How To: Take Things To The Next Level

by Shannon

Fake mustaches, man. They work for pretty much everything.

Example: Last night I was set to play a pretty intense game of Diplomacy, which is basically Risk, but with a 100 per cent greater chance of ruining friendships.

Now, the game on its own would already be fun. But you know what made it more fun?

Fake mustaches.

Not only will you look pretty sexy, but you will definitely weed out which of your friends are cool, and which ones refuse to put on a fake mustache. (Which means you should borrow money from them, and then immediately stop being their friend.)

I will say, as a woman, when you put a mustache on, you find out a lot of things about yourself. – Carrie Brownstein

How To: Ruin Clothes

by Rachel

I am an inexperienced expert  at this guys. Just take scissors to any piece of clothing in hopes of making it better, and it will probably get worse! Cut your jorts too short, cut off sleeves with too big of arm holes, and take scissors to a chiffon skirt, and I guarantee you, you will never wear that piece of clothing again.

Save your scissors… For crafts and cutting and pasting, because you will probably ruin your clothes.

How To: Make The Perfect Road Trip Mix

by Shannon

Rachel and I are going on a kick-ass road trip in July, and needless to say, WE ARE SUPER EXCITED.

Rachel just got a new car, one that has a CD player, and this is big news. It means mix CDs!

In highschool we both had tape decks, and spent long hours putting together the perfect mix. To this day, I can’t hear The Used’s ‘Taste of Ink’ without thinking ‘Train in Vain’ by The Clash is coming up next.

Now, it’s been awhile since I’ve created a mix tape or a mix CD, but I’d like to think I’m up for the challenge.

I like to start off with a big crowd pleaser. Nothing too expected, no Journey or anything, but something that gets everybody going, and everybody excited.

Following that, it’s good to switch up the pace. You can do this by decade, genre, or vibe. Sometimes slow, super sad songs are really fun to sing along to, and who doesn’t like ‘Summertime’ by Mungo Jerry, amiright?

And finally, the closer. It’s gotta be good, and of course, leave everybody wanting more. A solid Beastie Boys is always a good choice, or a sweet singalong song.

What’s your favourite song to throw on a mix, the one that you can’t live without?

Now, go forth, young lovers, and make those mix CDs!

How To: Reuse a Prematurely Ruined Shirt

by Rachel

Today, while playing an intense game of air hockey, I ripped a big ol’ hole in a perfectly good shirt.

I hadn’t worn it in awhile and was realizing I still really liked it. Bummer.
However, I did just recently buy a giant embroidery hoop for a dollar and have been waiting for the perfect fabric to make some wall art. So I did, in about 5 minutes.

And if I get bored of it, I can switch it the next time I wreck a shirt I really like.

How To: Build A Kick-Ass Robot Helmet

by Shannon

Rach and I are pretty obsessed with robots – and honestly, why not? Styx liked robots. And if Styx liked robots, well, they’re good enough for us.

On Wednesday night, we launched a new beer for Hop City Brewing – HopBot IPA. It’s pretty freaking awesome – 7.1% ABV, 70 IBUs. And it smells like everything awesome.

Anyway, the logo is a robot, and any excuse to make a robot helmet, well, I’m sure as hell going to take it.

(Disclaimer: It’s a damn good thing no one from work reads this blog, because I definitely didn’t get their permission to post these photos of them looking cooler than cool.)

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1. First things first – go out and buy some shoes so you have some boxes. Most important step
2. Just do some mad taping. Robots can look any way you want. I went with the basic square head, but imagination is where you have to come in, since robots lack this basic human function
3. The add-ons are the best part. I went with a slinky on top, and some soup-can eyes. It’s also a good idea to have a handy friend around. I was just going to tape the eyes on, but my friend Dave actually went crazy and screwed them in, securing them with bolts, which is pretty awesome
4. Spray paint, spray paint, spray paint! Though not inside, because you’ll definitely get it on the floor and walls of your condo. It was an accident, I swear!
5. Party on!

