Christmas DIY tags

Christmas is soooo close and words cannot even begin to describe how excited I am right now. My first DIY for my Christmas series is a bunch of tags you can personalise your gifts your gifts with. 

Things you will need:

- special cardboard (I've used a shimmery gold)

- a hole punch

- scissors

- twine/ string

- an image 

- glue

1. First thing's first (I'm a realist), you can either draw these or just get an image from the Internet. I've drawn 3 different designs which I then scanned onto the computer and sized them to the size I wanted and printed them out in sheets. 

2. Depending on the size of the image you just printed. Cut the special cardboard about 1 cm larger than the image. 

3.  Then glue the image into the cardboard. After that, use the hole punch and attach the string. Too easy! 

D.I.Y Photoline

Recently, I've attempted to take more photos.  In saying that, I've also printed more photos which I had absolutely no where to show them off.  Yeah a photo album would be normal but then you have to physically get it out to show people.  Whereas I prefer to display my photos for people to see rather than stowing them away.  The photo line, as pictured above, was so simple to make and all you'll need is:

- String

- Blue tack

- Tiny pegs

- Photos

Now all you need to do is choose a wall, blue tack both ends of the string to the wall (I've placed my line in between my windows so I could hide the ends within the window frame.)  You then place all your images on the line, keeping in mind the photos are quite heavy so you may need to adjust the string after you've placed all your pictures on there.  You can also leave as little or as much space between each image as you like and that's it! A very cute and simple way to spice up your room as well as showing off your images.  

♥

Meet the Blogger + 20 Facts Tag

Hi! Its been so long and I never blog because who the heck wants to read about me sitting on my laptop all holidays?!  I Was Tagged by Connie on Instagram to do the 20 facts tag.  But I'm also going to do the get to know me tag too :)

Name: 

Wailani Parker

Age:

16

Where I'm from: 

Australia

Where I would like to live:

Probably Anaheim in America, it's so peaceful and close to Disneyland!

Favourite Food:

Pizza, Garlic Bread, Lasagna and Meat Pies

Religion:

Sheldon Cooper is my only God

Single/Taken:

That's funny

Favourite Book/s:

Harry Potter Duh, The I am Number Four series, Divergent, Flowers in the Attic and The Fault in our Stars

Eye Colour: 

Hazel Brown

Favourite Movie:

Harry Potter, The amazing Spiderman, Back to the Future, Some Kind of Wonderful and Clueless

Favourite TV Shows:

Doctor Who, Once Upon a Time, Pretty Little Liars and Suits

Favourite Band:

Mayday Parade 

Favourite day of the year:

Christmas! I seriously turn into a little kid when it's close to Christmas because I'm so damn excited!

Favourite Colour/s:

Blue, Purple and Grey.  The grey I like is really specific though, not the ewwie grey

What I'm listening to right now:

My sister eating chips on the bench

Pets:

My dog Shelby.  But my dream pet is a Poddy Lamb, you know a lamb that you can take inside. They grow super big though so I think I'll genetically modify my lamb to stay teacup size! (That's so horrible I know)

Current Ringtone:

The default one on the iPhone because I'm cheap and won't buy a doctor who one.  

What my name means:

Peaceful Waters in the sky 

Favourite male character from a TV show: 

The eleventh doctor, Caleb/ Ezra/ Toby from Pretty Little Liars, Mike/Harvey/ Louis from Suits, Hook from Once Upon a Time

Favourite female character from a TV Show:

Scotty and Donna from Suits, Ruby from Once Upon a time and Jenna from Pretty Little Liars

Favourite Superhero:

