Decorative Candles

So even though I do not have the supplies to make them, I figure that I should still let you in on the candles because they are a really good idea for gifts, and inexpensive decorations.

Here are the supplies:

Desired length of fine guage jewelry wire (get color and size that you want, taking into consideration size of beads you will be using)
Jewelry spacers/crimp tubes to hold beads in place on wire
Assorted beads of your color and style choosing
Wire/Jewelry pliers
Wire/Jewelry Cutter
Pillar candle of your color/scent choice and size

Note:
*Can substitute clear fishing line for candles you do not wish to burn, as the fishing line can melt easily.
*Can also string beaded eye-pins onto wire or line to make dangling pieces.

INSTRUCTIONS:

~So this craft is really simple to make. First you will want to get a feel for how big you want your wire to be, so you need to wrap the base of the candle three times, and then continue around the candle in a spiral pattern leaving an ammount of space between each wire about an inch wide (more or less depending on how decorated you want the candle to look) till you reach the top of the candle. At the top, wrap the wire four times, around the candle and you have a rough length that you can cut with the wire cutters as to not have to work with the bulk of the rest of the wire. (I used roughly 120" for a 6" candle with a 3" diameter)

~Take wire and wrap three or four times around the base of the pillar candle and secure it to itself by removing the wire from the candle carefully, and tying a loop knot with the help of the pliers. (If there is a small piece of wire remaining from the knot I stick it into the candle sometimes you need a little heat to help with the process, but the wire usually slips right in.)

~ you will be able to work with the wire off of the candle if you don't care how the beads are situated on the candle, but I put the wire back on the base and work my way up placing beads as I go along.

~When you are beading place a crimp tube in the position before where you want the bead to sit. (To make this easier for myself, I measure out the space between each bead to roughly 2" in order to keep the beads evenly spaced around the candle.)

~Then, put the bead(s) you want in place, and put another crimp tube in place to keep the beads from moving as you continue with the rest of the beading.

~When you reach about 1/2" from the top you are done with the beading and can finish the project by wrapping the remaining wire around the candle and securing with a loop knot. If there is any wire left after the knot I poke it through the candle wax like I did with the top.

~Your candle is basically done, just make sure that the beading is evenly spaced around the entire candle and it looks well. The great thing about this project is that if you don't like it before you secure it, it is fairly easy to change.

Enjoy!

Here is a picture of one that i found on the internet of a double wrap (one wrap up, and one down the candle that is a variation on mine)

*Also if beading is not your thing, try wrapping with a glittery ribbon and securing in place by heating the surface of the candle and sticking the ribbon to the surface. (Just remember that fabric is flammable and that will definitely be a decorative candle)

*When I burn my wrapped candles, I push the wire down the candle as it burns so as to not light any beads on fire.

Waiting on Next Project

I am actually waiting on my next project supplies to get here. I am making my own decorative pillar candles and have to get the wire and Beads to make them, but while we wait I will update you on my Valentine's weekend. It sucked. I don't think Nick even knew that it was Valentine's Day and he sure as hell didn't get me anything, or treat me as if it was anything but an ordinary day. It's officially not my favorite holiday anymore. My weekend was spent as follows:

Friday night, Nick called and told me he was not coming home right away and was going walking with his friend. Not only that, but he wanted to invite this friend over for dinner. This is the most inconsiderate thing anyone can do! I had to work twice as hard to make a meal that I had created for two into a meal that could feed three. I seriously spent over three hours in the kitchen cooking and cleaning, and chalked it up to my gift to them for Valentine's Day weekend.

Saturday morning we were invited over to the same friends house for brunch, which is all fine and dandy, but before we left, Nick got it into his head that he wanted to change the tire. He started that, and it was my job to hold the back hatch open since the hydraulics are broken. Sadly, I think this is why my wrist is in such battered condition right now. We had brunch after I stood holding a door over my head for a good thirty minutes, and everything about brunch was fine. Nick decided though that he did not want to go to my parent's house after, and my mother's gift is still sitting on the coffee table. I then had to rush around and get stuff ready for another "surprise" dinner that I was in no way shape or form ready for. Went to bed pissy cause my wrist started to hurt really bad.

