Ribbon and Flower Headband

I wanted a headband to go with my new coral lace dress. I took some shear orange ribbon and measured it to my head. I found some small orange, cream, and coral flowers covered in glitter and with a faux pearl center at Michaels, they I think are supposed to be used in scrape books or as a decoration. I simply arranged the flowers to determine where I wanted them to go and then I hot glued them in place.

I took two ponytail holders and cut them at the point where the seam is and attached them to the end of the ribbons to hold it in place on my head. I got instant complements when I wore it with my coral lace dress.

 

I did learn something from these pictures, I need a tan, lol! I am way too white and have too fair of skin to get much of a tan unfortunately but I need one none-the-less, lol!

Ribbon- $1 at Dollar Tree

Flowers- $1.50 for a pack of I think 9 flowers at Michaels

 

Grecian Braided Circlet

I wanted a Grecian Circlet for a prop for one of my book covers but I decided to just hire someone to do my cover art but I had already made this Grecian Braided Circlet, or rather I call it a Grecian Circlet as it reminds me of a Greek Goddess. I have a lovely blue and white Greek inspired maxi dress but I am not brave enough to wear this with it, though I tried it at home for fun and it looked cute. I am not brave enough to wear a circlet in public unless for maybe a costume party or Comic-Con or something. I love it and it looks so cool but I made it a tad too small as I thought I would run out of wire but I had lots of left over wire, so the circlet is a tad tight on me.

I used gold wire instead of copper as is stated in the below link of instructions but any color is fine. Also I had no wire clamp so I used a heavy box of movies to clamp my wire to twist. Mine didn’t come out as thick as the one in the link either.

I will leave a link below to where I found directions, they are better then I could ever explain.

Wire- It was either $3.99 or $4.99 or $5.99 at Michaels but I bought it using a 40% off coupon, lol, sorry I can’t remember price as it’s been a while since I purchased it.

Links to Directions to Make a Wire Circlet:

 

http://carriewolf.net/2013/05/18/how-to-make-a-copper-braided-wire-circlet/

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_8412047_make-wire-circlet.html

Daisy and Narcissus Flower Headband

I saw a headband in a store that I liked but I didn’t like the price and knew I could make it cheaper at home. So I looked over the headband and then I went home to make it after I bought what I needed. I bought Daisy and Narcissus fake flowers at Wal Mart. I bought some burlap at Dollar Tree. I already had ponytail holders at home.

I bent the burlap in half and hot glued it in place. I then measured by eye balling it to fit my head and cut it back at the ends as needed. I then went to attaching, using hot glue, the Daisy flowers first at intervals with spaces between. Then I attached the Narcissus flowers when I had the Daisy’s just right.

Then at the end of the burlap headband I took two of my ponytail holders that is a simple one without one of the metal holds on it and cut it at the end where the seam was. On each side of the headband at the end as seen I hot glued the ponytail holders. Doing this allowed the headband to be maneuverable but also stay in place when needed.

I wore this headband to a Tea Party and I was complementing on going with the theme of wearing cute, funky, or interesting head pieces, or just any head piece you want to wear. I love to wear this with my green and pink flower dress, white sweater, and butterfly ear rings, the same outfit I love wearing with my butterfly barrettes I described before.

One of my good friends Stephanie wanted me to make her one as well and some of the pictures are of the one that I made for her. She liked it a lot and has worn it and loves it. Though I didn't add a picture of her wearing it as I haven't gotten her permission yet to add it. So you are stuck seeing me as the wearer yet again!

Daisy- $0.97

Narcissus Flowers- $0.97

Burlap- $1

 

 

 

Butterfly Barrettes That I Made!

I bought my hair clips at Wal Mart years ago. I bought two packs of butterflies at Dollar Tree. There was a pack of 3 green butterflies and a pack of 3 yellow butterflies I loved and bought.

I took the little twist wires off the back of the butterflies, see the wires are meant to attach the butterflies to objects but I didn’t need them. I attached, with hot glue, the back of the butterfly to the barrette, I attached first a piece of the leaf from one of the flowers so as best to attach the butterfly as there would be a grip, any material will work so the butterflies will stay attached better. It took some maneuvering to get it right but I love the outcome. I have gotten so many complements on the butterflies when I wore them.

Barrettes- $2 something or $3 something

Butterflies- $2 for 2 packs of 6 Butterflies

Take a Look at My Purple Dahlia Flower Barrette and Autumn Leaves Barrette I Made!

