Odd New

Just thought I’d share some of my Senior Prom pics with you…

I have discovered a new love…Feather headpieces! Kenley on Project Runway always looked so cute with her pretty little feather clip and red lips. I completely fell in love with them, but I can’t find any pretty ones without having to spend all of my money. So, I decided to start making my own. Now I can’t stop wearing them!

1. Choose a hairclip with the right size

2. Cut an oval shape that’s big enough to cover the clip out of some interfacing

3. Use a glue gun to glue the back of the clip to the interfacing

4. Press the two together without burning yourself

5.Get some scrap felt and cut out a pretty little shape

6. Glue the shape to the inside of the clip and interfacing to keep them together

7. Take an old (clean) feather duster and pluck out the pretty feathers.

8. Use a glue gun to glue the spine of the feather and attach it to the top of the interfacing. This works best when you keep the bottom tip of the feather hanging over the edge.

9. Glue the feathers on until you can no longer see the interfacing.

10. Cut off the ends of your feathers.

11. Take out some jewels and glue them to the bottom for some sparkle.

12. Don’t be scared to use buttons, ribbons and different coloured feathers to make your headpiece cute, pretty and unique.

Happy Hair days!

I have been searching far and wide for the cutest and most adorable hair accessories on the net. Drum roll please…

I found them!

These are some ideas for easy gifts that are guaranteed to brighten up your day.

Green Rose Hairpins by Bunny Logic

A fantastic tutorial for headbands by maya*made

The cutest crochet flower hair clip by AZ Sunshine

I really hope these cute gift ideas inspire you to buy some gorgeous hairpins, clips and bands for all those pretty girls close to you.

Ciao*

Growing your own tomatoes might sound like loads of work but the rewards of organic gardening are truly amazing. I just love running outside while my pasta is on the stove and picking a few yummy tomatoes to make my own special sauce. The difference really is in the taste. I can’t even compare the mealy shop tomatoes with my tasty homegrown ones!

Organic gardening is very easy with the right tips and tools for the job. I’ve found a few need-to-know things that will help you grow delicious, succulent and sweet tomatoes. One of the best things about growing tomatoes is that it can be done anywhere. You don’t even need a garden, a sunny porch or balcony will do.

These are 3 easy tips on growing organic tomatoes in your own garden:

1. Choosing the right variety

Growing successful organic tomatoes requires careful planning. Choose a variety of tomatoes that will suit the garden or container you are going to plant them in. If your plants are going to be growing in a pot, choose a variety that adapts well to containers. This will usually be a bushy compact plant that is a indeterminate variety which produces yummy tomatoes throughout the growing season.

2.  Watering your tomatoes correctly

Your plants will thrive when their roots are deep in soil that is evenly moist. Dry soil causes the skins to harden and crack, whilst too much water leads to root rot and diseased tomatoes. A regular irrigation timetable helps keep soil evenly moist and healthy. Soak the soil at least six to eight inches twice a week to keep the moisture levels in the soil even.

3. Care for your tomatoes

Tomatoes are heavy feeders which means that every time you water them, you are washing nutrients out of the soil. To keep them healthy, you’ll need to fertilize with either fish emulsion or seaweed extract. Apply fertilizer at half-strength every other week and you’ll have sweet juicy tomatoes in no time!

Start growing your very own tomatoes and I’ll post my amazing pasta sauce recipe soon!

I really love making my own infused sugars. They can be used to enhance any dessert and add a beautiful finishing touch. This is also a great way to use the part of the vanilla pod that you would normally throw away after the seeds have been scraped out. Infused sugars make really easy gifts! Just by putting it into a pretty glass jar and decorating it with a ribbon, you have the perfect gift for a friend or teacher.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar (you can use caster sugar for a finer product)

1 vanilla pod

Method:

Place sugar in a pretty airtight container.

Slice the vanilla bean open and scrape all the little seeds into the sugar, then pop the rest of the pod in.

Seal the container and shake to mix the ingredients.

Leave the container for a week or two and VOILA! There you have some gorgeous vanilla sugar.

I also enjoy making cardamom, cinnamon or lavender sugar. Substitute the vanilla pod with another ingredient and make your own delicious infused sugar.

Hope you enjoy the sweet treat!