Reverb 11

A few days ago I read about Reverb 11 on A Beautiful Ripple Effect and since I've been stalled out on projects and blogging since starting my new job, however I do spend a lot of time reading blogs while I have downtime at work AND I have lots of time to think about posts as much of my days revolve around driving clients to and from places. Also I downloaded the blogger application on my phone so I can update it while waiting for clients and complete the drafts when I got home.

I also have been reflecting lately on the past year and future goals since turning the big 26 on 11/26. Reverb 11 felt like the perfect opportunity to get into better blogging habits as well as to reflect on last year and project for the next year.

So I'm starting, 4 days late, but I'm starting today. Here are the prompts I have to catch up on:

1. One Word 
Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)

Flux. 2011 saw me completing my Master's degree, moving into an off campus apartment with my boyfriend (which was also the first time in nearly 6 years that I've shared my living space with someone else), being unemployed, becoming employed full-time, and finally after a month of work settling into a "normal" routine. Every definition of the word flux  seems to fit one part of my life or another over the past year. "To flow," "Obsolete or purge," "Continuous change," "Passage." All of these resonate with me as stages of my life in 2011. 

In 2012 I'm hoping Stability and Security will be my two words. I have never felt more secure with myself and where I am heading in life than in 2011 and I know that, allow there is likely to be much, much more flux in my life in 2012, I will also continue to grow in my own stability and security. 

2. Writing
What piece of writing are you most proud of from 2011? How does this piece differ from your other pieces?

In 2011 I did a lot of writing, most of it school and internship related. Although I am pretty proud of my 50+ page treatment plans I worked on in my internship, I'm most proud that I'm finding my voice on my blog. I have enjoyed sharing with others the projects I have been working on in our home and I am pushing myself to explore my writing talents more as I am no longer writing academically and miss challenging my mind through writing. I even have a (somewhat secret) desire to write a novel...I could use encouragement to get started on that one! 

3. Year in Review

As you reflect back on the happenings of 2011, what were your high points and what were your low points? What do you notice as you look back on the year as a whole?

High points in 2011 are:

• finishing my tenure as Hall Director of West Vandenberg Hall
• completing my internship and then graduating with my Masters
• landing my first post-school job
• moving in with Vince and starting our lives in our home together

Low points of 2011 are:

• Being unemployed for the majority of 6 months post-grad
• Getting excited about job opportunities only to have them fall through
• Other ugly points that I'd rather not recall at the moment, luckily there are only really a couple of these

Overall I am pleased with how 2011 went. Even in the toughest times when my bank account teetered closer to the $0.00 mark than I'd ever like to admit to another adult I still was able to see the lessons that life was teaching me. I have reconsidered so many of my habits and life choices regarding money and have a much healthier view towards my finances and my relationship has grown tremendously as we have learned to talk about financial decisions that can be difficult in any relationship, let alone when one person is the sole provider. Although I need to continue to grow here, I am no looking to make smart, long-term decisions with finances rather than quick-fix solutions. 

4. Beauty
How have your standards of beauty shifted in the past year?

I would love to say I'm at the top of my game in regards to health and beauty, however, the last year has not been kind to my previous year's diligence to my figure. I have felt as though I am more comfortable in my skin as it is currently and know that I am beautiful right now, I just need to move towards healthy behaviors in order to improve my body's functions rather than to improve my looks. 

I have also considered beauty in my home environment in all new ways. Rather than loving everything that Ikea makes I am coming more into my own in decorating styles and am enjoying figuring out how to incorporate more of my eclectic tastes into something of beauty. I have enjoyed creating beautiful things to display in our home and look forward to growing more in my skills with DIY projects over the next year.

There is a 5th prompt out there, however, I'm off to bed so I will add that one tomorrow and be back on track!! 

Life lately.

