Room Inspiration

I'm currently in the process of moving into my new room, which gives me a great excuse to redecorate! 

So I felt the need to post some photos that are currently inspiring me. I am loving white walls paired with pops of colourful cushions. I have my furniture all picked out, so I can't wait to get to the fun part of picking the finer details. I have been spending a lot of my spare time browsing through Urban Outfitters Apartment section and putting together a list of my ideal buys.

I can only hope that my room will look as amazing as those above!  

Neon Necklace

 

   

I decided to make a neon wooden necklace for an upcoming window. It was incredibly easy to make and turned out really well. 

The steps are simple.

First you need to find some scraps of wood. Small pieces are fine as you won't need them to be very big, and keep in mind your triangles don't need to be perfect.

Next organise a shape that you like. It's important to keep it balanced, otherwise once you go to wear it it will not sit properly and be a bit lopsided. You will need to drill a hole on either side in order to thread through the string.

Before painting on the neon, be sure to paint a base colour. I used some white undercoat paint I had lying around. 

Next you need to paint on the neon. My necklace is pretty full on with colour (it had to suit my theme for my window),  but if I was making another one I think I would take out a colour.

I then stuck it all together using a hot glue gun, which worked well. Lastly thread through some string for the necklace!  

RMIT Open Day

I posted a few pictures a while back of a textured wool display that we did for The Finders Keepers Market. Well it was selected to be re-installed for RMIT's Open Day! 

It was actually really great because we got to install it in a totally new space, and it was more of an interactive piece. Originally it was just up against a wall, but having it here in the middle of that space made it see so much more official as an installation.

We got to add in the amazing gold mannequin as a feature, which turned out really well.
This is my favourite installation this year. It was so fun to create and the end product was so powerful and full of colour. It's such a crazy installation and there is so much going on!
But that is what I like about it.   

Cake Pops Anyone?

I had been meaning to make these little treats for a long while now! I bought the lolly pop sticks and waited for a day with time to spare! I decided to make red velvet flavoured cake pops, with a white chocolate coating. 

They were delicious! I am crazy about red velvet, so anything that lets me experiment with the recipe is great! All you really need to do is bake whatever flavoured cake you like, and then once it has cooled crumble it up and mix in a cup or two of frosting (I used cream cheese frosting) in order to make the mixure combine and stick together. Then roll them into little balls, sticking your lolly pop sticks in, and allow them to sit in the fridge for a few hours. Then melt down some chocolate and dip them in, and sprinkle something special on top! 

I will admit, it was totally time consuming and a lot of effort for bite-sized cake treats. But I loved them! 

Also I don't seem to feel as guilty eating these, because when I compare them to the size of a normal cupcake they are tiny, so they can't be as bad haha. 

Might need to have a little break from them though. They definitely won't be on my list of things to bake regularly, but it was a nice little treat!

While I've Been Gone

I have been so busy of late that I have totally neglected my blog! 

Things a super crazy at school, and with everything going on I also have my internship (which is going really well!) as well as my regular job. I just thought I'd take the time to share this little gem! Its called Poladroid, and its free to download onto your computer. I was after a  Polaroid template and my good friend Kaitlyn showed me this amazing program! I am a real fan of Polaroid photos, and even though I have my own, I thought this was a cool , quick and cheap option! Above I've just used some photos I've taken and originally they might not look to special, but this gives them a whole new look! All you have to do is drag the jpeg you want converted over to the app and then bam, it spits out a Polaroid version! It even makes the noise and you have to wait for it to develop. Obviously it also has a filter that goes over your photos to give them that instant film look.

I really want to make a little book out of all my favourite photos! So that might be my next DIY project.

I hope to be posting about a lot of upcoming VM displays! I won't let myself forget about blogging! 

Inspire

I was just filtering through my computer and came across a few photos I had saved for inspiration. I just thought I would share them with you all. 

They are in order:

(First two images) Experimental Animated GIFs by RRRRRRRROLL

Illuminated Landscapes by Benoit Paille

No Link

We Are Nature by Christoffer Relander

Lean With It series by Paul Octavious

S'mores

I decided to have another peak into my favourite new recipe book Sweetie (mentioned in a previous post), and stumbled across these scrumptious cupcakes! They are S'mores cupcakes, which is basically a chocolate cupcake with marshmallow frosting, cookie crumble and chocolate sauce. They turned out so beautifully, and it's always great to see your attempt look exactly like that in the recipe book! I felt extremely savvy getting to whip out my cooking blowtorch to give the delicious roasted marshmallow finish to the frosting. There were so many different textures to this cupcake which I loved, and it was so easy to make, which took me by surprise.

