No Shaking Required (DIY Polaroids)

We are all guilty of getting something new and then wanting something more. Except if you took the time to reflect, this greediness could be zapped (or at least leak out) from your system. I have a 365-day journal from Kikki-K that I write in every day. It’s a very healthy way of letting stuff out of your system or being thankful for what you’ve been able to do a particular day. Sometimes, I’ll just write a recipe down or attempt to write my name in different fonts. You don’t need to have an epic day for it to be worth recording because some of the best days are those lazy days where you don’t do anything but you appreciate everything. If you don’t think you have the enthusiasm to keep up a diary for that long, why not try do it just for the summer?

If words aren’t your forte, then maybe photos are? I saw a quote once that constantly resonates with me: “The photographer takes photos of things they are afraid to lose.” This quote troubles me because of the nature of my blog and social media. I take so many pictures of myself and inanimate objects that the ‘afraid to lose’ part becomes weirdly egocentric!

I have also had another great internal conflict for far too long. That is whether to buy a Polaroid camera or not succumb to the trend. I’m just not cut out for leaving things to luck and with a Polaroid, that’s exactly what you have to do and I’m sorry but I’m just not hipster enough.

Wait … but here’s the thing, today I have a DIY that’s different and less mainstream so I guess I can just say I out hipstered all you hipsters. HA! The other day I realised I had never printed out any of my photos from high school. That’s six years of photographs that have never made it off my screen. That’s a lot of cringe …which leads me to my third and final installment of my New Year series: Reflection – a DIY.

Start off by gathering all the pictures you want to use. Instagrams are the best because they’ve been squared already but by all means squarely crop all your other pictures and pop them into a folder.

Download Pixlr if you want to give your pictures that faded, timely, accidental look. I like my pictures brightly lit and sans filter but go ahead and filter that baby out till your heart desires. Pixlr in my opinion has the best filters but if you want to throw some better ones out into the ring, comment down below!

Open Photoshop or Gimp (free but very powerful) and open a new file that is 4 x 6 in size (standard photo printing size). Then centre your photo and don’t be afraid to give it a lot of white space.

Print your pictures out and trim to size. Then take a Sharpie and write the date, a song lyric, the location, whatever!

Your fake Polaroid is good for all kinds of stuff. If you have heaps make an entire feature wall filled with them or hang them up on twine. I think printing off a whole stack, writing cute messages on the back and boxing them makes for a cute, personalised gift.

 No vanity mirror? No problem! I would much rather stare at my beautiful friends and family instead.

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My Day on a Plate // January

Smorgasbord can mean a wide range of something but it is more popularly known as a range of open sandwiches and delicacies served as hors d’oeuvres. In simplest terms; I like food. My blog is a representation of me. Food will now be a feature of StyleSmorgasbord. Capeesh? I’m going to try my best to do these every month and make them a reflection of the season I am in. So today’s four recipes are perfect for a hot summer day. These recipes will have a common denominator: they will be fresh, easy, healthy, tasty and very Instagrammable.

I also wanted to mention one of my favourite cookbooks that I’ve been pouring over lately. Clean Living by Luke & Scott is a paleo cookbook that has the most amazing dishes. I think the idea of paleo is so very interesting and although I don’t think I will ever go pure paleo I really like the message the boys talk about concerning how clean eating is sometimes seen as restrictive:

A Breakfast Beverage of Cucumber & Pear Green Juice // Serves ONE // This is a great post workout juice for those who need a quick hit before a hot long day ahead. I usually like to make my juices before I work out, pop them into the freezer for an hour and cool off after my workout with the chilled juice // Remove the skin of a pear, chop it into chunks and then throw it into a blender along with a handful of green leaves (any will do), a few slices of cucumber, several ice cubes and a tiny bit of water so your blender doesn’t break! //

A Light Lunch with Sweet Potato Fritters, Salmon & Avocado // Serves TWO to THREE // I originally saw this in a Paleo Diet Cookbook but it had way too many ingredients so this is my four ingredient adaptation that is a breeze to make with an arm workout thrown in for fun (from intense grating haha!) // Combine a 600g grated sweet potato with one egg yolk together and then shape the sweet potato mixture into a loose round and press into a large frying pan with oil. Cook for three minutes on each side until crispy. Serve fritters with smoked salmon and generous amounts of avocado! //

Beachside Dinner with a taste of Nha Trang // Rolled up food is right up my alleyway. I love sushi and tortillas and sausage rolls but most of all I love rice paper rolls. Served cold, they are the perfect kind of dinner to take on a picnic. // There are so many variations that instead of giving you a recipe, I’m just going to link you to some of my favourites (most of which are East meets West): Garlic Chicken / Chicken & Mango / Summer Fruit / Grilled Asparagus & Chilli Orange Quinoa / Shrimp & Avocado //

Decadent Dessert of Strawberry Greek Pie that isn’t that indulgent // I love baking but at the same time I hate it too so frozen treats like this are the perfect remedy! Although they’ll take a bit more work than a cold scoop of ice cream, your body will thank you later. // Crush a sleeve of digestive biscuits and add a little bit of milk to ‘wet’ the crumble. Then press the crust into a pan. Puree a punnet of strawberries and stir it into 600g of greek yoghurt and then pour it on top of your crust. Add some sliced strawberries on top and freeze for at least 5 hours. Take it out to sit for 20 minutes before serving //

That’s all for my day on a plate! Let me know if you try any recipes and if this is a series that can be picked up in the future!