Crafting Fever

I've been in quite the crafty mood lately and it's all a result of having a blank canvas to work with - my new house. So many blank walls and spaces combined with a tight budget make for a thrifty innovative gal. It could also possibly be a result of reading some great blogs lately which are written by very crafty innovative women and because I am a feeder, not a leader, as in, I feed off the energy, creativity, motivation, etc, of others, I have been enlightened. I'll leave that leader-schmeader stuff to those other women.


Here's one of the feeder ideas I've tried recently...




Three old mirrors turned into pretty chalkboards.

I quite like these.

I wish I could get the pictures bigger but for some reason the resolution is really bad when I enlarge them so sorry 'bout that.

These were really easy to do and are now very functional pieces. I could put these almost anywhere in my house but for now, they are in my kitchen and are labeled as such.

I'm amazed at what these three small former mirrors were able to do in terms of cozying up my little dining area!

The next project was something I was VERY excited about. I found this idea while looking for baby nursery ideas....for my friend. (Almost had ya' didn't I?) My friend needed some cute ideas to go with her ladybug nursery theme and I stumbled upon this idea of vinyl word art.

A company called Right on the Walls produces easy-to-apply word art that just about anyone with two hands can do. You can get to their website here or by finding and clicking on the Right on the Walls button on the right side of this page. Trust me, you will almost certainly find something you just HAVE to have.

I found about 50 things.

And their always posting new products. This is one of them...

This is the first piece (of many) that I chose. And yes, I knoooow, that frame looks ridiculous because I haven't put a picture in it yet but I just couldn't wait to show you! Picture coming soon.

I WILL say that the application of this piece was a liiittle trickier than perhaps others might be because that bottom line is actually supposed to sit on top of the top line but they came on two different pieces of paper and you can't see through the top paper in order to see if it's where it should be. In other words the brown "Martinez" is supposed to act as a shadow of the blue words but because DJ and I are very much amateurs at this home decorating bit, the blue line sits lower.

Trust me, this was a learning process for us and not just for decorating reasons. We learned the importance of communication, the ability to laugh in stressful situations, how not to react to an oops! moment and the importance of crating your dog while attempting to hang something in a precarious place when both hands of both people are needed. (Again, this is probably easier than we made it but we're perfectionists to top it all off. Go figure.)

But in all fairness, the actual application of the letters was EXTREMELY easy. We had no problem adhering them to the wall. The best part is that they're temporary so we can take it right off when we move.

So do you like this enough to want it? Or at least something like it? Do you? Really? Well alright, I guess I'll just have to give one away!

I am giving away your choice of any item valued at $40 or less. To be qualified, leave a comment telling me which piece of art you would get if you win the giveaway and where you would put it in your house. I will choose a winner on November 29. I hope you all win! (I wish that was possible! But you can't ALL win. Only one of you. I only have one.)

Creeping Doubt

I'm having second thoughts about this whole NaBloPoMo thing.

I'm running out of things to say! I really didn't think that would be a problem.

So I'm beginning to doubt whether the prize at the end of the NaBloPoMo yellow brick road is really worth it.

And actually the more I think about it, it's not that I've run out of things to say completely. It's just that I don't want to ramble and bore the heck out of you.

I was thinking about different topics I could discuss today and they all just sound like rambling to me. Today is Friday the 13th - anyone got any superstitions? Not me. There's a football game tomorrow - anyone going to watch it? (And I mean of course the ever-important Tennessee game. Any other game is moot in my mind.) I am. Yeah, all ramblings of a bored accountant.

So I'll end this post here. If you waaaant to, you could suggest some topics that you would like to hear about. I mean, there's probably nothing but just in case, leave a comment and tell me what you want to know! I might just do it.

OMG!

I almost didn't post anything today!

Done.

That would have completely disqualified me from NaBloPoMo. The horror. I gotta win me some prizes!

Tomorrow's Friday!! Be happy!!

A Challenge

I saw this on Megan's blog yesterday and wow. It's a really good visualization. And something I've been thinking a lot about lately.

