DIY Thread Container Tutorial

Sometimes I have a desire to create something. Some days that translates into baking; somedays into sewing; and other days painting.

Some of my favorite projects are ones that cost me nothing! That's right, my latest project cost me $0.

For Christmas Jon received a box of Ferrero chocolates. Knowing my love of collecting useless crap and trying to make it useful, he saved the container once it was empty. I decided to use it to hold my thread spools. My previous method of throwing them into an old makeup bag just wasn't working so well.

This is what it looks like finished:


The items I used to make it:

• empty Ferrero chocolate box


• masking tape


• acrylic paint


• paint brush

As I mentioned before every item was something that someone gave me instead of tossing! The paint was a little old and lumpy but it got the job done!
I started by removing the stickers from the container and washing it with warm water and soap. I wanted to make sure it was all clean and smooth.
I then cut strips of masking tape in half and into pieces. A more patient person could probably make a better chevron pattern by drawing it out but I did it free hand. It worked well enough for me.


It was all ready for the paint. The trickiest part of this was making sure all the corners of tape were painted. It helps if you make sure the tape is firmly pressed against the container.


After the first coat dried I applied another one. It didn't seem to need a third so I left it at that. I didn't take pictures of the next couple steps but after the paint is completely dry, slowly remove the masking tape. I then flipped it over and painted the inside yellow. That way it looked like I painted zig zags.



It fits my thread spools perfectly! And as I add to my collection I can always paint another container!


I like how it turned out! It adds some color to my craft supply storage area!

One Inch At A Time

The other night Jon and I were talking about my weight loss progress. I was saying how sometimes it can be really easy to get frustrated when the scale doesn't move as fast as I'd like. I was talking down about myself and how the healthier I get the more frustrated I am with myself for getting to this place where I became so unhealthy and gained weight. I look back and think if you had just handled your emotions/pain in a healthier way. When I had confessed this to Jon he said something that really struck me and made me think. At that time he was just relieved I was no longer trying to deal with emotions through alcohol. The more I think about this the more I think he's right. I changed my coping method of drinking to eating unhealthy junk. But for me the changing of that coping method is a lot easier now that I want it badly enough.

I started getting serious about getting healthy five months ago and for the past two months have been much more intense about it. I feel like for almost all accounts I'm making healthy choices. I exercise 5-6 days a week, 1 1/2- 2 hours a day. I watch what I eat, track calories and nutrition info. I drink copious amounts of water every day, I go to bed earlier and get more sleep. I feel like I'm on the right track and getting better every week. When I look in the mirror it almost feels sometimes like I'm a skinny girl trapped in a fat girl's body. (perhaps I've watched Drop Dead Diva too much?) The problem is I really don't have a lot of patience. I workout and want results instantly. But it doesn't work that way. I've had several years of bad decisions and several months of good decisions can't erase that right away. They're helping to. One inch at a time. And as I finally reach the double-digit-inches-loss-in-one-area mark I know it's not a lot to some people but for me it's cause for celebration. It's evidence that my hard work is paying off. I have a long way to go still and a never worn before --too small dress in my closet taunting me. But I'm going to get there; one inch at a time.

Unpacking Boxes

In the midst of our move last summer we decided we need to go through our things and purge. I especially. I keep so much crap! Jon's been doing a good job of going through boxes and throwing things out. I have been putting it off though. You see, for the past 8 years a lot of my belongings have  been in boxes. I've moved quite a few times and each time I only unpack the every day essentials and the rest of the time I live out of boxes. I don't know why. It's just this weird quirk I have. It drives Jon nuts! I just say I'm no where near being a hoarder.

Two months after we moved here our landlords came in to do something I forget what; they noticed a stack of boxes in my office/craft room and made a comment about how we hadn't finished unpacking yet. I said no we're finished. I never unpack everything from boxes. The strange  look I got said enough. I've decided there must be some psychological anxiety that scares me out of settling in completely so I've started going through my things and purging. To date we've thrown out and recycled 13 boxes. Not all of them were packed full. But that's 13 trips out to the truck we won't have to make the next time we move. And I think it's been a healthy experience. It's good to remember it's just stuff and it's ok to settle in sometimes.
It has been fun going through and remembering things! I found a bunch of hair accessories from high school. They're a little broken and will get tossed but remember these?

excuse the poor iphone quality!

And this!! Peeling nail polish!! What a weird idea that was! Do they even make it anymore?!

I've still got several boxes to go through.  It's hard to know what to do with some of the stuff! Am I really going to want to keep my kindergarten drawings in 30 or 40 years from now? What do you do with sentimental things you've kept? Is there a good way to store and keep them?

Dehydrator Goodies

I mentioned this briefly last week but we've recently been given a food dehydrator! Ever since I discovered this recipe for strawberry fruit leather we've been obsessed! I never knew you could make it in an oven! With our newly acquired dehydrator we were eager to see what other healthy snacks we could make!



I've started pinning a bunch onto my Healthy Snacks board. I can't wait to try rosemary sweet potato chips and dried watermelon!

