By My Own Self

Stephen is pretty much the handyman DIY-er around here. He has handymanned the bathroom, the air conditioning, the living room floors, the bedroom floors, and done a whole lot of painting, besides. And I haven't even mentioned the ladder that he built in like 8 minutes yesterday out of some 2x4's.

I am also a little bit of a DIY-er. I have made a garden, a skirt, a love story sign....uh, one time I made this needlepoint thing in Young Women's....I went through a big latch-hook phase in middle school....plus I also make dinner almost e'er night.

And last week, I DIYed a jewelry hanger! Here's the final product:

Just hanging on the mirror for now...

I don't usually blog about my DIY adventures, but Daily Tay blogged about her's, and she said that if I blog about mine, I will be entered to win a $100 Visa gift card! So, motivated.

Here's how I DImyself:

Step 1. Find a cute picture frame. I got mine at a fundraiser carnival for Alex Homer, this absolutely adorable little boy who is going to be in my class next year. They had a boutique set up at the carnival and I felt like I was walking through a real live Etsy. I bought my picture frame already painted black, already distressed on the edges, and already hanging on the ribbon. But you could really get any thick picture frame that you like, and then you're of course welcome to paint it and distress the edges and whatever else you want to do.

Step 2. Get cup hooks. I got mine from Home Depot, here. I got the nickel-plated ones, but they also have them in white and gold. These are super-easy to work with on one condition: your picture frame has to be pretty thick. Otherwise, when you screw in the cup hooks, the wood will bump up and pucker and bulge and splinter.

Step 3. Screw in the cup hooks. I've seen a bunch of these on Pinterest where people put their's on the bottom of the frame, too. I chose to put mine on the inside of the top.

As you can see, I didn't quite screw my hooks in all the way. 

Step 4. Hang up all your jewelry and rejoice because it doesn't need to sit in a clump in the spare bedroom anymore!

I put like 3-4 necklaces on each hook, and so far, I have not had any problems. They've held up great! 

By the way, does anyone have a great idea for what I can use an old window for? It has 3 rectangular sections and I just know I could make it into something awesome!

Winner, Winner

Last week, Mama Shimp came to town! And right after she left, all my children's parents came to school for Round #2 this year of parent-teacher conferences. Since these events happened so close together, it made me realize that parents, if not entirely the same, are very similar. 

"Parents," I have discovered, is really just a euphemism for two things:

1. Food. We eat like kings whenever either Stephen's or my parents come to town! And now, my other parents have jumped on the bandwagon. They fed me two dinners and one breakfast, as well as a host of desserts. I had lasagna, rolls, caesar salad, Cafe Rio, cookies, and cupcakes from the Sweet Tooth Fairy, and that was pretty much heaven for me. 

2. Beautification. My house, two weeks ago, had nothing hanging on the walls and minimal decorations. That all changed when Stephen's mom and her big time interior design sister from Portland got inside! Similarly, when parents come to volunteer in my classroom, they almost always leave it cleaner / prettier / better than they found it. I love it. 

On a side note, now that these two things are over, I now have a little more time for blogging! Slash, catching up on The Bachelor. Oh, that ended 3 weeks ago? Well I never said I was perfect. 

Speaking of blogging, only two people two whole people entered my giveaway, so I guess both Kelly and Holly are the winners! I can't wait to make their recipes :) 

Shimps at Sea

The other day, I heard a story on the radio about a man who was at a restaurant with his family. He waited for 90 minutes for his food and decided to go find a server. After not finding a server anywhere around the restaurant, he went into the kitchen to start making his own food. He was kicked out shortly afterwards, but what can we learn from this story?

1. If you want something done, sometimes you have to do it yourself.

2. Men can cook.

3. Radio people are really nice, and

4. Stephen and I mightttt be jetting off to the sunny beaches of Florida soon!

*What, how did we learn that from this story?*

Well because. I heard that story when I was on the phone with Lexi and Banks when I was Caller #10 and I got to compete in their contest for a Spring Break playlist and vacation, and they maybe helped me win, and they entered me into the drawing for the grand prize, and on Monday, I will get a call and find out if we won!

So this is how I will be spending my weekend. 

Pin Me, I'm Dreaming

The first time I got on Pinterest, I felt overwhelmed. And confused. And sensorily overloaded. But that was in February 2012, and I have since learned how to navigate this world a little bit better, to the point that I love it and have an app for it and I consult it for almost every recipe I ever make and every decoration I've ever dreamed of making and I can't imagine life without it.

That being said, I am still a little bit Pinterest-stupid. As in, I don't know how to find people that I know and follow them....and I want to! I know if I was following the people that I know and love in real life, my Pinterest feed would be cooler and funnier and yummier. Right now it's very pretty, but I just think there must be more to this provincial life.

SO I thought I would do a little mini-giveaway :) Have you ever pinned a recipe that looks amazing but then you never got around to making it? I would like to make it for you! Leave a comment on this blogpost with your Pinterest....ID? I don't know. Some link to your page that will let me follow you - and the recipe that you want me to make for you.

I'll choose a winner from the comments! And I'll make your chosen recipe just for you.

Other rules:

1. You can still win if I'm already following you.
2. You can win if you don't live in Utah, but only if I know that I'll see you sometime in the next year and I can make your recipe for you.
3. Even if you don't have a recipe you want me to make, or if you're not in Utah, I still want to follow you! So feel free to just leave your Pinterest address in a comment.
3. You have 3 weeks to enter the giveaway! I will choose the winner on Tuesday, March 25. So get entering / pinning!