Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Holidays

This has been a whirlwind of a winter break.  I am heading back early this year (I'm actually sitting in the airport right now!) to start an internship, so we tried to cram quite a bit of holiday into the two weeks I was home.  My brother and I did last minute shopping and checked out the local giant Christmas tree....

On Christmas Eve, we went down to Balboa Island to walk around and enjoy the lights.  It was really beautiful, and so crowded!

And finally, we cooked our traditional Christmas feast.  And yes, it was amazing.  Great job, Dad!

Happy Holidays, everyone!  What did you do with your family?

DIY Bookish Christmas Presents

Let's be honest; there's always a couple of people that we forget about while Christmas shopping.  While I can't go back in time and remind you to pick something up, I can give you some easy DIY ideas that are particularly good for the bookish people in your life.

Idea #1: Bookmarks

Everyone at one point in their childhood cut up a bunch of paper and "made" them into bookmarks.  I know I did; I added scribbles, stickers, and wandered around my neighborhood trying to sell them for a quarter each!

You can do the same for family and friends this Christmas season.  You can decorate a scrap of cardstock festively like I did in (1), or add a drawing, photograph, or quote to make it more personalized.  Or if you want to get a little more fancy, try taking a small piece of ribbon and gluing a button or jewel at the end.  It's a really simple DIY, but it dresses the ribbon up nicely and is really easy to personalize.

For a more fancy bookmark, take an 4" x 3" piece of paper.  Fold it diagonally as though you are making it into a square.  I then drew a fox face because I was using orange paper, but you can customize the animal to go with the color of your paper.  Once you've sketched in the face, color it in with pencils and/or markers and try it out in your book.  It should look something like this:

This is a bit of a different kind of bookmark, with a tab on the side of the book instead of the top. To make this more personal, pick an animal or drawing that is going to mean something to whoever you're gifting this to.

Idea #2: Quote Sheets

These quote sheets are my favorite gift this season, and I gave a bunch of these out for graduation presents.

All you need for these quote sheets is paper or card stock, pencils, and markers.  Oh, and some quotes!  I think it makes an especially cool gift if you pick a quote from your friend's favorite book, author, movie, or a quote that some how applies to them.  The actual process is quite easy: sketch out your quote, outline the letters, and then start decorating!

You can decorate these any way you like, and again it's fun to use colors or designs that are specific to whoever will be receiving this gift.  And that's it!  If you decide to use card stock, you can give the sheets just like this as a little poster, but you can also elevate the gift slightly by putting it in a cool frame.

I've done three sample designs for those of you who aren't so artistically inclined, which you can download and print here.

Idea #3: Book Bag

Again, this gift is super easy to personalize.  All you need is a blank canvas bag, which you can find at any crafts store and either some Sharpies or fabric paint.  You can really put anything on the bag: a random drawing, a quote, etc.  You could even print a photograph onto an iron-on paper and do that instead.  However, since this is a book-themed DIY post, I will be doing a design featuring some of my favorite books.

First I sketched it out and then added a bit of decorative color.  Tadaa, so easy!

So I hope you guys enjoyed these really easy, basic DIY Christmas gifts.  I wanted to make sure to do something that could be done at the last minute, with minimal supplies or skills needed.  If you do make any of these, I would love to see pictures!  Please Tweet them to me @littlespider9, or tag me on Instagram @littlespider.

Happy holidays and happy creating!

Spring Break 2013

I'm back in the city from spring break and have a few pictures I want to share with you guys.  If you follow me on Instagram at all, I apologize because you'll have seen all these before.  But over break I started playing around with my drawing tablet a bit (my wonderful Christmas present - thanks Dad!) and put together these fun little groupings.  Let me know what you think about the writing on the pictures, because I quite like it.  Actually I have a feeling that my tablet will start making quite the appearance here at Little Girl!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Christmas Treats

Christmas this year was absolutely perfect.  It was relaxing, low key, and way more about giving than getting.  Even my dogs got into the spirit!  The day ended with an absolutely fantastic meal made by my hard working dad.

