1/30/2015

Heart Garland DIY

i know i always say im excited for a post so it might lose some credibility but you guys! a) i LOVE this post! and b) its a good thing they all excite me amiright? cause what would be the point of a post if i didnt care for it!

okay okay. enough!

the last time i was at Disneyland i kept thinking to myself about how i wanted to make something to send out to a few pen pals of mine for vday and this cute a little idea came up.

sorry for the super crappy pictures buuuut i was working by candle light (small Ikea bedside lamp) since i was up doing these at 3 am. i slept all of Saturday so i was up all Sunday night and i didnt even care how late it was cause i was soo excited to get these going!

SUPPLIES:

felt sheet of color choice

i bought pink and red. 6 sheets of each color

needles
thread

to sew the hearts together and to create your garland afterwards (for that i used twine)

scissors
stuffing
cardboard paper and a marker

INSTRUCTIONS:

depending on the size of your heart (and for sure the layout) you can fit up to 6 hearts (3 complete hearts in total) per felt sheet.

in the picture above you can see my pre-cut heart (and several attempts) and the basic layout.

you can use any type of marker/pen/pencil you feel comfortable with to trace on to the felt BUT make sure that you use the same tool for ALL the hearts otherwise they will come out different sizes.

all the pink ones were done with a sharpie and the red ones were done with a dry erase board marker so they were different sizes. (seems logical but ya learn the hard way!)

for the stitching, i was doing it the hard way then my mom showed me another way to do it (see above) so much easier! im sure there's a proper name for it buuuut im not going to get all technical with you. start from behind and bring it to the front. when you pull it almost all the way through create a loop and run it through and repeat.

(just see pictures above im sure i did a horrible job explaining)

i wasnt uber picky about how the front (or back) of the stitching looked, i was more about the side view

doesnt that stitching look pretty!!! insert heart eyes emoji. also, thanks mom for talking your shit about my original stitching.

once you are pretty close to the end, stuff your heart!

its ridiculous how much fun i had with that part.

of course on here the side stitching looks like a mess but once you're done with the stuffing you can adjust it and fix it so it doesn't look like its bursting its guts.

overall i spent about $14 on the supplies i needed (thread, felt and stuffing) i got them all at Michael's and i had a 50% off coupon so it wasnt that bad! i got 34 hearts out in total (2 died :( and i have 2 left over.)

its sort of a time investment depending on how AMAZINGLYGREATOMGOPRAHCANTMAKETHEMLIKETHIS great you want them to be. im not super picky so it took me around 3 days (on and off of course)

i made those 8 in like 4 hrs but that also included the tracing and cutting and matching of the hearts.

afterwards it'd take me like 7-8 minutes to start/finish one.

once i had them all done i just ran my twine through the back (sorry for the lack of picture on that but you can see what i mean here.)

this also works very well with letters. as seen here. in fact, im sure they are the inspiration for these little hearts. i know i forget basically everything i do pretty quick but that post stuck with me! ta-da!

im sending these out to a few gal pals of mine. im sooo excited for them to receive their little valentine's day package.

thanks for reading!

LA Art Show

@bumblebeelovesyou

The LA Art show was in town about 2 weekends ago.

the only reason i knew about it was because Living Social had sent me an email. 2 tickets for $10 and of course the bug didn't bite until it was TOO late to get the tickets. still went and so glad i did.

as always, a hundred pictures.

im one to HATE collage pictures but i had to here to include ~~all~~ most of the pictures i took.

besides the few that i do know because ive seen their work everywhere, i do not know most of the artists names. im just here to share but if you happen to know, please let me know and ill give proper credit.

jump on over!

