2012 as Me

I haven't written in a while and I apologize for that. I also underestimated how much I would want to say on a blog. I feel like this is less of a pinterest/craft blog and more of just a me blog for me.

To start off, I saw a pin on pinterest about soaking candy in vodka to make flavored vodka. How perfect, right? Wrong. First of all, the flavor is over powering. And, for some reason, when I thought of candy vodka I thought it would taste more like candy and less like vodka. Nope. The vodka is still there. It's not something you'll want to straight drink (bad idea, trust me). It's more of a shot. I don't know why I thought it wouldn't be. Mistake on my part. So this is just a fair warning.

This year has not gone well. If 2012 is the end of the world (which it isn't) then this is a sucky last year for me. I don't know if I've just made bad choices or what I've done to create such a mess.

To start off 2012 my 'boyfriend' or I suppose he would prefer that I say the guy I was seeing, left to study abroad. We weren't 'together' but we weren't not together. It was one of those things. You know what I mean. You can ask my friends, that hit me pretty hard, but I won't linger on THAT. There's more sadness to talk about still!

I've never been one to be single long. That's not to say that I'm really pretty or that I like 'rebound guys', I don't. I've just never learned to be alone. I think it goes back to my relationship with my dad. Also, my first boyfriend and I were far from a healthy relationship. When I say first boyfriend I'm talking serious boyfriend. Not like in seventh grade when I got my first kiss and called him my boyfriend (not even a real kiss). So shortly after study abroad guy left (Elliot as my friends call him) I began seeing someone new. I think subconsciously I was trying to move on but really my feelings just transferred  My friends even told me that they were afraid that would happen, and they were right. I know now that I should have taken more time for myself. I should of found out who I am without a guy before jumping to the next one. My relationship with 'the next one', we'll call him the wrestler for blogging sake, has been a lot of fun. We have a good time together.

I moved in with The Wrestler at the beginning of the 2012 summer. I didn't want to go home and neither did he. It was supposed to be a temporary thing. We both worked at jobs 20 minutes away in opposite directions. We adopted a cat for free from the Human Society. Life was good. For a little while.

The Wrestler took his car to a body shop to fix some cosmetic damage. Later, the engine caught fire while I was driving it. So we were out a car. He would borrow mine if I didn't work or pay to borrow someone else's if he did. We got by.

The alternator on my car went out. The Wrestler and my brother-in-law fixed it with little expense to me. There was about a week that we were both paying to borrow cars from people. What happened to REAL friends?

The next month I got a speeding ticket. Ironically, I was speeding because I was borrowing my mom's car that doesn't have any headlights. It was getting dark and I didn't want to blind the people in front of me with my lights. I was trying to pass them to avoid pissing them off. My bad.

In the beginning of October I decided I needed to move out. The RA job I had lined up with the school didn't work out and I stayed with my boyfriend. Let me tell you that living with four guys is no easy task. Especially when they aren't your children, or brothers, or related to you in anyone. If you don't have to love them because they're related to you then you probably won't. Let's be honest.

In the beginning of September, my boyfriend was T-boned at an intersection in my car. He is fine but my car is totaled  The man didn't have valid insurance and my insurance company can't seem to get a hold of him using the fake telephone number he provided. Weird how that doesn't work.

Last week liquid was spilled (not by me) onto my computer. Hopefully Best Buy will have good news that the speakers are all that needs to be replaced.

My mom is moving out of our current house and can't keep my cat. That makes three for me. I'm slowly becoming the crazy cat lady.

That's a whole lot of complaining to do in one blog and I strongly apologize. I've watched Bridesmaids over and over again and I've started comparing my life to hers. Not a good idea. BUT she gets a happy ending so I will too, right?

