Uncategorized – Moved 2 Create

Burlap & Raffia

We got our first Hobby Lobby maybe about two years ago. Before that I didn’t even know such a store existed. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. My most recent trip landed me there when flowers were 50% off. I had been waiting for them to go on sale so that I could bring some life to my apartment. I am not good with keeping real plants alive and I have a couple cats, so real flowers don’t last long in my house. I decided to do more than just buy some flowers and stick them in vases. That isn’t very DIY, so I also picked up some burlap ribbon and some raffia to create these cute vases.

As I was walking around the store, I had a slightly different idea in my head than what I actually ended up doing. But that is how the creative process goes, and you just work with it. Continue reading Burlap & Raffia

Writing: To Binge or Not to Binge – Part 3

This is Part 3 of my To Binge or Not to Binge series. You can find the other parts here: Part 1 & Part 2. Part 1 was an introduction to the idea of binge-watching, and Part 2 listed some points for binge-watching, and Part 3 will address some points against binge-watching.

Not to Binge: As much as I love binge-watching shows, I know that there are some drawbacks to this kind of viewing. So, I will attempt to address a few of the issues that I see. Continue reading Writing: To Binge or Not to Binge – Part 3

Writing: To Binge or Not to Binge – Part 2

This is the second part of my “To Binge or Not to Binge” series – You can find Part 1 [HERE]. I am not sure how coherent this entry will be, because I love talking about television shows and am a binge-aholic. However, I will try to put it all together in some kind of organized way.

I have found that there are a few ways that binge watching has improved my viewing and increased the enjoyment I get from watching television shows. Continue reading Writing: To Binge or Not to Binge – Part 2

DIY: Bathroom Update

I have lived in my apartment for about 6 years now and have finally gotten tired of the 20 year old wallpaper. Stripping wallpaper and painting is quite a job for someone who hasn’t done home repairs before. Unfortunately, I don’t have any before pictures, which really stinks because the paper was horrible (definitely not the worst I have seen, but bad) – It had little red strawberries and blue leaves. This left me with a very limited color scheme to work with, and for someone who likes to be able to change things frequently, I was ready for something other than red and blue towels. So one day I just decided to rip some wallpaper off the wall. It felt really good! I don’t have a big bathroom, and one wall is entirely wood, so there wasn’t a lot to take off. However, it still took me a whole Saturday and some of Sunday to get it all off, fill holes, and sand everything down. Continue reading DIY: Bathroom Update

Food: Chourico Stir-Fry

I came up with this combination myself. Couldn’t decide what to have for dinner – so while I was just wandering around the grocery store, I tried to think of what sounded good. This is usually when good ideas come to me. Walking by the meat case, I noticed the Chourico and thought a stir fry would be just the thing. I have been trying to eat more vegetables, so I thought I would add a couple different veggies and see if it would all go together.

I talked a little bit about Linguica and Chourico in my Kale Soup post, but Chourico (shudees) is a hot Portuguese sausage. You can also get Linguica (lingweesa), which is a mild Portuguese sausage. But for this recipe you can use kielbasa or any other type of sausage.

Continue reading Food: Chourico Stir-Fry

Writing: To Binge or Not to Binge – Part 1

This week’s writing is about my obsession with television shows. I have always loved watching TV shows – more so than movies actually. However, since being out on my own, and with only my cats to take care of, I have gotten into this habit called binge-watching. I love to binge-watch television shows. It pretty much takes up most of my free time.

I love TV Shows. My favorite shows range from the 1980s detective show Remington Steele to the 90s political drama The West Wing to the more current horror/sci-fi series FRINGE . Not only do I love watching TV Shows, I love talking about them and obsessing over them with my friends. I really do feel bad though for those people in my life who couldn’t care less about television, nevermind listening to me talk about the adventures of Captain Janeway and her crew. So binge-watching was really just another step in my obsession.

