How To Make a Lightbox | Blogmas Day 2

I have always found that one of the most important elements of a blog post is the pictures. As much as we're told: "Don't judge a book by its cover", it's unpreventable that human do so. Not to mention, having great photos adds to the presentation aspect of your content and shows your readers that you really are making an effort and you respect them enough to pay attention to making a high quality post for them.

After thinking long and hard for what I wanted for my birthday in November, the thought of purchasing a light box entered my mind. However, curiosity got the best of me, as well as the excitement of winter break, and I decided to use Google to see if building a lightbox could become my winter project. Reading over the instruction from here, I realized that it would actually be really simple. So today, I gathered all my materials, sat down in my living room and surprisingly, the lightbox was completed within an hour!

To start off, you'll need a cardboard box (size of you choice), a matte white poster board, tape, black construction paper, ruler, pencil, scissors, X acto knife and white cloth (I used tissue paper).

The first thing you have to do is tape up your box and make sure its sturdy. For example, my box was shallow, so I had to increase the depth by taping the flaps together.

Next, select the two sides you will be shining light through. Then use your ruler an pencil to mark out and draw a cutout with one inch to spare on each side.

Cutting out the two sides with an X acto knife should leave you with something like this.

Then take your cloth or tissue paper and stretch it over the surface that you just cut out. Trim to fit.

Use tape and stretch the cloth or tissue paper across the surface. Warning, if you're using tissue paper like me, be very delicate when stretching the paper, otherwise it rips really easily.

Take your matte poster board and fit it into your box. Fit it around the curves, but don't crease the paper.

Now, set up your box with identical lights on each side. Test out the brightness and add more layers of cloth or tissue paper accordingly.

When you have all the layers you need, cut out one inch thick strips of black construction paper.

Tape the strips along the outside borders. This blocks out any excess light coming in from the sides.

And there you have it! Your very own lightbox! I'm so excited to use this for my future blog posts, the improvement in my photos is amazing! Below is a before and after. It's super simple and can do wonders to the quality of your blog posts. That's it for today and I'll see you tomorrow!

BEFORE

AFTER

HAUL: Lush, Bath & Body Works and More... | Blogmas Day 1

School is finally over and Christmas is on it's way, so I finally have the time to start Blogmas! So... my sister and I have both developed some obsessions over the past month. She has started to build her collection of make up... and I expanded my candle collection... even more. Oops. But without further ado, here's what we bought this month!

Lush

Roots Hair Treatment

Love Lettuce Face Mask

Costco

Freeman Feeling Beautiful Masks

Complex 15 Daily Face Cream (Ask your pharmacist!)

THEFACESHOP

Honey Citron Tea Moisture Body Wash

Foundation Brush (can't find a link)

Face It Radiance Dual Concealer

Eyebrow Pencil (can't find link)

Acai Berry Face Mask

Pomegranate Face Mask (no link)

Loblaws

Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner

Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous Concealer

Bath & Body Works

Snowflake Nightlight Wallflower

Alpine Frost (only the wall fragrance is on their site)

Scent: Sweet, musky, pine trees

Mahogany Teak Wood

Scent: Autumnal, spicy, musky, warm? :P

Tail Gate

Scent: Autumnal, sweet, leaves

Fresh Balsam

Scent: CHRISTMAS TREES (bought two, no regrets)

Winter Candy Apple

Scent: Fresh, Fruity, Sweet

Snow Globe Scene Tealight Holder

Out of all the purchases this month, I've really been loving the Complex 15 Daily Face Cream, Covergirl Concealer, Love Lettuce Face Mask and (obviously) the candles! 

I actually bought the face cream this month because my first tube ran out. I was literally in a state of panic for a few days until I could run to Costco to get some more. By adding this to my skincare routine, my acne has cleared up almost completely since last year! The one downside is that you do have to ask your pharmacist for the face cream, however you don't need a prescription!

Though I don't use make up often because I'm not committed enough to wake up at 6 am for that, I use the concealer quite often. With all the school work and extra curricular activities, it's normal for me to get only 5 hours of sleep, and even though my glasses hide my dark circles a little, this concealer has made it so much better! I definitely like it better than the stick applicator we used to have, the creamy consistency makes blending a lot easier. One thing that bothers me about this concealer, however, is the packaging quality. From the picture above, you can see that after owning it for only a month, the lid is already cracking... :(

The Lush Love Lettuce face mask works miracles! Along with the great ingredients, they also add little beads to exfoliate your skin, This helped remove my dead skin and blackheads, leaving my face much smoother and clearer. After washing away the mask with warm water, it's also immediately apparent on how small it makes your pores!

Finally... candles. All you need is the right candle, the right Spotify playlist and you're off in your own little world. For example, my family has always used fake Christmas trees, so when my mom and I found the Fresh Balsam candle, we grabbed the only remaining two in the store instantly. This way, we can at least pretend that we have a real tree, haha... Another thing I loved about these specific candles is that they come in mason jars! One of my favourite things is that after finishing a candle, you can just stick it into the freezer to remove the remaining wax and the container becomes something you can reuse. With the mason jar, there's also a super handy lid!