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The Reason I close my eyes and my face is not all shown in all of the following blog posts is because I wanted the pictures to center on the head pieces and not the wearer. Also had I looked up it looks funny and odd as my head is tilted down and pictures where I look up like that look creepy, LOL! So I just looked down or closed my eyes all together and left most of my face out so the pictures would show the head pieces better.

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I have wanted to make some leaf hair pieces but had not a clue where to start. So while collecting props for a photo shoot I came across some Oak and Maple Leaves, fake ones of course. So I bought them and Sunflowers. Then later I bought some fake Purple Dahlia’s. I also found and bought some barrette backs.

So when I got home I looked at some flower barrettes I had bought years ago and mimicked the way they had been made. I took a small piece of the leave and clipped it off to hot clue it to the barrette surface. Then I cut the Dahlia flower and leaves off right at the stem, really short. Then I hot clued them onto the barrette back. It took some playing around to get them just so. It was fun, easy, and the result I am happy with.

Soon I would like to buy some metallic silver and gold paint to paint the leaves and make another barrette. There are a few other ideas I have too, like leaf and flower crowns.

I have already worn and been complemented on the Dahlia flower barrette and the Leaf one hasn’t been commented on yet but I love it none the less.

Leaves- $0.97 and other $3.00

Dahlia Flowers- $3.00

Barrettes- $ 2 something or $3 something

 

 

 

 

E-Publishing Update!!!

So here is an update. It has taken some time but I am so very near to uploading to or attempting to upload one of my novels to be available on the Kindle. I will post a link to it once I do upload. I still have to do the copyright documents. As for cover art, Amazon has free covers but they are sort of dull and brown looking so I was advised to do my own so that is what I have done. Plus I had a wonderful idea for the cover that I have been successful at creating.

It has been hard going and a tad frustrating at times but when I figure something out it is a joyous moment. I have had to spend long nights searching the web for sites to help me. Apparently there are still sweet people out there who have gone through it and posted on their websites and blogs as to how best to do it. So I thought it is better if I try and direct some to their sites as they are way better at step-by-step showing prospective e-book self-publishers how to do it. I don’t remember all the sites but I know a few and I will leave links below to them. I hope they will help any authors out there. All I can say is to research as much as you can. There are so many wonderful sites out there that have helped me a ton. I feel horrible that I took the info I learned and forgot many of the websites so I can’t really redirect others to them.

Do not give up because it will be worth it! I am truly hoping by mid to late-September or early October that I have my first novel available for purchase. I hope that by early 2015 I have one more novel for purchase. I am going to try and do at least one, two, or even three novels a year. Well that’s the plan anyway!

So I will keep anyone who is interested up to date with my journey into the land of e-book self-publishing!

Happy Writing Lovelies! Happy Reading Lovelies!

 

How to Format a Word File for Kindle - by Katelyn Kelley, Demand Media- http://smallbusiness.chron.com/format-word-file-kindle-55438.html

How to format Kindle ebooks – Title Page- Camilla Chafer- http://www.camillachafer.com/2011/07/how-to-format-kindle-ebooks.html

How to format Kindle ebooks – Copyright Page- Camilla Chafer- http://www.camillachafer.com/2011/07/how-to-format-kindle-ebooks-copyright-page.html

eHow has some great articles on making table of contents which are worth looking at but it took me time to remember how I did it in class years ago and reading different articles to remember and get it right.

Editing Services & Cover Art Designers:

Camilla Chafer suggested these editing services and cover art designers that she has used. I have not personally used them but I checked out their sites and they do seem pretty good and professional but before going with any designer or editor do your REASEARCH.

I am not going to be using these particular services on the novel I am uploading but that does not mean I will not research them thoroughly and perhaps use them in the future.

 

Teri at Editing Fairy- http://www.editingfairy.com/

 

Robin Ludwig Designs- http://www.gobookcoverdesign.com/

I Saw My Character at Wal Mart! LOL!

No lie a few days ago I was in line at Wal Mart and this guy came up behind me in the express line and he looked no lie like one or two of my male characters. I was like this is crazy cool! I didn’t tell my mother who was checking out ahead of me what I thought until we were outside. She said I should have told him but I felt he would think I was weird or something.

 I think it is so cool I saw someone who looked so much like one of my character and thought it would never happen again but then a few days after that I found a picture online of a gorgeous guy who also looks like one of my characters. This guy is super gorgeous and I will put a few pictures below.

Has this happened to any other writers out there? Have you too seen someone who resembled one of your characters? If you wish to share leave it under comments section, I would love to hear about your experience.