Sunburns and Jewelry

Last week my school started summer school. I decided I was going to teach my 5th graders a small unit about Greek mythology. So far, I think they are really enjoying it.

Anyway, we wanted to give them a "fun" day outside-- so we held a mini Olympics last Thursday. We had various events: 3 legged races, pool noodle javelin throw, Frisbee discus, etc. Anyway, we were outside pretty much ALL day. The wind was blowing-- so even though it was hot I didn't even realize I was burning. But now I sit, 3 days later, hardly able to lift my arms because of a sunburn. Yikes. I will never forget to put on sunscreen again!

Needless to say, I am going to have LOVELY tan lines!

My pinterest project of the week has me VERY excited! I found this picture of a homemade jewelry holder that you hang on the wall. I am always forgetting to put on my jewelry-- I assume it's because my jewelry is hidden under things in my closet. So maybe with them hanging on the wall I will wear them more often!

Here is what you need:

My fabric only cost like $2.40 (I only needed 1 yard!)

Cork board, fabric of your choice (I went with a plain color so the jewelry would pop), and push pins to hang the jewelry on. I liked these:

I liked them because they were gold and prettier than regular push pins!

Ok. So- you take your fabric and iron it-- so get rid of unwanted wrinkles. Then lay your cork board face down on it:

Then, fold up on side of the fabric and start stapling. You could also use glue, hot glue, tape, etc. I decided to use staples because I had a stapler on hand and I hate burning my hand with hot glue!

The pull the fabric tight (cut off extra length) and staple along the other edges:

I know it's not the neatest-- and it's not perfect-- but the best part is that this is the BACK-- nobody will ever see this side! So it doesn't need to be perfect! Here is the front:

For the next part I hung it up on the wall (mine is hanging on a nail) and put in the pushpins/added my necklaces. However, you can easily add the pushpins before you hang it up. Try not to put all the pins in a row. If you vary the heights of them, your necklaces will hang more like artwork. It's up to you. The best part it is that it's a cork board, so you can always move them around if you need to. Or move the pins as you add more jewelry. Here is my finished board:

I have plenty of room for more!

Varying the lengths makes it unique!

Close up!

Close up!

I love fun/cheap projects that serve a purpose! Now hopefully I'll remember to add a little jewelry to my next outfit (once my sunburn goes away and I can actually leave my house again, that is)

Trials and Tribulations

I have found that in life we face many "trials" and "tribulations". Now to be sure, these events are not always of the largest scale. Nor are they as difficult as those faced by the Apostles and disciples (side note-- for all my Bible scholars-- what IS the difference between an apostle and a disciple?!?)

Today my T&T (see what I did there?) came in various forms:
1. I had to run on the treadmill. And I HATE running on the treadmill. But somehow, through the grace of God, I survived.

2. I had to take out the trash (which led to some weird, smelly, slimy liquid on my hands. Don't even want to know)

3. A strange woman came up to me outside of my gym and asked me for a ride across town. I'm not a jerk, I promise. But I'm just not comfortable letting a stranger ride alone with me in my car. So I politely refused (which is REALLY hard for me to do-- I hate letting people down) and told her "I'm so sorry, but I don't usually give people rides if I don't know them". The look on her face was shock-- and I almost backpedaled-- but realized I needed to stick to my guns.

I apologized again, and she hit me with a "God bless you." and basically made me feel like the scummiest scum of the earth.

And there was my T&T. I remembered that verse in the Bible about entertaining strangers who turned out to be angels. And I thought-- what if that was my chance to witness to her? What if I could have been helpful? And then the other side of me reminded me of something my father always taught me-- never to give rides to strangers. Especially if I'm alone. So I am trying to brush it off. I hope she found a ride with someone else...

4. I got home from the gym only to discover I had let in a HUGE moth. And it was alive. Thus ensued a battle of rainboot vs. moth. In the first round, the moth won. He flew at me, and I flew screaming down the hallway into my room. Eventually I snuck out and found my fly swatter. I cornered him, and he suffered the consequences. He is now in my trash. I hope he does not pull a Lazarus. (the picture below is of my victory over this spawn of Satan)

Wow. I've had a lot of Biblical references today. What's a little T&T without some Bible references? Let me know if you've been facing anything difficult lately...

Procrastinators Unite... Tomorrow

Motivation. I'm fairly certain that sometimes we all lack it... Or maybe it's just me.

Sayings like these always seem to ring a bell with me:

"Stop procrastinating-- starting tomorrow"
"Procrastination: Why get done today what you can put off until tomorrow?"
"Procrastinators unite... Tomorrow"

Anyway, I tend to procrastinate on things like exercising. Or cleaning my apartment. So I decided that if I can motivate my kids at school with prizes and stickers, then maybe I can motivate myself with the same system. So, for my cleaning issues I created a simple list of chores in excel and boxes for me to check them off as I finish. I like seeing my work in progress.

Click here to download and print my "Cleaning" chart.

For my exercise issues I found a blank printable reward chart. Click here to see it. I decided that for every 10 times I go to exercise I will reward myself with something I love. The first reward is a new shirt. Maybe the next reward will be new shoes. As long as I have a goal to work toward, I will keep exercising-- the idea of losing weight doesn't seem as appealing as a new wardrobe.

And there you have it. I will try and spend my summer doing things without procrastinating... and I will jump on that first thing tomorrow!