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Ridiculously Easy Hair Bows

June 30, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Happy Monday, friends! Right now I am in the process of switching posts over to the right blog (this post was originally posted to my other blog, Life Unfluffed) and basically just figuring out where I belong on this place called the Internet. So, for today’s post, I wanted to re-post this super simple tutorial on how to make ridiculously easy hair bows for those of us who are a little less crafty (I consider myself a lazy crafter, at best).

Here’s the thing. There are about a million bow tutorials on the Internet right now. I know this because I am a frequent Pinterest-er and I see tutorials pinned allllll the time.

So, how’s mine different?, you’re probably wondering.
Well-Mine is for us less crafty souls (bless our hearts!) who are against all forms of measuring and don’t want a project that’s going to take all day. We just want something that we can pound out in one episode of Gossip Girls, am I right?

If easy bows are what you’re looking for, you have come to the right place. Because, I don’t want to brag-But, easy is sort of my thang.

First, you’re going to want to collect all your materials. For this project you’ll need:

Fabric
I usually just buy fat quarters, because, let’s be honest-I don’t sew so I don’t need more than just a little fabric.
Hair Clips
Some people cover these with ribbon to make them prettier… But, no one will know the difference. Plus, this is the easy tutorial, remember?
Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks.

And that’s all. Now you’re ready to get this party started.

Step 1: Cut two pieces of fabric (straight lines aren’t THAT important). I never measure this part, but I’d guess my bigger piece is about 7 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. The second piece is probably an inch wide, and only needs to be about 2-3 inches long. I always make mine too long on accident. But whatever, that can be trimmed later.

Step two: Grab your big piece and flip it so the right side is down and so that the long side of the fabric is horizontal (hotdog). Then, take the bottom and fold it up to the middle and glue it. Once that’s done, fold the top down the that middle line and glue it as well.
Now you have a long piece of fabric with pattern all around.

Step three: Now, with the seam side up-Bring in the edges to the middle just like you did in the last step. Bring one side into the middle and glue it. Repeat for the other side. Now you should have a rectangle that is about 3(ish)inches. Now set it aside for later.

Step four: grab your small piece and lay it right side down. Follow step two to make a thin rectangle with no wrong sides showing (pattern all around). Set it aside.

Step five: Grab your little triangle again. With the side with the seam facing up, start to accordion it like you would be make a sassy paper fan. back and forth, back and forth… I can usually get about 3-5 folds in, depending on how thick the fabric is. Be sure to hold on tight as you are doing this step!

Step six: Put a dab of glue on the front of the accordion-ed bow. The side with the seam will be on the back.

Step seven: Glue the skinny rectangle (at the center) to the front of the bow. Be sure to keep pinching your bow together as you do this step.

Step eight: Trim one side of the skinny rectangle and glue it to the back of the bow. Still keep on pinching!

Step nine: Add a dab of glue on top of the piece you just glued down. Now, open your alligator clip and glue just the top part in. While the glue is still wet, wrap the remaining “skinny rectangle” down and over the top of the clip. Be sure to pull it tight so the bow will stay together. Trim off excess.

And waaaahlah. We’re done!

Now make millions of them and deck those kids in your life out.

Like this post? Be sure to pin it so your friends can pretend they’re crafty too!

Thanks for reading.

Easy Microwave Caramel Popcorn

June 29, 2014 by admin 2 Comments

Way back when my this blog was a baby (or maybe a toddler? Technically it was like a year old. Which, did you know this blog has been around since 2009? WEIRD. But, I digress.) I wrote a post about making caramel popcorn. While that post was good and all, I thought I’d repost it with some new pictures for all you newer readers out there. You can thank me later, because this easy microwave caramel popcorn will change your life forever.

This recipe is ridiculously easy. There are only four ingredients, and it tastes like Heaven!
All you need is one whole stick of butter (obviously you can tell it’s good by this alone, right?), a big ol’ bowl of air popped popcorn (I’ve been told using salted microwave popcorn works well, too!), a cup of marshmallows (plus a few extras for good measure) and a cup of brown sugar.

Really!
That’s it!
I’m not even kidding you right there.

Gathering the ingredients is the hardest part. Seriously.

Okay, so first things first! Pop a big bowl of popcorn.

While you are doing that, you can start on your caramel. Just stick your cube of butter in a bowl and microwave it for one minute.

Once the butter is all good and melty, add in a cup of brown sugar (I like to stir it in) and microwave it again for another minute.

Give that a good stir, then add in your cup (and a little bit) of marshmallows and then throw it in the microwave for another, you guessed it, minute.

At this point, it’ll look a little weird and you’ll probably wonder what the heck you’re even doing with your life. But don’t fret for too long. Because here’s where it all comes together!

