Macarons… it’s become a serious obsession now. I blame Lolita brands for this obsession. If they didn’t keep including them in prints or in sweets deco maybe I could forget about how melt-in-your-mouth-delicious they are… maybe I could ignore the fact that they are incredibly pretty… and maybe I could stop thinking about how I desperately want one for breakfast today with a cup of tea…

But no!

And so it goes on until one day I got so frustrated I decided to make them myself. I suppose that’s in keeping with the spirit of this blog ^_^

I searched and searched for a recipe. Many were too complicated with things like measuring the temperatures in the room and comparing the humidity to get the correct amounts for different parts of the world!? Macarons are apparently the most fickle of all deserts.

Finally just as I was about to give up a friend sent me a link to Not Quite Nigella’s Recipe. It seemed easy enough but I wasn’t too keen on the idea of pistachio as I wanted James to actually eat them too. I kept searching until I found the Tasted By Two version. Seemed easy enough… and so the experimenting began! After maybe 10 batches I have modified the recipe for our kitchen/temperature/humidity/what ever other ridiculous things macarons are scared of. I am not a baking purist, I just did what worked! These techniques might not work for you but I assure you that my result was freaking awesome

So here is everything I’ve learned about macarons and my modified version of the Tasted By Two Recipe:

What you need:

Ingredients for chocolate macarons with chocolate filling-

For the outside bit:

• 65 grams Almond Meal
• 80 grams Icing Sugar
• 40 grams  Caster Sugar
• 1 table spoon Cocoa Powder
• 50 grams Egg White at room temperature
• Oil spray
• Pinch of salt

For the filling:

• Cooking chocolate
• Butter
• Thickened cream
• Icing sugar

Utensils-

• Scales
• Sieve
• Aluminum foil
• Mixing bowls
• Electric beater
• Baking trays
• Spoon etc
• Piping bag/Small plastic bag

Gather everything together

Line your trays with aluminum foil. Yes in the photo I’m using baking paper… and you know what, it sucked. Every recipe I found said to use baking paper but EVERY batch that I did using baking paper failed miserably. So what I ended up using for the successful batches was aluminum foil *very* lightly sprayed with olive oil. I’ll talk more about the failed batches and how to avoid that later!

Measure out your almond meal. Having the correct weights is very important so be quite careful. Now about the almond meal… many recipes I found said that you should crush the meal even further in a food processor to make it extra fine. I don’t have a food processor so I used it straight from the pack. No problems so far.

This is how fine it was:

Do the same  with your icing sugar and sift them into your bowl. Make sure there are no lumps.

Then mix them together very well and make sure the consistency is even.

Now weigh your castor sugar.

And your egg whites. Egg whites are another highly debated point of this recipe. Some say you should leave them out over night, some say leave them for a week. I made macarons with eggs right after cracking them, over night and week old… and they were all exactly the same in my opinion. I really don’t think it makes a difference. Just make sure they aren’t too cold or else they won’t froth well.

Put your egg whites into a mixing bowl.

Add a pinch of salt to them

Now using your electric mixer beat them until they become slightly frothy.

When they look like this you should start adding the castor sugar a little bit at a time…

Keep beating…

… until it looks like this The eggs should be light fluffy and peaky.

Now this part is quite fun! You should take your mixed up icing/almond and add 1/2 of it to the egg mixture.

Mix it up carefully, don’t be over zealous otherwise it will end up like cake. Once the first half is mixed in, add the rest and repeat.

According to a lot of recipes it should form ribbons off your spoon when you’re done.

Now mix in your spoon of cocoa

Delicious yes?

Ok time to get ready to pipe them. You can use a proper piping bag but if you’re not keen on cleaning one you can just use a plastic bag and throw it away after ^_^

Put your mixture into the bag!

And tie a knot into the top of it.

Now cut off the corner with a pair of scissors and pipe circles onto your tray.

Apparently some people will actually draw circles onto the baking paper to make sure they are completely perfectly shaped… I don’t really think that is necessary. If I wanted perfection I would go and buy them, I like he idea of mine being a little individual ^_^

Ok! So we’ve done the hard part! You should take your tray and bang it on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. Then leave the macarons on the counter for 1 hour to settle. While they are settling let’s talk about some other variations!

James doesn’t like chocolate much either so he asked for some blueberry flavored ones.

I used tinned blueberries, crushed them and added to the mixture just before piping.