Sunday, woke up and made breakfast. Rose shaped waffles dyed pink, and bacon. Knew Nick would like them and appreciate them. Gave Nick his card and listened as crickets filled the apartment. Went back to cleaning as Nick took over the couch and the TV to watch crime dramas all day. I decided to putter around the house and wait till I had to make dinner, hoping Nick would have a surprise up his sleeve. Nothing all day/night. Dinner went horribly wrong. Meatloaf (Nick's favorite) took way too long to cook, and by then my wrist was REALLY hurting because I made the loaf in a cast iron pan, adding about 2lbs to the already heavy pan, and needing to use my wrist to lift it about 50 times in order to keep checking it. Did all the clean-up and started resenting the Hallmark holiday because I didn't even get a card.

Woke up this morning to snow I ignored yesterday and started shoveling out. My wrist told me no, but I still did. My wrist is possibly broken, and there is something floating under the skin. I think I may have chipped a bone. May not be able to make anymore projects for a while if the pain keeps up.

Revamping the Blog

So I have decided that it is best to revamp my blog. I think rather than have this as my venting space, I should do what I do best, and share my gift of creativity with the world. I do a lot on my own, and my ideas are not sparse. So with that, I bring you my first DIY blog post.

It is Valentine's weekend! Yay, I am making Nick a card like I always do, or have since last year when I was not able to sneak behind his back and buy one. The best part about homemade cards is that he keeps them! I like it when people keep my cards and most people aren't all that crazy about keeping the hallmark mass produced ones. Also, making your own cards are really inexpensive. I buy card stock in bulk, and in by in bulk, I mean I go to JoAnn Crafts and get the cardstock packages for $14.99 on sale. They have roughly 300 card stock pages and they come in seasonal prints as well as generic colors. This time I raided my mom's stash of card stock to get a glittery card stock as well as a slightly embossed red piece.

I started with the following items:

1 sheet (standard size) white card stock
1 sheet (standard size) Red card stock
1 sheet (standard size) White glitter card stock
1 4"x6"or 3"x5" picture printed off my computer on photo paper (keep in mind that photo will be cut to 3"x4" selection photo can be professionally printed if desired)
1 standard paper cutter
1 craft punch ribbon stitch style
1 White 1/4" Ribbon roughly 24" long
Double sided sticky tape
Ruler
Exacto Knife
Scissors
Invitation Envelopes


~To start, cut the White card stock in half making two 8 1/2" x5 1/2" pieces. Take one of those pieces and it will be the base for your card. fold in half to make a standard greeting card.

~Using Paper Cutter cut a piece of red card stock into a 5" x 3 3/4" piece and use craft punch all around the edge to create a border to weave ribbon.

~Weave ribbon in and out of border starting at the top center and leaving roughly 3" to make bow. Continue weaving until you reach the top center again, and finish off with bow. Cut off excess of ribbon and ribbon ends so that they look nice.

~Glue ribbon weaved background onto card front.

~Cut photo to desired 3" x 4" selection and use double sided sticky tape to attach in the center of the ribbon weaved card stock.

~Finish the card off with a 3" x 4 1/4" frame with a center cut to 2 1/4" x 3 1/2" out of the glittery card stock. (To cut Frame measure out center and cut with exacto knife)

Finished card will look like the red bordered one above. I also made an alternate one using glittery card stock for the background and the red for the border. I changed the color of the ribbon to contrast the border as well.

