A little green for the holiday ...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I'm not Irish or Catholic, so I don't do much for this holiday, but I do enjoy an excuse to wear bright green!  So I have another outfit post for today.  I know I've been doing a lot of post about myself lately, and not so much on the DIY front.  I guess I've just been inspired by the bloggers I've been following.  

Here are two more blogs I started following this week.  I found Diversions over on Elycia's blog.  I love Stef's style, great combination of colors and patterns!  Plus she always seems to have her nails painted and super cute rings on.  The other blog is Fine & Feathered, and I found Josie on craftgawker with her post about covering your lappy with contact paper.  She executed it perfectly, so I decided to poke around her blog some more, and I really enjoyed her other posts!  She has cute style, more muted colors and patterns than I usually go for, but she's so pretty and her photos are inspiring, and she has fun DIYs!  I'm excited to see what these two ladies put out there in the future.  

My Outfit:

headband -- from Target

sunglasses -- from Urban Outfitters

necklace -- from Urban Outfitters

sweater -- from T.J. Maxx

yellow & grey tank top -- from ModCloth

peach tank top -- H&M

pants -- Delia's

socks -- Target

shoes -- DIYed Dirty Laundry

Most of the photos my husband took, except for the close-ups I took those.  Hope ya'll enjoyed, and are being safe this holiday.  There is no rule that says you have to drink until you're green (or at all for that matter)!  Until tomorrow, happy DIYing, chris.

Happy Spring!

With all these sunny beautiful days I had to try another outfit post.  I also got my Wacom tablet working!  Turns out it was just the pen that wasn't working.  Well I'm still not able to use photoshop, but Gimp isn't so bad.  

I love this dress.  I bought it when I was studying abroad in London back in 2005.  I found it in this amazing vintage shop in Shoreditch.  I'm pretty sure it's handmade.  

The blue jacket is from Heritage 1981, and I love how soft and comfortable it is.  The little red sweater is from H&M.  The yellow bracelet I inherited from my step-grandmother.  

This is definitely my favorite yoga pose, and my outfit looks pretty cute in this shot!  My stockings I got for Christmas, so I'm not positive where they're from.  The shoes are a pair of Dirty Laundry shoes I DIYed.  My hair bow was a free gift (with purchase) from ModCloth, they give the best gifts.  Their lil' presents just encourage me to buy more things, to see what I'll get for free!  

Happy Spring Everyone!!!  Hope ya'll are enjoying some sunny weather too!  Happy DIYing, chris.  

Painted Wooden Frame

The weather has been great here.  The past few days have been sunny and in the mid 60ºs (F)!  I can't believe it's only March!  Last year at this time it was cold and rainy in Delaware.  With all this great weather I wanted to do something outside, and spray painting sounded like the perfect DIY for today.  I've had this cheap wooden frame floating around for a few years.  So today I finally decided to give it a coat of paint to spruce it up a bit.  

I turned this plain wooden frame into this lovely painted frame!

What I used for this project was a large drop cloth, a cheap wooden frame, a sheet of medium grit sandpaper, rubber gloves, spray paint, and a moist towel.  

Begin by lightly sanding the frame.  I used a medium weight sandpaper for this project.  This will help the paint bind to the wood, and hopefully prevent future chipping.  

Next, wipe down the frame with a moist towel to remove all the dust bits you've just created.  

Now you are ready to spray the frame (as long as the frame isn't still wet).  Make sure to follow the directions on your spray paint can.  I like to use rubber gloves so that the spray paint doesn't get all over my fingers.  Spray your frame from every angle you can comfortably (and safely) maneuver around it.   Spray the back first, and then let the frame dry for about an hour or two.  Once the frame is not tacky to touch you can turn it over and spray the back.  

When the frame is completely done drying you can put a piece of art or a family photo in it.  I framed a handmade piece of paper.  I embossed this paper with two lace dollies when I was drying it.  To complete this piece I used some acrylic paint to color in the dollies.  I love the color of the frame with this handmade paper piece I created.  I used cardboard to back my paper, because I like how it complements the edges and color of my handmade paper.  

