Going Live on Etsy!

I've been wanting to open an Etsy shop for some time, but have been pretty hesitant to do it. I wasn't sure if my crafting skills were really up to par or if anyone would actually want to buy stuff I made. However, I looked into more about the website (besides just lusting after awesome jewelry and vintage clothing) and decided to go for it! The first thing I needed when signing up for my shop was a name. Of course, I had one in mind...none other than "Let It Sunshine on My Mind." However, that was one letter too long...of course. So I tried various shortening techniques (such as "Let It Sunshine," "Sunshine On My Mind," "Let It Shine On My Mind") but they were all taken. I wanted something that would compliment my blog name, so I went with another great song lyric from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, "You be the book, I'll be the binding" (you know, from Ink Tales: Number Seven) and chose Be The Binding Boutique. Everyone knows I love me some alliteration, so I'm super pumped about how it worked out. Also, most of my crafts do center around books...a perfect fit!

So, I've been a busy crafter for the last month trying to get prototypes made up. I still have more items to make and put on the shop, but I have a few items up and ready to sell.

Check it out here: Be The Binding Boutique

Ink Tales: Number Eleven

So after getting my Harry Potter tattoo (see Ink Tales: Number Ten), I went for my second of the day. I wanted to spruce up my very first tattoo ( see the story: Ink Tales: Number One) and make it a little more creative.

Original tattoo

I've really been into watercolor/paint splatter tattoos and I thought perhaps I could incorporate that look into the colors I already had. I gave the explanation to make it look "less tramp-stampy" and brought some pictures of paint splatter. Again, Jimmy drew up something on the spot that I was really excited by. This was by far the most painful tattoo I've ever experienced. I still had on a lot of extra winter weight and was actually excited by the prospect of having a little bit of fat to be tattooed instead of bone like it seems I always choose. However, fat is worse than bone! I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but clearly I did. I'm really happy with the way the original design is still intact because I didn't want to cover it up at all, just enhance. And, I'm very glad I'll never have to get this area tattooed again!

Revamp!

After this one I said I was definitely done for awhile. That was two months ago and I'm already ready for my next! I think the Ink Tales will continue...

Ink Tales: Number Ten

I think it's safe to say I'm addicted. I took yet another trip to Athens, Ohio with my husband and our two best friends to all get another round of ink. I doubled up this time. The first one I got is a tattoo my best friend, Kelli, and I have been discussing for some time. We wanted to get some sort of matching tattoo to represent our friendship. This was a hard concept to figure out, not because we don't like the same things, but because we didn't want it to be silly or something that was obviously a "best friend tattoo" (like those heart necklaces you wore in sixth grade where you had half a heart stating "Best" and your friend proudly wore her half "Friends" until you got in a fight at a slumber party because she told everyone you liked Tyler). We have both been considering getting a Harry Potter tattoo, sped along by all the sweet ones we kept seeing on Pinterest. We found one we really liked and took it to Jimmy.
 He made it look as though it was handwritten (to which we squealed that it was like Dumbledore wrote it on our body...nerds). I felt like a Harry Potter tattoo was perfect for us because I had never read the books until recently when many of the book club girls had said I had to. I figured if Kelli loved them so much, I must be missing out on something cool. And...poof!...I'm obsessed.

The Deathly Hallows symbol forms the "A" in "All was well." which is the last line in
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.

We decided to get them on our ribs because they were going to be small and only text, plus we think rib tattoos look badass. Unfortunately, no magic spell was able to gently transfer the ink into our ribcage. It felt like a punishment from Professor Umbridge, but was thankfully over quite quickly!

Ink Tales: Number Nine

In March 2013, I did what I never thought I'd do. I found a tattoo on Pinterest, brought the picture in, and copied it. There's no symbolic meaning or long story about this one. I just freaking loved this tattoo and wanted it. It was by far the least painful tattoo I've ever got because it was all shading. So...I got it and I love it!

Shortest Ink Tale ever.

The Great Gatsby Book Club

I LOVE The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald! I first read the novel as an undergrad at OU and I had a wonderful professor who shared his passion for the "Great American novel." I teach the book in my sophomore English class and the students tease me about how much I get into the story. I've also been in love with Leonardo DiCaprio since I was six and discovered him on Growing Pains. Needless to say, I've been extremely pumped for the release of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. In preparation for the movie release, I hosted April's book club and picked the classic novel (which many had not read or didn't remember too well from a boring high school class). I love to theme my book clubs around the book and since everyone knew how much I love this one, I wanted to do it right! I pulled food from the book and researched popular foods of the 1920s, gathered some decor, went thrifting, and got a little crafty. This is what I came up with:

As guests entered, I had a red carpet leading from the front door to the kitchen, the 1974 version of the movie playing on the television (on mute), and 1920s music playing. On the table there was a mimosa bar set up. Obviously Gatsby's party-goers drink A LOT of champagne, so I wanted to incorporate that. I also made chalkboard champagne glasses and everyone wrote their name on the glass.

