Happy Thanksgiving

I wanted to take a moment during this busy holiday to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. Today, Ryan and I were able to spend the day cooking delicious food surrounded by family and friends. We're so fortunate that we could host Thanksgiving again this year and share it with those we care about the most. 

I hope that in this upcoming holiday season we don't forget to slow down and be truly thankful for all we have. It may not seem like much, but it's enough for us. 

What can I craft this Tuesday? Christmas Garland

In preparation for the Christmas season this year, I raided Hobby Lobby a few days after Christmas for some fantastic deals on their holiday decorations. Typically any leftover stuff they have on the shelves gets reduced to 50%, 75%, and finally 80% off. I snagged two nine foot garlands for about $5.00 total. Go me, for the win. 

Of course, by the time I bought them (in January), they were put away with the Valentine's Day decor. That was a joy to try and find again. Once we did find them, they promptly sat on the couch for two weeks while I got my act together. And boy did I. Here's what I started with:

That's one garland, a string of white 100 count LED lights (1/2 price at Walmart after Christmas), some muslin fabric, and one ripped bed skirt. Yep, you read that right, a bed skirt. We got itfor our wedding and in the one year we've lived at the apartment, seams are tearing, pillows are exploding, and the bed skirt was ripped. I don't think we're all that crazy in bed (don't read too much into that) but I didn't expect this thing to be falling apart at the seams! 

This year our tree is again blue and silver so I thought that it would be a good filler for my garland. After separating it from the white stuff, I proceeded to cut it into a bajillion 1" x 6" strips. Then I tied, and tied, and tied. With some pinspiration, I thought it would look neat wrapped around the garland. 

I tied two strips of fabric between each set of lights. Then I cut up the muslin in the same fashion and repeated. There were so many strips to tie. 

Here's what it looked like once I was done with the fabric.

Then I wrapped it around my garland and set it up on my mantel. I think it looks pretty damn nice. Maybe next year I'll make it fuller with other ribbon, ornament, or pine cones. What do you think? What should I add?

What have you done for your house to get it in the holiday spirit?

Tunetastic Thursday - Avicii "Wake Me Up"

Sometimes you just need some house music to really get the day going. These past few mornings I feel like I could use it for sure. Funny enough, one of the words from my word-a-day calendar was "slugabed,"  which means "a person who stays in bed after the usual or proper time to get up." Now, granted, this song won't get you that hyped up. But it gets you in the mood for other music that will.

If you want to get pumped, what kind of music do you listen to? Do you need music to start your day?

What can I craft this Tuesday? An Upcycled Plant Stand

A really long time ago, at least it feels like forever ago, I mentioned that I had an old soda crate that I planned to do something with. Well, I'm proud to say that after finally getting my act together, it's now a plant stand for my fire place. I know, I know. You must be thinking that sounds odd. You'd have to understand that the fireplaces in my apartment are non-working. Thankfully, I was able to convince my parents they should stay open and not boarded up. I digress...back to the project!

I told you before that I found this in my parents' basement. It's a treasure trove - I swear. It probably would've ended up in the burn pile eventually. But I saved it, much like the hoarder I'll eventually become. Here's what it looked like before. Wonderful right? 

Did you see what appears to be an oil stain? Yea, I have no idea where that came from. My first step to resuscitate this bad boy was to wipe it down and start sanding. I mentioned that I'll be sanding with a face mask from now, remember. That's because I probably will have black lung from layers of dirt and grime that I'll sand off my upcycled pieces.

After I sanded this bad boy, I stopped. For about three weeks. I knew I wanted to put casters on it, though for the life of me I couldn't find the right ones. I didn't want the cheap plastic ones. I sure didn't want the rubber ones. There were these great cast iron ones at home depot but they were entirely too large for my little soda crate. Good 'ol Amazon had them though. When they arrived last week I was so excited I nearly peed myself. (Not really, but I was that excited).

First, I had to ask my mom two questions. When and where. I'm almost ashamed that I didn't know it but my grandfather died a week before my parents' wedding, so I don't know much about my maternal grandfather. What I now know is he was born in 1929 and in Redhook, NY. I wanted to pay tribute to him because I think it means a lot to my Nana. At 83 she's still alive and kicking - some 30 years after her husband died. 

So, I used MS Word to print the information on paper, painstakingly cut out each letter, spray glued it to the crate, and then used it as a stencil to print on it. It didn't come out perfect but I think it's just the right mix of character. 

I know I probably should have put "b. 1929" I just wasn't feelin' it. Next, I brought out those beautiful casters and screwed them babies on! Once I got a fully juiced battery that is. Harder to come by than you'd imagine. I'm just glad I had my handy husband around.

They're beautiful right? Perfect, I tell you, perfect. I used 1/2" sheet metal screws to attach them to the bottom. Once the paint dried, I added the crate to the fireplace in my bedroom, added some plants, and ta-da! It's better than the blanket basket I had. 

I showed my Nana tonight and I think she really liked it. It let's her know that he won't be forgotten in this next generation.

What have you been working on lately? Have you ever done something to remind you of someone or something? 

Tunetastic Thursday - Ron Pope "Home Again"

Have you missed me? I've certainly missed you. Desperately, in fact. Every night I've been craving to write to you. Tonight I just so happen to have a free thirty minutes. Life is rough sometimes.

