Vkall

Valerie Frances Kall

25 Handmade Gifts Under $5. If your gift list is long and your budget is small.

DIY! 7 new stylish ways to de-clutter your beauty closet. Popsicles! Not to sound full of myself, but I’m pretty sure this is the be all, end all of popsicle roundups.

There’s a little something for everyone: the foodies, the purists, the ones who prefer frozen yogurt, the ones who prefer a little alcohol, everyone. Tweny-five options to be exact. The post I did last summer on the cold guys was one of DC’s most viewed ever, so I thought you’d all be up for another round – was I right? Click on the photo to be taken to the recipe. All photos and recipes copyright of their respective source unless otherwise noted. How to do a faux bob. Sponsored Holy hot rollers!

I’ve been poking around our Toronto LG Fashion Week Flickr feed—which you may both have a gander at as well as use on your own site—and discovered the most gorgeous, glamorous faux bob hairstyles at the Rachel Mara show last night. And THEN, in what can only be called beauty synchronicity, I realized that Freida Pinto and Hilary Swank both wore a version of this look at the London Film Festival on Monday night.

I love when that happens, because when celebs wear what’s on the runway, it means we’re dealing with an actual, honest-to-goodness Real Trend. Here’s the runway version: The Simple Gibson Tuck @ @ Sara Lynn Paige PhotographySara Lynn Paige Photography. I’ve received a lot of compliments on this easy rendition of the once popular Edwardian hairstyle, and I keep thinking to myself that Victorian is in right now and I should share this simple style. Paperweight Granny African Flower. [Update April 13, 2012: I made a purse out of this motifs, tutorial is here.]

[Update August 11, 2011: Thanks to Mia again for providing more information to answer some questions at the comment section. Please find the information of the type of yarn, hook size and the resulting flower size at the pattern section.] This is the first time I come across African Flower… well, accurately speaking, this is the first time I know that this crochet block is “African Flower”. Just like Granny Square, African Flower is a crochet block but in hexagonal shape, it can be joined next to each other to become a bigger piece and make into blanket, afghan, shawl, bag, table runner, cushion cover, soccer ball toy, coaster, pincushion, dress etc…. you name it! I am putting this into my to-do list Get the step by step photo and written crochet pattern after this jump. Nutty Irishman Cupcakes. Wine Cork Crafts and Wine Cork Projects - 30 Ways to Reuse Wine Corks.

Echo House: A Breathtaking Interior Design. It is time for yet another home that left us speechless as we were checking out its diverse and breathtaking interior design.

“Echo House” comes from Kariouk Associates and is located in Ottawa, Canada. The architecture team’s challenge was to make a renovation of a 1924 Victorian building and integrate it in its environment. The exterior can remind one of two blended cubes, which makes for an original design. But to be honest, we took a strong liking in the home’s interior arrangements, as we noticed they are full of pleasant surprises. Books were an important factor that “modeled” the design. Sugar Plum: Belgian Raspberry Brownies with Truffle Ganache. Chocolate kiwi popsicles in Desserts recipes.

DIY Designer Inspired Bracelet Party – Hex Nut Bracelet. I have no idea how we got this party started lol.

I’m pretty sure it’s all Trina’s fault when she tweeted a link to a curb chain bracelet and 5 other bloggers, including myself, knew exactly what she was up to. Since then, if you follow me on Twitter, you may have caught me tweeting with my buds and swapping ideas about DIY designer inspired bracelets. We were all so inspired that we decided to make bracelets and post all of our designs on the same day at each of our blogs – welcome to our bracelet party! I chose to make a Giles & Brother braided hex nut bracelet “look for so much less”. The real retails anywhere between $175-$250, but I put mine together for under $35!

The Breakdown. DIY: Banana Republic Braided Neck Tee Shirt. Lace Stenciled Framed Song Lyrics! (+our wedding music) If you’ve been following my blog, you know how I made 60 of these painted frames with song lyrics for our wedding decorations /favors… Well, a lot of wedding guests loved them and took one home, but we had a ton left at the end of the night, which we boxed back up and took home with us… So we now have 30 of them hanging on our big white living room wall!

DIY Hand Stitching, part 1. One of my favorite crafts is hand stitching-- it's fun, addictive, expressive and relaxing :) Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share easy ways to make your own patterns for hand stitching along with some tips and ideas :) These are some samples of my past projects-- I like to draw patterns freehand and use my handwriting.

However, sometimes I adapt clipart type images to make a more complicated pattern, like the sewing machine or I just stitch the outline of an image I love, like the Goonies "Hey You Guys" silhouette :) I use a Back Stitch for all my hand stitching because it's very versatile and I like the look but you can use any combination of stitches for your projects... there's lots of fun ones! Today, we're going to start with handwriting & transferring your pattern :) 13 Super Secret Stair Storage Ideas. Apple Pies. Bag It. Bottles Full of Light.

Homemade Skinny Chocolate Cake. Be still my chocolate loving heart, a moist chocolate cake made from scratch with only three tablespoons of oil in the entire cake!

Top this with some chocolate syrup and fresh raspberries and oh my, what a chocolate dessert! I've been experimenting making a cake from scratch with less fat for a few days now and after a few rounds I finally got it to where my taste testers (aka husband and friends) all thought it was great and couldn't believe it was light. My secret? There's pudding, yogurt and applesauce in the mix! This recipe was created for those of you who like to make their cakes from scratch, but if you prefer a quicker method by using a box cake mix as an ingredient, see my Super Moist Low Fat Chocolate Cupcake recipe.

This cake rises beautifully and the coffee brings out the flavor of the chocolate. Molten chocolate cakes with raspberry coulis. Welcome Stumblers - Glad to have you here!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider subscribing to my RSS and/or following me on twitter to receive other recipes. Braided jersey scarf. December 15th, 2011 So I am really enjoying wearing scarfs this year. I saw a tutorial at Put Up Your Dukes for this braided scarf and pinned it a while back waiting for a time to make it. Well last night I finally got around to making it! I follow the tutorial at Put Up Your Dukes with only a few changes….mainly I used pieces I had (salvage bin at Joann’s is a great place to find cheap material for projects where you only need a little bit!) And so mine was a little longer and not as wide. Forgive the pictures, mirror shots are always adorable, right?? EDDIE ROSS - Pink Ombre Cake.

Here's a cake sure to sweeten up the Valentines in your life. Pick up three boxes of your favorite white cake mix—or work from scratch if you have the time—along with a bottle of Wilton's Icing Color in petal pink. Split each box into two batches for a total of six, then add increasing amounts of dye little by little until you achieve the ombre effect.

Pearltrees videos

Getting started.