To counter all of this sadness here is a list of good things that have or will happen to me this year:

I adopted TWO new babies (cats). I'm happy to be a cat lady.
I got a new (to me) car fro a great deal
I did get a new computer to replace the old one
I've lived on my own for 6ish months and haven't died. That's and accomplishment in it's own.
I ended my Freshman year of college and Started my Sophomore year off with a BANG!
I'm still awesome.

There are other things. Most definitely (I can never spell that word right). Sometimes it's just hard to focus on the positive when the negative are so bad. And sometimes, the negative are so bad that you have to focus on the positive. 2013 will be better. Not instantly. That's what the end of 2012 is for. To get to better. The positive.

I love Colors!

I am a huge fan of colors. Bright ones. I love the idea of having a turquoise bookshelf or a pair of bright yellow heels to wear. I like to stand out and to do so need something that POPS! So on pinterest I have been seeing some cool colored clothes and thought that maybe I could make some myself.
Here's what I used:

RIT dye (from Hobby Lobby) in my chosen color of scarlet, a large bowl, and bleach (not shown)

And a pair of jeans that I wanted to change. I chose these jeans because I don't wear them very often and they are a little snug on me so I won't be upset if they turn out terrible.

First I filled the bowl with water. This whole process would have worked much better in a sink or bathtub but I don't have a plug for my sink nor do I have a bathtub. I poured a lot of bleach into the water. No measurements just guesstimating. I didn't notice but the bleach was lemon scented. This gave the jeans a yellow tinge once they were completely bleached.

I submerged the jeans into the bowl and let them sit for over 24 hours. It surprised me how long it took. You can see in the picture where the jeans have started to yellow. When they were completely bleached I let them dry completely by hanging them up over the same bowl (to catch dripping water).

The yellow tint doesn't actually affect the end result but is just something to consider. I used the same bowl, refilled it with water, and added some of the RIT dye. I didn't measure. Depending on how dark the jeans got I would add more. Remember, you can only add more.  None can be subtracted so use sparingly.

I'm not sure how long I let them sit but I made sure to check on the color and stir them every so often. When they got to a color I liked I let them hang dry again. Then I put them through the washing machine and dryer by themselves.

When I first decided I liked the color they were a darker pink. After washing they turned out coral which is even better. They're gorgeous in person. It's a pretty easy process but I'd never thought about changing the color of my clothes before. I have a hoodie that I am trying to transform into something magnificent and I think I am going to use this same process to get rid of the boring grey. Enjoy!

I bet you didn't know!

I haven't posted in a while, sorry about that. Bigger things took my attention momentarily. But I'm back now with a list of tips you probably will want to know at some point in your life. There are a lot of these lists on pinterest and the internet but I find that some of them don't work into my life as well as they might for someone with kids and a family (I mean, generally a lot of them work since living with boys is like having kids but some do not apply to me). So this is a general list of tips and tricks for your convenience.

 1. Vinegar is your best friend. Once I realized the multiple uses for vinegar I realized I couldn't live without it. This big bottle is about $4 at Walmart (don't quote me on that price). The reason I found so many amazing uses is that I was having a problem with the gnats invading the kitchen and the rest of our house. I needed a cure. Pinterest told me that by mixing vinegar with a small dose of dish soap (I generally do a thin layer on the bottom of the bowl and fill the rest with vinegar) the gnats will be attracted and then trapped. They like vinegar but the consistency of the dish soap traps and drowns them. I'm sure my roommates thought I was crazy leaving bowls of vinegar around but it worked. Vinegar can also be used to clean a smelly sink. Just pour baking soda and THEN vinegar down the drain. Clears that nasty chicken smell right up.

2. I am poor. No surprise, I'm in college. SO I don't like to waste or throw away things if I don't have to. I found out via pinterest that mascara doesn't run out as fast as you think it does, it just dries out. My mom told me not to pump my mascara and that will make it last longer. Years of habbit kept me pumping. There's a simple solution: put a few drops of contact solution into your mascara once it dries out. Pump it a few times and let it sit overnight The next day your mascara will be just like new. This can be done 2-3 times before you actually have to throw away your mascara. I've also heard that dried out markers dipped in contact solution and left, with the cap on, overnight will work but I've yet to try it.

