Hand make my life is moving!

Remember when I said there are lots of changes going on with the blog? Well here’s one of the big ones! Hand make my life is moving to a self hosted blog and as of today you can follow along at:

handmakemylife.com

In fact you can click on that link above and go finish reading this post on the new site!

Wow! May was an incredible month for Hand make my life (and in my life that my momma hand made for me). On the blog we had record high views and lots of new subscribers! Well, I’ll tell you what, I am stoked! I really couldn’t be happier.

As it’s going to be the sixth month mark for this little piece of the internet I thought I’d put something super special together to celebrate what this blog is all about with an entire month of hand made! You could almost call it madness.

I am so excited about this, oh my goodness. I have interviewed tons of amazing women who use their creative souls to take charge of their lives! And I am talking, some pretty amazing people. I am so honored to be able share their stories, experiences, as well as their advice with you through out the whole month with interviews every Tuesday and Thursday.

On top of all of that I have been scrambleing to put together more DIY projects and more summer recipes and I’ll be sharing these with you on Wednesdays and Fridays! So fun!

And I will be premiering a super nifty sponsorship campaign with tons of free spots for blog and shop button trades. But more on that later!

Don’t forget: if you are an e-mail or Bloglovin’ subscriber remember to resubscribe to the new blog so’s not to miss any of the great things happening in June! (The Bloglovin’ button to the side now lets you follow the new blog. —->)

I will be posting little reminders for everyone to find along the way and I will update this page with the new Bloglovin’ button for easy following. There will also be tons of new ways to follow, so look out for the way that suits you best!

Again! Thank you! I wouldn’t be here without you and I can’t wait for you to join me on the new blog!

This weeks Etsy Finds – Postcards

With more and more snail mail coming and going from my humble abode I have been lusting more and more after some amazing stationary.

There really is nothing better than writing and receiving letters. E-mail, eh. They’re nice, but letters are so much better and my hope is that my writing improves with the practice. Here are just a few very darling little postcards I came across on Etsy this week.

This sweet little fox post card from Sophie Parker on Etsy.

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A great song and a lovely postcard from Here my Dear on Etsy.

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Love the contrast of white and bright bold colors in these whimsical postcards from Chipmonk Cheeks on Etsy.

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Pretty geometric postcards by mademoiselleyo on Etsy.

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Love this fun and funky letterpress post card by Rebecca Ann Rakstad on Etsy.

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I hope you all have a beautiful and lovely Thursday and that maybe you leave here  little bit inspired to send everyone you know a pretty little postcard!

Hillery

Top 10 Fashion Trends for summer

This top from Lulu’s is super versatile in that it can be worn tucked, untucked, belted, over a dress, and with jeans. Plus sheer is in!

Solid color crop tops like this one on Threadsence are a great addition to your wardrobe this season.

Love this taupey maxi by BB Dakota on Threadsence. A perfect neutral and would look great with a crop top or color pop accessories.

Here we go with a gorgeous and flowy green asymmetrical skirt from Threadsence.

Super simple tutorial with Alie from With an ie.

Mint jeans are the pastel trend of the century. They are everywhere and everyone wants a pair like the cute little skinny pedal pushers from Modcloth. The question is: do you?

Color blocking, different hues stacked one atop the other. Love this Kelly green blazer matched with the neon, pastel skinny pants from Lulu’s.

This is the perfect lace tank top from Lulu’s to pair with any and everything you own.

This How have you Vanilla Bean? Dress from Modcloth is really a perfect polka dot. It’s a neutral and would be great to match up with a bright polka dotted sweater (like this one) or one of this seasons pop color accessories.

This black and white stripe skirt from free people really fits the bill, you get your versatile maxi (simply pull up over your chest and belt for a simple summer dress.

So what is my number on tip for you? Invest in neutrals and save the trends for accessories and the occasional top or bottom, don’t fill your closet with trends.

My number two? Always quality jeans. I know I didn’t mention them in the trends, that’s because they are a staple closet item. I spend a good hour in the thrift store trying on every pair of jeans in my sizes till I find the right pair. Sometimes I don’t find it, but sometimes I get lucky! And the perfect pair of jeans for 7 bucks? Who could argue with that?

