Read & Relax

Hi, guys! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far. Here are some interesting reads I've found in the interwebs lately to keep you entertained:

The topics around Etsy are getting more and more heated these days. Here's an article about how handmade is getting a whole new meaning on Etsy due to the emergence of shops selling cheap imported goods as their own making, and earning quite the penny in the process. It does stir all kinds of feelings in me, but I'll refrain from a full on debate at this point. But I will say that continuing on Etsy is something I'm deeply doubting at the moment.

I loved reading this article about the 10 benefits of doing yarn crafts. It's like I say - creativity truly is the best therapy -  and I have science on my side.

I linked to it on Monday as well, but Oliver Sacks' article deserves another share. 

Apparently there's a huge dress debate going on I knew nothing about. And, let's not discuss the colors, but it does raise questions on my favorite topic - the human brain. By the way, if you want to read more amazing stories of the human brain, and what happens when something goes wrong with it, you should read Oliver Sacks' books. I've read The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat and Musicophilia. Both were fascinating. Like the tale of a man that got hit by lightning and turned into a musical genius because of it. Or people who can't turn off the music that's constantly playing in  their head. Or, a man who can't distinguish between a hat and his wife. I could talk for hours about the mystery that is our brain, but I'll leave it at the book suggestions for today.

Going through Mayi's 5 Day Life is Messy Challenge, and it's getting me all kinds of inspired.

And, last but not least, here's the trailer for the most epic Estonian war movie ever made called 1944 (the trailer has English subs). It premiered last week, and is already breaking all kinds of records. I'm so sad I won't be able to see it for a while, since it obviously doesn't run in German cinemas, at least not yet.

That's it from me today! I'll catch you again on Monday.

xo, Hanna

DIY Paint Dipped Flower Vase

Happy Friday! I hope you've all had a wonderful and productive work-week. Mine has been full of projects for the upcoming e-book. Who knew creating an e-book would be so much work? Oh, so you knew and didn't tell me? That's just plain mean, sistah. Just kidding! It's going to take a little while longer for me to finish the book, but so far so good. I've only got 3 projects to wrap up, and then it's time to do some writing. 

And since I'm all about doing decor projects these days, I thought I'd share a really simple one with you today. I like my projects budget-friendly, so I'm always on the lookout for low cost materials to make pretty things out of. These syrup bottles looked like the perfect beginning for some awesome vases. Ever since I found out a bunch of roses was only 2.99€ at our local supermarket, I've been excited to have more fresh flowers around the house. Sad thing is, we didn't have anywhere to but them really. 

 I like having things in threes, so I knew I wanted to make 3 of these in different but coordinating colors. I also wanted to try out a paint dipped effect, without actually dipping them in a paint bucket. Here's how I did it:

You will need:

• glass bottles
• painter's/masking tape
• decor paint or spray paint  ( I used both: spray paint for the copper one, and wall paint for the other 2)
• foam brush

1. Tape off the upper part of the vase. To get the paint dipped effect, place the tape diagonally down on one side of the bottle, and then diagonally back up on the other side. Make sure that the beginning and end of the tape meet.

For the cleanest paint line, go over the edge of your tape and make sure it's nice and tight around the bottle. 

When using spray paint, tape off all of the top of the bottle, but when applying paint with a brush of some sort, the one round of tape is enough.  

2. Paint the lower half of the bottle. I did 3 thick coats of paint so the surface would looks smooth and fully covered.

Let dry and you're done!

Note: Do not wash these in the dishwasher. Only hand-wash, without rubbing the paint, to keep your vases looking pretty for a long time.

I love adding little handmade touches to our apartment. Makes me feel so much more at home. My weekend will be spent finishing up the last projects for the book, and maybe baking a chocolate cake for hubby. We'll see!

How about you? What are you up to this weekend? Have any creative plans? What ever you do, have a great one!

xo. Hanna 

Wardrobe Reinvention // 5 Ways to wear a knit dress

Time to reinvent that little wardrobe of mine. I actually counted all the items in my closet, and got a surprisingly high number. I mean, who would have thought that there are still about 70 items of clothing in my wardrobe. It looks way less when I stand in front of my closet in the morning. Just goes to show how we tend to underestimate what we have. 

I remember when knit dresses became a trendy item a couple of years ago, and how I resisted getting myself one. I thought that those curve-hugging knits just weren't suited for a pear-shaped body like mine. I would surely highlight my thigh area, which I've always been a little too subconscious about. But, eventually I caved and got myself one. Body-shape style rules are meant to be broken sometimes, I think. And, there are always ways to counterbalance the unflattering effect they might have. Or, just embrace the type of body you've got and be proud of that big booty, flat chest, or both. Here's a few ways to do both. 

