Where's the best place to find button down shirts? Thrift shops or your dad's closet! I always go through my father's closet. Being the nice daughter that I am, I of course take the clothes he doesn't wear anymore.

Being that most button down shirts you will find are oversized, you'll have the chance to rework them the way you want. Whether you want it to be super long, super short, or somewhere in the middle, it's completely your choice.

First find a shirt or two you'd like to revamp.

Take off the sleeves. You can cut, or use a seam ripper if you feel the need to be exact.

After you take off the sleeves, it's all up to you on how you want it to fit. I personally use a comfortably fitted shirt as a guide. Find a shirt in which you would like your button down to fit like, lay it on top of the button down, and use chalk to trace the width. When you sew it, follow your chalk guides. When you have it fitted the way you want, hem the bottom and the sleeves.

If you don't want to take it in and your comfortable with the size, then just go ahead and hem the sleeves.

After that's done, you're all done!

Those are three that I've worked on. These are 'before' photos; I went crazy with embellishments (upcoming post alert), which you're free to do after resizing the shirts! They should not be kept naked, don't you agree?

I've decided to move my online shop off of Etsy. It was a quick, last minute decision, but one I probably won't regret.

I've never felt that the shop I opened on Etsy was really official. I just had this weird deep feeling that I wasn't comfortable with, and I didn't want to continue on some site I just wasn't feeling. Ever since I've opened it, I only had two items listed and was never motivated to add more. I needed to fix this.

I browsed for other options and came across Storenvy. It seemed like an answer to my prayers. I Googled more about it - compared to Etsy and Big Cartel, it seemed like it was the best way to go. So on a whim, I signed up.

I don't think I have felt this motivated in a long time to actually continue something I started. I feel encouraged to create more, and list item after item. The layout and posting process is less intimidating, and I feel so much more comfortable using it than Etsy. Of course thinking about how much traffic Etsy gets, it may be a little difficult in my part to really promote this by word of mouth. I'm not good at promoting myself whatsoever. But it's a challenge that I'm willing to face.

The shop is still in the early stage, as I only do have four items up at the moment. Hopefully I'll have more up at the end of the week.

Words can't describe how excited I am to finally get the ball rolling. It's about damn time.

Visit my currently tiny shop at marsenroute.storenvy.com. Thanks!

Have you bought perfume recently and didn't have it in you to throw away the box because of it's lovely packaging? Story of my life. I have problems throwing things out - I'm on my way to becoming a full time hoarder.

Anyway, if you find yourself in the same boat, make a use for that box! Do something with it. Store pens, buttons, paintbrushes, office supplies, etc. The possibilities are endless.

I'm not big into buying perfume; I always receive them as presents. One perfume that I actually make an effort to buy is Harajuku Lovers - that's right, Gwen Stefani's perfume. She has great style and a great sense of what smells wonderful. I love the cute packaging and didn't want to throw away the boxes. One day, I did some hella organizing and decided to use those boxes. Snipped off the top flaps and filled them in with my makeup.

Went to TJ Maxx recently and saw this Harajuku Lovers perfume for sale. Cheap price! Had to buy it. Once again I didn't want to throw the box out. So I organized my desk up a bit by storing my crafty shape punches in there. They all fit, and all was right in the world.

So I guess the moral of the story is don't throw something away if you can find a productive use for it!

I'm going to take a break from the usual Thursday post and talk about the new No Doubt video, Settle Down.

No Doubt & Gwen Stefani have been my favorite since I can remember. I became a fan in elementary school around the time Return Of Saturn was released. I WAS OBSESSED. I know it sounds corny, but Gwen inspired me so much growing up. I am the way I am today because of her. Her fashion sense, her hair and makeup, her awesomeness - I wanted to be just like her. I began sewing at an early age, imitating her wristbands, jewelry, sewing clothes for my dolls making them look like Gwen... I was never tired of it. I eventually began sewing my own clothes and found my own style. I have Gwen to thank for so much.

Getting that out of the way, I can't express how excited I am for their new music. Their recent music video (first one in ten years!) was released the other day. Just when you think they're already so damn cool, they go and out do themselves. I love the new song - trying to figure out what kind of sound they're going for, but whatever it is, I'm digging it. The video is fantastic. And Gwen's pants..... can I have them please???

I grabbed this off of Beacon Street Online:

L.A.M.B. — We sat down with Paula Bradley, our Design Director for L.A.M.B. and she shared with us how Gwen’s trousers in the new No Doubt "Settle Down" video came about.

"Her pants were inspired by a conversation Gwen and I had months before the video. She said she wanted to be back to her roots. More "UNDONE". We were talking about the concept for the video and Gwen said she wanted to use Indian fabric! and other mixes. I thought this was fabulous. We love the mirrors. So I went looking for all types of vintage Indian mirrored fabric, belts, anything i could find that had the mirrors hand embroidered on them. We bought a pile of them and then began to lay them out like a jigsaw puzzle. Only sections of the costume have mirrors. No two pieces are the same. When I first showed Gwen, she felt it was a little too "Hippy" and not No Doubt enough. So then came the checkerboard!!

