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Friday Favorites #521

by Kaylah Stroup June 28, 2019

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How neat is this floating picture frame? I’ve never seen anything like it. It’d also be really easy to put some string lights behind and that’d be rad!

A shirt you can buy if you already own five hundred black and white shirt because it’s different.

Oh my goodness, snail lamp! LOVE IT!

These are stupid and they make me laugh.

This mug!

This tote makes me smile every time I come across it.

Ca-yoot! Love the pom pom detail on the straps.

I can’t decide whether I think this cat tissue holder is the best thing ever or the worst…

The perfect shirt for all you cry babies out there. (ME)

I am very into this mirror / necklace holder. It’s also pretty darn affordable. The only thing stopping me from snagging one is that I don’t know where I’d hang it… yet.

Link love…

Loving this starry jumpsuit.
Space skirt!
Since I linked to some pretty goofy stuff this week, let’s keep the theme going – here’s a bread shaped pillow.
And… a Nicolas Cage eye mask?
I used to own this cat acupuncture model but I traded it with someone for a vintage piece. It was a good call but I still think about that dang cat often. Gotta get a new one!
Because you know how much I love things with faces, here’s a face mug.
If not now, when?
For those interested in propagating plants, this book looks neat!

Happy Friday! xoxo

ohio to arizona & back

by Kaylah Stroup June 26, 2019

Last week was… epic!

Jeff and I took our annual trip to the desert except this time we did things a bit differently. Instead of flying into the cheapest city, renting a car and then roadtripping around, we drove all the way to Arizona with our friend, Jake!

Our main destination was The Wigwam, the resort in Arizona we had our wedding reception at. (Check out my post about it here. Gosh, it’s just my favorite place!) Jake originally just wanted to fly straight there and relax for a week but Jeff and I ended up convincing him that driving would be more fun.

Our approximate route. Many little detours were taken to check out fun spots.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous. That is a lot of time in the car. The more I thought about it, the more comfortable I felt though. Jeff and I always do lots and lots of driving while we’re on trips. We love to see as much as possible. The drive out there seemed overwhelming until I realized it was the same amount of driving, if not less, as we do every single year. Plus, a lot of the states we’d be going through would be ones I’d never even been before!

Undoubtedly, driving ended up being the most excellent decision. We had so much fun!!!

*Part of The Painted Desert Project. Read more about this particular piece* *here*.

A few of the many highlights...

Wild horses in Wyoming! Honestly, just Wyoming, in general, was gorgeous. I’d love to get back there and explore more.
Exploring ghost towns upon ghost towns. Seriously, just so many stops at abandoned places. We truly hit the jackpot.
Visiting Two Guns again. That’s where we got married!
Finding a tiny reminder of my mom in an unlikely place. Obviously I’ll ya more about this in another post. I burst out crying big time.
Oh my gosh, best avocado toast of my life.
We crashed in Laramie, WY our first night and my goodness, it was precious. Here are a couple of photos from our short visit.
Legit nailing every polaroid I took.
Eating fancy chocolates in a big comfy hotel bed.
Coming home with video to edit! This is the first year I’ve shot vacation footage. I played around with a couple of clips on the long drive home and made this but I’m excited to finally sit down and make a vacation video.
Did I mention all the abandoned places? Because wow.
Uranus, MO!

I have so many photos to share. The task of sorting and editing them all honestly seems overwhelming right now since there are so many. I can’t wait to start sharing more of our week-long adventure though. It was a short period of time but man, oh man, we packed a ton of awesomeness into those seven days! xoxo

Check out my ‘travel‘ tag for roadtrip posts from the past!

Instant photos taken with the Polaroid Originals OneStep 2. LOVE that camera! Here’s my review on it from last summer.

hair dye vs saltwater pool!

by Kaylah Stroup June 25, 2019

faded orange Arctic Fox, does saltwater fade hair dye

Guess who just got back from a road trip! ME! My very first cross county road trip. Instead of flying out west and then renting a car, we drove the whole way. It was rad. I have approximately one million photos to share and stories to tell but that’s for another day.

Today, I want to talk hair! I’ve been dyeing my hair unnatural colors for over ten years now. In that time period, I’ve obviously been swimming a ton. I thought it’d make a fun video to show what hair looks like before and after swimming. My whole point was to show how over time if you continually went swimming it’d ruin your hair color. What I didn’t expect was for the salt water pool to strip my hair color… in under two hours!

