DIY Wrap Star

via Camille Styles

Materials

• 8 ft piece of 1×2 lumber, cut in half (this can be done for you at any home improvement store)
• 9 curtain rods
• spray paint
• ruler
• pencil
• drill
• level
• screws
• wall anchor

Instructions

1. Spray paint 1×2 lumber pieces and let dry.
2. Using the ruler and a pencil, mark every 5 inches down the length of the wooden pieces.
3. Use drill to attach curtain rod hooks on pencil marks.
4. Measure desired distance between both wooden pieces on the wall (about 3 ft apart), then level and secure to wall by drilling screws into anchors.
5. Slide wrapping paper rolls onto rods, and place into rack.

Indefinite Scallions

Did you know how simple it was to re-grow your own scallions?  Well I didn’t, until now.  I came across this easy peasy tid bit at Homemade Serenity‘s blog and scallions will never be the same again.

The next time you buy green onions (which I will be doing today because not only are they delicious but look how pretty!) just don’t throw away the white ends.  Simply submerge them in a glass of water and place them in a sunny window.  Ta da!

The onions will begin to grow almost immediately and can be harvested almost indefinitely!  

Tips

• Periodically (every 3-4 days) change the water in the container.
• While you are rinsing the container rinse your onions under the running water. Loosen the roots slightly so that clean water can get through (careful not to rip the roots).
• Do not over fill the container. You want to cover the roots and most of the white part, not the green!
• Be sure they are getting enough sunshine!
• Just snip the green as needed and they will keep growing.  If your onions are growing faster than you are using them just chop them up and freeze them to use as needed.

Laundry Fun

via Hello Brit

Let’s face it, not many people actually like doing laundry but unless you’re a Jersey Shore cast member odds are that you have to do it. Even if you’re good at passing this chore off to someone else you might now think twice just for a chance to play with these snazzy (geek alert) gadgets and accessories.  

1. Tree Clothesline
2. The Laundry Pod
3. Laundry Art
4. Ruffle Laundry Bag
5. FlipFOLD Laundry Folder
6. UnHampered
7. Nellie’s Dryer Balls & Fragrance Stick Set
8. Gal Pal Deodorant Removers
9. FreshCloz Garment Deodorizer
10. Sparrow Clothespins
11. Graphic Washing Bin
12. The Ultimate Drying Rack (il Lenzuoliere)

How do you add fun to your chores?  Do you pass them off or buy things to make you happy whilst doing them?

DIY Inspiration Board

via Live Creating Yourself

Materials

• 1 oversized cork board
• 1.5 yards of duct cloth 
• 6 packs of upholstery nailhead pins
• 1 can of spray adhesive for fabric
• 10-20 mini nails (or a staple gun)

First step… Iron, iron, iron!

• Spray the adhesive all over the board, excluding the frame, and lay the fabric on it flat, as best as you can
• Use gloves! (because the adhesive will soak through the fabric as you flatten it)
• Spray outdoors.  Not only is the adhesive stinky but it’s super hazardous to your health
• To secure the edges of the fabric to the back of the board, use small nails to pin it in place (a staple gun will work best if you have one already lying around)
• Begin inserting the nailhead pins along the edge of the cork.  You shouldn’t need a hammer for this and you can space the pins as you like.

Et voila!  A stylish and super easy over sized inspiration board to pin all your favorite photos!

Centerpiece

via Camille Styles

A simple yet beautiful centerpiece of Paperwhites that is so easy, even black thumbs can do it!

