Week 5! Pancakes and Necklaces

Good news, friends!  I have been trying and trying to come up with a name for my Pinterest Project other than just, well, Pinterest Project.  After much thinking and running names past my family, I finally came up with and decided on a name.  Everyone ready for this one.......PhoebeLu's!!!!  I know!  I just love it!  And if you don't please don't be honest and tell me that you don't.  I would rather just live in a fantasy world that thinks that everyone loves the name as much as I do.  I have come up labels and business cards and I am currently in the process of putting together a Facebook page.  This is something that I am really excited about.  When I was younger, my dad used to bring me to the local K-Mart here in GA when I would visit him over the summer and he would pay $15 so I could set up a table selling my crafts.  He would also bring them to his office and he would sell them there.  This is something that I have always had a passion for and I am really excited about this. 

Onto my Pinterest Projects for this week.  My first one was a recipe that was really delicious!  Like a lot of recipes, I was kind of skeptical about it.  They were called Busy Mom Muffins which is pancake batter in muffin pans.  You add the maple syrup and you can add whatever add-ins that you like in or on your pancakes.  I used walnuts and apples and they were delish!  After they came out of the oven, I sliced them open and slathered them with butter.  And what goes best with pancakes?  Bacon of course!  Which made a lovely side dish.  I followed the instructions on this lovely pin here! I had some leftover, so I brought them to work and they made a lovely, quick, easy breakfast (that I had at about 11:30 am) that I just popped in the microwave.

Now for my next project, which was my craft of the week.  It was a really fun one!  Even though I screwed up the first one and had a cursing fit.  But I digress.  My project was the LOVE necklace that is an idea that was originally sparked by an Anthropologie necklace shown at their website.  It is simply just some jewelry hardware, tread in any color that you like, and some wire.  Simple enough!  I got the idea from this clever blog here!  I used some blue thread for mine and a silver chain.  I opted not to use a charm on it because I liked the simpler look of just the word.  Take a peek!

These lovely necklaces retail on the Anthropologie website for $48.  Mine are only $15!  And remember - 15% of that will go to the CF Foundation.  So far, I have $35 from my lovely little Pinterest Project which is now known as PhoebeLu's that is going to go towards my Great Strides 2012 goal! I am really hoping to be able to add more to that.  If you are interested in this necklace, please let me know what color you would like, what length you want for the necklace, and what you would like the necklace to say.  Personally, I think mine is cuter that the Anthropologie one!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  Thanks for reading my blog and make sure to pass it along to your friends and families!!!  Hugs to all!!!!

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”  ~Dr. Seuss

“If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything.”  ~Marilyn Monroe

Week 4 of 52: Squeaky Clean Cooktops and Glass Etching

I know, I know.  I am posting yet another blog this week.  But I was behind and I wanted to make sure that I was all caught up.  So after this blog, I will be.  This week has been pretty good, but there is still one more day left.  On Tuesday, April 10th, it was my sister's birthday.  It also marked the 4 year anniversary of when I got my acceptance letter into nursing school.  I still remember it very clearly.  That evening, I had my A&P lab.  The class usually lasted until 10 pm, but for the first time in the history of being back in school (and I needed to clarify that because the first time around that was really not the case), I did not stay for the entire class.  Sam was in the hospital, so it was just Cheyenne and myself.  As soon as I got home, I called my mom and got a busy signal (that is really not surprising in the least bit).  I had to run upstairs to get the key to the mailbox in the mail room, and was finally able to get in touch with my mom.  When I opened the mailbox, there it was staring me in the face.  THE LETTER!  I waited to get back up to our condo before opening it because I knew either way, there would be screaming and crying.  Thankfully, they were tears of joy!  My dream had come true.  That is the beginning of how I got to where I am today.

Another exciting date this week - Stina's 4th Birthday on April 12th, aka the day I made sure that, while Dana was pushing out a 10 lb baby, she had a scanned copy of my acceptance letter to show my mother.  What can I say?  She got engaged on my birthday and stole my birthday thunder so I had to try and steal her baby thunder.  Just kidding....sort of, kind of, not really.  No, I am. 

I gave myself quite a scare last nite.  My allergies have been pretty angry with me, so I am now taking Allegra at nite before I go to sleep because it makes me rather sleepy.  Yesterday afternoon, I did some work in the front yard, so I was a little on the itchy side so I felt like a Benadryl was in order.  On my days when I am not working the next day, I like to take melatonin to help me fall asleep.  Do you see where I am headed with this?  Now, the nurse in me knows that taking these 3 medications together would not lead to an eternal sleep for me, but the paranoid side of me that keeps my therapist in business was rearing its ugly head last nite.  Thankfully, I woke up this morning.  I am not saying that I wasn't a tad bit on the groggy/cloudy side, but I am typing this from my tv room here on earth, so all is well! 

Also, another valuable lesson that I learned this week.  Do not leave a bag of cow manure in your car overnite even if it is not hot out.  Your car will smell like you are driving past a bunch of pastures in Iowa even if you are just in the parking lot at Publix off Holcomb Bridge.  I think I might have a situation that is similar to the smelly valet from Seinfeld.  I would say I could just drive with the windows open, but unfortunately, they are not working.  So, I will be spending the next few weeks trapped in the poo mobile driving to and from work.  Just lovely!

On to my Pinterest Project.  The 2 projects I tackled this week were: cleaning my ceramic stovetop and then etching glass.  At first, I was a little skeptical about whether or not I would be able to clean my cooktop with just baking soda and Dawn, but it worked!  We have some areas where food was kind of cooked on.  My father in law had come to visit and let's just say that when he uses the stove, it pretty much ends up covered in grease corner to corner.  That is what happened in this scenario.  Thankfully, it came out looking like new!  Here are the before and after photos!

