Homemade Holiday Decorations

A lot of people have skipped the designer stores this Christmas, and have taken to making homemade decorations for the holidays. I've stumbled across some innovative ideas where regular household items have been converted into elegant decorations with the help of some tender love and care... and not to mention, some glitter and glue! Here are 10 ideas featuring some of my favourite (and easy) DIY Christmas decoration projects.

Old light bulbs repurposed into ornaments with the help of some glitter!

Decorate simple white candles with cinnamon sticks and ribbon. You can also place candles of varying sizes in mason jars and vases, and fill the containers half way up with fresh cranberries or chestnuts for a lovely holiday feel.

Fill clear glass ornaments with creative ideas. I like the peacock feather.

For the Scrabble fanatic! Make an assortment of Christmas words with Scrabble letters.

Use sparkle spray paint on an assortment of branches, and place them in a glass vase for festive cheer. The best part about this DIY is that you can also hang mini ornaments and trinkets from the branches for a personal touch!

I couldn't leave Martha Stewart off this list, could I? I love this beautiful way of displaying Christmas cards. Another simple way is by hanging ribbon from doors and curtain rods, and clipping the cards on with clothespins.

For the music lovers! An easy DIY project with the help of glue and some sheet music. 

And the alternative, made with vintage newspaper and glitter. I absolutely adore this! 

Decorate a curtain rod with ornaments hung by matching ribbons.

A beautiful DIY wreath that you can hang on your door or over the fireplace.

So there you have it — 10 fun and easy DIY projects for Christmas. Do you have any favourite craft projects for the holidays?

xoxo

Images courtesy of Google Images and Pinterest.com

10 Unique Christmas Trees

One of my favourite holiday traditions as a child was setting up the Christmas tree with my family. We had a fake one that we reused every year, along with an assortment of antique ornaments (mostly angels and baubles in different colours and sizes). Every year I'd anticipate the beginning of December because it meant the tree would come out of storage, and we'd proceed to adorn it with the usual trimmings — complete with cotton balls to mimic snow. (The joys of growing up in a tropical country!)

There's something absolutely magical about tastefully decorated Christmas trees, isn't there? The lights, the tinsel, the ornaments — the entire package can add warmth and comfort to a room in an instant.

I have decided to dedicate this blog post to a few friends who share my love for Christmas trees. I've curated 10 lovely images featuring fun and creative trees that I'm sure you'll adore. Some are uniquely trimmed, and others are traditional to different parts of the world. Cheers!

Recycled for Christmas

For book lovers everywhere!

Treats of Sushi

Objects of My Affection

99 Bottles of Christmas...

All I want for Christmas is a bicycle... or two.

Taters and Tots for Christmas

Gumdrops and jellybeans, oh my!

Pac-Man for the win!

Ginseng Roots for all! (This one takes me back to my days in South Korea.)

For more fun and festive trees from around the world, check out this awesome slide show, over at NYDailyNews.com. What do you think of these trees? Do you have a personal favourite? If you have your own collection of unique Christmas tree images, you can always share them on our Facebook page.


xoxo

Images courtesy of Google Images

Festive Baking

We're almost at mid-December, and I'm starting to get into the festive spirit. I've always enjoyed baking, and I think the Christmas season begs for some relaxing time spent in the kitchen. Yes, I said 'kitchen' and 'relaxing' in the same sentence!

Nothing brings me more joy over the holidays than setting aside time to listen to carols, while baking festive treats for friends and family. How comforting is the smell of freshly baked shortbread? What about ginger molasses cookies? These smells send me into a state of nostalgia —the good kind! The kind where every one of my senses gets engulfed in happy memories.

So I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of my favourite recipes with you. These aren't family secrets (I'll save those for another post... maybe!), but they're a blend of tried and trues, and ones I'd like to attempt over the holidays this year.

Classic shortbread cookies, all dolled up for the holidays. Shortbread cookies are my standard go-to when it comes to baking. Easy, delicious, and SO much fun to decorate.