3. Jenna Marbles taught me (though I already knew it) that it isn't healthy to wash your hair everyday:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuTcLJybqLM. My problem with not washing my hair every day is that my hair starts to look greasy and dirty after a few hours, especially if I've been at work. I absolutely hate this. Appearance is (almost) everything. I found out that dry shampoo (about $3 at Wal-mart) cures that problem. For second day hair I spray some dry shampoo on the roots of my hair, let it sit for a minute, and then rub it through all of my hair. I almost always wear my hair up if I have second day hair. This way I don't obsess over how my hair looks. Generally, if your hair is up its less likely to look greasy anyways.

4. I used to have way too many pairs of clothes (ask my old roommate). I didn't wear all of them but couldn't bring myself to get rid of anything. What if there was a party where I need to dress up as Tom Cruise in Risky Business?!? This button down shirt dress will come in handy!!! It was a real problem for me. My sister told me a trick one of her co-workers does. Hang all of your hangers facing the wrong way in your closet at the beginning of the season. When you wear and wash them you'll instinctively hang them up facing the right direction. At the end of the season get rid of any clothes that are still facing the wrong way. If you didn't wear them this season it's most likely that you won't wear them again.

5. This last one applies to a lot of people I'm sure! I have a really small shower. Not only that but I share it with two guys. We all have our own shampoos, body washes, etc. The shelf that hangs on the shower head just doesn't cut it for us. I got tired of having to take a shower cady into my own shower. I pay rent, I want ROOM! So I got creative. I went to the dollar tree and picked up a pack of two baskets, another cady, and some shower curtain rings. This is what I set up:

I had an extra shower curtain rod lying around from when I moved out of the dorms. I looped one shower curtain ring through the top of each shower cady. This way they could hang on the bar facing the right direction. I used four more rings to secure one basket to each cady. They hang at the very back of our tiny shower now. It holds all of our shavers, shampoos, and such. It's not as wobbly and I am less likely to bump into it. I don't know about the guys but I'm pretty happy with it.

Those are all my essentials. There are probably a lot more things I could do to make life easier but this is what I have so far. Enjoy!

Let's Be Thankful

Alright guys, this next project is going to take a while but it's fun and all you need is a deck of cards. This is going to start being more than just a craft/art blog.

As I've said before, I work as a waitress (see how to tip post). Earlier today I noticed that all people did was complain. The people I work with, the people I wait on, everyone. And I understand. Sometimes life is hard. But all this complaining in one place shut me up real quick. Sure I could have joined in (car troubles, GREAT!!) and maybe I did thrown out a few sob stories but I think we all take our lives for granted. I work four doubles a week waiting on people who don't appreciate the hurtles I jump to please them but I have food in my mouth and a roof over my head and that's a lot more than many. I saw a photo on pinterest that really said it all for me:

Basically I want to add some perspective to my life and I think you should do the same.

I saw on pinterest an art journal. Being the crafty girl I am I went ahead and clicked the link. It took me to this woman's mini art journal using a deck of cards. I thought it was so neat that I decided I wanted to make one. So these cards have been sitting in my room for over a week with no inspiration to put anything onto them. Today is that inspiration. I want this deck of cards to be a reminder of how lucky I am to be where I am with who I have. I am going to create a card whenever my mood strikes. I took down some ideas on themes for the cards (yes there's a prompt) but if you don't like them you don't have to use them or you can change them up.

My first step was to decorate a background for a few of the cards. I knew I would want them painted and glued and such so I did that to save time when I'm actually creating something.

I threw them all into one little box that I wasn't using (courtesy of the Target dollar bins) and can look through them whenever inspiration hits.
So my first prompt (from the original site) is Something you are proud of. I kept the name but changed it to someone. Here's where the blogging actually begins!