This is easy enough, you just need to add slightly more of the dry ingredients to counter the wet of the blueberries. If you’ve made a couple of batches you should be able to roughly guess at what the correct consistency should be.

My absolute FAVORITE flavor is green tea with pistachio filling. OMG this is seriously awesome. All you need to do is add 1/2 a teaspoon of matcha powder to the mixture instead of your chocolate powder. I’m using one from Tea2 but any will work.

Green!

They all look so pretty!

When you come back to the macarons the icing should have formed a very slight shell, you should be able to touch the top without getting your finger wet. Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. When the oven is ready you can put in the tray and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes you should be able to see the little crinkly bottom feet, if not something has gone wrong! Cook for another 4 minutes and then allow them to cool on the bench.

This is a picture of the first time I tried to make them, they weren’t very pretty but you can see the little crinkly feet I’m talking about…

Leave the macarons to cool while we make the filling.Basically all that is involved in that is melting chocolate in the microwave, adding a little cream, butter and a little icing sugar so it doesn’t go solid again. Very delicious. Be sure to taste it along the way

The pistachio variation on this is basically crushed pistachios with butter and icing sugar to make a delicious paste:

Now it’s time to remove the macarons from the tray and turn them over… the bottoms should look like this:

Below is a good example of failed bottoms. The reason this didn’t work is because they weren’t cooked long enough so the insides were liquidy. They stuck to the (stupid) baking paper and collapsed when being removed. Still tasted good though.

Take a half and spread some filling on, pop another half on top and you’re done

Taadaa! Success!

And here are the delicious green tea ones:

So there you have it! No longer will I be a slave to sweets deco and brand prints! Next time I crave macarons I’ll bloody well make some! Mine may not be the prettiest ever made but they tasted damn good and nobody complained so I’m happy!

Hope you all enjoyed the adventure as much as I enjoyed eating all of the failed and successful batches!

Today I wanted to give you guys first pick of my new nail art for sale ^_^ This is all going up on the Etsy store soon but I want my blog readers to have first preference. I’ve also made a few of those bow and heart rings that you all loved so much on Twitter. All the information on ordering is down the bottom, I hope you enjoy!

Set 1. Strawberry Fields

Description:
Yum yum strawberries, it’s that time of year again Alternating in red and pink these nails will catch some attention! Each small gold ball has been hand placed to represent strawberry seeds and they shine in the sun like crazy! Good enough to eat, though I don’t suggest trying to…

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly long nails with a rounded tip. Please note that these particular nails have been hand filed to shape, as such they are not completely even. Please examine the photos carefully before ordering. The largest size is 1.9cm wide and 2.7cm long. The smallest size is 0.9cm wide and 1.8cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$25

Set 2. Ribbons and Bows

Description:
These beautiful pastel nails have so much detail going on they are really eye catching! Alternating between pastel pink and blue each has silver glitter and then white candy stripes. Painstakingly hand painted on top in each corner is a big red ribbon bow. Perfect to wear for a tea party or just to look adorable every day!

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly long nails with a rounded tip. Please note that these particular nails have been hand filed to shape, as such they are not completely even. Please examine the photos carefully before ordering. The largest size is 1.9cm wide and 2.7cm long. The smallest size is 0.9cm wide and 1.8cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$25

Set 3. Purple Passion

Description:
These nails are a beautiful dark satin purple. They are very different to most nails you would come across, the only thing that shines on these babies are the silver glitter half moons at the bottom. Pair them with a slinky dress and you’re ready for a night on the town!

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly long nails with a rounded tip. Please note that these particular nails have been hand filed to shape, as such they are not completely even. Please examine the photos carefully before ordering. The largest size is 1.9cm wide and 2.7cm long. The smallest size is 0.9cm wide and 1.8cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$15

Set 4. Loving the Leopard

Description:
This set has been so popular I’ve made another one!

There is no hiding from these nails, you won’t need to camouflage! With a bright purple base and fluro pink leopard spots these nails sure make a splash! The tips have been dipped in bright pink glitter and a matching pink diamante has been added to polish off. These are guaranteed to grab attention!

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip.The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$15

Set 5. Burn Baby Burn

Description:
Fire is ultimately cool but who has the time or effort to set their own fingers on fire everyday? Now you can have the look without the third degree burns! With an orange/red base and flames of red, yellow and orange people might be fooled into calling the Fire Department, wear at your own risk!