I get especially excited over Christmas time because Hershey's brings out their Candy Cane Kisses. These beauties are chocolate peppermint cookies with Candy Cane Kisses. A delicious blend of some of my favourite things!

One of my best recipes for family and friends is this delicious chocolate chip cheesecake, with an Oreo cookie crust. It took me a few tries to get it right, but now it's a recipe I turn to at almost any celebration.

My friend Melissa baked these fantastic vanilla bean cupcakes, with strawberry buttercream during a get together this past weekend. She found the recipe online. The cupcakes are delicious by themselves, but the buttercream is unbelievable. She took fresh strawberries and mixed them in a food processor, then added them to the buttercream. The result? Buttercream that tastes more like strawberries than sugar. Delicious!

Love 'em or leave 'em, no Christmas bake-a-thon is complete without a classic rum fruitcake. My mother has a great recipe that she turns to every year. She even soaks the fruit slices in rum, months ahead. The smell of the cake baking in the oven sends me into nostalgic overdrive.

So what are your festive baking plans for Christmas? Do you have your own tried and true recipes you turn to? Or perhaps you're attempting something new this year? Do you have any secret recipes passed down through the generations? I'd love to hear from you.

Whatever you find yourself doing in preparation for Christmas, I hope you have fun! I hope you're surrounded by love and laughter, and that your experiences give way to wonderful memories you'll cherish and turn to in the years to in the years to come.

xoxo

Images courtesy of Pinterest.com and Google Images

Things I learned in March

Well, it's the end of a very long month, and I'm exhausted. Drained. Could sleep for days. But before calling it a wrap for March, I feel the need to list 10 things I learned this month. So here we go.

1. I miss chocolate. I can't wait till the Easter bunny gets here.

2. A lot can happen in 31 days. The 1st of March looks very different from this angle. I need to remember this the next time I feel impatient.

3. I need to squeeze in some more Zzz's at night. Really. I can no longer spend every night with Conan.

4. Hashtags and Twitter are not the enemy. #TweetAsIfYourLifeDependsOnIt

5. After recently entering back into the PC world, I realize how much I love Macs. I wish PCs would have an 'all windows' function. #LifeWouldBeSoMuchEasier

6. Did I mention I miss chocolate?

7. I need to switch from coffee to herbal tea. It's my fuel but... #NoOneLikesTheShakes

8. Laughs come easily during reruns of How I Met Your Mother.

9. I'm over winter. #SeriouslyOverIt

10. I miss being able to wear my hair curly. Why won't it grow?!

Bonus thought: I miss life in analog.

Hey, remember Clip-art? It's been a while.

xo

Image courtesy of Google Images

10 things I know to be true

I've been inspired to write this post after watching spoken word poet Sarah Kay's TED talk. The goal is to write 10 things I know to be true right now. So here we go!

1. Despite knowing chocolate will go straight to my hips, I refuse to end my relationship with it.

2. I'm fascinated by people who have a way with their words. And by people who use their words to promote good in this world.

3. A video of a laughing baby or cute kitten/puppy will always put a smile on my face -- no matter how badly my day may be going.

4. The sound of ocean waves gently kissing the shore is possibly one of the most calming sounds ever.

5. Hugs -- genuine, warm, big, loving, squeezed-till-you-melt hugs -- are amazing.

6. Mum's home-cooked meals are the perfect antidote to avert an emotional meltdown. Or at least delay the onslaught of one.

7. This world is fueled by hope ... despite what the naysayers may want us to believe.

8. I long for a day when I'll be absolutely content with my physical and emotional self.

9. My Mr. Darcy is out there. He's apparently just too stubborn to ask for directions. (Get on it, will you?)

10. The soundtrack to Love Actually is the background music to my life right now.

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Now it's your turn. What would you put on your list of 10 things you know to be true?

xo

Image courtesy of Google Images

Global Belly Laugh Day

Today is Global Belly Laugh Day. So make sure you take some time to get your hahas on at some point. There's nothing better than a good laugh to get you out of the blues... even if it's just temporarily.

