Raise your Glass

I hope you are all having a wonderful new years eve. This is my last mix tape for the year! It's no. 24 and I can't believe I made it another year. For this mix I wanted something fun, who needs a chill mix tape on new years? NO ONE. So this one is for getting loud and raising your glasses to the next awesome year of our lives. 2012 is going to be epic, lots of goals and mile stones happening and I can't be more excited.
Make the last few hours of this year something to remember, you won't get them back.

download
1. We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monáe) - fun. BTW they are selling a limited edition 7" picture of this single.
2. Young, Wild & Free (feat. Bruno Mars) - Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa
3. Techno Fan - The Wombats
4. Ni**as In Paris [Explicit] - Jay Z & Kanye West
5. Blow - Ke$ha
6. Marry The Night - Lady GaGa
7. Midnight City - M83
8. My Body - Young the Giant
9. Lonely Boy - Black Keys
10. Youth - Foxes
11. Sunset In July - 311 - I know this is a summer song, but I have a sweet spot for 311 on New Years. ;)
12. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry
13. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 ft Christina Aguilera
14. Party Rock Anthem (feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock) - LMFAO

Tuneage Tuesday

SO Excited about this Tuneage Tuesday. 1. Pumped about the Hunger Games movie. Yes I've ready the books. 2. Excited T-swizzle is doing a song. on the soundtrack. 3. MORE excited it's a collab with   fantastic boy girl duo Civil Wars, which you might remember from my Nov Boy Girl Duo mix tape. 4. The song is FANTASTIC
For reals, it's sooo good. It's a dark, but dreamy melody with almost acoustic guitar that floats in the beginning and you almost see the smoke creep into the song by then end. The girl on girl harmony between Taylor and Joy is light, airy and just lovely. Then add a little male finesse to it and the song fills out just the way it should. It's reminiscent of the Swell Season's Falling Slowly in the vocal inflection but not in a copycat way - to me. Just a mental note I made and passing along to you. Anyway, Safe & Sound is a hit and I can see it being the song of the new year just in time for the March 23 release date of the Hunger Games.

Holiday Weekend DIY

AH! So close to Christmas I can taste it! Are you ready yet? I got my S together this year and have everything wrapped and had time to whip up a few extra details for hosting my first Christmas. (Sick right? I know. )
Well hopefully this cute little DIY will inspire a little GoGo Gadget hyper speed to get things done in time. I been obsessed with this vintage doily table runner I saw on Pinterest and one day while the Mister and I were out shopping I found one I really liked for a great price and so I decided that day I was on a mission to find all the pieces. I did. We went to about 4 places and in that time I found enough pieces to add to the few small ones I had to make the runner and I couldn't' be happier with it. It took about 2 1/2 hours all said and done. I think the hardest part was arranging it which I recommend doing in advance- on your table. I took a picture and that way I could layout it our on the floor and know have to worry about changing my mind. :D So here it is, I hope you love it and I sincerely hope you have a wonderful holiday!

My Table is 5 and a half feet long and my runner hangs off about 4 inches on each end. Clear as mud?

 
1 & 2 Supplies:
Doiles of varying sizes and shapes. I happened on three fairly large ones, but somewhere in the range of around 10-12. I didn't pay more than 2.50 for one doily. Cheapest one was 50 cents.
I had:
2: 3-inch
1: 16-inch oblong tear-drop shape
1: 10-inch heart shape
2: 15-inch rectangles
1: 16x16 inch square-ish shape
1: 8-inch circle
1: 11-inch circle
Scissors
Twine or thread. I had some old twine that was the perfect color so I used that.

Starting in the CENTER of the runner, I over and underlapped my doilies as I saw fit and then sewed them one stitch at a time. So, if I had a 2 inch section (like above in #3) I looped around through the holes in the design 3 to 5 times and then just tied off the ends. Cut the string and then moved to the next section. then if I had say, a corner section I used only one stitch/loop.
The technique is open for interpretation. What I decided to do is rather than "sew" it together, I strategically stitched different pieces of each doily's design with one single knotted loop. It's not as complicated as it sounds, but for me this was faster than trying to sew the whole thing into one piece of fabric.  

Above you can see where I used TWO separate stitches to attach the doilies into the holes already created by the design. The result, I think it pretty invisible. The rest is self explanatory. Finish to the end and then flip the runner around and start from the center on the other side.

My table is clearly not done yet, but I will post a pic when it is! Merry Christmas!

Tuneage Tuesday

The Voice's Dia Framtopn set to release her debut album, Red and I couldn't be more excited to hear this. The Mister and I were pulling for her on the show and I gotta say, this collab with KiD CuDi is great. Light and airy but with a great beat. Great things to come from this album I'm sure.

Listen here Don't Kick the Chair Feat. KiD CuDi

Fav Friday Gift exchange.

