This Is Me #12

1. I use to draw for several hours everyday.  Not sure why I stopped, but these are some pages from a sketchbook I filled in February 2005.  

2.  I'm a spider wrangler.  If you're the type of person that jumps, and screams when they see a creepy crawly, I'm your girl.  I'll smash that eight legged beast before it even knows you exist.  

3.  I know spiders do good things, like eat other bugs, but they also bite me.  I'm slightly allergic to spider bites, and I get a bump that looks like an oversized mosquito bite, and then a small red dot rash appears.  

4.  Hoagies are really popular where I live.  My go to sub is an Italian.  I could eat one of those for lunch everyday.  What do you call a sandwich on a roll?  Do you call it a grinder, or some other entirely different word?  

5.  I'm not athletic, and I don't enjoy watching sports, especially not on TV.  

Hope ya'll are have a great night, and happy DIYing, chris

Fun Friday Fascinations #19

1.  Perfect handmade paper necklace made in Paris by Laura des villes Laura des champs (found via All Things Paper).

2.  I love anything that has to do with plastic animals.  I'd love to try out Hello Bee's idea with some dinos.  

3. Speaking of dinosaurs, check out this awesome planter from The Plaid Pigeon.  Do you think I could make this???  

4.  Twisted Sifter is one of my top five favorite websites to visit on a daily basis.  This week they posted 23 aerial beach photos from around the world.  I had a hard time picking which beach I would want to spend the most time on, but I think it would be this one, from Saint Tropez, France.  

5.  I hope ModCloth picks this dress.  It's too cute.  Sure I can't afford it, but it makes me wish I could, which great clothing should. 

I left this until the last minute of the day. I had truck loads of real life things to do, which left little room for the blog.  I hope to have some awesome photo's of the house soon to update ya'll on all the hard work I've been up to.  Ya know when I'm not at my real job making the bacon.  :) Have a great weekend, and happy DIYing, chris! 

End of Summer Drink

Ingredients:

- 1 shot of white rum

- 1/4 cup pineapple juice

- 5 fresh mint leaves

- apple juice

Directions:

Pour the rum and pineapple juice into a glass.  Smash the mint leaves into the bottom of the glass.  Fill the glass with ice, and pour apple juice over the ice.  Stir and enjoy.  

This drink is a great summery drink, and the rum is barely noticeable, so I bet this would be terrific without the rum too.  I love a good drink mix that can double for people who drink, and those who don't.  Though I suppose it could be dangerous with kids around.  They might think mommy's drink is the same, and get a bit loopy.  Anyway great drink, and I love how it looks like a summer ale.  The mint adds a nice subtle hint of freshness.  

Today was our kick-off luncheon for the fall season at work.  Which means from here on until the holidays I'll be busy busy busy.  Aaron and I are going on a little date night out to a local brewery restaurant.  It's over in Downington, Pennsylvania, called Victory Brewery.  We've never been, but Aaron enjoys their beers, and I've heard good things from a couple I work with.  We are excited to check it out!  Hope ya'll have some fun weekend plans, and happy DIYing, chris!

Fabric Bracelet

Hey all!  Today I'm making a fabric bracelet.  I wear it as part of my work uniform, because I have to cover up my wrist tattoo.  I've made this bracelet before, but not for the blog, and my old one was stolen!  I used to get tons of compliments from the kids I photograph, when I wore this bracelet.  I knew with the beginning of this season I needed to make a new one.  I use an old polo shirt that was my mom's from when she was my age.  It's a great way to keep this old favorite around, even though it's gotten worn out, and doesn't look so great as a top.  

To begin I used a section that had a hem on two sides, and cut out a piece about 7 inches by 4.5 inches.  I folded the long side in, and pinned down to hem that edge.  

Then I folded the piece in half with the stitch side of the hems up. I sewed the ends together.  I consistently stitched the needle through the same side of the fabric, and made a tight loop over the ends.  This binds off the end, and makes for a neater and softer finish.  