After everyone arrived and had mimosa in hand, we ate. I had the food on the counters, which were covered in gold tablecloths, and each dish was identified with a gold food tag in art deco font. We had shrimp cocktail, which would have fit it at any of Jay's parties. I served them in mismatched tea cups to incorporate Daisy and Gatsby's awkward reunion during tea at Nick's.

 Two of the few specific foods mentioned to be served at one of Gatsby's parties are pastry pigs and spiced ham. I chose to do regular pastry pigs (or "pigs in a blanket") and a spiced ham appetizer in wonton wrappers.  A very popular 1920s dish was deviled eggs, which also happen to be one of my specialties. I flagged them as "Deviled West Eggs" and "Deviled East Eggs" to pull in the two land formations so symbolic to the novel.

 I also had a loaded potato bar, using red potatoes, sour cream, and cheese. I used crystal martini glasses to hold the toppings to class it up a bit. Also featured was one of the framed quotes I had mixed in with the decor. In this case, the last line of the novel.

 For dessert, I served pistachio pie. Apparently, pudding and gelatin were very popular desserts in the 20s..who knew? Other decor included a magazine article from the time discussing "The Cost of a Well-Dressed Flapper," copies of the novel, gold silverware, white square plates, and film frames with quotes, like the one pictured below ("That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool").

The framed quotes were simply printed out in 1920s-looking font from a Word document and put into frames that I either had (like the film ones) or that I picked up at the thrift store for less than $1.00 a piece.

The mismatched teacups were also purchased at the thrift store for about fifty cents a piece. These held the cocktail sauce at the bottom and then I set the shrimp right on top.

I purchased the champagne glasses at the dollar store and used chalkboard spray paint to chalkboard the bases. I used two coats of the spray paint on each glass.

All of the other party supplies can be easily found at a dollar store or party supply store. I purchased the red carpet, gold silverware, white plates, gold design napkins, and gold tablecloths at Party City.

I had a wonderful time preparing for this book club and sharing the novel with my friends!

Book Club List Update

Obviously my book club is still going strong because it is full of awesome ladies, so I wanted to update our book list to include some of our recent picks.

April 2012 (Karly): A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

May 2012 (Amanda): The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life by Laurie Notaro

June 2012 (Kim): The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

July 2012 (Jenna): The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser

August 2012 (Kristin): Where We Belong by Emily Giffin
September 2012 (Kelli): Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon
October 2012 (Tara): The Quickie by James Patterson
November 2012 (Jamie): The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

******This is an addition to the original list, reposted here: 

April 2010 (Jenna): Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
June 2010 (Kristin): Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
July 2010 (Tara): Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
August 2010 (Heather): Grave of God's Daughter by Brett Ellen Block
October 2010 (Amanda): Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
November 2010 (Jenna): Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
January 2011 (Lauren): The Carrie Diaries by Candance Bushnell
February 2011 (Karly): The Help by Kathryn Stockett
March 2011 (Kristin): Breakfast at Tiffany's  by Truman Capote
April 2011 (Kelli): The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
May 2011 (Kim): The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
June 2011 (Tara): The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
July 2011 (Jenna): Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
August 2011 (Amanda): Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
September 2011(Karly): Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. by Chelsea Handler (dinner and went to see The Help)
October 2011 (Kim): Room by Emma Donoghue
November 2011 (Kristin): Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro
January 2012 (Kelli): Summer's Child by Diane Chamberlain
February 2012 (Tara): One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
March 2012 (Jamie): The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Raven Wreath Tutorial

In the inspiration of Halloween, I got crafty and made an Edgar Allan Poe "The Raven" inspired wreath to help set off my book-themed office. So, I took to Pinterest for some inspiration and came up with this:

What you will need to make the wreath:

-12"  wreath 

-book you can tear up

-spanish moss

-raven

-glue gun

For the base layer of the wreath you simply roll the pages very loosely and hot glue the ends to the wreath. 

You'll want to flip the wreath and create another layer on the back doing the same technique. This will make the wreath look much thicker.

Then, you take the book pages and roll them tightly together. I used mod podge to glue to edge down. Once you have a lot of these little rolls, you can group them together. Use the glue gun to keep them together (I found 3-4 worked best for the bundles) and then tie a longer strand of the spanish moss around each bundle. Glue these to the wreath's top layer. 

Next, I put my raven into the wreath. Mine came with wire in his feet, so I wrapped the wire into the grapevine wreath. After that, I cut a piece of a blank book page and wrote "Nevermore" with marker. I glued one end to the book pages already on the wreath. Lastly, I took chunks of spanish moss and randomly inserted them into the nooks and crannies of the book pages. 

That's it! I originally made it for a Halloween decoration, but I love it so much that I'm keeping it up all year long. Poe is always in style. 

Dont' want to make it yourself? You're now in luck! I've opened an Etsy Shop Be The Binding Boutique where you can purchase you own Raven Book Wreath or one with a different theme.