Stairway to 5K... An Awful Lot of Running To Do!

Tote Bag

I'm back!  I know... it's been awhile.  Not an intentional blog break, but this school year so far has been insane interesting.  One starting middle school and one in the all important junior year... soccer, tumbling, swimming and basketball, dance, play rehearsals, girl scouts, back to school nights, PTA volunteering, substitute teaching, pep squad, football games, and this week there is homecoming hoopla.  C.R.A.Z.Y.  But, mostly fun crazy, and I haven't just been running kids around... 

Some of you OA old timers may remember the posts Run Kelly Run, Confession Friday and T.G.I.F. when I discussed my quest to complete the Couch to 5k running program.  And I am happy to report that in the midst of all this CHAOS, I am ONE... yep, ONE run away from graduation!   I have even managed a few outdoor runs, no small feat considering we are STILL hitting 98 degree highs on a regular basis.

Hand Stamped Cuff Bracelet

Some weeks I run once, some weeks 3 times, and some weeks not at all... but I have persevered and pushed through no matter HOW miserable... and let me say, some days are MISERABLE.  Today, towards the end of my run, my Pandora radio was playing "Stairway to Heaven", which depending on your age you may or may not remember is the longest freaking song in the history of the world and the song we always knew to request last at every school dance... and today I was PRAYING for that stupid song to hurry up and get up that stairway as I'm sure our chaperones were 30 years ago.  

Yeah, I pretty much still hate to run... and I am definitely NO speed demon.  But I look forward to celebrating my graduation with you, and I'm even maybe considering moving on to the Couch to 10K.  If that's the case, I'm thinking I need to find a new Pandora station...

Folk Art Painting

Make It Monday: Glitter Candles

Really, what's not to love about glitter?  And this is one quick and E.A.S.Y. glitter project.  Seriously, the most craft challenged of you could do this in between surfing Pinterest loading your dishwasher and facebooking folding laundry.  Here's what I started with...

Taper candles that were 79 cents at Hobby Lobby, glitter in coordinating colors, and Elmer's Spray Adhesive.  ANY kind of candles would work, pillars, taper, votive... you probably have some laying in a drawer.  I wanted these particular colors, so I bought them new, but I do have PLENTY barely burned I could have used in other colors.

Pour a nice line of glitter in the bottom edge of a cake pan.  Lay the candles out and spray with the glue (one a time so the adhesive doesn't dry too fast)... best to do on wax or parchment paper, but I was out so I just used foil.  Once you have them covered with a light coating of the adhesive, just roll the candle in the glitter.  Press it down a bit so the glitter gets good and stuck, and then lay out to dry overnight.

I suppose you can guess I was doing some Halloween decorating... these add some great spooky sparkle to my living room and dining room!  I plan to try to some different colors for Thanksgiving and Christmas, because they really do look so freaking pretty!

Happy 17th Birthday Bubby!

                                                    

Pretty adorable, isn't he?

DIY: Trick or TULLE? Haunted Halloween Wreath...

It is still Africa hot here but I am willing fall to grace us with her cool presence by gettin' my Halloween crafting on.  I lucked upon two of those straw wreath forms at our local thrift store... brand new and only $1 each so I went hunting for some inspiration.  After finding a couple of cute ideas on my new obsession, Pinterest, I set to work making my own version of a Haunted Halloween Wreath... 

Here's what I started with...

As I mentioned, the wreath was a buck, but  they are not much more than that at your local craft store.  The tulle rolls and ribbon were half off at Hobby Lobby, making them $2.00.  The dark orange is glitter tulle, so there were fewer yards on the roll.  The pair of packaged pre-made wood words were 99 cents.

Leave the plastic wrap on the wreath and you won't be picking straw out of your carpet until the trick-or-treaters show up... 

After a bit of trial and error, I determined I needed to cut the tulle in lengths about 18 inches long.  You don't need to get too technical, varying lengths just make it look more  full and festive.  Double your cut piece of tulle, loop it around the wreath and pull tight (as you see demonstrated here by Vanna Dear Daughter)...

Work your way around... I decided to intersperse the orange in no particular pattern.  It did take an entire roll of the black tulle PLUS the end of a leftover roll I had stashed in the craft closet.  Once you finish the tulle, add some chachkes to give it some pizazz... I chose these pre-made wooden words, and just attached them with my VERY FAVORITE Gel Super Glue...

Finally, I tied a bow to the top to hang it... and since I know my faithful readers are an observant bunch, I'm sure you will notice it is NOT the ribbon in the BEFORE photo... I LOVE that beautiful ribbon, but it just looked too fancy schmancy on this wreath so I scrounged a scrap piece of polka dot ribbon from the closet and will be saving the pretty stuff for a future project.  

Here's the final result...

Are you scared??? 

Semi Wordless Wednesday... Texas Our Texas

Bastrop State Park

Bastrop, Texas

Bastrop, Texas

Magnolia, Texas

Magnolia, Texas

Leander, Texas

Austin, Texas

These wildfires are still raging... 38,000 acres and over 600 homes in Bastrop County alone have burned to the ground and the fires are still uncontained.

YOU CAN HELP... Donate to the American Red Cross of Central Texas and pray for the families and firefighters battling this on-going and catastrophic event.

We need rain, and we need these fires to STOP.

Movie Monday...

It's that time again!  Being back on the hamster wheel the school schedule hasn't left much time for movies,  but we're hanging with the in-laws this weekend and it's a tradition for the women folk to ditch the kids with the daddy's and catch a chick flick.  Even better... we decided to hit Austin's uber cool SoCo district for a little window shopping before the movie.  The people watching alone is worth the trip... in case you are unfamiliar with Austin, here is it's unofficial motto...

Nuff said... LOVE me some Austin (Hook 'em!).  

Anyway, we started our browse through SoCo here...

Kendra Scott  jewelry is absolute eye candy... 

just not as cheap as candy.  HEAVY SIGH.

On down the road I was thrilled to finally visit 

I don't even know how to describe this place except to say that it's an antique mall on crack steroids.  WOWZA... some of the most bizarre junk treasures I have ever encountered... and all styled so beautifully that you might think nothing of plopping down $25 for a dirty, cracked mason jar.  AHEM.  

Almost forgot... the MOVIE!  Some of you may remember my book club, The Lit Wits, review of the "One Day" book.  Good book, but we weren't quite feeling Ann Hathaway being cast as Emma Morley for the movie version.   So, after our SoCo stroll, the SIL's and I headed off to check her out in

I will grudgingly admit she was better than I expected... I have nothing against Anne, she was just NOT Emma Morley.  She was cute and quirky, but her British accent came and went and came and went... really, there are plenty of excellent BRITISH actresses who could have played this part beautifully.  I loved Jim Sturgess as Dex... just cute enough but not so good looking as to be distracting.  He has the charming bad boy down, think early Hugh Grant.  

I thought they moved through a few years a bit too quickly, and there were a couple of plot points unnecessarily changed or left out... but overall, a very decent book adaptation.  Oh, and the big plot twist towards the end?  Just as shocking even though I knew it was coming... 

And not to be a downer... but our beloved Texas is on fire this weekend.  My BIL is a firefighter and thousands of people in the Bastrop and Austin areas are losing their homes as I type.  Prayers for their safety and for this to come to a quick end would be ever so appreciated...