DIY: Glitter Reindeer Silhouette

This project has been floating the internet (ahem...Pinterest) for a while and I finally got around to doing it. It stuck with me one, because I have an increasing love for deer (which sounds strange out-loud) and, two, I. Love. Glitter. But kind of in a secret glittered-toenails-in-the-winter and glitter-pillows-on-my-bed rather than the every-top-i-wear-is-shiney kind of way. Actually, I don't think I own any clothes that glitter at all. Anyways, back to what we're really here for: 

 Most, if not all, of the versions that I've seen have done it with glue and sprinkled glitter on top. Which, I think looks super great. However, I was at Target the other day browsing their dollar section (which I absolutely love!) and I found a bottle of silver glitter glue for, you guessed it, a dollar. So, I decided to do the project with glitter glue. It definitely looks a little different, but I like it. Also, it only cost me a dollar, which is rather nice for this college student (: 

 What I used:

:  

- Paper (A heavy, card stock kind or, in my case, a piece of old sketchbook paper) 

- Reindeer silhouette (I googled it, printed off one I liked, and cut it out so that I had the outline.) 

- Glitter glue

- Pencil & eraser 

- Scissors (for cutting out the silhouette to trace) 

- Strong coffee. This is optional, obviously, but gosh coffee makes things that much more wonderful.

 How I did it:

   

First, I traced an outline around the picture I had cut out in pencil. Do this lightly, or else it might end up showing through the glitter. Then make sure you erase any pencil marks outside of the lines that you don't want to show in the final project. It's a lot easier to do before the glitter is added, trust me on this one (:

Then, I just applied the glitter glue in a pretty thick layer (think: the amount of frosting you'd like on a cookie, rather than the amount of paint you put on a wall). After that I just let it dry for the rest of the day and it was all done!

Heads up, the glitter glue takes longer than you think it would to dry because we're applying it on so thickly. So, give it plenty of time to dry out and try not to poke at it too much (I'm totally guilty of this!) because it leaves funny little marks all over it once it's done.

   

And that's it! It seriously is that simple, but it's such a cute little piece! I think it'd be really fun to do a saying in glitter, or maybe some other silhouettes in different colors. You can really take this project anywhere. The sky is the limit. 

 Yay!

December Goals

 

Oh, December. Thanksgiving has passed, the leaves on the trees are gone, and the temperature hardly ever goes above 40 degrees. Pine trees are lighted and placed by windows, the smell of cinnamon fills the air, and the promise of snow lingers. I like December. I like Christmas and everything that comes along with it. I like snow.

Around here, December means business in the forms of final exams, Christmas, multiple birthdays, and our church's largest conference of the year. So, I think the biggest thing to remember for the month is this: slow down.  Take each day one-by-one, enjoy each moment and every activity, and remember to rest.

We're already quite a ways into the month (err...halfway through), but I thought I'd still make some goals to accomplish for the month because, well, why not?

- Do family time well.

- Finish Christmas shopping "early"

- Rest. Really rest.

- Try a new holiday recipe.

Sounds good to me.

Currently: California Edition

I am remembering how much I enjoy traveling. The packing, the busy airpots, the ending up somewhere different after just a few hours.

I am exploring beaches at low-tide, hi-tide, sunset, sunrise, and everything else in-between.

I am drinking two cups of coffee a day. No one tell my mum (;

I am using my flats for carrying pretty seashells to take home.

I am going barefoot whenever I can because it's back to boots and thirty degrees when I get back to the Midwest.

I am spending as much time as possible with the ones I love here.

I am waking up early and relishing in the quiet couple of hours before the rest of the house rises.

I am thankful for family, friends, and the season I'm in. Also, for cranberry relish. Yum.

P.S. I was actually in California over Thanksgiving break and haven't had the chance to post anything since then (thank you finals weeks!). So, here's a little something to fill the void of space here and something to remind me of my wonderful week on the beach.

On The Reminder Found In Free Coffee

Over the past eight days I have gotten six free cups of coffee. Six. Not because I work at a coffee shop, because I do not. Not all from the same person. Not because I asked for a single one of them, because I'm not very persuasive. But because the Lord me of something that I so easily forget. The six cups of coffee are God's way of screaming at me:

"I see you. I see the little desires in your heart, like coffee, and I'm going to give 

them to you because I want you to realize that I see the big desires, too. I see 

your heart and I've actually put a lot of the desires in there. They will come to 

pass, it's just not time yet."

