Quick Update About Blog Website

Hi All,

So it's been a year since I've purchased my website domain and I seeing my trend of blogpost and less than 110% dedication I've had for SimplyPinspirational I've decided to not renew the web domain.  Starting 4/10/14 you will no longer be able to access this website via www.simplypinspirational.com and will have to access it through http://simplypinspirational.blogspot.com.  So please make sure to note any changes you need to make on your end.  My Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts will remain the same although I cannot promise the same amount of activity I've had in the past.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimplyPinspirational
Instragram: instagram.com/simplypinspirational
Twitter: @pinspirational

On another note, I'll take this time to introduce you to a new direction that I'm moving in.  If you haven't noticed already, I've started posting more and more in my Instagram feed of sewing projects.  I've played around with the idea of changing SimplyPinspirational into a sewing/pinning kind of website instead of Pintrest, but I felt like my new life adventure needed a new name.  So I now introduce to you RPG Adventurers *tah-dah-dah-dah!*

It was a team name that my boyfriend and I started last summer while playing Capture California and it just kind of stuck and I can't think of anything better or more fitting. :)  

So please give my new social media account some love. :D

http://instagram.com/rpgadventurers

https://twitter.com/RPGAdventurers**

**So a little disclaimer about the twitter account.  This account was used heavily last year while playing the outdoor social media game Capture California.  You can check out some nice scenery and a geeky flag and weapons we made while we hiked and explored all around CA, but not much besides that.

Joann's #BIGCraftChallenge on Instagram

I should have posted this earlier since we're already halfway through the month, but in case you guys didn't already know, Joann's is having a contest on Instagram this month which they're calling the "BIGCraftChallenge". The contest is going on for the whole month of March in honor of National Craft Month.  5 lucky winners will get a $250 gift card for Joann's. The challenge is to take a photo of the required item for that day and post it onto your Instagram account with "#BIGCraftChallenge" in the comment section. Each day that you post and use the hashtag you'll be entered into the drawing for the gift card. Good luck everyone!

Dapper Day 2014 @ Disneyland

Ahh...Dapper Day has come and gone and I'm still dreaming about how much fun I had and all the wonderful outfits I've seen.  After spending so much time dreaming, planning, and working on my Dapper Day dress (some WIP photos found here) I can't believe the day has come and gone so quickly.  The park was crowded but I had a great time ooooing and awwwing over everyone's outfit.  The only thing I regret about Dapper Day was not waking up early enough to get into the park (parking was a nut house) and not being able to go with a big group.  Most of my photos are of my boyfriend and I so I apologize for the lack of variety in dapper outfits, but hopefully you'll enjoy my photos regardless.  :)  All photos are my own personal photos unless otherwise credited.

Wanted Flynn Rider for looking dashingly dapper.  (Fun fact, he actually put the outfit together himself!  The only thing I had a hand in was the bowtie that I had sewn for him as a gift for Christmas)

Oh look, I found a floating lantern at Disneyland!  

I'm really happy with the way my dress turned out considering it's the first full dress I've ever sewn.  I used the Retro Butterick B4790 pattern for the dress and had help altering it to fit.  Then I fussed with the dress until it was a design to my liking.  I also hand stenciled and painted out the design on the front of the dress.  It took forever but it was worth it!  Hat was purchased at the dollar store (thank goodness they're stocking for Easter already) along with some fake flowers and then I used some left over fabric to create the extra dapper touch.  

Dapper Day Dress WIP

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA after the Christmas season. Work started to pick up and I've also been busy planning my Dapper Day outfit. For those of you unfamiliar with Dapper Day check them out at www.dapperday.com. It's an unofficial event at Disneyland where guest attend in their finest 1950s attire. This event was inspired by the vintage Disneyland posters where you see all the guest attending the parks in their Sunday best.

I've been working with my friend and her mother in law to manipulate an already existing pattern into a dress of my size. Unfortunately I don't have a super skinny waist so there were a lot of inches to be added to the pattern.

Note to self, tracing paper is your friend when you don't fit a pattern exactly.