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip.The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$15

There are still a few sets left in my Etsy store of the last batch, click here to see ^_^

Bow and Heart Rings

Please note that I can custom make these in any colour and size combination. If there is something you want that is not here just comment or send me an email ^_^

Pink Crochet Bow Ring.

Hand crocheted from pink cotton yarn, it is very comfortable to wear and is attached to a matching crochet ring.

Price: US$6 including shipping.

The inside of a bow ring. The ring section is crochet as well, its quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Pink Crochet Heart Ring.

Hand crocheted from pink cotton yarn. It is attached to a matching crochet ring which is quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Price: US$6 including shipping.

Pink Crochet Bow Ring with Pearls.

Hand crocheted from pink cotton yarn and beaded with plastic pearls to keep it light weight. It is attached to a matching crochet ring which is quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Price: US$6 including shipping.

Blue Crochet Bow Ring.

Hand crocheted from blue acrylic yarn. It is attached to a matching crochet ring which is quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Price: US$5 including shipping.

Red Crochet Heart Ring.

Hand crocheted from red acrylic yarn. It is attached to a matching crochet ring which is quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Price: US$5 including shipping.

Red Crochet Bow Ring.

Hand crocheted from red acrylic yarn. It is attached to a matching crochet ring which is quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Price: US$5 including shipping.

Black Crochet Heart Ring.

Hand crocheted from black cotton yarn. It is attached to a matching crochet ring which is quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Price: US$6 including shipping.

Blue Crochet Heart Ring.

Hand crocheted from blue acrylic yarn. It is attached to a matching crochet ring which is quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Price: US$5 including shipping.

Black Crochet Bow Ring.

Hand crocheted from black cotton yarn. It is attached to a matching crochet ring which is quite stretchy and very comfortable.

Price: US$6 including shipping.

Ordering Information!

Custom Orders:

I will take custom orders, please comment or email me (violetlebeaux@gmail.com) with what you are interested for a quote

Ordering:

Before you order please take the time to read all of the information.
You can order by either commenting here or by emailing me using my Contact Page to let me know which set you would like to buy and your email address so I can send you a Paypal Invoice. Please note that the email address you put in the comment form can only be seen by me so if you are uncomfortable publishing your email either put it there or order via the Contact Page. Anything that doesn’t sell here is going to be put up in my Etsy shop, if you would prefer to buy via Etsy let me know and I will create a listing for you

Payment:

Payment must be made via Paypal. All prices are in US Dollars.
Australian buyers have the option of doing a direct bank transfer in Australian Dollars but must contact me for details.

Postage:

Shipping fees are included in the listed prices. Shipping is via Australia Post. International shipping will be by standard Airmail (unless you want to pay extra for express).
Insurance is not included in the price, if you would like to buy insurance please contact me. If you do not opt to buy insurance I cannot be held responsible for lost packages.

Notes:

Please note that these nails are all hand painted and as such they are all unique. They are not mass produced and therefore they have small irregularities. Please view the pictures carefully to be sure before you place your order as I will not accept refunds if you just change your mind. Larger photos are available upon request.

As a lot of you would already know James and I will be moving cities soon, it’s very exciting! We’ll be living in an apartment so we’re trying to compress all of the things we have into as small a space as possible… what this leads to is us having a big clean out sale  ^_^ I’m not going to constantly spam you about the sale here so I’ll just post the link and tell you that I’m updating it with new stuff pretty much every day so check back often! There are all kinds of things there including clothes, jewelery and other bits and pieces.

If you want something just email me an offer!

Click here to go to Violet and Jimmy’s Online Garage Sale

Thanks very much for looking!

Today’s outfit was very stereotypical French inspired. The kind of France that’s in my dreams… where everyone always carries a baguette all the time and has a poodle permanently attached to their arm. Yes that may be the kind of France that doesn’t exist but so what, I love my outfit anyway!

Dress- Target
Stockings- Myer
Cardigan- Angel Sissi
Heart Ring- I made it
Hat- SkyLine Vintage
Shoes- Modified by me
Other jewelery- random places

This outfit was for James’ birthday which was last Thursday! None of the pieces were very expensive at all but it comes together for a very sweet look and my hair is super curled/teased.

Make up for the day! I wish the camera captured how sparkly the pink was ^_^ I’m wearing the green lenses from my previous review.

Later that night we had a small family party for James but it was really hot that night. Instead of brushing out my hair I just pinned it up on the back of my head and added a bow.

Getting in the festive mood!