Take a cue from Mr. Clooney here. He knows the value of a good belly laugh. 

Here are five great sites to get you started.

Fail Blog
Ever have moments that just make you want to want to go into hiding from embarrassment? Well, so do the victims of Fail Blog. This amazing site features stories from contributors willing to share their facepalm moments with the world. Check it out for a chuckle.

Texts From Last Night
Pretty much self explanatory. People submit their inappropriate, entertaining and silly texts here. Good for a laugh in limited characters.

F My Life
Everytime you feel your life can't get any worse, visit this site to be reminded that it can. Just be glad you're not one of these victims.

I Can Has Cheezburger
If you don't know of this site by now, then you're clearly new to the Internet.

The Onion
Taking everyday news and spinning it until it woven into a comfy ol' sweater.

Image courtesy of Google Images

3 happy things

I know this may sound obvious, but the Internet sure has come a long way since the days of dial-up. I remember when the very thought of signing on to the Net was daunting (dial tone anyone?). We had to make sure we weren't expecting any phone calls, and our time was limited -- Mum simply said we could sign on, get what we needed for school, and sign off. We didn't always listen to her, but lately, I can't help but wish for those days... slightly.

Wi-Fi gives new meaning to the phrase 'information at your fingertips.' We're always connected. Even as I write this post, I'm not plugged in. I'm simply relying on the fact that my computer is somehow connected to some server... and that's what's giving me access to the Internet. (Pardon my non-tech speak.) When I sit down and think of the logistics, it's kind of scary.

But, I digress. My point in all of this is that I've had a lot of free time lately to prowl the Internet in search of things that make me happy. I've been straying away from the norms of social-media, in search of inspiration through blogs, photographs and other lovely anecdotes that will jump-start my engine.

Here are three things in life that never fail to bring a smile to my face and a happy burst to my soul.

1. Twinkle lights - I love the romance and ease of soft, mood lighting. Inside, it's the ambiance that comes from the soft glow of a simple lamp in the corner of a room. Give me a comfy chair, a throw, a good book and a cup of tea, and I'll sit in peaceful solitude for hours.

Outdoors, it's a few well placed twinkle lights along a rooftop, or neatly wrapped around the branches of a tree, or setting the mood for a peaceful walk in a park.



2. Couch travel - I think it goes without saying that I'm in this lovely relationship with travel. It's a healthy relationship, but we don't get to spend a lot of time together. But thanks to the Internet, we're able to stay in touch.

I spend a few minutes of each day dreaming of tropical adventures and rendezvous'. I'm drawn to images of warmth and slower paces. One day I'm in Africa... Cape Town, to be exact. I'm at the shore, watching the waves splash as the Indian and Atlantic embrace. But perhaps tomorrow I might try catching the Aurora Borealis in the North West Territories.

One thing's for sure -- my mind and heart are joining together to agree on this one simple point: "Get out there again!" they scream in unison. Someday. Soon. Again.



3. Quotes - This is a constant (and a must) in my daily Internet prowlings. I love words, and when they're woven together in a manner that's sure to make me think, smile or re-evaluate my life, I love them even more. Lately, I've been stumbling across these awesome images with appropriate quotes designed on to them. You'll find my favourite for the week in the Quote of the Week tab, or you can check out Straight From The Curls' Tumblr for more frequent updates.



There you have it. 3 happy things that are a click away. It's like emergency food for my soul. Do you have any guaranteed picker-uppers of your own?





Images courtesy of Google Images

Top 5 posts of 2010

One of my greatest joys with Straight From The Curls is that it acts as a virtual diary to my life. Coming here and jotting down thoughts not only allows me to share my experiences with you, but it also gives me a chance to revisit these thoughts at a later date and time. For someone who tends to be rather introspective, this is quite helpful, and on many occasions it's been rather healing as well.