Materials

• Paperwhite bulbs (they can be stored in a dark place for up to 6 weeks)
• Wide container with low sides
• Stones or beach glass

Instructions

1. Spread a 2″ layer of stones in the bottom of your container
2. Place a layer of Paperwhite bulbs very closely next to each other, root end down
3. Add a layer of stones around the bulbs to stabilize them, leaving the tops of the bulbs exposed
4. Add water until it reaches the base of the bulbs, and set the container in a spot that does not get direct sunlight
5. Watch them carefully, and add water every time the level gets 1″ below the surface
6. After a few days, the bulbs should be sprouting green
7. At this point, move them to a sunny spot and change your watering routine with the secret ingredient for preventing the Paperwhites from toppling over…
8. Hard liquor.  Ta Da!  Using a tiny bit will stunt the growth of the Paperwhites just enough so that they don’t get too tall and fall over (It does not interfere with their big beautiful blooms!) 
9. In order to determine the amount of liquor (vodka, tequila, whiskey, etc.) you’ll need to use, check the bottle for the percentage of alcohol, then mix with water according to the following chart:

• 20% Alcohol = 3 Parts Water to 1 Part Alcohol
• 25% Alcohol = 4 Parts Water to 1 Part Alcohol
• 30% Alcohol = 5 Parts Water to 1 Part Alcohol
• 35% Alcohol = 6 Parts Water to 1 Part Alcohol
• 40% Alcohol = 7 Parts Water to 1 Part Alcohol

What are your favorite tips for successfully growing bulbs indoors?

Sweet Tea Cocktail

via Camille Styles

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz sweet tea vodka 
• 2 blackberries
• 4 mint leaves
• ½ oz simple syrup
• champagne

Instructions 

Muddle blackberries and mint with simple syrup. Add sweet tea vodka and shake. Strain into champagne flute and top with champagne. Garnish with either a mint leaf or blackberry.

101 Most Useful Websites

via  Digital Inspiration

 

101 Sites that solve at least one problem really well and all have simple web addresses (URLs) that you can easily learn by heart, saving yourself an extra trip to Google.