I hope I can still make time to cook, as I feel  I have a lot happening at the moment. This is my last semester and everything will be picking up pace now. Between my internship, school, work and what will be left of my social life, I really hope I can keep up the regularity of my baking!
Only time will tell! 

Deer

A while ago I mentioned that I was going to start cross stitching! Well i came across this really cute and easy deer pattern and decided to give it a crack. It was actually really fun, and super relaxing. It was nice to just zone out and focus on the pattern. Luckily I had all of the thread and supplies already at home so that was great. Once I was done I put the final result in a this cute little frame from an Op Shop, which was the perfect size and suited it so well. 

Once I get a little time on my hands I will definitely be starting another one, maybe a little bigger this time. I'm also excited to start designing my own! Hopefully it won't be to hard to transfer my illustrations into a pattern. Considering it was my first attempt I was rather please.

Oh and fun fact, I started my Sportsgirl Visual Merchandising internship today! It was great, I got to do a lot of little jobs and it was interesting to see how everything is done. Can't wait until next Tuesday! I am so excited to learn more and get great experience within the industry.

Sewing Project

As I am on holidays, I decided to take some time to do something crafty. I came across this  fox pillow tutorial on the blog A Beautiful Mess a while ago and really wanted to make one. I think they are so cute and love that you can customise them so easily with fabric choices. I chose to use a doily as the tummy detail, which was hand made by my grandmother. 

I very rarely sew, so this was a fun project to refresh my memory a little. It also means that minimal skills are needed to make this pillow as it's super easy and quick. I am definitely going to try and sew more often. I always promise myself that I will learn properly but never do. 

I love this pillow! I won't lie, it is a little lumpy and it isn't perfect, but I made it myself. I think it's the little quirks in handmade things that make them far more special than something bought. Who knows what animal I will attempt next! 

Sweetie!

I am obsessed with my new desserts recipe book by Melbourne illustrator Daniella Germain! A friend showed me her blog which resulted in me becoming a massive fan of her illustration style. So obviously when I discovered she had a recipe book I jumped right on it! Not only is the book filled with amazing and delicious dessert recipes, but it is also just so pretty to look at! Even if I didn't bake I think I would have gotten this just purely for looks!

Every page has a watercolour illustration to match the recipe. Daniella also has another recipe book out at the moment called My Abuela's Table, which is a Mexican cuisine cook book. Of course the illustrations in that are amazing as well! It is definitely on my to buy list.

I had a go at making macarons for the first time using a recipe from Sweetie. I made three kinds, strawberry and white chocolate, salted caramel, and (as featured above) blueberry. Considering it was my first attempt I was super happy! I've heard a lot of people comment on macarons being tricky to make, but the recipe was so simple and easy to follow that I didn't really have any trouble. I'd have to say the salted caramel was my favourite, so I will be baking them again soon!

As you can see from my blog, baking is defiantly a big part of my life lately, and I really hope to learn more once I have more time on my hands. My course is very full on and I attend uni five days a week, but I still manage to bake at least once a week, which keeps me content. It is my little delicious procrastination. I used to  bake just to enjoy the final product, but now I find myself simply enjoying the process, and I find it very relaxing.

I am hoping to do lots of little cooking classes next year, once I have finished my course. I want to master the perfect cupcake and be able to work more from mind than from recipe.  Hopefully my blog will help document my baking journey!

When The Sun Came Out

Melbourne finally got a little sun! It was the perfect day to have a play and share some lovely desserts with my friend Caitlin. 

We were quite lucky with the desserts because after painstakingly deciding to go with the Mars Bar cake, the woman asked us if we would also like the Bailey's cheesecakes for free as she was going to throw them out any. So we got three cakes for the price of one! Fair to say it made my day.

So we set off to Caitlin's house and sat around on some crates in the sun to enjoy our treats. 

I have to say I am in love with Caitlin's Converse flatforms! I have been looking around for a pair of flatforms/creepers for a while, and will not buy them online after having some bad luck lately. When buying shoes online I have found they are either not the right size or I am disappointed with the quality.  Hopefully I have some luck and find a pair I love!