DIY Chainmail Necklace

Here we are, a DIY post! Honestly...WTF had this awesome tutorial for a Chainmail Necklace! I should change the concept of my blog to make into a Honestly WTF fan-blog.. or something. Every time they post a DIY, I just wanna go and make it! Anyways...

This DIY requires some patience: first open 100+ brass rings, then thread the right open ring with the right close rings... I don't think I can word the directions better than the girls did. This part above was such a headache for me. "If this ring goes here, then this one goes through here and here... unless!" It's probably best to make the necklace with 2-1-2-1 model first, close it when it's big enough for yah, and then do the additional row(s)!

BAM. Done and I love it!

While I'm at it, I'll show you my Plaid Barn's earrings! The Plaid Barn is a daily crafts deal website; they send out daily emails with a cool cheap deals! I bought this 2 pairs of feather earrings kit over the summer and finally remembered to put them together last week (where is my mind?).


They'll look great with my Chainmail necklace!

Fall Foliage

Fall appreciation post, Part 3 (the last one, promise)!
I love seeing the leaves change colors and just 2-3 weeks ago the tree in front of my house was yellow!

That same tree today!

With the weather getting chillier and chillier, we had to bring our flowers inside. I'm NOT looking forward to all the leaves falling down and everything to freeze off, ugh.

Long overdue DIY post coming up! Yes! Have a great weekend!

Dolphin's Cove

My parents and I swung by Dolphin's Cove last night for some lobster! My parents like to do that every summer, eating seafood by the water.. seems only fitting! I gotta admit, the only time I had been to this place was for their Sunday night parties (ha!) but the food last night was great: I had the Lobster Dolphin's Style and we shared their Portuguese Flan for dessert - all delicious :)

Dolphin's Cove, 421 Seaview Ave, Bridgeport, CT

As it is the last day of August, it's also the end of August Break! Honestly, I didn't have much to share these last 2 weeks, but it was great to participate only to discover new blogs/bloggers!

DIY - Tshirt Makeover

Long time, no DIY, huh! I've been struggling with one particular project for a few weeks now (it feels like forever for me) and I decided to take a break from it and do something easier. This little makeover was inspired by A Pair & a Spare's Cut-Out Tank Top Tutorial but adapted a little for a gym shirt - so less cleavage and side-boob.

This makeover is really simple: cut out the sleeves and cut out the collar; cut along the shoulder seams to then twist the straps. Sew the straps back together and voila! Like I said above, I used a gym tshirt for this with the intention of making it a sleeveless gym shirt. So I didn't cut out a plunging neckline (not the right time/place for this kinda display) and therefore only twisted the straps twice each.

I'm pretty satisfied with the end result. It's probably the easiest DIY/crafts thing to do.. but it's what my tired-crafty-novice self needed this week!

Have a great weekend!

Walnut Beach Creamery

Sunday was a good day to stop by Walnut Beach Creamery and grab a Nutty Yankee (dried cranberries, coconut and almond) - delicious! By the by, this cute ice cream spot was featured in the New York Times last Friday in their Cold, Creamy and Locally Made article!

WALNUT BEACH CREAMERY: 17 Broadway, Milford, CT - right by Silver Sands State Park!

Silver Sands

Between two thunderstorms, I finally made it to the beach! Silver Sands State Park (+ beach) has to be the beach I go to the most in Southern CT.


I don't really go there to swim or sunbathe.. To be fair, the sand is not the nicest and this is the Long Island Sound, NOT the Atlantic Ocean, but it's a nice place to just stroll on the boardwalk and relax for a bit. It's far enough from I-95 and other city noise to just escape from work/computer.

As you would've guessed, this is part of a park, so you get the beachy feel + the foresty feel all in one place... with a little Dawson's Creek ambiance at certain angles. Bonus point: deer come out and say hi sometimes (or hang out by the road to scare you a bit).


Silver Sands State Park, Milford, CT

Wish you a great weekend! As for me, nothing planned yet besides going to see The Dark Knight Rises tonight!

DIY - Envelope Clutch

Ooh, this post is long overdue! I think I'll stop putting dates on my DIY posts because it saddens me to see how much time has passed since the last one!

For this clutch project, I used 2 tutorials to guide me:

This tutorial by Swellmaybe - for pattern making.

This no-sewing video tutorial by BeautySplurge - for the no-sewing instructions. However, unlike her I did not use foam for structure.

Instructions are simple: make a pattern using cardboard, cut the fabric according to pattern, sew/glue the right edges, and add a button. Since I can't sew and, more importantly, don't own a sewing machine, I opted for fabric glue. For us non-sewers, BeautySplurge advises to cut the fabric 1/2 inch bigger than the pattern to glue the fold.

The only problem with the glue & bobby pins technique is that it marked little dents along the edges of the clutch. It might have to do with the fabric I used. The upside is that they're pretty evenly spaced and could look like it was done on purpose. Will have to rethink about this for next time!

And here's the end result! :)

Miya's Sushi

My brother was in town a couple of weeks ago, so we decided to take a little trip to Miya's Sushi in New Haven to taste their awesome fusion sushi!