 Wearing // Knit dress: H&M / Jeans: gift from Mom / Boots: thrifted / Earrings: Christmas gift from hubby / Necklace: DIY / Watch: DIY (tutorial here)

Wearing the dress with jeans is actually something I started doing fairly recently. I guess I was worried to stretch out the dress before. Now that it's already 3 years old I don't care as much, although I doubt it would harm the garment even if it was new. I noticed that wearing jeans underneath seems to make the hips less curvy, although logically it should make them stand out even more. Instead, I feel very balanced and comfy in this outfit. Even kind of cool (shh, don't tell anyone, but I always kind of wanted to be a cool kid). 

 Wearing // Knit dress and tights: H&M / Boots: thrifted / Earrings: DIY / Belt: from my Etsy shop

Belting is the easiest way to style this dress, and that's how I mostly wear it. Although, after this little challenge, I find other ways so much more interesting. It's funny I've worn this outfit that much compared to the others, since this is actually the only one of the five that makes me a little too subconscious about my lower half.

The other thing is, that if you wear something the same way over and over again, you just get tired of it. Which is why the wardrobe reinvention exercise is so good. It challenges me to wear old clothes in a new way and fall back in love with them. 

 Wearing // Knit dress and tights: H&M / Vest: thrifted / Boots: thrifted / Earrings: DIY

Adding a vest is a very simple way to elevate the dress. It adds more structure and helps to balance to top half of my body. The vest is exactly the kind of garment that makes a dress like this wearable for pear-shaped women because it moves the focus from the hips to the top, and helps to create a more hourglass-y silhouette. 

 Wearing // Knit dress and tigths: H&M / Skirt: thrifted / Boots: thrifted /
Earrings: DIY / Brooch: from my Etsy shop

This is my favorite outfit of the bunch. It's just so very me I think. Although I'm slowly moving away from a cute and utterly feminine look, I'm still drawn to a girlie outfit. Plus, hubby said he has the most beautiful wife when he saw me in this outfit, which might have swayed my opinion. 

I used the dress as a layering element for this outfit. It would be perfect for the winter months to add extra warmth when you still want to wear a skirt, but it's sooo cold outside. Keeps your bum and thighs nice and warm.

 Wearing // Knit dress and tigths: H&M / Sweater: thrifted / Boots: thrifted / Earrings: DIY /
Brooch: DIY / Belt: Seppäla (this belt has a fun story attached to it, but I'll leave that for another time)

Another great way to layer during winter. This sweater is the most colorful, warm, and fuzzy sweater I own. I love it! It's one of those sweaters that you can de-pill very easily, so I've gotten a lot of mileage out of it already. Something like 5 years I think, which is a lot considering I got it second-hand. All in all, makes for a very comfy outfit. 

And, this is what I do when, after 5 outfits, I'm totally out of poses. Got to work on my modeling skills more, I guess. It's hard, you guys!

How did you like today's wardrobe reinvention? Which one was your favorite outfit, and why? I'd love to hear your opinions in the comments!

If you're new to the blog, you can check out the whole Wardrobe Reinvention series right here, and all the style posts here. 

Until next time!

xo. Hanna

My Cable Knit Sweater

Winter is always the knitting season for me. As soon as the weather starts getting colder, I get the itch to pick up a knitting project. Although I haven't shared that many projects on the blog, I actually very much enjoy knitting. It's one of the most soothing activities I know. Some of my proudest projects have been knitted. On top of the list is a lace knit cardigan with beads I knitted for my Mom a few years ago, and an Icelandic sweater dress I made for myself. 

As with all crafts, some years are more productive than others. This winter has seen a new wave of knitting for me. The projects are not many, but they are big. First, the scrap yarn throw blanket. And now, a cable knit sweater. 

I usually make my own patterns for knitting since the few times I've followed a pattern resulted in disastrous failures. I don't know what I do wrong, but even after checking for gauge, all my projects turn out at least 3 sizes too big. My last very painful disaster was the sweater I knit for Rein last Christmas, that I ended up ruining trying to make it wearable, and that I wasted a lot of hours to make. Sigh..

That's the thing about knitting though, a project like a sweater has a lot of room for error, which can lead to moments of utter frustration. This one also had a couple of those. I tried to do a high-low hem ribbing, and mostly succeeded, although I should have started with more cast-ons, and then decreasing the number with the short rows (if that makes any sense to anyone else but me). That was a valuable lesson for me as I'd never done a high-low hem before on a sweater (or anything else for that matter). Also, I counted the stitches wrong when joining the sleeves, so I ended up having to unravel many rows of knitting. Not a fun moment.

I love seed stitch! Seriously, I use it in most of my projects. It's one of those easy stitches that looks very sophisticated. So, the body is in seed stitch apart from the cabled front part, and the sleeves are regular knit. I thought it would be a nice contrast between those two with the raglan sleeves. By the way, it was my first attempt at a self-drafted raglan sleeve. Success! 