Snapshot Sunday // 3

since i didn't have a set theme this year, i guess ill just wing it.

i have noticed that i stopped posting about my dogs a lot a while back (at least i think) so they will always appear on these posts and for sure there will ALWAYS be 7 pictures....but if there's more to share, lets do it! the more the merrier.

i don't know why but i HATE putting my hair up. which is super weird seeing as how i NEVER comb my hair. but there's times where i throw it up right quick before a shower and boom! i like how it looks. this day, it just happened to fall to the side. curse you! also, my phone case is from the $.99 store! :D I've dropped my phone sooo many times face first! the case pops off but i LOVE my droid...tough ass phone...not a crack! (not trying to jinx myself universe. be nice!)

my brother and chonch cuddling! <3

these two! i love how jealous Chester is. but whenever my mom's home he finds a way to get Tessie and i in trouble!

are you watching parks & rec!? this sceeeene!!!!

ahh! why last season whyy!?

(also, thats what he said!!!)

late breakfast early lunch with Andy!!!!

omg! that California burger....heaven in my mouth!!!

frank & ish!

i haven't seen frank since last year! so January was a glorious month for me (lol)

my current desk view.

books, nail polish, hearts that i made for some garlands i need to send out BEFORE valentine's day, adam's book and carlee's cards! ahh! i love those cards! so effin cute!!! and those stickers! she listed them after i had purchased the cards but she still sent me some! thanks Carlee!!! im being selfish and keeping those!!! but check out her shop and buy some cards for yourself! i love her cards!

i dont know why but my coworker owes me cupcakes.

he's been owing me cupcakes. instead he brought me some chicken noodle soup to make it even. yes. totally the same.

best snap ive sent all week! lol

dont leave me with your phone cause ill tell everybody you love butt and ill send stuff like this.

i LOVE emoji's!!!!

"what do you mean there's no food!?"

ive noticed that lately, i work with several different pens, pencils, highlighters and rulers. at both jobs. I LOVE IT!

how has your weekend been?

mine has been busy with work, work, bar, sleep and more work lol.

hope you have a good Sunday. 9pm cant come soon enough for me!

thanks for stopping by!

save your money!

i don't think Ive ever been this excited for a post!!! :D

so by now you all know that my one thing in 2015 is to get out of debt as much as possible. so serious, i got a second job (yay!)

last year, my saving got pretty much depleted because it was just one thing after another and then our roof decided to crap out and i had no choice (being man of the house is some serious sh*z!)

that kind of discouraged me; to see my account get so low bummed me out but i still kept saving.

the thing with me is, if its in the bank and i NEED the money, i can just transfer it on over (savings -->checking) and while that's always a good thing, i hate it cause its there. im usually VERY GOOD about not touching my savings but when i slip once, it sometimes sticks and boom there goes the dynamite.

i was surfin the web the other day and saw this article about 10 top ways to save money.

typical stuff:

stop buying expensive unnecessary designer stuff (doesn't apply to me. the most expensive shoes i own are my converse...that were gifted to me. ._.)
do a monthly transfer from your checkings to your savings account (already have it set)
stop buying expensive coffee every morning (i don't even like coffee!) and juices (i hit up Jamba once every 6 months and even then its when they have their going back to school sale.)

and a bunch of other stuff. you can kinda see the dilemma, if you're already doing those things (not shopping//not buying coffee everyday (or at all)//transfers) then you're kinda screwed cause what can you cut back on?

i don't shop often. i swear the last time i went shopping for clothes was last month and that was only because i needed new jeans but previous to that i cant even remember.

any who, the one piece of advise that stuck to me was "put your money in an envelope."

plain and simple.

you can choose the amount and every time you get paid, get said amount out of the bank and stick in the envelope.

so that's what I'm doing this year!

that long ass post just to tell you "PUT YOUR MONEY IN AN ENVELOPE!"

I'm sticking to $20 a paycheck. that's $520 at the end of the year or $1,040 if i do both jobs (which im sure i will!) also, i think ill also be putting any extra dollars i have left over the day before payday in the envelope as well.

i also want to stick to having cash on me because a) its true, it hurts to let it go when you pay with actual cash and b) i hate that transactions forever sit on pending status when i check online! also, i tend to hit up places that only take cash and i DEFINITELY WILL NOT spend $4 at an atm machine to take money out.

so there it is. stick yo' cash in an envelope and save yo' money hunny!!!!

haha.

what an odd (ish) post.

i hope it helped cause i know when i read it it basically rocked my world!

plus, anything that gets me decorating and crafting; im game!!!

thanks for reading!