Today marks two full weeks at my new job. Yes I'm working on a Saturday. 12 hours on a Saturday actually, but considering that work today has consisted of taking 3 clients to a Coney Island for breakfast and now sitting in a waiting room it hasn't and won't be too hard of a day. I have found that I really love the job so far so no complaints!

Today is also my loves 24th birthday. I have a pretty big surpise lined up for him and we are going to celebrate with friends out on the town tonight!

And in two short weeks we will be celebrating my 26th birthday...mom does that make you feel old?

Anyway, just wanted to do a quick update. Hopefully next week I will have a more exciting post as I have a couple of projects I want to work on!

Fall Pinterest Challenge: Doily Lampshade

One of my favorite home improvement/general awesomeness blogs, Young House Love who is also an avid Pinterestista (can I make that up??) posted a challenge. And if you know me, you know may also know that I am all about competition. Even though my opponent is really just myself and whether or not I would get around to posting on my blog :) Here are the projects that the other ladies hosting the project completed for the challenge: Sherry's, Katie's, Ana's, Erin's. You can also check out the YHL (Sherry's) post that has links to HUNDREDS of other Pinterest Challenge projects that other readers have posted.

Anyway, I took on the challenge, at the very last moment if you did not notice (hey, I did start a new job YESTERDAY!) but alas, here is my take on this beautiful doily lampshade project I saw months ago and to be honest started in probably June.

I started by collecting doilies. Then I used tea and coffee to dye them thanks to Vince's extremely talented sister-in-law, Michelle, who gave me some great tips on getting the right color.

The process is pretty easy, and can be corrected easily by rinsing or adding more coffee/tea to the mixture. Basically choose a container, I used our stainless steel kitchen sink, then placed tea bags into the empty container. Boil enough water to cover the items you are staining and pour it over the tea bags kind of rotating between them. You'll decide how many bags to use based on how dark you want your items to be post-dye-bath. I also added some leftover coffee I had brewed that morning. Next you put the items, doilies or otherwise, into the bath and let it set for a while...not sure how long I left them I just walked away and came back later. I drained the bath, and wrung out the doilies and set them outside to dry.

Then, after months of sitting in my "to-be-crafted-someday...maybe" pile, I finally got motivated to complete the lamp shade for two reasons: 1) I was sick of looking out the naked bulb in my dining room/office 2) I got a job offer and knew my craft time would be lessened soon.

The first step was moving the hanging light over slightly so that Vince no longer had to duck to go past it and so that it was more over the table that is now used as a desk and craft space. This was easily done using a plastic staple, I even did it all by myself. I just eyeballed it and used some of my excellent lucky balancing skills to hammer it into place and ta-da! Here is it:

Next I got to work on the actual lamp shade:

1) Find something to hang your balloon from. I used I punching balloon from the dollar tree because I'm cheap and you can get 3/$1 there. I used some string to hang it from a screw on our light fixture in the bathroom so that any spilled wallpaper paste would be easy to wash up.
2) Mix up (or don't if you bought pre-mixed) wall paper glue. This part reminded me of the paste in pre-school. Smelled like it and had the same texture..sweet memories.
3) For each doily that I added I just stuck it into the glue, squeezed it around, then pulled my hands down it taking off the excess.
4) Start adding them around your balloon. I left a little bit of space at the top but not too much as I knew that I would be pulling a couple apart and sewing it up later on.

5) You're probably going to need some help during this part as your hands will be covered in wall paper glue and every time you try to add a doily your balloon will try to run away. Just have help. Even if that help has to stand in your shower. You won't regret it, but Vince may regret taking this self portrait.
6) Make sure you overlap a little bit or else this whole project won't work! :)
7) Once you have finished applying all of the doilies, you just have to wait. 4 days..my glue dried slooooww, and then I wanted to make sure it was good and dry.
8) Finally it was time to pop the balloon. This was disappointing and entertaining as there was no bang as the latex stuck to the glue and I had to peel it off by hand.