Here’s a bonus pic because I love you all

It’s no secret, I love cake. No I don’t think you guys get it… I looooooove cake. So much so that the first thing I thought when I was trying to think of a way to store my false eyelashes was cake… and you’ll see why in a minute

If you’re anything like me you have a lot of lashes. Here in Aus they don’t come in the nice little trays, they come in stupid plastic packets which mean it’s really difficult to store and reuse them. My counter tends to look like this after a few days…

Very ugly, very messy and very unhygienic. So what to do? When I found this cheap craft storage box at a $2 store I had a great idea

I decided to turn it into this:

Yep. It’s an eyelash cake.

The storage container looks like this when it’s filled up. Each compartment has it’s own lid so when you need one set they won’t all fall out and it’s transparent so you can see them all at once. It’s exactly the right size so your lashes don’t get crushed or out of shape.

So let’s get started! What you need is:

-Paper clay. I picked up a kit from Singapore but I’ve seen this same kit available on Etsy as well.
-Container
-Cute ribbon
-Icing bag with nozzles
-Optional if your paper clay kit doesn’t come with white icing you can use acrylic modeling paste (read more here)
-Small false flowers

So this is what came in my kit. It has lots of molds and a couple of colours of clay and a ready to go icing kit.

I wanted a strawberry for my cake so I made one with the mold like this:

Put clay in both sides of the mold.

Squish it together..

You get this:

Remove the extra and you’ve got a strawberry.

You can make pretty much anything you want by hand as well as it’s really easy to work with. I made some macarons, hearts, icecream tops and some of those swirly chocolate wafer stick things.

Also squish some of the yellow clay flat and cut out 8 fairly equal triangles like this. These are going to be the slices of cake on top so make the roughly the same size as the container sections.

I make a bunch of clay bits and pieces at a time because they need to be left to dry over night.

The next day!

Now that everything is nice and dry let’s get going! Turn your container upside down so the lid parts are on the bottom and coat the top sections with epoxy glue.

Glue the triangles you made on

Now decide on the design you want on the top. I like to lay mine out first so I know that it will all fit!

Before I go ahead and glue it all, here is a mini tutorial inside a tutorial on making the wafer swirl things. After they’ve dried you can add the chocolate. I paint mine with brown nail polish

Paint the swirl… fairly self explanatory! Let them dry really well before you add them to the cake!

Now back to the cake!!

Time to cover the edges, get your pretty ribbon and glue it around the edge. You should align it as close to the bottom lids as you can without obstructing the opening/closing. Don’t worry about having a large gap towards the top, we’re going to fill that with icing

I decided to put flowers on the top of mine, glue whatever you decided to put there ^_^

Time for icing!

Fill your icing bag with whatever you’re using for the icing (please use the paper clay or acrylic modeling paste rather than silicon as silicon attracts a lot of dirt in the bathroom) and get any decorations you have for the top close at hand.

Start icing around the top gap of your cake

You can use whatever icing method you like, I just did this: http://www.wilton.com/technique/Shell

I did two lines of icing to fill the gap up to the ribbon.

Next pipe a gigantic swirl in the middle of the flowers

Then while the icing is still wet you should add in any decorations you want. I added the strawberry, two wafers and some diamantes

Make sure to leave it to dry at least a day or so then it’s ready to use

And there you have it! A delicious way to add to your bathroom collection of sweets! And oraganise your collection of lashes!

Also if your collection is bigger than 8 pairs (like mine is) you can just add more layers to your cake underneath ^_^ YUM!

So it would appear that my bathroom now has an unintentional sweets theme now

Well this week has been all about nail art hasn’t it? Today I’m happy to announce the grand opening of my nail art for sale section ^_^

Scroll down to see some of the false nails I’ve got for sale or scroll to the bottom to see how to order!

Set 1. Princess Pink

Description:
These beautiful nails are fit for even the fussiest of princesses. They are striped in light pink, white and dark pink with a pearlised finish so they shimmer in the light. Two rows of pink, purple and red diamantes bejewel each nail, the tiny gaps between the dimantes are filled with small gold bullions. Perfect for any royal event.

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip. The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$30

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Set 2. Loving the Leopard

Sold!

Description:
There is no hiding from these nails, you won’t need to camouflage! With a bright purple base and fluro pink leopard spots these nails sure make a splash! The tips have been dipped in bright pink glitter and a matching pink diamante has been added to polish off. These are guaranteed to grab attention!

