Pink and Black Wrapping Ideas (and some sweet baby pictures!)

My mom's birthday was earlier this week, and I made her two photo canvases, one of me, one of my sister. Of course, I'd done those so long ago, my own excitement for them had passed, but wrapping was a whole different story. I had some pink wrapping paper from a package I'd sent to one of my best friends whose favorite color is pink (see picture below)

and decided I could do something really elegant with it. I used my Martha Stewart edge punch to cut out the patterned piece from construction paper, then added a thinner band next to it. On the top, I used a thick strip of white cardstock and drew polka dots along it. Finally, I cut a paper feather, twisted it slightly for depth, and taped it too the top. Definitely beat the usual bow or ribbow I think.

Then this weekend I was (very belatedly) giving my goddaughter, Sophia, the baby blanket I mentioned in my last post. So I used a similar idea to wrap her present. Not as cute, but still pretty :)

And while we're on the topic of the prettiest baby ever.... here's a few pictures I took of her today :)

Completely in love with that baby yet? She's the sweetest thing. 

I figured I'd get started by sharing a few of my recent projects (mostly Pinterest inspired but a few of my own invention). I'll do so in the form of a story (with pictures!).

I've never been any good at sewing. Instead, I considered myself a paper crafter. Nice and safe and easy. Nothing too big or adventurous. But I was intrigued by fabric and wished I knew how to manipulate it. Last summer I desperately wanted to make this turtle I pinned, but how was I supposed to do that without knowing how to sew? Somehow, I managed, and after that, I got a little obsessed with plushies.

I made several turtles,

 saw an elephant at Anthropologie and designed my own pattern based on it (I will post a tutorial/pattern soon - sorry for the poor quality picture #dormroomprobs),

made all my college friends Black Apple dolls slightly modified to have removable dresses for Christmas,

 and sewed owls for all my home friends based on one I'd seen on Flickr.

Finally, hand sewing a baby blanket for my goddaughter

led me to believe I desperately needed a machine.Hence the convenient location of Christmas for which I got the second best gift ever given to me, preceded only by my camera which is my baby: a Singer Tradition.

I ended up pulling out my messy stitches on the blanket and re-doing it on the machine this summer, in case anyone wondered.

But the first thing I tried sewing was a very simple skirt/ It was rough. The hem was all uneven and I didn't entirely know how to work the machine. As in I didn't know how at all.

Frustrated and busy with school, I didn't touch it again until this summer when it got close to my roommate's birthday. I wanted to make her a panda - her favorite animal. But the machine simply wouldn't do what I wanted and ended up sewing by hand anyway. (I will also be posting a tutorial/pattern for this silly little guy soon).

At this point I regretted getting a machine at all.

Then I saw a tutorial for a floor pillow and oh my goodness, I wanted to make one so badly. I'm constantly sitting on the floor at school because I hate chairs. Especially the ones at our desks. Unfortunately, the floor is beyond hard and uncomfortable. Against all odds and ignoring the previous attempts which had resulted only in frustration, I picked up a jelly roll at JoAnn's and started sewing.

It was a mess at first. I couldn't do anything right. But with some persistence (and loud music to sing to while no one was home), it started coming together. I got the hang of things, and now there is a huge cushy floor pillow in my room.

I think I'm more proud of the piping than I've ever been of anything I've ever made.

Just in the last few days, I made four strawberry pillows from this tutorial at The Purl Bee.

Then I entered the world of things besides quilter's cotton, and bought myself some gray knit. I made this skirt for the little girl in the family I nanny for, and am currently working on a dress for myself (if it works, a tutorial will be posted for that too!).

So, clearly, I've expanded my sewing horizons and have many of my own project ideas to try. I'm excited to share some of them with you!!

Organization Printables for College Students

I'm a little obsessed with the idea of a home organization binder. Unfortunately for me, I'm not a homeowner, and therefore most of the organization printables I can find don't really apply. I can't very well use a monthly full home deep cleaning schedule when I'm living in a shared box, communal bathrooms, and a kitchenette.

So I decided to make some printables for myself that do apply and give them away free for anyone else who might like them! I know I've forgotten about five million things but it's a start anyway. I'll add and subtract as I figure out what works for me. In the meantime, here's what I've come up with.

