Lovely Lover

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For the Glory of Old IU

Here are some images of the magical place that I have called home for the past four years. As so many of my other blog posts have demonstrated, I am less than thrilled about leaving IU... but I am ohhh so excited about the adventures that are ahead of me and the next chapter in my life. This past weekend I moved my stuff out of my home in Bloomington and into my new apartment in Indianapolis. My graduate school courses begin in less than a month (eeeeek!!!). I finally am beginning to let go of my life at IU... but here is one last stroll down memory lane. 

I have been through my fair share of fire alarm pulls in the dorm freshman year, Gresham hall Taco John trips, frat party adventures, and learning to tolerate Kamchatka shots. I dragged my behind up what seemed like hundreds of flights of stairs in Ballantine Hall and was still learning where certain buildings were located where my classes were held during senior year. I had become a frequent patron of both Mother Bears and Red Mango, as well as having the typical late night fights debating the pros and cons of Pizza X versus Avers or Uncle D's Pizzas. Once I turned 21, the fun only continued as we stumbled through bar crawls, did some horrible karaoke-ing, iced total strangers, spun the wheel at Kilroys, played sink the biz at Nicks, stapled our underwear to The Upstairs Pub's ceiling, and danced on the bar at Sports. We even once played a crucial role in the making of popcorn one night at Dunnkirk. I rushed the court after the IU/Kentucky game and spent the night on Kirkwood to celebrate afterwards. I have danced and played in the Showalter fountain. I have been in bounce houses, down slip and slides, and ridden the Beta Bull. I have been seen in public wearing everything from peacock feathers, a minion costume, to a parrot. I have spent the night with Herman B Wells. I have never once in my college career been as prepared for class as I thought I would have been, or starting studying for an exam as early as I should have, or began my paper with plenty of time to make (probably very necessary) edits... But I have had countless memories with the best of friends. I have been selfish, I have been easily persuaded to let loose, and have a little fun rather than spend all my time with my nose in my books. And I can easily say I will never regret any of it. 

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Cherish it.

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Revamp wall art

(Before and After)

I got this idea from a cute little blog you can find here! 

I immediately started hunting for the perfect painting to attempt this craft. I found this one at Goodwill for 99 cents! It is small, but perfect for what I need. I think it’s going to go on my desk, so the fact that it won't take up much space is perfect.

I purchased these stickers from Hobby Lobby for less than three dollars. They probably weren’t the best choice because they were more like tagboard scrapbooking stickers rather than vinyl. I simply chose these because they were cheaper, but I suggest spending the money for some quality stickers so that they will peel off easier once the project is completed. (I had to correct some mistakes since the paint got underneath these stickers). 

 I cut the letters out individually so that I could test out how I wanted to situate them on the painting. 

Once I finally decided how I preferred it I peeled off the stickers and placed them on the painting.

Then I painted over the entire thing with acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby.

This color is called Bimini Blue by Apple Barrel and took two or three coats for me to cover it adequately.

Once it was dry I peeled off the stickers and voila! Here is my finished project! 

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Revamp wall art

I got this idea from a cute little blog you can find here!

I immediately started hunting for the perfect painting to attempt this craft. I found this one at Goodwill for 99 cents! It is small, but perfect for what I need. I think it’s going to go on my desk, so the fact that it won't take up much space is perfect.

I purchased these stickers from Hobby Lobby for less than three dollars. They probably weren’t the best choice because they were more like tagboard scrapbooking stickers rather than vinyl. I simply chose these because they were cheaper, but I suggest spending the money for some quality stickers so that they will peel off easier once the project is completed. (I had to correct some mistakes since the paint got underneath these stickers). 

 I cut the letters out individually so that I could test out how I wanted to situate them on the painting. 

Once I finally decided how I preferred it I peeled off the stickers and placed them on the painting.

Then I painted over the entire thing with acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby.

This color is called Bimini Blue by Apple Barrel and took two or three coats for me to cover it adequately.

Once it was dry I peeled off the stickers and voila! Here is my finished project! 

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DIY Swim noodle poppers

Another SUPER simple and CHEAP activity for kids. When I made a 'kiddie car wash' (CHECK IT OUT HERE!) at the beginning of the summer and was trying to come up with creative ways to use the remainder of the swim noodles a co-worker of mine suggested this wonderful idea she had once seen in Family Fun. I found a tutorial here.

Family Fun

All you have to do is slice the swim noodles into pieces about 2 inches thick. Then simply quarter them.

Family Fun

The kiddos have been having an absolute blast with these. We begun playing with them by trying to make them into a bucket but it quickly became a game of tagging each other by popping them towards each other. Some were able to squeeze them between their thumb and pointer finger but some with smaller hands found that difficult. We learned it was a little easier for those to cup the popper in their hand so that the top is under all of their finger tips and the bottom rests against the bottom of their hand (wrist). Then simply squeeze together and let them fly!

I have to admit that I enjoy these too. The day we made these I took some to Bloomington with me and promptly starting attacking Kevin with him. He was less than thrilled but I sure do enjoy them!