The idea of the pants was fantastic, and making them was quite a journey. Thank God for Gwen’s trust and patience. In the end I think they were quite beautiful, and performed wonderfully. There are hours of work into something like this and you have to really be lucky enough to work with someone truly amazing to get the opportunity. We almost lost these pants, but Gwen believed in everyone and in the end the pants just got better and better."

Paula Bradley
design director L.A.M.B.

...I sense a future DIY project for myself coming.

Pages 13 and 14 from my 002. Ursa Major Space Station art journal.
These are two sketches from my life drawing classes, possibly second semester? The rest consists of doodles and scribbles.

My song of the moment is by Blondie.

Before I start this post about delicious goodness, I'm proud to say that this post is my 100th post! I'm proud of myself for sticking to this blog. And although it hasn't quite developed into what I'd hope it'd be, I know I'm getting there and things will start falling into place. As long as I stick with it, I know I'll reach where I'd like to be.

Alright, getting back on track, here's an idea of what you can possibly make with your leftover mac and cheese! Lately, I've been noticing a lot of restaurants catching onto the fried mac and cheese trend, and I'm loving it. Maybe fried food is not the frequent route to take, but once in a while it's totally okay to enjoy the hell out of it.

Yesterday morning, all of a sudden, the urge to make fried mac and cheese balls came about. I knew I had to browse around for recipes on Google. I came across this recipe, printed it out, and began.

I came across a few difficult points along the way with things not working out the way I planned. But the more you try it out, the better the results become.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp flour
3/4 cup half & half
1 packed cup of leftover mac & cheese
This can all vary according to how much mac & cheese you want to fry. This recipe makes about 8 balls.

*This sauce is mixed with the mac & cheese before frying.
01. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is bubbling.
02. Remove the pan from the heat. Then slowly whisk in the half & half until it is fully mixed and there are no lumps.
03. Return the pan to a medium-low heat and use a silicone spatula to continuously scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent burning.
04. When the sauce is thick and bubbling, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mac and cheese. Stir to fully combine.
05. Cool to room temperature, then pack up the mixture and keep in the fridge until it's hardened. Give it enough time to harden, so plan your day accordingly.

When it's all good to go, take out the mac and cheese. Use a spoon to scoop out approximately 1 1/2" ball, and roll it between your hands to make it round.

Next, add about 2 inches of oil into a heavy bottomed pot. Turn the heat on medium high and wait for the oil to heat up.

In the meantime, gather ingredients to coat the mac and cheese balls.
1/2 cup flour
1 beaten egg
1 cup bread crumbs
Set them up in their own bowls. Roll each ball into the flour, followed by the egg, and lastly in the bread crumbs. Make sure enough egg coats each ball to help the bread crumbs stick.

Fry each ball until golden brown and crisp. Place the finished ones on a paper towel covered rack or plate to cool.

When they cool, they're all good to go! Feel free to try them out with some tomato sauce and grated cheese. It comes out delicious. What a great and easy recipe. I'll admit, not bad for my first time attempting these.

I love mac & cheese. Any variation of it makes me happy. While flipping through a magazine one day, I found this recipe. I'm not a vegan. Hell, I'm not even a vegetarian. But I appreciate the lifestyle and different takes on all kinds of food. I knew I had to give this recipe a go.

This recipe calls for strange mix of ingredients, but the end result tastes wonderful. I'd recommend you give this a try.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cup plain soymilk
2 1/2 tbsp white rice flour
1 1/2 tbsp large flake nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp granulated garlic
1 tbsp granulated onion
2 tbsp non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 8-oz package of pasta

Directions:
01. Whisk together soymilk, rice flour, yeast, soy sauce, garlic, and onion in a saucepan. Simmer 4 minutes, or until thickened, while whisking constantly.
02. Whisk in margarine and mustard, and simmer for 10 minutes more.
03. Cook pasta according to package directions.
04. Drain and toss past with the sauce.

And there you have it. Obviously feel free to substitute and ingredients you don't have. I changed few ingredients according to what I didn't have at that moment.
It's an easy recipe, doesn't take too long to cook, and the result is delicious.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post with a recipe of what you can make that involves your mac and cheese leftovers.

About a week ago, I held a "mustache craft night" party with close friends. I made mustache stencils & bought t-shirts, fabric paint (colors I didn't already have), and sponge brushes.
We all created what our little hearts desired, and we had a blast. We all walked away with awesome shirts.

Here are a few that I made.
I started off by making a crazy galaxy mustache tee. Took forever, but it was so worth it.

I didn't stick to the mustache thing for too long. I made a rocket stencil and painted a rocket ship...

...and anchors, with a little mustache.

My older brother and his girlfriend came back from vacation a few days ago, and she was upset she missed out on the party. She quickly pulled out a pair of shorts and we painted a mustache on using the most standard mustache stencil.