Hope ya'll enjoyed today's project.  Is it unusually warm where you live?  Does the sun get you out of the house with your DIY projects?  Happy DIYing, chris!

Spring has Sprung!

Aaron and I went for a walk today.  We couldn't pass up another one of these beautiful days without spending some time in the sunshine together.  It was a pretty short walk though, because I kept stopping to take pictures.  

This is what the woods around us looks like.  It's beautiful even in the winter.  I love the big rocks everywhere.  When we lived out in California (where the hubby's from), I missed these forests everyday. 

Aaron posed while I worked on the camera settings for him to take some pics of me.  Aaron has the opposite problem with pant buying from me.  His pants and long sleeved shirts tend to be too short.  He's a tall dude at six foot four.  

He took this photo.  Spring has sprung!  

I love to take close up pics of rocks.  I could fill a computer with just images of rocks.  

We parked right next to this horse farm.  I used to live two doors down from this place from thirteen to seventeen.  

So many flowers out right now!  I'm okay that our winter was light this year, because it was ridiculous the year before.    

I also worked on my owl patch today.  I had to remove the elbow patch from the one arm and reattach it, because I had let it slide off place while sewing it.  I'm kind of glad I did though cause I decided to add another layer of the body felt for some extra strength.  The placement seems to be much better now too.  I think starting on the bottom instead of the top helped too.  Well I want to get back to sewing those guys on.  I'll catch ya'll later, happy DIYing, chris!

Photo an Hour

I've been seeing people doing a photo an hour for a day around the internet, and I thought that was a pretty great idea.  It's a fun exercise to get you in the practice of photographing the little stuff in life.  I decided to make this a little more of a challenge for myself, and finally switching my camera over to Manual Mode.  Another rule I made for myself was to only use the available light, no flash all day long.   I also pushed myself to use gimp to edit the photos together.  That way I didn't bombard ya'll with 15 individual photos.  Though I still used preview to add text, how terrible is that?!  I took these photos this past Sunday.

7AM- I love this little giraffe I keep my toothbrush in.  My husband has a lil' cow.
8AM- I was pretty pleased with this pic.  Makes me want a cup of coffee right now (even if it's almost 10PM)!
9AM- I wore a dress and little sweater from H&M, and my leggings are from American Apparel.  The duvet is from Ikea.
10AM- After reading Delightfully Tacky's post on using her self timer for self portraits I decided I *had* to get back into the habit of photographing myself.  This photo is my first attempt.

11AM- We needed to go to the mall to try to buy some new clothes.  I always make sure to give Cricket a snuggle before I go anywhere.
12PM- I talked about this on my post on Sunday.  I always have a terrible time finding black pants for work that are the correct length and width for my short legs.  I can't imagine these pants would look any good if I just had them hemmed.
1PM- My mom got me this camera bag for Christmas this past year.  It's from Jo Totes, beautifully made camera bags for stylish ladies.  The inside of my bag is padded, and black & white houndstooth!
2PM- I bought a cardigan and a pair of fingerless mitten gloves from Forever 21.  They were on sale, and I couldn't pass them up!  My husband got a pair of shorts from JcPenney.

3PM- Cricket begging for her dinner.  She eats at five.
4PM- Another attempt with the self timer.  I changed outfits too!   Now I'm wearing a sweater and tank top from H&M, and my jeans are from Urban Outfitters.  My shoes are converse slip-ons.  I love that you can see my mismatching socks in this pic.
5PM- This wacom tablet was a pain in the butt!  Turns out the pen was the problem, but I still can't get photoshop to work!  I must be tired too, because I just realized I add text to that photo that says 'wacom tablie'.  Opps!

6PM- All those wacom issues made me need to do some stretching.
7PM- I know this is a terrible thing, but I ate a WHOLE bowl of cereal AFTER dinner.  I guess there are worst things I could be eating at seven in the evening, like a double bacon cheeseburger!
8PM- Zoned out watching TV.  My PJ pants are from Target, my sweater was a gift from my husband's mum.  Melinda is a lovely lady, and I feel like I'm getting a big hug from her every time I wear this sweater.
9PM- I know I'm a wuss.  I feel asleep shortly after I took this pic.  If you can't tell I am sleeping with  a stuffed animal.  It's a soft bunny from Pier1 Imports.  My husband loves stuffed animals as much as I do, and it's kind of dangerous that he works at Pier1, because the stuffed animals are our favorite items there!

