Freckled Italian: How To

How To: DIY Glitter Pumps

Friday, December 6, 2013

My wedding dress and I fell in love immediately, but I spent some time trying to figure out what shoes I want to wear when I get married. Our ceremony is going to be outside and Rob is quite a bit taller than me, so I knew I needed high heels that were substantial enough for me not to sink into possibly damp grass. I thought about wedges but never really found any I liked enough, and I kept coming back to my favorite pair of leather pumps I used to wear to work every day. "If only I could find a pair exactly like these, just a little more special," I kept saying.

I have a brown pair and a nude pair of these pumps from J.Crew, and the nude ones have been worn to pieces. I had actually stopped wearing them because they looked so bad, and when I was about to throw them away I decided to try a little craft on them first. So with a bit of Mod Podge and a whole lot of glitter, I now have the perfect wedding shoes.

I'm going to show you how I did it because I am really not a craft person and I just loved every minute of it. I'm saving these for my wedding, but they'd make perfect holiday party shoes. (And the supplies only cost me about $15!)

Supplies:
An old pair of shoes
Mod Podge Glue, Gloss Finish
Glitter (I went with a larger glitter in silver)
A paintbrush
Masking tape
Mod Podge Clear Acrylic Sealer

1. Tape the soles with masking tape--you don't really have to do this but if you're worried about getting glue on the bottom, it makes life a little easier for you.
2. In a paper bowl, pour some Mod Podge and mix quite a bit of glitter into it. I didn't measure and just kept adding glitter until I could tell that there was more than just glue in there.
3. Brush the glitter-glue mix onto each shoe. Do two or three coats. Let it dry overnight. Remove tape.

4. The next day I felt like they looked pretty good, but I wasn't completely happy with the amount of sparkle. I added another coat of Mod Podge (glitter-less, this time) and then just poured loose glitter on each shoe. That did the trick.

5. Use the acrylic sealer to spray a coat or two on top of the final layer of glitter. If you're wearing a short dress, you're good to go, but since my dress is long, I've been adding a few extra coats here and there so that the rough glitter doesn't snag the lining of my gown. I'm also going to pop some new insoles into them before the wedding since the original ones are looking a little worn and kind of gross.

They're exactly what I had in mind--I've never felt more crafty in my life!

VLOG | How To: Homemade Mayonnaise

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Today I have a how-to/recipe for you, and it comes in the form of a video! My mom makes the best homemade mayonnaise (and Paleo ranch dressing, too...oh my goodness) from Well Fed, and now that I'm on my own again, I have to make it myself. I thought I'd show you how to do it, too! Mayo Party. Let's do it.

This batch wasn't as thick and creamy as it usually is, maybe because I used a mixer. Usually we make it in a blender, but for some reason, our blender is lost somewhere between Minnesota and Virginia. I love my mixer, but I'll probably continue to make mayo in the blender as soon as we get a new one.

Good luck! Happy cooking? I need a catch phrase or something.

PS I've started a YouTube channel where I hope to post more kitchen how-to video as well as some hair and maybe makeup tutorials. Any other ideas? You can subscribe here.

PPS That dress is c/o Jigsaw and can be found here!

How To: Coconut Oil Hair Mask

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I often get questions about my hair care routine, and I often feel weird about telling my "secrets," because really the truth is that I wash my hair as rarely as possible. My hair is very thick, and with a little baby powder or dry shampoo, I'm good with a once-weekly wash and conditioner. Once a month, though, I use a coconut oil hair mask first. It's super easy, perfect for a weekend afternoon at home, and is basically magic for your hair. I'll show you how.

Start with crazy hair that you're ready to wash.

YOU WILL NEED

+ two heaping tablespoons of coconut oil

(that's enough for my long and thick hair--you might need less if you have shorter or thinner hair)

+ a microwaveable bowl

+ shampoo and conditioner

Put two tablespoons of coconut oil into a bowl. Microwave for about ten seconds, or until the oil has melted.

Work the melted coconut oil into your hair. I just dip the ends straight into the bowl and massage through.

I stop at the base of my head because I don't like to get my roots or bangs.

Wrap your hair up into a top knot and go about your business.

Let it sit for 30 minutes to a couple of hours, and then shampoo (twice) and condition as usual.

Note: make sure you rinse the shower or tub really well so no coconut oil residue remains.

No one needs to start their day slipping in the shower!

Do you use coconut oil as a hair mask? How about as lotion?

Tell me your favorite DIY beauty treatment!

How To: Paleo Tea Time

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Maybe this seems silly, or maybe it seems like it's not actually a thing, but it's totally a thing, at least in my house. We have tea in the afternoons. I absolutely love having a fancy little tea party at home with my mom or one of my girlfriends.

