DIY Chalkboard

  

Found for $4.99!

 All the craze right now are home made chalkboards to write all kinds of fun  sayings on. I use them during my photography sessions for newborns and infants to capture specific quotes or information regarding the child's birth. I have used them for engagements to capture a couple's songs and most recently I have used them to help capture a little one being adopted. My sister is going to be using them at her wedding to show the menu during the reception and I have found some beautiful ideas on Pinterest to use as welcome signs, at showers for games or food buffets. Purchasing a chalkboard from a store can be boring so I have been scouring thrift store to find decorative frames that I could then in turn create into a chalkboard. This is a very simple and inexpensive craft.

Have had this for years, a little
goes a long way.

Materials needed:
Decorative frame with glass
Chalkboard Paint (can find at Walmart or a hardware store)
Foam Brush






Directions:
Prep the glass by popping it out of the frame. If the glass is not removable use painter's tape to tape the edges.
Apply a semi-thick coat of paint over the glass. You will want to apply about 4-5 coats waiting until each coat is completely dry. If you don't let it dry, the paint can start to chip off and clump. To make sure I had the entire area covered I would raise the glass towards the light to see if I could see through.
Once paint is completely dry place back in frame and use to decorate!

Finished product!

3 Personality Traits I am Proud Of....

I am not one to talk about myself. I feel like it makes me look selfish and arrogant, but with this new approach to blogging and trying to touch on four key points in my every day life (1. personal experiences, 2. faith 3. crafting 4. you have to wait for this one ;)), once in a while I am going to post things about me, I think these are some of the hardest things to post.
According to Wikipedia, trait theory is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, or emotion. There are thousands of traits identified in the world and each person possesses a vast variety of traits. It is who makes their character, or like Wikipedia stated their personality. To choose only three traits is hard as I don't want to pick the wrong ones and I am not sure if I truly possess these traits even though I have family members and friends who might say I do.

The first personality trait that I know I possess and am extremely proud of is being creative. For me, creativity is an outlet that allows me to relieve stress. Instead of running a mile everyday or accomplishing a hard work out, I create. If I can create a piece and either give it to someone who will cherish and appreciate it or I keep for myself that is what makes me most happy. I love being crafty and giving handmade gifts to others. The look on their faces is enough for me to be satisfied. Giving someone a handmade gift tells the recipient that the giver thinks highly of them and put not only thought into the gift but also the effort. Crafting takes time and only does it become quicker as a crafter becomes more proficient in the type of craft. Crafting also provides close-ended tasks (a finished product is a result of the work put in) which I love. I love beginning a task and being able to see to it's completion. Over the years I have given hundreds of cards, plenty of baby blankets, and a few scrapbooks to friends and friends that I consider family.
Not only do I craft in many mediums but I also am an amateur photographer. Being able to provide photography services for a family who may not be able to afford a high end professional gives me so much happiness. Everyone deserves the opportunity for a photographer to capture their family memories regardless of their income. This talent allows me to do that and I have met some amazing people along the way as well as also explored some great new places in the Central Ohio area.

The 2nd personality trait I believe I possess is being genuine. Genuine means authentic, truly what something is said to be. I do my best to stay true to myself and show that to everyone that meets me. No one likes a fake person or someone who cannot live up to what they say and I have had past experiences that have shown me what I do not want to be. A few years ago I had someone question my genuineness and I was blown away. I was hurt that someone who I thought was a close friend did not believe my sincereness. It made me take a hard look at myself and my relationships and I learned quickly it was them and not me. I take pride in how genuine I am, it represents me as a whole and how I live my life.

The 3rd personality trait I possess and I also believe this is a fault of mine is optimism. Optimism is the ability to be hopeful and confident about the future. I always try to see the other side of things, it helps me stay positive and happy. I spent quite a few years around people who were negative and dragged me down. I realized that it was toxic on my life and it affected every area of my imaginable. My faith, my career, and personal life all declined with the negativity and I complained and dreaded a lot of things in my life. Now, I still may complain, but I always do my best to see the best side of things. I always play "devils advocate" to help friends realize there might be an upside to a bad situation.

New Career Path

In reality, no, I am not changing careers. However if I were to, I would go into a small business of making crafts and party planning. I love planning parties and organizing/running events. I recently had the privilege to help a close friend plan a baby shower for her sister-in-law. I had so much fun working with her and coming up with some really cute ideas. Thank God for Pinterest today, we looked for ideas as there are not many Toy Story themed baby showers, especially for little girls. We looked at many birthday parties with the same theme and I have to say, this party was a hit and everything was amazing. My friend would see or have the idea and I knew how to put it into fruition. It's an awesome thing that I love and I am thankful that we have many parties throughout the year that I can help my family plan. I am already onto my next party planning event which is my sister's bridal shower that is in a few weeks, but I wanted to share some (o.k. more like many) photos from the baby shower. We found adorable centerpiece cutouts on Etsy as well as the food tags. For the games we played Who Knows Mommy best and Guess the size of the belly. As a little gift to the baby we had guests decorate wooden blocks that were cut and painted by her grandparents. To decorate the DIY block station and to add to the Toy Story theme I found this awesome ABC block download. The backdrop behind the food table had cloud cut outs that matched the ones from the movie and were a perfect touch. 

