Ten Buck Tuesday 8 with the flu!

MAN has the last week been a doozy for me... I've been running around like crazy and sick as a dog and when I finally go to the doctor, they tell me I have the flu! A note to everyone to pay attention to what their body is telling them. On my way home from my second job on Saturday, I started feeling really weird and pulled over (thank God)... a minute later I passed out. It was incredibly scary and made me really look at what was happening and say, "I'm sick, I need to stop."

I also put in my two weeks at my second job (the one I've had for 3 years); it's a bittersweet feeling.

So what better to do when sick then to hang around on the couch and blog? :)

Last week, Kassi at Truly Lovely with the Laney Sisters made these incredible Tile Coaster Gifts:

Rebecca at My Girlish Whims used her Silhouette (that I am SO jealous of) to make this great Laptop Cover Vinyl:

Stacey at Embracing Change made this Coffee Filter Wreath that I can't wait to try:

Sew Woodsy made these awesome Laundry Room Signs (oh the powers of Mod Podge):

THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING LAST WEEK! Email me at youngnester(at)gmail(dot)com and ask for the code for my "I was featured" button! I would love for you to show the world I love you!

NOW ON TO THE FUN PART!

LINK UP YOUR $10 CRAFT OR RECIPE! Please play fair and copy the Ten Buck Tuesday button to your blog when you link up! The link-up will be open until next Monday at 11:59pm (EST)! No shops or main pages; please link up the specific post of your project.

I CAN'T WAIT to see what YOU are making this week!

Ten Buck Tuesday, 7!

I hope everyone is having a great start of the week (AND start of SPRING)! FINALLY!

Like I mentioned last week, instead of me featuring my own $10 craft on Ten Buck Tuesday, I'm going to reserve Tuesdays for YOUR crafts from the previous week's party :) So, here are my FAVORITES from last week (and it was VERY hard to narrow it down to just a few)! Email me for html code for my "I've been featured" button; I know, I'm sneaky by not letting anyone know the code until they're featured!

Jen at Iron Violet Designs made this awesome No Sew Scarf:

Bliss Images and Beyond made these not-just-for-nerds Super Mario Silhouettes (although the nerd in me fell in love!):

Misty at The Creative Itch made these crazy cool Candy Wrapper Button Earrings:

And Kaitlyn at The Birds Nest made this great No Sew Rosette Pillow (apparently I'm on a new-sew binge!):

THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING LAST WEEK! Email me at youngnester(at)gmail(dot)com and ask for the code for my "I was featured" button! I would love for you to show the world I love you!

NOW ON TO THE FUN PART!

LINK UP YOUR $10 CRAFT OR RECIPE! Please play fair and copy the Ten Buck Tuesday button to your blog when you link up! The link-up will be open until next Monday at 11:59pm (EST)! No shops or main pages; please link up the specific post of your project.

I CAN'T WAIT to see what YOU are making this week!

Saturday Spotlight: CAIT CREATES!

Caitlin over at Cait Creates is an absolute genius! I love her and she has been an amazing blogging friend so of course I HAD to feature her ASAP so all of you could see just how awesome she is.




I’ll let her introduce herself before she shows us her GREAT Spoon Upcycle (a personal favorite of yours truly).

Hi, I'm Caitlin--Full-time graduate student, part-time nanny and part-time human resources assistant. Between school and two jobs it's easy to get burnt out, which is part of the reason I started my blog this year, "Cait Creates". I use my blogging time as a "reward" and in a weird way it helps keep me sane! So far I am loving my blog because it allows me to show off all the fun and creative things I can do to those who fully appreciate it!

Most of my favorite projects are upcycled or revamped to fit my style. I love these type of projects because 1) it saves me money 2) it gets my creative juices flowing and 3) I love seeing the look on someone’s face when I say "I made that".

Here’s my Spoons Turned Art tutorial:

Total Estimated Costs for Project:

Frame: $1
Spoons: $1 (forks and spoons were $2)
Fabric: $1
Buttons: FREE
Letters: Already had on hand (est: $0.50)
Gold Paint: Already had on hand (est: $0.50)
Cardboard: Free
Hot Glue: Already had on hand (est: $0.50)
Spray Paint: Already had on hand (est: $0.50)

TOTAL: $ 5.00

For all those that follow me, you’ll know I found an awesome silverware set at Goodwill for $2!

