DIY College Fund Bank

I made this a while ago, but I thought I would still share. This was a gift for my cousins son, he was turning one. I had no money really at the time, so I made him something.

A college fund “piggy” bank

DIY Honeycomb Shelves

I'm sure you've seen these shelves online, ALL OVER THE WEB! Well maybe not anymore... it's been sometime since these shelves have been online. But I really wanted to make these shelves for my living room area. And luckily for me! My dad is a cabinet maker! Link to the instructions on how to make these wonderful cabinets will be at the end of the post. For this we used wood from school bleachers, my dad got from a school when they were remodeling the gym.

TA-DA!!! I love them. I'm still working on things to put on it. 

And as promised! Here is the link to the How To ---> Link

 

Up-cycled Gift Tags

Gift tags are adorable add ons to any gift! But if your not able to make them yourself they can get pricey, especially if you like the cute designer ones. But I'm here to save you from the evil price tag, all while helping you find a use for all and any holiday/birthday/get well/etc etc cards.

Why Tea is just THAT amazing!

That's yummy beet sugar on the bottom!

I like tea, sadly it's not my "go to" drink(I prefer coffee). But hope I can change some of that this summer. I started prepping my tea early in the week, and I'll put it in mason jars. So now when I open my fridge, I don't just have "milk" or some type of juice(I'm not a big juice person unless I do it myself/organic). I have teas ready to go, and I can either drink they cold or warm them up! So that gives me time to do other things besides waiting for my tea to set. 

Now I'm sure we all know that there are benefits to drinking tea, health and beauty wise. Come on ladies we all know we want to look fabulous! I know I do, and drinking more tea will give you those wonderful benefits. One cup at a time! 

So lets get started on health! 

Green Tea 

• Has dietary ingredients for younger looking skin, hair and nails. 
• Powerful Antioxidants that help fight against bladder,breast, lung, stomach, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers! 
• Helps you relax, burn fat, and fights against nerve disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. 
• Also great for your heart! 

Black Tea

• Highest caffeine count! (may be a good replacement for coffee hmmmm)
• Helps protect lungs from second hand smoke
• Also good for you heart! 

White Tea

• Has the most potent anticancer properties! 
• Also delicious!

Oolong Tea

• Lowers cholesterol (drink enough of this you might be able to kiss those cholesterol pills goodbye!)

Pu-erh Tea

• Type of black tea, but pressed into cakes
• Less weight gain
• Lowers cholesterol

Facts!

• Tea can boost exercise endurance!
• Tea is great for hydrating the body! (please stay away from the soda/pop this summer! Well not give you that wonderful summer shine and luster)

Things to do with tea (that isn't drinking it)

• Reduce Razor Burn!: Apply wet tea bag over affected area and then replace that razor blade, because it did a horrible job at being awesome.
• Smelly Feet!: Give them smelly toes a daily tea bath, your feet with love you forever! Just make sure it's strongly brewed tea and that you let your feet relax in it's nice special bath for 20 minutes! (Light some candles and play some soft music while your at it)
• Plants!: Use new or used tea and sprinkle around rosebushes for a midsummer boost! Cover with dirt or mulch to hide the tea from hungry animals. When you water the roses the nutrients will help the roses grow. Roses love tannic acid that comes from the tea.
• Eyes!: Of course everyone knows this one, but in case you don't. Your skin around your eyes loves tea and all the wonders within it! So get some wet tea bags warm/cold and place on your closed eyes for 20 minutes! Your eyes will feel refreshed and will also help with any bags under the eye area. 

My friend Ashley lllooooovvveeesss tea! LOOK HOW MUCH SHE HAS!!! She's like her own little tea store! She also introduced me to beet sugar! I had no idea what it was, but it's yummy and better for you then normal white sugar(which isn't vegan anyway). But there you have it! The wonders of tea! 

                    What are your favorite types? I personally love fruity teas or  floral teas.    

Christmas in January! T-Paper Roll Gifts!

Today I'm going to show you something I made for my girls for Christmas. I didn't have a lot of money at the time. Seeing as I was still looking for a job at the time. So I used things I had in the house, nothing anyone would particularly want but still something that could be useful. I want my gifts to be useful or something that was wanted.

So for this project your going to need:  Toilet Paper Rolls or Paper towel rolls
                                                              Paint and Paint Brushes
                                                              Any paper you have lying around
                                                              Scissors
                                                              Glue or Hot glue (depending on the thickness of the paper
                                                              Ribbon


Okay so lets get started!

Step One!
Get any paper you can find and paint it! Sometimes it's a pain having to go out and buy wrapping paper, so why not make your own? This way it adds a little personal touch, it's not "here I bought this and wrapped it, it now becomes "here! I made you this gift and I put a lot of thought into it".

 Step Two!
Glue said paper to T-paper roll! I forgot to take a picture of it, but I cut the pieces at the bottom into strips and glued them together to make a closed off end. That way it can hold things!

 Step Three!
Fill newly made containers with goodies! I had a whole bunch of mini notepads that I got for free and hadn't opened them yet and didn't know when I would. So instead of letting them sit around collecting dust, I gave them away as gifts. But to make it a little more special I put a little note on them to help inspire and so it was like a little puzzle.

Step Four!
Put two little dabs of glue on the inside or on the tube before adding the paper. And tie it into an amazing bow!!!! Because everyone knows bows are pretty awesome!

 And that's it! Super easy and made personal! I am happy to report that my friends really liked them. I got them more then this though, but these they did like. Mostly because they actually needed post-it-notes. Funny how things work out!