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$15

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Set 3. Gilded Roses

Description:
A dark red base with tiny black flecks featuring a gold glitter wash and hand painted gold roses. They shimmer beautifully in the sunlight and make an eye catching addition to a day or evening outfit.

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$15

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Set 4. Cake Parade

Description:
Mmm Cake. Each nail in this set of 20 is individually decorated in the theme of strawberry cake. They even have yummy 3D icing! Some of the designs include: a slice of cake, a fork, and an icing heart. So yummy you might want to bite them off and eat them!

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$20

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails. Particularly note the hand painted bow and delicious strawberry cake slice.

Set 5. A Midnight Rendezvous

Description:
The perfect nails for a night out on the town or a civilized evening waltzing on the dance floor. The deep blue background on these can’t be completely captured in photographs, it’s stunning in person! Gold glitter tips with strings of gold bullions falling from the sky adorn this set with hand painted stars and crescent moons accenting 8 of the 20 nails. Each gold bullions has been hand placed in it’s individual string.

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip. The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$30

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Set 6. Seeing Spots

Sold!

Description:
With a mixture of gold, purple and pink these nails are perfect for an every day look. They are classy and have just enough bling to keep everyone’s attention firmly on your nails. They have a mixture of french tips and moons. The diamantes used are complimentary colour in the shapes of circles, flowers, hearts and stars.

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip. The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$15

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Set 7. Tea for Two

Description:
These nails would go beautifully with a Lolita co-ordinate. Pastel pink and blue themed they are each individually hand painted with items such as lace, bows, lollipops and even a portrait or two! Please view them close up to fully appreciate the details. The perfect accessory to top off any outfit!

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$35

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Set 8. Koi Pond

Description:
Koi fish splishing and splashing their way through the waves on your nails. These koi have all been painstakingly hand painted. They have gold metallic scales and the waves have silver metallic accents to make them shimmer in the sunlight. Please view them up close to see all of the little details.

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly long nails with a rounded tip. Please note that these particular nails have been hand filed to shape, as such they are not completely even. Please examine the photos carefully before ordering. The largest size is 1.9cm wide and 2.7cm long. The smallest size is 0.9cm wide and 1.8cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$35

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Set 9. Tartan Icing

Description:
These nails feature hand painted tartan style pointed french tips and tiny silver bullions. The base are frosted white with silver glitter to make them extra shiny. The tartan is made with 4 different shades of pink and white.

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a square tip. The largest size is 1.8cm wide and 1.9cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.2cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$20

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Set 10. Frosted Fruit Candy

Description:
This set just screams summer to me! Each nail has a summery base colour with a thin white french tip. The tips have gradated silver glitter so they really catch the light and a slice of fruit to top it all off! These nails would look great sipping cocktails by the pool.

Measurements:
Included in each set sold are 20 individual nails in 10 different sizes. These are fairly short nails with a rounded tip. The largest size is 1.7cm wide and 2.3cm long. The smallest size is 0.8cm wide and 1.4cm long. They will arrive on cardboard backing wrapped in pink fabric with ribbon details as pictured below. Gift wrapping is available upon request.

Price: US$15

Please click on the photos for a larger version to see all of the details.

A close up of the first 10 nails.

Extra Information!

Custom Orders:

I will take custom orders, please comment with what you are interested for a quote

Ordering:

Before you order please take the time to read all of the information.
You can order by either commenting here or by emailing me using my Contact Page to let me know which set you would like to buy and your email address so I can send you a Paypal Invoice. Please note that the email address you put in the comment form can only be seen by me so if you are uncomfortable publishing your email either put it there or order via the Contact Page. Anything that doesn’t sell here is going to be put up in my Etsy shop, if you would prefer to buy via Etsy let me know and I will create a listing for you

Payment:

Payment must be made via Paypal. All prices are in US Dollars.
Australian buyers have the option of doing a direct bank transfer in Australian Dollars but must contact me for details.

Postage:

Shipping fees are included in the listed prices. Shipping is via Australia Post. International shipping will be by standard Airmail (unless you want to pay extra for express).
Insurance is not included in the price, if you would like to buy insurance please contact me. If you do not opt to buy insurance I cannot be held responsible for lost packages.

Notes:

Please note that these nails are all hand painted and as such they are all unique. They are not mass produced and therefore they have small irregularities. Please view the pictures carefully to be sure before you place your order as I will not accept refunds if you just change your mind. Larger photos are available upon request.