01. screenr.com – record movies of your desktop and send them straight to YouTube. 
02. bounceapp.com – for capturing full length screenshots of web pages. 
03. goo.gl – shorten long URLs and convert URLs into QR codes. 
04. untiny.me – find the original URLs that’s hiding behind a short URLs. 
05. qClock – find the local time of a city using a Google Map. 
06. copypastecharacter.com – copy special characters that aren’t on your keyboard. 
07. postpost.com – a better search engine for twitter. 
08. lovelycharts.com – create flowcharts, network diagrams, sitemaps, etc. 
09. iconfinder.com – the best place to find icons of all sizes. 
10. office.com – download templates, clipart and images for your Office documents. 
11. followupthen.com – the easiest way to setup email reminders.
12. jotti.org – scan any suspicious file or email attachment for viruses.
13. wolframalpha.com – gets answers directly without searching  – see more wolfram tips.
14. printwhatyoulike.com – print web pages without the clutter.
15. joliprint.com – reformats news articles and blog content as a newspaper.
16. ctrql.org – a search engine for RSS feeds.
17. e.ggtimer.com – a simple online timer for your daily needs.
18. coralcdn.org – if a site is down due to heavy traffic, try accessing it through coral CDN.
19. random.org – pick random numbers, flip coins, and more.
20. pdfescape.com – lets you can quickly edit PDFs in the browser itself.
21. viewer.zoho.com – Preview PDFs and Presentations directly in the browser.
22. tubemogul.com – simultaneously upload videos to YouTube and other video sites.
23. dabbleboard.com – your virtual whiteboard.
24. scr.im – share you email address online without worrying about spam.
25. spypig.com – now get read receipts for your email.
26. sizeasy.com – visualize and compare the size of any product.
27. myfonts.com/WhatTheFont – quickly determine the font name from an image.
28. google.com/webfonts – a good collection of open source fonts.
29. regex.info – find data hidden in your photographs – see more EXIF tools.
30. livestream.com – broadcast events live over the web, including your desktop screen.
31. iwantmyname.com – helps you search domains across all TLDs.
32. homestyler.com – design from scratch or re-model your home in 3d.
33. join.me – share you screen with anyone over the web.
34. onlineocr.net – recognize text from scanned PDFs – see other OCR tools.
35. flightstats.com – Track flight status at airports worldwide.
36. wetransfer.com – for sharing really big files online.
37. pastebin.com – a temporary online clipboard for your text and code snippets.
38. polishmywriting.com – check your writing for spelling or grammatical errors.
39. marker.to – easily highlight the important parts of a web page for sharing.
40. typewith.me – work on the same document with multiple people.
41. whichdateworks.com – planning an event? find a date that works for all.
42. everytimezone.com – a less confusing view of the world time zones.
43. gtmetrix.com – the perfect tool for measuring your site performance online.
44. noteflight.com – print music sheets, write your own music online (review).
45. imo.im – chat with your buddies on Skype, Facebook, Google Talk, etc. from one place.
46. translate.google.com – translate web pages, PDFs and Office documents.
47. kleki.com – create paintings and sketches with a wide variety of brushes.
48. similarsites.com – discover new sites that are similar to what you like already.
49. wordle.net – quick summarize long pieces of text with tag clouds.
50. bubbl.us – create mind-maps, brainstorm ideas in the browser.
51. kuler.adobe.com – get color ideas, also extract colors from photographs.
52. liveshare.com – share your photos in an album instantly.
53. lmgtfy.com – when your friends are too lazy to use Google on their own.
54. midomi.com – when you need to find the name of a song.
55. bing.com/images – automatically find perfectly-sized wallpapers for mobiles.
56. faxzero.com – send an online fax for free – see more fax services.
57. feedmyinbox.com – get RSS feeds as an email newsletter.
58. ge.tt – quickly send a file to someone, they can even preview it before downloading.
59. pipebytes.com – transfer files of any size without uploading to a third-party server.
60. tinychat.com – setup a private chat room in micro-seconds.
61. privnote.com – create text notes that will self-destruct after being read.
62. boxoh.com – track the status of any shipment on Google Maps – alternative.
63. chipin.com – when you need to raise funds online for an event or a cause.
64. downforeveryoneorjustme.com – find if your favorite website is offline or not?
65. ewhois.com – find the other websites of a person with reverse Analytics lookup.
66. whoishostingthis.com – find the web host of any website.
67. google.com/history – found something on Google but can’t remember it now?
68. aviary.com/myna – an online audio editor that lets record, and remix audio clips online.
69. disposablewebpage.com – create a temporary web page that self-destructs.
70. urbandictionary.com – find definitions of slangs and informal words.
71. seatguru.com – consult this site before choosing a seat for your next flight.
72. sxc.hu – download stock images absolutely free.
73. zoom.it – view very high-resolution images in your browser without scrolling.
74. scribblemaps.com – create custom Google Maps easily.
75. alertful.com – quickly setup email reminders for important events.
76. encrypted.google.com – prevent your ISP and boss from reading your search queries.
77. formspring.me – you can ask or answer personal questions here.
78. sumopaint.com – an excellent layer-based online image editor.
79. snopes.com – find if that email offer you received is real or just another scam.
80. typingweb.com – master touch-typing with these practice sessions.
81. mailvu.com – send video emails to anyone using your web cam.
82. timerime.com – create timelines with audio, video and images.
83. stupeflix.com – make a movie out of your images, audio and video clips.
84. safeweb.norton.com – check the trust level of any website.
85. teuxdeux.com – a beautiful to-do app that looks like your paper dairy.
86. deadurl.com – you’ll need this when your bookmarked web pages are deleted.
87. minutes.io – quickly capture effective notes during meetings.
88. youtube.com/leanback – Watch YouTube channels in TV mode.
89. youtube.com/disco – quickly create a video playlist of your favorite artist.
90. talltweets.com – Send tweets longer than 140 characters.
91. pancake.io – create a free and simple website using your Dropbox account.
92. builtwith.com – find the technology stack of any website.
93. woorank.com – research a website from the SEO perspective.
94. mixlr.com – broadcast live audio over the web.
95. radbox.me – bookmark online videos and watch them later (review).
96. tagmydoc.com – add QR codes to your documents and presentations (review).
97. notes.io – the easiest way to write short text notes in the browser.
98. ctrlq.org/html-mail – send rich-text mails to anyone, anonymously.
99. fiverr.com – hire people to do little things for $5.
100. otixo.com – easily manage your online files on Dropbox, Google Docs, etc.
101. ifttt.com – create a connection between all your online accounts.