Giving up milk was really hard for me at first, because I was both an avid latte and tea-with-sugar-and-cream drinker. Black tea and black coffee just didn't do it for me at first, but after a little bit of training and a whole lot of time and commitment and espresso shots, I was fine with it.

The trick to changing a habit is to make the new habit really special. I do that with my mom's beautiful bone china tea set and really good local honey. And then one day I discovered So Delicious' Coconut Milk Creamer, and it was like the part of me that used to love milk had died and finally made it to dairy-free heaven.

YOU WILL NEED

+ tea

(lately I've been loving this vanilla rooibos)

+ coconut milk

(get the kind that comes in a little carton like half & half)

+ local honey

(we get ours at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op)

+ a Paleo treat or two (try these cookies)

It's pretty simple. But it can totally make your day better.

Who wants to come over for a cup?

How To: Burger Party

Thursday, January 3, 2013

My new friend Tony and I have christened 2013 "The Year of DIY."

I'm going to go to Goodwill and have dresses altered and paint things and glue things on things.

With that in mind, I've decided to try my hand at some "How To" posts this year.

Because I am an expert at a large number of very random things.

Let's begin with a Burger Party.

Burger bowls are pretty much my favorite dinner because it's quick and easy and Paleo and absolutely delicious! It's all about the toppings--mushrooms, sauteed onions and spinach, banana peppers, pickled jalapenos, tomato, avocado, lettuce, bacon, perhaps a fried egg! You can add whatever you want to it. Whatever you want!

Maybe I'm a freak, but most of the toppings I already have in my fridge on any given day. So the morning before I had friends over for what quickly became known as The Burger Party Extravaganza, my mom and I cooked the spinach, mushrooms, bacon, and onions so they'd be ready.

Everything else just needed to be chopped. Then we put them in cute little bowls and covered them with plastic wrap, stuck them in the fridge, drank some coffee, woke up the boys, and went to see Les Miserables! When we got home from the movies, my brother put the burgers together and into the fridge they went, as well.

(A word about burgers: you could obviously make whatever kind of burger you'd like. Turkey burgers would be good, maybe a crab cake if you don't do meat, and a veggie burger would do just fine, too. Ours are beef and come from my high school cross-country coach's farm just about twenty minutes away.)

When you're having people over and feeding them, doing as much as possible ahead of time is huge. When my friends arrived that evening, I had a margarita pitcher ready and all that needed to be done was grill burgers!

Once everyone has a drink and is ready for dinner, take everything out of the fridge, grill the burgers, heat up the stuff that needs to be hot (onions, mushrooms, spinach), set it out on a counter! I got buns and cheese for my non-Paleo friends, so I set out both plates and bowls and let everyone DIY!

If I were trendier, I'd have little flags labeling each bowl with washi tape or whatever that stuff is called.

If you end up polishing off two margarita pitchers and end the night with a dance party, you've probably done it right.

Does anyone have a request for a future How To post?

Pin Curls: A Tutorial

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

I can curl my hair in about three minutes flat. It's become an almost-daily task in the morning, and I'm really fast. But, if I'm going out and have a little more time to get ready, I like to curl slowly and pin everything up while I get ready. I find that pin curls are bouncier and hold a lot better than a simple, hasty turn of the curling iron. Here's how to get the look!

1. Separate hair into sections and curl the first one under. Roll curling iron up as far as possible.

2. When the hair is hot to the touch, release it and carefully (it'll be quite warm!) roll the curl up with your fingers.

3. Pin the curl against your head. I think you could use bobby pins, but my hair is super thick and heavy, so I use those metal hair pins pictured above.

4. Repeat steps 1-4 all the way around your head!

5. Once everything is pinned up, give the whole thing a spritz (I use Redken Wool Shake).

6. Hang out around your house feeling glamorous until it's time to leave! (If I weren't taking photos for the world to see, I'd usually wait until this moment to do my makeup and put some clothes on.)

7. Take out the pins, shake your head around, and give the ends one final spray. Go forth and be fancy!

Girl, How You Get Dem Curls?

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Believe it or not, over the past few years of my blogging career, the question I have gotten the most is, "How do you curl your hair?" After eventually deciding that your compliments are not actually tiny slaps on the face of my writing skills, I will now finally show you exactly how I do my hair. Because you asked. And yeah, because I thought it would be fun.

I recorded a vlog for you, but almost immediately after finishing it, I decided that I hated it. As far as video tutorials go, I don't think I'm the girl for you. So I'm not going to post it. If you have twelve minutes to spare and would like to watch a video in which I mumble and struggle to treat a video camera and computer screen as a mirror, please, be my guest. Just make sure to say something really nice about me in your comments, because I still feel a little weird about it.

If you have ideas for vlogs that you'd like to see that do not include me trying to teach you how to do something, I'd love to hear them. Until then, I have a step-by-step tutorial on how to get the most perfect of Megan Curls. You're welcome.