Christmas in July-Candy Jars

July 25, 2016July 24, 201615 Comments

We are in the last week of July, and I am finally getting around to posting a Christmas in July post! I have a huge collection of glass jars, so this was a perfect way to use them. In fact, I didn’t have to buy anything for this particular project, I had it all on hand. That’s the way I like it!

*For my co-workers who follow me here on the blog, you might want to stop reading. These are going to be your Christmas presents. You can decide if you want to know now or not!*

I went through my jars and found 10 that were approximately the same size. I made sure they all had a lid that would fit. As you can see, these jars are from all different sorts of food items. I also picked out 3 different colors of spray paint and found some small wooden beads.

I spray painted the lids using the 3 colors and then had to figure out a way to paint the beads while getting good coverage, and not just on my fingers! I finally (it probably took me 10 minutes to figure this out!) found a long screw that would fit into the end of the bead. This way I could hold the end of the screw and spray the paint all around the bead.

Once everything was dry, I took it all inside to assemble. I had these tacks left over from my chair makeover so used them to cover the hole in the top of the bead. I used Gorilla Glue to attach everything. I squeezed out some glue onto a paper to form a little puddle and then I was able to dip the tack into the glue and place it into the hole. I did the same for the other end of the bead. I dipped it into the glue and then placed it on the top of the lid.

Here is everything all attached.

I sorted through my stash of scrapbooking paper and found pieces that would go well with my lids. There are so many different varieties of paper in the store. I’m sure you can find something you like! Even though these are Christmas gifts, I decided not to use Christmassy paper. I wanted my co-workers to be able to use these in there homes or classroom whenever they wanted, not just at Christmas.

I cut each of my pieces 2 1/2 inches wide and long enough to fit around each jar. I made sure there was enough to overlap a bit, so I would have somewhere to glue.

I also made coordinating tags. I used a 2 inch white square and then another 2 inch piece of printed paper which I attached at an angle. I also added a gold sparkly sticker with the recipients initial. These were all attached with a bit of colored string.

I plan on filling them with some candy when I give them as gifts, but since there is no Christmas candy out quite yet, they are still empty!

I love all the pretty colors and prints!

Of course, turquoise is my favorite!

Now I am all set and won’t have to think about something at the last minute! This would make a great gift for a teacher, a co-worker or a friend. Start saving those jars and you will be on your way!

New Apartment, New Stuff

July 22, 2016July 21, 20166 Comments

Hello everyone! Welcome to another blog to show you where I live and what I have done with decorating.

So, I wanted to show off the living room and kitchen in my new apartment. It is a lot smaller than the apartment before, but it is still very nice and cozy.

Okay, let me start off by saying that the chair is probably not staying there. My roommate Mariah’s brothers brought the couch and chair and we aren’t sure what we are doing with the chair. But, besides that, this is the living room. This is the view from the kitchen with the front door in the background. We have a sliding glass door that is behind the chair that looks out onto our porch. We have the couch, the loveseat, the possible chair, a bookshelf and a TV stand.

Here’s the bookshelf and the TV stand. The TV stand was here when I moved in, but I brought the bookshelf and my roommate Bailey helped to decorate it.

The bookshelf is super cute! I covered the back with wrapping paper to add more design to the shelf. Some of the stuff is mine, where some was the other stuff was the other girls’.

And here is the kitchen. It’s so much smaller than the last kitchen, but it’s not bad because there’s less to clean. It’s just a skinny kitchen. Nothing too special. But one of my favorite things about it is the oven.

I love the sign and the pot on the oven. Even though it is a misleading jar, it still looks cool on the oven. It also complements the small sugar jar on the counter next to the oven. And the sign…I don’t drink that much alcohol, but it is a cute sign.

So that’s the new living space in the apartment. It’s super cute and cozy! Even though it isn’t close to being completed, it is still really nice to have a living space. Oh, and if you’re wondering if I’m changing the cushions on the loveseat, I have fabric to make a cover for it.