Gotta say, we were all pretty impressed! After spending 30 min going through their lengthy menu, we selected a few plates of rolls including the 2 pictured above: Romping with the goats (tilapia + goat cheese goodness) and Diego's Rivera Roll (salmon + asparagus tasty explosion). Each of those orders had 5 pieces, but I was too famished to think of taking pictures of the plates before eating, yep.

The only "bad" thing about our dinner at Miya's was our waiter. Sure, the restaurant is very casual and friendly, but this guy took it a little too far for me by taking several drinking breaks with his friends at the table next to us during his shift. Hopefully, that won't be a problem next time...


Here is the "one bite" dessert, the Seven Deadly Sushi, with its many components that I can't recall (banana, strawberry, nuts... with a little homemade ice cream on top). Amazing as well!

Address: Miya’s Sushi - 68 Howe Street, New Haven, CT

April DIY: All about bracelets!

If this blog seems neglected, it might be because I've been drowning in beads!
For April, I gathered a few cheap n' easy bracelet DIY projects and here there are (click the links for original instructions):

Above: Honestly... WTF's Braided Hex-nut Bracelet & Minieco's Macramé Square Knot Bracelet

Honestly... WTF's Braided Bead Bracelet
They were all fairly easy to make, but I did get frustrated a time or two (or ten) with the itsy-bitsy beads or with the hex-nuts that wouldn't stay in place! I used some string from Target for the two hex-nut bracelets, but I wish it had been a thicker (is that the word I'm looking for?) string; they would've looked sturdier!

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the results and am already wearing them out!


Honestly... WTF has lots of jewelry DIYs and they're all listed here! The girls actually came up with a Macramé bracelet DIY not too long ago and now that I'm a Macramé "connoisseur," I'll definitely give it a try!

My DIY Project - March

And here it is! March project: completed!
I was inspired by Shini's Snood Brace a few months back and decided to make myself one, too. I opted for a small yarn, though, so my snood is not as bulky which fits me better, I think!

The yarn is by Manos del Uruguay (color 26) and I bought it during my New York visit, on a little detour to Purl Soho! It's a lovely (although pricey) store but I was surprised that during my 20-some minutes looking through their yarn selection, no salesperson checked up on me. While I don't like being harassed when I shop, isn't it customary to at least be greeted with a lil' "how are you? do you need help?"... eh, details.

On to the next one! I think April will be a month of jewelry making!

My DIY Project: February catch-up!

As I mentioned before, my January project took too much time and I ended up finishing it a month too late. So I've decided to take on 2 projects this month to catch-up!


I bought my Fira Chest from IKEA many years ago and always told myself that I was going to customize it.. and of course that never happened! One quick search on Flickr and you'll see just how creative people can get. I decided to follow this blogger's example: get a print (here Cavallini & Co. gift wrap from Paper Source) and "Mod Podge" it right on the chest! I chose the Paris map gift wrap, maybe it was too obvious of a choice coming from me but hey! I love maps and I love Paris!


And here it is! Easy peasy!

As for the "true" DIY project for March, it is almost done!

On a side note: I started using Pinterest a couple of months ago and have dedicated a board for DIY ideas. It's much easier to put together tutorials I see online and then choose from them later on!
Do you have a Pinterest account?

My DIY Project: January over a month too late!

I'm finally done knitting and purling!
With all the preparations for moving back to the US, this project took a month too long for me to finish, but alas, it is done ;)

Since this was my first time knitting, I used different resources to learn all the techniques needed:
* The project itself: How to Knit a Scarf for a Men (from eHow.com).
* Knitting: videos by Knittingtipsbyjudy were great help: How to cast on, the knit stitch, the purl stitch. Another useful video, this one by elsteffo, to learn how to swtich between the knit and the purl stitch.

I made lots of little mistakes while knitting but it was a great first project nonetheless! I'm definitely thinking of knitting another scarf (a snood, actually) in the near future.
Now, on the the next one!

Halfway through January

January 15th just passed this weekend which means I should be half way through this project... which I'm not. I'd say I'm about 1/3 done. So that means I gotta knit & purl faster, during whatever free time I've got, no matter what!! >;]

Resolution 2012 - My DIY Project

knit. knit. purl. purl.
For years, I've admired people who could sew, knit, glue, nail,... all in all create things. I've always wanted to learn to make things with my hands; that's why learning how to knit has been a goal of mine for years.
Like I said in my last post, I finally got myself some yarn and needles to get started on this goal. It all started 2 weeks ago. My boo and I didn't know what to get each other this Christmas so we figured out this plan: he was going to pay for part of the materials needed for me to finally start knitting and I was going to knit him a scarf as my first project!

The picture above is the result of 7 days of "work"! (I didn't knit everyday, let's be real.) I had a rough start with switching between knit and purl but it's all good now. I already feel so proud of this progress that I decided on a resolution for this new year:
I will complete 12 DIY projects in 2012
One project for each month! And not just knitting, could be anything: clothing, accessories, home decorations, who knows! I'm already very excited about this resolution! What about you, any resolutions for this years?