Yo-Yo Flower Christmas Tree

Have you ever made a yo-yo flower?  I learned how to make one earlier this year thanks to this pin here.  It's so simple to make and super cute!  And who would have thought you can turn a bunch of yo-yo flowers into a christmas tree?  My friend's mom had one on her fireplace mantel and I just couldn't get over how cute it looked!  She was gracious enough to make me a pattern as well as give me some green fabric to make my very own.  

Here's what you'll need:

• 12 in diameter circle pattern
• Scrap fabric in shades of green or solid colors
• Empty thread spool (that will be the tree stump)
• Wooden stick (You can pick one up at your local craft store.  I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
• Scissors/thread/needle
• Polyester filling (optional)

Start by cutting out your pattern on your fabric.  My pattern paper was a little short of 12 inches so I worked with what I had and then rotated the pattern on the fabric since that's the beauty of a circle! 

Once you finished cutting out your 12 in fabric circle you can now cut/trim your pattern to the 11 in circle pattern.

Repeat the process of cutting the circle pattern.

Continue these steps until you reach your 3 inch circle.

Next make a yo-yo flower out of each circle.

Make a little snip at the bottom center so that you can place it on top of the wooden stick.  Put the wooden stick in through the center of the spool so that the spool supports the stick standing.  Stack largest to smallest to create the tree shape.  You can also stuff the yo-yo flowers with polyester filling to make it extra fully, but that's optional. 

Make a little star or find a trinket to put on top and then done!  It's the perfect little center piece for your holiday party!

Don't have time to make a whole tree?  Try this alternative mini yo-yo tree ornament.  String a jingle bell to the center of the lace or string to act as your stopper and then stack the yo-yo flowers through to make your own mini tree.

DIY Pillow Box

I'm making a lot of different little gifts this year for Christmas and thought that the best way to wrap them was to put them into a pillow box!  And I searched on Amazon and all over the internet for cute christmas themed pillow boxes and didn't find any so I hit myself on the forehead and thought why don't I just make my own??  I googled a DIY pillow box project and found it on ItryDIY.com here.  This was time consuming but I feel great about how each of the little boxes turned out!  I definitely recommend this if you need a small box to wrap up your gifts.

What you'll need:

• 1 pad of scrapbook paper of your choosing (Heavier cardstock works better)
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Dull edge (of scissors or butter knife)
• CD or something round
• Double sided tape or Zots 
• Pen

New Curtains!

I have new curtains!! Huge thanks to my friend for hooking me up with really nice curtain fabric!  It makes a world of a difference now.  I can actually sleep in in the morning and I have a lot more privacy at night now.

Before.... 

After!

Here are a few photos of how I sewed the curtains.  I didn't have a pattern but I did take a look at my friend's curtain and tried to reverse engineer it in my head and I think it turned out okay.  :)

Thanksgiving Pins Roundup

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for us here in the US.  Are you guys ready for some serious grubbing??  I'll be at work but that doesn't break my festive spirit!  I didn't have time to do any Thanksgiving dedicated post this time around but thought I could do a round up for those looking for some easy last minute dinner and decoration ideas for the weekend.  I haven't tried these recipes/projects yet myself but here are a few of my favorite floating around on Pintrest.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to try them soon.  If you guys try them out let me know what you think of them!

Autumn Holiday Wreath by SimplyPinspirational 

Do you remember this from last year? ;)

Dressing Up My Dresser

So my home away from home calls for me to buy a few new "furniture" fixtures and I'm not about to go out and invest in a ton of money into a temporary home.  Moving cost a lot.  And I mean a lot!  Especially if you're making that initial move to rent a room.  You always have to think about the deposit and how you're going to move all of your stuff, or buy new furniture.  I ended up moving some of my stuff but mostly been furnishing my room with plastic and non permanent fixtures.  So my latest addition to my room is this plastic 3 tiered dresser.  I decided to use this as my socks, underwear, pj, pants etc drawer.  Since I didn't want my clothes to be showing straight through the dresser I decided to dress it up a bit.

