Anyone who wants to live a cute life can join The Cookies Club. To be listed as a member, just comment on this post with your name, you blog or website URL, and -- just because i'm curious -- your favorite type of cookie.
Soon i'll tell you how you can become an OFFICIAL card-carrying member of the Cookies Club, complete with membership kit and bi-monthly newsletters! So stay tuned ♥
Saturday, February 27, 2010
thoughts on fancy pens
I guess everyone has their favorite pens. Some favor a certain make and model, and sometimes you just come across an ordinary ballpoint pen that happens to write especially nicely. I think after becoming addicted to cute notebooks, it was natural to want my pens to correspond.
Now it seems obvious that the pen i use for letter writing should be something very special. Writing in my own very secret diary is another time when the pen is important. And the pen in my purse -- the one i pull out all the time when i need to write in my planner, put to paper some plans for an exciting project, or jot down some inspired lyrics for a brand new Watch Out Red Hood song -- that should be a pen that turns heads. Or at least makes me smile.
My favorite pen for years was a gift from a friend, a cute souvenir from her hometown on Lake Biwa. It featured Hello Kitty in a fish costume. It wrote nicely, and on the end that i normally chew on, it had a Fish-Kitty charm that I could make spin around the pen in a very satisfying way. I'm pretty sure my Sunday School teacher hated it. It doesn't work anymore but I still have it.
Now I have a few favorites. This past fall i was overtaken by an especially strong desire to have only cute things, and I fixated on all my boring, chewed up pens. So i got on etsy and ordered some flower pens from banana tree art. They are lovely. I think these are not too difficult to make yourself.
Then for Christmas, I got two special pens from two special sisters: a quill pen, which is kind of hard to write with but great fun; and a ballpoint pen that writes with lilac-scented ink. I love it.
I also have a good supply of Sakura gel pens, mostly in pink. They're a good stand-by, except for check-writing.
My friend Hannah wrapped an ordinary pen in ribbon and thus it became cute and interesting. I thought yarn would be neat but I haven't figured out how it'd work. I wonder how else we can take ordinary pens and make them worthy of THE COOKIES CLUB?
Now it seems obvious that the pen i use for letter writing should be something very special. Writing in my own very secret diary is another time when the pen is important. And the pen in my purse -- the one i pull out all the time when i need to write in my planner, put to paper some plans for an exciting project, or jot down some inspired lyrics for a brand new Watch Out Red Hood song -- that should be a pen that turns heads. Or at least makes me smile.
My favorite pen for years was a gift from a friend, a cute souvenir from her hometown on Lake Biwa. It featured Hello Kitty in a fish costume. It wrote nicely, and on the end that i normally chew on, it had a Fish-Kitty charm that I could make spin around the pen in a very satisfying way. I'm pretty sure my Sunday School teacher hated it. It doesn't work anymore but I still have it.
Now I have a few favorites. This past fall i was overtaken by an especially strong desire to have only cute things, and I fixated on all my boring, chewed up pens. So i got on etsy and ordered some flower pens from banana tree art. They are lovely. I think these are not too difficult to make yourself.Then for Christmas, I got two special pens from two special sisters: a quill pen, which is kind of hard to write with but great fun; and a ballpoint pen that writes with lilac-scented ink. I love it.
I also have a good supply of Sakura gel pens, mostly in pink. They're a good stand-by, except for check-writing.
My friend Hannah wrapped an ordinary pen in ribbon and thus it became cute and interesting. I thought yarn would be neat but I haven't figured out how it'd work. I wonder how else we can take ordinary pens and make them worthy of THE COOKIES CLUB?
quick & cute decorating with photos
My friend Brianna wanted decorations for her dorm room, so for Christmas I decided to make her a lovely mobile with pictures from some of our fabulous picnics and secret club meetings.But the mobile (which originally involved a wire hanger) wasn't coming out so lovely, so i simplified a bit. I printed out a bunch of pictures, as planned, then just glued them back-to-back along a length of ribbon.
Then i cut some hearts and stars from pretty paper scraps and glued those back-to-back along some shorter lengths of ribbon.
I was very happy with the finished product! The collection of pictures made us look like really fun people to hang out with! I don't know how true that is, but we sure look exciting. And i really loved the way the hearts and stars looked, and made up my mind to make some for myself sometime.
A few months later i've finally gotten around to it. Without this project in mind, i printed out a bunch of pictures my friend had sent me, mostly featuring clothes. I wanted to get a good look at them but i didn't want to be on the computer. I hadn't decided if i was going to display them in my room, glue them to a notebook, or what.