*i placed it under the DIY label cause, you get to diy your own envelope and well, isnt any time that you get to decorate something basically a diy! :D

Snapshot Sunday // 2

its 12:16 am on my side of the world and chances are i wont be going to sleep at all tonight. not any time soon anyways.

after my last post i laid down to take a nap and low and behold; i passed out until 8pm!

whaaat? i guess my sleep was all messed up and i needed basically all of Saturday to recover. i slept so hard i missed my call to Vegas. (sorry Mon!)

lets get started! (:

leaves at work. LOVE THEM! and my pedicure has been going strong since i got them done at the beginning of the year!

went to Disneyland on Friday since it had been forever. i wanted to take a close up picture of the balloon's but they let me hold em! eeek!!

have i posted this before?

either way, i took this picture on accident! and i love how it looks like if i did that effect on accident.

that picture on my computers background is from here.

cuddle buddy.

cuddle buddies.

got this months ABM happy mail!!! i LOVE it!!!! this month was so cute to me that i had to get it.

thank god their paypal thing doesn't work because i was thisclose to signing up for the entire year, which I'm not trying to do!

got Adam's 1 page at time book! im having fun filling this out!

off to do some sewing.

have a good night everyone! <3

it's questions time!

source

ahhh!!!

i have been nominated by the lovely Alyssa to answer several random questions and you all know how much i LOVE them so its an honor to answer away!

you can read her responses and get to know her better here and you can continue reading along to learn some other (maybe new) stuff from me!

enjoy!

* * *

How did you decide on the title of your blog?

i am an AVID reader (although i have been lagging lately ._.) so originally i had named my blog Love What You Read (hence the "domain" name) or actually no, i named it Books Galore but then i had Crissy redo my blog and by then i was calling it A Day In The Life of Les. i decided to go along with that because 2013 was the year that i finally started doing things and i wanted to document it on this teeny tiny little blog of mine. so its a reflection of my day to day life. its one of the best decisions I've ever made!

What is one word that sums up the heart of your blog and why?

life.

like i mentioned above, its about what im doing with my life and how im living it.

and loving it!

What’s your favorite pastime other than blogging?

reading. hands down. i LOVE reading.

it is a dream of mine to own my very own library in my home. i have a lot of books already (not really) but i can stand to collect more!

Where does your blog inspiration come from?

everything; writing. reading. life.

i wanted to major in journalism and photography and a myriad of different things but its an amazing thing that i have this little corner of the Internet where i can explore and learn 3 things that i love; reading, writing and photography.

If you have children, what are their names? If not, what are your favorite boy & girl names?

noooo kids. just furry babies! for a girl i LOVE Lidia Rose or Kirsten Leilani. I've always loved Leilani since i first heard it.

as for boys i have no names picked out.

i do know one thing though; no naming kids after my (future) husband or myself. i hate that! its weird i know, but its a name, let the kid have its own identity. i don't want a little Leslie. that's my name kid, I'm giving you your own!

A long lost relative leaves you a large sum of money. What do you do with it?

(I would buy a small, little house with a whole room filled with built in bookshelves. -Alyssa) great minds think alike!

id pay off all my debt. pay off my moms house and buy me a nice little nook to live in and build an entire wall of books!

What is your favorite

food to make?

cupcakes. that counts right?

haha. I'm not a huge cook. I'm a firm believer that certain people do not belong in the kitchen and i am one of those people. but i can make a few things here and there.

my ex taught me how to make sloppy joes (not science les!!!!) and homemade fries so i like to cook that for the kids every now and then (my bro & sis)

What is your favorite holiday? Why?

again, Alyssa said Halloween and i 100% agree!

its just, ahh, magical! haha. i just love Halloween and i love that it doesn't have to be all gory and creepy. i like making uber cute things!

What is the favorite post you've written? And why?

ahhh! you're asking the person with the memory of a goldfish! let me see let me see!
this one because for the first time in my life i planned something for my birthday and it was nice to have all the people that i care about there with me.
big sur 1 / 2 / 3 cause man it was so good for the soul.

