#reverbbroads11: I Was a Book Nerd

I'm participating in #ReverbBroads11, a month of blog prompts promised to be silly and reflective. .. The December 9 prompt: What was your favorite children's book?

I honestly spent most of the weekend thinking about this one -- and unless I went as far as calling my mom or grandma, I'm not sure how to answer this. I'm not sure that I had a favorite, or that there was one book that was always cracked open. I do know, however, that whenever I had the opportunity, I had my nose in a book.

My mom used to tell me that I was the little girl in kindergarten who, instead of playing "house" with the rest of the seemingly normal 5-year-old girls, I was in the corner with my nose in a book instead. I remember that nearly every time my sister and I would go spend the weekend at my grandparents' house, we'd go down the street to one of the two Super Crown Books (you know, when it was still a legit bookstore) near them and, sometimes, could literally spend hours in the children's/teens book corner. There was one time, in fact, we (sister, grandparents and I) went in sometime in the middle of the afternoon and came out after dark, blissfully unaware that we had skipped dinnertime and probably spent upwards of 4 hours in that store on Lake in Pasadena. Bliss!

I don't know when I stopped reading like I used to. Somewhere in the hustle and bustle of high school mandatory readings, newspaper articles, and soccer games, I lost that drive. I still like reading, sure, but it's magazines and "easy reads," not like I used to. 

Not me. :)

 So, actually, thank you, #reverbbroads11, for encouragement towards one of my New Year's resolutions. You'll have to wait a few weeks to find out.

Streaky Fun Ornaments

As anyone who is on Pinterest knows, these guys have been quiet the buzz lately, what with Christmas decor blowing up everyone's Facebook feeds lately. And I saw them... and gushed... and knew instantly they'd make fabulous Christmas presents (not revealing to who! That will stay a secret until Christmas). And thought I'd give them a go.

Here's my disclaimer: I went thinking these guys would be fairly easy. Drop some paint in a glass ornament, shake it around, voila, right? WRONG. Be prepared for a little experimentation in how you get your paint to streak and whirl around. However, the only plus side to this is that no matter what you do or how you do it, each and every single one of these turns out unique, streaky, and oh-so-pretty! That being said, here we go.

 For my first set, I'm making them rainbow -- as artsy as you can get, right? Right. I also got the ornaments 50% off at Hobby Lobby -- hooray for Christmas sales!

 Of course, take each top piece off. I'm always scared of breaking the glass rim, but these sets that I bought turn out to be fairly industrial. Perfect for klutzes like me!

And then just start dripping paint in - here's where I learned the hard way. I was just squeezing in paint, letting it shoot into wherever land inside of these glasses. Try sticking the nose of the bottle just inside the rim and gently squeeze. That way, the paint rolls off the edge of the rim and then starts sliding and streaking... and makes it easier on you! The more colors you do at once, the runnier they get, and therefore streak easier.

 I wish I could have gotten the outside to look like this!

 Isn't it FUN looking though?

 First one, done! I wasn't super happy with it, at first. Stay tuned.

 Attempt No. 2. Liking this one a little more.

 No. 2, done. Liking it more than No. 1, for sure. But again, stay tuned!

 After each one was done, I turned them upside down on wax paper to let the excess paint drip out. This actually definitely turned out in my favor, as the paint dripping back out of the ornament made it streak even MORE and made these first two look REALLY cool.

And as far as this blob of paint goes, don't you just wish you could buy paint like this? I think it looks SO neat!

 Molly helped. Kind of.

 No. 3. From the get go, I loved this one!

 Again, if only I could get such good swirlies to show up on the outside!

 Lookin' pretty neat, if I do say so myself.

 Done! This is how I set them when I went to bed....

 The final collection of swirly paint... so fun!

And with all the extra drippage I let them do (upside down to get excess paint out, and then right-side up again to dry!), this is how they turne dout the next morning! Neat, right?

Are you making these this Christmas? Let me see what you come up with. I have one more set to make, but I want to see your craftiness, too!

#reverbbroads11: That IS, In Fact, the Question

I'm participating in #ReverbBroads11, a month of blog prompts promised to be silly and reflective. . Today’s prompt: Why blog? Why do you or why do you like to blog (recognizing that these are not always the same thing)?


I blog for a few reasons. I don't know that I like blogging just yet, but am trying to make it a habit and a thing that I would like to regularly work on. So, as it stands now, I have a few reasons that I blog:

• I just moved - again. While the last place was home for three years, I'm now further from my family than before (California to Georgia). When I first moved to Texas, I had a blog, but rarely kept up with it, thought I desperately wish I had, just to chronicle all the adventures and stories I had as a Residence Director. Much like the parodied Bad Hall Director blog, I did have some incredible experiences, and some incredibly crazy experiences, and while I know I will remember a lot of them for years to come, I wish I had chronicled them for myself. So... I blog for my family... and for me.
• I blog to show off a little - don't we all? Especially with decorating and doing up my new home on a [very] tight budget, I've been pretty proud of the refurnishing I've done on a few CraigsList pieces and thrift store pieces and just like to show y'all what I've done. While I will never become (at least, what I presume to be never) one of those blogs who's sponsored by Better Homes & Gardens or the DIY Network, I'm proud what I've learned - from other blogs, no less!
• I kind of... always have. Since my sophomore year of high school, where I had a stint on Teen Open Diary (oh yes!), eventually transitioned to LiveJournal (freshman year of college through senior year, regularly), and on-and-off Bloggers since then. LiveJournal was a significant part of my community my freshman year of college, when I struggled to meet a community in real life; I had connections from TOD there, made new ones, and am friends with women that I've met through there even on Facebook! While lately blogging has taken a back-burner to cell phones, text messages, and mass-family-email-updates, it was important then. Again, I would like this one to be again.
•  Keeping up with friends. It's important... even to Barney. 

Scarf Obsession

I have a scarf obsession. I will fully, and openly, admit that. However, I saw these pinned (and re-pinned and re-pinned...) all over Pinterest and thought it was so cool, I had to try! Thankfully, I've been slowly working on my Goodwill pile and decided that one of those shirts presented the perfect opportunity to experiment - what did I have to lose? One less t-shirt donated? Win for me.

I picked this shirt: it's bright, fun, has a neat pattern, and I hadn't worn it in forever. Better yet? I got it like 3 years ago from Kohl's for less than $5 (clearance shopper extraordinaire, I am). I actually took out two shirts, but I haven't done the other yet, so you get to wait for that one. This scarf is awesomely easy. Most of the blogs that I've found have used just plain, colored cotton t-shirts; like the kind you can get at Hobby Lobby or Michael's for less than $5 a pop. That's my next attempt! Most sites recommend using at least an XL tshirt.

First, cut off the bottom. This one had a band at the bottom (so it almost bubbled, almost); and most shirts are now cut so the back is a little longer at the bottom. Then start cutting in strips! Mine were about an inch wide each, and I got about 15 of them out of the shirt. The more strips you get, the thicker your scarf will be!

Gather them all up and start stretching! Stretch until these babies don't stretch anymore. The longer you can get them to stretch, you can either double or triple once you're wearing it - almost like an infinity scarf, if you can get it that long. Yes, I'm using my foot - they were easier to hold onto and pull that way! Creative, I know.

I don't have photos of the last part, but it's easy: I took the band I cut off the bottom, took out the hem and used that piece to wrap around a small section of all my loops. I found another blog that used leather strips for this part, and added beads and it looks AMAZING, but I'll try that next time. I just wanted to see if this even worked!

 Excuse the ugly photos -- I don't like this short! Like I said, the more you can get them to stretch, the more you can do with it. I would have also added another t-shirt to make the overall scarf thicker.

 

Much better longer! I loved it! And yes, I may have planned my whole outfit that day around the scarf... what do you think? 

Here, a few other blogs for inspiration: T Shirt Scarf / Scarf Part Two (I LOVE the contrast of the stripes and solids in that first one! And the second is what using a big cotton tshirt would look like)

#reverbbroads11: Laughter is the Best Medicine

I'm participating in #ReverbBroads11, a month of blog prompts promised to be silly and reflective. Today’s prompt is: Who or what makes you laugh so hard that milk shoots out of your nose and why? Slapstick, dry witty comedy, your kids, Monty Python?

At first, my only answer was "Well, duh, everything." And I mean that, most of the time - I am easily entertained, amused, and find most silly, random things in life funny. And after I thought for a little while, I came up with two, whole-hearted answers: puns and YouTube. Let me explain.

Puns: I appreciate puns -- the ones that are intentional, the ones that people come up with and 20 minutes into the conversation, find an appropriate (or, as is the case usually, totally planned awkward) moment to blurt it out. For example: last night at dinner with some of my students, we were on a series of random topics about movies:

[student a] Aw, I love August Rush!

[grad] Wait, what's August Rush?

[student b] It's a super cute movie, 'bout a talented little kid, who plays some instrument, finds his family....

[me] It's a sweet movie.

[grad] Is it music to your ears?

Now, it makes me groan, but deep down inside, I was chuckling. There are others, plenty of others, and if I sat and thought about it long enough, I'd be able to recite them for you. I enjoy this one, though:

“The sardine factory reeled job applicants in by promoting a can do atmosphere.”

Tee hee hee. You can find more here. 

YouTube: I know it's partially plagued by people being intentionally ridiculous at the hopes of becoming an overnight website sensation, but for those that are of the quality of America's Funniest Home Videos, they keep me rolling. Part of the reason I love working with students? They keep me in check with the latest YouTube hits. Just kidding, I like them for other reasons. But mostly YouTube. I'll leave you with some favorites -- laugh out loud, I dare you!

Ultimate Dog Tease (will forever be a favorite)

You Forgot the Blueberries

Kitten Bowling

Tickle a Penguin 

* note that I don't enjoy animals getting hurt, obviously. But the bowling one cracks me up each and every single time. Kitty doesn't get hurt.