(*Note: They are all black and white, but I'll post a link to a PowerPoint that can be downloaded from Google Drive, and if you take that into real PowerPoint, you'll be able to change the color to whatever you would prefer.)


(**Note: Not all of my printables will be up here, but they will all be on the PowerPoint. Also, as a dance major, mine have places for rehearsals, but there is also a version with practices for those of you in sports, and if that doesn't fit either... just white it out and use it for whatever you want.)


I started out with the daily to do's. The first page has the day of the week on it, so I printed each separately, but the second I just printed out five times. Most of my pages, these especially, are in plastic sheet protectors so I can write on them with a dry erase marker and reuse them over and over instead of printing one out each day. My printing allowance isn't THAT big. Especially not as a creative writing major... we write a few papers. Just a few though.

The weekends I did slightly differently than the week, giving myself a little more leeway to relax.

 Then I added a monthly calender in front of the daily ones with a white place at the top to write in the month.

And a different sort of calender for important dates such as breaks, exams, and class registration.

Sticking with the calender theme, I made a calender for birthdays and anniversaries. For anyone looking to use the fonts I used, go to PicMonkey. I almost always used Amatic Small Caps, but Sacramento, and De Walpergen Pica are in there from time to time too.

Speaking of birthdays (aka excuses to craft because you need to give presents), I made a contact list. Places for phone numbers and emails are included, but that was mostly for looks. It was the street address I cared about for shipping purposes. I have a slight obsession with putting together packages.

Since it's so easy to lose things on a college campus, even for the most organized person, I made up some little book tags to cut out and stick inside. You could print them on sticker paper if you like, but I want mine to come out when I sell back my books so I'm sticking with tape. I also made this in a "This Belongs To" style for items other than books.

Now getting into the money, let's just say I'm pretty thrifty. I hate spending money. I prefer to hoard it. But at the same I time, I know there are things I need. So here are a couple of printables for keeping myself organized. I also included two empty sheet protectors for coupons and reciepts.

And on the topic of money, here's a mini college-style grocery list. I chose to do some of the boxes in black which might drive you crazy. Sorry. Mine was filled out on the computer with my usual items on PicMonkey. Not all of these are ever bought at once, it's more a list of ideas to keep me on track while shopping. Additional things, I will just write on a sticky note.

As far as school stuff, I made up a schedule for exams and will put my syllabuses in once they are handed out. 

And then there's just some fun stuff that I left out of the sheet protectors like pages for books I want to read, project ideas, novel ideas (for anything I'm currently working on or a new idea), and an inspiration log for whatever doesn't fit into the projects or writing categories (most likely dance or music). Since these hole punched and likely to rip, I used some black and white polka dotted washi tape along the edge to give it a little more strength. Plus it matched :)

Lastly, they aren't pictured, but I made dividers for each section, and taped a piece of folded cardstock over the edge of each one to make makeshift tabs since I didn't feel like buying any.

Without further ado, here is the link to the download and I hope these will be of use to someone!

College Organization Binder Printables

Just to Say Hello :)

So I decided last night as I found myself unable to fall asleep thinking about the strawberry pillows I was so close to finishing, that I should start blogging about all my creative undertakings. I say creative because I dabble (or train) in so many different art forms, I would have difficulty limiting my blog to one. I am and always will be a dancer first. But I am also a singer, an actress, a writer, a photographer, a crafter, a seamstress, a painter, and, most generally speaking, a person exciting about life and about making things. About making anything. I also love history and I'm convinced I was born in the wrong era - should have been an 1900's baby. Since I'm here, instead, I just pretend to be back in prettier times and wear the clothes to match.

On the more technical side of this introduction, my name is Hailey, I'm a nineteen year old college sophomore majoring in dance and creative writing. I love school, learning, and reading. Totally a goody two shoes, never miss a class, don't go to parties or drink or do drugs type. I live in the Midwest in a beach town and I take the same picture of the waves breaking every single year, always thinking it's just as cool as the last time. I have one younger sister, and the two most adorable dogs to ever grace the planet. I'm biased but it's true.

And... I'm tired and have to be at my nannying job early tomorrow morning so I'm going to bed. I'm excited to get this blog started and hope you enjoy reading it!
(Sorry for my haphazard organization - promise I won't usually be like this!)