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Kiddie Car Wash

I guess I should have posted this a little sooner... now that the summer is winding down there will be less time to put this to good use. Regardless, this is a cheap and wonderfully exciting alternative to sprinklers and water play for the kiddos.

Below is an image taken from the Family Fun website outlining the necessary pieces for the car wash. I made my own changes (I decided the pool noodle on top was unnecessary and the stop/go signs in the front would only delay the fun to be had!) Click here for the link to the website for a wonderful description on exactly how to make this simple sprinkler system.

Family Fun
I also found a fairly detailed video from Menardes that was helpful in the building process. 

I am definitely not the engineering type but this was a REALY simple project. 

Some notes from my experience: 

- I did not feel like it was necessary to purchase a pvc cutter for one project. A saw worked fine. Yes, it was more time consuming but not overly... and I'm a very impatient person so if I think a saw will do, you will most likely as well.

- The video says to use lawn chair webbing but I decided to use an old plastic tablecloth we had lying around at work instead. It has held up through various uses.

- BUT the kids typically end up just pushing them to the side - once it is wet it sticks to their skin and some view it as an annoyance. 

- Although the added pieces (sponges, pool noodles, and tablecloth slits) add to the aesthetic of the 'car wash' they are definitely not necessary. I believe the kids would still be 100% happy without the added flair. 

- I only drilled 2 holes per section of the pvc because I was a little worried about the water pressure - it seems to be working fine (I don't even turn the hose up all the way) so I may add more

- I also kept the holes to the bottom half of the 'car wash' (mainly because the majority of the kids at the day care center are younger and therefore smaller) but it would also work great if there are holes at the top half as well

Probably the most important note: 

I did not use the pvc cement. We will be storing this inside and I wanted to be able to easily take it apart if at all possible. We tested it out without the pvc cement and it has held up for the past two months. We have also kept this outside for the past two months and it has held together well. 

Extra fun: I cut the swim noodles I found at the dollar store in half for the 'scrubbers' in the middle of the car wash. We have used the extras for SO many things! I cut them into slices and we made 'sunglasses' out of them by attaching two together with pipe cleaners. These also happen to have a flower shape to them so we have used them as stamps for painting. We also made poppers out of the swim noodles. Check those out RIGHT HERE!


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It's a Wonderful Life

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Sometimes it's funny how in tune another individual can be with your emotions. One of my roommates from senior year has a blog that I am obsessed with. Check her out at The Loveliness of Living. I can honestly say that just about every single one of her posts inspires me. I have spent a lot of time thinking about the future and becoming a 'grown up'. All of my friends are going out into the world and beginning their careers. The idea of us becoming real adults is almost laughable to me but I have to admit that I am eager for it to occur as well. What a confusing notion ehhh? Anyways, my wonderful roomie posted this on her blog the other day and I couldn't agree more.

The Loveliness of Living

Chicago Recap

What a wonderful weekend spent with wonderful friends! It's always hard to say good-bye but I have to remember that ....

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"We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."

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This weekend was filled with fun adventures, meeting new people, and reliving the past with some old friends. Everyone is becoming a "grown up" now... Many discussions included talk of entering the corporate world, settling down, and learning how to adjust to life after college. It truly hasn't hit me that we are moving on with our lives. I'm excited to start this new chapter in my life but cannot help but miss the ease of college life. But no matter if my closest friends are right across the street or hundreds of miles away, I know that they will always be my comfort zone.

Live Life to the Fullest

This weekend I will be returning to Chicago to see some of my favorites from IU. I cannot wait. The tentative plan is to celebrate graduation (because the extra weeks we spent at school wasn't celebration enough...) and my great friend Patrice's TWENTY-THIRD birthday! I still cannot believe that we are out of college. Everyone is going their separate way and becoming full blown adults. 

Although we are 'all grown up now' I know that there will be lots of fun to be had and probably a few shenanigans this weekend. Just because we are growing up, doesn't mean we are going to stop having fun!

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Tickets from Memorable Moments in Shadow Box

After making my first shadow box to hold the first roses Kevin gave me (Check out the diy RIGHT HERE!) I decided to make a second one. 

This shadow box is going to have tickets and various memories from our time spent together in it. Of course I haven’t been saving much of these so it looks pretty sparse right now but will fill up eventually. 

Since the back of the shadow box is a bit of a hassle to remove I decided to just saw a slit into the top of the shadow box. The shadow boxes are most likely going to be hung above my bed, so the slit will not be seen. 

Knowing absolutely nothing about saws I simply went to the work bench and grabbed something that looked like it would work. 

About 30 minutes later I had finally sawed through the thick frame of the shadow box. I’m sure there is a faster/easier way to make the slot but this worked fine for me. 

 All that was left was sanding out the roughly sawed area – which I simply did by folding a piece of sanding paper in half, getting everything at once.

 I found this scrapbooking paper at Hobby Lobby and decided to use it as the backing for both shadow boxes. 

 Now I just need to work on collecting items to put inside!

I decided to put a little sign that said 'Admit Two' since the box is centered around memorable moments that Kevin and I have had together. 

 And here is the final product! 

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