FYI... I'm In Greece

Expect some sort of blog post soon. Here is a picture to keep you entertained in the mean time. I'm here for a wedding and should hop to Germany in a few days and then back to New York... :)



x

DIY Lady Liberty Headband

While I may look like a really angry, hardcore 12 year old (see, we continue with the 12 year old theme from last post), you will probably look chic and fashionable if you attempt this incredibly easy DIY. This headband took me about 20 minutes from the birth of the idea to completion. If you don't own a sewing machine, it might take a little bit longer.

Before I get started on the DIY, I warn you, there are pictures of my unwashed, bed face-- that was my disclaimer. Also, the instructions are pretty simple. If you don't understand them, I have a higher IQ than I thought, or I'm just really dumb and made something super simple, super confusing. Just ask if you don't understand, I don't bite. :)

What you will need:

• scissors
• leather (or pleather stuff if you're cheap like me and use stuff that's lying around the house)
• studs of any size you like (honestly, I think the bigger the better, but I just used the ones I had on hand) I purchased mine from Studs & Spikes
• sewing machine with thread of choice, or needle and thread
• elastic
• knife
• screwdriver

So, here is the deal. Take your leather and cut a strip that will cover most of your head. Take your elastic and figure out how tight you want your headband. This should all be self explanatory. The elastic is attached to the leather so the whole thing stretches and stays on your head. The end.



Sew the elastic onto the leather strip to make a closed circle. Now you have a headband. Yayyy! Now it's time to decorate. I used a pen to mark where on the leather I wanted my spikes but then got lazy and just started poking holes. You can do the same. So presumably you have your leather marked. Now you will want to take your knife and poke a SMALL slit into the leather-- just enough to fit the screw of the spike through. If you make the slit to big, the spike will fall through and your headband will suck. Don't do that. I messed up (just like I told you not to) and just made a slit a little farther up from my mistake. It worked!



Now, push the screw through the slit, screw on the spike, and tighten with the screw driver. Keep on doing this until you're done, and TAH-DAH, you look fab like lady liberty.



I basically found stuff around my house to make this headband. Be creative and use interesting fabric, etc to make your headband better than mine. Remember that the spikes are heavy so if you plan to use fabric, you will want to put something heavier underneath to keep your headband from drooping.

Don't wanna make one? I'm selling them for $25. Email me christnaooi at gmail dot com!

Polka Dot!

I made this blouse for my trip to Greece. It was fun to make although the instructions kinds sucked at some points and I did a botch job when it came to finishing the inside of the garment. Also, nowhere could I find instructions on what size elastic I needed. Boo. I'm also retarded because I sized up even though I shouldn't have. While the top doesn't totally fit and it's not really my style, I like it. :)

One other thing, why did they not have this pattern in silk! Ugh, the fabric stores around me have an overwhelming love for cotton. It's kind of depressing.







I've been making Christmas cookies... So I might need this larger size. :( Alas, my boobs will never be larger than those of a 12 year old boy.

Cherry & Peach Cobbler

I know it's not quite the right season for cherries or peaches, but I felt that I should share a recipe to welcome The Silver Mandolin to Queen of Mayhem. Some of you may know that The Silver Mandoline is my poorly maintained cooking blog. I started on it a few years ago but quickly got fixated on Queen of Mayhem. While The Silver Mandoline has somewhat gone to ruins, I still find people posting comments on it. Thus, I've decided to post recipes and foodie delights on Queen of Mayhem. I'm not going to take down The Silver Mandoline all together, so you can still look at old recipes on there. Feel free to browse, and be sure to enjoy the recipe below!









Cherry & Peach Cobbler

Yummm... This recipe is SO easy and SO good! You can also substitute the 3 pounds of cherries with 3 pints of blueberries. Don't forget to wash your fruit. To anyone who needs metric units, I have the units converted so you can simply email me for them. :)

3 pounds cherries
2 T lemon zest
2 lbs peaches, peeled & sliced into ¼ inch wedges
¼ C brown Sugar

1 ½ sticks sweet butter, cold
¾ t salt
¾ C sugar
1 ½ C flour
2 t baking powder
½ C buttermilk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Combine pitted and halved with lemon zest & set aside. Sprinkle peaches with brown sugar and set aside.

Slice butter into ¼” pats and place in large bowl. Add salt, sugar, flour, baking pwder. Using pastry knife, combine ingredients until mixture resembles course corn meal. Make well in middle of flour and butter mixture and add buttermilk & egg. Stir.

In 9x13” baking dish, spread layer of about half of the cherries. Cover with peaches. Top with remaining cherries. Using a rubber spatula, dab the cobbler dough on top, smoothing as much as possible. Bake 40 minutes until fruit is bubbling and crust in gold.

Winter Spoon

I know the snow is hitting the ground where most of my readers are, but I figured that a little reminder of summer colours wouldn't be too bad at all. The images below are from the August 2010 edition of the Japanese magazine Spoon. I thought they'd be interesting considering I blog a lot of American and European fashion and never really touch upon the Asian take of fashion.








Well, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving-- or weekend to those who did not celebrate. :)