It's terrible picture quality. Sorry! No matter how many pictures I take I can't fix it. I really need a new camera (hint hint Christmas gift idea!)

This is a picture of my little brother (aww I know!). He's older now but this is the oldest school photo I have of him. I'm sure he has never thought of me as being proud of him but I am, so very proud. I'm always telling him not to mess up his life and scolding him for the little things but I am so jealous of where he is compared to where I was when I was his age. He has done so well and he excels in nearly all he tries in. When we were young we went through a divide in our family and I thought I had it hard by being left out. Getting older I realize it's so much harder being the rope than tugging on one end and I am just so proud of all that he is and will become.

Some things I made sure to include on this was a number (1) so I could keep my cards in order. This isn't necessarily important but I would prefer them that way. I also wrote the prompt so I knew what the card was about (there are going to be 52 of these so it might get confusing).

If you're looking for something to do or a way to add a little reminder of things to be thankful for or even something to cheer you up on your bad days then go ahead and grab a deck of cards and join me in creating a mini art journal.

Cheap Art

This was a pretty cool project but I didn't have canvas and didn't want to buy any so I substituted a large (ish) piece of cardboard instead. So first I painted it whatever color I wanted. I chose a new purple I'd just found in the clearance aisle at Wal-mart.

I have been collecting the empty toilet paper rolls from the bathroom each time we run out. I have been seeing tons of projects that look easy and cute (like this one). Let me just say it's super easy for me to get the toilet paper roll because I am the only one who knows how to change it (apparently), but if you live with women then you should let your roomies know to keep the rolls. This project only took two rolls but I'm still saving them for whatever projects I come up with next. I flattened the rolls and placed a ruler on top then made a mark at even intervals depending on how thick I wanted my project. It's kinda hard to see but its .5 inch red marks.

Then I cut both rolls into strips. I formed my design on the ground first before hot gluing the pieces together. Then I painted them a second color that I liked with the purple.

Once all of my pieces dried I hot glued the pieces together in the places they belonged. With pieces like the flower the glue will dry before you can get glue on all of it so I placed glue on the five ends.
Once the project was done I nailed it to the wall placing the nails in places that aren't noticeable like in the middle of the flower and the corners of the petals.

And it's finished! I got the idea from one I saw online. There are many more that I have liked so I will probably do some more. Like I said I think this would look way cooler on canvas. I would have loved to make it huge like in the example that I saw. I've got a lot more projects on the way so keep checking. I'm going to start a weekly art journal soon that will take about ten minutes a week. SO get a deck of cards!! and come back soon!

Always Waiting

So this post is not going to be crafty but don't worry I've got a list of things to blog about. This is more of a "You need to learn this" post. Its about how to tip you wait staff. Now I'm sure many of you think you know how to do this....but you probably are wrong. No offense.

Let's just start off by saying I am a waitress so this applies to me and that's why I think its important. It is very possible and probable that you, your children, and your grandchildren will at some point have a waiting job as well. Therefore it applies to you too.

I know that the general rule to go by is 10-15%. This rule sucks. At my job we are required to claim 12% of our total sales as tips. So obviously if everyone tips 10% I won't make that line. Which means I will need a managers approval to claim the tips that I did make and it will look like I didn't claim all of my tips. Now I'm not saying I'm a bad waitress. There are many times where I make more than that 10-15% but it's annoying when one or two tables ruin my whole tip percentage. If your waiter/tress does a good job, tip them the most that you think they deserve. Don't be cheap. As a waitress I make $2.15 an hour. How much do you make? because I'm pretty sure it's more than that. You can argue that there are nights when I make more than minimum wage, which is true. But let's be honest, with this economy not as many people can afford to go out to eat. There are far more days where I don't even make minimum wage because it's slow and there aren't a lot of customers.