Spiderman

20 FACTS TAG

1. You were probably wondering why the random pictures are at the top of this post! Well, I have currently just attended a formal that was not mine and it was super fun- even if I was asked with only 3 days until the actual formal, but that's okay.  I wore a short strapless bowtie dress from PORTMANS, nude wedge heels from DEXTER and my bracelet bunch was from DIVA.  I had so much fun I think my own formal will be a let down.  
2. I am so damn excited to go to America in a month.  Mom even changed the whole trip so it's less national parks and more city stuff so I am stoked to vlog/ blog each day to show you my experiences.  
3. Earlier this year one of my photographs was published in a book that advertises the beauty of my town.  
4. I'm currently on holidays right now and have procrastinated for four days because I have 6 assignments to get done before the start of term four. 
5. I have been seeking for a job for the past four months and no one in town has contacted me back except a math tutoring place which I can't start at until next term.  Problem is, I am away for the majority of next term which causes a major problem.  Hopefully I'll have a summer job and get all that cash rolling in.  
6. I need more acceptable casual clothes in my wardrobe as I've come to reaslise it's not socially acceptable to wear my fandom shirts ALL THE TIME.  So yay for my trip coming up soon so I can purchase super cheap clothes that no one in my town has!
7. In America I'm going to buy a pair of Doc Martins and Nike Air Force 1's which I am exceptionally excited for.  
8. For the past week I have had the urge to watch a tone of Disney Princess Movies, I gave in and watched two already- oops! I've been told we're having another movie night and it's Disney themed so naughty me!
9. Ashi Ross is my dance inspiration as well as my abspiration and I promise you I WILL HAVE TONED ABS BY NEXT YEAR!!!
10. I am so socially incapable of doing things.  In saying that, I'll probably write a blog post featuring all my social fails- featuring my friend Amy because she happens to be there EVERY TIME.  
11. I have socialised so much in the past couple weeks and it feels good but it takes up so much money that I don't have!  This also lead me to wear a lot of my dresses that never get any wear so that was a bonus.  
12. I have a weird obsession with socks, I've always worn socks everywhere I go, don't ask why it just sort of happens, but recently my mum has pointed out my obsession and I think its cool to buy new socks all the time.  I wear bed socks in public because they look cool with my converse.  
13. My family and I bought 4 Perfect Pillow's.  And I would 10/10 recommend these to you.  They look like those dumb things the commercial always tries to sell you but trust me on this one, THEY WORK AND I WANT A HOUSE MADE OF THEM.  
14. I hate people telling me I'm weird or random in a serious tone, like no ,you're just a boring person  who has no originality and I hope you lose $5 
15. I don't find it flattering when people copy off me, I literally cry because I'm trying to be my own unique person.  So please just be yourself, don't copy off others!  
16. I am also one of those people who don't usually follow the crowd/ latest trend.  Don't get me wrong, there are some things I will jump on the bandwagon for but majority of things, I prefer to be different!
17. You know how some people have their own 'scent'? You can smell it every-time they're around? Yeah well, I don't have one and I don't event sweat therefore I don't get BO.  I don't even have my own perfume/ deodorant scent yet.  I'm hoping when Zoe launches her beauty products, there's a perfume in there!
18. Hip hop is my favourite style of dance mainly due to the fact you can have fun and make so many crazy facial expressions where as in Ballet/ Lyrical I find it difficult to portray the sadder emotions.  Don't get me wrong, I love ballet and lyrical- I think I look best doing these styles but I have more fun pulling silly faces in hip hop than being emotional in lyrical all the time.  I also don't have that nice dancers smile so my facial expressions in Ballet are a let down to my dancing haha.  
19. My favourite chocolate is maltesers!!!!
20. My first ever phone was a Motorolla flip phone which made me the coolest kid on the block even if it was my moms to start with.  I then got a Telstra bubble touch in year 8 which I thought  was so awesome but it was actually the WORST PHONE EVER!

Thanks for reading this post, it's kind of not well structured or anything but whatever! I also Tag TARYN, KAYLA and BRANDON to complete these two tags :)

♥

Sunday Afternoon Tea Party

Today I went to a Sunday gathering at my friends house.   Funny story actually, I was supposed to go to her house early to help her set up.  Turns out I'd lost track of time watching Maleficent and ended up turning up late... oops! 

That aside, I really enjoyed the overall set up.  I thought it was a really cute idea and in an earlier blog post, I think I mentioned I wanted to have more outings with my friends, etc.  The thought of picnics, tea parties and girls nights really excited me.   I just think there are so many different ways to host these events- such as different themes, etc.  I really enjoy cute little setups where bunting flags, lanterns, mason jars and paper straws are used and this tea party had all of the above.  

Cake/ Food Review

Even though I only ate one cupcake- how this happened I have no idea because I LOVE CAKE.  But I did get to take some home to sample all of them.  The cakes were enjoyed by many and presented on cute little cake stands, so nice.  