I don’t feel like the thumbnail or the photos in this post illustrate the difference as well as the video itself does. It’s wild how red my hair looked in the first half and just how faded it is after I swam. In the video I also share some photos from the last time I went swimming in the same pool but with green hair dyed with Punky Colours.

Watch below + subscribe on YouTube!

I think that each brand of hair dye has its good colors and bad colors. Maybe orange just isn’t Arctic Fox’s best dye but I definitely wouldn’t repurchase. (If you’re looking for a great orange – Special Effect’s Napalm is where it’s at!)

At this point, even though I have a favorite brand of hair dye (Punky Colours) I do want to experiment since so many others have hit the market the last couple years. In the future, I might buy a different color of Arctic Fox if it really stuck out to me but I’m in no rush. It definitely faded a little too quickly for me, even before the whole pool ordeal.

*Before swimming –*
Arctic Fox Sunset Orange (*Amazon* / *Sally Beauty*)
Arctic Fox Cosmic Sunshine (*Amazon* / *Sally Beauty*)
splash of Special Effects Hi-Octane Orange (*Amazon*)

Arctic Fox Sunset Orange fading fast after swimming — *After swimming! Oooof!*

You can find tips & guides in my hair master post – including Bleaching your hair 101, 7 tips for maintaining bright hair color, Two tips for switching hair colors easily. & so much more!

old abandoned catholic school

by Kaylah Stroup June 6, 2019

So, forget all the other abandoned buildings I’ve ever posted about here. This has to be my new favorite. Before you even see the photos let me explain why it automatically get some points toward the rank of ‘favorite.’

Friday night Jake, Jeff and I got ice cream at our favorite spot (Mason’s Creamery, of course!) We sat and discussed options on what to do the next morning. We could stay in Cleveland and try to find something to get into here or choose a city within a couple hour’s drive and poke around somewhere new. The three of us all agreed that going somewhere new-ish would be a blast. We could wander around on foot, get a good lunch, and just enjoy being somewhere we weren’t familiar with.

It was late when we got home from ice cream and we were planning to leave super early in the morning so there wasn’t really time to do much research on abandoned buildings in the area. Jeff quickly hopped on Google Earth, spotted a run down looking building, and marked it on his map. No further research, just an idea of something we could cruise by.

We arrived fairly early in the morning. The neighborhood was quiet still so we decided to get out of the car and wander around the perimeter. From the front, this magnificent old school looked sealed up. Windows appeared to be freshly boarded up. The back of the building? Not so sealed. Quite the opposite actually. Jeff scurried his way up the rubble to peek inside. His face LIT UP! Right inside the back was a huge auditorium.

We took turns climbing the rickety ladder placed by previous visitors to enter the school. The second you got inside this grand auditorium greeted you. Destroyed yet absolutely beautiful. It was breathtaking.

Obviously, I was impressed but nothing will beat the excitement of peeking into a small room to my right and spotting a row of chairs and mirrors where folks got ready for the school plays. It was so clearly and obviously a dressing room. I was whisper screaming to Jake and Jeff. “OH MY GOSH. LOOOOK! MIRRORS!! COME ON”

I mean, the auditorium was beautiful. Perhaps the largest and most grand I’ve ever explored but I’ve been in auditoriums before. I have never seen anything like this room. Something about it just really got to me. I honestly can’t explain it any further than that. I still get a little rush of adrenaline thinking about spotting it for the first time.

(I posted a little video clip of me walking into this room on my Instagram.)

The building just kept going. There were classrooms upon classrooms. Each painted a different bright color which was now chipping so beautifully. I feel like I was on such a high from even getting into the building, let alone finding that cool dressing room, that I couldn’t truly appreciate the other rooms. They’re all a blur to me and on top of that, I know we didn’t see them all.

Getting spots I’ve already seen photos of is fun. I’m not one of those people that doesn’t explore spots that are already popular but nothing beats someone in your group discovering a new building. Obviously, we weren’t the first folks inside but none of this building was familiar to me. I’d never seen a single shot from this place. It was brand new to the three of us. More than that, I had no idea we’d be getting inside anything that day. Of course, it’s what we all wanted to do but exploring in cities you aren’t familiar with can be really hard. We lucked out!

