August Wrap-Up

Another month gone by.  Summer is nearly done now, and fall is approaching.  A couple days ago I could sense autumn in the air.  It was dusk, and there were leaves blowing around on the street, and kids were playing on the corner.  There was an urgency to their play, knowing that soon enough it will be too cold and dark out after school to play outside.  Usually when I start getting the beginning-of-the-school-year-jitters there is a crispiness to the air around dusk, but not this year.  The days are still in the nineties, and we are luck to get a bit of relief in the high seventies in the evenings.  The humidity is high, and the mosquitoes are biting.  

Today I'm interrupting my weekly This Is Me with my August Wrap-Up.  I've managed to fit four more This Is Mes into this month, #9, #10, #11, and #12.  I think the twelfth one is my favorite from this month.  I pinned this drawing of mine from that posting, and whenever I see it I'm impressed.  I know that must sound tremendously cocky, but I'm rarely overly proud of anything I create.  So when I am please with something I've made I want to scream about it from the roof tops.  I'm super picky, and I always try to be my toughest critic.  

I've been busy with DIYs this month!  Which I'm super happy about.  I'm loving the Tri-colored Braided T-shirt Bracelet I made this month the most, but my Bleach Dip-Dyed Tank Top, and my wide upcycled Fabric Bracelet are tied for a close second.  I also made cute tiny Button Earrings, a Hair Bowtie made with ribbon, and I started getting ready for Halloween with some paper Black Rats.  

You can also check out one of my other bleach dip-dyed creation in this Outfit Post.  Which also happens to be be the only outfit post I made this month!  

Though I did share two hair-do photos, my favorite being my summer look, the Braided Crown.  I also showed how keeping your hair in a messy bun during the day can result in lush Voluminous Locks for the evening.  

I also shared two cute nail-dos in August.  My Pink Polka Dot do wins hands down, but my Sun Kissed Nails are delightful too.  

Aaron and I traveled up to New York for our buddy Derick's (unisex) Bachelor Party.  We had an awesome time with live music, good food, great friends, and fun ShotSkis!

Speaking of drinking, I've whipped up five new drink recipes this month!  I've been drinking a nonalcoholic version of my End of Summer Cocktail since the first night I mixed that refreshing drink up.  I've made a couple different white rum cocktails this month, a Cherry Rum drink, and a Kiwi & Cherries Cocktail.  I also made two sweet chocolatey milkshakes, a Peanut Butter Nutella Snicker Smoothie, and a Buckeyes Coffee Milkshake.  

Mmm Peanut Butter ... I'm still day dreaming of the Peanut Butter Pie I made near the beginning of August.  Is it too soon to make again?  I've also whipped up a couple zucchini recipes, Sautéed Zucchini, and Parmesan Zucchini Chips with a Creamy Caesar Dressing.  Another snack recipe I came up with was a Cheesy Pretzel Apple Snack.  

In addition to all these lovely things I've posted, and working (nearly) full time, I've been working every chance I get on our house.  Things are finally coming together.  Most of the downstairs is painted, and we've refinished our hardwood floors.  They are looking beautiful all aglow.  I can't wait to move in already!

So that's what I spent my August working on!  I'm excited for this new season, and all the changes it will bring.  What is your proudest creation from August?  Are you ready for Autumn?  Happy DIYing, chris!  

Fun Friday Fascinations #20

Happy Fun Friday Fascinations!  For this week's addition I have all DIYs, and mostly home decor related.  

#1.  This is The Lil' House That Could's Polka Dot Stencil, which she used to paint a closet.  I love pattern, and using it in a small space will make a powerful statement.  

#2.  Girl In Air's Pottery Barn Knock-off Giant Map.  I love maps and large statement art pieces, and this DIY is definitely all that and more.  This would be fantastic to do with reclaimed wood.  I love her clock too!  

#3.  Taking Time To Create's Patchwork Headboard.  Love this DIY, so simple, and it would look dramatically different depending on what fabric you used, and how you laid out the pattern of the squares.  

#4.  This DIY could make a great wedding or home warming present.  Grill Fusion's DIY Name Plate Sign.  I wonder if I know someone that would appreciate this as a gift ...  

#5.  Remember how I was saying on tuesday how I'm already thinking about Halloween?  Well here is another fun Halloween related DIY.  Dana from Made's paper bats.  I love Dana's blog!  I'm a long time fan of hers, she has great tutorials, lovely photos, and her writing always gets me to chuckle.  

