Ahhh it's that time of the year again! Christmas day is apon us and what better way to bring us to the festive spirit by decorating your house for the season! And I don't mean just a tree in the living room, but what I mean is going Christmas crazy and add a touch of Christmas to your bedroom! Just to give you a little bit of inspiration (or should I say Christmas-peration), I thought I'd share with you all the Christmas embellishments that I've added to my room!


Of course in any room tour, you've got to start with the door! So here I've got some little knick-knacks pinned up on my DIY letter-seasonal collage thing (clever name and tutorial TBA), including a "have a wuppy Christmas" stocking and an "I believe" pin in the corner.

(believe in what you might ask? Ol' St. Nicholas of course!)


Next we've got my bookshelf: a red M&M ceramic mug overflowing with ribbon, and a bear called Jamie beside my favourite holiday nail polishes (Forever Yummy and Hors D'Oeuvres from Essie) and a gift ribbon topper.


Move on down a few feet, and you've got my art table. Since I haven't been doing much painting lately, I've decided to use that extra space to good use. Here we have Santa himself who seems to look at his reflection on the tree ornament of my little tree, as well as some very nice smelling candles and a cute polar bear.

A close up of my favourite candles at the moment: Winter Candy Apple and Cranberry Pear Bellini from Bath and Body Works.

Better look at my novelty tree, inspired by the amazing Zoella's room decoration found in her Christmas Bedroom Inspiration video is here. I took a vintage Grape Crush soda bottle and added some pennies to the bottom to make the branches stick up.

Last but certainly not least, the Christmas tree (*choir singing* Ahhhhh!) Teeny 3ft artificial evergreen handed down from a family friend. My ornaments are mostly gold, with red, green and silver accents and a star on top (with a bow of course!). I also added some cute gift tags, a card from my friend Katie (who I know is reading this, everyone say a telepathic hello to Katie and our other friend Arden!) and a cheeky photo I took of my parents on Christmas morning when I was four.

So that's it for this post! Stay tuned for more holiday-themed blog posts coming up in the next few weeks!

Merry almost Christmas! x

On Friday, my family and I stopped by Canadian Tire to pick up a bathroom space saver for my bathroom. Since I have no proper vanity, I've been using my bathroom mirror as a substitute, and lots of 'crap' (as my mom once called it) has squeezed its way to my two small drawers underneath my sink area and even the teeny bits of countertop surrounding it! A bathroom space saver is a perfect way to increase the storage in my small-ish bathroom, without taking up extra floor space. Yay for maximizing space!

Early this past Monday morning, when the happiness of school had yet to begin, my dearest friend named Arden (who I know is reading this) decided to create a leash out of my hair, as apparently, I was her dog now. She made five braids out of half of my hair, coming out the left side of my head, and tied them together to complete my leash. Taking it another step further (and now forgetting she was creating a leash) she messily tied all braids together with the rest of my hair, creating a side-ponytail just above my right ear, and turned it into a messy bun. A really messy bun, with braid loops on the opposite side of my head.

Hair #2/4: Bun Head.

Hair #3/4: Braid down, Braid up.

If This Then That, or commonly known as IFTTT is a productivity tool that allows you to take 'channels' (like Facebook, Email, RSS Feed, Dropbox, ESPN, and many more) and create 'recipes' that connects them in infinite variations.

Some shots of my jelly bean jar drawing using Prismacolor Soft-Core Pencil Crayons.

A few weeks back, I was assigned to create a portfolio cover using only pencil crayons as the medium. I usually hate having to colour with pencil crayons because all I had was those standard Crayola ones, and those are really tough to work with to create something with depth and light. So I ventured out to the world of the internet in search of some helpful tips when creating masterpieces with pencil crayons, and that's when I found Soft-Core Prismacolor Pencil Crayons.

The Prismacolor Soft-Core Pencil Crayons, 24 Pack (Ahhh all my pictures are really bad quality! I'm sorry, I am determined to get a sweet camera soon!)

I initially borrowed my friend Isabel's 12 pack, but I needed more colours for my project. I couldn't use my Crayola ones because it really wouldn't look the same as the high quality of the Prismacolor ones, so I really had no choice but to buy my very own set of 24 Prismacolors.

I bought my set on Amazon.com HERE for a discounted price compared to most retailers. Got the set about a week later, and many of my friends in art class were going crazy over them! I mean who wouldn't? This stuff is absolutely UH-MAYY-ZING, bragging rights come with the purchase! Of course I shared the magic with everyone, and I got a perfect mark on my artwork! Yehhayy!

The soft-core allows the pigments to be blended together easily, making it easier to create dimension, blending away harsh lines, and even mixing colours together. Using the white pencil crayon, you can soften bold pigments and create a gradual build-up to the highlights, making it look more realistic. I got a real good use with that white pencil crayon, I'm going to need to get a new one soon!

If you're an amateur artist like myself who enjoys experimenting with different mediums, or really anyone who wants to take pencil crayons to the next step, you will not regret getting the Prismacolor Soft-Core Pencil Crayons.