I still can’t believe what an awesome find this was and that it was right under our noses the whole time. Here’s to finding more gems! xoxo

For a better idea of how incredible this spot was, check out Jeff’s video!

Use the ‘abandoned‘ tag to view more posts on forgotten buildings across the US. Also, be sure to check out my husband’s book – Abandoned Cleveland.

doolan family bus – part 4

by Kaylah Stroup June 5, 2019

Bus update time! Check out previous bus conversion posts here – 1, 2 & 3.

Last week we started tearing apart the old seats to salvage the foam inside. Nevermind the fact they’d been sitting out in the elements for two months. My dad is alllll about recycling materials. Had I written this post the day these photos were taken, I’d probably write that we wasted time trying to save foam that was hella gross BUT I am a week behind in sharing photos and I now see he had a plan all along and these will be perfectly acceptable inside our cushions!

For real though, that doesn’t take away how absolutely nasty of a job this was. The vinyl had let in water and then held it in. When you cut the seats open they sounded exactly like someone peeing. There are certain textures I don’t really like to touch or I get the heebie jeebies. The inside of the seats? UGH. The worst.

Also inside the seats – hair barrettes! Many, many hair barrettes! (Can’t forget to mention that my parents had already found 20+ while removing the seats from the bus.) My niece thought it would be a good idea to make all the men in the family wear the barrettes. They all obliged but no one more happily than Jeff. He’ll do anything to make a kid smile. I picked a winner.

*Check out that gross fuzz from inside the seats on my hand too.*

This week was also for building the second long bench and hanging the table! Both things make the bus feel so much more complete. Obviously both things also still need a lot more work done on them but having the basic framework done is so wild! Sitting at the table with my nieces and nephew I can envision us actually on the road. It’s exciting!

*I’m cracking up over Jeff and his hair barrettes in this shot.*

For only working on this bus one day per week I think we’re absolutely killing it! In person, while we’re actually there, it feels a bit like its slow going but when I look back at the previous posts I’m able to see just how quickly things are progressing. Even the difference from my last post to this one is huge! xoxo

doolan family bus – part 3

by Kaylah Stroup May 27, 2019

I’m back again with another bus update! Check out part 1 & part 2.

With the brand new floor completely down, last week was for working on building benches! We got a pretty good start on the ones that will be on the left side of the bus. (I say “we” but A LOT of credit goes to my brother who is really taking the lead on building!) There are two of them that face each other with a table that goes in the middle. The table top will be on a bar that allows it to drop down to the same level as the benches so it can be converted into a sleeping area.

The bus will have seating for approximately 10 plus with slightly less sleeping area since a good portion of us are hammock lovers!

It’s really starting to take shape. I was having such a hard time picturing what it might look like when it was just an empty bus. Each week that we work on it I become more and more excited!

I can’t wait to get this bad boy on the road. xoxo

PS. Pop over to Youtube view the video! …or just view it here tiny sized.

beach combing

by Kaylah Stroup May 8, 2019

One beach, a half hour of wandering, twenty-eight objects to get the tangles out of your hair.

Wild, isn’t it?

I also found a handful of barrettes and a weft of braided hair that had to be at least a foot and a half in length.

A quick found on the beach FAQ

You found all of these in one trip? Sadly, yes.
What do you do with all after your done? Normally I toss it in the trash or recycle if appropriate. Sometimes I may take certain pieces with me if I think they’ll look cool in a future arrangement or if it’s something I collect. Toy soldiers & all other tiny plastic characters come home with me! I also collect plastic plants, leaves and flowers.
Do you wear gloves when you pick all this trash up? No, I don’t. These are things that are washed up from the lake, not just left on shore. They’re no dirtier than the sand or water. That’s not to say I don’t sanitize my hands as soon as I get back in my car though…
Are all of your beaches this gross? No, absolutely not. We have lots of gorgeous, clean and downright picturesque beaches along Lake Erie. This one in particular just seems to collect all the debris from the lake. I have yet to find another this bad in the area.

combs found on the beach — Boots by Joules. *(I highly recommend them!)*

CHECK OUT MORE ‘FOUND ON THE BEACH” POSTS HERE!