What you'll need: 

• Plastic dresser drawer
• Scrapbooking paper (or wrapping paper)
• scissors
• Double sided tape
• Ruler
• Pen

Training with Disney

Sorry, yet another non crafty related blogpost talking about Disney...but I promise the next one will be crafty.  :)  I just really wanted to share some cool photos from my first day of training.  Nothing too crazy since the majority of it was in a lecture hall/auditorium and we were told not to take any photos in the backlot area, but I did get some photos that I thought were cool and shareable!

Cool sign that I think really goes unnoticed when you're pulling into the Casting area.  There's an additional fencing that divides the street and the sidewalk so when you're driving in the sign is covered.  I had to walk from the parking structure to the sidewalk to get a picture of this sign.

Opening new doors all around

"When one door closes another door opens..." - Alexander Graham Bell

I've officially moved into my new room. I have 4 other roomies sharing the house so I feel like I'm in college again. Exciting new opportunities await for me. ^_^ New job, new living quarters, new roommates, new town! So much exploring to be done! Not to mention so much I need to get done for my new room.  So I guess this will be my mini series of #roomimprovement.

Day 1 of the move has been busy!  I drove down to SoCal this morning and arrived at about 4:00. My new landlord was so nice and helped me move all of my stuff into my room. Got everything out of the car in no time.

Check out my new front yard buddies.

Big Announcement and Changes

Hi Everyone!   So I made a big announcement last week on my Instagram account that I finally found a job and I'm making a big move.  I've accepted a job at Disneyland and will be moving this week down to SoCal to start working for the Mouse.  :)  I'm already head over heels for the fact that I'll be working at the happiest place on earth, but the icing on the cake is the fact that I'll be working for the Costume department!!!  I'm super excited but also very nervous at the same time since I'm picking up and moving in such a short amount of time.  I just accepted the job a little less than 2 weeks ago so it's been quite the whirlwind of an adventure.  Everything just sort of lined up and fell into place so it seemed like perfect timing with the exception of how much notice I had before having to make the move.  I'm not sure how much I can talk about the interview process and/or what I'll be doing at the company so I'm going to have to be vague for now.

So I'm going to sneak in a little info about my Halloween costume since I haven't been able to do that yet. "Minnie" Skirt & headband/ears made by me. Necklace, gloves, cardigan, shirt, shoes and tights I already had in my closet.  Bloomers purchased from Black Cat Collective Vintage Emporium.

So that's it for the big announcement, now for the changes.  I originally started this blog when I first got laid off and wanted to fill my time with completing my long list of Pintrest projects.  I've learned so many cool skills, tricks, recipes and completed a lot of projects thanks to Pintrest.  I've slowly moved away from purely Pintrest based projects and started working on my own projects and twist on ideas hoping to have people pin my projects onto Pintrest and hoping to inspire others to be crafty.  The name  Simply Pinspirational still worked for my change of direction despite it not having been the original idea for my blog.  Now that I'm going to start working again I'm not 100% sure I can dedicate time to blogging.  I'm sure I'll be looking up quick meals for 1 to make and blog about, or working on a new sewing project I can snap photos of but will that be enough?  I remember when I first started out my blog I was advised not to "be all over the map" and just pick one thing I wanted to blog about.  Of course I found a "loop hole" by saying I'll blog about Pintrest projects as my main focus knowing I will have thousands of projects and topics to choose from.  I didn't want to restrict myself to just one thing on a blog but didn't think the interwebs would really be interested in a blog about my life...

I still don't know exactly what I want to do...Do I want to keep Simply Pinspirational up and running, Do I move on to another blog with a new name??  Do I rebrand?  How do I rebrand?  Or can I handle 2 blogs??  Those are some of the things I'm thinking about right now.  I do have a couple of blogpost I have in mind that I want to post but I don't think they're new blog blogpost worthy so you'll still be seeing some activity here so don't fret.  I just don't know what the frequency of the blogpost will be but hopefully it'll still be once a week.  If not, I'm pretty active on my Instagram account so be sure to keep an eye out there.  I've also added a Instagram Widget to my blogpage so you can view those photos from here if you'd like as well.

Whew!  I know that was a lot of reading for you but I just needed to share the big news with everyone and hopefully this won't call for too many changes but I just wanted to put that warning out there just in case. Wish me luck!

