How to Polish Brass Jewelry

So I think its been close to a year since I've written an entry for this blog. So here you go. This is the easiest thing to do and only require two tools: toothpaste and a cotton ball.



Tools:
Jewelry
Toothpaste
Cotton ball/ cloth

Instructions:
 * Use the cotton ball along with the toothpaste and rub against the jewelry. (You'll quickly notice a     dark rust like color residue on the cotton ball...it means that its working.)
 * Continue to rub the jewelry for a few minutes.
 * Run the jewelry through hot water to clean off the toothpaste.

There you have it! Your jewelry will be all sparkling new. :)

October: Time to redecorate :)

 

Just thought I would share my new autumn decoration for my apartment. :) And yes, I am being lazy by not writing a real post. :p 

 

Paying It Forward

(I accidentally took a picture of him while I was waiting on sunday, unknowingly, when I was playing with instagram) 

Since my move to LA and break up, I've been on this constant journey of self discovery. Along the way, I've been given many opportunities that I felt were heaven sent. So recently, I've been thinking about how I can change someone else's life even if its just a little. So here is my entry, I hope it inspires you make a change in your own life. Cause YOU ARE IMPORTANT and BEAUTIFUL and MOST of all INTELLIGENT! Never forget that.

P.S. I totally lied about keeping up with my blog pots, there's soo much that can and needs to be done. <3

This was a copy of my fb entry.

So remember that tablet I was trying to give away for the past two weeks? Well I posted it last night on Craigslist in the free stuff section and got the post taken off 6 times, but received 50 emails within 4 hours.

This is what I posted.

Hello,

If you stumble upon this post, it is NOT a joke. (Please stop flagging this because I really would like to give this to someone deserving) I am serious. This touch screen netbook laptop is free and is in perfect condition aside from the dead battery (~$100) and a Windows 7 Premium Upgrade ($60) all of which you can do on your own. You may wonder why someone would give away a perfectly good piece of electronic (value ~$400). My simple reason for doing so is to pay it forward. I've been blessed with many opportunities and people in my life and would like to have the ability to change someone else's life. (No I'm not old or creepy. I am a 20 something year old LA transplant female who wants to see a change) I'm not sure how a laptop listed on craigslist is going to do this, but I have hope and faith that this netbook will find a rightful home.

So I have two points for this. 1) That who ever recieves this laptop, actually NEEDS it and does not sell it and pocket the money AND 2) You pay it forward by doing something signifigant for someone else. I understand that I can't monitor or see the good you do, but I live by Karma and that is enough for me.

So Bless!

P.S. Because this is a significant item please tell me a little bit about yourself. I am getting a ton of emails and will make my final decision by the end of the week.

Asus T101MT-BU37-BK 10.1" Touch-Enabled Eee PC Tablet (Dual core Atom N570 processor, 250GB)

I picked one email by a Ryan, who wrote:

Hello, my name is Ryan(: and I am 18 and I am just about to head into college and i don't have any kind of computer at all. I really need one as i have had to make frequent trips to the local library just to print out papers and such and is can be a hassle sometimes >.< I don't really have a steady living situation because things have been rough lately and i have been praying that something may come up that could help me in one way or another. I would really appreciate your consideration and I thank you for your time. I think that what you're doing is very generous and truthfully amazing. I hope you continue to receive blessings and i know your kind act will not go unnoticed. Thank you(:

        Sincerely,                                                                                                                                                                                        Ryan

Of all the emails I received, I felt a sudden connection...(I was still thinking about his email in the morning)

I wrote:

Hi Ryan,

My name is Linda. I’ve received a ton of emails within the last 12 hours since I’ve posted the tablet on craigslist and yours stood out to me. I would LOVE for you to have this laptop. I completely understand what it is to not have much in your life especially when you’re about to embark on an extraordinary adventure such as college. Like I said in the post, it’s not in perfect perfect condition, but I’m sure you’ll figure out how to make it work for you. Lastly, all I ask of you is to pay this forward by doing something significant for another person; it only does take ONE person like yourself to make a difference in this world.

All the Best!

Linda

P.S. Would it be possible for you to drive up to the Valley this Sunday to pick it up?

And this is his reply back:

Linda,

    Wow, thank you so much for this. This is so surprising and i can't believe that something this awesome could happen! I can't thank you enough and i really appreciate it more than you know. I will do whatever i can to help anyone if i am presented the opportunity. And yes, I am able to pick it up on Sunday; however i have church in the morning that i can't miss so it would have to be sometime in the afternoon around 2 or so. Is that okay?

This has completely brighten my day to think I can do some good. I don't even know how to describe what it feels like to help a complete stranger. I am truly BLESSED! 

Greeting!