Now, I want to touch on a stereotype. Two actually. Old people and young people. The stereotype is that you suck at tipping. One dollar does not a tip make my old friends. The wait staff dreads when you come in and dreads having you as a table. Change this stereotype. Prices have gone up. I know you've noticed. This means that the tip should go up as well.

Here is something that particularly irks me. If you have a coupon, or kids eat free, tip as if you didn't. At my job we have a night where kids eat free. So it's annoying when a table of 6 comes in, 4 of which are kids, so their bill that would be $60 is only $20 and they tip you for the $20. I did $60 worth of work for you especially since kids tend to take more patience so please tip accordingly.

No one waits because they like it because no one likes it. It isn't a fun job and people aren't fun to wait on. I know at some point you've had to deal with a mean/bad/annoying customer. That's almost a daily thing for a waiter especially at a popular restaurant. So tip well from now on.

Very good movie by the way.

Toga Toga!!

My boyfriend is apart of a fraternity on campus. Towards the end of the year the fraternity had a Toga party. He left me up to deciding on the togas. I decided to go on the "famous couples in history" route and play off our whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing since many of the guys and their dates weren't actually couples. I had a whole list including mickey/minnie, knight/princess, classic caveman/woman but finally my friends helped me decide on this:

Can you see it? Most people got the right show. Pebbles and Bam Bam!! Dorthy and Tin-man were a close tie. I'll use them eventually.
So here's how I did this awesome costume for pretty cheap.

Pebbles
Pebbles was obviously pretty easy. She actually has a lime green dress with black triangles like Bam Bams but I figured I could get away with white circles. I can't remember how much I bought but I ended up only using half. I cut the fabric in half length wise and sewed two ends together to make it longer. I decided on my length by, in the store, estimating how much fabric would be needed to wrap around me, I should have bought half as much. To wrap the dress I started by hanging a piece over my shoulder with the short end reaching just past my waist in the front and the long part hanging in the back. I then started to wrap starting at the top and going around to the front, over the short end, and continued wrapping down my body until I got my desired length. I overlapped for most of the fabric. I tucked the end up (which you can see in the picture on your left) and used a safety pin to hold it in place. Any places that were loose also got a safety pin. I used a shell necklace and a felt dog toy as accents to the outfit. To put the bone in my hair I put it up in a very high ponytail. I took two pieces of hair and pulled them forward placing the bone up against the hair-tie. Then I wrapped one piece of hair on one side of the bone and safety pinned the hair in the back. I did the same on the other side.

Bam Bam
Bam Bams was way harder. I couldn't find any fabric with black triangles so we bought just plain fabric. I bought a piece of sale fabric in black and cut it into little black triangles. That's right. I put those triangles on by hand. I didn't sew them thank god. I bought fabric no stitch gel and used that to quickly apply random triangles everywhere. I also applied them to the hat. The only reason the hat is even apart of the outfit is because my boyfriend has a thing for hats. Bam Bam does have a hat but it's not a necessity. Wrapping Bam Bam was pretty much the same as Pebbles. More chest is shown so wrapping doesn't have to start as high. As you can see the shoulder depends on the personal preference. My boyfriend wanted his on the left to cover some scars.


I probably spent 2-4 hours making these costumes and another hour putting them on both of us. Now I love KU but it's my luck that they made it into the basketball Championships about 30 minutes after we got our togas on so no one stayed for the party. And they couldn't even win the Championship for goodness sake! That makes me very angry. If they had won it all I wouldn't be as mad.  I will definitely reuse these costumes. This wrapping technique held up way better than many of the others I saw at the party. People were constantly having their togas fall off. Also, it looks like all we have on are togas. Underneath I am wearing a strapless shirt and spandex shorts. Plenty of girls did the same but theirs could be seen. I've also seen togas in a halter style using a similar technique. Rather than draping behind one should go back over the other shoulder and then start wrapping.


Toga Toga Toga!!!