DIY Circle "Minnie" Skirt

This was my first time working with elastic where it turned out elastic!  Most of the time I end up sewing the elastic and having end up with zero slack to even put it on!  Now after finding this pin and reading through the tutorial and following it step by step I've successfully made my first elastic skirt!

Original Pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/231724343298826745/

Pin Rating: 5

Last month I posted this photo of the a circle mini skirt that I made for the Color Me Rad and mentioned I was going to do a tutorial of it on the blog.  One month later and I'm sitting her writing my blogpost and I still don't have a blog tutorial!  I started making a Vine video as I was making my 2nd skirt and then realized I had made a mistake in my fabric measurements therefore throwing the whole video out the window.  So instead of holding off on this blogpost I decided to just post some photos of the finished product.  The original pin I gave a 5/5 pin rating so be sure to check out the original tutorial by Dana Made It.  She has great step by step instructions and even tells you how to make measurements for a pattern.  I did manage to make a vine on the pattern though, so enjoy it below!

As seen on my Instagram account.

Here's a head to toe shot.  I didn't really put on a dressy top, but thought this T-shirt was fitting. :)

Don't you just love the way the skirt ruffles at the bottom??

No Carve Lace Pumpkin

Pin rating: 4.5
Original Pin: www.pinterest.com/pin/241998179948381288/

Another Halloween related blogpost today!  I love love love Halloween.  Or maybe I just love the holidays.  I believe October kicks off the holiday season right?  Today's post is similar to last year's no carve pumpkin decorating I did.  Don't remember it?  Click the link to check out my Bedazzled pumpkin post.  I picked this no carve pumpkin design for a few of reasons.

Spekuloos Spread Cupcakes

Pin Rating: 5
Original Pin Here but it doesn't link to the original baker/blogger so if you want to check out the photos and step by step, go here: http://bakedbree.com/biscoff-cupcakes-with-biscoff-buttercream

I kid you not, I am eating one of these cupcakes as I write this blogpost.  They are delicious.  If you're a fan of Biscoff spread or cookies, then you'll be a fan of Spekuloos Spread.  My friend recently went to NY and brought me back some Wafels and Dinges Spekuloos spread.  Normally you would have some of the spread on top of waffles but I decided to look for a recipe to make them into cupcakes!  I ended up making them for my brother for his birthday rather quickly so I didn't stop to do step by step photos.  

However, I believe Bree did a fantastic job of the step by step process and this was too good not to share.  This is the perfect fall cupcake to have at your Halloween parties so be sure to check it out! Don't have Spekuloo? Use biscoff spread like they did in the original recipe. Also try checking at Trader Joes in your area if you have one. 

*Edit* Adding the recipe below for conveinence.

1st project with the Fiskars mat

As I'm sitting here still debating if I should make a dress or a skirt I couldn't help but use my cutting mat and blade for the first time so I decided to try it out on the little remnant piece of fleece that I had recently purchased.  I had bought the piece hoping I can turn it into a pillow case of some sort, but unfortunately the piece was long instead of wide.  Lucky for me, it was the perfect scarf length!  So what better to make with some fleece than a no sew scarf??  All I did was trim the edges and then fray the bottom by 2.5 inches.  And of course I couldn't help make a video to show how easy it was to use the rotary blade.

My Trip to JoAnn and What Should Be My Next Project?

My trip to JoAnn last week was a short but exciting one. If any of you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed I posted the add for 50% off Fiskars products during the Joann Labor Day sale and saying I was going to get it. Well, I did! I had to leave for a camping trip that afternoon so I made sure to go to JoAnn in the morning.