Drinks Review

There were a couple options, sadly chocolate milk was not on the menu so I opted for some pink lemonade which was so lovely even though I somehow managed to make it overflow the cup after I was told many times to pour the drink slowly.  There was fruit infused water- which looked cool however I did not try as well as iced tea? I think it was ice tea.  I honestly don't know the pink lemonade was too good.  

Atmosphere/ Decor Review

As stated before it included everything I loved, besides the fact the umbrella nearly fell on me due to the immense strength of the wind, I enjoyed the decorations very much.  

I hope you enjoyed this style of post.  I'm sure there is more like this to come in the next week as I have two more outings to attend to- my dresses will be thanking me as they never get worn!

♥

Let's have a talk

There are some days where you're not  feeling the best and it's important that we always keep an open and positive mind.  There's always going to be people in this world, wherever you go, who dislike you and that's okay.  You could run as far away from this person and you'll always find another person who replaces them.  

There are people who get a kick out of shaming you for the things you love.  If you want to watch youtuber's, then watch youtubers.  If you want to eat 7 pizza's then eat all the damn pizza's you want.  I can't stress this enough, life is too short to be worrying about what others think.  I mean damn, it's your life and you can do whatever the heck you want.  What people think of you, it doesn't matter.  So what? You're depressed that you're 16 and don't have a boyfriend? Get over it and start living- today! None of these things worrying us matters and we all need to remember that.  You're going to be excluded from activities. You're going to be hated, you're going to be shamed and you know what? You shouldn't care.  DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!  Don't have guilty pleasures, don't act differently around people because they think your usual self is weird or foolish.  Express who you are and stop hiding because those are the best kinds of people in this world.  

Start making changes in your life.  Start working out if you want to be healthy, don't sit around saying "I want abs" and do nothing about it, get off your butt butt and do what you got to do.  Need a job? Do something about it! You want to get out more? DO IT.  That YouTube video you keep saying you'll make- DO THAT TOO.  What ever makes you a positive person, do it.  So what you had a bad day, don't sit there grieveing and feeling sorry for yourself, do something to make a difference and stop worrying what others have said and done to you.  I know for a fact there are going to be better people in the world than the one's that are making you upset.  

This was just a bit of inspiration/ motivation for those who are having a stressful/ rough patch this week.  Stay happy! 

♥

                                                                       

Emotional Turmoil

The main focus of my art assignment this semester is abstraction expressionism relating to our identity.  So I asked myself, what makes me, me?  A question we're all probably figuring out as teenagers.  Then I thought, what better way to express myself than to paint how I feel everyday. It's quite irritating when your moods change so quickly and how mixed up these emotions can be.  

The main colour choice I've gone for are blues and purples because the majority of teenagers in the world are dark and often quite sad and not sure where they're going at this point in life.  The touch of red shows the anger and frustration we often feel in situations, perhaps even jealousy.  The green streak for the envious moods.  And finally is the tiny streak of yellow which shows the happiness that is deep down inside everyone, you just have to dig deep enough to find that streak of yellow.  Develop this streak and turn it into something big.  Make the most of your life and be happy.  :) 

♥

Skinny Love: Beauty Tips for your Skin

Since becoming a teenager, I've always struggled with bad skin up until recently where I've tried new products and had a change of diet.  

Most people tend to have a freak out when they hear the term 'diet'- me being one of those people.  Now this isn't an immense change to your diet but it is a minor change and does help. Cutting all things acidic from your diet will decrease the amount of breakouts you have, leaving your skin looking healthier and calm. Although I am no skin care professional and I know this may not work for some, but this has probably been the most helpful and effective way to prevent breakouts.  That being said, I'd like you trial this for a month and see if you have any positive results, this means cutting all acidic fruits and juices from your diet.

Along side with the change in diet, many people, particularly girls, tend to cake their faces in layers and layers of makeup.  This is completely unnecessary as all girls shouldn't have to feel so uncomfortable in their skin that they feel the need to cover it up.   In saying that, many of the makeup products girls use nowadays have contents in them that will make your skin worse than it already is.  I'm not saying, don't use any makeup but I do have some recommendations for you to cover up patches in a natural manor.  On my face, I use the 'thin lizzy' SPF 15+ mineral powder which is designed for acne prone skin and assist in preventing breakouts. I then use the 'Nivea'  fruity shine lip balm and an eye lash curler to emphasize my lashes which are not so long and give almost the same effect as a light layer of mascara.  

