Last Day of 2012

   I just realized today is the last day of 2012. The year has flown by so quickly! I don't typically do New Year's Revolutions because to be honest, they never last. What I do want to do is an idea I saw on Pinterest. You get a jar and write down good things that happen and read them at the end of the year. I think that is a great idea and am totally going to do that.
   I'm also going to do the picture everyday for a year and piece them together like a flipbook.There's not much other than these things planned for the new year. My goodness, I am such a boring person..ha.

"Snow" Covered Candle Holder

My Mom loves candles and I saw this candle holder on Pinterest and a lightbulb went off.

To make this candle holder you need:

Mod-Podge (Homemade version here.)
Candle Holder
Large Plate
Epsom Salt
Paint Brush

First pour the Epsom Salt onto the large plate. Grab the candle holder and using the paintbrush, apply a layer of the glue mixture onto the candle holder. Then sprinkle the Epsom Salt onto the glue.

I put a layer of glue on the bottom, added the salt, then painted the middle, added the salt, and finally the top and rim. It is a very straightforward process. Just be sure not to touch the outside edges or you will have to do touch-ups later.  Also don't worry about ruining the paintbrush. It washed right out under warm water. You will be fine as long as you don't let the glue dry on the paintbrush. This only took me 10 minutes to do.

 I thought it turned out very well and definitely will be making more.

Christmas Snowmen

I love this project. Last year I made 2. This year I tripled that and have a little snowman army :)

 Here is what you need to make these little beauties:

1 white sock
1 pair of decorative socks
rice
rubber bands
Hot glue gun
Any other details such as string, buttons,beads, etc
First cut the sock like so. Make sure the white sock is the one with the very long tube, not the ankle socks. Throw away the bottom part.

 Next, turn the tube inside out and tie a rubber band around the top.

Turn the tube back inside out and begin filling it with rice.

 I pick up the sock by the rim and gently shake it and bounce it upside down to let the rice settle and form the snowman naturally. About an inch from the top, rubber band it off.

Next cut up the decorative socks like so:

Put the sock around the snowman body.

Next add the hat.

Using embroidery floss, tie the top of the hat to create a poof and use it around the body to help separate the body into sections. You can push the rice around and mold it to give it the shape you want.

Now add the details. I used black seed beads for the eyes and colored the tip of a toothpick orange for the nose. I also used some buttons. I've seen people use sharpie dots for the eyes, small triangle carrot buttons for the nose and ribbon used to add details. By the way, don't try and use super glue. It just gets absorbed into the sock and it leaves a spot. The hot glue gun works the best. This part is all about creativity and using what you got :)

Here are all my snowmen.

That's all there is to it. Have fun and be creative!

Homemade Mod-Podge

I went to Wal-Mart and Mod-Podge was too expensive to shimmy its way onto my list. So, I came home and looked up how to make it. I found a bottle of Elmer's glue, a plastic cup and a straw and whipped up some Mod-Podge. I only needed about a cup (I didn't want to use the whole bottle of glue). I used half a cup of glue and mixed it with half a cup of water. Then I just plopped in another big glob of glue to make it thicker. Using the straw I just stirred it around and around and around. After that, I poured it into a little jar and voila :)

Christmas is in the Air

I survived the world ending! Just kidding, I knew nothing was going to happen. It straight up says in the Bible no one will predict the day. Then on top of that if the Mayans were so insightful of the future they never would have been killed off (or however they went "extinct"). And another point. Our calendar ends after 12 months and starts over. Their calendar simply ends and starts over. No biggie. And for all those folks who believe zombies exist, I'm sorry but that's absurd and you're crazy.

The past days have been very busy, filled with a lot of late night homework, projects and studying for tests that all my teachers crammed in before the break. Today I headed over to the Dollar Tree and picked up cute socks to make little snowmen for my aunt, grandma, and my best friend's mom. One thing though, I forgot the rice, so I'll have to make a trip back. My Mom is totally into candles at the moment (and baking batches upon batches of Christmas cookies) so I'm going to make an Epsom salt covered candle holder. It'll have a snow covered effect and she'll love it. I have no idea yet what I'm doing for my Dad or brothers. I'll have to scour the internet and Pinterest until I find something or go and wander around Wal-Mart aimlessly until I find something.

