cheers for you ~ you probably added one more person who visited my blog with this!
But really, my amount of viewers is seriously at an all-time high, which is pretty amazing for someone who told no one about her blog-blog.

So thanks to y'all! <3