So that's it for today, it's already past 12 am where I live, so I guess I'll be coming out with another post today... so see you again soon!

5 days left!

Spotify!

After crying for a year over Spotify not being in Canada, it finally arrived! After receiving an invitation code from Spotify to try it out before the 'official' Canadian release date, I spent a few months lurking around, exploring and getting a general sense of the app. Since I have done a couple of Monthly Mixtape posts that you can view here, I thought I might as well compile a general playlist of my favourite songs.

Though I'm still new to Spotify, it would be amazing if you guys could head over and give this playlist a listen (and maybe even a follow)! Of course, it is still in the making. I'm thinking long and hard about every song I add to the playlist as I take my music very seriously and hate artificially liking a song simply because it's popular in the moment or because I'm a fan of the artist(s). I also tried to achieve an even balance with the genres of songs I like to listen to since I know that not everyone would appreciate.. say.. pop.. or rap or (and especially) songs in different languages. So without further ado, here is my very first Spotify playlist, Jenny's Mixtape. I hope you enjoy! :)

I can't wait to be updating this playlist routinely with my new jams ;) So yea, there's a short post for this weekend! Hopefully I'll be able to actually post a new Monthly Mixtape soon as they haven't exactly been... monthly per say... oops.

What are your favourite songs at the moment?

As Autumn Falls | Photography From A Fall Fiesta

There is something pretty weird about seasons here in Canada, well at least in Ottawa. Sure, our autumns are absolutely stunning, but it seems as if it only lasts for a few weeks. Last Monday, we woke up to fresh snow just about everywhere, unlike the small drifts we have in November that melt away immediately. So needless to say, winter has already come upon us and I'm starting to feel a little nostalgic over our short-lived autumn season.

That being said, autumn is my absolute favourite season and here are some reasons why:

THE WEATHER. There's nothing more refreshing than stepping outside on an autumn day. Rather than it being hot and humid, or bitter cold, autumns seem to have that gentle cold breeze that cools your skin while the hot sun is still blazing above you. Essentially, it's sweater weather. Not to mention the amazingly sweet scent of fresh air that sticks to you for a while longer when you go indoors.

THE COLOURS. The mixtures of deep ruby red, gold, amber, yellow and even the occasional dullish brown all come together to make a beautiful warm sight for the eyes.

THE SCENTS. The perfect time to light all the musky and spicy candles. Pumpkin pies in the oven, apple cider boiling on the stove. That little dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

THE FASHION. An excuse to wear that comfy over-sized sweater over a pair of leggings. The perfect season to rock a pair of knee socks. Being able to use a chunky thick infinity scarf not only as a fashion statement, but as a cushion to rest your head on during class as well? ;) Not to mention the artsy chic flannel shirts and combat boots.

THE MUSIC. How each song seems a little richer. How the sound carries just a little farther. And how each note and drum hit sounds just a little bit crisper in the cool air. When that perfect song comes up when you're walking home in the perfect weather, surrounded by the perfect scenery.

HIKING. Driving up the mountains through straight and winding roads framed by ancient trees and their beautiful leaves. Hiking to the summit where the air is fresh and the tree tops below you form a giant mosaic of autumnal colours.

Needless to say, autumn definitely brings out that warm and fuzzy feeling for me. The snow is starting to melt here in Ottawa and we're getting ready for another week above freezing point. However, I don't feel like it'll be the same as 'autumn' per say. At this point, the leaves on the ground will be sopping wet and crumbling apart, however I guess that's another thing I like about autumn.

THE LITTLE INFINITY. When autumn time is here, it's the best kind of forever. However, the little infinity makes me appreciate just a little bit more. I look forward to that one perfect autumn week every year, and cherish it when it arrives.

What makes your favourite season so amazing for you?

My Wishlist | #2014BloggerChallenge

At times  like this, I really am thankful for the 2014 Blogger Challenge. I have been suffering from a horrible case of writer's block for the past month, with plenty of posts drafted, but none of the near finished or worthy to be published. So, with this prompt of sharing what's on our wishlists, I thought I would try getting back into the blogging groove with a short post. Seeing as I worked and earned some money this summer, it's the perfect coincidence that I had actually created a mental wishlist prior to writing this post. It's pretty much the perfect motivation for me to save the money I earn for the chance to treat myself to a more 'luxurious' gift in the future.

So without further ado, here is a list of items I'm hoping (dreaming) to save up towards...

1. Record Player

2. Polaroid Camera

3. Frends Taylor Rose Gold Headphones

4. Drum Set

5. Acoustic Guitar

6. Film Camera

7. Portable Mic for Filming

Well, looking at the list I've created, it looks like my life revolves around music, photography and film... I feel like my wishlist should be more practical, but hey, my dreams have spoken. Here's to hoping that I'll be able to buy some of the items on the list, but of course, real life interrupts and money must be used for better purposes, haha.

What are some items on your wishlist?