The Power of Now

I recently finished reading "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and ever since then I have been telling everyone I know about how incredible it is. I actually bought this book several months ago and tried to start reading it, but for some reason I just wasn't getting into it. But I picked it back up a few weeks ago and I don't know how I didn't want to keep reading it before.

We all hear people say how important it is to "live in the present" or "let go of the past" but I don't think we're actually understanding what this means. In this book, Tolle explains that we are not our thoughts (contrary to what many great philosophers have said), but we are the awareness behind our thoughts. And by recognizing this, we truly live in the present and find inner peace. Any negativity we feel is our mind's resistance to the present moment. No matter our life's situation, no matter what happened to us in the past, no matter if we are happy or not, it is possible to feel completely at peace in the current moment. This book will teach you how to live in the now, and awaken from identification with your mind.


"It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living".


“Die to the past every moment. You don't need it. Only refer to it when it is absolutely relevant to the present. Feel the power of this moment and the fullness of Being. Feel your presence.”

“The moment you realize you are not present, you are present. Whenever you are able to observe your mind, you are no longer trapped in it. Another factor has come in, something that is not of the mind: the witnessing presence.”

“Ask yourself: Is there joy, ease, and lightness in what I am doing? If there isn’t, then time is covering up the present moment, and life is perceived as a burden or a struggle.”

“True communication is communion- the realization of oneness, which is love.”

Do yourself a favor and read this book, I promise it will be worth it.

{diy} charm necklace & bookmark

I looked at the stack of books on my nightstand the other day and decided they needed new bookmarks. I usually just use scraps of paper that I have lying around to save my page, but why not make something prettier?


I came up with these simple charm bookmarks. The string goes between the pages and the charm hangs over the front.


I looked through my bead collection and selected a few odds and ends that would look pretty clustered together.


I gave this tiny seashell a coat of white paint and gilded the edges with gold.


I put a few beads and charms on the end of a string and tied it together with a knot. There are so many different variations you could do with these, just by switching up the color string or the beads that you use!






When I was finished, I thought these would look pretty as a necklace too! I brought the ends around and tied it into a drop-style necklace. To make it easily removable, just cut the back and add closures!

xoxo

diy school supplies {moleskines}

The spring semester just began a few weeks ago for me, and with new classes comes the need for new school supplies! (Does anyone else get ridiculously excited about buying new school supplies like I do?) I needed a few notebooks for taking notes, but I couldn't just settle on boring spiral-bound notebooks, where's the fun in that? So I found a set of Moleskines on sale at Target, and I got them with the intention of decorating them!


I printed out some quotes I really like, and glued them to the covers with other scraps of paper, washi tape, and embellishments.


Moleskines are perfect for me because I don't take a lot of notes, and they're small enough to slide into my bag. But you could easily apply the same idea for decorating them to a regular notebook!




Here are the quotes I chose for the covers:

Her lips are the galaxy's edge and her kiss the color of a constellation falling into place. 
"Arabella"- The Arctic Monkeys

She realized, anything could happen. Literally. So humbly beautiful, how amazingly frightening.
-Nicole Davenport

The only thing I know is this: I am full of wounds and still standing on my feet.
-Nikos Kazantzakis

book of lists

Along with our memory jars, Jade and I also made little paper bag books of lists. I posted a tutorial for these a long time ago, if you'd like to learn how to make them.


These books are so much fun to make and decorate! Mine is on the left and Jade's is on the right.


If you want to make one of these too, here are a few list ideas:
-Favorite moments
-Beautiful things
-Roadtrip playlist
-Adventures
-Best ways to spend a Sunday
-Daydreams










The thing I love about these books is that there are so many possibilities of things to fill them with. And they look lovely displayed on a shelf, waiting to be picked up and flipped through every now and then for inspiration!

Merry Makings

 If you follow the blog Heart Handmade UK, you have probably seen Merry Makings, Claire Donovan's crafty Christmas magazine she recently published. If you haven't seen it, you must go check it out! It's full of DIY projects, gift ideas, Christmas decorating, and so much more! And it's especially exciting for me because I contributed a project!

I created a DIY for a pretty, beaded snowflake to decorate Christmas gifts! 

All of the ladies who contributed to Merry Makings came up with wonderful, inspiring projects. So make yourself a cup of hot chocolate, grab a blanket, and enjoy this lovely magazine!

poetry

I've been getting into poetry lately; not writing, but reading it. I recently purchased a handmade book of poetry by one of my new favorite up-and-coming poets, Marianna Paige.


I first discovered her blog a few months ago and fell in love with her writing. Then she began making these handmade books of her poetry and I knew I had to buy one. She was selling them in her etsy shop, but I believe they are sold out now. But follow her blog for updates, she may make more!


If you are able to get your hands on one of these books, I definitely recommend you do. It's a lovely evening read with a cup of tea.

Marianna Paige | Blog | Etsy

paper bag books DIY

Remember that little book I made in my last post? Well I decided to create a tutorial on how to make one after a suggestion from a lovely reader!

