DIY in Foreign Countries

When we left for Korea, all we were allowed to bring were two fifty pound bags each. This may seem like a lot but if you figure in all the toiletries, towels, sheets, coats, shoes and clothes we needed to bring, those two bags filled up quick! And trust me, I used every ounce of allowed space. I admit, at first, just having a handful of clothes compared to back home was refreshing. It was an exciting challenge to come up with new and different outfits. And let me tell ya....it grew old...fast. Where were my thrift shops, discount stores, shopping malls? Where was my Target?! Shopping in Korea isn't terrible. I can find tops and the occasional skirt that isn't butt cheek showing high. But forget about discounts, pants that don't fit like capris and don't even get me started on the smaller stores that don't even let you try anything on before buying it! I've survived by doing my fair share of internet shopping and stocking up at H&M when we visit larger cities. But I've also found that with just a little more digging for supplies, I can make some of the trends from back home, here in Korea. I tried two recently that I'm especially excited about.

These were beyond easy to make. I took a small wooden peg, dipped it in fabric paint and went to work! One thing I should have been more careful about was spacing. I spaced it out pretty evenly vertically but horizontally, they're a little off. No one would notice but I'm a perfectionist like that. After all the dots were on, they were a really bold white and I was going for more of a faded look. I waited for the paint to dry and then threw them in the wash and dried them as well. The look when they came out was exactly what I wanted. I then placed a pillowcase over the top and ironed them to set in the color and make it permanent. 

For this one, I actually had bought this fabric about two years ago when we visited Bali. It was a handwoven sarong that we bought before going into one of the many temples. I then brought the fabric with me to Thailand and had a tailor make a pencil skirt out of it. I luckily had a ton of fabric left over and decided to use it to make a twist headband. I simply folded it in half, tucked the ends inside and stitched it by hand in a slightly contrasting color thread. I put the fabric around my head with the ends up in the air, I twist it twice, then wrap it down around my head and tie it in the back.

Anyone up for a crafting weekend?

Linking up with  Carissa, Rachel, Logan, Leann, Molly

Hair on the Go

With traveling there comes certain...difficulties. All of which are well worth the pain and inconvenience of course. One of my struggles in traveling is my hair. Left to air dry, it's limp and flat. In humidity, it gets one awkward wave and the rest is frizzy. I'm always envious of girls that can shower and go and be left with full, wavy hair (how do you do it?!). And with this trip to Thailand, I'm not sure what amenities we will be provided. Meaning, there may not always be a blowdryer and my straightener and curling iron won't work with their currency. Even in Korea I have to use a bulky transformer for my American products to work.

So in order to combat this inconvenience I've looked up some fast and easy hair do's that will work with my lack of hair tools and will also keep my hair out of the way in the hot and humid weather. Below are some of my favorites that I've tried and have stayed looking good all day (just what we traveling girls need for all those photo ops).

1. Messy Side Ponytail-another alteration to this is doing a french twist down the side. Grab two pieces of hair from one side of your part and twist, after every twist add another chunk of hair. Think of a french braid but with only two sections of hair, not three. I like to do this on both sides then have it meet to make a side ponytail.

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 2.Chestnut Bun

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 3. Messy French Bun-I like to do this one with wet hair and sleep in it so when I take it down in the morning there's a slight wave to it.

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4. Half-up Twist

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5. Scarf Headband-this is the only one I haven't tried but I'm hoping to find a cute scarf in one of the markets so I can try it out!

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6. Barrel Roll

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We're also going to just take carry ons for our two week travels which means no mousse, no hairspray, and no Aquage (my newest hair product love. Any one else try it? Volume galore people!). I will, however, be equipped with a spray bottle and some sea salt. Have you ever tried it? It's amazing for drawing out texture from straight hair. I like to make two side twists in my hair after I take a shower at night, spray it in and sleep on it. 

Sea Salt Spray for Hair

.mix 2 teaspoons of sea salt for every 1 cup warm water (the warm water will help the salt dissolve more quickly) and put in a spray bottle

.I also like to mix in one squirt of Moroccan Oil to keep my hair from drying out from the salt. 

There you go! I'll let you know which ones worked and which ones...not so much, when we get back from the trip!
I also really like this site and this site for unique, easy hairdos. What's your go-to hair do when you're on the go? Have you tried any of the ones above?

It's beginning to look a lot like...

I am so thankful that even though I live in the country where the majority does not celebrate Christmas, it is still looked upon as a national holiday, therefore...no school. With that being said, a variety of Christmas decorations are harder to come by here and are a bit pricier compared to back home. Don't get me wrong, there is still a Christmas section at the local grocery store. But a lot of it looks like what you would find on clearance after the holidays in the states, an overload of glitter and tinsel. Not exactly our taste in decorations. This is probably not the case everywhere in Korea, but it has certainly been my experience. So in an effort to have decorations similar to what we would have back home I set to work on four different crafts which are simple and inexpensive enough to do anywhere. 

Star Garland

What you need:

card stock paper

hole punch

twine

hooks

I did this craft last year in a smaller size in order to make a silver star for the top of our tree. I printed out a star shape and traced it onto card shock and cut it out. I then folded it along each point of the star. 

It turns out like this. You'll have to go through each one and fold in and out so it 'pops' out. 

Lastly, I punched holes in them and hung them across the window. 

