Day 362: Heart & Arrow Carved Ornament

My lovely sister-in-law is getting married TODAY!

I really wanted to make a little something for them but since they are moving across country in the new year it couldn't be too big. They met at a camp earlier this year so when I saw this little ornament idea here...I knew this is what I wanted to make for them. What better than a little woodsy ornament with their initials carved in?!

Day 361: Paperclip Bow Bookmarks

Time: An hour
Listening to: All on the Line

I saw these adorable little bow bookmarks and desperately needed to make them! They are just too cute to not make.

Day 360: Friendly Felt Ornaments!

Time: An hour
Listening to: All On The Line

I am loving on felt animals this holiday season! I saw these guys here and couldn't resist making my own! Aren't they so cute?!

25 Good Books Every Woman Should Read

Ever since I made my ideal bookshelf on Day 351, I've been thinking a lot about what books I've read and how they have influenced me. Each of these books listed below have influenced my viewpoint on being a woman and what that means. As a recently turned 26 year old, I've been reflecting on the numerous strong, intelligent, and funny female characters and personalities that I've grown up admiring. I thought I'd pay homage to them in this post.

Listed in the general order that I first read them:

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
2. Their Eyes Were Watching God  by Zora Neale Hurston
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
5. Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. Mrs. Dalloway
8. A Girl Named Zippy
9. The Awakening
10. Jane Eyre 
11. Housekeeping
12.  Traveling Mercies
13. Autobiography of a Face
14. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
15. Room
16. Bossypants
17. The Patron Saint of Liars
18. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
19. Villette

20. Little Women

21.The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
22.  House on Mango Street
23. The Bell Jar
24.  How To Be A Woman
25. Wild

For the year 2013 I'm thinking about doing a challenge of only reading female writers. I think this could be very interesting and help push me along in my journey of becoming the woman that I want to be.

Merry Christmas!

A very MERRY Christmas to everyone!

Day 357: Furry Friends Mobile

Time: An hour?
Listening to: Christmas Mix

Back on day 331 I mentioned there was more to come to this project...and here it has finally arrived! I assembled the furry friends into a little mobile for my lovely little niece. I hope she loves it!

Day 356: Two Colored Infinity Scarf

Time: An hour
Listening to: Silence

I wanted to make an infinity scarf (similar to Day 332 ) for a friend for Christmas so I found two pieces of fabric that I love and got to it!

Day 355: Oreo Peppermint Cookies

Time: 25 minutes
Listening to: Spotify Christmas Radio

I wanted to make some Christmas treats for some neighbors and my employer so I decided to try a variation of this recipe.

I changed it a bit mostly because I couldn't find the lollipop sticks. I also don't always like so much white chocolate so I decided to cover only half of it instead of the whole thing. All you need are double stuffed Oreos, candy canes (I picked chocolate mint flavor), and white melting chocolate. Nice and easy! And cute, too!

Day 354: X Marks the Spot Chalkboard Frame

Time: An hour?
Listening to: The Packers (win!)

Back on Day 340 I wrote about this great frame and mirror that I scored for nice and cheap. I spray painted the mirror then started it on the frame. I painted it white first then added a gold detail by hand. I love how it turned out!

Frame Among Friends

Close Up

Stumbled on Favorites

I'm flying today so I thought that I'd post a few of the favorite things I've stumbled on recently.

I LOVE this spiral at my public library!

Getting an elephant massage is now on my bucket list.

Cotton candy artist? Awesome.

Listener picks for 2012. Good stuff.

Caine's Arcade...seriously had me crying it is so precious.

 I'd like to pop a pair of these on next time I'm stressed out!

Christmas Sweatz...I want my own pair now!

I really like this plastic trash art by Kim Preston.

Day 352: Drawing What to Pack

Today I did a little drawing to show me what to pack.

When I was in college I attended an art show where an artist drew every single item in her house. It was incredible and ever since I have kind of wanted to do it...maybe this was just the beginning!

