Vacation

My blog has received over 100 page views since I last updated my blog, so I thought I'd throw my loyal readers a bone and let you know what I've been up to! Thank you so much for checking back frequently. I promise I will be back with some quality posts soon.

This weekend Kevin and I went back home for Christmas at our home with my dad's side of the family. All my aunts and uncles were able to come back, and I haven't seen everyone in a long time. It was a lot of fun, complete with an acoustic concert from my very talented cousin, Kenzie. More about Christmas with some pictures and videos to come.

Kevin and I decided to go on a little vacation for a couple days to Galena, IL. It's about 40 minutes from my hometown and a fun place to visit. We walked around main street and did a little Christmas shopping. We were looking for some more antique/thrift stores to increase our Mason jar collection, but Galena didn't have much to offer. It was a relaxing little vacation.

Today we are headed to Cedar Falls! I am excited for a number of reasons. 1) I haven't been back to visit CF since July! 2) We are going to look at wedding venues! 3) We are going to visit friends! 

We will head back home Wednesday so I can finish making and wrapping Christmas presents, relaxing, and watching Christmas movies.

I will be back with an update later this week, including some DIYs I made for Christmas. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season! 

End of One Chapter

Today is my VERY last day of student teaching. Which also means it's my very last day of required college attendance. Which means I'm basically a college graduate. WOOOOO!! I'm an alum!

In honor of finishing up my requirements, I made some goodies for my class. I will miss those little boogers and the teaching staff sooo much! It was a great experience.

Crayon Wreath

What you need:
Cardboard -- Anything sturdy and circular, I've also seen embroidery hoops used
Crayons -- I used 48, but you can use 64 for a bigger wreath
Hot glue
Fabric or ribbon -- Anything you want to use for an embellishment
Scissors

Cut circles out of your cardboard. I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures of this part. Once you have the outer circle drawn. You're going to need to make it look like an "o" by cutting out the middle. You want a semi-thin circle.

 Cut out fabric to cover up the ugly cardboard

 Secure the ends with hot glue and wrap around, over-laping as you go.

Lay out your crayons so you have a general idea how to space them. Start glueing your crayons down with hot glue. The crayons in the top right corner have been glued down. I wanted to be sure all the labels faced up and all the crayons were glued similarly.

I made a few fabric rosettes to glue on, but that is certainly optional. I cut out a strip of fabric to use to hang the wreath.

I kinda want one for myself now.

I also thought it would be fun to include what I made my my kiddos.

Fiancés and Friends

What more could you ask for than a hot bowl of chili, crackers, and a cold glass of milk in front of the fire on a cold evening? Well I'll tell you. A fiance who makes you your very own batch of chili without beans and without any spicy-ness. That's love.

I hope you all had a great weekend! Friday night we hosted card club. I can't remember if I have blogged about our card club. There are 12 of us, and we get together once a month and play 500. Most people think that card club is reserved for retired folk but I love it! It's an excuse to get together with friends, relax (drink), and have fun! Most of the girls are teachers coincidently which is fun for me. 

Saturday I talked Kevin into taking me to Breaking Dawn! Can you believe it?! Me neither. Turns out, it was no good. I LOVED the books but just haven't been impressed with any of the movies. They need to play up the love story more. I just can't connect with the characters in the movie, and people who haven't read the books (like Kevin) have absolutely no idea what's going on because the plot is not adequately explained. We had a nice little date and watched Lost after that.

For those of you who don't know, we have been watching all 6 seasons of Lost. We started in August and finished TONIGHT! We watched a couple episodes a week when we had time. I was hooked for about 4 months and I actually liked the ending despite all the naysayers out there who didn't like it so much.

I also worked on applying for some subbing positions today. Teacher applications are time consuming! This is my last week of student teaching and then it's off to the races!

Hope you all had wonderful weekends! What did you do?

DIY Stemware Stand

I found this idea on Pinterest and decided to head to Goodwill to make my own.

What you need:
Vase or Candlestick (I've also seen this done with wine glasses or anything with a tall stem)
Plate or basket (Use your imagination)
Heavy duty glue (That's right folks, the hot glue gun just wasn't good enough for this one!)
Spray paint
Tin foil

I went into Goodwill looking for something with a tall stem and something flat, not really having any specific vision. Don't feel confined to what I've used! I got the spray paint at Hobby Lobby for about $4-$5 I think. The glue you can find at any hardware or craft store. Make sure it says it works on glass.

Even though it was about 15 degrees I did this outside so I wouldn't ruin our apartment. I would recommend using more tin foil that I because I did end up with some purple cement. Oopsie! Spray a thin coat and then let dry. I sprayed a thick coat and had some running spray paint marks. I'm also impatient. Learn from my mistakes.

I also sprayed the basket, but kept the plate orange.

Put glue on the stemware and stick to the center of the plate or basket. Let dry for however long you can be patient for. I let mine dry for about a minute and a half. I think the tube says 24 hours :)

There you have it! I used the purple and gold one for a "catch all" basket on the counter (next to my DIY shopping list).

The purple and orange one was a little sturdier so I used it to pretty up our sink area.