Heart Shaped Pizza

So in the spirit of Valentine's Day which is coming this weekend, Food Places all around have decided to make love themed items. One such item, came home with Nick last night for dinner because I forgot to take chicken out for wheaties chicken, which we will now have tonight. Apparently one of our favorite pizzerias, that we love for their oven broiled wings, makes pizzas in the shape of a heart. Nick got one, and it was quite adorable. So now I have decided that I have to find something to make for dinner on Valentine's Day that I can make into heart shapes. The morning will be easy, as I can make heart shaped pancakes that I dye red, and cover with strawberries and whipped cream. The dinner is another story, as I really don't know any meals that come in heart shapes. I am trying to think creative, and was even thinking that I could make a heart shaped meatloaf, since that is Nick's favorite meal, but I am still not sure what I can pull off.

I guess we will see as the week goes on, but regardless, I will do something new and different for the day. I absolutely love Valentine's Day, and have since I was a little kid. It is one of the best Hallmark Holidays that I know of, but I think that the meaning goes way beyond the gifts. In fact, this year I am letting Nick get his own gift, a copy of Season 2 of the West Wing, even though it is something that I would never get him on my own. It is something that we would have gotten regardless, and it is just nice to have a bigger reason to get it other than, he wants it.

I am still hoping that he will surprise me with Brad, the Tiger kitty for the Humane Society, not because I want a gift, but because there is no better gift that giving something else love for the rest of it's life. And since we will probably never have kids at the rate we are going, I would love it to be a cat, or puppy. We have learned that the puppy would not be a good choice with my hopes of getting a new job, sadly though none of the jobs are panning out and I am going crazy at home. The apartment has never been cleaner, but I still love the life I am living!

It all Comes Crashing Down.

So all of my great hopes for the jobs that I applied for came crashing down. Not only that, but my hopes for getting my permit any time soon went out the window as well. Apparently because I don't have my license I am not a good candidate for any job in CNY. The worst part about it all is that that is one of the main questions and if you leave it blank they ask questions. I hate it. I hate not being able to drive and I hate not even having a permit. It's really beginning to piss me off. The worst part is that Nick can't really take time off just for an hour to two for me to get my permit on a weekday, and weekends, the DMVs are closed on weekends. Honestly, that just pisses me off because when during the school year would a kid be able to go to the DMV other than on a weekend? So now I have to wait till Nick takes a day off, or till my mother decides that it is time for my little brother to go get his during a weekday so that I can get it over with. It is just a stupid 10 question test, can't I take it online!?!? On top of that, I have to shell out big dollars for the 5 hour course which I have already taken 4 or 5 times in the past and have definitely possibly memorized.

To add insult to injury, the one job that I thought would be the most promising just sent me a letter in the mail telling me that my interview was not all that promising like I thought it was. So now I am back to square one, and still waiting to hear from Michael's which I thought would have called either way by now, but possibly my background check has gone awry? Dunno, maybe there was a mistake and now I share a social security number with a convict or something!

Family

So you don't know, but I will tell you that I am finally netflixing and catching up with Jon and Kate Plus 8. I started watching some of the episodes last year while I was living with Nick's family and ended up stopping right after season 2 because we were moving and I didn't want to get episodes that I would not be able to watch during the day, and not want to watch at night. (If you know me it is understandable, I have to have suitable movies for Nick and me both to watch at night or it is just "not fair") So I started back up where I left off, and let me tell you had I not know that there was a medis frenzy over child exploitation or whatnot I would have thought that they were the cutest little family, and that I reminded myself of Kate. (Oh, God did I just say that!?!) I know I am high-strung, a touch OCD when it comes to how things look and how clean things are, and possibly a little naggy towards Nick. It's a side of me however, that I probably would have issues having filmed and out there for people to see. (Note: I never hit Nick like she hits Jon, that is not a love tap, that is a "you pissed me off, so there!" slap)

Anyway, the kids are ADORABLE!! I am probably the last person on the earth who figured this out. At the point I am at in episodes they have not yet turned 4, but are close to it, and already the father seems a little disconnected, and snarky towards his wife. There are times that I want to slap Jon and tell him "Hello!!" like his wife does, and tell him that at a moments notice, all of those moments are going to be gone, so he better soak them up. Mind you though, I am not a parent so I don't know how stressful this stuff is, however I did take care of three kids that were not mine for almost a year, and that was cake. So, at this point the father is a tad bit disconnected from his family, and most of all his wife, and it is troubling to me. I don't see how that could happen, but I guess people have their turmoil and they find a way to get through it, in their case divorce, poor kids!