For more information on any Prismacolor products, visit: http://www.prismacolor.com/

Happy colouring! x


Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the brand Prismacolor or any partners of Prismacolor in any way. All opinions are my own, and has not been influenced by anyone or anything. If you have any questions or issues with anything said in this blog post, contact me at thebowgirl0327@gmail.com. All photos featured in this blog post are mine. The 'Millie's Bright And Colourful Jelly Beans' art piece was created by myself, concept and all, please don't claim it as your own :)

I'm a beauty lover. Face pampers, fancy hair-dos, makeup, cute clothes - you name it; It's what makes us girls! But I've definitely noticed the soaring high prices for beauty products, and being the frugal gal I am, I dug real deep into the world of household tips and tricks to get my share of the beauty world. One thing that kept popping up in my various researches was lemon and honey as natural lightening agents. 

"Sometimes the path can seem a bit lonely. That's okay. Keep walking anyway." -Katrina Mayer


I am naturally an awkward person. I hate meeting new people in fear of making them feel uncomfortable when I can't find ways to carry on a conversation with them. I'm known to be on the sidelines and is hardly ever acknowledged by people I'm not close to. While seated quietly alone in the back corner of the room during free time in class, I began to write down my perspective on making new friends as a person who is always too shy to even say hello. This is what I came up with, and I put it in small chunks for all you lazy people out there ;)

*****

Being an awkward and a seemingly quiet person was something I didn't like about myself. But I realize that since I am the way I am, I wouldn't be able to "click" with people I have nothing in common with, no matter how hard I try. 

I've learned to accept that it's impossible to become close to everyone you meet, and those who you do become close to, are truly like you. 

There are people out there just like you, who will fall into place as your new friend without you realizing it. As shy as you are, once you meet someone with the same interests, you have some conversation topics to talk about. 

Then you will start to sense the true essence of this new person; the way they carry themselves, their type of comedy, and their overall underlying being. Their true essence is what I use to determine whether I think this person will compliment my own personality and way of life, but at this point, the conversation starts to flow in by itself. If you enjoyed being with that person, chances are they like talking to you as much as you did. I don't try to act differently, because often I find the relationship doesn't end up growing anyways and I feel just as awkward as before. I always like to go with the flow of things, and not force myself to do anything unnecessary.  Realize that even having your first conversation might not even happen for the longest time after meeting, but it will happen eventually, and on its own. 

If the friendship was meant to bloom, it will on its own time, so don't rush anything.

*****

I try my best not to stress over wanting more friends and wanting to be "popular" because though only a handful, I still do have great friends. I know that there are times where I wish I can go up to acquaintances and have an enjoyable conversation, but not everyone can be social butterflies, and I happen not to be one. It is the quality of friends and not the quantity, and everyone has their own unique set of strength and weaknesses that will eventually mould you to the person you are created to be.

Never fret, awkward ones, you have a purpose for being awkward. This awkward time during free class time sparked an idea for a blog post after being in a writers block!

If anything, just remember to go with the flow of things. If it's not meant to be, then it's not meant to be. Accept your awkwardness, and be by yourself if you have to. Everything has a reason.

Christmas lights all year around seems to becoming quite a trend in teenage girl's bedrooms lately. Many use them to embellish headboards, boarder door frames and use icicle lights above windows to mimic a starry night. If you're lucky, you'll have white coloured Christmas lights, which will match any bedroom colour scheme. But if you're like me and got stuck with Christmas tree lights (you know, the dark green ones you wrap around the tree) and have a colour scheme no where near green, you'll really need to think outside the box on creative ways to use the lights to match the theme of your room.

The way I originally arranged my lights was like a web going across from one wall to the other in a narrow corner where I place some of my artwork. It looked really out of place, especially during the daytime, and when the Christmas lights weren't on. I still kept it however, because when the room was dark at night, and the lights were plugged in, it looked like floating stars, and I thought it looked cool. But obviously I still hated how it looks either way, because it was just a web of green cord in a pink and purple room. Thats until I realized the dark green made it resemble a vine, and flowers could be added onto it...

STEP BY STEP DIY ROSE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS:
*I really do apologize in advanced for the horrid quality of most of the photos. I only had my phone to take the pictures, and the lighting in my room was very uneven*

SUPPLIES:

One or two pencils, tissue paper of your choice (to use for the petals. I used two colours, but you can also just use one), scotch tape, scissors, safety pin or toothpick (or anything with similar shape), glue.



STEP 1:

Cut out your petals from the tissue paper. You can freehand it like I did or use these stencils as a reference: Inner Petals Outer Petals (Stencils via http://www.favecrafts.com/Valentines-Day/Crepe-Paper-Rose-Bouquet  I used this DIY as a reference when I was experimenting for this DIY. Do go check it out)

Honestly, you can probably make this DIY without the outer petals, but I have never tried. They are quite hard to work with, and a lot of tweaking is needed to make it look proper.

