Thursday, September 20, 2012

Well then,

I just started my first full week of evening classes (right after work) and it's what I expected. I get home and have enough time to breath and get organised for the next day. Lists to help with my organisation will be my best friend until December 10th when I finish the course. So here is a lazy post to keep things going.
AAAAAaaaaaaand I just burnt my tongue while waiting for this picture to upload. That is the wife and I having a coffee before our flight over to Victoria for her sister's bachelorette. Then a quick shot of me reading Joel Stein's new book (had to tweet it to him and he got back to me, still a little starstruck). And finally downtown Victoria was closed off and it was a pedestrian madhouse party with lots of chalk and artwork.
I got to hangout with little Miss Myra for a bit and then it was party time. Lots of events, food and drink to keep us going all night, I didn't go to bed until 4 am and I have no idea how I've survived this week. The bride to be ended up hungover and tired from the drinks and volleyball and still had a smile on her face, job well done!
This is me today, trying to fit in some studying so I can catch up but this mini bottle of orange nail polish is really distracting me. Must keep control until I watch a movie tomorrow night! Also, I've come up with a new project for ladies only, I'm really hoping I'll have an hour to make it this weekend.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Bridesmaid dress done!

I've finished altering my bridesmaid dress!  I just have to finish up the inside stuff that no one will see, a few loose threads, etc. I have to send out a thank you to Suzannah from Adventures in Dressmaking.  Her posts have taught me how to get back on the sewing machine and to just fix the clothes you already have.  Here is the original post and here is the dress in it's original form :
While working on it, I couldn't see the changes that I made, but now looking back at the pictures it was like a tent on my body!  And here it is now.  I got my friend to take a quick picture before we ran off for more accessories, sorry for the bad lighting:
I shortened the dress by 2.5 inches and I brought in the 3 seams that it has.  It also has a side slit that will be lengthened a tiny bit more, time to show off the gams!  And here is one last shot that was sent to the bride and the other bridesmaids - my strike a pose.  I wasn't planning on posting it here but it has better lighting and really shows how cute the dress turned out! (mind the loose threads)
The wedding is less than a month away, no traditional (Canadian) Thanksgiving for me this year, but it's so exciting now that it's all coming together. 

Tonight is back to school for me, it's been a couple of years since I've taken a course and it's time to upgrade.  In 3 months I'll be ready to work administration in dental offices.  No more ordinary administration jobs for me, and no more competing with thousands of other girls with the same skills.  The next 3 months will have very few crafts, oh so sad, but I'll still have the rest of the winter months to get my fill of knitting and sewing!  So I'll be around, just not as much, as I also have to find a bit of time for a handsome guy I've been dating - who will also be super busy with his 3 month intense course.  He's lucky he's handsome, considerate and polite, or I'd be a goner ;-)


Friday, September 7, 2012

Air Fresheners

I love essential oils and I usually put them in those special candle holders with water. It's great, but the intense smell does go away. I've been scouring the thrift shops lately for the perfect oil burner and after going through a few (thankfully they are only $3 when used as apposed to $18 brand new) you end up realising how poor the designs are. I'm currently cleaning up oily water that has splattered on my desk *grumble*. While reading through Free People's site I saw that they had a DIY air freshener and I decided to give it a try! This way I get the long and softer, lingering effect of the oils without the constant watch over the candle, water level and little bits of splattered oil.
I grabbed my essential oils, some glass jars from the dollar store, baking soda and a glue stick. I used Lavender for under my bed to help me relax during my sleep and peppermint for my closet.
The jars are a bit smaller so I pretty much filled them up with baking soda and poured 10-12 drops of oil on top. I just shook the baking soda around a tiny bit to cover the oil and made sure that most of the oil stayed on the top. This way, when the oils lose their power I will just remove the top part of the baking soda and dispose of it, stir the remaining powder to freshen it up and then add more drops. I kept the safety seal that was included with the jars and punched holes in it with the pencil.  I then glued the safety seal to the top of  the jars.

And there are my air fresheners!  I didn't bother making them too fancy and cute as they won't really be seen.  I made these last week and wanted to test them before posting about them and while looking for something in my closet last night I did get a light lingering peppermint smell, SUCCESS!  I ended up realising that the glue to hold the seals down did nothing and that the holes were much too small, so I cut them larger to be the size of a pencil and I just used an elastic to keep the seal on (for the time being).  I live in an older, wood home that has it's old, wood home smell and I've been trying to figure out how to help keep it fresh during the winter months and I'm sure this will help.