Easy DIY Deer Ears

Like I said in my last post, I am all about the easy (but still fun!) Halloween costumes. So I figured I'd show you a quick way to make DIY ears for a deer costume!

This is a really inexpensive DIY, which makes it even better in my opinion. 

And here are the steps!

Step 1: Cut out an orange piece of felt in your desired shape and size. Cut a smaller, off-white piece to be the inside of the ear.

Steps 2-3: Apply hot glue to the back of the smaller felt piece, and glue it to the larger piece.

Step 4: Cut a 1 inch slit up the middle of the felt pieces.

Step 5: Apply a line of hot glue to the left side of the slit you've cut in the felt.

Step 6: Overlap the right side over the left side and glue together. You've got an ear!

Step 7: Cut a small tab the width of the bottom of the ear. 

Step 8: Glue to the front of the ear.

Steps 9-10: Apply hot glue to the back of the tab, fold around and glue to the back of the ear.
Steps 11-12: Use a black marker to outline the top of the ear and give dimension. (Or you can use a liquid eyeliner if you don't have a black marker on hand... No judging!)

Ta-da! Easy as pie, dears.

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Date Syrup Iced Coffee

I'll admit something about coffee. When it comes to caffeinated beverages, I'll try anything once. My go-to is a vanilla latte (hot) or a honey latte (cold), but I've been known to brake for lavender, rosemary pear, or maybe even a little gas station coffee if I'm feeling really wild.

All that being said, I was recently introduced to date syrup. Yeah, you know where this is going...

Date syrup is a really great alternative to many processed sugars. It's all natural, even vegan. So my friend Beth is a barista (and extraordinary photographer, but we'll get there). I brought my bottle of date syrup to her one day and said, "think we can make a latte using this?" We were skeptical. We tried it. It was good. I think Beth's exact words were, "If this were sold at Whole Foods or something, I'd probably buy it." And that, my friends, is a solid testimonial.

So, since not everybody has access to an espresso machine, I'm giving ya the easy-breezy version of the recipe, which doesn't require much explanation. Beth came over to my loft and snapped the photos of our new recipe!

Start with cold brew concentrate.

Add cream and date syrup to taste.

Stir.

Enjoy!

P.S. Beth has shot some really gorgeous weddings recently — you should check them out here.

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5 Moving Tips

My roommate and I moved into a loft over the weekend! I've been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading this process. I'm so excited to be in a new place that fits our lifestyle better (we're much closer to everything, and I was going to go insane living another day in a beige-on-beige-on-beige apartment). On the other hand, moving is hard work and takes a lot of time! We moved from the third floor of our old building to the second floor in our new building, so let's just say I'm going to be avoiding stairs for a while. Anyway, here's some things I learned through the process:

1. Cover your shampoo lids with saran wrap — I read this tip on Buzzfeed and didn't use it. Long story short, my shampoo exploded all over everything, and I am full of regret. Moral of the short story: Always listen to Buzzfeed.

2. Pack the plants last — I actually made a final separate trip for the plants. Get a wide box to place them in so you don't have to worry about any delicate leaves getting damaged in the process. After all, they're living things, and you should treat living things nicely.

3. Invest in superglue — Y'know, just in case you accidentally broke the blind-twisty-wand-thing in your old apartment. You can probably just superglue it back on and pass your check out inspection without your former landlord asking any questions... Probably.

4. Rent a U-Haul — This was the single best thing we did, even though we were just moving across town. It made the day go by so much faster (which was great because we moved on one of the hottest days of the summer).

5. Get a good crew — Our moving "crew" included friends and family who helped us carry big boxes, little boxes, take apart furniture and put some together. A sweet friend dropped off daisies and another delivered the cutest housewarming gift. The best part about this crew is they'll stick with us after the move.

Let me know if you have any unpacking tips! I have a feeling I'll be pretty busy...

P.S. Photos of me and Merry by Austin Elliott of Locke + Stache Media. Photo of daisies by me. (Thanks, Megan, for our sweet move-in gift!)

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The Dos and Don'ts of Burning Candles

I think burning a candle in your home is one of the simplest pleasures of adulthood. Gone are the days when your R.A. or boss demands you use a candle warmer; there’s nothing quite like the ambiance an open flame provides. When it comes to candles, if you want to let it burn for fifty-eleven days, um-teen hours there are some ground rules you should follow.

DO: The first and most important rule of candle care is the one that inspired me to write this post. I’ve been burning candles for way too long without realizing the first burn is insanely important as it determines the life of the rest of your candle. The first burn is called a “memory burn.” Since wax tends to follow the same patterns, the amount that you allow the top to liquify the first time is as far as it will reach in the future. You may know this frustration if you’ve had a candle that only burns down and not out; the biz refers to that as “tunneling.” Don’t let this happen to your candles, especially if you bought them at Anthropologie (because $).