9) I went ahead and pulled apart some of the overlapping doilies at the top so my hand and arm could reach inside to pull the balloon off the shade. As I went the sides of the lampshade lost there shape but only temporarily as I could push them back out without permanent damage.
10) Since my light was now higher I couldn't sew up my raw edges as I had planned but found a couple of gold buttons that fit through the holes of the top doilies and sewed them on to secure it to the light fixture. I should also note that I left the glass shade on the existing light fixture to serve as the top of the shade and give it something to hold on to.
11) The doily shad in place and button-secured. I do need to work on this, it's kind of not round but for now it works.

Here's our new dining room/office light in all it's shining glory:

Gorgeous right? I love that it dims the light and adds such a unique look to the space. It's a little messy of a project, and it takes time to collect the supplies but for roughly 10 bucks it's a fun and pretty project to take on!

Pinterest Project: Yarn Covered Alphabet Soup

I've seen all kinds of creative letters on pinterest since joining the site a couple of months ago. Also a couple of months ago I found two white wooden letters at Michaels on clearance for a buck. An "H" and a "T" I wanted to find a "V" but no luck. That's what happens with clearance aisles.

Well the letters have sat there, waiting for me to make them beautiful. And finally I decided to go the yarn-wrapped route. I used yarn I already had at home that I also thought would look nice in my dining/office space. And it ended up looking like this.

Wrapping an "H" in yarn is hard work folks. My friend Rachel informed me it was challenging, and although it didn't take me the 8 hours it took her, I did watch a good portion of the Green Zone, a war flick that was quite enticing in both plot and man eye candy.

Anyway it wasn't perfect and I knew I wanted it to look a little fancier than that so I thought about the 40 flowers I made in this post and remembered the grey fabric I had leftover from my yellow and grey cork board project as well as a scrap of coral V's mom gave us when we got our sewing machine. These grey and coral flowers would be perfect!

So I stitched some up. I crafted this new beauty by folding a strip on the grey fabric in half and sewing then cinching it into the prettiest little flower. It's my new fabric flower love! With pretty little finished edges, doesn't it look gorgeous?

I made a five other assorted flowers and for this little grey pretty and it's twin made in coral I stitched a little hex nut into the center of the flowers as I liked that look better than the colored buttons I had in my craft bin.  Then stitched them onto the "H" for the perfect little item for my shelf.

Sitting pretty on top of a couple of books! 

Now what to do with the "T"? V wants it covered with comic book images, perhaps I'll appease him and modge podge something up, after all it is for his namesake not mine!

Don't Forget About Breast Cancer Awareness

We are halfway through October which boggles my brain to no end. But what boggles my mind even more is that this year's Breast Cancer Awareness celebration seems to have come and gone already. A trip to the grocery store at the beginning of the month was an overwhelming reminder with pink flowers and packaging around every corner. 

Then the move Five came out to a small fanfare. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out, it is directed by several of Hollywood's famous women and is a very good portrayal of the effects of breast cancer on women and their families. 

Then Giuliana Rancic was extremely brave and announced her diagnosis live on the Today Show. 

Maybe it's because I've been a little secluded as of late but I just haven't seen as much about it this year. I find this disappointing because this disease touches so many of us and early detection is so important to recovery. 

My most vivid memory of breast cancer stems from when I was much younger, a teenager, living at home and learning that my mom's best friend, Julie, had been diagnosed. She seemed so young, so vibrant, and I wondered how it was possible for her to be sick. I will never forget the image of her smiling through what must have been the very difficult task of shaving her hair after her treatments left it falling out on its own. We all gathered on our back patio and her husband and my mom did the honors. And through it all she smiled. She fought and was triumphant and when on to grow her family with 3 more beautiful children in addition to the two she already had.

In honor of Julie, or those friends and family members of yours that have been touched by breast cancer, do a self-exam, get a mammogram, take care of yourself and remind those women around you to do so as well. Not just in October, but all year long.