So back to how g-darn adorable these kids are. They talk to the cameras which I believe follow them around year round, and they go on these little outings and act too cute for words, throwing fits here and there and being oh so loud! They somehow find a way to remind you in EVERY episode how charming they are, yet reason with you with their tempers on how they can be a handful, or 6 handfuls. I have grown to love and loath them, mostly love, with the loathing saved for the second oldest and rather troubled daughter Mady. I think by now I would have strangled her. Thank God I am not her mother!! At one point in a past episode she was being quite a terrible child and hitting her siblings left and right saying that it was an accident when it was clearly not, and after a couple times getting in trouble she was talking to her mother about accidents and asked a question similar to this "If I take out my pencil and poke someone "accidentally" is it still an accident?" Um HELLO!!! (Kate's voice can be used here) that kid needed an attitude change! She ends up learning through watching the show how horrible she had been, and it was cool for her to learn not to hit, but her way of fixing it was hitting the kid, seeing the camera, and thinking 'oh no!' and going back and saying sorry. Which I guess instills a sense of right and wrong, but in a way only because the cameras are there.

I think now that the kids are five or six, the cameras should be shut off on their lives, it was cute while they were young and the family really did need the help, but it is scary to see the changes, especially in the older ones. I think all of the things that happen are possibly staged, and if that is the case, it really sucks. I think that there should be social outings and game nights and things where the family does things together, and where they do things apart. I don't think that divorce should have been an option. I don't think that it is right to leave a situation like that in any sense and leaving is like abandoning your young. It's a sad situation and I thought I should reflect on it today as I am thinking about convincing Nick to get a cat. Yes I want a little one around, but no, I do not want a rolly-poly-shit machine. I want to start a little family lol but with animals rather than humans! So attached you will see Brad, my hopeful adoptee, and the pic of the cute little family. How hard it must be to get a good picture of them! I have a hard enough time with the six in my family at Christmas!

LOST

So the final season is upon us, and already I am confused at the plot of the season, and unamused by the lack of clarity to what the heck is going on. If you have not watched it to this point, don't worry, there won't be any spoilers, all I can really say about it is "Thanks Lost Writers, now the viewers are Lost too!" Thankfully though I have things on my mind other than Lost, to think about, like the crazy wedding planning I have been doing, and can distract myself a couple minutes each day.

Yesterday, I went to the local library to visit my mother. She had a book reserved for me on the art of cookie decorating. I took it home and flipped through it a bit as I cooked up the spinach dip, and saw that a lot of the cookies are really easy to make, just time consuming if you are like me and want to make over 100 for a wedding reception. I think I have come to the conclusion that I am making my own cookies and I will bake them a month before the wedding, and freeze them. Apparently upon thawing they will still taste great, and that is really all I can hope for. Nick's crazy idea was to make them the day before, and I almost laughed in his face. That would be crazy, not to mention really stupid.

We have however decided on the second favor. We are going to buy miniature wine bottles and corks, and have my grandfather make us bottles of wine. He once said something about sending the wine and bottles to a bottling plant for relatively cheap, and I happen to love his wine so we sort of have our minds made up with that. Good thing about the bottling place is that they will be professionally sealed but I can make my own labels, I like the idea of sticking with my theme so I think that that would be the best idea. I am thinking that I will go with Black Raspberry Merlot which so far is my favorite, and that way I can get a lot of favors out of the way, and only be baking roughly 75 cookies before the wedding. That is of course if our guest list doesn't keep shrinking, which somehow it is. Nick is cutting out people left and right that he doesn't want there, and somehow the people he is cutting do not really effect me. It's a cost savings thing, and I am all for it if it knocks the number of favors down!