Hello Everyone! Its been a good month since my last entry, but its not because I stopped my projects. I just got lazy with blogging and i'm finally at a point in my life where I'm okay. This craft/ cooking blog has been my outlet for so long I forgot it was important to make friends and keeping up with them.

So the past few weeks, I' ve been working on my friendships old and new, discovered new places in LA, taken aerial cirque classes, start marathon training and finally letting go of people in my life...oh and bought my first car all on my own and realized that I can do this life thing. :)

Hopefully with the weeks to come, I will do some more blog entries.  A bientot!

P.S. ALWAYS love! You will enrich your life as well as those around. You just have to believe that there's a greater power at work. 

Beginning: Teepee Adventure

Its been a long time coming. I few months ago, while browsing aka wasting my life obsessed with pinterest, I found a picture of a child's reading room teepee and thought to myself  'Why not?!?! This is MY time.' So through some Etsy searching, I found a lovely woman by the name of Shelley, who indulged into my whim.


Yesterday, I finally made it to Lowe's and bought some 3/4" PVC pipe. Thank God there's a benefit to being a girl, the employees at Burbank Lowe's were more than happy to cut down the PVC and package them for me (took the time to find some twine and tie the pipes together)This is going to be an ongoing project for the next couple of weeks, but these is the beginning pictures.

Ultimately, I want to create a reading/ writing corner in my living room. Note: my apartment will explode from all this girliness eventually.<3

Brownie Cake Pops

Have you ever had a really bad day and just wanted to hide? Yeah, well...that was me last week when I burnt popcorn at work and set off the fire alarm. You would think that was enough to kill you, right? Well...I work in the research department of my company, so the entire building had to evacuate and the fire department came. Umm, yeah....and the best part is, I went and owned up to my mistake. :/ Hopefully, that will win me karma points in the future.

In any case, I felt bad, so I went home to make brownies in hopes of making up for my juvenile mistake. But the brownies were too fudgy (this is why I hate store bought mixes), so I decided to make cake pops, which turned out to be a bigger hit. :)

So my lesson learned is to ALWAYS man up and own up to things you do wrong even if its hard. You'll be better in the long run...and that store bought mixes have a ton of oil content to them. :p

INGREDIENT:

1 Box of Store Box Brownies (made to the instructions in the back)

1 bag of candy melts

Pearl Sprinkles

Metal Wire Rack

Two Spoons

Glass Bowl

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Once the brownies are cooked and cooled down, roll 1" diameter balls

2) In the glass bowl microwave the candy melts down (it was exceptional hot that day, so it only took 30 seconds)

3) Using the two spoons, gently toss the brownie balls into the melted candy melts

4) Place on Metal Wire Rack for a few minutes so the candy melt can harden a bit then decorate with pearls

5) Leave over night to cool down and harden ( in my case, I had to refrigerate the brownie pops over night)

SIDE NOTE: no one remembers the fire alarm incident  and my co-worker said she liked the chewiness of the brownie center. <3

Revamping Forgotten Furniture

PSHH!!! I like taking home abandoned furniture like kids take home stray cats. They are such good finds and often are abandon on the curb because people constantly move around in LA. It just so happens that people move very often in my neighborhood. Though a majority of my neighbors are Orthodox Jews; there's community college kids, hipsters, and dream hopefuls all here in Valley Village. 

Anyway, I found this glass cabinet a few weeks ago and was very fortunate that an old Armenian Man took pity on me and helped me carry this thing down the street and up the stairs. (GOD is AMAZING!!!)

Normally, a glass cabinet like this would be close to $100 out here in LA, so it was a lovely find and made of actual wood...unlike IKEA :/ 

Overall the project was a success but was very time consuming because the previous owners just caked on more paint to the original paint job. (It gives the wood a bubble plastic look, so I don't ever suggest caking on paint like frosting)

TOOLS:

60 Grade Sand Paper

Sand Paper Sponge (lost the packaging, but go to the hardware store

Small Can of paint (I choose a mint green, which doesn't show in the pictures)

Masking Tape

Rubbing Alcohol (optional)

Cost: Less than $20

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Use the 60 Grade sand paper to sand off the uneven edges of the paint job (if you have an electronic sander...you are BLESSED)

2) So after 2-3 days of sanding....go over with the sponge sand paper - this will even the surface because the 60 grade sand paper leaves very visible marks.

3) Use the masking tape to cover the edges of glass and then paint away

NOTE: Rubbing Alcohol can be used to remove paint left on the glass. Its a lot less toxic than acetone or paint thiner. 

Voila! You have your own personalized piece of furniture.

(I got bored and started to doodle)

 (I used the cabinet for my jewelry and make up...one day though it will be in my living room)