 This is what I'm currently snacking on while I type this. Banana chips and peach gummies! The peaches are our favorite dried fruit chunks so far! They are so good! Taste like those fruit gummy candies but way better!

This week we plan to try some dried veggies! I see some pepper slices and cucumber chips in our future. A lot of dried snacks can be done in the oven on low temperatures! So if you don't have a dehydrator then give that a try!

DIY Tutorial: Exercise Book

I've collected a stack of fitness magazines for the past few years. I keep saying that one day I'll go through them, save what I want, and throw them away. But it never seems to happen! This week-end I decided to change that so I made a book to save all the things I rip out of the magazines. In the evenings while the t.v. is on I pull out my mat and weights and do some exercising while I watch. Right now I open the laptop to my pinterest fitness page and get ideas from there. But I thought it might be easier to have a book of moves.

For it I used: old fitness magazines, a notebook, a stapler, glue, and scissors.

Using a few tutorials I found on pinterest, I made my own notebook. I made one a few months ago for Jon and found the binding part to be actually really easy! So I made one for myself this time.

It took me a while to get through them all but one by one I cut/tore out everything I wanted to save.

Some of them have moves on both sides so I stapled them to the pages. The other ones I just glued on.

I organized them into sections in the book. Upper Body, Core, Lower Body. It's ok if you have the same move twice as some work more than just one area of your body! I put them in different sections so if I'm targeting a different area that day I'll still find the moves.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! It'll be really handy! Plus now that I have cleaned out my magazine stash I have an excuse to replace them with new ones!

Grow your blog Blog Hop

Today we're having a quiet and relaxing day around here. Armed with a delicious cup of coffee and strawberry fruit leather, I thought it'd be fun today to participate in a blog hop! Click the button and head over to discover some new blogs!


edited to add: guess you don't have to head over! the linky shows up below. But you should click over and check out Vintage Wanna Bee!

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Fill in the Blank Friday

Today in honor of Lauren and Craig's 10th anniversary, the blanks are love themed! Head over to her blog to play along!

1.  The love of my life is   Jonathan! And I suppose the furbabies are in there tied at second. 



2.   Falling in love is  something that should never end in a relationship. It's a continuous process of falling more in love with the other person each day and appreciating that love. 

 

3.  Marriage is  hard work. Not the kind you wake up in the morning dreading. But the kind that is satisfying, fulfilling, and totally worth it. 

4. The longest relationship I've ever had was  this one! Six years almost starting our seventh!

 

5. The key to a good relationship is communication and commitment.

6. I feel loved when someone specifically thinks of me and something I'd like and thoughtfully surprises me with it. 

7.  My favorite quote about love is   "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved"-- George Sand

Latest Obsession: Fitness Edition

Guys I'm obsessed! Between Pinterest and my recent discovery of My Fitness Pal I'm trying to educate myself on all things healthy living. I've got healthy snacks and workouts pinned. And then I track them on MFP! I should have started keeping track ages ago! I soon found that I almost never reach the recommended calorie intake each day! So I've been working on changing that. I also think it's encouraging and motivating when I see how much exercise I log. I want to accumulate more and more workout time! Right now I have weekly and monthly workout time/calories burned goals. Hoping to increase both as the month goes on. I still have a long ways to go but seeing the inches decrease is encouraging and exciting!



Another thing that helps motivate me is Jon getting interested in it. His support in emails and texts asking me how I workout went are great. He always says he's really proud of how hard I'm working out. And it's nice to hear that sometimes! He's also gotten a lot more into healthy eating with me! It used to be the veggies and fruit were pretty much for me. But now I go to the fridge and find some of them missing! He went grocery shopping yesterday and now our house looks like a fruit market! I love it! We've recently been given a dehydrator so I've been using it a lot! But I'll post about that next week.

I still have a long way to go but I'm feeling good about the changes and choices I've been making. I'm not crash dieting and losing it all really quickly but rather making changes in my lifestyle that will be long term. Some days I get a little discouraged. I just want to get there now! But when I think about the progress I've made so far, it's the needed push to finish the day's workouts strong!

Have you made any goals to get healthier? How are they working out for you? Any tips?

Being On The Jury

For the past two years I've had the privilege of being on the jury for the Ninjamatics Canadian Weblog Awards. The CWAs are awards that recognize great Canadian blogs! They're not based on popularity and votes but rather a list of criteria that are judged by a panel of jurors.

I've loved being on the jury for a number of reasons. Through it I've discovered many new blogs! It's also really helped me in thinking about who I am as a blogger and how I blog. The process of judging based on a criteria really makes you look at design and content from an objective level. They've also helped me realize why I like the blogs I do! That said I have a few Canadian blogs I'm going to head over and nominate! Check out the website for the top blogs that won the awards this  year!