My heart so desperately needed this reminder over the past week. In the midst of comparison, hurt feelings, and evaluations I wasn't expecting. In the midst of the waiting, which stinks, I needed to be reminded that the Lord's sees me and that He values the things in my heart.

So, be encouraged, wether it be with free coffee or not, that the Lord sees you. He sees your heart and He's working all things for your good.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work 

together for good, for those who are called according to Him purpose."

- Romans 8:28

Hallelujah.

DIY: Pretty Circle Cutout Garland

 

Currently, I live in the biggest room of a house shared with two other roommates. We affectionately call it "The Cutest House In GV". I've lived here for a little bit over a year and I'm still slowly making the house "cute". Sure, we've lived here for a while and all of the basic things are in place, but a lot of the things that make it look lived in and welcoming are still being added.

If I think about all of the things I want to do in the house at once (baskets here, new floors here, shelves here, etc), then I become incredibly overwhelmed. However, if I think it about it in sections, then suddenly I'm superwoman and I can do anything. This month my section is the corner in my bedroom that houses my keyboard and guitar and this project is the first thing I've done to make it look a little more delightful and a little less sterile.

I made a garland, or banner, because it was something that I already had everything I needed to make it, and because it's something that's easily changeable/removable. So, without further-ado, here's how I did it:

What I used:

- Paper doilies

- Tissue paper in white with sparkles and silver

- Pages from an old theology book

- Large hole punch (mine has scalloped edges and is about an inch across)

- "Rubber cement" because I find that it dries faster and holds better than normal liquid glue

- Scissors

- Tape

- Mini hole punch (which I actually didn't end up using)

How I Did It:

First, I punched out a ton of holes from each of the papers that I had picked. The amount that you make depends on how long your garland is and how far apart you space them. I wanted mine spaced pretty closely, but my garland isn't all that long. So, I ended up do way more than I needed to, but I just put the rest in a plastic baggie for another future project.

From there, I cut the twine in the length that I wanted (you could also totally use clear fishers line or floss if you don't want your "line" to show up!) and started rubber-cementing (gosh, that sounds silly) the circles to one side of the line. I did mine so that the "heights" alternated, like this:

After that, I put the same type of dots directly over the backs of these so that my twine wasn't showing through. Then, I hung it up where I wanted it on the wall with some tape (until I find some thumb-tacs!).

Super simple! 

(I also made the doily one while doing this, but it was so simple that I figured a "tutorial" wouldn't really be worth it. All I did was cut another piece of twine to the length I wanted it, folded four doilies in half and placed them on the twine once I hung it on the wall. Easy peasy.)

Slowly, but surely, this little corner in my room is becoming a whole lot cuter. Hallelujah.

November Goals

I'm one of those people that needs a list to be able to accomplish things. No list = nothing gets done. For example, if I go to the grocery store without a list, like I did last week, I will still come home with things, but nothing that I actually needed. Sure, I'll have some great looking mushrooms, but I'll still need cleaning wipes, eggs, and milk. 

So, that leads us to this list. A list a four things that have nothing to do with my daily things to get done (homework, cleaning, etc.) and everything to do with enjoying life a little bit more. 

November is the month that screams fall to me. The trees outside are changing, the weather is consistently cooler, boots can be worn daily, and being cozy sounds like the best thing. This month I will be getting to go to California for my Thanksgiving break, so that's something to look forward to that's looming on the horizon. I'll also be teaching my first "lesson" that doesn't involve any sort of musical instrument (eek!). 

In the midst of the business of life, I'd like to:

• Go to the cider mill
• Crochet a scarf scarves
• Make the piano corner in my room more lovely
• Hang, make, find pictures for the cutest house in GV.

And that sounds wonderful to me.

"Vanity" Drawer Organization

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen: my first organization project on this little blog. Please note, I'm using the term "project" pretty loosely. This was a "project" that took less than 30 minutes to do and not a whole lot of planning (other than the fact I was keeping my eye out for some containers for a couple of weeks). 

Meet the top drawer of the dresser in my room. Currently, my dresser has four drawers (though the bottom one is like a double deep drawer and should really count for two) and I use the top one as a "vanity" drawer. What does this mean? It means two things: one, because I'm a college student and live with roommates I don't really have a space in the bathroom for all of my "getting ready" things and, two, I don't really have any sort of vanity to store these things in my room. Thus, the top drawer of my dresser had a job: to be the place where I jammed stored the things I used to get ready and just do life with. As you can see by the picture, this drawer was a mess.