Did you make any crafty gifts last Christmas?

Coffee Skincare

This is a pretty basic recipe! I learned about it online, and at the time it was handy because I drank more coffee then water. So here goes.

Coffee Grounds - used or not doesn't matter
Extra Virgin Olive oil - don't use vegetable oil or conola oil!
Brown Sugar
Extract of some kind - whatever smells good to you

Now mix it all together! I can't really give you measurements, because it all depends on you.
Don't use a lot of oil however, there's a fine line between "wow my skin is so soft" to "damn when did I rub cisco (cooking lard) all over myself?". I can tell you that with experience.

Now lets talk science....all about that science.

*Coffee contains caffeine which we all know and love. But it can also liven up our cells and help get      rid of cellulite! Wow who knew!

*Extra Virgin Olive oil, I've heard is the closest to the oil we humans produce. So it's less likely to clog pores and such. I've also heard the less processed the better.

*Brown Sugar works great as an exfoliator and dissolves in water. So it won't be to harsh on your face, unless you use....alot, or rub really hard. So keep that in mind when making your batch.

*Extract.....it just smells good. And everyone knows how smells help us relax and de-stress. I can tell you  vanilla reminds me of sugar cookies in the winter and almond reminds me somewhat of cherries. Which reminds me of summer and craft fairs. Those scents to me are connected to happy and carefree memories. So be sure to pick an extract that takes you to your own happy place.

Science is over! Now for the warning!

This will get everywhere in your shower! Like some serial killer took a giant coffee bean into your shower and grinded it all up into super little pieces! So be ready!

So what are some of your favorite scents?      

Recipe Book

I don't know about you but I love to keep things I find in magazines. I have a large folder full of clippings.

And sometimes I'll just tape and glue them into blank books. This book right here is my recipe book....well one of them. But this is the only one with recipes written down in it or taped in it.

I like to color the pages, blank pages annoy me for some reason. I just have to decorate the paper.

So what do you do when you find something you like in a magazine? 

Birthday Bag!

YAY BIRTHDAY!!!

June 1st was my boyfriends 24th birthday! WOOT WOOT! I got him some cool stuff but I also decorated the bag! I found a white one in my  supply tower of random stuff! I thought it was perfect since all I have is floral wrapping paper. I didn't want to give him another gift wrapped is flowers. So I took it upon myself to write lots of encouraging messages all over the bag to show him how special he really is!

Have you ever done some creative for your girlfriend/boyfriends birthday?

Upcycled Oil Holder

Ok, I'm going to call it an oil holder, but I'm sure that's not what it's called. A while back I was working on organizing my pantry. It all started with the shelf cover, but then I wanted something to put oils and vinegars into. Sometimes oils leak or leave stains and that was something I didn't want. 

it's so pretty!

My roommate bought a bunch of Gatorade and they came on a cardboard pallet thingy. So I covered it in a layer of paper mache to make it a little stronger and less likely to fall apart. And then I painted it all pretty!

Before

After!

Little by little the pantry is looking better!

Upcycled Coffee Container

Now I did this a long time ago, back when I drank more coffee then water. I would collect all these plastic coffee containers. At the time I really wanted those containers with the chalkboard labels, they looked so easy to make. I've seen countless tutorials, but  didn't have the money to buy the containers or the special paint.

Example

So I found a pattern on a ice skaters uniform, and picked some colors from my bowl of paints.

yay paint!

Yay candy jar!

Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures. But this is the end result! I looked up some framed labels online and printed them out. They were black and white, so I painted them in the colors that where the same as the container and outline it with a ink pen. At the Art Institute they have a sticker maker, so I made the label into a sticker. I have alot of white board markers, so it works the same way.

And that is storage for you! Works great and I can change the label. I'm going to say in all it was cheaper then a glass jar and the special paint. The only thing I really needed to buy was the coffee. Pretty good deal if I do say so myself. OH forgot to mention, these containers are stackable!

Have you ever made anything for food storage before?

Shelf Cover Project

This is what I would like to call a filler post! Meaning I don't have any pictures of the recent stuff to show you at the moment! So lets begin!

A couple of months ago my boyfriend and I moved into a 2 bedroom with our friend Jimmy. I enjoy the fact that there is just so much space here and continued to be excited about the fact that I love organizing! Now I wanted to put my cookbooks in the pantry (currently the books are no longer in the pantry), there was just one problem though.

The shelves are made of wire and my books fall right through! I was not happy about this, so I made a cover to go over it. I had some extra cardboard from the move over, so that was my material.

 I didn't have a box long enough so I had to paper mache the pieces together. This is ofter how I build things. Things like organization boxes, desk organizer, and an oil tray thing. I like to say "if I can make it, then why buy it?"

While I was making this I was also in a class where we had to come up with a pattern design and this was kinda one of them. Well one of the ones that didn't make it, but I like it on this object. Even if the pattern doesn't repeat correctly.

So here it is! Isn't it beautiful! And even though the books are currently no longer in the pantry, the cover works nicely with bagged rice and smaller things. Plus it adds a little color to a very white pantry.

Thank You all for reading! and I hope you all have a very amazing day full of adventure and inspiration!

P.S. Since I'm still getting the hang of blogging, I'm still looking for the perfect way to show pictures. So I hope you all enjoy the changes that will be happening. And if you really like the way something looks PLEASE comment and let me know! I want to make this blog as pleasing to your eyes as I do to mine.

Bye Bye!