Since moving back to Toronto I've had a lot of time to sit back and read posts from the past year. I've had a chance to relive my exciting rendez-vous with Asia. More often than not, the posts always put a smile on my face, and I have moments where I think, "Yea, that really did happen!"

So in the spirit of celebration and reminiscing about the year that's been, here are my top 5 posts of 2010.

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5. Gumption - I wrote this post in January 2010. Obviously lulling in a low moment and in search of inspiration. And I was just getting into Mad Men at this point, so I was quite fascinated with the women at the Sterling Cooper Draper Price ad agency, and with the way they carried themselves. I still am. We could all use a healthy dose of some good, old-fashioned gumption! I'm glad I was reminded of this.

4. The world in my shoebox - My best friends in Seoul came from all over the world. This post is a reflection of my relationship with all of them, and about how we came to be friends. I will always be grateful to Korea because my experiences there gave me a wonderful group of international friends who I know I'll always be able to count on.

3. Finding my smile in the Land of Smiles - Written after a two-week romance with Thailand. I fell in love with the country, and long to go back there someday. This post is a reflection of my experiences in the Land of Smiles, as we backpacked through a handful of cities. The trip was therapeutic and came at a very pivotal time in my life.

2. Beauty, V and Me - This was an eye-opening moment for me in Korea. I wrote this post out of frustration and shock, and with hopes that people would stumble across it and learn from my experiences. My middle school students taught me a lesson in beauty, and about which traits they considered beautiful in women. Needless to say, very few of them believed the old adage that 'beauty comes from within.' This post outlines my experiences with this shock -- how I learned about it, how I dealt with it, and how I hope it will change in the future.

1. Love always wins - This is my first choice for the top 5 posts of 2010. Those of you who've become familiar with Straight From The Curls will probably agree with me when I say I've got a strange relationship with the word 'love'. There's posts on here about good love, bad love, healthy love, and downright painful love. But this post was a bit of an epiphany for me. It documents a couple of conversations I had in Seoul about the topic -- one with my teenage student, and one with a bar owner in Seoul's western neighbourhood of Itaewon.

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So there you have it -- my top 5 posts of 2010. I chose all of them from my experiences in Korea, because I was there until September of this year. Do you have a favourite post from the past year? If you do, please don't hesitate to share it with me. I'd love to hear about it.

Till next time, Cheers!

xo
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10 countries worth exploring

I was recently given a couple of books from Lonely Planet. The first one, 'The Traveller's Guide to Planet Earth,' is an amazing photographic journey through all the nooks, mountains and crannies that make up our awesome planet. It's based on a BBC series with the same title, and it's definitely a lesson in that our wonderful world consists of so many mysteries and places to marvel at, once we learn to look beyond the surface.

Overall, it's an awesome read, and if there's any travel fanatics out there, I highly recommend you add it to your collection.

The second book is what inspired this blog post. Lonely Planet's 'The Travel Book - A Journey Through Every Country In The World' covers 229 countries, with over 800 images. The book itself is something to marvel at -- it weighs about six lbs and is what I'd call an XXL size. But try not to let the overwhelming look scare you. The book is a feast for the eyes with amazing photographs and factoids from every country, and it's sure to sate any wanderlust's dreams of visiting and exploring faraway places. And even if traveling is not in your current budget, this book will allow you to discover our lovely planet from the luxury of your own living room.

After spending the weekend getting lost in the pages of this wonderful treat, I decided to choose 10 places that I'd personally like to explore. They're not necessarily countries you'd think of when considering a vacation, but I'd like to think of them as hidden gems worthy of a visit.

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1. First on the list is Andorra. A beautiful little principality nestled between the borders of Spain and France, in the eastern Pyrenees mountains, Andorra is one of the few countries in the world that still treasures its old world feel. With cobblestone paths and sleepy villages, it's the perfect playground for explorers looking to stumble across hidden squares and quaint gardens.