Stir that microwaved concoction like your life depends on it, and it’ll turn into this beautiful ooey-gooey caramel.

Once that’s done, just pour it over your popcorn and stir it in until every piece is covered with perfection.

Let me know if you try this out! It is seriously one of my family’s favorite treats to make.

4.0 from 1 reviews

Easy Microwave Caramel Popcorn

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

Easiest caramel popcorn you will ever make

Author: Erika Senneff

Recipe type: Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients

1 stick of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of marshmallows
1 bowl of popcorn

Instructions

Pop a giant bowl of popcorn
Melt one stick of butter in the microwave for 1 minute
Add in brown sugar and microwave for another minute
Add in marshmallows and microwave for a minute
Still it all together and coat your popcorn

If you liked this post, please please please share it with your friends and/or pin it to Pinterest! Thank you so much for your support.

How to add a custom pin it button to WordPress

May 19, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

This post originally appeared on my other blog, Life Unfluffed. But, upon further review, I realized that this post about how to add a custom pin it button to your WordPress blog made a lot more sense on here than it did there. So, here we go!

There are so many tutorials out there on how to add a custom pin it button to your WordPress site. The problem is, many of them use words and phrases that only someone who knows code would probably know. So! Here I am to show you how to add a custom Pin It Button to WordPress in the easiest way possible.

If code scares you- Don’t run the other way. Because guess what? This tutorial uses absolutely no code at all. Can you even believe that? Thank you WordPress plugins!

Okay, so first things first! You are going to want to design your pin it button.
I usually make mine 100x100px. This makes a great size square that won’t take up the majority of your blog post image. I find it’s juuust the right size to catch readers’ eye, but at the same time, not be overwhelming.

Once your button is designed, be sure to delete that white background layer, so that it is clear behind your button.

Save your image as a .PNG, and you are ready to move on!

Next, login to your WordPress site and scroll down to where it says “plugins”. Hover on that, and then choose “add new”.

From there, you’ll want to search for the plugin titled “JQuery Pin It Button For Images” and then click “install”.

Once the plugin is installed, click on “Activate” to activate the plugin. I know, I know! Rocket science, right!?

From there, you will want to scroll down to where it says “Settings” and hover until you see “JQuery Pin It Button For Images”. Click on that.

The first page it’ll take you to will be the tab titled “Selection”. I usually just keep all those settings how they come, with the exception of the bottom two sections, which I check all of the boxes (you can leave any page you don’t want the button to show up on unchecked, if you’d rather, though) and set my minimum resolution to 400px by 400px (so that my pin it button doesn’t show up on my teaser posts on the bottom of my page).

After you have the selection page set up, save your changes and then click on the “Visual” tab.
For this tab, I keep all settings the same until I get down to the “use custom image” check box. This check will allow you to (can you guess!?) use a custom image as your pin it button.

So! Click that box and upload your image either from your media library, or by pasting the image link onto the appropriate line. Then, change your height to 100px and your width to 100px. You can press “refresh preview” to check out how your button will look.

After that, just change the pin it button position to where you want it (I usually choose top right) and scroll down to save your changes.

Whaaaala. You’re done.
That wasn’t too painful, right?

Now, go admire your pretty custom pin it button.

Let me know if your tried this tutorial and whether or not it worked for you. I would love to help you out, if it didn’t After all, I am The Fairy Blogmother, remember!?

The Secret to Breaking in New Shoes

May 15, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Okay, so I just want to be clear. That was a bad title. The Secret to Breaking in New Shoes…Really, Erika? I’ve reached a new low in punniness. Sorry. I really just couldn’t help myself.

So, you know when you buy new shoes (usually the cheap kind) that hurt so much to wear? They rub in all the wrong places, but you endure the pain anyway because the shoes are just so cute? You’ve been there, right?

Well, I have the “secret” to help cure all your shoe woes. Really, this tip for breaking in new shoes is magical.

Just spray some Secret deodorant on your feet before you slip them into your shoes. Make sure to spray all over the sides of your feet and everywhere that your shoe rubs too much (don’t forget your heel!).
Not only will your feet slip right into your shoe, but it’ll almost feel like you’re wearing a sock!

In fact, I’ve been known to spray my feet before wearing my converse because I really just hate wearing socks in general. I love that my feet don’t get sweaty at all, and at the same time they are comfy as can be. It’s a game changer, people!

I know, I know. This post is weird, right?
But, I just thought I’d let you in on a fun little tip so I could hopefully save a few of you some blisters.

Let me know if you try it out! I would love to hear if it works for you or if you just think it’s plain old weird.

Thanks for reading!