**Old drafted post** T-shirt grocery tote

SUPER LATE UPLOAD. 

  *** this has been sitting in my drafts since 2017, my goodness!

Are you like me? You know the person that holds on to t-shirts for years but may not wear them often? Well after so long I ended up wasting soooo much dresser space. So I decided to give new purpose to some of them and since plastic bags are not recyclable my shirt will do fine.

Since the drafting of this post, I have used this bag many times over. I also learned some better techniques. I only made one other bag but have made pillows for our couch and lounge chairs out of shirts purchased on my travels or given to me.

Restart

Here I go again!



As the title goes, I am fickle. I enjoy learning new crafts/subjects but am terrible at sticking with them to perfect the skill. The last few years have been quite "interesting", since my last post I separated from my spouse, changed commands, became a single parent, finally got divorced, and about to change commands again. I have grown physically, I've gotten a little heavier though some would same "where? where did you gain weight?!" but I have gained about 20lbs in that time. I've grown mentally (started taking college courses), and grown spiritually. I have done so much but completed nothing. So as I complete another year of life, I wish to make that change. I wish and will dedicate time to work on my skills to teach my kids that follow through is important.


So here I go even with me going to a new command. I will complete one skill a day for 30 minutes.

Monday: practice Spanish/Ladino ( I will call it Loca Lunes)
Tuesday: practice calligraphy
Wednesday: learn Tagalog or French, not yet decided
Thursday: <---- not sure yet
Friday: practice Hebrew
Saturday: day of rest
Sunday: Sewing Sunday (sew any item or practice a stitch)

So, let's see where this goes. I haven't decided when I will start it but I guess it needs to be soon before I no longer wish to do any of these things! LOL

Better Late than Never

So.................................. some time in 2014 I had the opportunity to travel to Korea (of course for work).

Here are a few pictures of the most memorable, and by far, MY favorite place, in Busan, South Korea.

sometimes spelled Pusan, depending on who is writing it

Ladies and Gents,
        Welcome to the wonderful and amazing market of Busan "Busanjin Market"  <3

 There were five floors of household goods. 


Make sure you have a print out of the address in Korean (just in case you get a male cabbie or they don't speak English)


I had an amazing cab driver. I not only learned a couple of haggling words before I went in (thanks cabbie) but I received a little history on the market!! According to Mr. Cab driver, the Busanjin market is the "newlyweds market".  It is where a woman and/or her family would go to get anything she may need for her new home, or for her family to find fabric for traditional bridal wear. Double click the photo below to really see it, do it some justice.



Here is a terrible panoramic view of 1/4 of one floor. Lots of fabric and merchants to choose from, all within different price ranges.

These are Hanbok, traditional dresses. More and more women enjoy the western bridal look but there are still some that stick to tradition.

Not an Artist!

Hello all!  So being in the military I have had the opportunity to meet so many talented people, dancers, musicians, poets, writers, just true artists. Well I didn't really get the artistry gene (I can dance and sing.... not SANG.... just sing) but I try sometimes. Well recently my command held our annual children's Christmas party, they are always looking for volunteers. Last year I helped with the cookie decorating station, easy for me as a baker, this year I saw an opening for face painting. I jumped right on it and offered myself. 


Now you may be wondering, "why did you offer to face paint if you can't draw?" My response to that would be, "That is an amazing question that I don't have an answer for other than that fact that it was an exciting impulsive idea."  Now about 3 days before the party that question did finally hit me, like a sack of potatoes. No, Like a brick. No, I guess more like an anvil.... you know the cartoon AMC anvils that fall randomly from the sky and crush you! Well that happened! So I jumped into action, I found a lady in our area who does face painting purchased some supplies from her to practice, used a mannequin head I had purchased from the Daiso (Japanese dollar general) almost a year ago but never used and started drawing.


Thanks to Official Snazaroo YouTube channel I could at least draw a butterfly going in to the party event.

Not the best but this is how I looked after 4 hours. Yes I did this myself!
This was my I'm tired smile!


After that I just Googled  <- can this actually be used as a word?
By the end of the afternoon I had draw about 3 butterflies, 4 Christmas tree scenes (snow falling, snow on the ground, gifts under the tree), 2 gingerbread men, a princess crown, Santa hat, and a sad Pikachu. Now I did have the joy and opportunity to start with my own boys to practice (snowman and Pikachu).  Now for the adults that saw the Pikachu photo they immediately laughed and thought I was copying some Pokémon meme, unfortunately not so, just first time drawing Pika. Using mind you.. a Google search "how to draw Pikachu step by step".


As the afternoon went on I became a little more confident (stayed away from Pikachu or any real drawing) but my work got better. The kids were happy, the parents were happy, and I volunteered. So Yay!! <3.. never again though (face painting that is)! I will leave this to the professionals in my area!

My boys and two young ladies that let me take a photo!

I had fun, it was interesting and now I know face painting is not a strong suit for me. My boys had a blast playing in the fake snow snuck a photo with Santa and rocked out with their friends.