The term “binge-watching” is used quite frequently these days, but I think it is interesting to think about how the terms has grown to be used so commonly. In the past, the term “binge” has been connected with food – consuming excessive amounts of food or drink in a short amount of time. Now the term is being connected with how people watch television. Nolan Feeney, in the article “When, Exactly, Does Watching a Lot of Netflix become a Binge?“, answers the question: How many episodes is a binge?

Four episodes, if you’re watching dramas. If you walk away before the fourth episode, people I’ve spoken with generally agreed, all you did was have a little TV time. But start the fourth episode . . . and you’re squarely in binge territory.

Continue reading Writing: To Binge or Not to Binge – Part 1

DIY: Metal Decor

I just got back from vacation, and I thought that I would have gotten a lot more done – but no blog entries got posted last week. Anyway, this week’s DIY isn’t really a huge project, but it was something that I had wanted to do – so I thought I would put it up.

On to the project…

Other than paintings, I am not very brave when it comes to using other items to decorate my walls. However, a Hobby Lobby was built downtown recently and I have been inspired. When I first discovered Hobby Lobby, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had never been to a store that had so many amazing decor items. My friend and I probably spent a good 3 hours there the first time. I found three great square metal wall pieces that I fell in love with. They were not in my color scheme so I dismissed them several times. Then they went on sale, and when things go on sale at Hobby Lobby they are usually 50% off. I figured for that, I could spray paint them. Though I hadn’t ever spray painted anything before, the idea fit into my new resolution to try new things and work on some projects. Plus, there are so many great spray painting DIYs out there.

Continue reading DIY: Metal Decor

Food: Kale Soup

I am not usually a soup lover, but this is one that I would eat anytime. As soon as the weather gets cold, I can’t wait to make a pot. This recipe was passed down from my grandmother and was a dish that my family always loved. Kale is like a power vegetable, with more iron than beef, more calcium than milk, and lots of vitamin C and K, as well as antioxidants. However, I never knew all of that as a kid – I just liked the soup. That is why I wanted to share it with you.

Continue reading Food: Kale Soup

Writing : My Curly Hair Routine

Getting Great Curls

I have curly hair, and for the first 18 years of my life I had no idea what to do with it. It was frizzy and puffy, so I just globbed on the gel in an attempt to tame it. In middle school I was frustrated that I didn’t have the smooth hair that all my friends had, and there was no way that I was going to have the nice bangs that were “in” in the 90s. It wasn’t until my freshman year in college that I was introduced to mousse and a diffuser. Things got better, but I still struggled with frizz and lack of curl definition – and I was still going through a lot of product. Since then I have tried so many products, and I thought I was never going to find anything that really worked. Last year I decided to do some real research – because I loved my curls and I wanted them to be beautiful. I watched lots of videos and read tons of product reviews. After all that, this is what I ended up with, and so far it has worked great for me. The product brands aren’t necessarily important. I just tried these brands after some recommendations and have liked them so far. One of the biggest things that I learned is that every curly head is different. I have been doing this for several months now and though this has worked wonders for me, you just have to figure out what will work for you.

Continue reading Writing : My Curly Hair Routine

DIY: Wood Crate Platform Bed

My first DIY post!

For this first DIY, I decided to feature an idea I had for creating a storage platform for my bed. Though I didn’t see this idea on Pinterest, there were many other similar ideas, and as for many things that I find on Pinterest, I didn’t know I wanted this until I saw it.

The first idea that I saw was this Farmhouse Storage Bed by Birds and Soap, Soap and Birds. I really liked the idea of having some storage space under the bed, especially since I was becoming tired of the bed frame that I currently had. There are so many great idea for this storage platform on Pinterest that I didn’t exactly know where to start. There were several people who used two bookcases from IKEA. The closest IKEA is 5 hours away and it costs a fortune to have anything shipped from them, so I went online in search of something else that would do the trick. I was unsuccessful at finding anything for a price that I could live with. For about four months I battled with what to do, and even considered trying to build something myself, but I am not good with tools so I wanted an easy idea. I had pretty much given up hope when I happened to be browsing Pinterest – once again – and saw that someone had created a coffee table with some wood crates.

Continue reading DIY: Wood Crate Platform Bed