Just for Fun: Snow Ice Cream!

In celebration of the first snow fall, we made snow ice cream today! It really barely snowed so I had to go out with a spoon and scoop up enough to make it...but hey! It worked!

Here is the nice and simple recipe:

-Fill a baggy up with snow.
-Add in a Tablespoon of sugar
-Add in 1/2 Tablespoon of vanilla extract
-Pour in some milk

Mix it all up and enjoy!

Day 351: My Ideal Bookshelf

My husband gave me this great book for Christmas (yes, we already exchanged presents...) and I was so inspired that I decided to make my own ideal bookshelf.

In no particular order:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3. Tinkers by Paul Harding
4. Lovely, Raspberry by Aaron Belz
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
6. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
7. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
8. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
10. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
11. The Second Coming by Walker Percy
12. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
13. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
14. The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland
15. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

Day 350: Christmas Tree Cards

Time: About an hour
Listening to: Murder She Wrote


I made some cute little Christmas cards today!

Day 349: Gold Animal Magnets

Time: A couple hours
Listening to: Oddities

I've been itching to make some gold animal magnets for quite some time now. I finally gathered all the materials I needed (gold paint, animals, magnets, glue) and got to it! And I'm so happy with how they turned out!

Day 348: Simple Ribbon Chalkboard

I found these wood mounting pieces at my grandparents' apartment and thought up so many different possibilities for them. I decided to use my chalkboard spray paint on one of them. Lucky for me, my desire to make these and a beautiful blue skied day coincided so I didn't have to spray paint in our creepy basement! After they dried, I found some ribbon and attached it on the back. Nice and simple!

Day 347: A Series of Oregon Dance Moves

This post goes out to Traci...our first visitor from afar!



The Bend the Head, Bend the Knee Dance


The Look at Me Dance


The Subtle Shelly Head Bounce Dance


The Leaf Wiggle Dance

Thanks for visiting us, Traci!

25 Fun Experiments & Activities to do wtih Kids!

I mentioned a couple days ago that I do a daily experiment or activity with the kids I nanny for to reward them for good behavior. We usually do them at the end of the day so it is a nice thing to look forward to. I love seeing them getting excited about explosions, making their own hypothesis, or even just giggling during a silly activity. Some days go over better than others but they always get really excited to find out what the activity is going to be. They often ask for 3 clues so they can guess what it will be. So far they've never been able to guess but we'll see.

I've been gathering ideas from all over the internet (mostly thanks to Pinterest) and thought I'd share the good ones that I've found and the kids enjoyed.

Science Experiments

Bright Fuzzy Bubbly Explosions 



Blowing up Balloons!


Dancing Raisins!


Ivory Soap Explosions!


Bouncing Egg Experiment


Sink or Float? Experiment


Color Expansion on Milk


Hanger Scale--What's Heavier?


Color Absorption Experiments 


Sparkly Explosions!

Shiny Pennies!

Dancing Spaghetti (similar to Dancing Raisins!)















Floating and Sinking Eggs

Fun Activities


Sensory Balloons


Paint Bag Painting


Guess that Smell Game


The "What's Missing?" Game


Toothpicks + Marshmallow Game



Spy Training!


Mini Marshmallow Poppers


Car Markers


Milk Jug Catcher

























Paper Plate Ring Toss Game

Make a Cream Cheese Apple Dip 


Microwave Puffy Paint

With the sad events of today in Newtown, Connecticut...make sure to do something extra special with your kids this weekend. Maybe try one of these experiments...but for sure give em lots of hugs and kisses!

Day 346: Pom Pom Bookmarks

Time: A couple hours
Listening to: Silence

Today I went crazy with making pom pom bookmarks. I can't believe it has taken me so long to learn how to make pom poms. They are so fun! And easy to make! Here is the link that taught me and inspired this project. Mine are a bit shaggier than the tutorial but I like them that way!