Popsicle stick snowflakes

What you need:

hot glue gun (this is preferable but I used tacky glue and it still worked)

popsicle sticks

paints

twine to hang it

hooks

I would have loved to hang these a little lower since I think it looks odd that they're so high up but our psycho cat loves to try and jump and get these...so up they go. (by the way, don't you love the glitter wall paper we have? Guess Korea wants to be in Christmas mode year round)

Banner

What you need:

twine

card stock

mini clothes pins

This was probably the easiest craft I made this year since I found this site and they already have the letters ready to print. I did, however, resize them to 75% of the original size and in my opinion they are still a bit to large for what I was going for. I would suggest 50%. I then cut out the triangles and placed them on a dark red paper. To finish, I clipped each letter to the twine with a mini clothes pin and hung it up! 

Christmas Trees

What you need:

card stock paper

felt (I used felt with a sticky side so I didn't have to glue each one)

This was my favorite by far, I'm so happy with how they turned out. It took me a bit longer than I thought because I was too picky about the layering and kept redoing it but if you get it right the first time it will only take about an hour and a half.

First, you trace and cut about a million little circles onto the felt. (or if you're really lucky, your local craft store will already have circular felt pieces. I wasn't so lucky this time) This was by far the longest part and took me the whole length of a movie to complete circles for both trees. 

Make a cone shape from card stock and tape it together. 

Next, cut the excess off of the bottom. One site suggested putting a small paper cup in the bottom of the cone so it makes it easier to cut. I tried it both ways and the cup really does make it so much easier to cut a straight line all the way around. 

You're finally ready to put it together! I layered it all the way to the top then placed one of the circles over the point and then layered them all around it. Make sense? Hope so. 

What do you think? Would you use any of these in your home? Hope everyone is enjoying the start of Christmas season!

Next week I'll have pictures of our tree up along with some homemade ornaments! 

For those of you celebrating Movember

Anyone else's man participate in No Shave November? Hubs actually did his a little early and grew out a nice 80's worthy stache in October. But to commemorate this wonderful yearly tradition I tried out a little DIY project that I have seen floating around. This is an easy craft to do and would also make a great gift!

I grabbed two porcelain mugs, a permanent marker (I hear the more expensive markers such as Pebeo Markers work better and also the design stays on better) and printed out a mustache from online. 

I traced the stache shape onto the mug and colored it in. Next, I popped them into the oven at 350 and baked the mugs for 30 minutes. Allow them to cool completely before washing or using. Note:do not try to wash in the dishwasher, the design may smudge or come off, it is best if you only hand wash the mugs)

I hope everyone is having a great week and is getting excited for December and holiday celebrations!

Something to Chew On

Getting Zeke has provided so may additional challenges than I first expected, both good and bad. I didn't grow up with pets (unless a fish counts) and even when my parents finally caved and got a dog at the age of 12, it was a family dog. I've been reading up on how to train cats (if that's even possible) and asking cat loving friends for advice. But nothing could prepare me for his obsession with chewing on paper and whining at your feet to be held. Although, I do admit, the latter is just cute. 

One challenge, however, that I signed myself up for was making toys. Yes...making. As if Korea hasn't already made me into enough of a Martha Stewart wannabe with my homemade crackers and Christmas decorations. Animal toys are readily available here and for a decent price but I figured it would be almost just as easy and cheap to make them myself. Especially since they didn't have to be anything too elaborate seeing as how he is easily entertained with a wadded up piece of paper. So I scoped out Martha Stewart's site and found a felt feather toy that seemed simple enough. I was right, and within half an hour, Zeke was being happily entertained. Here's what you do:

Gather two colors of felt, a belt and string

Cut out two leaf shapes, one smaller than the other

Make fringes in both pieces

Make a separate small loop with the string around the bell. Then tie the bell and both leaves together!

Told you it was easy.

merry merry christmas

this december has been surprisingly cold outside. when we first came to korea it was cold but we were told not to turn on the floor heat in the apartment because the cost of it was so high. (apartments here have heated floors instead of central heat) so we plugged in an electrical heater and thought nothing more of it. turns out, it was just as expensive if not more so. our bill was the highest in our building (something i'm slightly proud of) and a government official was sent to our house to find out why we were wasting so much electricity. i guess we know better for next year.

we were debating whether or not to get a tree but the holiday season just doesn't seem the same without one. we went to homeplus (the local supermarket) to look for one. we saw a lot of decorations and decided to come back the next week to pick some out. by the time we got back to the store, around the 10th of december, everything was sold out. they had a sad looking fake tree and some bulb ornaments left. we decided that we would try out luck at finding a tree out back, and by out back we mean the mountain that sits behind our apartment complex. the mister did an amazing job at finding the perfect charlie brown tree and even made a stump holder for it. i was in charge of making homemade ornaments and decorations...never again. it was kind of like our idea to string popcorn for our tree last year. we made it half way around one side of the tree and stopped. i enjoyed the first hour or so of making the ornaments and then wanted to give up. i have never folded so much paper in my life. you would think i was majoring in origami. but now it's done and over and we're going to try to save all of them for next year somehow so we can sit back and enjoy more of the season.

korea is predominantly christian but when it comes to christmas there's not a lot of celebration. the day is more seen of as a day to hang out with friends and your significant other than it is to be with family. we spent the day making crepes and mexican food with friends and watching old christmas movies. the perfect way to relax before heading back to work the next day.

these are salt dough ornaments that are really common to make with children. we tried them with our kindi classes too.

this one was probably the easiest of them all. you simply cut a star shape out of cardstock paper and fold along each point. then fold the insides so it kind of pops out. then glue two of them back to back to make a tree topper or the ornaments.

the amazing bottom that jeremy made for the tree

we'll be heading to japan tomorrow and we can't wait for a getaway! i'll be sure to get pictures posted when we get back! merry christmas!