Charlie Tamara Piper

Sometimes when you've got an oddly-shaped gift to give your best bet is to use a gift bag. But my inner crafter wouldn't let me simply use the complimentary shopping bag that the store gave me. I knew I could turn it into something super classy. Thanks to a friend's suggestion, I created this tuxedo-themed gift bag that was a little complicated to figure out until I got the hang of it. I completely failed on taking step-by-step pictures because I really needed to focus! But you can learn from my lessons and recreate it yourself. Here's how I did it: First, I started by visiting my old standby - Google Images - to download a tuxedo jacket pattern. Once I found one that I liked, I used it to trace out the black lapels of the jacket and layered on a white triangle to represent the shirt. From there, I started adding in some extras - I used spray mount adhesive to mount the lapels and shirt onto black card stock to round out the tuxedo jacket. I cut two ...

Last month, I shared my favorite products for curly hair . I definitely feel most like myself with my natural curls but every now and then it's fun to switch it up and go with straight hair. Here are the products and tricks I rely on to turn my curly hair straight - and how I keep it straight for a full week. (A quick note - I know it seems like a lot of products, and you're right! I use small amounts but my hair soaks up product like nothing else, so it's never weighed down). Styling To protect my hair from the heat damage of using a blow dryer and flat iron, I double up on my heat protectant. Moroccanoil Heat Styling Protection is a great spray-in heat protectant that lightly coats my strands - plus, it smells amazing. To add a bit more heat protection and to help style my hair straight during blow drying and flat ironing, I use Bumble and Bumble Straight Blow Dry . This creamy conditioner promotes shine once I've finished straightening my hair and h...

Another special gift wrapping edition! I've got a Star Wars-loving friend with a birthday coming up, so I went with a full Chewbacca theme for the gift wrap job. Here's how I did it: The Gift Bag As usual, I turned to Google Images to find a cartoon version of Chewbacca that I really liked. I spent some time creating a grid of the image which I used to create a layered background for a gift bag. I mounted the Chewie image onto bronze glitter paper. I used some coordinating orange card stock and a stamper to create the perfect birthday wish note! I used a brown ultra fine tip Sharpie to bring out the lettering a bit more. Once the image was complete, I mounted it onto a brown gift bag. I finished the package off with some bronze ribbon that I tied into a bow on the handle. I finished the edges of the ribbon by folding each tail in half and cutting upward on a 45 degree angle to create a triangle cutout. The Card I love coordinating cards t...

A Sunday crafting session...there's no better way to spend the day in my book! I have a Batman fan of a friend who's got an upcoming birthday and I wanted to do something really special. Here's how I did it. I started by wrapping the gift itself in plain blue paper. I then searched Google Images to find some great high resolution images from the 90's era of Batman The Animated Series.  I found this super cool photo of Batman with lightening bolts behind him and loved the way he towered over the city from his perch. I played with sizing and perspective a bit until I got everything at the right size. I printed two copies on card stock and, after sandwiching two pieces of heavy card stock at the base of the photos, pasted them back to back. The picture was then placed them under paperweights to keep the hold. I then found this cool collage of Batman's foes and spent some time sizing it so that each square would be roughly 4 cm to create a checkerboard...

Curly haired folks, you get me - finding the right products to make your hair look its best can be a struggle. Curly hair requires special attention in order to hydrate and define curls in the right way.   I've tried a number of products over the years and I've come to rely on a handful of products that get the job done effectively. Here are my favorite products for giving my curls life! Shampoo and Conditioner: There are a number of great shampoos and conditioners out on the market but I come back to Mixed Chicks because it works well for the price. I don't have to use much product in order to clean my hair and give it a great conditioning. Their Sulfate-Free Shampoo gives a thorough but gentle cleansing that doesn't strip my hair of good oils. The Detangling Deep Conditioner is a must for curly hair as curls tend to get knotted and tangled pretty easily. My fingers and combs slide right through my hair when I place this conditioner in my hair.  ...

I've always had problematic nails. They chip and peel pretty easily which I addressed by keeping them short. For as much as I wanted to grow them out, I just couldn't figure out the best tricks to get length. I wanted to see if I could turn my nails around and, thanks to some research and putting together a great routing, I feel like I finally found products and a routine that really help my nails out.  Nov. 6 - Starting point Here are my nails at the starting point on November 6. My skin gets very dry in the fall and winter and my nails were certainly feeling it the most. I had peeling on my right ring and middle fingernails that I had to address. Here's how I started treating my nails: - I switched my nails to a rounded shape. For as much as I love square or squoval tips, a round nail shape does the best job at preventing snags and peels on nails. It's a great protective shape, particularly as I was trying to grow out damaged nails. ...

Gift wrapping projects are my favorite crafting projects! I so enjoy picking out gifts for loved ones and wrapping them up to make them all the more special. I think this year's holiday present recipients will get a kick of the gifts they're getting and the beautiful packaging. The Stuffed Animal There aren't too many ways to wrap up a stuffed animal, but I think a festive bow can really create a thoughtful presentation moment. I made a large bow around this little kitty's neck with some metallic fabric ribbon.  If you can tie a shoe, you can tie a bow like this. Tie a large bow and tighten the knot so the bow is secure. Then make another bow using the first one as a guide for how to properly shape the loops of the bow. Once you've completed the bows, take the longer side of the tail and wrap it around the knots to hide them. Secure the tail with a single tie (not a knot) and the bow will be perfectly secure until it's time to remove the bow, whic...