I begun by bending the spoons and hot gluing them together.

Once the spoons were bent I cut out material and placed it over a cardboard circle. I felt like this needed a little something extra to make it really pop so I asked my (also crafty) friend Kat if I could have some buttons.

While at the flea market (where I scored my awesome new chair) I found an old wooden frame for a $1. It was pretty scratched up but really sturdy, so I purchased it for this project.

The one bad thing about this frame is it didn't come with a back...so I made one. We always have left over cardboard boxes at work so I brought one home and cut it to fit the back.

After spray painting the frame black (that was interesting in winter) I searched through my fabric and found some black I thought would look really well. I then took wooden letters I already had and painted them a gold color to match the fabric. I LOVE IT! I think it was the perfect addition to my little "eating area".

Thank you, Caitlin for sharing with us your incredible spoon art!
I have some hand me down silverware that’s already a little warped that would be perfect for this project!

I would love if all of you would hop on over to Caits Creates and leave her a sweet comment! She also does a killer tutorial on tiling a table, placemat pillows and embellished pillows!


Everyone have a great weekend!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tis the season for cookies! I ate a whole box too many girl scout cookies this week. Then last night I decided to make mint chocolate chip cookies for my fellow teachers at school!

They were delicous! And so easy to make! Not to mention perfect for St. Patty's Day!

WRITE THIS DOWN (because I know you'll want to make these):

1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/2 c. butter
1/4-1/2 tsp. mint extract (I used a whole teaspoon; taste test to see what you prefer)
6-8 drops green food coloring (you can add more to make them green-er)
1 egg
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Combine cookie mix, butter, extract, food coloring and egg until soft dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. Drop 2 inches apart on ungreased sheet
3. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes
4. Don't eat all of them because people have to taste your delicious masterpiece. Or do.

Love these! Everyone should make them!

DON'T FORGET: you can still link up to this week's Ten Buck Tuesday!

Simple Shamrocks on Ten Buck Tuesday 6

The poll is closed for naming my good 'ole sewing machine!  SHE is now named:

 Bobbin' Betsy (Bob for short)!!

Thank you for all who voted!  Now on to my super simple project for this week!

oh Simple Shamrocks: Thank you for holding down the fort and letting all guests and mutts know that St. Patty's Day is this week!

Oh, and Happy Pi day! T awesomely texted me this morning so I would know to tell my perfect math students!

I had all of the materials for this project so it was free today! But technically, here's what things cost when I bought them:

Paper: I bought a huge pack for $5 that has 200 sheets and I only used 4 for this project.  So those 4 pieces of paper cost $0.10 :)
Popsicle sticks: $0.50 for a pack of 50, I only used 3 so $0.03.
Ribbon: $0.50 (I only buy ribbon when it's less than $1)
Mod Podge: $5-7 (I probably used $0.25 worth)
Fake clay pot: $0.50 (2 for $1)
Fake rocks: $1.00

So altogether: $2.33 :)

And here's my picture tutorial:

Cut your shape out

Trace onto the desired color paper and cut out

Put together and take a picture

Wrap it in desired ribbon

Use your best friend

I cut out a little piece of paper and glued all of the clovers to make it easier

Mod Podge that baby to the stick

On the side, fill up a cheapo container of some sort with whatever you want

TA-DA!

STAY TUNED THIS WEEK FOR MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES I'M MAKING FOR MY CLASS!

ALSO STARTING THIS WEEK I AM GOING TO BE PICKING A FEW OF MY FAVORITE TEN BUCK TUESDAY CRAFTS/RECIPES!  Get excited!  If I feature you, I'll email you the code for the "I've been featured" button over there --------> 
Now on to the fun part!!!

LINK UP YOUR $10 CRAFT OR RECIPE! Please play fair and copy the Ten Buck Tuesday button to your blog when you link up! The link-ups will be open until next Monday at 11:59pm (EST)!

I CAN'T WAIT to see what YOU are making this week!

Ten Buck Tuesday, Round 5!

Oh craft fail.

