Jennifer

renegade craft fair (this weekend!)

07/08/2011 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

It is almost time for my very favorite craft fair!

I have been to the Renegade Craft Fair two times, both for the winter sale. The summer fair is this Saturday and Sunday, and I will be there on Sunday. I hope to find a lot of pretty things! It’s great timing too, because I have about 10 birthdays of friends and family coming up soon.

Here are some pictures of my Renegade experience last December. I got carried away, but I have forgiven myself. How can you not be carried away when you’re surrounded by 200+ handcraft vendors?

You know how I feel about honeycombs. This is from The Harbinger Co.

Necklace is from The Weekend Store. GAAHH. Go look at their stuff, it is all gorgeous, especially the map jewelry.

I can’t remember where any of these are from :( but I love them.

Someday I want to sell stuff at a craft fair. I can never stick with a project long enough to make a bunch of the same item. But one of these days, I will be selling honey and ceramics. You just wait. :)

I’ll be back with Summer ’11 Renegade Craft pictures. Hooray!!

Update:

Change of plans! I didn’t end up going to the fair this year :( Sara and I drove around for literally an hour or two, hoping for a parking space but we had no luck. I hope that next year, three large events are not scheduled to be in the same parking lot area on the same day.

dreamy duvet covers

07/06/2011 by Jennifer 1 Comment

I am on the lookout for a beautiful, simple, cheap duvet cover for my new peach room. In the past week, I’ve looked at hundreds of them and I am having terrible luck! Some call it an obsession but I call it determination The best duvet covers I have found so far are for full/queen-sized beds, but I recently traded mine for a twin.

When I search my favorite blogs, I find tutorials on how to make my own duvet cover which is a brilliant idea. I would love to buy my own fabric and hire someone else to make it because… I hate sewing. So much. I don’t even like to weave in my edges when I crochet.

Anyway, the search is still on but in the mean time, here are some bedding linens that I love. These are all almost perfect, just not the right size, color, or type.

These are from Full Moon Loom and they are all so beautiful! I would buy any of them in a heartbeat, only they’re for full/queen beds. So sad!

Anthropologie

Urban Outfitters

I also love this one, but I don’t think it is for sale anymore:

I might settle on a neutral, solid color. Then I can decorate it with crocheted blankets and sheets!! It’s a whole different world! Look at these pretty choices:

Anthropologie

When I finally settle on one, I will stop being such a negative nancy. I realize this post has a bunch of negative sentences.

On a happier note, my mom is home from the hospital! Thank you for your prayers. She’ll be chillin’ at home for 3-4 months but hopefully someday she will dance and do pilates again.

favorite things of the week

07/01/2011 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

I’m definitely stealing this from Hello Giggles, but I keep thinking about distinct favorite things I am experiencing this week. Let’s start with…

Banana ice cream!

This is the best recipe ever and all it requires is a freezer, frozen bananas, peanut butter & chocolate (optional), and patience. Sara and I had a small party as we often do and she made this for us! We had it without the pb or chocolate, and with honey instead. FIY, frozen bananas do not do well in blenders, even the respectable VitaMix so that is where the patience comes in handy. I made it for breakfast the next morning and added a little almond milk so it would blend better. This may not be your typical idea of ice cream, but it is probably your idea of deliciousness. Thank you Sara & Sauceme for showing this to me :)

Selena Gomez & Nicki Minaj

There is nothing better than quality summer time dance music! These two can count as one favorite thing since they lie under the single category of music. I may be a little late getting my hands on Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday, but I do love it nevertheless. That woman is crazy. I have also recently purchased Selena’s very new album When the Sun Goes Down. I’m a sucker for ex-Disney star tunes. Super catchy.

Here is a video of Selena Gomez singing Super Bass! She and Nicki should def go on tour with each other. I would so be there.

Hula hooping

I didn’t even know I could still do this, but apparently all you have to do is not move your feet. At all. Then you can hula hoop forever. It is a great ab workout and it’s fun as well.

My sisters, Danali & Adalin

Okay, they’re always my favorites but this week we had some quality time together. Every few minutes I grabbed my phone to tweet their quotes. We made lemonade (with some oranges) and danced to the Hannah Montana Hoedown Throwdown. I’m the best big sister ever because that dance was not easy haha.

My newly painted room

Remember this picture from Greece? I kept my word to paint my room peach and now it looks like an ice cream shop. Although I hoped it would look more neutral and simple, I like ice cream so whatevs.

PS. This weekend is going to be a busy one because my mom is having back surgery. Please keep her in your prayers! Thanks! ♥

crochet: the golden snitch

06/28/2011 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

This summer, I am re-reading Harry Potter 1-4 and reading 5-7 for the first time. I know, I’m not a “true” fan yet. But I have dressed up as Hermione on multiple occasions so that counts for something.

Here is what I just learned to crochet!

The pattern I used is from Woodhill Design.

I have made bookmarks but also some normal snitches that I can use as magnets or just appliques. I’d like to add sparkly yarn too :)

queen of the sun: what are the bees telling us?

06/24/2011 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

Queen of the Sun is a documentary floating around independent theaters in the US this summer that addresses the disappearing bee colonies all over the world. Joelle and I went to see it last night at Varsity Theatre in Davis. The film is guided by a handful of beekeepers, scientists, authors, including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk, and our favorite Yvon Achard, a Frenchman who uses his bristly mustache to brush the beehive frames :)

It was beautifully filmed and presented facts in a way that held my attention and further increased my love of honeybees. There were also fun animations and collage-y moments in between the interviews.

Bees pollinate so many things that we need in order to be healthy (check out this super long list!). Large beekeeping industries try to speed up the process and create efficiency by messing up the natural order of things. They even put high fructose corn syrup in the beehives!

And while independent beekeepers are taking careful steps to care for their bees, crops, and fellow human beings, there is nothing they can do when a big plane sprays pesticides across a neighboring field. A gust of wind will just blow the pesticides right over to the natural beehives.

The narrators highlight the rising trend of backyard beekeeping and rooftop beekeeping. I really want to have a hive in my backyard one of these days. This movie shows the struggles that go along with beekeeping, but still makes it seem doable. I have to keeping crossing books off of my reading list until I finally get to Keeping Bees with Ashley White.

Ways that you can help our bees:

Plant bee-friendly flowers and flowering herbs in your garden and yard.

Don’t use chemicals and pesticides to treat your lawn or garden.

Buy local, organic food from a farmer that you know.

Bees are thirsty. Put a small basin of fresh water outside your home.

(here is the full list @ the official website)

Please check out the film, or at least the trailer for now. I thought it was wonderful :)