Although I should be washing my face twice a day, I only wash it at night.  In saying that, I use the 'Dermalogica' cleaning skin wash in the shower.  After I've toned my face (I have used a heap of different toner's, so it doesn't matter which one you use- I think I currently use Natio) I use the Dermalogica Overnight clearing gel and use the Dermalogica concealing spot treatment on my actual acne spots which disappear by morning.  So I would definitely recommend buying the concealing spot treatment cream.  After I've gone to sleep and woken up, I use the Dermalogica Clearing mattifier which prevents your face from looking greasy/oily.  I then apply my mineral foundation over the top of this.  

I hope this has helped and I feel this is the only way for me to prevent breakouts as my skin has been extremely calm all year in comparison to last year and I feel much more confident going to school and talking to new people.  I started using Dermalogica in January this year and saw results in about 1-2 weeks which is impressive. 

I purchased my Dermalogica package from David Jones, It was in a set called 'Medi Bac'.  Although Dermalogica is not cheap, it certainly works on my skin type so I would definitely give it a try.  You could also simply order them off the official Dermalogica Website.  I will list each product down below and where I purchased them. 

Dermalogica Medibac Set- David Jones

Thin Lizzy Mineral Powder- Big W

Nivea Fruity Shine- Discount Pharmacy 

Eyelash Curler- Woolworths

♥

Bad Hair Day?

We've all had that day where our hair just won't do anything.  Well, I have the solution! I bring you two very easy buns to complete and they literally take no time at all to complete!

STYLE 1: THE DONUT BUN

1. Put your hair into a high pony tail as this allows the bun to sit better on top of your head compared to a low bun.  Here I have used a donut bun bought at a $2 shop for about $4.  There are also many variations, you could buy a long donut or a flat long donut, it honestly doesn't matter.  If you don't have access to these, you can make one using an old sock.  There are many tutorials on YouTube.  :)

2. Spread your pony tail hair over the bun and use a hair tie to keep the hair in place on the donut.

3.  Part the excess hair into two pieces and braid them down.  

4.  Wrap the braids around the bun and secure them with bobby pins :) Use hairspray to make it stay for longer.

STYLE 2: THE TOP KNOT

1.  Again, this bun should sit at the top of your head.  As you tie your hair only pull it halfway through on the last loop as shown.

2.  Grab another loop of your hair tie as seen with my right hand in the picture.  With your left hand, twirl the excess hair and tuck it into the open loop made by your right hand.

3.  After the excess hair is looped through, tuck/hide the hair with the 'bun' and help fan it out using your fingers.  Use bobby pins to secure the ends of the fan.  :)

I hope this helps any of you having a bad hair day and if you use any of these styles or have any recommendations let me know by tagging me on instagram or twitter.

♥

More D.I.Y!

Yoohoo!  I'm currently on holidays and have really gotten into the creative spirit by adding a couple little things to my room to make it more interesting.  Firstly, I give you....................GLASS JARS!

Again, extremely late to the bandwagon but I really think these are a cheap and really adorable way to revamp any room.  I've cleaned out old pasta sauce jars and decorated them using left over wrapping paper and ribbon.  I've stuck mine on with a regular glue stick and filled them with pens, eraser's, etc.  You could also fill them with hair ties, bobby pins, lipsticks, whatever you have lying around.  For one of my jars I've even covered the lid and I think this adds an extra cute touch.

For my second item I have put together is bunting flags!

How many flags you make depends on where you want to put your flags.  The distance of mine was about 8 flags.  I've gone for a superhero print to match with a coral blue colour.  It doesn't matter how big or small you make your bunting and you could use all different patterns and colours to make your flags come to life.  Happy crafting!

♥

Positive Lists

 "I can't stress this enough, do MORE of what makes YOU happy!" - Alfie Deyes.

Positivity is key.  I've learnt things that happen in high school don't even matter because when you're older you'll be exposed to a whole new world of people who will be in your life and make you happy.  Hopefully, you'll be doing what you want and high school is only a tiny fragment of sand in your life.  I've opened up to trying new things and thinking of things differently.  I've allowed myself to not care for any drama and it has worked! I've stayed out of fights and disagreements and it's made me a much happier person and I'm sure a lot of people have respect towards me for staying out of it.