Everyone had so much fun, we are planning a part two. We're thinking of what perfect thing we could possibly make next time...

Crazy how fast this summer is going. One thing I haven't particularly been enjoying is the mosquito bites. Pretty sure there is a mosquito that just doesn't want to leave my room and feeds on me at night. I wake up every morning itchy in a new spot.

01. Bought new nail polish this week. Distant Memory by Wet N Wild Spoiled. It's super cheap at CVS, and they have a lovely selection of colors with great color names. I'm in love with the shade I bought.
02. One thing I love about summer is all the free time in the world I have. I've been meaning to sew up some curtains in my room. Now I finally have the chance. Found some nice scraps that I'm currently sewing together. Can't wait for it to be finished.
03. Another great thing about summer is all the free time in the world you have to experiment with things. In my last post I talked about stencil making. I entered a whole new world and I'm loving it. I decided to take it one step further and attempt to create one image using multiple stencils. I'm thankful I took that screen printing class two semesters ago. I would have never attempted something like this without a basic understanding of how screen printing works. I call this "the cheap man's screen printing". I plan on diving right into shirt painting this week. I think I'm most excited for that out of all projects I'm in the middle of.

This is a "behind the scenes" image from my second stencil party. My friend and I made some anchor t-shirts, which were mostly intended for July 4th. Of course when that day came around, we didn't wear our shirts.

Here's my song of the moment by Throwing Muses.

I have done so many different crafts in my life. I always try to perfect techniques and projects while trying some new ones out at the same time. I juggle projects and multitask like no other.

I'm all about fabric paint. Shirts, shoes, bags - been there done that. This time around I wanted to try out a different technique. When I use fabric paint, i use it straight out of the tube. Only recently did I start using a palette and sponge brush. It's been marvelous for coloring in larger surface areas. I also was curious about repeats and patterns.

As soon as my friend said "mustache t-shirt craft party", I went straight to making stencils.
I've never experimented with stencils before, so this was a whole new ballgame.
I searched around for the perfect material. I settled on thin cardboard. Regular printer paper is too thin and warps, and thick cardboard can make it difficult to reach corners and such when painting. Thin cardboard or card stock does the trick.

Now to make the mustache shape, you have two options: print out some mustache shapes or create your own. I looked up images to get some ideas to create my own.

To make your own, find a scrap sheet of paper. Fold it in half and draw out one side of the mustache. Cut it out, and voila! You have a symmetrical mustache.

Grab your cardboard and place where you'd like your mustache cutout to be. Trace it and use an x-acto knife to cut.
Cut out a variety of mustache shapes. Place them on your cardboard, trace, and cut.

Being that I've never created a stencil before, I didn't know if it was necessary to add some sort of finish. I wanted to make it a little stiffer, so I added a layer of Mod Podge to each side of each stencil. After that dried, I sprayed a layer of Krylon Clear Glaze to add a nice finish. (After doing so, I found that Mod Podge and glaze surely wasn't necessary. It added a nice finishing touch, but I wouldn't recommend wasting time using them. Trial and learning!)
After cutting them all out, there you have it! A mustache stencil.

I also found that working in a large group, having multiple shapes in one cardboard sheet isn't always effective, as everyone is sharing. But if it's just for you, place as many as you'd like on one sheet.

After finishing up the stencils, I took them for a test run. They worked fabulously!
I made a few galaxy-like shirts. And yes, a mustache galaxy tee!

Try it out and have fun!

Happy July!

This week was pretty eventful - the most active week I've had in a while.
01. My friends threw out a random idea for a summer project. They wanted to have a craft day and make mustache t-shirts. I went the extra step by making fun mustache stencils, which turned out to be a hit.
02. The beginning of the week, I attended a retirement party for my old high school art teacher. She's been there for over twenty years! My friend and I couldn't miss out on seeing her for the last time, so we went to the party. Saw a bunch of old teachers. It was really weird, but turned out to be a pleasant evening. They had butterfly cupcakes!
03. My older brother wanted to tie-dye a few of his shirts. He bought a kit, and we went a little crazy with the dye, but his shirts came out so cool. This was one of them. We both have never really tie-dyed anything before, so the shirts came out pretty awesome for us beginners.
04. On the topic of tie-dye, my younger brother wanted to make psychedelic pancakes, and so we had fun with food dye. The pancakes came out just as awesome as the t-shirts did. We're psychedelic-tye-dye pros apparently.

Besides all that, my younger brother and his friend found two wild baby mallard ducks wandering around the other day. So being that my family is that crazy bird family, the first place they thought to bring them was my house.
They're adorable and super friendly and cuddly. As much as we want to keep them, we all know it'd be in the ducks best interest if we kind a suitable wildlife center to give them to. We've researched everything we need to make them comfortable and healthy while we look for a place to rescue them.
It's apparently difficult to tell their gender while they're young like this, but in the meantime we've been calling them Jack and Jill.
Oh, they're so cute.