Guest post: Awesome photo DIY

Hi everyone! I'm Rebecca from REVKAH, a lifestyle blog with hints of DIY, fashion and random musings. I'd like to say a big thank you to Kat for allowing me to guest post on her wonderful blog. Today, I'd like to share with you all a little DIY I surprisingly managed to do myself to spruce up my bedroom up at home. You see, I'm currently in the middle of redecorating my bedroom at home, it's my new summer project before I return to university in September and have to be forced to live once again in the swamps that is student housing. I've used Photoshop for my own polaroids, and will be showing Photoshop in this tutorial. However, you can easily make these polaroids in any other editing programme, or even Paint. Simple!

Firstly, open a new file. I've used 280 wide pixels and 350 height pixels.

I've used one of my own photos of a view from my home back garden, cropped it and placed it in the middle towards the top of the blank canvas. Of course, for true polaroid style, leave a gap at the bottom of the image. This entirely depends on how big you want your photos, you don't have to stick to the dimensions I've noted, you can alter at your own will. The joys of making your own polaroid.

Also, to make sure you can cut the correct size out when you've printed them, slightly darken the background to a very light grey. This way you'll be able to see the shape of the image when it prints.

Of course, to get the full effect you need more than one photo. I chose nine favourite photos to make into polaroids, and these all fit perfectly onto an A4 glossy photo paper sheet. Cut each one out individually, take care to keep the polaroid shape. I accidentally cut one too short without thinking and had to reprint it - oops.

To hang these photos, you will need:

1) Your photos

2) Wooden pegs

3) Brown string (or white, depends on what colours your walls are or your personal preference, or even whatever you've got in the draw?)

4) Drawing pins

The rest is quite easy: hang your string up with your pins, perhaps with a slight slack in so you can make a lovely curve in your string. And spread each photo out with equal space between along the string. Et voilà!

Hopefully this tutorial will be able to save you a few hundred pounds on a new polaroid camera! I hope you've enjoyed reading and following along, and hopefully you'll take the time to create your own polaroids for your own decoration. If so, let us know and post here so we can all take a look! 

Again, thank you for hosting and let me know if you're unable to do so. Look forward to hearing from you! -Rebecca http://revkah.blogspot.com

A going-away dinner

Whenever I travel, The Boy cooks paella the night before I go away. I think I'd refuse any other option! We put on some music, clear the kitchen table and open a nice bottle of wine. It's more than enough to really make me want to stay home! But paella also happens to be the first thing he ever cooked for me, so it's a bit of a special dish for us.

When The Boy and I first met, during our masters, he used to bring the most amazing lunches. Really elaborate stuff. He insisted that he cooked it. The rest of us assumed his Mum did. So when we finally got our act together, I challenged him to prove it. He asked what I wanted him to cook. I said paella. So one day after uni, we walked back to my place. Bought a litre bottle of merlot and some ingredients. And he cooked me a paella. And it was really good. And I swear, it had nothing to do with the litre of merlot!

This time round, my preparation for my trip was pretty chaotic. You may have noticed from twitter!I'm currently in the beautiful Kenyan Coastal village of Kilifi. I'm on the most insane work course- running from 8am-9.30pm EVERY DAY. But in such a wonderful surrounding, I feel much more spoiled than put upon. I promise photos soon!

I've been telling The Boy for months that I wanted to feature one of his paella recipes. He pretty much makes them on the fly. This is the paella he cooked for me this time. And his instructions. Enjoy!

1 hot cooking chorizo
6 prawns in shells
Two fillets of whiting
200g short grain rice
pinch of saffron in warm water
onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
good slug of white wine
500g or so of good chicken or fish stock (fish is better in seafood paella)
pinch of fennel seeds
handful of chopped
Lime in wedges

Olive oil

1. Use a paella dish if you have one, otherwise a large frying pan (if you can live without the crust)

2. Heat olive oil and sweat the onions without colouring them. Towards the end of this, add the garlic and sweat for a minute. Add the fennel seeds and rice and stir to coat with the oil in the pan. Add the stock, wine, saffron and a squeeze of lime and bring to a simmer.

3. When the rice is 3 or 4 minutes off being done, spread the sliced whiting fillet and prawn on top so they steam cook. For the last minute stir everything together gently so as to finish the cooking.

4. Scatter with handful of coriander and serve with lime wedges, bread and lots of beer/white wine.

p.s. Please give me a pass on the iphone photo. So disorganised! 

