absurdly peculiar

I finally submitted my design for the UGG Australia Design for a Cause. For some reason I found it a bit challenging but in the end, I opted for something simple and not too over the top because that way it can be worn with almost anything. I was inspired by a chevron pattern and it is probably due to this post and this . Come support me here ! Although voting opens December 27th, you can click on the support button and it will send you a reminder on the 27th to vote! But if you think my design is just too horrendous, be sure to check out  other submissions and vote for the ones you do like! P.S. I randomnly now have an Absurdly Peculiar FB account. So if you want to friend me and be updated on new posts, just click on the Facebook widget to your bottom right.

I just recently found out about DIY gift exchanges and thought about how cool that would be. But then I would need to make friends with people who actually enjoy doing DIY projects because I believe my friends and family in LA  would be too lazy to agree to this idea.  So instead of exchanging gifts I thought about giving DIY gifts. DIY gifts are amazing because 1) The giver saves money 2) A lot of thought and time is put into what the giftee shall receive 3) Very few people in the world will have a present exactly like it. So here are some ideas for people who haven't bought their gifts for friends yet and would maybe like to save some money. They could also make great stocking stuffers. You have 2 days left, which is plenty of time to buy materials and make one of these babies below! 1. Box Braid Necklace - Honestly WTF 2. Braided Hex Nut Bracelet - Honestly WTF 3 & 5. Polymer Jewelry Pieces - Absurdly Peculiar 4. Braided Woven Curb Chain Bracelet - The Dapper Bun 6. Po

I found a purse that I probably bought years ago and never used. The material was probably very cheap and so it started tearing and peeling... so instead of throwing it away I decided that it needed to be fixed. Here are photos with my new and improved purse from my random photo shoot (as in I jumped out of the car and someone took these photos within 3 minutes time...I know, so professional).

The Black Keys - Mind Eraser  I was thinking of buying a mini Christmas Tree this year.. but from the 17th-24th I will be visiting family in Phoenix. I decided it wasn't worth it to buy one, but it was so hard to break tradition and not get a tree! So I opted to use a jewelry tree that a friend gave me last year. Here is my version of a Christmas Tree for this year: The only thing I bought this year was glitter gel; everything else I had at home! So it was an inexpensive tree (yay! to saving money). Here are more details on the what and how of this decorated tree: 1. I already had these ornaments, but I felt they looked so blah. I decided to buy glitter gel (less mess!) to add a little something to them. 2 . I made these out of string, glue, water, and glitter gel following this.  Some of them didn't turn out so well because a couple of them wouldn't harden, so I used extra strength hairspray that I found laying around the apartment; hopefully, I didn't harm t

David Bowie - Starman I wanted to show pictures of my not-so-conventional Christmas tree today, but I haven't had the time to take photos yet. Saturday, I spent my birthday in Disneyland with friends and Sunday I celebrated with my family. Besides that I have also been busy making ornaments and coming up with designs for the UGG Australia: Design for a Cause contest. Please join if you can, it is such a great opportunity! You can find information here . Maybe tomorrow I will post pictures of my tree and ornaments, but until then here is a list of items that would make excellent presents and are under $50 : 1. Aurous Emblem Journal , $28 2. Sweet Briar Notebooks , $12.50 3. Lipstick Queen Discovery Kit , $48 4. Loccitane Shea Butter Hand Cream (1 oz), $10 5. Heritage 1981 Geometric Scarf, $8.90 6. Bodum French Press Coffeemaker, $29.95 7. Multicolor Stacking Mugs/Espresso Cups , $12.99 Notebooks with great cover designs are such an awesome gift. Every year I buy a notebook a

Michael Buble - Christmas I was recently on Refinery 29 reading a post about Gift Ideas. One of the comments was something along the lines of 'I don't know what world I would be living in where I would have $350 to spend on one friend.' I laughed because I am pretty much in the same boat and so I decided to create a list of gift ideas that were a little more budget friendly! I also thought it was time for a collage... I mean I haven't collaged for what, 2 posts? 1. Confetti Scarf , $8.90 - Such a great deal and something you can wear with almost anything. I think you can't go wrong with a scarf as a gift! 2. Les Petits Macarons , $18 - For the person who likes to bake/cook, cook books are a great gift idea...or books in general! I know that I have attempted to make macarons at least 3 times, and only once did them come out resembling macarons...and they still didn't look as good as the ones on this front cover.  3. Tocca Perfume , $48 - I love the smell of

I first heard about UGG® Australia: Design for a Cause from Stripes and Sequins . I left a comment about how I thought it was a great idea and for such a good cause; as a result, I was contacted to see if I could spread the word and of course I said yes. If you are the creative type and love DIY projects, you should consider joining. It is free to enter and all you need to do is design your own pair of UGG® boots. The winning design will be produced and sold at select UGG® Australia retail locations in 2012 and a portion of the proceeds will go to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The winner will receive $5000, an UGG® bag, a pair of your own design as well as global exposure. That's definitely a win-win situation there. Not only do you get to use that creative brain of yours but most importantly, you are helping people! Please submit your designs by December 26, 2011!

Florence + The Machine - All This and Heaven Too I was gifted a framed shadow box my freshman year of college.  When I moved out of the dorms I left it in my parents' apartment and it has been collecting dust ever since.  (This is obviously a sign that I refuse to throw anything away...hopefully, you won't see me on Hoarders 30 years from now). But I decided rather than letting it sit there, I would give it to my friend that just moved into her new place. Ok, but let me make it clear I am not giving her the dusty frame with pictures from seven years ago. I dusted it and decided I would put new pictures in.  Here is evidence of what it used to look like (sans dust): It is not an atrocity of nature or anything of the sort, but I figured if I am going to re-gift it I can at least add something new. I thought of drawing characters from books we use to read when we were children. And the first thing that popped into my head was Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. I