Well I hope ya'll enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed photographing them.  I'll definitely be doing a photo an hour again!  Not only is it a great way for me to work on my photography, but it's a great way for you (my readers) to get to know me better.  :)  Happy DIYing, chris!

Buffalo Blue Cheese Biscuits

Here is another recipe for Nom Nom Monday.  Today's instructions are pretty random.  I didn't feel like buying any ingredients today, so I went with what we had in the house.  I had this roll of biscuits I wanted to use up, and a ball of buffalo blue cheese.  

I began by rolling the biscuits out, and then I gently laid them in a muffin sheet.  While I was doing this I had the oven heating up to 400º F.  

Then I scooped a tablespoon of the buffalo blue cheese ball into each cup.

This is where my creative really started to kick in.  I figured since the cheese was buffalo flavored, that celery would be the prefect accompaniment.  I cut the celery up in small squares.

Next I put a few celery bits in each cup.

I also have a ton of crushed plain ruffled potato chips, so I covered the cups with them as a topper.  

Then I stuck them in the oven for 8 minutes.    The biscuit part looked nice and toasty brown when I took them out.  

The biscuit made the prefect delivery system for the buffalo blue cheese.  This little concoction was pretty good, but I'm not sure I would buy the ingredients to make them specifically.  However, if I ever find myself in possession of a cheese ball again I will definitely be buying some biscuits to cook it into!!  

Hope ya'll are having a good Monday, happy DIYing!  chris.

Happy 3 Month Anniversary!!

My big plan for today was to buy new work pants, and learn how to use my wacom tablet.  I also did a photo an hour today, but I'm going to post those photos on tuesday.  

My mom is a technology hoarder, and when I recently told her I wanted to buy a pen tablet, she told me she currently owns two!  She lent me the smaller one a few weeks ago, but I was too nervous to try to install it.  I had an inkling that it wouldn't be as easy as just popping in the software discs and going through the installation process.  

Lo and behold, I was right.  I installed the tablet just fine, and was able to use it with Gimp, kind of.  I had read reviews before that the tablet doesn't work so well with Gimp.  I read that the pen is offset, and the stylus is slow to react.  I had pretty much those problems.  Plus, I had a hard time keeping it on pencil mode, and it was either hard to get it to start writing or stop writing.  Super frustrating.  

I couldn't get Photoshop Elements to open once it was installed.  I only let this take up about two hours, but then it was dinner, and I just wanted to get something posted for today.  

I did the pant shopping earlier in the day.  I've had a twenty-five dollar gift card to JcPenney since my birthday in December, so I thought that would be a good place to try.  However, I had no luck finding acceptable work pants there.  Same problem I always have, I'm only 5"5' and most pants are WAY too long for me.  I don't feel really short, except when I try on pants.  I find skinney pants are a great solution to my short problem, because even though the pants are long they just bunch up at my ankles.  With other styles of pants I end up stepping all over the hem.  I know I could sew them, but I'm not confident enough to do that myself.  Yet I can't bring myself to pay someone else to sew things for me.  

I tried a few other stores, but was still unsuccessful.  I ended up going back to JcPenney's, and I did find a pair of pants I liked but the zipper was busted, and it was the only pair in my size.  Bummer!  When I got home I decided to order two pairs.  Hopefully they work out!  Sorry I don't have any good DIY instructions or photos today.  Happy DIYing, chris!

P.S.  Happy Three Month Anniversary!!!! This is my 90th day posting to my blog!  I can't wait to see what the future holds, and I'm so happy with all the new readers that have recently started following my blog.  All your support means a lot, and helps me too keep posting everyday.  I'm always sad when I don't have a good project to share with ya'll (like today!).