We also found some more lights and put them up on the outside of the house and through the trees. At the moment I'm watching the Backup Plan and after that I need to clean my room. I literally looks like my closet exploded. I'm not too worried about it though :)  Pretty much other than that I have been doing nothing except watching episode after episode of The Secret Life of The American Teenager. I like everything about that show except the name. It is WAY too long. I'll definitely be posting all my finished projects when I'm done :)

School on 12/12/12

It's the last repetitive date ever! Well, for all of us alive today anyways. We had  a sub today and there was nothing to do.. and I mean literally. I was actually updating this blog in class but 2 campus supervisors and a cop came in. Needless to say my phone quickly found its way to my pocket. Apparently someone lost their iPhone, or it was stolen. After looking for it around the room, we had to empty all of our bags and they searched some of them. They still couldn't find it, so we all had to go wait outside. After a few minutes we went back in,packed up and scrambled on to the next class. They didn't find it. What I was writing earlier didn't save, but I was talking about the sub we had and his positive attitude.
 We all sat down, bell rang, everything was normal, then all of a sudden he started acting out a scene from the play "Julius Caesar". Most of us were confused and laughing, mostly because it was so unexpected and that's not something you'd expect, especially in math. Anyways his monologue brought up the mood and I was just talking about how someone's happiness can affect those around them for the better. And then it got erased... Maybe (MAYBE) I will make a new post about the positivity of people. Depends on how busy I am :)

Gingerbread Houses

My brothers and I did yearly Gingerbread Houses. I didn't know we were going to have a contest until I was done. If I'd have known, I would have put a lot more effort into it.. Mine is #2.

Gingerbread Houses are so fun. I actually like it more than decorating the tree :)

What I've Been Up To

Wow. I haven't been on here in a long time! I've been super duper busy, plus my internet got shut off...
Anywhoo on Nov 30 I went on a field trip to UCLA. There was A LOT of fog, traffic, and it was pouring rain.

It got kinda scary. We couldn't see in front of us at some times.

There was some amusement though. These guys weren't having too good of a time pushing their truck out of the mud.

Needless to say we were an hr and 45 minutes late for our tour and couldn't find another person to show us around. We split up into little groups and wandered around for 2 hours. It was nice at the school and makes me excited to go to college. It's scary though because I have no idea what I want to be "when I grow up". Here are some of the buildings.

I wish it wouldn't have been so rainy. It would have been nice to see the campus when it was sunny, but we had fun walking around in the rain. It was funny because everyone else had umbrellas and we didn't. Where I live umbrellas aren't used very often. I think we got more amusement out of the squirrels more than anything else! He looked like he was ready to attack!

We also went to the cafeteria. The lines were so long. The shortest was Wetzel's Pretzels so we just got pretzels from there. It was the first pretzel I've ever had from there and it was pretty good. I dunked it in cheese and strangely it tasted like I was eating a grilled cheese sandwich. Now I know why there were so many sets of stairs at the campus. Gotta walk off those extra pounds.

After we left UCLA we went to the Armand Hammer Museum. I guess it was fun. If I learned one thing it was I'm definitely not into art museums. I mostly didn't like the fact I was being watched constantly and I had to leave my bag behind. Like I can fit a huge painting in my little bag... There was one gallery I really liked that involved homemade paper and string art. I took a picture and got yelled at. Haha I took another one though. Yes, I know. I'm such a rebel :)

After the museum we got back on the bus and had a long drive home.

Other than a field trip I haven't done much other than homework,homework,and more homework. I know I'm lagging on my Once Upon A Time walk-throughs. I'm gonna try and get those up within the next few days. Well I'm off to make gingerbread houses!!

Beaded Ornament Cover Tutorial

I've made a few of these ornament covers and they are very simple, but can be time consuming. You'll need:

• seed beads
• thread
• scissors
• beading needle or thin sewing needle

I am using a light pink and a brown.

First thread your needle. I don't tie it off. I just put the needle about 3 inches from the end like so.

Then put on 2 beads of your main color and 1 of your accent color until you have 16 accent colors.

Make it a loop by tying the thread.