Here is the finished result.  I love the soft old fabric.  This took me about two hours to sew by hand, while talking, watching TV, and snacking.  A great couch activity.  

I hope this bracelet gets as many compliments as it's predecessor.  Have a lovely day, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Braided Crown

This is my 2012 Summer Do: The Braided Crown.  It's beyond simple, and yet it looks complicated and stylish.  Definitely the cutest hot day hair-do.  

It's easiest to do this hair style when my hair is wet.  I begin by parting my hair down the center.

Then split the halves in half, and braid.  No fancy french braids, or anything special but a three strand straight forward braid.  Try to get as close to the end as possible, without leaving a long tail, and use a small rubber band to hold in place.  

Flop the back braid from the left over your head, and secure in place with bobby pins.  Do the same with the back braid from the right.  Repeat with the front braids.  

All done, cute as heck, and ready for a busy hot day!  All these photos were taken at the end of my work day, and it held up great.  Especially since I have a  fairly active job.  I'm a school photographer, and right now we're gearing up for the fall season, and training new hires.  Which means lots of setting up and breaking down our giant photo sets repeatedly.  We hire about twenty people every fall, and in about four days they need to learn how to set up about fourteen different things in under an hour.  It's a busy week, but it's a fun way to begin the season.  It keeps the job fresh and new, which makes it hard to get bored with it.  

I'd like to read a little.  My good friend is letting me borrow Game of Thrones, and I'm definitely getting into it.  I wish I had more hours in the day to read.  I also need to do some more laundry.  Have a great night, and happy DIYing, chris!

Sautéed Zucchini

Happy Nom Nom Monday.  Today we have more zucchini.  This time sautéed.  Perfect veggie dish for a summer meal.  We had the Sautéed Zucchini with burgers and homemade french fries.  

Ingredients:

- 1 medium sized zucchini

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- salt and pepper

Directions:

I cut the zucchini up into very thin slices.  Or at least as thin as I could manage.  The thinner they are the quicker they'll cook.  Then I heated up a medium sized frying pan with half the olive oil.  Minced and sautéed the garlic in the heated pan.  After a minute I added the zucchini slices, and the rest of the olive oil.  I let it cook for a couple minutes and then seasoned.  I used Krazy Jane's Mixed Up Salt and McCormick's Ground Black Pepper.  I covered the pan and cooked until they were throughly cooked, or almost see through.  About six more minutes.  

 I used some straight sea salt too, because I'm salt crazy.  I definitely went overboard with the salt.  If I ignored the salt though, it was a great flavor.  I'm thinking this is the best way to cook up zucchini.  The zucchini slices tasted great wrapped around the french fries!  I want to try this again with the appropriate amount of salt.  

Hope ya'll have a great start to your week, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Pink and Orange Polka Dot Nail-Do

I have another nail-do for ya'll today.  Sundays seem to be my nail day.  I try to shellack my nails in enough clear coat to keep them chip-free through out the week.  By sunday I'm over the paint job, and my nails are do for a trim, or at least a good rub down with an emery board.  After I cleaned off last week's nail polish my nails were stained from the dark teal nail polish.  I was able to easily remove the color by simply buffing my nails.  To balance out the dark bold look of last weeks design, I went with a light girlie design for this week.  

A light pink base coat with a bright orange and pink polka dot design.  The light pink works perfectly with my bright colors, and polka dots couldn't be a more perfect design to accentuate how well these colors work together.  

I used Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Bubblegum Pink and Sun Kissed for the polka dots, and Ulta's Encore Pink for my base coat.  I topped the whole design with two layers of Orly's clear Won't Chip polish.  Clear polish is a must for all my nail-dos.  It's the only way to keep my cute designs chip free for more than a day.  

Well I need to finish my right hand before it gets too late.  Hope ya'll had a fantastic weekend, and happy DIYing, chris.