Fabulous Finds and Fashions-Disney Shoes

July 20, 2016July 19, 20162 Comments

Hello everyone! Welcome to another edition of Fabulous Finds and Fashions.

It may not come to a surprise, but I am still playing Pokemon Go. I know, shocking! But, I wanted to share a special pair of shoes that I have been wearing almost every night that I have gone out Pokemon hunting.

And, I found them when I was moving to the new apartment, so it’s technically a find.

So, I bought these shoes at Rite Aid like 2 years ago. And at the time, I was into drawing on shoes. Weird, yes…I think. But at that time I wanted a pair of red shoes to draw a Mickey Mouse head on.

So I took a stencil of a Mickey Mouse head and literally drew it on the top of the shoe with a sharpie. It’s not super professional, but I love how it turned out.

I then took a fine point sharpie and drew the Disney logo on the heel of the shoe. It just adds a little bit of fun to the shoes.

So, even though this post isn’t super exciting, it is a find and a fashion. I succeeded! Thanks for stopping by!

A Day at the Lake

July 18, 2016July 17, 201610 Comments

Hi everyone! My post is a little different this time. No DIY! Just a few pictures from our day at a nearby lake! I finally got to go somewhere and just relax!

I took this picture on the way to the lake. Ezzy looks so excited, but Zoe, not so much!! This just makes me laugh every time. We haven’t taken Zoe anywhere yet, so this was her first major trip and she did so good!

Here are the nice brown foothills surrounding the lake. We are going through drought here in Ca., so while the lake is pretty full, the hills are very dry. This is just in the foothills, not too far up.

Lake Kaweah is actually a reservoir and is used to control flood waters when there is a lot of snow and is also used for irrigation for the surrounding farmland. It is usually full during May and June when the snow melts, but since we did have a little extra rain this year, it is still pretty full even in July.

We arrived around 11:00 and it was pretty quiet. Just a few other people and some boats and jet skis out on the water. By 2:00, it was pretty busy and we called it a day. Having all the dogs there and lots of people can get a little stressful. But the dogs really did quite well.

It was so nice to get out for awhile, even if it was just a few hours. We played a little frisbee in the water and I got to spend my time reading a book I have trying to get to all summer! We are hoping to get to another lake a little higher up in a couple of weeks and then hopefully to the beach before school starts. We all need a few of these breaks!

I will see you again on Wednesday! Hope you have a great week!

Corner News-I AM ADDICTED!

July 16, 2016July 15, 2016Leave a comment

So, unless you have to be living under a rock for the past week, many of you have heard of the new app called Pokemon Go.

Now, I will start off by saying that I didn’t understand why people liked the app so much. I was never one who got into Pokemon when I was younger, so I didn’t really feel the need to download the app.

And honestly, I was making a little bit of fun of my friends who had downloaded the app. I thought it was a silly concept for people to have to leave their houses to go and collect Pokemon. Wouldn’t it be easier to find Pokemon on a virtual map and not leave my house?

Unfortunately, my coworker and really good friend Elise told me to download the game and try it because a bunch of coworkers were going to a local park to hunt for Pokemon. And since I love my coworkers I decided to try it out.

And now I regret it because I AM ADDICTED.

Yes, that’s right. I went through 6 levels in 3 hours with my coworkers. And, because you have to walk certain distances to hatch the eggs, I took a 30 minute walk to try to hatch 2 eggs. Yeah…

Now, my two highest Pokemon are my Arbok and my Growlithe. And my coworkers and I have planned to go Pokemon hunting once a week. Addicted? Probably. How long will it last? I don’t know. But I know that for now, everyone loves it and I might as well join the trend.

Side Note: I originally typed up this blog on Wednesday the 13th. Since then, I went on another Pokemon hunt with my coworkers and found just a few more Pokemon.

These are my current highest Pokemon.

And…I hatched two Magikarps in my eggs. They are some of the hardest Pokemon to find and you need a lot of them to level up one. And I hatched two. My coworker Dean was not happy.