Thank you so much for looking!

It’s getting quite close to Christmas now and I still haven’t bought any gifts! I think all the uni and school students are on holidays and the shops are packed!

I’m not huge on Christmas, to be honest if I didn’t have family obligations I probably wouldn’t celebrate it… but it is fun to decorate things and I don’t exactly say no to the presents

But the problem this year is that with saving for our own house I am on a super strict budget and decorating isn’t really a part of that.

All of my decorations are packed up, the only thing I could find was my tree…

What to do? What to do? Time to improvise!

Get some fabric scraps…

And cover that ugly plastic base!

Much better

Hmm…

Where can I find supplies? I know! The bathroom! It’s time to raid my jewelery supplies and hair accessories

Perfect for decorating: bracelets, necklaces, hair roses and more pearls!

And a gigantic Angelic Pretty hair bow!

Add the bow to the base…

Take some of your pearls and start clipping them from branch to branch.

Add more and more necklaces and then bracelets to the other branches.

Keep adding until you run out of jewelery!

If you have hair roses, clip them to the ends of the branches so they sit on the ends like they are growing out of the tree ^_^

Almost finished but…

The finishing touch… it needs a star!

Add a hair bow and you’re done!

Didn’t cost a cent and all of the pretty jewelery you’ve been collecting for years is displayed beautifully for the holidays.

Now if you want it to be even more pretty and you have some shiny beads (or a couple of dollars to buy these ones from Borders) then you can add even more…

I love these jewels, I think once Christmas is over I’ll make a bracelet with them!

I also found some pink baubles at a discount store for $2.

After lots of decorating it all comes together in the end…

Voila!

Of course it will look different depending on what kind of jewelery you have but the possibilities are endless

And it’s a fun way to spend an afternoon, especially if you can do it with someone you love like a very handsome photographer!

Do you all have special holiday traditions?

Happy holidays everyone!

Quite a while ago I was sent a bunch of 1000Hour lashes to test out, I’ve shown you all of them except the individual ones:

To be honest I wasn’t really thrilled about the idea of individual lashes, it sounded like an awful lot of unnecessary effort to me. I mean who really wants to apply full eyelid’s worth lash by lash? Who has time for that either? It wasn’t until I did a bit of a rethink and took some inspiration from the lovely SuperKawaiiMama that I got some inspiration.

These lashes are perfect for a cute casual look. You don’t actually need to put lashes over the whole eye to get an adorable effect, these are perfect for a cat-flick at the side!

Ok so here is how to do it ^_^

These are my lashes to start with, I’ve applied some mascara and given them a little bit of a curl.

Before: cute and casual look.

This is the packet they come it, it’s a step up from 90% of other lashes available in Australia because the little tray they come in actually has a lid. I hate when you get lashes and they just come in the tray, it makes them useless for storage! This however is good and you get a lot of them in a pack so they last a while especially if you reuse them.

So to begin with get one of the little bunches.

And some scissors.

And cut the tip of the bunch on an angle. You need to do 2 of these (one for each eye so cut them in opposite directions). This is the part that will gradiat to the longest lashes on the ends. If you don’t have one of these it will look like you’ve just one a random flick on the edge.

This is what they should look like.

Now grab your lash glue. I would not recommend this brand unless you are allergic to others like me.

Add a tiny bit of glue to the base of the bunch. Depending on the glue you’re using you will probably need to wait for it to get tacky before applying.

Ok now apply it to you lash line, you should apply it a couple of mm before the end of your lashes. Once you apply the bunch, give it a little pinch to make sure it’s in line with your natural lashes.

Here is a photo of it applied to my lashes, you can barely see it because the shape blends into the length of my natural lashes. In the next photo I’ve highlighted where it it.

This is where it is placed, if you compare the below and above photos you’ll be able to see exactly what I mean and the angle of the cut.

This is how it looks when my eyes are open, it’s much easier to see here but you can still see how it blends.

And here it’s highlighted…

Ok! Now you want to get 2 more bunches per eye. These ones should be full sized. Do them one at a time so you have lots of control over the placement. Add the glue!

And this time we’re going to place this bunch next to the one we just did on the outside side (closer to the corner of the eye). You should make sure that the last one sits on the very edge of your lash line. By the time you’re finished you should have 3 bunches on each eye (2 full ones and 1 angled one).