A little word about the yarn I used as well. My Grandma gave me this yarn for Christmas too many years ago. I had a hard time deciding what to knit with it, and so it just sat in my yarn pile. Now, when I was back in Estonia for the holidays, I thought it'd be the perfect time to start this project. It took me about a month to finish this. Would have gone a lot faster, but I usually knit only when I'm watching a series or film in the evenings. We should watch more of those, I guess.

All in all, I'm super happy with my sweater. I had a couple of hiccups along the way, but that's a part of the process. Initially, I'd hope to share this pattern with you, but it came out much more difficult, and the work that would go into making this into an easy-to-follow pattern with different sizing would just be too much at this point. But, you can browse other knit projects I've made for some other ideas.

A little update! The yarn i used is Bergere de France Eclair (74% acrylic, 14% mohair, 9% worsted wool, 3% lurex). The color is Taffetas, which I can't seem to find anywhere for sale. There are other colors available, though. Like hot pink, deep purple, plum, beige, white, and lime green on Amazon, and this site also has a lot of variety, including the light pink I used for a hat I'm wearing here.

I'm already sketching out a new spring sweater design. I hope to make something simple, so I could share the pattern with you as well.

Have you knit anything recently? Is knitting a seasonal craft for you as well, or are you a year-round knitter?

DIY Dangling Metal Button Earrings

Happy Independence Day, Estonia! Our little country is 97 years old today. We are celebrating by making soup and watching Tangerines, the Estonian movie that almost won an Oscar this year. But before I go to wave the blue-black-white flag, I have a DIY to share with you.

This is another one created for the Estonian fashion magazine called Mood. Laura suggested I make the Estonian versions of these tutorials available as well, and I'm working on making that happen. I'm still figuring out the best way to do that, but I'll let you know as soon as they are up somewhere. 

I've wanted to make something out of these metal buttons from the day I bought a whole batch of vintage buttons many moons ago. There were only a few of each, so adding them to a garment would be tricky, as garments with buttons usually require more in quantity. And also, they were so cool, I had a hard time imagining a garment worthy of them. So, finally I decided to turn them into jewelry. Best decision ever!

I'm sure you can find similar buttons in the stores, but you could use any other buttons in different sizes. I think these would look great with colorful buttons - like a color-blocked effect - for the upcoming spring. And you could play with the length by choosing smaller buttons, or adding only two or three. Or, make them ever more dramatic by choosing large buttons. There's so much variation possible here.

This is what you need:

• Buttons with 2 holes: 2 big buttons (mine were about 1.5cm in diameter), 2 slightly smaller, and 4 small buttons (with a diameter of 1cm)
• 0.6mm (22 gauge) jewelry wire
• 5mm metal jump rings (or you could make these out of the wire)
• Earring stud with backings
• Wire cutters
• Round-nosed pliers (this kit has all the essential jewelry tools)
• Regular pencil (if you're using bigger buttons, then something thicker)
• E6000 glue
• A toothpick fro applying glue

1.  First you need to create some metal rings for the bigger buttons. You could also make smaller rings for the smaller buttons and for joining the buttons. (Or, you could alternatively buy metal bigger and smaller metal rings and skip this step.)

Wrap the wire one and a half times around the pencil and cut. Make 6 of these. 

If you're also making the smaller metal rings out of wire, use your round-nosed pliers for that and create 10 of those.

2. Attach the metal rings to the buttons. One to the top and bottom button, and two to the ones in between. It's like attaching a key to a key-ring. Use the round-nosed pliers to seal and smooth the rings.

3. Start joining the the buttons with the smaller metal rings. Open the ring with the pliers, attach the top button...

4. ... then add the next button, so you have both button's key-rings on the smaller joining ring. Close the ring with the pliers. Repeat with the next buttons all the way down. 

 You can see the progression of adding the buttons on pictures 5 and 6.

7. Once all the buttons have been added, take the studs, add a dab of glue to the backside of the stud with a toothpick, and attach it to the back of the top button.

8. Make sure you let the glue dry completely. Done!

Pretty cool earrings, huh? I'm itching to try even more button constellation variations. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces out of buttons - should be fun! So, I'm a button enthusiast, that much is clear. What about you? Would you give these a go?

If you ever make a project from Pearls & Scissors, do share! You could either e-mail me a photo to hanna at pearlsandscissors dot com, share it on the Pearls & Scissors Facebook page, tag me on Instagram or use the hashtag #pearlsandscissorsdiy.

I'd love to feature your creation on the blog, and create a gallery of reader makes. Wouldn't it be fun to see how others have interpreted a project? I'm beyond excited to see what you create!

xo. Hanna

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