Hope your holiday was equally has fun and family-filled!  Any fun dishes that you tried?

The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,

...not a puppy was stirring while...

...cookies were baking...

...and decorations were aiding in the merry-making.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and good wishes for the rest of the holiday season!

Holiday Listening

Christmas Favorites from littlespider on 8tracks Radio.

It's finally December! That means it's time to break out the Christmas music, which is by far my favorite part of the season. I don't have too many Christmas songs with me (most are at home on CDs), but I thought I'd collect the few favorites I do have into a playlist to share with you all.

I'm going to recommend getting comfortable with a blanket, a cup of tea, your favorite book or a holiday craft, and then listening. Trust me, the playlist will sound even better that way!

Stay warm and dry, everyone. Do you have any favorite Christmas songs?

Holiday Idea: Handmade Gifts

I love everything about this time of year: the turkey, mashed potatoes, hot tea, Christmas music, and present hunting.  Although the trend in scaling back gift giving is mainly due to the back economy, I love the idea of only giving gifts that are really thoughtful and heartfelt.  It encourages people to really think about what their loved ones would like, rather than just buying presents to just have presents.

As for me, I'm trying to do as many handmade gifts this year as possible.  Not only do they say "You're important enough to me that I took the time and effort to make you something," but this way you're giving them a something completely unique.  For example, I'm giving my grandma this knitted "Boneyard Shawl" for her birthday tomorrow.

I used a really beautiful, soft Alpaca yarn from Cascade Yarns, and the pattern I found on Ravelry.  It's such a nice wrap that I'm actually making a second one with the left over yarn, which I also used to make this little knit envelope for the card.

This pattern I came up with myself, and will definitely use again.  Even the card was handmade, using some patterned scrapbook paper and an index card.

See?  This way gift giving is not only creative and personal, but also a lot more fun than fighting over items at a mall.  So, do you have any ideas for handmade gifts this holiday season?

Happy Thanksgiving

Finals season is upon us, and the last couple weeks have already been so busy that I'm having a heard time imagining it getting much worse.  To help de-stress (and get exercise at the same time!) I've taken up the habit of taking long walks around the neighborhood.  I live right by Mountain Lake Park, which backs up to the Presidio.  So just yesterday, I walked up to Inspiration Point to take in the view.

It was so gorgeous and clear up there that it put me in the perfect frame of mind for Thanksgiving.  It really got me thinking about what I'm grateful for.

For my friends, who accept me for all of my weirdness and keep me laughing and sane.  For my parents, who have always worked so hard to give me the best life possible.  For my brother Trevor, who is one of the best friends I could ever ask for.

For all of the amazing experiences and opportunities that I've had that are so easy to take for granted.

 And for this amazing and beautiful world that is so inspiring.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Labor Day 2012

I hope you all are having a wonderful Labor Day holiday!  I know I am spending it in the true spirit of workers everywhere; working, on a big presentation that I have to give tomorrow.  How appropriate is that?

I've also picked the video below in the spirit of Labor day (and based on the fact that it's been stuck in my head for days).  It's a reminder to celebrate workers everywhere, no matter how, erm, unconventional their occupations.

Happy 4th of July!

The Quiet Days Are Gone

I can hardly believe that break is finally over, but it's true.  The five weeks flew by so quickly!  I fly back to San Fran tomorrow (today?) and before I do I wanted to post some pictures from a few weeks ago.  They were all taken on a photo-exploration with my brother and dad, at the Upper Newport Bay.

The Upper Newport Bay Interpretive Center has many different trails that you can follow, though sometimes it's more fun to just forge your own.  The hills and weird gaps that required jumping over were not my favorite, however, because I've been having some knee troubles.  I've spent the last two weeks of break in physical therapy to treat my irritated and inflamed IT Band, so hopefully the hills and stairs of San Francisco will not be an issue.  Keep your fingers crossed!

The next time I post, it will be from my home in the rainy city.