DIY Glitter and Paint Chip Notecards

Last weekend, thanks to the enabling of my mother and some pretty sweet Michael's coupons, I ended up buying a whole lot of glitter:

That darn Martha Stewart.  Her craft supplies are so annoyingly irresistible.

I also accidentally picked up a bunch of paint chip samples from the hardware store, even though I have no intentions of painting any rooms any time soon.  (I'm sorry, Ace Hardware. My bad.  I saw the colors and went a little crazy.)

I was itching to use the new glitter in some way, so I decided to make a notecard to send to a friend.  One of my goals for this year is to send more letters to friends--because who doesn't like getting unexpected mail?

Using ALL OF THE GLITTER

I decided to make the theme of the notecard "Happy Spring!" because I am indeed incredibly happy that spring has made its appearance.

A little paint chip grass and paint chip flower, et voila!  Instant spring notecard.  Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go glitter everything I can get my hands on.

St. Patty's Day Nail Art

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays, mainly due to 1) being Irish, 2) the abundance of green, and 3) shamrock shakes!  The other day I decided to make my nails festive for the occasion.  The materials needed:

Martha Stewart's glitter in aquamarine is my new Windex.  It will solve any problem, I swear.  The nail polish colors are Essie's Pretty Edgy, and Essie's Navigate Her. (Insert dirty joke here.)

Simply paint nails in Pretty Edgy, and paint the disco nail (ring finger) in Navigate Her.  Once you've done two coats and they are dry, dip a q-tip in clear nail polish, then the glitter, and then apply to the tips of your ring fingers.  (Or if you're feelin crazy, ALL OF THE NAILS!)  After the glitter is well in place, cover with one more coat of top coat.  Et voila!  Instant Irish pride!

Organizing Solution--Chalkboard Clipboards

Keeping track of papers on my desk has always been an issue for me.  I constantly feel like my desk surface spontaneously generates a mixture of coupons, pretty pictures, and grown up paperwork.  In an effort to turn the crazy into order, I came up with the following solution:

It's SUPER easy to execute.  All you have to do is:

1. Buy traditional hardboard clipboards.  (Fun fact: clipboards are twice as much at Staples as they are at Office Depot!  At least, this was true when I did my price matching.)
2. Paint clipboards with chalkboard paint.  This a) turns ugly brown clipboards into more attractive black clipboards and b) allows for easily changeable labeling!
3. Hang clipboards with clear 3M command hooks.  (I promise 3M is not paying me for an endorsement--I'm just obsessed with how easy they are to use!)
4. Label clipboards with chalk, and then load up with papers!

I love how it clears up horizontal space on my desk, and also gives me a visual reminder of things like to-do.  Also, because they are clipboards on hooks, you can easily take down a clipboard to tackle that to do list and empty out the clipboard!

Keeping Cool with Sorbet Making

I'm not sure about you, but the last week or so has been torturously hot.  As in, stay inside the apartment with the shades drawn, making a pro/con list entitled "Reasons to Move to Alaska."
But I decided that while practicing the fine art of hermit-hood mixed with a little escapism is one way of solving the problem, there are other ways to stay cool.  Such as ICE CREAM.  Except, I have a minor milk allergy.  Normally I can eat a serving or so a day, but I knew I'd be eating more than that in this heat.  Which led me to SORBET.  So I took a trip to Target for needed materials, recruited a friend, and followed these steps:


1. Bring a mixture of equal parts sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat.  (I went with 2 cups of both.)  Once you reach a boil, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer for 3 minutes, until all of the sugar dissolves.

Ooohh, ahhhh, the dissolving in action.

2. Quarter two containers of strawberries and place them in the blender, along with 2 containers of raspberries and the juice of 1 lime.  Blend into a puree.








Sub-step 2: Make loud noises of frustration and consult owner's manual when brand new blender container won't seem to snap into base.  Find nothing helpful in owner's manual.  Continue to wiggle container around.  Consider giving up and going to Forever Yogurt. (Best frozen yogurt place around.) Imagine the sweaty journey to Forever Yogurt, and persevere through sorbet-making task.  Resume regular scheduled programming once container FINALLY snaps in.  (I have a college degree, I promise.)


3. Pour strawberry/raspberry puree through strainer to remove seeds.  This will by far be the most tedious part of the sorbet-making (provided your blender doesn't have a diva moment, as mine did) but keep your eyes on the prize to find the strength to continue smashing the puree through the strainer!

4. Wait until the simple syrup solution is COMPLETELY cool.  I'm going to be honest with you, kids--I tried to make sorbet a few weeks ago, before heading to a picnic/concert at a park.  Because I only had about 2 hours to make the sorbet, I waited until the simple syrup was pretty much, kinda, sorta cool.  What I got in return was a sorbet mixture that never turned into sorbet. An unrealized liquidy mess, and a very sad me. Ahh, the universe--always teaching me the importance of patience.  So in conclusion, COMPLETELY cool!

Sub-step 4. In an effort to allow COMPLETELY cool to occur, place simple syrup in fridge and head outside to take some pictures!

Enduring the heat and crazy Cubs fans made getting to finally eat the sorbet THAT much better.  No pain, no gain.

5. Once the simple syrup is COMPLETELY cool (have I made that clear enough?) add it to the strawberry/raspberry puree, and add 1/2 cup of light corn syrup.  Pour the sorbet mixture into your ice cream maker (I have and love the ice cream attachment for the KitchenAid mixer) and mix until sorbet is formed!  This mixture took about 15 minutes before it became the right consistency.

6. Scoop into bowls and ENJOY the fruits of your labor!

I really enjoyed how this sorbet tasted exactly like fresh strawberries, with a hint of raspberry. I think I'm going to start doing some experimenting to find some more crazy flavors that will work--my brother suggested cherry limeade!  And don't worry, I'm not ACTUALLY moving to Alaska--I've made too many Sarah Palin jokes for them to let me stay there, anyways.

Crafting a Windowsill Garden

I love living in the city, and often tell my family that I moved to the city so other people can take care of the greenery I see and enjoy in parks. (Lazy, lazy, lazy.)  But I've recently found myself wishing for a bit more greenery inside my own apartment.  After a bit of reflection on my green thumb skills (which peaked around age 12 and have gone significantly downhill since then) I decided that grass and forget-me-nots were my best bet.  I also didn't want boring or outdoor-looking pots, so off I went to my local thrift stores for answers.  One thrift store, one Goodwill, and $12 later, I ended up with these in my possession:





A few of the containers I picked up were clear glass, which would have looked less than beautiful with dirt inside them.  So, I broke out some acrylic paint and covered the inside of the glass in shades of blue. I also giggled upon seeing the name of this paint color, from a bottle of paint I purchased at age 12.  I sincerely hope 12 year old me did not pick that shade based on its name!





After letting the paint dry, I headed outside with supplies and a cranky brother in tow.  We first added gravel to the bottoms of the containers for drainage:





...and then got to work filling the containers with dirt and seed.





I'd be lying if I told you a large portion of dirt didn't end up in places outside the containers--but that's what you get for hiring a brother to be your helper!  A week of watering later, and here is the result in my windowsill:





The forget-me-nots haven't sprouted yet, but I remain hopeful.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the result!  The pop of greens and blues in my living room is very summer-y and refreshing, and I like the unexpected touch of grass growing out of china and dishware.  If I had to change one thing, I would pick containers from the thrift store with more variance in height.  I thought there was enough of a difference, but one last lining up of my items before heading to the cash register would have helped!  But for under $20, I was able to bring a bit of color and the outdoors into my apartment.  Which is great, because this week's heat wave has kept me apartment-bound!