I've started listening to music on my phone at work. At my old job, I would either listen to EQX live or listen to one of my stations on Pandora. Since I work for a chemical company (even though the division I'm in isn't chemical related) they block pretty much everything that's fun. Including streaming media sites. The jerkwads. So I've been forced to download music and upload it to my phone in order to get into my work zone. This leads me to listen to the same few artists over and over again and songs get played repetitively. (As I'm writing this, the song this week has been playing about ten times in a row)

You might know Ron Pope from his song "Drop in the Ocean" or "I Believe." That first one makes me immediately skip it - he gets REALLY whiny in it. No thanks. I really enjoy this week's song. The music is easy listening, the lyrics are swoon-worthy (at least to me), and I love it when a song breaks down and I can clap my hands. Maybe I'm just still in that mood, but the song reminds me of how Ryan has been with me through ups and downs. No matter what - where he is, I'm home.

So Rye,

I'll be there when your days are long,
Hold you up if you don't feel strong,
Light your way when the dark comes in,
And when you're lost, I'll lead you home again.

Love you cutie.

"It starts"

Today's been the day I've been waiting for. I thought it was going to happen last Friday, but no. Today was the day. I couldn't have been more happy. It's almost like the perfect ending to an entirely shitty week.

Today, I heard Christmas music on the radio. And I loved it. It truly marks the beginning of my favorite time of the year.

This week has been one straight from hell. I was under the impression that the whole C&B deal would be done about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, everyone else had another idea and the request for changes just keep ROLLING in. I'm going to send an email out that says all changes must be signed, sealed, and delivered by falcon. Oh, and there better be a $100 bill attached to it. To top that all off, clearing entries I did at the beginning of the month apparently had like a million dollar impact on the P&L. And not in a good way. Joy. And the nasty emails were just pouring in.

Let's just say I'm glad to have this week over with. Now, on for the weekend!

Hopefully it's better.

How's your week been?

A Week Late and Always a Dollar Short

Let me just start by saying my husband hates Halloween. I, on the other hand, like it. I would even like to have a party one year. He shuts that idea down faster than a bottle of cider can explode when pasteurized. (More on that another day). I don't even know why, but ever since he's had the option to not celebrate it or not go trick or treating he's been saying "no." 

This year, our friends, Andrea and Mike, invited us to the Halloween parade in their neighborhood. We were encouraged to dress up. If a parade is a foreign concept to you, it's pretty much the fire trucks come turn on their lights and sirens and we walk behind it from one cul-de-sac to the other. At the end there's candy, cupcakes, pictures with the fire truck, and milling around with your neighbors.

I said yes before Ryan even heard about it. I also volunteered that we would both be in costume. The day before the parade, I remind Ryan that we're dressing up for it. He pulls out the following: a "Hello, my name is..." tag with "Bruce Banner - don't make me angry." Normal clothes, that sticker - bam - that's his costume. I was at least a little more creative. I dressed in my lab coat, hard hat, safety glasses, and boots from work to be a production employee. Here's us looking our finest.

And yes, if you can tell, the safety glasses went OVER my normal glasses. Amazing, I know. 

Thursday, finally comes around and Ryan's friends at school always dress up. He refuses aside from another "Hello, my name is..." tag. I work in an office so no dressing up for me. Added to the fact that I caught a cold - I worked from home. 

Ryan's friends however, decided to do up a Batman theme. One of them dressed up as Batman, another as the Riddler, and the other as the Joker. Batman thought up his costume first so the other two decided based on that and with the idea to play pranks on Batman, i.e. foiling his cube and stealing his N64 with "riddles" on how to find it. Here's their Halloween spirit.

a very Adam West type of Batman

really awesome renditions of the Riddler and Joker

Now, when I say foiled (talking about mathematicians) I truly mean, they foiled Batman's entire desk. They even wrote "HA" all over it. I laughed into a coughing fit over it.

That "?" card to the left was the first clue for Batman to find his N64. I wish I remembered the riddles that Ryan told me, because they were good. I'm not sure if he ever found it (or gave up and demanded it back) but clearly someone has the Halloween spirit. Maybe next year, they'll rub some more on Ryan.

That sounded terrible - but I'll leave it anyway. 

How did you celebrate your Halloween? Did you go trick or treating?

Happy November!

November 1st starts my favorite time of the year. I absolutely love the holidays because it means family, fun, and food. (I'm really big on the food part.) Growing up we would put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving, until we started getting real ones. Then I met my husband and I learned his mom put up their (first) tree on November 1st. I didn't even know you could do that! But she did it, so I could do it. Here's what I spent the majority of my day doing.

I'm pretty sure most people think I'm crazy but I really love to decorate for Christmas. It immediately makes me feel at home and it makes the apartment seem so cozy - not just because it's more cluttered than normal either. Fun little story, last year when I was voting, my neighbor was a volunteer signing you in. She told me how beautiful my tree looked from the window. Of course, I thanked her. The woman behind me wasn't as appreciative. She said, "I can't believe you have your tree up already! It's not even Thanksgiving!" I wish I had told her to stuff it.

Even though my house looks like Santa came and ransacked the place, I still have a printable suitable for the rest of you who aren't as ready for Christmas. A friendly little reminder, it's only 52 days away.

November Printable Mash Up

When do you start your holiday decorating? When you do, is your theme "go big or go home?"