Never let your twenty seven year old boyfriend near your projects, ever. Especially if they think it’s so neat and have to touch it. Or in my case, write on it with chalk before I’ve done enough coats. I tried to put one more coat over but I could still see his “Lucy and Lily suck” through it (he was being funny, I promise; he doesn't really think our lovely mutts suck). I’m sure I could’ve done more coats but I have little patience. So, I just trudged on the best I could with my simple craft.

Here’s the finished project.

And a few in progresses.

Supplies:
Wooden picture frame (from Michaels): $1
Chalkboard paint (on hand; I get mine at Lowes for $5)
Soap rose petals (from Dollar Tree): $0.50 (can someone please say Vday clearance?)
Glue gun (on hand)
Chalk (on hand)
TOTAL: $2-7 (thank goodness!)

Pretty pretty please share with me your craft successes this week! It will make me feel much better!

LINK UP YOUR $10 CRAFT OR RECIPE! Please play fair and copy the Ten Buck Tuesday button to your blog when you link up! The link-ups will be open until the following Monday at 11:59pm (EST)!





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I CAN’T WAIT to see what YOU are making this week!

Tomorrow is Monday

I love great weekends but am always sad to see them go. Tomorrow is my FIRST day at my new job and I feel like a little kid again! I’m starting at a local middle school as an instructional aid for math classes with students who need a little extra one on one time. I COULD NOT be more excited! I made the decision to go back to school after working for a real estate firm for a couple of years and am majoring in Middle School Education. This job is perfect and gets my foot in the door. I probably definitely won’t be able to sleep tonight.

I’m hammering down a name for my sewing machine this week and would love for you to vote on the side for your favorite name out of the bunch. Help me with my indecisiveness:

Darla
Big Boy
Bobbin’ Betsy (Bob for short)
Rosie

I have found my favorite stitch: the scallop!  So much fun!  What's your favorite stitch?

I finally updated my about me page.  Here are some more random things about me:

1. I have permanent retainers

2. I have to have the fan on while sleeping

3. Our first pet Jaws, a 3 ½ yr old betta, died this past weekend and I cried, a lot

4. I wear a size 9 ½-10 size shoe and it’s so hard to find cute shoes

5. I walk pretty slowly; I know, everyone hates being behind the slow-poke!

6. When I find a song I like, I will listen to it on repeat and it drives T CRAZY

7. I can only whistle by sucking the air in

8. I was Cinderella in a county play when I was 10

9. I have only had one car: a camry named Elvis. Still going strong!

10. My eyesight is terrible and I can hardly ever wear contacts because they irritate my eyes (they turn RED within an hour) which means I can never wear sunglasses. I’m too scared to get the Lasik eye surgery because you’re AWAKE.




BLOG HOP!

"Inline Skating" is for the birds

This is going to be a short and sweet post.  Weight is not something I like to talk about.  Maybe people who have 40 different bikinis or stretch wearing mini-skirts way too far into winter like to talk about their weight, but not I.  This is all I'm going to say: I need to lose 60 lbs.  Phew.  Got that out of the way.  :)

T and I recently joined a local gym to get our beer bellies, flabby arms, tree trunk thighs, double chins, and butt in shape. (Side note: we're not totally bonkers... because I have access to a local apt's 'gym', we tested ourselves by saying if we consistently go to work out at this 'gym' for 30 days, then we would invest in a gym.  This 'gym' consisted of one bike and a treadmill that was constantly broken down so I was ready to move on to bigger and better things).  So, we joined this gym because it's awesome (of course after T spent 2 weeks comparing pricing and benefits).  My favorite part about this gym is that it has a dark movie theater room where they show current movies and they have rows of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and stairmasters instead of chairs.  LOVE it.  Especially love that its dark and the whole world can't see my jiggly parts straining to keep up with my pace!  The gym also has a women's only workout area accessed through the women's locker room.  It has a ton of cardio and weight equiment too. 

(Image courtesy of Google images)

We also purchased EA Sports Active (used) for our new Wii.  Tonight was our first night of the 30 Day Challenge and let me tell you, it whipped my rear...  holy squats and lunges!  My quads and hamstrings want to slap me.  And I don't even want to talk about the inline skating.

(Image courtesy of Google images)

Does anyone else do at home workouts via game system or dvd?  What are some of your favorites?