Super blurry on one side----photo of a photo! Snowman face paint going strong!

Always remember:


*Everyday you are living you will learn something new (big or small)
*Never be afraid to try
*You are never too old to learn/try something new!




***volunteer for things you KNOW you can do!*** LOL


From my family to yours Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa

Cheap mom Blue Velvet cookie style

So I decided allowing my twin boys to spend $2.50 daily on cookies during school lunch was getting expensive. That's $12.50 a week or $50 a month (if my math is right!) I don't know about you but that's ridiculous!!!! So I went on a hunt for fun and easy recipes.

I found a lemon cookie made with 4 ingredients (www.tastesoflizzyt.com) so I started wondering if it can be made with other flavors……well slap my knee, as I kept reading Lizzy clearly stated the concept could be used with other flavors! No more wondering needed.

4 "ingredients":  a box of cake mix, frozen whipped creme (I used fresh heavy creme), an egg, and powdered sugar(optional)

The hardest part for me was changing and finding the right temp for my oven. TIP-purchase an oven thermometer, your oven temp is not always correct.

I decided to use a blue velvet cake mix and………it was a hit!!!
My picky twin 8 year old boys loved them!!
YAY WIN!!!

Check out the link for the recipe.

Have fun and enjoy!

Chalkboard Wall

Chalkboard Wall

 

 For those who may not not know I am a military service member. I don't get much time to craft or sew, I am always on deployment, but when I can I try to craft for my minions. So this particular time I decided to not only make it something that could be fun, but something that could be meaningful. Being stationed overseas you can't always get what you want from the store but here in Japan, you more than likely can find everything you want and things you never knew you wanted. 

I went to a local store called Homes (like a Lowe's or Home Depot meets Bed, Bath & Beyond, meets PetSmart!). I went perusing down the isles until I found the paint. I wasn't sure at first what I wanted to do until I saw at least 4-6 shelves of chalkboard paint and 4 shelves of magnet paint <-- didn't know this one existed. So I picked up a small container of chalkboard paint and a cheap paint roller kit.

Don't be fooled by the English labels, the instructions are definitely in Japanese!

 

  So I began the process. Taping off the area, prepping the paint tray. No my boys' wall recesses for the closet doors so taping off one side was unnecessary. Begin to paint.....

TIP: Always cover the tray with a plastic trash bag of some sort. This makes for an easy clean up and the tray can be reused

 

 

 

REMEMBER: Tape off anything you don't want painted (i.e Light fixture)

Give your self time to let each layer dry. Most of the posts that I read said to clean the walls first, I would agree with this statement to smooth out the wall(booger, sticker, tape removal) but if it is just marks, I don't feel it necessary if you are covering it with a dark paint color. 

Lay down at least 2-3 coats ***Always ventilate the room, open the windows turn on a fan.....***

TIP: Remove painters tape before final coat dries

In the end you and your loved ones will have fun writing on the walls. For me I get to leave love notes when I leave for work before they wake for school.

 

Out with the old, in with the new! (NOT!)

You used to always hear "Out with the old and in with the new" but why out with the old?
The way I see it your already attached to and comfortable with the "old", why not just spruce it up. (I'm talking furniture!)
I have one of the most amazing bargain hunters in my life, my grandma <3 My Aunt Franny and best friend Too Real tie in a close second.....
Anywho, before my birth my grandma searched and found a cute 5 drawer dresser for me. She and my mom cleaned it up and used it for years. As I got a little older my mom updated it, a little fresh paint and drawer liner.



                                                                                                           















    THIS IS IT!! It is super simple but functional and cute. And they put the cutest little knobs on them.

Now luckily they decided not to glue in the liner other wise this project may have been a little harder, They used clear tape, the reason they chose to use tape is their own but in the end it was perfect for me.

So, first I went to Dollar Tree [favorite store ever!] and got a few things. To include:

paint scrapper

rubber palm work gloves

sand paper

paint brushes

shelf liner (non-slip)

drop cloth

and a few other things none of which were needed for this project.

I used the scrapper to get excess paint off the dresser, removed the drawers, then I sanded everything. After sanding, I brushed off the dust and wiped it down with a lint free cloth.

Then I laid out my drop cloth and started painting, main dresser first and then the drawers. Let dry overnight and added another coat the next day. 

                              

this is how it looked on day two, kinda looks like a robot. Ironic that I am putting the dresser through a transformation and it looks like a stick figure transformer. Well... I think so anyway... then again I am just a nerd.

After it completely dried, I coated it in Minwax Polycrylic, added non-slip shelf liner (in light blue and white) and added new knobs.

American Tradition (Valspar) satin paint in Blue Burst

and

Valspar Semi-gloss pain in Ultra White

(both of which my mom already had in her shed - she's awesome)

I got these knobs for less than a $1 from Lowe's, they are GateHouse 1.5 in concave knobs.

In the end a little elbow grease goes a long way. So, No! not "out with the old, in with new."

I say " Go with the old and in the end you'll have gold"