Andorra, Europe

2. Next on the list is Guatemala. Natives to this lovely South American country speak almost 20 separate languages (that itself is quite fascinating). But if it isn't reason enough to visit Guatemala, then consider the beautiful blend of Mayan ruins and colonial houses that remain, to this day, immaculate and worthy of a visit.

Guatemala, South America

3. Montenegro emerged as an independent nation in 2006. Home to ancient Orthodox monasteries and Albanian mosques that co-exist in good company, Montenegro also has a scenery to be rivaled. Coasts stretching along the Adriatic Sea and Mountains covered in lavender make the perfect playgrounds for wanderers from all over the planet.

Montenegro, Europe

4. Nestled in the Atlantic and along the western coast of Africa lie the islands of Cape Verde. Easily one of the the most complex and fascinating archipelagos on this planet, Cape Verde is home to active volcanoes, beaches and deserts, which all exist together in a fascinating mix -- a perfect treat for any wanderer looking for adventure and relaxation. Did you know Cape Verde has the highest adult literacy rate of any West African country? Fascinating -- and beautiful!

Cape Verde, Africa

5. Rounding up number five on the list of 10 countries worth exploring is San Marino. Known to have the oldest constitution to date, San Marino is an independent republic nestled on all sides by Italy. A lot of tourists are drawn to this fascinating place to check out traces of the old San Marino Grand Prix, but there's so much more to discover in its historic landscape. I'd go just for the amazing views from the Castello della Guaita (pictured).

San Marino, Europe

6. Macau can easily be compared to Las Vegas, except that it's nestled comfortably in Asia. A hub of activity and not short of blaring neon lights, Macau is Asia's answer to a complex blend of luxury and post-colonial ambiance. And as one of the world's last Portuguese colonies, Macau only became part of China in 1999, and is one of the most densely populated places on the planet. A desire to bungee jump from the top of the Macau Tower already has me itching to book a ticket.

Macau, Asia

7. Who wouldn't want to visit a kingdom? And Polynesia's Kingdom of Tonga seems fascinating and inviting enough to drop everything and spend endless days exploring this southern Pacific gem. It is the only island nation within this region to have never been colonized, and it has a culture that sways to the relaxed pulse of an island beat, while still remaining quite progressive. Wanderlusts take note -- This kingdom consists of 176 islands, so Tonga may just be the answer to a picturesque escape from city life.

The Kingdom of Tonga, South Pacific

8. I would head over to Ghana for the simple fact that they produce one-fifth of the world's cocoa beans. And for self-proclaimed chocoholic, this would be paradise! But another great reason to explore Ghana (besides the awesome fact that you can do it all in English), is that it's a complex blend of old and new -- you can get lost in ancient castles one day, and go on an adventurous African safari the next. Not to mention the music from Ghana also carries a catchy beat and can become quite addictive.

Ghana, Africa

9 . The Falkland Islands, located off the coast of Argentina, may seem pretty isolated by the looks of it on the world map. However, I think visitors might be pleasantly surprised by all that's available to explore this stretch of islands. Many explorers have described the area as 'otherworldly' because of its fascinating wildlife and natural beauty. From amazing sights of shipwrecks, to Rockhopper penguins and black-browed albatross, the Faulkland Islands are a gift to nature-lovers everywhere.

Falkland Islands, South Atlantic

10. Rounding up this list of 10 countries worth exploring is Uzbekistan. Considered an essential stop on the Silk Road and a hub of activity for markets filled with silks, carpets and embroidery, Uzbekistan is also a gem for lovers of architecture. With towering structures (like Samarkand's Registan Square) and ancient mosques with intricate designs, it's no wonder this country is on every 'off the beaten path' explorer's radar.

Uzbekistan, Asia

So there you have it, folks -- 10 countries worth exploring. Thanks to 'The Travel Book -- A Journey Through Every Country In The World', my list of places to explore just grew tenfold... and now, so must my bank account.

xo
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Images courtesy of Google Images