What is your favorite topic to blog about?

everything! life, books i read, shit my little brother and sister say that i die cause im laughing so hard! (even though they've been lame about it for a while) snapshot sunday! anything and everything.

Where do you hope your blog will be in a year?

hopefully still around. i love this little place of mine. i dont intend to do it for monetary purposes. its just for me to talk about stuff and give you guys stuff to read / fall in love with / discover and laugh. from when i started to now, i have 34 followers and im SUPER happy about that. i seem to float at that number and its okay my voice isnt for everyone but i love every single one of you who come around! i just hope to be here in a year still making you laugh! (:
(thank you all for reading!!!)

Where is your favorite place to write?

anywhere with a desk. when you got something to say as long as you have what you need its all good! but mostly at work! that's where this is taking place right now!

so apparently, it is now my turn to pick a few bloggers!
i choose:
Carlee
Crissy
Danielle
and anyone else who wants to do it!

i hope you learned something new about me and if you do this, leave a link so i can read your answers.

thanks for reading!

15 (!) days in to 2015.

how crazy.

seems fast but seems appropriate? is that the correct word to use?

im feeling a little bit better about 2015 now.

i was freaking out about it for the first couple of days.

i dont know what it was but it had me freaking out and i had no reason for it.

i have 2 (!) jobs, everyone's happy, healthy and fed. the furry babies are cute and at home and overall i cannot complain but i dont know why. i think i was having a small baby panic attack.

2015! crazy!

everyone has already posted about their goals and i know i said i wasn't going to worry about that because other than getting out of debt i had nothing else in mind but then i thought to myself "little things should count!"

for example:

my closet // clothes.

i have NO FASHION SENSE. hence why you have yet to see an outfit post on here.

there's times where i throw something together and i LOVE it but i mean nothing like this. (and i SERIOUSLY want to grow up and have that kind of fashion sense!)

with that being said, i have a sh*t load of clothes just hanging and being stored that i have not used in forever and i know i wont! so get rid of them i shall!!

also, im freakin 27! i need to stop buying forever 21 clothes (which isnt even that often!) and invest in good pieces that will last long and can be re-used wisely over a period of time.

so for the month of January, my itty baby resolution is to clean my junk clothes out.

not only my closet but all my arts and crafts stuff too.

thankfully this is a long weekend so im purging everything in my room!!!

its seems like a small little thing but it gets talked about a lot all over the blog world! and i want to try it. i want to clean up and start acting like an adult! dammit 27, we are guna grow the heck up!

and i think its safe to say that 2015 will be the year of monthly resolutions for me.

lets do this!

what are your resolutions?

share and lets talk! ;)

thanks for reading!

Snapshot Sunday // 1

aaaand we're back to regular scheduled programming!!!

last years goal was to take a picture every day for the year and post em on Sunday. other than that there was nothing really in common within the pictures themselves.

i thought this year maybe a who, what, when, where, why theme...buuut its not going to happen.

ill just continue to post 7 every Sunday. no reason other than just cause.

is it to late to start the 52 week project? no? but i dont have a subject either.

k, lets get started!

really beautiful sunset last friday! eeek!!!

tess got me this cup for my birthday!!! eeekk!!! i looove it!!!

also, blurred in the background, the Tina sticker Carlee sent me in the mail. I LOVE IT!

i love bobs burgers!

all black everything! i loooove color but when it comes to wardrobe, im an all black gal!

sandoner. this chick is everywhere!!! caught this going towards the staples center this weekend.

me and the babes. maybe they should be my 52 week project

went to my very first basketball game. Clippers vs Mavericks. Clippers won!!! woohoo!

i was thinking of doing an all black and white snapshot sunday this year but not all pictures look great in b&w. le sigh. i LOVE these glasses. i just got vision insurance cause i think i might need glasses. if i do end up getting them, i think ill use these frames.

lets see where we go this year with snapshot sunday.

thanks for viewing, back to work i go!