As soon as I stepped through the doors I couldn't help but notice the new spot for the licensed fabrics. Up front and plainly in sight. It definitely got my attention! I strolled through the aisle and was pretty giddy about what I saw so I snapped some photos because I really wanted to share with everyone the new selection of fabric that they had. I'm sure some of you may have already seen it since I'm not sure when the last time I was in JoAnn's was but I'm sure you can be excited about it again with me. :)

DIY Map & Junk Mail Envelopes

I never paid attention to the inside of the junk mail envelope until I started working with EcoMonster.  She showed me the beauty of the inside of the junk mail letters and how to use them for scrapbooking paper or designs for cork coaster.  Today I'm posting some quick photos on how to convert your own junk mail into fun and beautiful envelopes.  I recently used this envelope to send to my pen pal.  :)  Yup, you heard me right, my pen pal.  I joined the Post Mark Society via www.postable.com earlier this summer and have been exchanging letters with my pen pal.  It basically a pen pal group for bloggers created by bloggers.  :)

One thing I love about pen pal letters is that you don't see too much of it anymore since we have the internet, emails, Facetime, etc.  Another thing is that you can let your personality shine through your letters and envelopes!  So after so many camping trips this summer I have a nice pile of park brochure maps stacking in my room.  The quality of the maps is pretty durable so I decided it would make the perfect envelope!

What you'll need:

• Junk mail envelope
• Park Maps (or any other sturdy scrap paper you have laying around)
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Pen

EcoMonster's Opening Night Event Recap

Last Friday I had the pleasure of working with EcoMonster to help out with her Opening Night & Silent Auction Event.  It was also the kick off event for the Cat Walk - a new vending opportunity in San Jose. It was super busy and a little hectic leading up to the event, but it was a fun filled night and great times with good company.  Here's a photo recap of the event.  (I linked the vendors' Pintrest pages where I could.)

SDCC Highlights: Day 4

After almost a month since SDCC I'm finally posting my Day 4 highlights.  I'm not sure why, but I didn't take that many photos this day.  It might have to do with the fact that we spent the morning taking our time, loading the car, checking out of the hotel and then heading to the convention.  It's a little unconventional to dress us on Sunday, but since I spent all day Friday & Saturday in panels it didn't make sense to dress up then.  So here is my recap experience of Sunday at SDCC 2013.

 

Collage of silly photos in the parking lot so that I could upload it to Instagram.  My boyfriend decided last minute (1-2 week before the con) that he would also be dressing up so we got some nice action shots together.

Grabbing some free 5 hour energy from the parking lot.  He also decided to wear the Infinity Gauntlet that I made him last Christmas! 

Not too many people recognized me except one family dressed up as X-men characters who asked me to take a photo with her son dressed up as Wolverine & a fellow Jean Grey cosplayer.  I saw her while I was walking the floor and asked for a photo with her.  She was super excited and said we were like pokemon and she was the evolution of me.  That made my day.  :)

Thanos is angry that Cyclops got his Infinity Gauntlet!

Saw these girls while walking through the Sails Pavilion.  Can you name all of them?

Later that day I squatted through the Hawken panel to make sure I had a good seat for the Mouse Guard panel and it was pretty cool!  I don't have time to pick up game playing right now, but if I did I think I would be playing this!  

Model that they brought with them to show off.

After the Mouse Guard panel we went down to the Exhibit Hall to purchase a Mouse Guard replica Gold Axe which was tooooo cute.  ^_^  Then we went to the opposite side of the convention hall to find Vampy again to take a photo with her.  Since she was speaking at a panel it was easy to track her down.  We came late to the panel so we waited outside until the panel was over to have our photos taken with Vampy.  I consider myself super fortunate to have run into my cosplay idol twice during the convention, while in costume too!  After that our SDCC 2013 experience came to an end.

One thing that I must rant about is that during the Mouse Guard panel I had a couple sit down next me and the first thing I hear out of the girl's mouth was.  "Why are there so many people in this room?  I don't understand, it's just a comic book."  My jaw dropped...you're at a comic book convention!  Please please please don't refer to anything as just a comic book.  More and more folks make the trek out to Comic-con for a chance to see movie stars and forget what Comic-con is really all about.  Granted I also go for the movie stars in Hall H but I also love everything else about SDCC too.  For the most part everyone at comic con are really friendly and understand that everyone around you is in the same boat. We're all waiting in long lines, sitting in huge crowded rooms, cranky and tired.  But we're all also there to have fun and appreciate and respect the works of everyone in the comic book industry   So please be mindful and respectful when you're out there.  :)

Until next time SDCC!