japan.

Remember that one time I said my sister was going to Japan and I'd try to get myself some "authentic" washi tape?

I do. And well...

My sister was so kind and picked up some supplies at the Japanese dollar store... talk about best dollar store ever! She got me two rolls of washi tape, two rolls of fabric tape, gum, and paper strings (I've yet to find out what those are).

So, two morals to this post:

1. Japan is awesome

2. If you ever go, bring tons of money to stock up on washi tape

Happy Wednesday! xo. Kate
(Don't forget to enter the blogiversary giveaway!)

blondies {recipe}

These are the best treats in the entire universe. You must try them! I promise you will LOVE them!

Ingredients:
9 Tbsp melted buttter
28 oz sweetened condensed milk (2 cans)
2 sleeves graham crackers
3 cups chocolate chips

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix the butter and milk. With a plastic baggie and rolling pin, grind the graham crackers into dust (or do this in a food processor). Add the grahams and chocolate chips to the butter. Stir thoroughly. Pour into pan. Bake at 350 degrees (F) approx. 30 minutes, 'til golden brown on top. Cool, then chill in fridge for at least 4-6 hours. Serve chilled or room temp.

You could also half the recipe and use a 9" square pan. But since that's only enough for one person, why bother? xo. Kate
(don't forget to enter the blogiversary giveaway! low entries)

Vintage Bow Mobile

Today I am going to show you how to make your own vintage bow mobile with some fabric scraps!

Supplies:

vintage fabric scraps (or any kind of fabric, if you want to go more modern)

wire hanger

clear fishing line or thread

needle
heavy-duty wire cutters

hot glue gun

While I was searching for an embroidery hoop in the garage (I was going to make the base an embroidery hoop but I couldn't find any) I came across a bin of my mom's old fabric scraps. In fact, the hot pink and white polka dot fabric in the photo above came from my mom's bridesmaids dresses! Most of the fabric is pretty old and I thought it had a vintage-y feel to it, so I went ahead and used it.

Cut off the hook of your wire hanger. Bend the wire into a circle by wrapping it around something large and round (I used a paint can). Twist the ends together and cut off the excess with wire cutters. You should have something like the result above. My hanger was already white with some of the covering rubbed off in some places. I decided to leave it, because it added to the whole vintage look.

The next step is making your bows. I've included a few different ways to make your fabric bows below...

Bow #1. Cut a long, narrow piece of fabric and a smaller one. Take the larger piece and bring the two ends to the center. Then pinch the fabric in the center and wrap the smaller piece around the center. Glue the small piece together on the back of the bow.

 

Bow #2. Do the same exact thing with bow 2 but instead of wrapping the smaller piece around, simple put a few stitches in it.

Bow #3 (the faux bow). Take a long piece of fabric and tie a tight knot in the center. Bring the two ends together toward the knot and glue them down in the back. From the front it looks like an ordinary bow.

Experiment with different sizes and styles for your bows. I loved trying out new ways to tie bows and learned a lot from this project!
You should have a collection of about 10-15 bows for your mobile:

To attach the bows to the mobile, take your needle and thread fishing line through your bows (this is one reason why you want to limit your hot glue because the needle won't go through it). Knot it three times at the bottom so it won't fall through your fabric, and tie the other end of the line to your hoop.

So simple and cute. :)
xo. Kate

saturday.

I love Saturday. I firmly believe it's the best day of the week.

How was your Halloween?
xo. Kate