5k Finisher

Last post found me the night before my first 5k, ever. The morning of we, met up with my parents, who were driving up to cheer us on. We arrived an hour before the race and tried to keep warm in the brisk 36°F air. Here's a shot of us before the race. 

My company was the major supporter for the race and had about 100 people running, which was about a third of the runners. Now, I mentioned that if I ran the whole thing I would most likely cry. Well, I didn't cry...but I sure as hell ran the whole freaking course. I could not be more proud of myself or Ryan. I know you can't tell from my hair, it was so freaking cold I felt like I didn't sweat, but here's us after the race.

Towards the homestretch, Ryan was itching to run faster and kept bugging me about picking up my pace. A moment later we saw my parents cheering us on and I can't even explain how happy I was in that moment.  I knew we were close to the end and I was still running. As we saw the finish line, Rye looked over and said something like, "let's finish it." We sprinted the rest of the way and finished at 39:37 and 39:38. Ahead of our goal to run under 40 minutes. 

We may not have been the fastest, we may have been beaten by a 74 year old woman, but we ran, and we finished our first 5k together. Check out our stats below, we're 254 and 255.

What have you accomplished lately? What's next on your goal list?

'Twas the Night Before the Race

Yep, that's right. Tomorrow, Ryan and I are running our first 5K in the morning.

I'm somewhere between, incredibly excited and terrified. Excited because you only have one first and it's tomorrow! More likely, I'm excited for the fact that this is what our training has led up to. I'm terrified, because I'm not sure if I can run the whole thing. And I really want to. I think if I do, I'll cry. Legitimately cry. 

It's better too, as I have a little support group going. Not only am I running with Ryan but with one of my best friends, Andrea. You may remember her, my triathlon friend. My mom and dad are also going to cheer us on from the sidelines. My brother called me tonight and asked if it was okay that he sleep in on his birthday rather than go watch us run. I couldn't fault him at that. He even offered to make a sign for us, which I thought was sweet. Mainly because Dean is not crafty at all. 

Wish me luck tomorrow! I'll be sure to post about times and a picture with my face as red as a cherry. Be on the look out!

She's Crafty - Jewelry Board Frame

In my peruse of pinterest, I've stumbled upon a few different pins about putting your jewelry on display like this one and this one. Since then, I haven't been able to get the idea out of my head. To be able to see all my jewelry! Then I wouldn't be stuck with wearing the same pieces day after day. I would be able to check out my choices. Daily. I was bouncing with joy as I started this project. A month ago...

I already had some of the supplies I needed. Small frame for earring holder? Check. Paint? Check. Pegboard, big frame, pegs, chicken wire? UNCHECK. It also took me a few days to convince the hubbs that these were necessary items for my latest crafting idea. Somehow, he just doesn't see the pictures in my head. Weird, right? I bought the pegboard and hardware cloth at Home Depot, pegs from Walmart, and frame from the Albany ReStore.

After spending what was probably too much money, I started out making the small frame for earrings. I actually have had this one done for a while. I used two coats of the silver finish and two coats of gloss clear coat. Because the frame had slots where plexiglass fit in, I was able to slide the hardware cloth right in and not use staples to keep it there.

The one part that took the longest to get was definitely the frame. I had to find or make the perfect one. After searching a lot of goodwill, salvation army, and thrift stores I found what I was looking for at a reasonable price. I wiped it down, coated it with two layers of a white base, then painted three layers of silver coat on top of it. Followed by a layer of clear coat, I just had to get the pegboard fitted.

Good thing I have strong men who have and know how to use power tools...namely a table saw. Us poor women are just so lucky to have them around. (Please read the heavy sarcasm layered in there) But man, they are nice to have around. 

the hubbs and my dad

With four coats of my favorite color paint on the pegboard followed by what seemed like seven layers of clear coat - I couldn't seem to get the even gloss - the pegboard was ready to go into the frame! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was for this moment! I kept running back and forth looking at the wall, looking at my frame, trying to figure out what else I had to do to get this on the wall. Securing the board in with teeny tiny nails, this bad boy was ready. Note that I did take off the hanging wire and loops from the back and used just the saw tooth hanger on top to mount it.

It was a little difficult to get the frame straight at first because you can't just hang it straight on. It's heavy towards the one side. Then you add on your jewelry and it slips the other way. I unloaded EVERY SINGLE PIECE of jewelry that I own from my standing jewelry chest and placed all necklaces, dangle earrings, and bracelets I had. I also got the chance to go through it all and ask myself if I really wanted it. I have a nice little baggie awaiting the yard sale I plan to have this summer. 

I am incredibly happy with how this turned out and it's definitely a HIT. What do you think? Ready to tackle your own?

What can I craft this Tuesday? Pallet Wood Memory Frame

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away somewhere in the millions pins on pinterest, I found the perfect gift for my father. The problem was it's $75. Not that I'm not willing spend that much on my dad, it's just that I could make something like it myself for much cheaper. That's what I set out to do this Christmas. 

My first step was to find free pallets. You can generally find them on Craigslist or behind a store. I went to my normal store and picked up three snow covered ones. Then the hubbs and I deconstructed them. We use our circular saw to cut along the edges and then see-saw it off the center nails. It's not a fast going process but it's not as slow as it could be.

Half the time we pulled the boards off the center pallet support the nails came with it. Make sure you a handsome husband around to pound out those rusty things.

Make sure he's also around to use the power tools. God forbid us women folk use them...

From one large pallet we got a pretty decent pile of wood boards. For my dad's sign, I used three pieces of wood that were 25" long and between 4.5" and 6" wide. The final product was 17"x25". 

Next, I took the boards I was going to use and sanded the crap out of them. The only bad thing about pallets is that they're so roughly cut. It takes forever to get the natural grain back out. Here's a before and after picture.

I wiped them down to get most of the excess dust off and left them overnight to dry. Back at it the next day I used mending plates with #8x1/2" sheet metal screws to connect the boards. I used three instead of the four boards I sanded. It looked best with the frame I picked out. 

Then I white washed the boards all together and left it to dry overnight - mainly because I'm lazy I had other to do. While it was drying, I worked on the wording and fonts I wanted to use for the frame. I ended up using Aquarelle and KG Hard Candy Solid for the words. I used a lead pencil to shade in the back of the page so that I could transfer the words onto the wood. Using a pencil I traced the outside of the words so that I could painstakingly paint the words on. The things I do for those I love. I tell ya. Here's my process:

I took my frame - which was an stand up frame - and took off the kick stand (what do you even call that thing?). I then put in a saw tooth hanger on the frame so that I could mount it on the base. With two more sheet metal screws attached it's ready for mounting. 

Fast forward a week...Ryan finally decided to work on his "honey do" list. Which included getting an 8"x10" print from our wedding. In the mean time, I put in two D-ring hangers (attached with sheet metal screws) to the back of the base.

Armed with the right picture, I finally finished it! I'm almost positive this is going to go over well Saturday when my dad opens it. By the way, good luck finding a box to fix this...

I spend $5 for the picture, pennies for the screws (if you think about per piece), let's say $2.50 for a three pack of D-ring hangers (so $1.67 for the pair), about $3.25 for the mending plates, and finally $12.50 for the 8"x10" frame. Add that all up and it's about $25 for materials (including tax). That's a steal compared to what you would've paid for just the frame. All in all, I say win. 

What do you guys think? Something easy you could do? Who would you make one for and what would it say?