DON’T: Don’t underestimate how long the “memory burn” will take, otherwise you’ll have to stay up later than intended watching Parks & Rec reruns while waiting for the top of the candle to completely liquify. I mean, I’m guessing that’s what would happen… The memory burn usually takes one hour per inch of diameter in the candle, so for the candles pictured here, you’d need to allow about 5-6 hours for this process to happen.

DO: Remember to keep the wick trimmed to ¼” at all times.

DON’T: Don’t put a lit candle on the back of a toilet stool because a few weeks ago I heard a story about how a guy caught his hair on fire while, y’know, using the toilet.

DON’T: When your candle has neared the end of its life, don’t burn it lower than ½” from the bottom of the jar. If you burn lower than this, the glass could break, and that sounds terrible.

DO: Remember you can use the jars your candles come in to make pretty stuff! After your candle has a ½” of wax left, you can place it in the freezer and gently remove the wax with a butter knife once it's hardened. You'll be able to remove the wick and reuse the glass jar for, oh, I don't know... maybe a succulent or something.

DO: Check out these candles if you're in Springfield, MO at The Market. I *love* them.

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How to Brow

My friend, Katie, recently graduated as an esthetician and got a sweet job as an Ulta Prestige Beauty Advisor and Benefit Arch Expert. Since she's officially an expert on brows (wow), she gave me the lowdown on how to maintain awesome arches.

So, here's how to brow:

You start by painting a weird tribal mask above your eyebrows. This is important to get into the mood, so you'll have the whole Amazon woman thing going for you. (Just kidding.)

Katie suggests making these lines to guide your brows, which is a great idea for anyone who may not have a super well-defined natural arch. She uses a white pencil to guide where the lines should go, so it's easier to wipe off when she's finished. (Smart girl.) First, she holds a pencil straight up and down from the side of her nose, and draws the line where the pencil would hit. This guides where the brow should begin. For the second line, she holds the pencil from the side of her nose, and continues as if it would make a line through her pupil—it is approximately a 45-degree angle. She draws this line to see where the arch should go. Then, she holds the pencil again from the side of her nose and ends at the corner of her eyelid. That is where she draws the last line, and where her brow stops!

After the lines are drawn, Katie tweezes what's outside her guide. She recommends that you alternate between brows as you pluck, so that you don't over-tweeze one brow, and then have to play "catch up" with the other. Also remember, "eyebrows are sisters; not twins." It is more important that you follow your natural arch line than pluck each brow to look exactly like the other. Trade secret: It hurts less if you tweeze close to the root and in the direction of hair growth. Another trade secret: It also helps to have a cute cat to hang out with you.

Katie draws a sharp, straight line from the beginning of her brows and continues it until she reaches the highest point of her arch. She stops drawing the line at this point, and she uses a small brush to blend the liner both at the front and into the ends of the brow. Katie has learned that this looks most natural because eyebrows tend to grow in softer closer to the nose and darken a little as they complete the arch. Interesting, huh?

Katie uses a variety of brow products (I didn't even know brow products were a thing.. Look at how much I'm learning!), but she says the necessities are a good pair of sharp tweezers (for obvious reasons), and either a pencil or a powder to fill in your sparse spots.
Products from left to right: Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Caramel, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk (to make the white guides around her brows), tweezers, Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter (to make corrections), e.l.f. Small Angled Brow Brush, MAC Cosmetics Eyebrow Pencil in Spiked (this is what she used in this post), e.l.f. Clear Brow Gel, and Naked 3.

Like you probably noticed earlier, Katie uses a pencil to fill in her brows instead of a shadow. Either is fine to use, but it is usually easier to get a well-defined brow with a pencil since a pencil makes sharper lines and is easier to control than a shadow. You don't need a fancy-schmancy "made-specially-for-brows" pencil, either; an eyeliner is just fine! Katie finishes her brows by covering up any color that made it outside the lines.

Picking the right color to fill in your brows is mega important. Best-case scenario, you'll find one that matches your hair color perfectly. But if this isn't the case, use this as a guide: Ladies with dark hair tend to look best with eyebrows a little lighter than their hair color, and blondes tend to look the best with brows just a tad darker. Katie recommends that you pick a brow color within two shades of your hair color. She also said one of the biggest "no-no's" is choosing a brow shade that is too red. So, when in doubt, choose a color that is a little more ashy than red-hot.

Ain't she just the prettiest?? I'll take beauty advice from this girl any day! If you want to see more of her makeup looks, you can check her out on Instagram @katielitter. Happy brow-ing!

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