Six things my sixteen year old self should know

Did anybody else see the Jezebel article today, The internet guide to being a perfect girl? It made me both immensely grateful to have been 16 in the age of MSN messenger and er...well, MSN messenger, and relieved that I'm not a sixteen year old girl anymore. Because I definitely would have been (ironically, of course) visiting WikiHow and it's how-to-be-a-[insert stereotype]-girl. As much as the media often frets sixteen year olds are too grown up for their own good, they're clearly not that different from the sixteen year olds of 2002 if websites like this still exist! 

 But it got me to thinking about the how-to-be-Kat guide. I'm pretty sure it's still something of a work in progess and I still think every day you'd probably need to scrap a page and start again (The Boy does think I'm fickle, particularly when it comes to food I HATE MORE THAN DEATH). 

Also, the idea that I was 16 TEN YEARS AGO is really, really, really weird. But there are definitely things my 16 year old self deserved to know- or should have had repeated to her over and over again. Or should know now. You know, better late than never...

 1. A baby face is an asset. 

When you're 26 and still getting ID-ed, you will do a fist pump of sheer delight every time. And not worry about never taking off your make-up until that day at your first internship when you look in the mirror and see a crease down the side of your face. Then freak out for about a month and forget again. But still, the baby face (see Unbecoming in ten years' time for the advice to my 26-year-old self about taking off one's make-up...). 

 2. Stop judging 

Everyone makes mistakes. You'll make huge, massive, epic mistakes. One of them will be smoking for six years. So stop looking smug. Your smug face is annoying (I know, I've seen the pictures), and stop being such a big judgy-pants (especially to your Mum. You can be really mean to your Mum). 

3. Not knowing what to do with your life = totally fine 

So stop with the career aptitude tests.

Only kidding. We both know you really like taking tests. But stop thinking a history degree has to mean a career in archiving. Or that you need to figure it out rightnowforeverfullstop. All those people who "know" exactly what they want to do forever? Massive upcoming existential crises coming up. Mostly when they all graduate medicine and realise they hate it.

4. It's ok to enjoy being a loser 

You like what you like. So stop trying to like other crap just because other people do. If you think it's crap, it almost certainly is. Plus who knew it, but glasses get cool. And giving up playing all those instruments is the stupidest thing ever.

5. Learn to draw eyeliner sooner rather than later. 
You look awesome in eyeliner. And you will never stop being vain in the next ten years. And we'll both be totally fine with that.

6. You get what you want in life...in the next ten years

In the big picture. You make it happen and it's all the better because of the really really hard work you're going to put in. So work hard. But remember, it's always going to occasionally suck from time to time though.

This is advice for life. 

and finally, a bonus extra (to scare her) 7. One day you will dance to 2002's pop music. Unironically. And enjoy it.

(and 26 year-old you is laughing at your horrified face right now)

What would you tell your sixteen year old self?

Giveaway: Tea time in Paris!

I'll admit to still being a bit obsessed with all things Parisian since we returned to London. I was so excited when I saw the latest Paumes release, Tea Time in Paris. I think I need to get planning my next trip...sampling as many of these beautiful tea rooms as possible! 

I couldn't resist celebrating Unbecoming's six months annivesary by sharing a copy of the book with you, my lovely readers. Thank you so much for sticking around and getting comfortable here at Unbecoming. You guys are awesome!

To enter, 

leave a comment on this post telling us what your favourite sweet treat is! Please remember to leave a way for me to contact you if you're the winner. You must be a follower to enter! 

For additional entries:

Follow Unbecoming on Bloglovin'

Follow Unbecoming on Twitter

Don't forget to leave a separate comment for each entry!

The competition will be open until 30 June! Good luck!

Scrabble Sunday

The British weather has come out for the Jubilee weekend! We managed to catch the gorgeous sunshine yesterday on South Bank, where we caught Cantina, a spectacular vaudeville circus, which is pitched up on Southbank for the summer. If you're around, you have to check it out- incredible acrobatics and rope routines (blindfolded) and tightrope walking in heels and across champagne glasses. It was gorgeous, exciting and genuinely jaw-dropping. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos during the show (you wouldn't want to distract them!), but you can check it out here.

With the return of the rain today, we're having indoor fun. If you're looking for some reading, you must check out Kate's week-long series Getting real at Wake Up, Lovely. Discussing how we blog, why we blog and how we should be blogging, it's a must-read for every blogger (or anyone thinking about starting their own). I'm busy making plans of my own after reading her advice!



How are you spending your Sunday afternoon?