necklaces

As you know, this blog has turned into more of a crafting blog than a blog of what's going on in my life. Don't worry, once school starts I won't have time to craft since I'll be grading papers and returning emails all the time. Another awesome craft Angie and I found on Pinterest was making necklaces out of old t shirts. We followed the instructions on this awesome blog and got to work! 

All of my shirts

Done!

Angie had a pretty awesome crop top after her cutting. I think she said this would be her new workout shirt.

Here are all of the finished necklaces!

I tried doing one that was braided, and that just was a mess. Maybe I'll try again another time.

girl weekend

Pat and Michelle came in town for a girls weekend, one that was long overdue. We went floating on Saturday and it was crazy! I have never seen the river so packed with people before. The craziest part was a themed float that was going on. We saw at least 50, probably more, people all in different groups floating around dressed like they were a bride and groom. One girl was wearing a black and white bikini, top hat with veil, black gloves, and black platform pumps. We saw 2 guys wearing white jackets and black bow ties, many top hats and veils, and all were using a DTF (Down to Float) koozie. People watching was never more fun on the river!

Afterwards we went to Angie's pool and met two weird dudes. One (the balloon master) was especially nuts. His friend walked over to us in the pool and asked if we "Wanted something long and round" and then proceeded to toss a giant water balloon at us. They continued to blow up balloons and give them to everyone in the pool. At first just the kids were playing with them, but before we knew it everyone was tossing them around. It was bizarre. Who brings huge water balloons to the pool, and then fills them up and passes them out?

We also brought an old time waster back. The Panty Ho! This came about in my house in college and I have pictures of everyone, even Ryan and Michelle's dog Harley, wearing them. This time we decided to try to knock bottles over by putting a sock in the end. Here are some pictures. The one of the left is from 2005, and the right was from this weekend. For some reason Michelle didn't put it on this time, but I'm still showing her old one. Enjoy the ridiculousness. 

Angie was the best for sure.

Pat's video is my favorite for several reasons. 1: She has no idea how to swing it around. 2: I am laughing so hard I start squeaking, and that makes me laugh even more when I watch this one.

We finished the night going to my new favorite bar, Key Bar. We met some....interesting people, let's just put it at that.  After sleeping most of Sunday, I'm ready for another girls weekend!

wine charms

I have been wanting to make some sort of wine charms for quite some time. I found on Pinterest (I am OBSESSED) really cute scrabble piece wine charms. So I decided to make my own. I wrote on facebook looking for scrabble pieces thinking no one would have any, and one of the teachers at my school was about to give their Scrabble game away! YES!

After picking them up I got to work! Here were all of my supplies:

I used the hammer and nail to put a small hole in the top, and then screwed the tiny hook and eye (I think that's what they're called) in to the top. 

It's a lot trickier than you would think. See that crack there? I split about 20 pieces in half trying to get those freaking things in. Also my fingers were so sore afterwards screwing them in. After that, I hooked in a key chain ring, and voila! All Done!

I made a key chain for myself and Angie with the extras. I didn't see it on her key ring though...hmm...

dating

I took Claire out for her birthday the other day, and we went to Deep Eddy. I had never been there before, and it's pretty cool. Definitely better for little kids or people going to swim laps. While we were sitting on the grass talking she was telling me about the different types of dates you can go on. (This coming after her asking me about my dating life and who was my last date.) According to this 11 year old there are 4 types of dates:

1. the day of the week dates
2. dancing dates
3. same gender dates (like the one we were on together. Sweet innocent Claire)
4. kissing dates

After telling me about kissing dates she said, "My mom and dad never go on kissing dates. I don't ever see them kiss...That's good because it's gross."

monte carlo

Just based on the title of this post I bet you were getting a little excited, and maybe jealous of me and my upcoming trip to Monte Carlo! However, you'd be wrong. I don't have any immediate plans to start jetsetting beyond Chicago to visit Miles, or back and forth to my classroom. So if I'm not heading there, why is the title of this post Monte Carlo? Because, wait for it, I saw the most amazing movie today called Monte Carlo!

Today is Heather's (one of the second grade teachers) daughter, Claire's, birthday. Heather asked if I'd be a chaperon for pizza, cake, and the watching of this incredible movie. Of course I couldn't turn this down! There were too many girls for Heather to take them all, so I took a group of 4 girls, all heading into 6th grade, to the theater. They all knew me since they go to my school, but I didn't have any of them so they didn't feel weird saying what was on their mind. And what, you may ask, is on the mind of a soon to be 6th grader? Justin Bieber, his new awful haircut (I LOVE Emma Watson's short hair, but they sure look a lot alike now), and his devil of a girlfriend Selena Gomez who is staring in the movie we were heading to.

One of the girls was cracking me up about her thoughts on Justin!

Mary Fran: I used to HATE Justin. And then I went and saw his movie...and it changed me!

Me: Wait, what do you mean it changed you? (Trying to hold back laughter)

Mary Fran: I mean, I love him now! It changed me. I mean, it was just SO deep! That movie was so deep. How can you not love him?

Me: Wait, we are talking about the Justin Bieber movie right? Of like, his concert?

Mary Fran: Yeah! It was deep. It really did change me Ms. Ewing.

Me: Justin Bieber. Deep. What? (At this point I'm laughing but she's laughing too so I don't feel so bad.)

So we get to the theater and there were people actually there, already more than I had thought, and we sat behind this couple that was probably in their 50's or 60's. No, they weren't with children, so I'm not sure what their reason for being there was. The wife was acting all crazy the whole time talking out and asking questions about the movie and locations. She legitimately seemed confused by the plot. My favorite part about going to the movies was the fact that Heather gasped along with the rest of the audience (not including me) not once, but twice!

