Gratitude

CREATE Gratitude

Source: positivelypresent.com via Om on Pinterest

Chalkboard Paint: Wooden Boxes

CREATE Stylish & Functional Storage

My fabulous partner in life brought home these beauties from the grocery store (appreciating my love for aged wood, wooden boxes, & remembering that I recently mentioned something about wanting to create with wooden wine boxes)!
The store was selling them for $1.50 & $2!!!

First, sand the side you will paint on to create a more smooth finish. I did not do this & really wish I did.

Tape off the edges.

Roll on the chalkboard paint.

Let them sit out in the sun to dry.

Peel off the tape when completely dry.

Voila! Beautiful! These are just the larger ones.

When you read the directions on the paint can it will give you instructions for "conditioning" the surface.
It takes 3 days before you can really use the chalkboard surface.

So far I have used them for: 

~ organizing our linens in the linen closet

~ storing/carrying towels for the pool

~ storing library books
~ kids "projects"
~ mail
~ storing/organizing plates, napkins, & silverware to put out for parties

Half-Marathon: I did it!!!!

CREATE the health and experiences you desire!

October 2, 2011

I reached my goal! I ran my first half-marathon!

Between a full-time job, kids, and life, it was tricky scheduling all the trainings. I made it work by running right after work & tried to run 4 days per week. My long run days were on Sundays which allowed me to take Mondays off - this just made life easier.

My goals were to finish, not finish last, and come in around 2'15".  I finished in 2'11"!

My supporters checking in with me after the finish.

Dessert: Dragon Fruit

CREATE an easy, unique, & delicious dessert

Have you ever noticed the interesting exotic fruit at your local grocery store?
Well, from time to time we like to bring these home to try for dessert.

Today we have...
Dragon Fruit!
No doubt the name itself is quite exciting.
Of course, once we were home we had no idea how you're supposed to cut, eat, & serve this lovely pink food. So, we went to the internet. Below you will see all the steps.

1st - Cut it in half

Surprise! All white with little black seeds inside! We weren't expecting that!

2nd - Scoop out the flesh.

3rd - Dice it up & serve right inside the skin!

It has subtle flavor that resembles a kiwi fruit (or, at least, that's what we thought)

Enjoy!


(What exotic grocery store fruits have you tried? - Please share)

Half-Marathon: 34 days to go!

CREATE the fitness you want in your life!

34 days until the big day!

Life has become much busier lately, so getting all the runs in is getting much more challenging. I'm working on making the best use of my mornings & evenings to try & fit in the mileage.

This week is an easy week (helps with preventing injury).

Here is this week's training schedule:

Mon: Rest

Tues: 4mi, easy run

Wed: Rest 

Thur: 4mi, easy run

Fri: 4mi, easy run

Sat: Rest

Sun: 4mi, easy run

Festive Bunting

CREATE a festive bunting!

I love all the cute buntings I see everyone making online!
So I figured it was time for me to make one &, with a little adjusting, I am very happy with the results!

Using fabrics I purchased at Goodwill (see the post here),  I created my template & cut my first piece of fabric.

Then I cut out a set with the same fabric.

Using that first piece I measured & cut all the other pieces of fabric.

This Hawaiian shirt made for some fun fabric!

Here, I laid them out & played with patterns.  I wanted to sew them back to back.
Well, let's just say that I am not a master sewer (yet!).
I think the variety of fabrics & very old machine didn't quite work.
I broke the machine :)

So... PLAN B
I laid them out & clipped them onto a clothes line with clothes pins.
Thank goodness I came up with this pretty quick because it was for a gathering THAT afternoon!

Here are some pics of the final results!

Happy bunting!

Chalk board paint - mason jars

CREATE stylish & functional organization

Use chalkboard paint to create a write-upon label on Mason jars to use as storage!

Mason jars are available in various sizes & can be purchased by the case, making them very affordable.
Find them in your grocery store or here.

Tape off the area you'd like to paint. I wanted to use my blue paint tape as it is so easy to peel off but masking tape worked just as well.

I used a small foam roller available here & chalkboard paint available here.

You can see how they look very transparent after the first coat.  I just let them dry in the sunshine for a few minutes before applying another coat. I think I did a total of 3 or 4 coats.
FYI - The instructions tell you to let them sit for 3 days before conditioning & writing on them. Just keep this in mind if you were planning on giving them as a gift or needed them right away.  Then it's a total of 7 days from when you painted them before you can wipe them with a wet cloth.

Pretty!
I am using them in my cupboards for cereal, crackers, snacks, beans, dog treats, etc.
They really clean up the space & I love that I can easily change them as I change the contents inside the containers.