Then the other day i didn't feel like doing anything that really had to be done, and the pictures were handy and i thought of Brianna's present.
A short while later, i had a new room decoration! It's prettier and more elegant than just taping photos to the wall, and it's not very much harder. I hung mine from my curtain rod.The ones i made for myself (pictured left) seemed a lot quicker and easier than the ones i made for Brianna. Maybe because i knew it didn't have to be gift-worthy, or just because it was the second time around. But also i used photopaper for Bri's and regular paper for mine, so that might have been a factor. I also used a corner-rounder on hers for an added finish, but didn't bother for my own.
Friday, February 26, 2010
cute at home
The first thing I do when i get home from work is change my clothes. And if i don't have plans to go out, my natural instinct is to reach for my pajamas. They're so cozy, and nobody's really going to see me...
But most days I get off work by noon. That means I spend all day in my pajamas. Pajamas can be cute, but something about spending too much time in them doesn't feel very lovely. I'm comfortable, but i look sloppy and I know it. It someone stopped by, i'd have to change right away.
So I think I have two options: Princess Mode and Slumber Party Mode.
Princess Mode, as usual, is impractical. The only thing less practical is expecting myself to get dressed when I know I'm not going anywhere. Princess Mode is based on the one possibly cute aspect of staying in PJs all day -- it's very princess-like. Or at least aristocratic. Slightly spoiled, eccentric girls get to stay in their nightgowns all day, reading forbidden novels, eating indulgent chocolates and shooing away the cat. And of course there's Sleeping Beauty.
I guess the only real difference between Princess Mode and my current routine is that a princess would not be wearing flannel Halloween-themed pajama pants in February. So I would need some fancier nightgowns. And a tiara. And I'd still be embarrassed if the UPS man came to the door.
Slumber Party Mode is the plan I intend to follow. Here is what I need to do:
And as soon as I finished writing this, a salesman came to the door.
But most days I get off work by noon. That means I spend all day in my pajamas. Pajamas can be cute, but something about spending too much time in them doesn't feel very lovely. I'm comfortable, but i look sloppy and I know it. It someone stopped by, i'd have to change right away.
So I think I have two options: Princess Mode and Slumber Party Mode.
Princess Mode, as usual, is impractical. The only thing less practical is expecting myself to get dressed when I know I'm not going anywhere. Princess Mode is based on the one possibly cute aspect of staying in PJs all day -- it's very princess-like. Or at least aristocratic. Slightly spoiled, eccentric girls get to stay in their nightgowns all day, reading forbidden novels, eating indulgent chocolates and shooing away the cat. And of course there's Sleeping Beauty.
I guess the only real difference between Princess Mode and my current routine is that a princess would not be wearing flannel Halloween-themed pajama pants in February. So I would need some fancier nightgowns. And a tiara. And I'd still be embarrassed if the UPS man came to the door.
Slumber Party Mode is the plan I intend to follow. Here is what I need to do:
- Invest in some cute sweats or yoga pants. Most of my cozy pants are due for replacement. Today I'm applying Slumber Party Mode by wearing a pair of American Apparel sweats that are much more flattering than most of my selection, but they are a bit worn out. The guidelines for buying my new pants:
- don't be cheap about it. i am on the thrifty side but this needs to be a splurge, a favorite brand.
- they must be something i would not be embarrased to wear to the grocery store
- i must never wear them to the grocery store or anywhere else
- Wear a bra all day.
- Take a moment to change my hairstyle. I usually wear braids or a ponytail at work, which i usually pull out when I change. It only takes a minute to brush it and rebraid it or pin some of it back into a cute, simple style.
- Put on a peice of jewelry. Just one. Literal BLINGIFCATION! A stretchy bracelet or a necklace and I look more put together and feel cuter.
And as soon as I finished writing this, a salesman came to the door.
embrace whimsy
"...he thought about it and said he didn't think we should be afraid to embrace whimsy. I asked him what he meant by whimsy, and he struggled to define it. He said it's that nagging idea that life could be magical; it could be special if we were only willing to take a few risks."
page 167 a million miles in a thousands years by donald miller
page 167 a million miles in a thousands years by donald miller
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Blingify
Once upon a time i produced a weekly newsletter with some of my friends. We basically printed just enough copies for ourselves, so no one else was very interested and we soon got tired of it and stopped.
In the newsletter, we talked about "BLINGIFICATION," which essentially means "making boring things pretty." (Obviously, the Cookies Club is not a new thought -- just a different way to explore it.) Unfortunately or not, BLINGIFY is still the most succinct word i know to describe the act of making an item lovelier than it was, although i suppose it does imply a certain amount of sparkle.