Once you’ve placed them if you want you can add another coat of mascara to make all the lashes the same thickness or even curl them again. One other tip I have is that if you find they are sticking up at a different angle than your natural lashes, give them a coat of mascara and pinch them together with your natural lashes gently. The mascara will act like a light glue!

So this is what you should end up with:

And here is where the lashes are:

With eyes closed you can really see the difference:

And highlighted!

So there you go! This look is great as an everyday look because it’s not too heavy but the flick at the end is super cute.

Now as for a review of the actual lashes I found them to be really good. I was really surprised at how durable they were, I’ve used the same 6 for this look several times. The best thing that I found was that they were comfortable enough to sleep in… probably not something I need to worry about every day but great when you’re on a 7hr plane trip! I was worried that because they weren’t held on by much glue that they would be hard to keep on but I haven’t lost one so far. You can get them from Priceline, Kmart and other beauty supply stores for around AU$7.95 which is an average price for lashes here in Aus. I really like them and I’ll be buying them again… though with this many in a tray I probably won’t need to for a long time hahaha!

This was my outfit for dinner the other night. I hadn’t tried doing the bow hair style for a while but it works muuuch better now my hair has grown a bit. My bow is giant!

Outfit details:
Skirt- Hand made
Top- $2 pink tank top from an opshop
Cardigan- Free from my mum
Jewelery- Random stuff from Diva/Annie K
Stocking- Myer
Shoes- Modified from Payless or somewhere

I think that my favorite thing about this outfit is that it’s cute but still really casual. I actually didn’t feel over dressed for once at dinner but still got compliments!

Also thank you all for your lovely comments on my/James’ Nuffnang entries, comments like that make me really love blogging <3

Well even with the best laid intentions I didn’t have a particularly awesome weekend. In fact I would go so far as to say it sucked. I’m not going to get in to everything here but the one thing I will mention is my horrible hair dye mishap. I had been planning to give you all 2 hair tutorials this week but after the hair incident (which left me a strange ashy blonde with completely different coloured roots) you’ll have to wait for my hair to rest for a few days so I can dye it again hopefully back to normal.

So anyway instead of a hair tutorial I’m going to show you how to make a pretty shopping bag. I believe that as many aspects of my life as possible should be filled with beautiful things. It follows fairly easily that I don’t like plain old grey shopping bags. After reading THIS tutorial on Craftster I was inspired to make my own portable, reusable, beautiful bag ^_^ Mine is quite different than the original because I wasn’t reading the pattern as I was going so it folds differently.

Let’s get started then! Here is what you will need:
-Fabric for the bag (and lining fabric if you decide to use it, I didn’t and it’s perfectly sturdy)
-Plastic bag for pattern
-Lace, pearls or other decorations

Cut the seams off the plastic bag at the top and bottom. Unfold it so it looks like this:

You now need to use this as a pattern to cut two pieces like this out. If you are using lining cut some of that out too.

I had some spare pink lace that I decided to decorate mine with. I laid out the lace in several layers to get the effect I wanted. Then I sewed it all down.

I sewed a layer of lace flowers across the top of the lace. Now you should cut out a piece of fabric for the pocket, I decided to put a lace bow on there so I cut that out too.

Now sew the pocket onto one side!

Next it’s time to overlock all the loose seams and overlock the sides and tops of the handles together.

Now it’s time to put those origami skillz to good use! On the sides you should fold them in on themselves like the original plastic bag was. The handles should fold in on themselves too. Do it on both sides and then overlock the bottom seam. I then covered the bottom seam with lace flowers to match the top.

The few last steps are very simple. Sew the seams around the top and handles so they are neat. Then if you included the lace bow on the pocket, gather it in a piece of ribbon. Lastly I added a string of pearls which will double as a handle when it’s all folded up.

Here is an animation of how it folds up!
1. Fold the bottom underneath
2. Fold the side in
3. Fold the other side in
4. Fold the handles backwards
5. Fold it under on it’s self and push it into the pocket.
6. TADAA!

If you don’t want to put it in your purse you can carry it in with the pearls until you need to fill it with groceries etc

Time to take it for a test drive!

When you buy something then unfold it and tadaa!

Sorry that wasn’t my best tutorial, I wasn’t expecting to use these photos as a tutorial. I was very crafty on the weekend, I’ll show you what else I made next time!

<3

Ok first off let me say that there are a bajillion photos ahead so if you’re on dial up this may not be the post for you… Now without further ado let me present….

Today on the Cooking with Violet and Susie show we will be preparing Mochi which will then be made into Strawberry Daifuku (also known as the yummiest thing on earth).