I'm not sold on the purple and orange one yet. Turns out the plate was not made symmetrically and I can tell and it bugs me. OCD.

I'm trying to find my inspiration from Pinterest but the search function won't cooperate. I'll update later to give credit where credit is due. I also had NO idea what to call this DIY (a functioning Pinterest would have helped) so I hope the title makes sense?

Ignorance

I recently saw this commercial and it made me incredibly angry. I have been teaching at risk students this semester from very diverse backgrounds, including cultural, social, and religious differences. Every time I see something like this, I think of them. In our country, we have a separation between CHURCH and STATE. Anyone from any background can express themselves freely and worship (or not worship) any god they want. Our country was build on Christianity, but that is not what sustains it now. It is ignorance like this that makes me ache for my students who are outcasted by expressing themselves or following the cultural norms they know. In response to Rick Perry, it's not a matter of a "war on religion" it's a right of expression. "Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again." Really? It seems to me many of our worldly problems are caused by faith and religion. I do not support you.

Rant over. It's some food for thought. If you agree or disagree, leave a comment! I'd love to hear your viewpoints.

Disclaimer: I am not angry at religion, I am angry at people who assume religion is the remedy for our worldly problems.

Update: Here's a republican commercial I can appreciate :)

DIY Fabric Button Earrings

I have a bajillion of these earrings and I love them oh so much. Now you can make them and love them, too. They take about 5 minutes each to make and are very simple. Here's what you need:

Fabric of your choice, I got mine at JoAnn for $2 for a quarter yard

Hot glue gun (As I was making this, Kevin says, "You sure get a lot of use out of that glue gun don't ya?") Yes I do. And so should you.

Button Fasteners (It's what's in the brown package-- can be found at any craft store in the fabric section somewhere near the buttons) $2ish **NOTE! These come in many sizes. I used 3/4" buttons, but I also think 1/2" are cute

Button making kit (the blue and white circles) $2ish

Needle nose pliers (free from my boy!)

Earring backs (can be found in any craft store in the jewelry making section) $2 for 36 earrings

Using the pliers, take the fasteners off the buttons. This is the most time consuming part depending on if they want to cooperate.

Cut circles out of fabric, about 1" in diameter

Find the white part of the button making kit, one fabric circle, and the cap of the button.

Center the fabric in the white part press down with your finger. Be sure fabric is right side out so the bright part is on the outside of your earrings.

 Place the cap of the button inside, trying to keep the fabric centered.

Place the back of the button into the kit after gathering all the fabric into the center.

Use blue part of cap and press back of button into cap. You will hear a "click" when it's in place.

 Remove button from kit and place a dot of hot glue on the back.

Attach button backs. When I made my first pair, I centered the backs. Since my ears are double pierced, they kind of looked funny when I had earrings in my 2nd holes. You want to place the backs nearer to the top. Press down.

Ta Da!

Make more and more and more!

If you like the look but are intimidated by the process, you can also just buy plastic buttons, put some hot glue on the back, and press in the backs. 

Good luck! Send me a picture if you decide to make them :)

DIY Glitter Ornaments

After a long absence in crafting I'm back! Back with some Christmas lovin'. I don't acknowledge Christmas until December 1 (it overshadows Thanksgiving and my birthday--11/27.. two very important days). Today I finally started putting up some Christmas decorations. I got a 100 bulb pack of twinkle lights to hang on the fireplace for $2 at Target. I didn't know how much to get, so the fireplace lights have spilled over to become window lights. I also bought mini ornaments in the $1 bin.

(Yes-- that's my craft corner. I am in desperate need for some organizational furniture.)

Here's what you need to make the glitter ornaments:

I got everything from Hobby Lobby (thanks for the gift card, Mom!)

Glass ornaments: $4 (I got them on sale for 50% off!)

Glitter: $1.50 each

Wire hangers: $1 

Tacky glue: $2 (you could also use hot glue, glue stick, etc. if you want the glue to dry clear)

Feathers: $2

Things you need that you have at home for glitter control:

Cookie sheets

Bowls

Here are a few pictures I took of the process. Basically, make any design you desire with the glue. 

 Shake the glitter over the ornament, being sure to catch the excess glitter in a bowl over a cookie sheet (I'm messy).

 After covering this ball with glue, I covered part of it with newspaper to get stripes. I didn't get a picture of the final product, so use your imagination.

Here are some of my favorite creations:

 I also used feathers! I like these a lot. I considered getting just colored feathers and putting them into the ornaments and keeping it simple. Apparently that wasn't time consuming enough for me.

For the bottom left ornament, I put feathers inside and glitter on the top, I dropped some green glitter inside. I'm considering adding water? For the one on the bottom right, I made squiggles with the glue and sprinkled glitter on it. (It looks better in person, I promise.)

Gotta have one with my future last name!

 Another favorite below.

 And the aftermath. There is literally glitter all over our apartment. Oopsie :)

There's more where that came from! If you like what you see be sure to click "Join this Site" at the top! I love to know who my readers are :)

Check back tomorrow for DIY fabric button earrings and a recycled art project from newspaper!