Chocolate Heart Cookies

I'm a very spoiled girl. I woke up to flowers, notes around the house, crepes, and coffee! My husband does an amazing job of showing me how much he appreciates me every day. So we usually keep Valentines Day pretty low key and quiet. He has to get up early for work so he goes to bed early in the evenings. So last night I stayed up late and made some cookies for him to bring in his lunch. He loves bringing baking for his lunch so I knew this would be the way to his heart!



Growing up we used to make these cookies every year! I don't know what they are actually called but I have them titled as Chocolate Heart Cookies because we usually just made them around Valentines Day and we always cut them into heart shapes! Another thing we usually did with them was include cinnamon heart candies. Sometimes I put them on the icing and sometimes, when I remember, I bake them right into the dough. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate but I enjoy one or two of these! They taste like brownies!



Happy Valentines Day! Make sure you let those you love, know that you appreciate them today!

First Season Tv Shows

Whenever I start watching a new show I like to give it quite a few episodes before I make a judgement whether I add it to my must watch shows or not. I think every show takes a while to work its self out and really develop the characters and series plots.

Here's a few shows in their first season that made the cut:

 I missed the first couple episodes of this show so when I started watching I didn't quite follow all the story lines and relationships. I really badly wanted to like this show so I stuck it out for several episodes and I'm so glad I did because it's seriously my new favorite show! I'm so into this show! And can't wait to see where they go with it!

 

 I LOVED the pilot for this show!! Absolutely loved it! That's why I was so disappointed with the second and third episode. It has since redeemed it self. A large part to Justin Long making some guest appearances. Jess is awkward and hilarious at the same time. I'm hoping they make something happen between her and Nick soon instead of dragging it out for a couple seasons.

 

 Jon and I are generally a fans of most things Tim Allen is involved with so we were excited to start watching Last Man Standing. He plays a similar character to that of Tim in Home Improvement except this time he has three daughters and works in an outdoor store. There's many episodes that make me laugh and the chemistry between the three daughters is really believable that they could be sisters. I think one of my favorite episodes so far is The Inglorious Baxters: Pie Rack.

 

 I was up in the air about this show. There's some really funny and good episodes but they're still developing the characters so some weeks it leaves me disappointed. I think it has the potential to be a good show!

 


Bomb Girls is a tv mini-series with 6 episodes. It's based back in World War II and it follows the lives of several woman who worked in a bomb factory. It was interesting to watch a storyline from WWII that showed how the woman in Canada had their lives and character altered by their roles during the war. To refer to a line in the show, they were the strong force that fought from the lines at home. The season finale was last week but they've just announced there is going to be a second season! Can't wait for that.

 

 

Looks like right now I'm into shows with a strong female lead actor! Interesting. I wonder if there are a lot of new shows out this year like that?  What are some of your favorite or not favorite shows in their first season? Any recommendations for shows I should give a chance to?

 

Fill in the Blank Friday

Fill in the Blank Friday!! Head over to Lauren's and play along!

1. I started my blog because I enjoyed blogging on other platforms and wanted a place where I could write from the heart.

2. One thing I love seeing on other blogs posts that are written with a great deal of honesty, giving you a glimpse into who they authentically are. 

3. Something I love about blogging the connections and friendships you can make with people without ever having met before. 

4. A favorite blog post of mine is probably one that I've written about something serious or with an attempt to be funny.  Check out Not Taking Life For Granted, Gaining Perspective, Hi, My Name Is just to name a few. 

5. Something my friends in real life know about me that I've never before mentioned on my blog is I change my clothes a lot of times through out the day. I'm not sure why, I just feel the need to wear something else. 

6. My new favorite blogs to read are ...I'd actually love some suggestions! 

7. Some things I tend to avoid doing on my blog are write posts that are just me complaining, ranting, or bashing people. 

Talking About The D Word

Lately I've been noticing a lot of commercials that Bell has been sponsoring for their Let's Talk campaign. In case you don't want to click the link, what they're doing is that every text message sent and long distance call made today, Bell will donate 5 cents to mental health programs. One of their intentions is to erase some of the negative stigmatism behind depression and to get people talking about it.

To be honest, that's something I struggle with sometimes. It's not something I talk about a whole lot. A lot of times because it's hard for me to admit. I like to pretend I'm pretty strong and not bothered by a lot. And depression makes me feel weak and powerless.

I first felt the affects of depression when I was 12 but didn't see a doctor and get diagnosed till high school. I tried to manage it in various ways, some not so healthy  choices like drinking every day. When I moved away and started attending college they expected their students to be sober for the 8 months of school. I respected this and recognized it was probably a good thing for me to do. It was hard though. And I was no longer able to hide my emotions by drinking myself to sleep. I eventually realized I needed some professional help and ended up on anti-depressants and weekly counselling sessions.

Years later I'm no longer taking pills or seeing a counsellor but am working at managing my depression in other ways. Some people have a hard time understanding depression. They talk about it like it's something you can snap out or should suck it up and grow up. This frustrates me and I don't think  is helpful in easing the negative stigma of mental illness. So I applaud Bell today for making an effort to get people talking about it. Because sometimes a little support can do more help than you'll ever realize. But that's a story for another day.