Pretty impressive, Huh?  Yeah, I thought so, too!  Just make a paste of Dawn and Baking soda and rub away!

The second project I did, I really enjoyed.  I got the idea from this clever gal!  I already had a boring glass vase, my Cricut machine, and some contact paper.  The only thing that I needed to purchase was the glass etching cream.  That was 12.99 at my local craft store and I had a coupon for it, so it ended up being a pretty sweet deal.  After picking out an image that I liked with from my Cricut cartridges, I cut it out on contact paper, and stuck it to the vase.  That took a little while to do in order to make sure that it was straight.  After that, I used a paint brush to spread on the cream.  I left it on for 60 seconds and then rinsed it off thoroughly.  The hardest part is making sure to not get the cream on any of the surrounding glass because the cream eats thru the glass.  Once it gets on there and starts eating away at the glass, there is no fixing it.  I was really pleased with how this came out!

 

These are not the best photos because of the way the lite hit it, but Sam was pretty impressed when he saw it.  I am going to be trying this with wine glasses, dishes, and any other glass thing I can get my little mitts on.  If you are interested in getting a vase, please let me know!  I will be selling these starting at $15 depending on what you would like put on there.  Please remember that 15% of the profits goes to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  I am currently in the process of raising money for the 2012 Great Strides walk in Atlanta, so this will be a great way for me to raise money.  There are several different graphics that I can use.  This is great as a wedding shower, wedding, housewarming, and hostess gift!  Also, don't forget about birthdays and Mother's Day.  I know that I have not mentioned shipping, but I am willing to ship items!  Come on, you know you want one!!!!

I hope everyone has a super fun and safe weekend!

“Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” ~Albert Camus

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh?" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. "I just wanted to be sure of you.” ~A.A. Milne

Week 3 of 52: Photo Blocks and Finger Lickin' Good Ribs

This past week was a pretty good one.  I took my charge nurse class and I also picked up an extra shift.  There was a little peanut on our floor who I fell in love with and if I could have taken him home, I would.  I have known for quite some time how wonderful the women are that I work with, but they seem to get even more fabulous as time goes on.  They have taught me the art of confidence and they have faith in me at times when I might not have faith in myself.  Whenever I have a new task to perform that is out of my comfort zone, they encourage me and guide me.  Even if I don't get something on the first try, they are there to tell me that I still did a great job.  I have learned how to be a patient advocate and am in awe of some of my co-workers who did the right thing on Friday and didn't back down when we were concerned about a patient's well being.  In the end, the right thing was done and the physician apologized to us.  I work with a bunch of women who are cheerleaders for each other and I could not imagine myself doing anything else.  This is the work that I was called to do and this is where God wants me to be.  Last month, I went thru a period when I did not think I was supposed to be a nurse.  I think some of my co-workers picked up on that and showed me on days when I was working and even on days when I wasn't there, that this is what I was meant to do.  I am forever grateful to them for that. 

Sam is getting better and better slowly but surely.  I know he is itching to play tennis, but he still needs to give those ribs time to heal.  He has gained some weight.......WooHoo!  I would like to attribute some of those 8 pounds to my Pinterest recipes I have been trying as well as the ginormous tray of eggplant parm that I made.  I feel like for every pound he gains, I gain about 3.  Our swim and tennis club will have the pool open relatively soon so I should probably get to exercising!  Sam is almost done with busy season.  Only one more Saturday left and then we will be free.  Hooray!

On to my week 3 projects.  I made some ribs in the crock pot that were fantastic!  The only ribs I had on hand were country style, so they did not turn out the way they were probably meant to, but Sam inhaled them in a matter of minutes.  Actually, we were so eager to eat them because they smelled unbelievable that I forgot to take a picture of them.  Ooooops!  Trust me, though.  They were very pretty and very tasty.  Instead of making my own barbeque sauce, I used a bottled one.  It is my favorite.  It is called Sweet Baby Ray's.  Yummy!  I got the recipe from this fabulicious blog!  They were moist and juicy and if there had been a bone, I am sure they would have fallen off of it.  Sam told me I could definitely make these again.  I think they might have accounted for about 3 pounds of his weight gain. 

My second project was making photo blocks.  It is a rather simple method that I followed from this crafty video.  It shows you step by step how to do it.  I had no clue what gel medium was, but thankfully the helpful staff from Michael's did.  The other items that I needed included Mod Podge, paint brushes, a photo on regular paper, and a block of wood.  The block of wood that I used was of the ones that is already shaped and sanded and all of that jazz.  The video describes all of the steps very clearly.  Unfortunately, I have no clue what I did incorrectly, but Sam and I ended up with no eyes.  It is a great picture that I love, but we are heads with hair and no facial features.  I am wondering if it was because I used a color photo instead of black and white.  I am not willing to give up on this project, so I am going to find a method to use that works for me.  I have seen other people's results and they all looked great!  But mine did not work as well as I had hoped.

I hope everyone finds their calling in life and has co-workers, family, and friends who support you and guide you when you think you are alone.  During the past few weeks, I have learned so much about myself and it is because of the people that I am surrounded by.  Sam has taught me to live my life to its fullest and I have been trying to do that more and more each day.  Have a wonderful week!

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."  ~Albert Einstein

"Don't wait for some magic gift. Share what you are, dare to be vulnerable, and you will find people who count you among their deepest friends." ~Unknown

 

"Carry your candle.  Run to the darkness.  Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn.  And hold out your candle for all to see it.  Take your candle and go light your world."  ~Chris Rice