UGH, I know I'm totally late on this gift guide trend but my holiday season took a turn for crazy busy with all the DIY stuff I've been up to for gifts. It's been at least 2 hours almost every night including weekends! But I love how everything turned out and I'm getting great responses on all my hard work, so WELL WORTH IT. Every year it really is, I feel so much more accomplished and all my gifts are so much better than something I could buy. I always try to remember the Mister's mantra around gift giving season:

"The best gift you can get is the one you didn't know you wanted."

1. Music - For her: Florence + the Machine - Amazon

For him: The Wombats - Amazon

2. DIY - For her: Honestly WTF No Knit Scarf: I've given these for the last 2 years to work ladies, family, friends, and everytime they freak out and love them. AND they only cost about 6 bucks total to make. bonus. You can use leather string also, just add some hot glue every few rounds. I also don't use Velcro I use hot glue.

For Him: This year the Mister even got in on the DIY Christmas, which was awesome and has made some of these bad boys. He had a great time searching out the records for friends and the clock parts you can get at Hobby Lobby for around 5 bucks. double bonus.  (You will need a drill to make the hole in the record slightly larger, fyi.)

This guy does his square and folds the bottom side so they sit up. Pretty sweet and only for about 12 bucks which is well worth the price! The Mister wanted to make his with specific records so his are still round but have been well received!

3. Etsy - For her: Clutches area ll the rage this year. Here are some of my favs!

From here

Love this graphic print

Yes, I'm still obsessed with chevrons

For Him: Bowties!! I just love a bowtie on a man and I love that they are both casual and dressy. I can't wait to see the mister in one. Sooner than he thinks!

From here

From here

From here

4. Fashion - For her:

From here

Butterfly wing necklace! Adorable. from here

Source: catbirdnyc.com via Marie on Pinterest

For him: Uncrate.com adorable Holiday Outfit

5. Pinterest - Recipes for your holiday dinner.

Source: foodcomablog.com via Marie on Pinterest

Source: facebook.com via Marie on Pinterest

Source: gilttaste.com via Marie on Pinterest

Fav Friday!

1. Music - We Are Young - Fun. If you watch Glee like I do you heard this awesome song Tuesday night at the end of the episode and if you are behind the times like me you wondered, "Who is this band?" It's a fantastic song. I don't know if Glee did it justice, I think both sides can be made but I do love the lyrics, and hopefully by now you know I'm a lyrics girl. Enjoy this awesome acoustic version featuring Janelle Monae whom I adore.
 


2. Diy -Vintage Belt Frame - This Mister and I have been working on our walls lately. He's been buying up art like a fiend and of course you start to get creative about framing because, hello frames are EXPENSIVE! Especially when you start getting into weird sizes like 16x20 and 10x12 and 36x48- sooo. Here is a super cool DIY for a frame made out of a vintage belt! What a neat idea! Get the full DIY here!

3. Etsy - Lariat Necklaces. I have been lusting over lariat necklaces lately. Perhaps because I never picked up on the trend but nevertheless I find my self searching for them a lot. Enjoy some of my favs.

From Here

From Here

Adore this! From here.

4. Fashion - Winter Blues. Navy/deep blue and grey seem to be my color pallets this winter so far. I would love to brighten it up, but when you like what you like. And look good in it. Go with it.

Its called being Chic (Sick :p) In Paris :)) by lovefashion08 featuring christian louboutin boots

Karlie Kloss (01/12/2011) by misssophie featuring long sleeve shirts

I let you go, now let me live. I don´t regret anything. by jesika-jc featuring a jumper shirt

5. Pinterest - Love this quote... and the eye candy :D

"If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are. Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads."

Source: 29.media.tumblr.com via Marie on Pinterest

Just tuneage

Happy Wednesday. Crushing on these fab artists from my dear friends who listen to good music.

Weekend Report

I know I bit behind but I wanted to show the last of the PositivelyPresent.com Gratitude photo challenge. I had so much fun doing this and definitely would like to do another one, perhaps I'll venture to try to come up with my own early next year. It was a great challenge and it's so great to look back at my photos and know that I didn't miss anything I shouldn't have.

Anyway, here is the last week of the photo challenge. Thank you Positively Present!
Day 24 - Gratitude, Day 25 - Artwork, Day 26 - Transportation, Day 27 - Daily Routine, Day 28 - Nighttime, Day 29 - Light, Day 30 - Self Portrait.

This first one was due on Thanksgiving where the Mister and I hosted for the first time and it was amazing. We had such a fantastic day having everyone over. And of course the food was stellar. Probably the best dinner we've had in a long time. 

This last photo I took a day late because it was the Mister and I's anniversary and I am so very grateful to have him in my life. It was a wonderful anniversary and I can't wait to see what this next year brings!

On another positive note I finished my tree skirt!! I am so over the moon about how it looks with my all white tree! It was totally worth it. -  I realize I forgot to link up the tutorial, so here it is.