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