Somethings that make me happy include watching TV shows, good old Pretty Little Liars, always there for me when I got home.  Reading the same genre of books I always have- all this is great but I've literally done the same thing since the day I left the womb.  Sleep, eat, read, watch YouTube, watch TV shows, repeat.  HOW BORING! So without further ado, I have made up a list of new things to try and accomplish and if I fail, I'll just delete all evidence I even tried and search for a new, new thing.

1. Start a blog- I feel as if writing my thoughts and sharing them with absolutely no one, I can feel better about myself and hopefully expand my writing skills as my skills are that of a six year old.

2. Start YouTube- I really want to start YouTube because I do enjoy editing and making funny videos.  I'm also going back to the USA at the end of the year and want to vlog it for my friends to see, yay!

3. Read New Books- I finished 'Flowers in the attic' by Virginia Andrews today and it was so life changing and definitely one of my favorite books now.  10/10 would recommend.

4. Become more flexible- ehhh.  I'm really bad at this one but I'll get there. I've created a series of stretches in my stretch log to complete every day so hopefully by the end of the year I'll see some improvement.

5. Abs Abs Abs!-  I don't think it's possible for me to get a full on six pack- something that's in my genes.  But I am working on my core strength.  I've got a core workout I will complete everyday and hopefully see some improvement.  I hate exercise but I honestly feel really happy after working on my core.

6. Socialise more- I recently had a girls night not that long ago and it was honestly so much fun and I wish to have more time to spend with my friends watching movies and playing games.

7. Take more photos- pretty self explanatory, but I'm soon going to own a new Polaroid- yes a bit late on the bandwagon but I just never got around to buying one.  I want to document all the fun moments in my life through photos so I can make collages and whatever else you do with photos!

8. Change my room around-   although I hate change, I think it's about time for a room change.  Will I be bothered to do this? Absolutely not! But I really want to.

9. Have a picnic/stargaze- again this probably won't happen because bugs exist and it's really cold so I'll just stargaze off my laptop..... haha no seriously I want to do this.  It would be better if I owned a trampoline though!

So there is my list of change.  Not interesting to you but I felt like I needed to share with you how I turned my year of bad luck into a lesson.  From this lesson I'd really like to turn my life around now!

♥

Harry Potter Pillow

Here's to my first ever blog post! Yay! Today I thought we'd do a bit of a fun and creative D.I.Y to suit bedrooms, lounge rooms, whatever!

So a while back I made a Harry Potter pillow in the holidays.  This pillow should cost nothing at all as I have only used materials I found around the house that nobody no longer needed.

So above is the final product.  I've gone for more of a rectangular shaped Harry but a cute square shape would also work really nicely.  The materials you will need are:

- a white pillow case, I have gone for a pillow protector as I like the feel of them compared to regular cotton. 

- an old pillow or stuffing, I've gone for an old rectangular pillow

- black material, the size of your pillow will determine how much of this you will need.  I have used 2 old black shirts rather than buying new material.  

- yellow material, again this was a shirt

- red material, I would advise you not to do what I did and use red crosshatch stuff I found in my crafts box as this looks really dodgy.  

- a black permanent marker

- black foam, usually found as packaging in fragile parcels.  

The majority of the stitching was done by hand as I feel more comfortable doing it this way as when I was twelve, the sewing machine needle went through my thumb.... owiee! However, this could be done using a sewing machine too, just don't ask me how this is done. Haha......  The picture above is pretty much self explanatory, however I'll break it down poorly in a couple of steps.

1.  If  your pillow case isn't made to fit your pillow, then make it fit and put this over the pillow.  The tighter the fit the better as you don't want him fat and floppy.

2.  Cut Harry's hairline out of the material and stitch it onto the pillow case all the way along the cut lines.  I will attach what the back of  the hairline looks like at the end of this post.

3. For the cloak I pretty much just made a little pouch Harry can sit in and sewed it in a few places around the top.

4. Cut squares of the yellow and red material, stitch them together to make a scarf.  I made my scarf so it on'y covers the front.  Then stitch it into place.

5. Cut circles out of foam and stitch them on for his eyes, the placement of his eyes does not matter, however I've put mine to the side.

6.  Take a marker and draw on his scar and glasses.  And voila!

I managed to terribly step you through making this cute Harry Potter pillow.  You could even make Hermione and Ron! They look absolutely stunning and really bring a nerdy atmosphere to the room!

If you do make one, #wailanidiy to instagram and twitter so I can see!

♥