Then you put on 5 beads of your main color and 1 accent color until you have 13 sets of your main color. Don't put on the last accent color. Next go through the 4th accent bead from the top.

 Add 5 beads of your main color,1 accent, and 5 more mains. Then skip an accent bead and go through the one above it

Continue this pattern until the top of the row and add only 5 main colors,  and go through the accent color in the loop.

Now add 5 main colors,1 accent color and 5 main colors and go through the next accent bead.

Continue down the row and after you go through the last accent bead add 5 mains, 1 accent, 5 mains, 1 accent, and 5 mains and go through the next accent bead. Continue this way all the way up, down, and around the circle. After the first two rows, you should be able to do this very easily without the instructions, but if you need them that's ok too :)

When you get all the way around to the last accent bead on the top circle you'll have a big net like this.

This next part is easier than it sounds and it's hard to explain, so bear with me. When you get to the last accent bead on the last row, add 5 mains, 1 accent, and 5 mains and go through the corresponding accent bead on the other side of the net. This is where we "sew" up the back.

Add 5 main colors and go through the next accent bead on the opposite side. It kind of "zips" up. When you get to the very top, add the 5 main colors and go through the very first accent bead on the top circle and tie off.

I don't have a bulb on hand to show you this finished netting, but here is one I've done before. By the way, this was a smaller bulb, so the netting hung down. A bigger bulb will make the netting hug the bulb tighter.

This is a neat project and I really like the finished look, especially on the tree. It's time consuming, but totally worth it. Have fun :)

Once Upon A Time: Child of the Moon

The beginning of this episode started off in Storybrooke. Well, more like under it. The 7 dwarfs (dwarves?) are mining. All except Leroy want to go to Granny's for "Happy Hour". Leroy is real determined to get Snow and Emma back for Charming and he ends up falling down a tunnel where they discover diamonds that can be used to make fairy dust. Mother Superior tells Charming to keep Jefferson's hat locked up safe and by that time the next day they'll have enough fairy dust to make the hat work again and bring Emma and Snow back.

A little later, everyone is celebrating at Granny's and Ruby is cleaning up, when a guy named Billy comes up and tells her he was a mouse in the other land. He asks to buy her a drink after her shift and Belle jumps in and says they already have plans for the night.

Then  Charming goes to Henry, who's sitting at a booth and tells him not to worry about the nightmares. When Henry goes to get cocoa Charming's good ole' pop, King George (Spencer) drops in. He tells Charming he wants the town to see Charming for who he really is and that by the time he's done with him Charming will be wishing he'd killed him when he had the chance.

Then David walks in on Red and Granny creating a cage because it is the first "Wolf's Time" since the curse was broken and they don't know if Red will turn into the wolf or not.

Then it cuts to Snow and Red in the old land running from the Queen's army. After they hide and the army passes, Red discovers her red cloack is ripped and is afraid it will not work and she will kill Snow.

 As Red runs off, we see she is being watched by this creepy looking guy.

The next morning Granny discovers this.

Then we see what Henry's dream is like.

He wakes up and finds Regina there to comfort him because David had an emergency call.

When regina grabs Henry's hand they discover a burn.

Then Granny is with David and they find Ruby asleep in the forest.

The scene then cuts to Red sleeping in the forest in the old land. She gets up and is washing up in the river when the creepy guy from the night before runs up and steals her hood. She chases him and he threatens to burn it. He then calls her out on being a wolf, she tackles him, then he identifies himself as a wolf as well. He explains to her he can teach her to control the wolf, so she doesn't have to be afraid of what she is.

Then he leads her to their underground den and she meets her mom, who clearly isn't dead.

Back in Storybrooke, David is investigating an illegal parked car, which is actually a tow truck. When Ruby gets out, she says she smells blood. They find Billy...in two pieces....

Then Regina is with Henry and Gold is there. Henry shows him the burn and Gold explains that the nightmares are a side effect of the sleeping curse, and it isn't really a dream. He tells them when people fall under a sleeping curse their soul travels to another world where it stays until the person wakes up. He says the world is between life and death and is in fact real. Then he says that even after the curse is broken, the soul can sometimes travel back to that world. Gold doesn't have anything that will keep Henry from going to this world, but gives him something that will allow him to control his actions while he's there.