Here is what you will need:
-1 microwave safe bowl
-1/2 cup of white sugar
-1 cup Mochiko (glutinous rice flour) plus extra for dusting
-2/3 cup of water
-1 punnet of strawberries (or your filling of choice)
-1 chopping board
-1 very sharp knife
-1 spoon
-Optional: anko to cover the strawberries in. Not used in this recipe but a delicious variation.

Please make sure to buy GLUTINOUS rice flour, it is not the same thing as rice flour. Don’t even bother to try to substitute plain rice flour or you’ll end up with a disgusting floury mess.

Also useful to have is a gullible friend who you can trick into doing most of the work. I call mine Susie.
Another key ingredient is a boyfriend with a camera so you don’t get flour all over your nice camera. Silly photos optional.

First get all of your ingredients together and wash the strawberries.

Get your friend to take care of the boring task of cutting the tops off the strawberries.

If you have small strawberries you should use one per Daifuku, if your strawberries are larger cut them in half. This recipe will make around 10-14 Daifuku.

Measure out 1 cup of mochiko (glutinous rice flour) and dump it in the microwave safe bowl.

Also add 1/2 a cup of sugar to the bowl.

While you do something more fun (like getting 2/3rds of a cup of water) make your human slave… I mean good friend… mix the flour and sugar together very well.

Now add a little bit of water and mix it around with a spoon. Don’t add all the water yet.

It should look like this:

I’m sure your arm will be tired from all that manual labour so get your friend to add the rest of the water and mix it up into a runny kind of paste. Kind of the consistancy of honey.

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If she doesn’t do it fast enough make sure to beat her into submission with whatever kitchen appliance is handy…

When there are no lumps pop the mixture into the microwave for 2 minutes. Times will vary depending on your microwave, mine is 1200watts.

You should also leave it to cool for a minute or so or else you might burn yourself. This is a good time for your boyfriend to think of more artistic or flattering ways to photograph you.

Dancing is also a good way to pass the time.

When you finally get back to your dough you may be slightly confused because it looks so gross and weird. Don’t panic.
Spread some mochiko on the cutting board.

Now mix up the dough with your spoon into a giant sticky ball. I can’t think of any way to describe it other than big sticky mess. Be very careful because it will be hot, the mochi retains heat very well.

Roll the dough out onto the cutting board.
Use the spoon to roll it around until the whole thing is coated in flour. The flour will help it be cool enough to touch, don’t be fooled though the inside is still hot and will burn you.

Cut a corner of the mochi (dough) off, it should be just enough to cover your strawberry.

Pull it out so it’s kind of a flat triangle.
Take a strawberry and stick it in the middle, the following few pictures show me covering it and making it into a ball.



style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 311px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_axNtgCrpfKM/Sm1qoeY0F5I/AAAAAAAABIQ/9pc1WMBsWUg/s400/DSC_0132_090723_232.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363059974852581266″ border=”0″ />Pinch the mochi closed and roll it in the flour so it’s not sticky.
Taadaa strawberry daifuku! Make sure not to let Susie have any yet, she has to make her own!

This section is titled “HOW NOT TO MAKE DAIFUKU”… or what James and Susie did.

DON’T- Get the knife stuck in the mochi…

DON’T- Get your fingers stuck to the mochi…

OCCASSIONALLY- Laugh at your friend for getting her fingers stuck to the mochi…

Especially as she desperately wipes her hands on the cutting board to try and get it off…
DON’T- Try to colour the mochi with food dye after it’s been cooked in the microwave, this should only be done while it’s still a liquid!
ESPECIALLY don’t just pour food dye over the top of it… this is asking for trouble.DO- enjoy having to clean up the food colouring you spilled everywhere.
Totally worth it right?
Now you should make many more! Use up the rest of the mochi!

Taadaa!
Again, take as much time to cam whore as possible, cooking is an achievement and d
eserves to be recorded!

Also make sure to send any beggers away empty handed. I mean you did all the work right? Why should they get any?

See we’re still friends, promise!

Not eat your delicious creation! Enjoy how warm the sugary outside is against the tart cold strawberry. Have a good Iron Chef style judging moment, you could even write a haiku if the mood takes you.
Just try not to choke…
I hope you enjoyed our tutorial! It was all very tongue in cheek in case my sarcasm didn’t quite translate over the internet…

You should all make you own mochi/daifuku, I want to see you results!