DIY Honeymoon Scrapbook

Here's a quick project that I made for my friend Keli who is getting married on Saturday!! I wanted to make her something because that's how I roll lately. I stumbled upon the envelope album on Pinterest and thought it would be a good idea to make a quick place to journal some of their honeymoon memories as they go (or on a the plane ride home!) as well as stash away some of the paper memories as they go. So here's what I came up with!

I glued the envelope flaps to the back of the next envelope to make chain.

On each card I "calligraphied" the date of the honeymoon and then wrote "Mr:/Mrs:" so they can each journal short thoughts about that day.

On the back of each card I left space to journal what they did, ate, and saw that day.

This is the back of the package all tied up in ribbon with the couple and their destination as well as the dates again.

I used a jewelry clasp to add a little more fanciness to the project to hook the project instead of a bow. I also stamped on the Mr. and Mrs. You can see here how the flaps were glued to the other envelope. If you used the same color envelopes this is less noticeable. :)

I'd like to make myself one of these next. I think I'll do 12 envelopes and use it for keeping memories of the year. Or maybe I'll come up with another idea for how to use it! 

DIY Wedding Rehearsal Bouquet

My best friend from college is getting married this weekend!! As her Maid of Honor I have many important duties, many of which I haven't been able to fulfill as I would have liked as she lives in Iowa and I live in Michigan which makes regular meetings and helping with centerpieces and going to dress fittings difficult. One task that I have been able to do well (in my very humble opinion) is make her rehearsal bouquet. I searched and searched the internet for ideas for making this bouquet and having it not look like something made when I was 9 years old. No offense to other MOH's out there participating in this tradition, I understand the true form of the tradition states that the bouquet is made during the bridal shower, not after, thus greatly limiting the amount of time being spent putting the bouquet together. And time, lots of time, is needed to make this bouquet.

Being a huge Pinterest addict I've seen headbands and belts and hairclips made with flowers created from ribbon and many yards of ribbon were exactly what I had to work with. Ribbon and a couple of curly boys and some poly-ribbon. I wanted the main focus to be flowers from the Bed Bath & Beyond purple ribbon and the curly bows to be accents. Here's what I came up with!

Not too shabby huh? Here's some detail pictures for you: 

I found tutorials the following tutorials: Martha Stewart, Burda Style, and Wedding Bee. Truth be told as I progressed in each of these methods I figured out my own way to make the flowers and I encourage you to play with them as well as figuring out how to hold on to all the ribbon before sewing together is sometimes better down in your own words.

After making 40-some flowers I started with the rose flowers based on the Burda Style template that had extra ribbon on below the flower to start sewing the loose flowers together. I just pieced them together to my liking and after about 15 realized it was an odd shape--oops! I did my best to pull and push flowers and sew them in place, alternating the style of flowers. Here's a close up of the bouquet being sewn together:

Then after I got about half-way through with my loose flowers I concocted a handle out of a couple of dead ink pens and wrapped them in none other than painters tape. I wish I would have reinforced the tape with hot glue, but hindsight is always 20/20. I wrapped the loose ribbons around this base and pinned them in with quilting pins and kept sewing on my flowers.

At this point I realized my stem was too short...so I added on another stem, this time the handle from an old foam paint brush. Again I used tape but should have hot glued it to make it more sturdy. I had saved one purple ribbon from making flowers so that I could wrap the stem and I did so, hot gluing it in place until I had formed my desired handle.

Next I had to add in the curly ribbons and the poly-ribbon. I glued on the two curly ribbon bunches right at the base of the ribbon flowers and allowed them to kind of cascade down. I then took the loose poly-ribbons and wound them around the base and hot glued them down to and I was finished!

This took me a good 8 hrs to do in one sitting, so I'd highly encourage you to have a couple of flower sewers as that was the longest part of the process. But it was nice to watch a couple of movies and talk to my little sister who just moved to L.A. while working on it. I'm also proud that it looks a little classier than the norm--just Keli's style! Here's one more shot of my finished project!