In fact, if i think to myself "how can i BLINGIFY this?", the first image in my mind usually involves covering it with stickers. And that's very often what I do.
But we had a few other ideas for making life fancier. Here are the ones we listed in the fourth (and final?) issue of BLINGIFY:
In the newsletter, we talked about "BLINGIFICATION," which essentially means "making boring things pretty." (Obviously, the Cookies Club is not a new thought -- just a different way to explore it.) Unfortunately or not, BLINGIFY is still the most succinct word i know to describe the act of making an item lovelier than it was, although i suppose it does imply a certain amount of sparkle.
In fact, if i think to myself "how can i BLINGIFY this?", the first image in my mind usually involves covering it with stickers. And that's very often what I do.
But we had a few other ideas for making life fancier. Here are the ones we listed in the fourth (and final?) issue of BLINGIFY:
- Replace all the band-aids in all accessible First Aid kits with Hello Kitty band-aids.
- Garnish every meal you make with a cute strawberry, and every drink with a cheerful lemon slice.
- If you have not already done so, blingify your cell phone shamelessly.
- Never send a letter without a lovely sticker sealing the envelope.
- Adopt the philosophy if it's there, it might as well be pretty (or frilly or cute or plaid or whatever suits you), then go search out all the mundane things in your world (laundry baskets, school books, sweatpants) and BLINGIFY them.
everything should be cute
I feel a bit guilty for having this kind of interest in material possessions. There are important things for me to do in this world; i shouldn't care at all what my pencil sharpener looks like, as long as it sharpens pencils.
But still I think... if i'm going to own a pencil sharpener, why shouldn't it be somehow delightful?
My pencil sharpener is not delightful. I can't even tell you what color it is. Actually I'm not really sure where it is! So i have not always felt this way about pencil sharpeners being delightful.
Some credit has to go to Hello Kitty. When I realized that anything I could ever want might also be available in pink and with Kitty on it, i began to wonder why i would ever choose a non-Kitty pencil sharpener (toaster, hairdryer, license plate frame, etc).
(And yet I don't want Kitty on everything... mostly because I just don't want Kitty on EVERYTHING.)
Eventually, cell phones became popular and I decided to get one. I had just returned to the U.S. after a semester abroad. Mobile phones were already widely used in the country where I'd been living; you could easily get one in pale pink, baby blue, or various other stylish colors. But everything I found at my local American cell phone shop was black and very businesslike. I was unhappy with this. For some reason I even complained about the lack of cuteness to the salesman at the Sprint store. I think he didn't understand. I went home with a navy blue one that could accommodate the phone charms i'd acquired in my travels. Eventually i painted it pink using nail polish.
And that's about the time my devotion to living a cute life began to develop. They say study abroad changes your life -- apparently that's how it changed mine. (I had been hoping it would help me decide on a major.)
Years later there is still so much of my life that is just sitting there not being at all stylish -- the aforementioned pencil sharpener, for example. No more! And so i hereby form THE COOKIES CLUB. Let's think about how to have a cute life!
But still I think... if i'm going to own a pencil sharpener, why shouldn't it be somehow delightful?
My pencil sharpener is not delightful. I can't even tell you what color it is. Actually I'm not really sure where it is! So i have not always felt this way about pencil sharpeners being delightful.
Some credit has to go to Hello Kitty. When I realized that anything I could ever want might also be available in pink and with Kitty on it, i began to wonder why i would ever choose a non-Kitty pencil sharpener (toaster, hairdryer, license plate frame, etc).
(And yet I don't want Kitty on everything... mostly because I just don't want Kitty on EVERYTHING.)
Eventually, cell phones became popular and I decided to get one. I had just returned to the U.S. after a semester abroad. Mobile phones were already widely used in the country where I'd been living; you could easily get one in pale pink, baby blue, or various other stylish colors. But everything I found at my local American cell phone shop was black and very businesslike. I was unhappy with this. For some reason I even complained about the lack of cuteness to the salesman at the Sprint store. I think he didn't understand. I went home with a navy blue one that could accommodate the phone charms i'd acquired in my travels. Eventually i painted it pink using nail polish.
And that's about the time my devotion to living a cute life began to develop. They say study abroad changes your life -- apparently that's how it changed mine. (I had been hoping it would help me decide on a major.)
Years later there is still so much of my life that is just sitting there not being at all stylish -- the aforementioned pencil sharpener, for example. No more! And so i hereby form THE COOKIES CLUB. Let's think about how to have a cute life!
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