Mmmm, Girl Scout Caramel deLites....

Wait, what did I just title this entry? Girl Scout Caramel deLites.....what are those? I only know of Girl Scout Samoas. At the end of January a few girlfriends and I were headed back to Ohio from North Carolina from a girls weekend and right before we crossed the NC/Virginia state line we stopped at a Walmart to look for souvenirs. With no such luck we stopped outside the store at a Girl Scout booth to grab some cookies for the drive home. When we walked up and I read the cookie box titles I asked if they were knock offs, I even glanced at the girls vests to make sure they were actual Girl Scout vests with badges, they were. The scout leader explained to me that the Girl Scouts use two different bakeries to make the cookies and depending on where the bakeries shipped to is what type of cookie you purchase.
There is some confusion based on where each bakery ships to and it's not necessarily geographically divided. Some states have both bakeries ship to them and others only one bakery covers the whole state. According to some of the articles I read, one of the bakeries has been around for decades and they do not necessarily need catchy names for individuals to remember. The other bakery is "new" and chose to have catchy names so individuals could remember and want to continue to purchase them. The only cookie both companies have named the same are the Thin Mint cookies and that is because the name "Thin Mint" is trademarked by the Girl Scouts.

Yellow= ABC Bakers & Purple= Little Brownie Bakers

I was floored reading about the bakeries and the cookies in general.  Each bakery sells the same cookies (except for the lemon flavored ones) but in reality they truly are different; not just the name but even the recipe! I couldn't wait to get home to compare the two, and there is a slight difference in appearance and taste. I added some pictures below to share the differences I found, I can say regardless, they both are still my favorite cookies. (PS if you live in an area where ABC Bakers ships to you must try the Lemonades! They are delicious and I am on the hunt for them!) To learn more you can read this article by the L.A. Times.

Lent

Growing up, Lent was a huge deal in my life, I was baptized and raised Catholic. I attended Catholic school and went to Mass almost every weekend with my family. Every Lenten season, I chose to give up something: chocolate, cookies, pop, and ice cream as the usual. One year I remember giving up red meat (I ate a lot of chicken in those 40 days). Most of the time, our religion teacher led our path to what we chose to give up but I had little understanding of the meaning as to why we were giving something up. I didn't understand the sacrifices Christ made for me let alone what he went through and continued to go through for my salvation.
Now as an adult, I have a new perspective and choosing something to sacrifice for Lent takes a lot more thought and preparation on my end. I reflect on things that I use a lot of in my life and how sacrificing that said thing or things would make my life better. I choose to sacrifice something that will help "save" my life as Jesus chose to save mine.
This year, I chose frivolous spending. I have a great job where I earn the right amount of money to cover bills and extras every month, but it wasn't until I took this job that I realized how much I spend each month (or in a 40 day period). I am a sub-contractor now and I have to track every penny spent while on the job. I had no idea how much gas, food, or supplies I was buying until I had to start keeping receipts and track of it all. It was a ridiculous amount and that was just what I was recording. I wasn't recording anything I was spending for personal use. I knew/know I had to make a change.
To make sure I was choosing something that would require me to really attend to what I was doing daily, I looked back at everything I had spent whether it was by cash, gift cards, debit or credit cards for the previous 40 days prior to Lent.  I never spent more than I made, but basically it came down to a difference of pennies from what I earned and what I spent each month.
Once I decided to sacrifice frivolous spending I set my parameters. I looked up the definition of frivolous to make sure what I was justifying to spend (basic bills, gas, & necessities) during the 40 days was accurate and would not fall into the frivolous category. I had some trips planned prior to Lent and set aside money and set a budget for each so to not falter.
I have chose to keep all of my debit and credit cards at home so I do not have easy access and it is making think twice before spending. Instead of cards, I have $20 in my wallet with the goal for it to last at least 20 days. It can be spent on anything but once it is gone it's gone. Well it's been almost 7 days and my $20 is gone but to a good cause. I donated it to one of my favorite restaurants that experienced a horrific event last week. I have another 13 days before $20 can go back in my wallet.  
Even though it has been 7 days since Lent began, this sacrifice and challenge has really shown me that it isn't important to have everything I want or consider a "need." That taking a moment to realize this helps me get closer to God and the real reason for the season of Lent.

On top of sacrificing for Lent I also began a new Bible study from Nap Time Diaries. I love Bible studies as they help me reflect on my relationship with God and help keep my faith in the forefront of everything I do. I am not someone who will willingly walk up to a stranger and discuss my beliefs and attempt to "save" someone, but I also will not do something if I believe it goes against my values and morals (thank you mom and dad and Catholic school for this upbringing). I believe religion and faith are private and everyone is entitled to what they believe, even if I may disagree (even blogging about faith sometimes gives me anxiety). I am honestly struggling quite a bit with this Bible Study. Every day of Lent a scripture passage is provided along with blank space for reflection. The reflection part is very difficult for me as I like guidance following a scripture passage. Without this, it has required me to dig deeper into my thoughts to produce even a simple sentence. I know though that this Bible study is the one chosen for me. Many things have changed for me in the past 6 months and are going to continue to change in the coming weeks ahead (more on this in future posts). This study which looks at eight different characteristics of God is also showing me how to work within myself to strengthen each one of the characteristics in my own personal life and how to strengthen my relationship with him. In addition to the Bible study, I follow an account on Instagram (@daily_bibleverses) that provides one character from the Bible each day throughout Lent. Each character provides concrete examples of how we should live our lives for God. Ironically, the individuals they are discussing coincide with my Bible study and are encouraging me to dig deep.