I hope you have fun with it and feel inspired. Remember, neutrals are your best friend, because they make everything look good.

Hillery

Thoughts on living creatively

Sometimes it can be hard to give into our passions and what we love because of our wiring to view success in life as something entirely separate of our creative passions. So in order to be successful at what we love, we have to forget all that we’ve been told and re-write the parameters to fit our creative souls.

1. I will appreciate my creative self and not attempt to weigh it against others. All beings express our-selves differently and there is a place in this universe for all of us.
2. I will stop thinking of success in number gains and begin thinking of it in joys gained.
3. I will remember not to take my day to day for granted, that life is the journey and that everyday is another mile in the direction we want to go.
4. I will except that even experts make mistakes and allow myself some wiggle room to work all the kinks out.
5. I will always allow myself to have a rest, taking time to clear my mind and recharge.

The warm weather is rolling in and this is the season for celebrating life, ourselves, and each other. Give into your passions a little more each day. You’ll be glad you did.

Hillery

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25 Before 26 – A Years worth of Goals

I decided to make my first ever __ before __ list this year (insert age you are and age you will be). I love setting goals and challenges for myself and I’ve always been good at short-term goals, just need to get better at the long-term. So here’s my little list of 25 things I want to do before I turn 26 next year.

I even left it in all of its messy glory as I felt I might be cheating rewriting it till it looked perfect, plus it’s just a list. Please forgive my spelling mistakes as hopefully they are not a reflection of my character. (:

I also forgot to edit these photos before uploading them. Ehhh, oh well. These were taken using the manual settings on our new camera with natural lighting. I am still learning. Today has been one of the busiest days of my life and writing this list and taking these photos was one of the finer, relaxed points of my morning.

That’s right, I’m lefty. Gazing out over brass snails into the black walnut tree.

Enjoying some savory un-roast sunflower seeds and raisins with a spot of tea to re-energize before moving on with my day.

My hope is that I can realistically complete most of the goals on this list in a years time. I am thinking of grouping them into long-term and short-term and then breaking the short-term into monthly to fit with my current goals and make the list a little less daunting. I tried to think realistically, but also challenge myself to go further.

It will be exciting to see a year from now what I was able to do and what might take me a bit more time. No harm in that, it’s all experience, gain, and learning.

Have you ever created a list like this? Been successful? If you’d like to, let me know what you think in the comments below.

 

DIY Dream Catcher Necklace

Supplies: ||old bangles ||embroidery floss or crochet thread || scissors || chain ||

Step 1: Wrap the bangle. How tight or how loose is your preference.

Step 2: Begin wrapping around the bangle with large gaps of space between wraps creating your first round of the web. I always pulled my thread back up through the wrap so it would hold in place well.

Step 3: Continue wrapping till you get to the center, and tie in feathers, braids beads. Connect your chain the length you like with a jump ring and rock it!

I found these little plastic bangles in the grab bag that my amazing brass walnut came in. They were pretty uncomfortable and just kind of messy looking so I took a few and turned them into tiny dream catchers. This is a pretty quick project you can put together in about 30 minutes or so. These also make adorable wall art when grouped together and are the perfect size to mail as gifts as they fit inside an envelope well.

[Let me know if you’d like more details on the wrapping. My advice is just give it a go and find your method and do what you like best. Remember that your first round of wrapping will affect the shape of your finished project. I know the steps show me starting with five, but for the dream catcher pictured in the finished project I actually only used four wraps for my starting round. Those photos didn’t turn out as good as the second set with my second dream catcher.]

Please feel free to tweet, facebook share, or pin this tutorial! The more the merrier ’round here!

Happy Crafty Tuesday!

Hillery

My recent thrift – Vintage brass walnut sewing kit

This incredible little brass walnut is one of my most prized possessions as of late and I found it in a grab bag for $3.99 when we went to Value Village back in April. James was pointing out something to me and I just happened to see the texture of the brass in a bag full of watches, bangles and brooches on the bottom rack, completely out of place. I actually gasped out loud when I saw it. I fiddled with it and was able to open it while still inside the bag. I was so amazed and was literally ooing and ahhing.