I think I need to check Netflix to see if Never Say Never is available so I can see if Justin Bieber will change me. However, I have a feeling my thoughts on him won't change. 

it's hot in texas

I went to dinner with Pat and Angie the other night and we ate outside. It wasn't too hot, the sun was setting, we were in the shade and a fan was blowing on us. Apparently wearing shorts was a good idea. 

Better on the chair than on my pants making it look like I wet myself.

antiquing

For one of my upcoming crafts I had to go to some antique shops looking for the correct materials. (You will have to wait and see!) One place I went to was insane! It was humongous, stuff was separated into different rooms and booths, and stuff was just crammed EVERYWHERE! I held my purse the entire time afraid I would knock something off a shelf and be forced to buy it. There were some interesting things I found. There were also a ton of different weird things and statues I really wanted to buy for Rebecca and Michael. I would have, but I didn't want to be derailed on my task at hand.

Cookie jar?

No idea. But $2.50 seems overpriced.

Sticks? Stirring implements?

I saw these in several different booths in a variety of colors. I think it's a noise maker, but I was too scared to test it out. I was afraid I'd have to buy it after that or something.

Seriously? Used pencils? I would be a rich woman if I could sell the used pencils in my classroom.

I almost bought this for Crissy. I think she would like it.

At the last shop I went to I ran into Corky St. Clair's twin:

He could not stop going on and on about how he loves antiques because it reminds him of the days of yore, and queens, and loveliness. OK, he may not have said all of those things, but he might as well have with all the ridiculous things he was going on about. I wanted to ask if he knew who Corky was, and if he modeled his life after him, but that seemed inappropriate.

push-ups

I was laying out with Angie and Pa,t and Angie decided she needed to work on her fitness. I'm glad I was able to supply her with an appropriately shallow pool in which to do one armed push-ups.

That was a lot of hard work. She will probably be sore in the morning.*

*Angie texted me this morning saying her back hurt and she didn't know why. I had to remind her she worked on her fitness yesterday and that was probably why.

welcome back to my life

Those who know me know my food issues. I can't eat wheat, dairy, or fructose, among other random things. (eggplant, bell peppers...) Whenever I have time off I try different foods that weren't tested when all of my food issues began. So far this summer I have discovered I can eat: figs, dates, and artichokes. Well I'd like to officially say hello to my new addition.

Hello old friend! Welcome back to my life! I can't wait to cook with you and drink you with fancy meals around candlelight.

coasters

Spoiler alert, many of you will be getting this latest obsession as Christmas/birthday gifts! Today's craft is making coasters! They are so cheap and so cool when they are all finished!! I got tiles at Home Depot for 16 cents each, and scrapbook paper at Paper Source for $1.25 a sheet (each sheet can make 6-9 coasters depending on how much white I want showing on the sides), and a pack of 48 felt guards for $6.50. I already had everything else needed. (Paper cutter and fancy scissors not shown)

After gathering all materials, Angie and I got to work! First you put a layer of Mod Podge down, then your paper. After it dries you put a coat on top, wait for it to dry and do it 2 more times. Once it's all dry you spray it with clear, water resistant spray, put the felt guards on the bottom, and you're done!!

Yes, I'm aware my map coasters are from London and Paris and I've never been to either place. But they looked so cool! And yes, I'm also aware I made 10 coasters and never have that many people over at the same time. And yes, I'm aware my coffee table is so crappy I don't even need or use coasters. And yes, I plan on making more for myself.

I'm already looking through my old scrapbook paper for more paper I want to use. I'm also thinking about doing some collage coasters. Maybe even some with old timey photos...man I am getting excited thinking about it!

fabric hoops

I walked into Angie's apartment a few weeks ago and saw the coolest thing on her wall, fabric hoops! I know, it sounds really awesome. After I left her place, I started googling fabric hoops to get more ideas, and found some great sites. I went to Michael's and bought a bunch of different sizes, and shapes of quilters hoops, and went to a bunch of different fabric stores for fabric. The best thing I found was at Jo Anns, fabric quarters for only $2 a piece! In all I spent about $40 for everything! 

I got a great idea from Rebecca when she was hanging pictures in Miles' room and got out some wrapping paper and laid out where I wanted my hoops. Once I did that I marked where the nail would go, and labeled each one with the size of the hoop.

After that I put the fabric in the inside hoop, and glued the fabric to the back of the hoop with a hot glue gun. Once I was done with that I put the wallpaper on my wall and started putting the nails in the wall.

After that, all I had to do was rip the wallpaper off the wall and put my new art up. 

All done! Once again, I am pretty impressed with my crafting skills. In my last post I said I had 2 more crafting ideas. Well, since then I've come up with a couple of new ones. I think I will be going broke with all of these crafts. (even though they are all pretty cheap, things add up) Who wants to help enable support my crafting habit? 

4th of july with friends

A trip home typically means Saturday night BBQ like always. However, things tend to change when Rebecca is in town, AND it's 4th of July weekend. The Saturday night BBQ turned into an entire weekend of BBQ. Luckily we always had friends around to help eat the incredible amount of food that was continuously being put out by these two:

This is only one day's spread. This doesn't include everything that was BBQ'd. (Sausage, chicken wings, fajitas) I have a bad feeling my friends are going to be expecting a lot from now on whenever we BBQ.

Nothing says classy like eating wings in the pool...

...or pausing for a Coors Light commercial. Look how much fun they're having!

Even Olivia couldn't say no to a Ewing BBQ on the 4th!

Miles even had friends come over and play, even if they are a bad influence.

Mom and Dad were also great babysitters so we could all go out a few times. Here is our sister wives picture.

It was a great weekend with my friends and family!