DIY Etched Glass

In one of my previous blog posts I talked about going to Charlotte for a girls weekend with some of my best friends. As a gift to each of them I made them a wine glass with the letter of their first name etched into the glass. I also added a wine charm to the bottom so we knew who's was who's. I have never etched on glass before so I scoured Pinterest and Google to find the best way to accomplish this. I found many different ways and each sounded like an answer to what I was looking for. In the end I chose my method based on curing time. I found one that took a total of 21 days to cure (didn't have that much time),  one that used a Dremel (was terrified to use a Dremel on glass, especially thin wine glasses), and one that uses this awesome liquid that looks like Mod Podge and takes about 5 minutes. I decided on the 5 minute curing time and went with it. I read and re-read the directions to make sure I used it correctly, seemed terrifying that something could etch into glass within 5 minutes and didn't want it to etch into anywhere else. I have listed the steps for you below to create these awesome keepsakes from such a fun weekend.
1. Choose your glass of choice, since it was girls weekend and 3/4 like wine I chose decent sized goblet glasses (usually the red wine glasses) and found some at a great price at a local discount store.
2. Cut the design you would like etched onto your glass from either a die-cutting machine or use a stencil. I used my Cricut Explorer and vinyl as my medium. It is best to use something like this, as it is already pre-sticky so you do not have to worry about adding additional adhesive.
3. Apply the design to the glass in designated area. Make sure when you are doing this that the entire design lays flat against the glass. If it does not lay flat, the liquid can run and mess up your piece.
4. Apply the Armour Etch according to the directions.
5. Wash off and clean the glass, enjoy drinking your favorite beverage.

It truly was such an easy process that I wanted to etch on everything that night and I am filling my crafting pin board up with great ideas!

#goddessofcrafts

We're the Four Best Friends Anyone Could Have (Girls Weekend)

This past weekend I was able to get away with 3 of my great friends for a weekend of relaxing, catching up, and laughing non stop (and maybe some wine). Three of us started out as co-workers and the fourth was a parent we knew through our job. When one of us experienced a health issue, the other three of us gathered around her and help her get back on her feet. We became close through the past two years and when one moved away we decided to do our best to try and visit each other. The three of us still in Ohio travelled to the fourth's new home in Florida (couldn't it get better) and spent a week with her and her family last spring break. This time, since we are unable to do that again we decided to have a girls weekend. We chose the halfway point between our home and we decided on Charlotte. A quick easy drive for all of us and a couple days kid-less and stress-less.
Charlotte was the perfect place for us to meet, we did very little in regards to the history and culture of the city, instead we just "were" and we had a blast. We stayed at the beautiful Double Tree in downtown and we were one mile from Bank of America Stadium. It was the perfect location, as it is located right off of 77, and we had easy access to where we needed to go.
Saturday morning we started with a delicious breakfast at The Flying Biscuit. We all thought biscuits were seriously going to go flying, but we were wrong and slightly disappointed. I am not one to try new foods immediately so I went for the "typical" meal of eggs and bacon. Two of my girlfriends ordered scrambled eggs with sausage gravy over top. I was mad I didn't order it, as the bite I had was amazingly delicious. I also tried grits that I actually liked it if I added a little bit of salt. The biscuit were beyond delicious and their homemade apple butter on top was the perfect addition.




After breakfast we stopped at a few stores, waiting for our appointment time at a local nail salon. We all love getting manicures and pedicures and when I found a great deal on Groupon a few weeks prior we knew that is exactly what we wanted to do. We bought the Groupon which said we were purchasing the VIP gel mani/pedi. We had no idea what we were in for.
Besides sitting in a private room and being offered wine during our appointment we also received the 'gel' touch. Each of us thought gel meant gel polish. Nope, we were totally mistaken. 'Gel' meant a foot bath with a warm jello type consistency. Personally, I thought it was absolutely gross. I did refused to move my feet or toes while it was in the bath. Once the jet started however, the water and the movement made the texture disappear and it became a better experience. As an OT, I get the purpose of the gel for a sensory experience but we all were definitely not prepared for a 'gel' pedicure.

Following our appointment, we grabbed lunch and headed back to the hotel for wine, snacks, and card games. As a surprise I made each of us a custom wine glass and wine charm to commemorate the weekend. We listened and sang some of our favorite songs and caught up on life without littles running around or interrupting conversations. The weekend definitely ended quicker than we wanted and on the drive home we took our sweet time.
Cannot wait for our next weekend in Charlotte and catching up.