DIY Kindle Cover

Last week my old faithful Kindle finally died. I'm usually a HUGE fan of Amazon's repair/return policies - but my warranty had expired (figures) so it was going to cost $65 for them to repair it. OR, I could just pay $15 more for a new Kindle. As much as I love my old one (Ryan got it for me Christmas a few years back), I couldn't justify paying just as much to get it repaired as I would've for a new one. And so, I now have a new Kindle.

The new Kindle is much, much smaller than the old ones. I was hoping that it would fit into my old Kindle's cover - but, no such luck (also figures!). I didn't really want to spend tons of money on a new cover, so I did what anyone would do - turned to Pinterest! I found a ton of really cool ideas and pinned them to my DIY board.

In the end, I decided to take a little from each tutorial and hope for the best. It actually worked out pretty well! I didn't take pictures of every step like I should've (my hands were covered in glue...), but here's a quick rundown of what I did:

I bought a couple different prints of scrap fabric from JoAnn. Also, I got a thick orange ribbon (for the "spine"), some spray adhesive, a sheet of felt, some elastic and a clasp so that it would stay closed.

I like to reuse things so I cut up the box my Kindle came in to make the front and back covers. I measured them based on the size of the kindle. Then, I took the pieces outside and used the spray adhesive to attach the fabric to ONE piece of the cardboard. Once that was in place, I put the Kindle on the cardboard, and put the other piece on top of it. Then I applied spray adhesive to that piece and folded the fabric over top of it. This step is important, because you want to make sure you have enough fabric between the two pieces of cardboard so that it folds around nicely when it's closed.

Once that was done, I cut off the excess fabric, folded the corners in and glued them down.

Next step was to make the "spine." I took the ribbon I bought and glued it down with fabric glue along the space in the fabric where the cardboard was missing. You'll want enough on either end to be able to fold under and glue down on the inside.

On the inside, measure and cut the felt to fit. You can see how the corners of the fabric are folded in this picture, and how the ribbon ends are long enough to fit underneath the felt. The felt serves to protect the screen of the Kindle, but it also hides the loose ends of the fabric and ribbon and cover the cardboard.

The next step is by far the hardest. I took the elastic and made corner holders to keep the kindle in place. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be - and fabric glue didn't help. I ended up using hot glue instead.

For the two on the edge, I tucked both ends under the felt and glued them down. For the two on the inside, I tucked one end under the felt, and glued the other down in the middle. To cover those ends, I wrapped another piece of the ribbon around the felt. I let all this dry before moving on to the last step - attaching the clasp to hold it closed.

I got lucky at JoAnn and found this awesome clasp, which I hot glued on. And that's it, folks! Your very own DIY Kindle cover. Happy crafting! :)

My Very First Birchbox!

One of the blogs I read regularly is The Small Things Blog. That's where I learned about this awesome site called Birchbox.

Aside from being a great website to find beauty products for men and women, they offer a monthly subscription-based service where for $10 a month you receive a box with 5ish sample sizes of their hottest products. I'm not really in-the-know about all the season's trends and whatnot, so for me this is a great opportunity to find out.

I signed up for Birchbox last month, so I got my first box today. I was so excited to open it when I got home from work!

This month's Birchbox is Gossip Girl themed. I was a little concerned, since I'm not a huge fan - but I shouldn't have been worried at all.

The contents of this box are great. I was secretly hoping for a nail polish in my first box, because my old ones are getting boring. I was not disappointed!

And I got one! The contents of this month's box are:

* Arquiste L'Etrog Perfume [$165]
* beautyblender (helps keep your makeup brushes in good condition) [$17.50]
* Color Club Foil Collection Nail Polish in "Disco Nap" [$8]
* Dr. Jart + Waterfuse BB Cream [$32]
* A yellow twistband Skinny Headband [6 pack, $20]
* Extra: notecards!

My favorite part of the birchbox is definitely the polish. :)

I was worried that the polish would be really thin and would require 4 or 5 coats, but this picture is after only 1 coat and you can see how good the cover is. It also goes on very smooth - I am in love!

I also really like the headband. It's really comfy and doesn't pull at all - perfect for those quick updos when you're on the go.

I put on the Waterfuse BB Cream this morning, and I love it. It really smoothed out my skin without making it look like I have a tone of makeup on, and did a really good job of making the shine disappear from my forehead. The only thing in this box that I didn't really care for was the perfume. Don't get me wrong -- it smells good, it's just not my style.