If you like my ‘found on the beach’ collections – prints, phone cases, and more can be found here.

adventures in stamp carving – part 2

by Kaylah Stroup April 8, 2019

Last week I tried stamp carving for the very first time. (Read more about there here!) Despite my nervousness about trying a new hobby, the results were super encouraging which is good because I am definitely that overambitious person who tends to give up when they aren’t automatically amazing at something the first time they try. My first stamp wasn’t perfect but it came out a million times better than I ever imagined. I couldn’t wait to give it another go!

hand carved tooth stamp — My second stamp. I was having the worst time even drawing a tooth so the fact it turned out even this well is a miracle. I look forward to recarving this one.

With the first stamp, I just traced out my image onto the tracing paper that was included in the kit with a pencil then turned that over onto the carving block and rubbed so that the lead would transfer onto it. It wasn’t perfect and seemed like a pretty inefficient way to do things. Before carving my next larger stamp I picked up some carbon paper. It made everything a lot easier.

For my third stamp, I continued with my tooth theme and carved out some dentures. Initially I wasn’t too pleased. I carved, printed, went back in to fix some stuff, printed again, and continued this cycle a couple more times. I’m just not quite satisfied with those teeth. They’re a little wonky.

When I printed my newest stamp next to my first I realized just how much I’d improved already! Despite the fact I don’t love the teeth on this one, my lines are so much smoother than the first! The whole stamp in general is a lot less blocky.

I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s okay not to be great at something. I truly enjoy this whole process, especially printing! I love getting my hands dirty! Practicing and learning something new feels great.

I hope that eventually I’ll be decent enough at this to print some fabric or at least do some patches. (The second I printed my first stamp I knew I’d need to make something specifically to use as a backpatch on my jean jacket!) Just gotta keep practicing!

Supplies used – Speedball’s rubber stamp making kit, a foam brayer &carbon paper to transfer the image.

TDS shop news!

by Kaylah Stroup April 3, 2019

Goooood morning! This isn’t exactly the type of crafty update I mentioned wanting to share but it is a really fun one. The Dainty Squid shop got a HUGE update this morning. Nearly fifty new items went live. I’ve been sewing my buns off these last few weeks so I’m very excited to finally share what’s new.

First of all, I have a brand new size! I’ve been sharing peeks of these over on instagram for a few weeks now. I’m excited to finally release them and tell you why I’m so into them!

I didn’t design this size with any particular thing in mind that it’d hold. I just wanted something bigger than anything else I was currently making. I have a lot of random odds and ends in my office I want to organize, ya know? I picked a size at random and made up a sample. Turns out it’s the absolute perfect size to hold nail polish!

The best part about this is that I had been a little overwhelmed with my previous nail polish situation. I had them in a big box and I couldn’t really see what I had. Not to mention, it wasn’t cute. It stuck out like a sore thumb in my office. I skimmed down my collection to only what I love and actually paint my nails with on a regular basis. What I have left fits perfectly in one pouch!

I currently only have a handful of them in stock because they are so much more time consuming than other things I make. I also tried to be very selective about which fabrics I made them from. I wanted to use fabrics that didn’t wrinkle as easily and would hold their shape best.

nail polish storage pouch — Obviously how many fits depends on what brands you have but this is what is inside mine. 20 nail polishes!

Second, some one of a kind pouches! The one above is my absolute favorite. I am very proud of it.

These come in a variety of sizes based on whatever fabric was available and inspired me at that moment. I went in with no plans and basically just freestyled with these. As much as I love assembly line style making things I have already planned out, just being able to be creative with these felt amazing. Each one is unique and features decorative top stitching.

Finally, I have a limited edition new size in the shop today. Mini flat bottom pouches! I had cut these shortly after reopening the shop. They were meant for something else but I ultimately decided that a small version of my flat bottom pouches would be a better idea.

They turned out so precious! They’re small but mighty. They open up wide and are the perfect size for all your miscellaneous items, things you maybe don’t want to sink to the bottom of your bag or purse. Earbuds, lip balm, cash, keys, etc.

Aside from those three things, I also have a handful of new fabrics making their debut today. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before but I am planning on discontinuing most fabrics as I run out of them instead of just purchasing more. Simply so my fabric collection doesn’t get out of hand and so that the shop always stays fresh with new things. So, if there’s ever a print you’re into don’t hesitate!

I only have a tiny amount of this fabric. Gosh, I love the print so much!

That feels like such a brief overview of all that’s new today. Hop over to the shop to see everything. xoxo

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