amigurumi!

Because Dan's mother is super accommodating and sweet, I have learned to crochet. Along with being a great teacher, she has about a billion books on the cutest sort of crocheting patterns imaginable: AMIGURUMI!!! They are tiny, adorable, Japanese-inspired crocheted dolls. My first project, which is nearly done, is a little octopus from the book, Tiny Yarn Animals, by Tamie Snow. It is full of the cutest patterns, and it actually took a while to decide on a pattern. I eventually chose the octopus because he looked the easiest of all the patterns (most simple... Just one big ball for a body and eight little balls for legs/tentacles). Oddly, even following the pattern, my legs are different sizes... But it is the first project! After this, I'm sure my projects will be a bit more uniform. Also, next time, I know to stuff the animals until NO MORE WILL FIT! My poor little octobaby is only half stuffed, but now I know.

One thing I would really like to make is little rosettes/floral doilies to make into pins/headbands/etc. I was going to start with a hat as a project, but my lovely ex-boss, Anna, already made me a great little (well, with my head size, huge) purple crocheted hat.

I think that one of the best, cheapest ways to improve your wardrobe is to learn to make some of your own wearables, and me learning this new technique is going to be a great hobby/way to maximize my wardrobe. I'm also going to, at some point, work on crocheting jewelry- yeah, you can do that!

bakin' up some tasty bits.

In my search for yummy recipes, I use an amazing online resource called Tastespotting. You can view hundreds of recipes by photo, and they are all from different food blogs and websites... It's like a foodie's dream, and I am from Portland, Oregon: Land of the Foodies. Granted, I don't like mushrooms or squash or tomatoes, so I can't be a true foodie. Also, I'm a vegetarian, but I can bake all sorts of delicious desserts, like this one.
Homemade Oreos!

The pictures on there are gorgeous, but my cookies turned out crispy and flat, rather than big and fluffy- but so incredibly yummy. Also, instead of 4 tsp vanilla, I did 3 and then 1/2 tsp almond extract, I baked them for 8 minutes rather than 9 (the ones that went 9 minutes scorched a bit) and I rolled them in non pareils (instead of the red sprinkles in the recipe which are obviously optional). So pretty! (photo is from TwoHotPotatoes)

From start to finish, including cleanup, it took me two hours. I basically had to put up an electric fence around the filling and cookies so the family wouldn't eat them before I could assemble them! 

  When Dan went to the bar to see some friends, I sent a few cookies with him for Warren and Matt, but I guess another guy tagged along so they each got one and Dan gave the last cookie to the bartender who asked him for the recipe. These cookies are wonderful!

  Homemade Oreos would be perfect for tea parties (come on, you don't think tea parties in your twenties are fun?!Trust. They are.) or potlucks, since they have that fancy "Ooooh" power. They could also be an evil tool to fatten up Frenemies since they have almost three sticks of butter in them.

In other news, I have found some fancy at the local thrift store, which sells *all* shoes for $0.99 a pair ($4.99 for boots). I have spent $4.00 on four pairs of shoes this week, and they are all beautiful leather old womanly type flats. The ones I'm wearing right now are bright red, rounded pointy-toed flats by EasySpirit, and I believe Dan's grandmother has plans to swipe them when I am not looking; she has made so many comments about how much she loves/wants them. Granted, she's 76, and this doesn't say much about my style, but I saw these shoes and thought:

Queen of Fancy. Audrey Hepburn.

  So today, I am wearing them with grey skinny jeans, a flowy, scrunchy black top and a long in the front, short in the back, swoopy grey cardigan. I am also wearing a faux gold rose necklace and I went out on a limb wearing blue eyeshadow today, but I've been told it looks like a nice smoky eye. 

  Well, I think that's about it for now. Until I find some more fancy stuff, I'm out. Keep reading and I'll talk to you soon.

Cali

Modern Fance

I saw Avatar in 3D yesterday and holy cow was it amazing. Talk about fancy! The CGI in that movie is so incredible- most of the time, it looks real. And I'm still always impressed by RealD. Anyway.

The other day, while doing the "pretend furniture shopping" again at Pier , I remembered my love of mirrored room accents. They have a vanity/mirror set and some end tables that are all mirrors, and I remembered my old wish for a mirrored desk (which a vanity could quite easily be).
Though I still love mirrored accents, a desk isn't quite what I'm going to go for. I think that Dan and I will actually get a couple sets of floor shelving units and put either a piece of wood or glass on top as a two-sided desk.

How sweet is that? You'd certainly have to keep it as clean as possible... But imagine how much faux space it would add to a small room!

I'm assuming that Future Home will be a small space, possibly even a studio. Shared with two people, this could be a bit of a problem, if for no other reason than because we both have stuff! Books and paintings and knick knacks and so on. I think one of the biggest challenges about creating a home for both of us is going to be setting it up in a practical and beautiful way. I love this photo; it shows how to take everyday objects and make them into focal points and it shows how to positively exhibit your personality and style through simple organization and decoration.

Apartment Therapy

And now, some absolutely gorgeous photos of Wish Apartments.

Mirrored Accents!:

Daydreaming of my future apartment...

My wonderful boyfriend, Dan, is using the main computer (where I play Sims3) and so I am looking up gorgeous photos on my netbook of some rooms and ideas for our future apartment (we are currently living with his family).

Give me this bedroom:

Oh please? I truly do deserve it! I would bleach those white sheets and use fabric softener and windex the damn mirrors every day!

I found that photo while deciding what to do for our headboard-to-be. It will either be a large painting-turned-headboard/focal point as shown above, a homemade slatted headboard or a homemade fabric headboard. Hey, it's all about DIY when you're a twenty(or thirty or forty)-something!

Some fabrics I am loving for said fabric headboard:

this beautiful blue, dotted one from waverly fabrics.

this blue, floral one, also by waverly, but found on a different site.

yet again, blue, but with brown sort of paisley accents by convington wilmington. This is my top choice because it fits the robin's egg/chocolate theme that Dan and I are going for. 

Yes, he actually likes the palette! 

We chose it together, in fact, one day at Target. If you've never done this with your significant other, try it: 

Go to a shop with home decor. Ask them to pretend you are buying bedding/a sofa/etc. that day, and to choose whichever they like the best. You do the same, then show each other your choices and talk about why you do or do not like the other's choice (keeping it constructive, of course). It's really fun, and surprisingly, most guys even like doing it. Everyone likes having a say about what goes into their home! You can find mutual tastes through doing this. Pier 1 is also great for this activity- we decided to save up for their double papasan chair after both exclaiming "I want this!" at the same time upon seeing it.

I hope that you quite enjoyed reading this, my first post on Found Fancy. I'm hoping this is a blog I will actually fall in love with- but how can I not? I spend all day dreamin' about my future apartment, and noticing how horribly tacky my current decor is... But we all have our downfalls.

love, love, love.