The scene then cuts to a distraught Ruby and David telling her that it had to be someone else.  He tells her he knows she didn't kill Billy, because he knows who she really is.

Next,  Red is talking to her mother (Anita) and her mother tells her that Granny lied to her after she stole her away.  Anita also tells Red that the only way she will able to control the wolf is to accept it as a part of her. Then she drops the hood and hugs her mom.

Back in Storybrooke, David locks up Ruby in the jail cell and then Spencer comes in and admits he actually is the one that killed Billy. He wants Ruby and David replies that if he wants her, he will have to go through him first.

Then there is a scene of a bunch of wolves running and Anita's voice describing how it is to be the wolf. Then it shows Red waking up saying she remembered everything from the night before.

 Then Spencer is outside the jail, forming a mob of his own. They break the chains off the door only to find out that Ruby is gone. She's actually with Granny, Belle, and David in what I believe is the library.

Then we're in the wolf's den and they hear what they think are hunters. Turns out, it's actually Snow, who was looking for Red. She starts getting choked out by Quinn (the creepy guy that found Red) and lets her go only after Anita says to. Red says that she's staying with her pack because she doesn't have to be ashamed of who she is around them.Then all of a sudden Quinn gets shot with an arrow.

 

Then Belle and Ruby are together in the library and instead of chaining herself up, Ruby chains up Belle and tells her that the mob wants a wolf so she's going to give them one. She says she deserves to die for what she's done.

Next, Granny has Billy's jacket and she smelled it and it led them to a car. They opened the trunk and found Red's hood and an axe with blood on it. David realizes that whoever is pinning the murder on Ruby, is making her turn into a wolf so they make it look like the wolf did it. David breaks the window and discovers it's Spencer's car. Then they hear a wolf's howl in the distance.

Back in the wolf's den, Anita accuses Snow of leading the Queen's men into the den. Anita says to tie Snow up and when they turn to wolf form they'll feast on a princess. When Anita tells Red to kill Snow and she won't Anita changes into the wolf and goes to kill Snow. Then Red changes into a wolf and somehow puts an arrow in her mother's chest. Snow quickly puts Red's hood on her. There are a few things wrong with this scene for me. First of all how did Red put the arrow in her mother's chest while she was in wolf form and if Snow was tied up, how did she get Red's hood?  Hmmm...

In Storybrooke, the mob has gathered outside the library.

They find Ruby in some kind of lot. 

 As Spencer is going to shoot her, Granny fires her bow and causes something to explode. I have no idea what though. David tells everyone that she won't hurt anyone and it was actually Spencer that killed Billy.

David approaches the wolf and tells her he knows who she really is and that she can control the wolf. She gives in and David puts her hood over her and she turns back into human form. The picture is kinda dark, but Red is a cute little wolf :) And in the other episodes the wolves were WAY bigger...

All of a sudden, Spencer takes off and David and Ruby go after him. Ruby tracks him and he's standing around a bon fire. He tells David that he wants to see David's face when he realizes he will never see his wife or daughter ever again and throws Jefferson's hat into the fire.

David punches him and pulls out his gun. He's going to shoot him, but Ruby tells him not to.

Then it goes back to Snow and Red after they buried Anita. Red then thanks Snow for accepting her for who she is.

Back in Storybrooke, Ruby is with David and Henry is sleeping. David dreads having to tell Henry they won't be coming back, but Ruby reminds him he will always find a way. Then she tells him to unchain Belle and that she's going to run.

At the end of the episode we finally see Snow and Emma. Then Aurora is having a nightmare and sees Henry. Henry, now having the ability to control his actions, tells her not to be scared. She wakes up yelling for Snow and tells her that a little boy put out the fire and told her his name was Henry. Emma and Snow look very confused and then the episode ends.

Sometimes it's confusing as to which name I should use. I try to name the characters based on what world they're in, but sometimes I forget.. and I don't like the name Mary Margaret at all so her name will probably always be Snow :)

 I really liked this episode..and yes I like all of them :) But now that Jefferson's hat is gone I'm sure that Aurora and Henry's nightmare will act as a bridge between the 2 worlds and reunite them.