Hey!

So. I'm back! I haven't made a video in oh-so-long, and I haven't blogged for an even longer period of time.  Now that I'm back home for the summer, I'll have plenty of time to catch up on both.  (And hopefully continue throught the school year)  Thank you so much for sticking around, and please enjoy my "I'm back" video:

If you want to check out my new channel, just click here! Currently there aren't any videos up yet.  But as I said in the video above, I'll be uploading my other college videos and new ones as well as soon as possible!

Thanks for reading!

Facts of the Day #32

1. HAHAHAH there's a Bieber link shortener.  For real.  Read about it here: http://bieber.ly/ca79

2. My aunt has a radioactive toilet.

Funny, right? The light from the window was coming in at just the right angle, and it was lighting up the toilet.

3.  I got a cute bracelet at an art fair: (custom made too! I got to pick the leather, the beads, the metal color, and braid or no braid.)

The middle stone is a petoskey stone.  Both sides are pretty cool, so I like to flip it around every once in a while.

4.  Our flight got delayed.  (Just so this doesn't get too confusing, this is more like the facts of a few days.)  We (my family) were supposed to fly home from Michigan Saturday evening.  But Saturday morning we got a call that the first leg of our flight got delayed, which ruled out the next leg of our flight.  So we got moved to the next day.  And instead of flying to Detroit, we would fly to New York. So the next day, we got on our plane.  Except we had to wait an hour and a half after we boarded because the fuel was unbalanced.  Fortunately, we still made it to New York with 30 minutes to spare. Another good thing: our flight was at the same gate we landed at.  (Same plane, even.)  Also, when boarding the same plane for the second time, the ticket checker man (what is that job called?) decided my carry-on suitcase was too big.  I had just had it on the same exact plane.  It wasn't too big according to the airport in Michigan...but they made me check it anyway in New York.  Oh well.  The good thing is I made it home and so did my luggage.  The end. 

 That's all for now!

How to clean your room

I don't know about you, but I cannot get anything done when my room is a mess.  So without further ado, this is how I clean my room.  (Hopefully this will help you clean your room too!)

Before. 

So as you can see (and what you can't see as well), is that my room is a mess.  I've got shoes and bags and blankets all over the floor, and my desk and dresser (basically everything that's a flat surface) are covered.

It can be a little overwhelming to start cleaning your room.  The best thing to do is to focus on one little thing at a time.  I like to start by putting on some chill music (or bright and cheerful music, it just depends on my mood.)  This just helps a little to keep me from being too bored while cleaning my room.

The first actual cleaning I do is to make my bed.  This is a pretty large area in my room, so taking care of that first makes a big difference.  Plus I also end up picking up all the pillows from around my room.

The next thing to do is clean off your messiest surface.  For me, that's usually my desk.  It's a magnet for papers, nail polish, and random junk.  Start by picking up the the things that definite place.  (For example, I have a box specifically for my nail polish.  So I put that away first.)  Then just clean up everything else.  It's alright if you have to leave out a couple of papers (and your water glass!), but just make sure you clear off the majority of your desk!

Now move onto your other surfaces.  My dresser and my white desk/cabinet usually don't collect anything other than dust.  They are a little cluttered with candles and souvenirs, but that's fine by me.  Really all you have to do is dust those sorts of surfaces.  The best way to do this is to move things off to the side and then dust the open area, then move them to the other side and dust that open area.  I usually like to rearrange all of my knick-knacks after dusting, since I've been moving them around anyway.  

move stuff to the side when you're dusting

before and afters:

Now if you're anything like me, your floor is a mess.  Clothes, blankets, bags, and shoes galore are all over the place.  So just clean it up!  Really, there's not much to it.  Put your shoes in your closet, put your bags wherever they belong, and your blanket shouldn't even be on the floor at this point.  You've already made your bed, right? 

 Tada!  Now your room is clean!

(before and after)

Mine's at least as clean as it can be what with all my dorm stuff piled in a corner:

 Extra Tips:
1. Empty your trash can at some point!  And if you know you're going to be throwing out a lot of stuff, get a different trash bag just for that.  That way you won't have an overflowing trash can at the end of your cleaning.
2.  To keep your room clean, PUT STUFF BACK WHERE IT BELONGS!  I know that you've heard that before, and it sounds really simple, but it's what works.  Don't throw your clothes on the floor, put them in the hamper.  Put your shoes back in your closet, and don't leave bags sitting around.
3. Again, listen to some music while you clean.  It really helps!

This only took me about an hour to do, so you won't be wasting your day just cleaning your room.  I hope this was a helpful little guide, and thank your for reading!