STEP 2:

Using the safety pin, curl the ends of the petals by rubbing your index and thumb together to roll it in. For the outer petals, curl both bumps in (see provided reference link above). This takes awhile to get used to, but keep trying! You'll get the hang of it eventually! A helpful tip is to do all your petals now before you use the glue; sticky fingers is your enemy when it comes to this step.

So, I've recently decided to create my own snazzy list of things I would like to do before I die, also known as a bucket list. I look at bucket lists as a record of long term goals to achieve, whether they are "once in a lifetime" experiences, or smaller achievements I would like to accomplish before I die.  I think it's something nice to have, so you'll always have something to strive for.

Though this new project is much to take in, I thought a fun way to get the most of this ongoing experience was to share it with others, and what better way to do it than to document all my bucket list events here on my blog!

I've created a page here on Penny Bee, listing down every single thing (both big and small) that I hope to do before I die. Once I complete a point on my bucket list (or something worthy enough to be on the list), I will create a blog post talking about my experience. This will be a great way for me to record and keep track of my bucket list, and also a great way to exchange bucket list ideas with others. Woohoo for sharing, because sharing is caring! :)

So without further ado...  My Bucket List

This evening my parents, Isabel and I went for a nice bike ride out (another good excuse to get my butt off the couch!) It was a beautiful evening, and the nature trail was wonderful, as always! Like any avid photo taker, I risk dropping my nifty phone camera to take some lovely nature snaps:

So the past couple of days I had a bit of a change and actually put my computer down and did something productive! With my best friend, Isabel, we helped out with the arts and crafts station at a local vacation bible school day camp. Being the couch potato sleep lover I am, it was a big pain to get up early in the morning. Getting up at 6:45am is not my forte, especially during summer break. I also might admit, my laptop is well loved and a part of me questioned if I really wanted to part with it for a few days. I know! It's bad! But boy was I mistaken because during this time, I had a good life check with how I wanted to play out my life as a teenager.

We have a nice group of friends we made through the years when we ourselves participated in the camp as children. Only this year we were too old to be participants and decided to help out. Since the camp was only until noon, all of us would go to one of our friend's houses and play there. And yes, I did say play, and I am not afraid to say I play like a child I am no longer considered to be. I am not afraid to say these people who are not even in high school yet are my friends, because they are, and not only am I friends with them, but I have Nerf gun wars with them and I myself pretend I am actually in war.

That was the first time I played an imaginary role play game in quite awhile. And with this experience being with all my younger friends, I realized how much I missed being a kid. When I was their age I was crushing on boys, and hanging out with people who acted much older than they are; swearing every other word and thinking of every innuendo possible. Not to mention how often we were all home alone and how out of hand it always became, and how uncomfortable I would feel. I did not like the environment I was in and I lost my sense of creativity that an innocent child had. My imagination turned from living in a cabin in the woods during World War II, to practically no imagination at all. Daydreaming of boys is understandable though, its the hormones taking over, but I do miss the days where I wouldn't be always on my computer and instead would be creating endless amounts of role play games with my friends.

It really got to me, how this generation is focused on being someone way older than they really are. And unfortunately, it seems that acting older than your true age is what many people decide to do to in order to be so called "accepted" in the higher areas of the high school hierarchy. Teens my age, maybe even younger, drink and smoke and have sex. Having a boyfriend is a must, swearing and dirty jokes is mandatory in conversations, girls should be showing as much skin as possible in their everyday outfits. I am not at all like this, and I don't want to be like this until I'm at least out of high school and hopefully well into collage, and even then I won't be doing anything that isn't necessary or out of hand. Sometimes I wish I was homeschooled, like some of my Nerf gun war friends, because you don't have to act older to be accepted. These kids are cherishing their childhood to the final drop, and I gratefully admire them for that.

I do still have time to take back some of my childhood, I mean I'm not that old! But it's harder now. Once school comes around, it takes over your life, and there's never any time to be a kid again. But I will keep in mind that I am in no rush whatsoever to grow up, I've got time for that later on. Hope this inspired at least one person to look on life like how I do now.

Hello blogging world! I'm not quite sure how to go about my first blog post, so I'll make this quick! A few quick facts about me:

• I'm right brained, so I suck at grammar and all that crap
• I'm not old and wise (or anywhere near being middle aged) which means I have a lot of learning and experiencing to do
• I have no idea why I just created a blog, but I guess it will be fun sharing my thoughts with people (when in fact, I'm probably the only active reader hehe)
• maple syrup, eh?

Also, my name is Millie, but in my attempt to be 'cool' and 'professional', I've done my best to think of a quirky alias. While researching non-stop as to what I would like my blogging nickname to be, I've come up with "Penny-Bee" which is now the name for my blog! The name "Penny" is sometimes used as a nickname for my full name (Millicent), coming from the 'cent' in the name. I thought that was cute, and since I love doing DIYs and finding inexpensive alternates for things (for say, just a 'penny' ;), it worked perfectly for my blog name! Also, a variation of Millicent is 'Melisande' and it is old french. Melisande is the French form of 'Melissa' which means 'bee; honey', hence the second half of my alias. Wowzers that is quite a stretch, but hey, if you want a nice nickname, you gotta do what you gotta do!