How far into my life do I allow people?

How hard do I try to affect other people's lives in a positive way?

God is showing me that I need to start practicing some flips and jumps on my balance beam.




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And for all those men and women out there who have served our country, I want to take advantage of today and say thank you. Thank you for the great sacrifice of your time (and lives, for those that have lost loved ones in war) to our country. We are deeply indebted to you and appreciate you tremendously.

Sloppy Goodness

I was pleased to be informed last night that I have discovered a favorite of DJ's. Not just any favorite but a food favorite. It's not often that this happens so I was very flattered. We eat these probably about once a month at least. I am going to share the receipe with you! You lucky ducks.

They're called Emily's Sloppy Joes but I think we'll just change that to Nichole's Sloppy Joes. I'm sure my version is better than Emily's, whoever that is...

1.5 lbs Ground Beef

1 onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 can tomato paste

1 cup of water

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs chile powder

3 Tbs brown sugar

Brown the ground beef. Add the chopped onion and red pepper. Saute for an additional 5-7 minutes. Drain the fat.

Add the tomato paste and water. Mix until paste is dissolved.

Add the rest of the ingredients and let cook for 5-10 minutes until the mixtures is thick like a stew.

Serve on buns!

Photo: Sloppy Joes

So easy and so good.

Hostess with the mostest

I love entertaining. Most people that know me already know this little factoid. I love having parties, planning parties, hosting overnight guests, hosting casual get-togethers, etc, etc, etc. Whatever it is, if it involves planning, at least one person (hosting animals doesn't count - it's probably not the same, but since I haven't done that, I'll withhold my critique), and the opportunity to spread the love, then count me in.

Our last apartment was definitely not conducive to hosting. I still did it a few times, but certainly not as often as I really wished I could.

We had some friends over for dinner a couple of times. Both times I looked my pride in the eye, kicked it out the door and invited our friends to pull up a chair to our...er, t.v. trays. They were good sports and sat right down. That's the great thing about great friends! They can overlook the small things like having no dinner table at which to eat our dinner.

And my brother came to stay with us for a week. We set him up in our cozy and not the least private......living room. On a comfy......air mattress. Where he could place his bags......in the middle of the "dining room." (That's what it was supposed to be, but it was really more of an extended living room in our case.) He was woken up each morning to the smell of fresh......poo. Maia poo, lest you think we are barbarians. Maia was still a small puppy and had not yet been fully potty trained so she, uh, went in her crate each morning. Looking back, I feel kind of bad for Chace. I'll have to make that up to him one day, I suppose. But maybe not. I mean brothers are brothers for a reason. They just deal with stuff like that because they love their sisters. Right? (tap, tap...is this thing on??)

Anyway, now that we've moved out of that good-for-nothing hosting apartment, we've moved to a luxurious two-bedroom, two-bath split-level town home. Oh the joy! Problem is, I moved into this place 2,000 miles away from the friends and family that I would invite to any party or gathering I may decide to host! Oh the irony...

But it's ok. I'll make friends. One day. In the mean time, we are welcoming our first house guests in two weeks! My parents and my brother are coming to stay with us and I couldn't be more excited. Granted, it is still a little rustic (read: no bed, one bathroom to share (the second bathroom doesn't have a shower), and minimal furniture) but hey! a hostess wouldn't be the hostess with the mostest without a little challenge to really make her talents shine right??

I'm going to make those air mattresses be the homiest, coziest, most lovely air mattresses a person could ask for and that bathroom will work. I mean we're family. We've had to share a bathroom before. It'll work. It will. (I'm still in the panicky, "is this going to work", trying-to-convince-myself stage of the hostess with the mostest challenge... but if you've ever seen reality t.v. you know, it always seems to work out in the end. Somehow, against all odds. And that will be the case here too. It will.)

Sunday Siesta

Today is supposed to be a day of rest. So I am taking the liberty to make this a very simple post today.

Take advantage of today and rest!!

Spend time with your family!

Take a walk!

Read a book!

Relax your mind, body and soul!