What are your favorite, problem solving websites?

Retro Make-up

Ten Steps to Retro

1. Start Blissful!  If you don’t already have a daily skin care routine, now is the time to start!  Every great work of art needs a proper canvas.

2. Flawless skin! Inspired by old Hollywood movie stars, even outskin tone with MAC Studio Fix Fluid. 

3. Let Secrets be Secrets.  Laura Mercier’s Secret Camouflage for under eyes and little “problems”… for extra umpth use the light side as a highlighter on the top of cheek bones, brow bones, down the bridge of the nose and center of the chin for some photo-perfect contouring. 

4. Power Puff.  Finish out the contouring by using MAC Blot Powder (“Dark” seen in photo) on cheek bones, creases of eyes, down the sides of the nose and under the jaw line. 

5. Apple Cheeks!  Right in the apple of the cheeks this blush will add a nice healthy pop of red, NARS Powder Blush in Exhibit A.

6. The Framery.  Eyebrows frame the face, just look at Hepburn or Bacall, so give them the Hollywood shape with Laura Mercier Eyebrow Pencil!

7. All about Eyes.  Keep it simple, Le Métier de Beauté in Sugar all over and Tamarack in the crease and at the lash line.  For night time add an extra application of Tamarack for very hooded eyes.

8. Play ‘em up.  Mascara, mascara, mascara… I love mascara!  Apply as many coats as needed of MAC False Lashes mascara which makes big glossy lashes that don’t smudge around the eyes yet washes off at night easily. 

9. Flirty Eyes.  This is where it gets good.  It doesn’t take much, just 5 to 7 flares per eye to fill it in but it makes all the difference especially in photographs!   

Step by Step:

1. Squeeze a TINY drop of Duo Eyelash adhesive (Use dark tone and Duo as it does not damage your natural lashes and washes off easily).
2. Using tweezers pull 1 flare and lightly dip the base end in the glue. 
3. With the tweezers holding the flared end set them on top of your eye lashes as close to the base as possible but not on the eyelid. 
4. Repeat as much as you like! 
5. Let dry for 5mins or so then apply a final layer of mascara, gently pinch the false lashes to your real ones to give a seamless illusion. 
6. Bat those babies all night.

10. Paint it RED.  What is a retro diva without red lips?!  All time classic combo.  Start on the outside of lips with Cargo Reverse Lip Liner (Use “light”), draw the shape and fill in the lips lightly with MAC Lip Liner in SPICE, then top it off for show with MAC lipstick in LADY DANGER.  

Et VOILA!

Attract

Master Binder

Meet Ashley Brown‘s “Right Hand”, her secret weapon.   A beautifully organized binder to keep a “master calendar”, to-do’s, must-do’s, grocery lists, coupons, and other important everyday information.  Basically, a conglomeration of everything you’ll need/want to be keeping track of.

This Martha Stewart binder is the perfect size to keep at your desk while small enough to throw in a bag when going out to run errands. 

Divided into five sections:

• Calendar
• Lists
• Coupons
• Wellness
• Fun

Products used in the binder as pictured:

• A 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 3-ring binder (here)
• 2 Zipper Pouches (here)
• Memo Tabs + Sticky Notes (here)
• 5 Tab Dividers (here)
• Lined Paper (here)
• 18-Month Calendar (here)
• Color-Coding Labels (here)
• A Few Paperclips (here)
• A pencil! (here)

• Personality check.  Make sure you pick out a notebook that really reflects your personality. If you like how it looks, you’ll enjoy using it and be more likely to keep it updated.
• I take that back! Especially when it comes to your calendar, make sure you jot down things in pencil (or erasable ink). 
• Keep it simple. If you’re trying hard to make your notebook “perfect”, labeling the sections can be pretty daunting.  There are so many things you can keep track of!  Just think about what’s most important to you on a day-to-day basis and go from there. Also, the broader your subjects are, the more likely you are to get good use of them.