Hope ya'll have a great weekend, and for my US readers Happy Labor Day!  Have a safe holiday, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Buckeyes Coffee Milkshake

Happy Thirsty Thursday! For this week's addition I made a Buckeyes Coffee Milkshake.  

Ingredients:

- a handful of buckeyes

- 3 tablespoons of cool whip

- 2 tablespoons of drumstick ice cream

- 1/4 cup cold coffee

- 2.5 tablespoons of milk

Blend all the ingredients together, and enjoy.  As you can see the buckeyes settled to the bottom, so I enjoyed mine with a spoon.   

The coffee flavor worked perfectly with the other flavors.  Be careful though, this milkshake is rich!  I love blending random sweet things I have around the kitchen together.  You can never go wrong with chocolate, peanut butter, and milk!

Happy DIYing, chris!

Halloween Rats

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I know it's still more than two months off, but since this is the first halloween Aaron and I will get to spend in our house (hopefully!) I want to make a bunch of decorations.  When I got home from work today I went to work on google looking for some simple Halloween crafts that will  be easy to pack.  Of course I found a ton of cute crafts on Martha Stewart's website, and I decided to start cutting out some of her fun black rats. 

They are going to look amazing on our steps!  I need to cut out a few more rats to fill our staircase, but I have plenty of time.  :)  I used black construction paper, and was able to get six rats out of one sheet.  

Do you love halloween?  What is your favorite holiday?  Happy DIYing, chris!

Hair Bow-Tie DIY

I made a ribbon bow-tie a few months ago, but I never did anything with it.  I simply used a two inch wide wire lined ribbon, about four inches in length.  Sewed the ends together, then did the same with a quarter inch silk ribbon, about an inch in length.  I slipped the smaller ribbon over the larger ribbon, and wah-lah, a bow-tie!

When I got home from work today I decided to stick a hair clip through the back, and make it a hair bow-tie.  

It's a great size for my head, and considering how easy this was I could make a bow to match every outfit!  

Happy DIYing, chris!

Cheesy Pretzel Apple Snack

Happy Nom Nom Monday!  Today's recipe is beyond simple to make, with a complicated palette of flavors.  A great after work snack.  Mostly healthy, with just enough salty cheesiness to curb my hunger pains until dinner.  It also helps to keep me from scarfing down triple my portion size at dinner.  I don't think it has a name.  My mom helped me come up with it, she eats a variation of this for lunch sometimes.  I'll call it a Cheesy Pretzel Apple Snack.  

Ingredients:

- 4 to 5 pretzels

- 1 tablespoon shredded cheddar cheese

- 1 apple

- a little lemon juice (fresh would be better)

- lemon pepper for seasoning

- paprika for seasoning

Directions:

Break the pretzels up into small pieces, cut the apple up into eight slices, and toss in a bowl together.  Sprinkle a little lemon juice onto the apple slices.  Throw on a little cheese, and season with lemon pepper and paprika.  Pop in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.  

Enjoy!  I love how easy this is to make, but yet has a well rounded array of flavors.  As you can see I used store bought lemon juice, but fresh lemon juice would have been a more refreshing tang.  

Hope ya'll are having a great beginning of your week, and happy DIYing, chris!

How the House is Going

Every weekend goes by so quickly for me.  I basically have a second (unpaid) job at my house.  This weekend my mom, my step-dad, and my husband all helped get the floors finished.  We have hardwood floors through out, and we had to sand them, clean them, and polyurethane them.  I did most of the sanding upstairs, my mom did it all downstairs, and Andy helped with the edging.  Everyone helped with vacuuming, and I did most of the mineral spiriting.  Aaron finished it off with the two coats of polyurethane.  They look great, and now we are almost ready to move in!  We still have a ton of work to do in our bedroom, but everything is looking livable.  

Here is a before photo of the living room:

Now a couple of what it looked like today between polyurethane coats.  

The dining room before:

The dining room after:

The kitchen before:

The kitchen after:

The upstairs we did the floors, and cleaned, but we haven't painted.  The floors look fantastic though.  

sorry about the sun flare in this photo.

The floors and paint look great.  Moving in is within reach now, and I'm totally getting excited!  I hope we are able to get the downstairs bedroom done next weekend.  We plan on using that room as our bedroom, so we don't want to move in until that's done.  Well I'm super tired, and I have a week of training ahead of me.  Happy DIYing, chris!