It’s a little vintage sewing kit with a thimble, a needle, two straight pins and to safety pins tucked inside with a green wool lining. I snatched up the bag of junk as fast as I could just for this sweet little trinket.

Upon further research I found that this particular walnut sewing kit is similar to a common piece made by costume jewelry designer Ernest Steiner in the 1940’s. I am quite positive this is a knock off from the same period because I can’t seem to find a makers mark anywhere on the shell. It is still a lovely little vintage piece and a somewhat rare find, not all that valuable monetarily, but it means the world to me and is now one of my most treasured collectibles. I often find myself simply gazing at it in awe and admiration. I love sweet little trinkets like this.

I can’t wait to rummage through yard sales this summer to see what other little treasures I find. I love the stories behind amazing little things like this and just can’t get enough. Isn’t it incredible that it is possibly 70 years old and still in working condition? Incredible.

Do you have any thrifting finds that you simply cannot get enough of?

10 Things I love – Bicycle Accessories

 

1. Day of the Dead bike basket cover by Mellowvelo /// 2. Swiss Army Double Pannier Bags by Venice Velo

bikes

 

3. Leather Bicycle Wine Rack  Oops Mark /// 4. Wooden Bike Basket by Macpherson Crate Co

are

 

5. Wooden Handle Bar Mustache by Sewell Works/// 6. Bicycle Skirt Guard by Frillride

the

 

7. Nubuck Leather Bicycle Messenger bag by J Rawl Design/// 8. Thunderbolt Bike Seat Bow by Mischeif Managed Knits

best!

 

9. Cobalt Blue Bike Planter by Wearable Planter/// 10. Leather Bike Tool bag by Jespen Leather Goods

I love my bike!

Oh my goodness. Etsy sellers take the cake when it comes to creative ways to outfit your bicycle. So many beautiful and incredible items. I’d love to deck out my bike with all of these ingenius and adorable bicycle accessories!

Through Hillery’s eyes

I got my new pair blue of glasses back in January, but put off sharing them. I was afraid you guys wouldn’t be ready for the truth – I have a weakness for tacky glasses. Who can blame me? If I am going to have frames on my face I want them to me make me happy.

While I should wear my glasses 24/7, I cannot fully commit. Sometimes I like to see my face without them, unfortunately, I can’t see much further. This is a battle I fight everyday. Tee hee (:

I started wearing glasses in the 7th grade, in response to… my 6th grade math teacher. She was a terribly loud, obnoxious woman who kept the air conditioning so low you’d have goose bumps – permanently – like,  for the rest of the day. Did I mention she despised me? I was not a bad kid, nor a bad student, I simply got on her nerves.

You see my assigned seat was at the very back of the classroom, and everyday I would raise my hand and ask to go to the black-board to copy the problems. She had this insane rule that you could only be at the board for 30 seconds, after which, she was free to run you over if you were in her way. Needless to say, I was almost always in her way.

Until, one beautiful spring day, when I scored the highest on the math placement test for the entire 6th grade. Yeah, that’s right, even higher than all the kids in the ‘advanced’ math class. I wasn’t ‘Math Super Star’ two years in a row in elementary school for nothing!

I was pretty amazed, but then again I have always considered myself a secret genius. Afterwards she was nice to me (as if she was the reason I scored so well), she even put her arm around me in the picture for the school bulletin board!
Bah, Middle school! Good riddance.

Because the experience of finding out that I needed glasses seemed like such a negative one, I decided that if I was going to need to them, then by golly, I was going to have the brightest pair I could find and have adorned many obnoxiously funky colored frames.

So, in January I was ecstatic to find these amazing and affordable (BIG) blue frames. They are just the perfect successor to my pink pair.

Nowadays, I feel quite confident with my terrible vision when sporting my rad glasses. They are a lot of fun and I love planning outfits around them.

It takes a lot of courage sometimes to embrace who we truly are, yet the benefits are immense. Once we begin embracing the little things it makes embracing the larger that much easier. Take the time to show yourself some love and flaunt what makes you happy!

Someday I’d like to own every pair of glasses in the world. No really. Lock up your glasses or they will be mine!