So first cut the tops off of a few brown paper bags (the small ones used to pack your lunch). I cut the top 3 inches so I have lots of 3x5" rectangles. 

I glued down the edges where the paper bag was folded. Fold all the rectangles in half and put them together. 

Staple in the middle to bind the pages together. You could also sew down the middle, but I just stapled mine to save time (sewing would look prettier though!).

 Then the fun part is to decorate your mini book! I put washi tape on the edge to look like binding, and to cover up the staples.

I put one of my instagram photos of my cat in a polaroid frame using photoshop and printed it out. I taped it on with tiny pieces of washi tape.

I have been using these mini books to write down quotes and words that I like, but you could also use them as tiny sketch books, or cut out magazine pictures and make an inspiration book.


cats and cats. hmm... notice a recurring theme?

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? No, it's already November. Christmas will be here soon! (50 more days in case you were wondering. Yes, I am counting down the days). These could be cute stocking stuffers! Make a few and tie them together with pretty string. Leave them blank, or write sweet words to the person who will receive them. ♥

back to blogging

 I am back!!! I am sorry for not posting in such a long time! I could give you all my excuses- school work, college applcations, spending time with friends (if that's an excuse, haha)- but that's not very interesting so I'll show you a new book I got and promise to get back to blogging more often.

So I ordered Hello Sandwich's new Japanese craft book a while ago and it finally came in the mail this week! It was such a lovely surprise to come home from school and find it in the mail!

Of course I opened it and started reading it right away, and I absolutely love it! The craft projects are perfect and the pictures are so beautiful and inspiring!

The copy I bought was even signed by Ebony! Isn't it adorable? I definitely reccomend this book, and even though the ones that are signed are sold out, you can still buy the book on Amazon Japan.

shopping

While I was in Texas, my grandma, mom, sister, and I went shopping (of course) and I wanted to show you all some of the things I got. I bought the jewelry (above) at a consignment shop and I thought they were both really pretty.

 Then we went to a couple second-hand books stores. I got a few old comics from the 80's to cut up and use in crafts.

And I got a stack of old books all dating back to the early 1900's - late 1800's. I LOVE old books! Some of them (like the one pictured above) even had handwritten notes in them! I am not cutting these books up, they're too special. I'm going to start reading them as soon as I finish the Twilight series!

I hope everyone has a lovely day!

twilight

So here's how it all started, "it" being my new found addiction to the Twilight series. Now don't jump to conclusions and group me with those fanatic teenage girls who obsess over Taylor Lautner and have Twilight posters plastered on their walls. Haha, I may be a fanatic but I'm not one of those fanatics.

Last Friday my friend invited me to see the new Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn Part 1. I agreed, even though I had never read any of the books or seen any of the movies. Crazy, right? Actually a year or two ago my best friend kept trying to get me to read them, but I never did because I thought they would be stupid and I didn't want to be one of those girls. But anyways, it was amazing. I'm not exaggerating, I loved it even though I didn't know the Twilight story.

So the next day I borrowed the books from my mom's friend, because I was going to read them over Thanksgiving break while I was in Texas. And since my mom's friend had read them, she convinced my mom to read them also. My mom. Reading Twilight. I never ever would have thought that would happen. Now if my mom loves them as much as I do (enough to buy the whole hardcover book set), that alone should convince you to read them.

I read the first 3 books in a week (I started last Sunday). I actually just finished "Eclipse", the third book (and the books pictured above), last night. I honestly can't say enough about this series. It is so well written, I feel like I am in the story when I read the books. I wish I was in the story, it's that good! I have one book left to read, but I almost don't want to read it yet because I don't want the series to end! The Twilight books are my favorite books now, up there with Harry Potter. Now that's saying something if I like a book series as much as Harry Potter.

Disclaimer: If you've only seen the movies and not the books, stop what you're doing right now and start reading the books. The books are 100 times better then the movies, and the first movie is nothing like the first book.

By the way, in case anyone was wondering, I'm Team Edward.
Now go read Twilight!

ps. Jade, even though you don't usually like books like this, I think you would love them as much as I do. But I would wait until you're older to read them. 

new books

I LOVE reading. There's nothing better then sitting down with a really good book and a cup of tea and just relaxing. I just started reading Japanese manga books, and they are so good! I wasn't sure I would like them at first, but I decided to try reading them anyway and I'm glad I did! The series I'm reading is called "Mars" by Fuyumi Soryo.

image source

 This is the entire book cover (front and back). Did you know you read these books the opposite way of normal books? The left side of that picture is actually the front. It's a little confusing and first, because you have to get used to reading "backwards", but I think it's really cool. I get these books at my local library, so if you're interested you should check yours!

I also got the book "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini. My cousin, Jade (of the blog Teacup Monster), recommended it to me. (Yes Jade, I'm finally reading it! And there totally is a "Bejeweled" in the series.)

I would love to hear any good book recommendations that anybody might have! I like to read anything really, not just one genre.