How To: Display Your Instagram Photos #2

by Rachel

OK, so if I put all of my instagram photos on a canvas on my wall, well, my husband would be mad about all the holes in our walls. So I started a new way of using them after printing them out. I’m sure by now a lot of people have heard of smash journals, and it really is the perfect way to keep all your instagram photos in one place and be able to have them forever to show your grandkids (just in case instagram crashes or internet doesn’t exist by then).
Its a simple, easy to do, no screw ups way of scrapbooking, and these books are pre-decorated for our convenience. Here are a few examples of mine:

These are from my girlfriends themed book, complete with quotes that I like. Its so easy, a page takes like 20 minutes to do. Journals can be purchased from Michaels and Walmart, or check out the K&Company website: http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/kandcompany/smash/

How To: Throw a Nation Themed Party – Canada Edition

by Rachel

We had our third nation themed party this weekend, and it never fails to be great! In honour of the Olympics we chose our home and native land, CANADA! We ate, drank, listened, decorated all things Canada.

DRINKS
Canada is known for their beer, rye, whiskey, and Caesars… So that’s what we drank! Courtesy of Shannon we had Moosehead and Cracked Canoe. Moosehead Brewery is Canada’s oldest independent brewery! We had some creative guests who brought strawberry jello shots with whip cream: red and white!

FOOD
So many options here. Anything with bacon and maple syrup is game. 77% of the world’s maple syrup is made in Quebec. Poutine is another great Canadian dish. Ketchup chips are a Canadian thing and of COURSE Timbits. If you are really ambitious, you can make maple bacon cupcakes, don’t skimp on the bacon! They are delicious. And if you have any game meat lying around that’s good too.

ACTIVITIES
Our main Canadian activity was air hockey and Canada Kings, but you’ll have to tune in tomorrow to learn how to play.

DECOR
Oh my goodness, so much fun! Since I have a LOT of time on my hands, moose, beaver, and goose paintings were made, OH Canada bunting flag, all things red and white and wintery. I don’t want to undecorate!

MUSIC
So so so many options. Canada is full of outstanding musicians. To name a few: The Guess Who, Joel Plaskett, Alanis Morrissette, BTO, Neil Young, Our Lady Peace, Arkells… I could keep going for awhile.

COSTUME/DRESS
My favourite part! Canadian tuxedo, hockey jerseys, lumberjack outfits, fur, flannel, plaid, touques, Roots clothing, red, white… It was so fun dressing for this one!
I just want to have theme parties again and again!

With Glowing Hearts, We See Thee Rise, Our True North Strong and Free

How To: Start An Etsy Store

by Shannon

For once in my sorry blogging experience, this is an actual “how to.”

Starting an Etsy store – and if you’re not familiar with Etsy, stop reading this and just click the link already – is pretty easy.

I started my own store last night – Mulligan’s Curiosities – where I’m selling some vintage-y items I’ve picked up at garage sales, thrift stores, have had handed down to me. I basically have too much stuff for our 630 square foot condo, and am trying to make good use of them.

Quite rare!

These busts are bigger than mine.

The site has a pretty easy walk-through of everything, which is nice. At no point did I need to Google further directions, you just follow the steps and go to town. Write your descriptions, upload your super hipster, white background, high contrast photos, add your pricing, and away you go.

I super hope my items sell, both because it’s fun to make money that I can then spend on other things, like Rachel and I’s trip to New York, or to be honest, more vintage finds, but also because I like doing other stuff. I’m forever starting projects (and occasionally finishing them) because I always like to have something on the go, and I have very little patience to wait and see if it’s actually an idea.

So basically, I’m just hoping this doesn’t somehow blow up in my face.

How To: Avoid Making a Travel Scrapbook

by Rachel

I have been making scrapbooks pretty much my entire life… And I am pretty sick of it. The last trip scrapbook I made took sooo freakin’ long and I haaated making it.
A whole new world (world of Pinterest… Ugh that’s two posts now that rely on pinterest) of scrapping that has been opened up to me. Decorative boxes… Seriously. I love boxes… And I want more in my house.
I recently went to England and just finished my scrapbox… And I am incredibly satisfied.

Dollarama has plain unfinished wood boxes. I painted mine white, stamped England on the front, put an Instagram photo from the trip on top, and glazed the shit out of it.

The inside is full of treasures and a list of cities we went to.
How ’bout that.

How To: Display Instagram Photos

by Rachel

I LOVE Instagram. I have recently been printing a lot of my Instagram photos because they look so great and I want to show them off. I got on trusty Pinterest, found an idea and had incredible Pinterest success with it.

Its a 12×12 canvas that I glued 9 Instagram photos (4×4) so they fit perfectly. Be sure you have a canvas with dimensions that are multiples of 4, layout your photos first and use Mod Podge glue (or something similar).

An Instagram photo is worth a thousand words