Christmas Table Setting

I love Christmas. Everything about Christmas.

But I get so excited at the beginning of the month, with such great ideas and then the depression hits. I am a happy person, but other people's emotions are overwhelming at times.

So enjoy Christmas for yourself, make a small list of things that you can plausibly get done and forget other people.

I got close to quoting Taylor Swift, oops.

Here are some table decorating ideas for Christmas.

So from me to you, 

Merry Christmas!

College - Packing

So I missed the bus on giving you this information before school starts but here it is anyway!

My best friend moved away for college, and I'm sad. I am also really happy for her and it is close enough for me to annoyingly visit.

So I went to help her pack, and being pinterest fans we tried to "life hack pack" her stuff.

This is what actually worked.

You know the put a garbage bag around your hanging clothes to transport them on hangers? Well take a look at it here.

Open the bag,

Awkwardly hug the clothes, 

shove them in

WATCH THE SLEEVES!

Celebrate, but realize you left out half a hanger.

Readjust. 

Go back to celebrating! 

Also props if you do this and not have hair that looks like you wrestle a bunch of clothes. 

Off to college. 

Congrats to all the students, here is my number one tip.

Starting your day with humor can so improve a crappy, stressed day. 

Watch a 30 second or 3 mins of a comedian or funny video

while you get ready. 

Best Wishes 

By -J

Oops, I Accidentally Found Something I'm Good At

When I'm in a good mood a like to share it!

So I'm passing along some of my good mood to you, it probably came from my 2 week beach vacation with friends... which was fantastic. The same vacation where I was supposed to make a 4th of July shirt but accidentally made this:

A guacamole and pineapple shirt, but like it actually was really cute. 

But I wanted to continue my shoe painting, last week I up-cycled my white canvas shoes to this:

My friends saw them and loved the idea so I planned to make a pair for her. 

Except I changed my mind and made these:

Which morphed into these:

And now I am selling them for a fundraiser. 

Yeah, that is how I found out I am good at hand painting shoes. 

How do I make that into a career?

Best Wishes 

By -J 

4th of July 2016!

AAAAGHHH!!! 

I love 4th of July, sun, sand ,friends, fireworks, watermelon.... its the best. 

And last year some of use decided to decorate some shirts and they turned out like homemade shirts but we had oh so much fun!

Last year...

We had so much fun we are doing it again. 

Check out my pinterest page to see some ideas for all things 4th of July!

https://www.pinterest.com/byjblogger/4th-of-july/

Best Wishes

By -J

Pineapple Print Shoes

I actually did something! 

Well, I was supposed to be doing my summer homework but decided to paint my beat up canvas shoes. 

So, here you go...

Shoes and paint. I used some white mixed in with the green to give me two shades for the leaves. 

First, draw your pineapples. 

Fill them in with yellow,

Add brown v's,

Alternate two shades of green for the leaves. 

I finished mine with some silver fabric sparkles. 

Finished! Old shoes, new paint. 

All for under $10. 

Best Wishes 

By -J

Let's Blame Pinterest

Once again I tried to be artsy and do a Pinterest "Easy DIY" yeah, it didn't work. 

And I videoed it but again that is awful so here are some screen grabs and a terrible Pinterest fail. 

I was going for something like this: 

Easy enough right? Washi tape and paint how could I possible mess that up. 

Just watch...

 Okay tape the glass

Already things look sketchy. 

Now spray paint 

And this is where we crash landed. 

So I thought paint with paint. 

Yeah... 

Okay not bad so far...

Hanging in there..

Let's check on the spray paint one 

A little more textured than I had hoped..

Finished product?

Yeah so that was an utter failure and I don't even have tips to do it the right way. 

Best Wishes 

By - J 

Paper Dahlia Wreath

This is by far my favorite creation. 

Finished Product: 

I'm in love, the thing is huge so its hard to find a place for it. 

Step by Step!

Depending on the size you want it, cut squares, I used 6in x 6in. I also used several colors to give it an ombre effect. 
Cut a cardboard circle, again the bigger your circle the bigger you need your squares. I used hot glue to make it faster. 
Size wise, your first layer of squares will hang on the cardboard by 1.5 or 2 inches. 
Like this:

This is row 1 and 2, which we will get to. 
Your first row if you have multiple colors needs to be spaced apart to allow room for the second row. 

(If you are wondering about the interesting photos, I videoed this but lost parts, and didn't feel like editing 40mins of bad footage.) 

Now, add your layers, either changing colors or staying with the same. 

Glue layer by layer, eventually they will stack at a higher angle. 

Keep stacking until you get to the center, this is when you almost have to bend the ends of the cone to stand upright. You will have one in the exact center. 

Best Wishes 

By -J

Canvas and Elephant Crafts

While I was on my little hiatus I made like 5 videos but most of them got deleted or I lost them. 

So here are some pictures of some of the things I made. 

Redo Elephant 

Elephant String Art (I'm not a fan of this one)

Canvas and Hot Glue Art (This has more detail in person) 

Canvas and Glitter Art

Rolling Pin and Paint Canvas

So I put some stencils on this canvas and paint and just rolled over it using a rolling pin. Yeah, it was not a good idea but my rolling pin has a really cool design on it now. 

Best Wishes 
By - J 

Breakfast Waffle

Lets agree to ignore my absence in the last 5 months. 

College is hard! 

So here is a recipe for the perfect college concoction. 

Breakfast Waffle

Eggs
Taylor ham
Hash-browns
Shredded Cheese
Waffle iron 

Mix as much as you want together

Keep it kinda as a mix so that the eggs don't run over the sides of the waffle iron. 

Heat up and grease the iron, butter or olive oil work. 

Follow the cooking instructions for your waffle iron. 

It is absolutely amazing!

Best Wishes

By - J 

Grown up Coloring Books

Hey!

Its Monday! Which is great I guess, I personally don't mind Mondays because until January 19th I have Mondays off, but someone had to go and start college on Mondays. 

Its Monday Opinion Post day! That is not a thing but we will pretend it is. 

So today I will share my expert, calculated, well researched opinion on Coloring Books for Grown ups. ( I don't like the term "Adult") 
I had a birthday shortly before Christmas and got a coloring book, which looked awesome but I was a little wary of the idea of having time to sit and color. I love to color, and in the summer I work at dance camps and we let the kids color almost everyday to kill some time for them. And I mostly just color for myself. Anyway, I was excited to have some time off and maybe color. I didn't. 
Then I got one as a Christmas present, everyone in my family got one, so we all sat down and colored. Oh My Gosh, it was great! It is relaxing but still makes your brain work, also great for creativity and not just mind numbing busy work. So I am slowly converting to the idea of coloring books for grown ups. 
I would only buy one for someone who would actually do it though. 

And I took a little trip to NYC after Christmas with my sister and also my best friend. We had a blast! We saw Something Rotten, walked all through Central Park, Times Square, Highline, New York City Ballet, Greenwich Village, 5th Ave, Rockefeller Center, American Museum of Natural History and some other awesome stuff. Here are some pictures. By far my favorite was Ice Skating and Rockefeller Center!

Happy New Year!!!

Best Wishes 

By -J