Dorm Room Ideas

 So the past few days I've been collecting ideas for decorating my dorm room.  I'm wanting it to be pretty and girly, and not full of too many bright colors like some rooms.  More delicate colors, I suppose.  I'll try to do some DIY videos on my YouTube and some picture tutorials on this blog.

1. These are some cute little bird mobiles that I saw in a little shop in Michigan.  I'd like to make one just to hang above my bed or my desk.  

2.  These mercury glass jars are so cute!  I want to make several, one or two for pencils and such, and a couple for flowers and dried lavender.  (tutorial/link)

3. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to have light strings in my dorm or not.  So if I'm not (because I've had my eye on these from Target), I thought these paper balls would be a cute alternative.  I could make several and just string 'em up.  (tutorial/link)

4. I loove the look of these lace tiles.  I also loove the look of this cute lace trash can.  I figured I could get a more functional trash can and use the lace/spray paint technique to dress it up a bit. (tutorial/link)

1. I thought it would be good to cover up my closet with a cute curtain since there's no door.  I have an old shower curtain that's white with pretty embroidered flowers, and I think that'll look nice.  (link)

2. And of course, I've got to make it personal with a monogram.  I'm thinking I'll get a flat block letter "C" and cover it with the same scrapbook paper I'll make the bird mobile out of.  (top/bottom)

Stay tuned for tutorials!

Facts of the Day #31

1. I went to the beach (lake beach) with my cousins today.  Just for a short walk, but it was fun.  I'll put up some amusing pics soon...

2. And now I'm just sitting on the couch watching dorm hauls and dorm tours.  I'm obsessed (for the moment.)

3.  I made some cool bracelets today at VBS.  (I'm helping out for the week while I'm visiting my cousins.  And actually, I made one of the bracelets yesterday.)  Bracelets are always too big for my little wrists, so the only bracelets I wear are either really adjustable, made by me, or just way too big and I end up taking them off.

Anyway, both are four-strand braids.  The one on the left is mint green yarn (I made it big enough to wrap around twice) and the other is just this waxy twine stuff.

4. I've heard cocoa butter is good for getting rid of scars.  I have this ugly raised scar on my left foot from an oyster (cut it a few years ago), and I have a 100% cocoa butter stick.  I'm hoping that will add up to a significantly faded scar.  (pics soon.)

5.  Obsessed with Pinterest over the past few days.  I've been going to the crafts/diy section and I've repinned many things.  I've found a lot of stuff I want to do to decorate my dorm, and loooottsss of bracelets I want to make.  I love the stacking trend, but as I said before, I struggle with bracelets.  Maybe Pinterest will help me?

Who knows how many of these I'll actually do...but maybe some?  hehe.  The paper ornaments intrigue me.  I saw a really cute string of lacy white lantern lights, but I'm not allowed to have lights of that sort in my room.  I figure I could make a garland of the ornaments and it would be just as cute!  I also like the tile things, but I wonder how on earth I could incorporate them into my room...

6. Confession.  Sometimes I look through my old pins and think "why did I ever pin that?"

The end.

NYX soft matte lip cream: Addis Ababa

I just recently purchased this at Ulta (bogo 1/2 off!), and I had been wanting to try it out for quite a long time.  And I looove it!  Here's some pictures, and my review is below.

It has a simple doe foot wand.

light swatch, heavier swatch

On the lips.  One layer.  (You can make it a lot brighter with another layer if you like.)

After a meal.  It wears quite well!

This lip color lasts well, as you can see from the above pictures.  When you first put it on, it feels really light and smooth.  After a few minutes it dries down and then lasts and lasts.  Of course, it's not as bright after a meal, but there's still plenty of color left.  It isn't drying, and you can hardly feel it on your lips at all.  Seriously, this is one of the best lip products I've ever tried!  I'd give it an A+.  Thanks for reading!

wet'n'wild Color Icon eyeliner: Turquoise

This eyeliner is GORGEOUS!  It's a nice bright color that's not too funky for everyday wear (in my opinion at least), and it's got a nice amount of sparkle to it.  Not a lot, and especially not so much that it goes all over your face.

Swatches and pics:

 This picture shows off the sparkle pretty well (above)

I tested out how it smudges on my hand.  It didn't fare so well... But on the eye it actually lasts pretty well.  I wore it for several hours before washing it off and it didn't smudge.

This is what was left behind on my finger from smudging it.  Again, you can see how much sparkle is in it! 

This lasts really well on my eyes.  As for application, it doesn't glide very well. You do have to do shorter strokes because of this, but it's so pigmented that you don't have to go over your lashline multiple times.  All in all, I really like this eyeliner.  Plus it's only 99 cents!