If you're interested in signing up for your own Birchbox account, you can do it here. If you do - let me know what you think!

Cinnamon White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Guys, these may seriously be the best cookies I've ever had. Ever. I got a craving for something sweet last night, and chocolate chip cookies came to mind. I didn't have any chocolate chip cookies, but I did have part of a bag of white chocolate chips left over from something. So obviously, experiment time! Best. Idea. Ever.

Here's what you need:

1 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
1 to 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
A liberal dash of cinnamon (Note: I didn't actually measure the cinnamon because this was kind of an experiment. But it was probably about a 1/2 teaspoon.)

This recipe makes about 24 cookies.

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugars. Add the 2 eggs and 2 tsp. vanilla and mix well. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water, and add that in to the batter. Add the flour and mix it up completely. Add in the white chocolate chips and the cinnamon. Like I said, I didn't actually measure the cinnamon because this was kind of an experiment. But it's always better to start with not enough and add in more after the first batch if needed. Spoon an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Mine took 11 minutes, but my oven has a mind of its own.

Enjoy! :)

Valentine's Day Ideas

Since Ryan and I aren't celebrating Valentine's Day this year (we're saving our money for a big trip next month!), I'm not making anything this year. But I don't want to leave you all high and dry with no ideas, so take a look at some of my favorite ideas from around the web.

How to make a perfect heart shaped cake when you don't have a heart shaped pan!

(via About.com)

2 ingredient strawberry fudge

(at Cookies & Cups)

Red Velvet Crepes (breakfast in bed anyone?)

(at Tidy Mom)

A delicious spin on the standard chocolate covered strawberries - stuffed with cheesecake!

(at Tami's Kitchen Table Talk)

Homemade strawberry oreos - yummm!

(via Six Sisters' Stuff)

Red Velvet Martini - for a sweet end to dinner!

(via Betty Crocker)

And finally, for the bacon-loving man in your life:

Bacon roses! 

(via indestructibles)

Last year, I did make Ryan a treat for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures left, but I baked bacon into the shape of a heart, then dipped it in chocolate. Yeah.... they didn't last long.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

DIY Magnetic Marker Board

As those of you who know me know, I spend most of my life on Pinterest. (It's an addiction!) It's part of what sparked the idea for this blog, and got me started / will keep me going on DIY projects.

So when I saw this pin, I thought - I can do that! And, so I did - with just a few minor changes. I didn't have any scrapbook paper, like the original post I found on Pinterest suggested, and Michaels didn't have any that I loved, so I headed over to Joann Fabrics and bought a few of the scrap squares for $1 each to make this lovely marker board.

This is a great way to get rid of extra scraps of fabric that you've got laying around.

Here's what you'll need for this project:

- A picture frame (mine came from Michael's in a 2 pack)
- Hot glue or fabric glue
- Scrap of fabric big enough to fit into the frame, with a little extra on the sides to attach it
- Magnets
- Scissors
- An iron/ironing board - not needed if your fabric isn't wrinkled!

Some notes: You'll be better off getting the lightest picture frame you can find. The lighter it is, the less magnets you'll need to keep it from sliding down the fridge. (Yes, I learned this the hard way.) Also - make sure the fabric you pick is a light enough color that when you write on the marker board, the writing shows up against the background.

This was a super easy project. Lay the fabric face down on a flat surface. Take the cardboard back out of the picture frame and lay it over the fabric. Cut around the edges so that you have just enough to cover the cardboard, with a little extra so that you can attach it to the back.

I made sure to pick a fabric that you couldn't tell if it was crooked - stripes would not have worked well for me! :)

Next, apply glue to the back of the cardboard, and fold the edges of the fabric over on top of the glue.

Do this for each side.

Then, you'll want to make sure the corners are secure too, so they don't show from the back of the frame.

Let the glue dry, and flip over the cardboard. This is what you should have!

Slide the cardboard back into the picture frame behind the glass, and secure the fasteners on the back just like you would if you were putting in a picture.

Finally, glue magnets to each corner. It helps to pinch the corner of the frame, to make sure the magnet won't show past the sides of the frame. I think this is where it might've been helpful to get a thicker frame, but that would've made it heavier too - so you'll have to make that choice.

When the glue dries, test the board on the fridge - if it doesn't stay in place, add a couple more magnets to the middle of the long sides of the frame.

And voila! You have a home-made markerboard.

Happy crafting! If you make your own, let me know how they turn out!