Cartwheels and Pearls

 Let's not ask why we have a bunch of random magnets on our door.

And here is a picture of the sky that I got while wearing this outfit. Did I mention I took this out of the backseat of a moving vehicle on the freeway? The sky was just too pretty to pass up!

Here's a close up. They're not perfect but I'm actually really proud of how they turned out!

They worked out to be around $1 a piece and I could not be happier with that!

Here is a nice blurry picture of them all rolled and wrapped up. I plan on putting them in a gift basket for my mom for mother's day with a few other things.
Mom, if you're reading this, please pretend to be surprised on Mother's Day when you receive these!

Chocolate and orange just go together so well. I can't really describe why but they just do! Okay chocolate really just goes with everything but still.

The texture of these cookies isn't super crisp but isn't super soft either, it's in between and I love it. They're not super sweet so they won't upset your stomach like some other cookies do. Due to their interesting flavor, kids probably won't be a fan of them but there is nothing wrong with an adult's only cookie.

My family actually ate all the other cookies before I could get some pictures of them. I was only left with two for my little photoshoot here!


Yield: Makes 9 large cookies (Double the batch for a bigger yield
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (or for GF's like me, GF flour ;))
• 2 Tbs cornstarch 
• 1/8 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 stick of butter (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar (or to us non professionals, powdered sugar)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1 tb orange liqueur OR 2 tbs orange zest 
• a splash of orange juice
• 3 ounces or so of chocolate chips or melting chocolate
• Optional: orange food coloring (or 1 drop of red and 14 drops of yellow)

I know, I know. Don't post on Easter! Go spend time with family blah blah blah. But while I am sitting here waiting for my mom to get ready for our next family party, I figured I'd share a few pictures of what we wore to our first family brunch this morning.
 Don't you just love a good self timer selfie? And do take time to admire the bare background of this photo. I spent a good two hours blowing the leaves from a majority of our gardens yesterday. Don't they look...naked?

We scooped up some unwilling models this morning as they were meandering around the yard.


Today was a big day because my sister is NOT wearing any major clothing articles from my closet! Yay!

Happy Easter Y'all! Check out my instagram to see how my day turned out!

Wrap bracelets and stacked bracelets are all the rage now if I'm correct. Well I LOVE them. Being the cheapo I am, I haven't bought any yet. Well I MADE some of my own and I love it. I got the clasp pieces and the leather at http://www.endlessleather.com/ .They have so many other cool options it just makes me want to create a whole bunch of jewelry and I'm not even a jewelry person lol.

So the other day this adorable little package showed up at my doorstep and I was overjoyed. Ok I actually had to pick it up at the post office because someone drove over our mailbox but I was still just as excited.
But actually how does one drive straight over a mailbox?
Anyways, check out those cool stamps. I am secretly a stamp person.


Here's the leather cording that I used. I put a bit of gorilla glue inside the clasp and simply slid the cord in and let it dry a few hours.


 Ok let's ignore my arm hair but I'd like to put out a general warning that GORILLA GLUE EXPANDS. It created a great bond and my bracelet will not be breaking any time soon but I put a bit too much glue inside and it expanded outside of the cup. Thankfully though I was able to pick it all off. I (my dad) opened the ring of clip and then I (my dad) bent it around the end of the cup. I give major props to anyone who does DIY jewelry all the time! It's no joke and I actually struggled super hard to even see what I was doing. Good thing I (my dad) have reading glasses.

Here are the clasp pieces I used: end cups and clasp


I asked my mom to model my bracelet for me since it perfectly matched her outfit!


 Ok and here is my crude effort at stacking bracelets. Yes, that is a broken watch, a charm bracelet with a baby shoe on it, and a cross bracelet from Claire's. No I am not good at stacking bracelets nor do I even own bracelets but my new wrap bracelet does go perfectly well with what I have :)

I know you've been waiting with baited breath for me to post again. I've definitely enjoyed my unplanned hiatus.
So now here is my Spring "mantle."
 I completed it basically as soon as St. Patrick's Day passed. I'm so done with all this cold. THANKFULLY though, we've finally reached warm ish weather! Before school everyday, I have to heat up my car and walk in with my winter coat on. After school, everyone can be seen in short sleeves even though it's only 45.
Anyways, here is my mantle.

 Yes those are chewed up eos egg chapsticks. My mom decided that they would go perfectly fine with my color scheme and be out of the dog's reach.



 Yes that is a candle holder sans candle. Shhh. Here's the Hello Spring Printable.
Apparently we own quite a few Easter themed books? My mom put these on display here after I finished the top.

And so here is the whole thing. I opted for no garland out of pure laziness. I was going to make one out of easter eggs but that obviously did not happen...