I could not find anything. Bobby pins were scattered around the drawer, hairbrushes could go hiding for days, headbands were everywhere and nothing made much sense. Which led to loosing time in the mornings searching for things, which ultimately led to less time for coffee in the morning and we all know what that means (;

So, I decided to organize my little drawer and make my mornings a little less chaotic because, let's be real, this girl needs all the time for drinking coffee that she can get.

What I used:

 

- Two mini-containers that are supposed to be used for office supplies

- Two pink containers from the dollar section of Target 

- One white container that was already being used in the drawer, but not very well

- One Yankee Candle from a candle that is long gone

The Process:

For my little project, the process was pretty simple. I took all of the items out of the drawer, wiped the drawer down, and then separeted the things into different piles:

- Things used daily

- Make-up -ish things (Please note, I don't wear a lot of make up [read:foundation and mascara on a crazy day] so, I don't have a lot of things in this category.)

- Hair things (bobby pins, ties, head bands, etc)

- Things used not so daily (sunscreen, wisp toothbrushes, moisture masks, etc.)

Then, I put them in containers that made sense for me. I corralled the mess of bobby pins and hair ties into the little office containers. I put make-up related things in one of the pink containers and not so used thing in the other pink container. Then, I just put the more daily used things where they fit and made sense.

See:

Ahh. So much better then the mess of things that I started with. I can now see where everything is, which means less chaos in the mornings and more time to breathe and it cost me $2.00, which means more money for this college student. Not too shabby if you ask me (:

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup

Fall is finally here! The weather is cooling down (thank goodness!), boots are being warn, and knit scarves are being taken out of their storage boxes in the basement. Along with the cooler weather comes something that I know that I also associate with fall: pumpkin. Pumpkin in coffee, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin candles, pumpkin everything. 

One of my favorite things about fall is the pumpkin spice latte that comes out at all of the local coffee places. However, as a college student, paying at least four dollars a latte starts to put quite the dent in my wallet (particularly a college student who’s basement just flooded). So, I found a way that you can make it at home which is good for two reasons: one, I’m going to be saving a lot of money and, two, I now can stay in my pj’s and drink pumpkin spice. Hallelujah.

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup

Adapted from The Messy Baker Blog

Makes a pint.

The Stuff:

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup white granulated sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon 

(or more! the more cinnamon the better, in my opinion)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. of cloves
1/2 cup pumpkin puree 

(I probably used closer to 3/4 cup, but what can I say, I love pumpkin!)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

The Process:

In a medium saucepan combine white sugar and brown sugar with the water. Simmer the mixture on medium heat until all of the sugar dissolves. Mine took about 10 minutes.

Once sugar has dissolved, add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pumpkin puree. Then, whisk until the mixture is smooth and heat for another 10-12 minutes, but don’t allow the mixture to boil.

After heated through, it is suggested that you strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, however, I do not own one (college student life, yay!) and ended up not straining it at all. So, I ended up with a thicker, darker syrup. You could do it either way, depending on your preference.

Once strained, allow the syrup to come to room temperature and then add the vanilla. Keep your syrup in an air tight container in the fridge. I put mine in an old kombucha bottle.

When making a pumpkin spice “latte”, I add about two spoonfuls of this to my mug, and a splash of milk. It gives such a great fall touch to my morning, afternoon, all of the time coffee.

Currently.

I am welcoming Fall by drinking pumpkin spice lattes like they're going out of style.

I am going on morning runs with my roommate and marveling at the beauty of being outdoors. I'm leaning that I fit quite a bit better in the country than in the city. Apparently, you can take both the girl out of the city and the city out of the girl. 

I am singing to rooms that are empty and finding that my heart comes more alive. The audience of One far surpasses having an audience of one-thousand. There's less pressure, no cameras, and finally I can focus on why I'm there in the first place.

I am wearing pretty striped dresses from friends and embracing the last little bit of nice weather that we're getting here in the Midwest. News is, this weekend was probably the last "nice" one that we will have all year. So, we had a worship-team hang out, swung on swings, and played croquet without shoes on. Needless to say, my croquet skills are seriously laking, but the company was great. (Also, your iPhone might autocorrect "croquet" to "crochet" and you will probably feel really silly. Just a heads up.)

I am starting a blog (which is why you're reading this (: ) and trying to figure out all of the technical-things that come with doing anything on the internet.

Welcome to my journey.