Bathroom Update.

You may remember my personal success story bathroom redo post a while back. And you may remember the lack of door on our vanity at the time. What you didn't notice? You're blind.

I did finally find the door I bought at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, but discovered it's too big. And I'm not a carpenter, so I don't have the skillz to trim it to fit. Until the perfect door shows up on our front porch magically, I decided to go buy fabric. It only took me over a month to temporarily solve this problem. Don't judge.

The Problem: Gaping hole in vanity, exposed trash can and pipes, ugliness.

Solution: Anything but a hole.

I ran to Wally and bought a yard of $1 fabric. Because I'm cheap. Busted out my staple gun (uh, yea!) and scissors.

I don't love rules or measuring, so I did this all by eye balling it. Later I realized I should have measured, but whatev.

I cut off a section of the fabric that looked right and started stapling the top to the backside of the vanity. No real science, but I did "gather" the fabric so it had a flowing affect instead of straight across.

When I got to the other side, I cut it off (again, just eye balled it).

My ever-so-calculated estimates left me with too much fabric hanging, so I [notice a theme here?] eye balled the bottom as to where it needed cut. This is where I faltered. 

My left side ended up a little shorter than the right, but it worked out. I needed to leave part of it open so we can remove the trash can (duh!) so I only stapled to high hell secured the bottom right section of fabric.

And that's it. I can no longer see my trash or pipes or room spray when I walk in the bathroom. What do you think? Totally hillbilly?

I sort of think so, too. 

Fall Wreath.

When I have a lot on my mind, I need to make myself busy. I've had about 10 crafts in the works either literally (unfinished) or in my head still as an idea. Last night was one of those nights I needed to DO SOMETHING to keep my mind occupied, and a good time to complete a wreath I've been thinking about since, well, last Fall.

Until now, I've had the same Fall wreath for about 10 years. I bought it at Pier 1 and it was one of the first things I purchased when I got a job there in college. It was adorable and had a little scarecrow sitting on a bunch of twigs wrapped in a circle. He's been through a handful of moves and every year I bust him out of the bin to discover he's missing another piece. One year, he lost a patch on his pants, the next his nose was gone, then one year I couldn't find the button that was his eye. Yes, he's a scarecrow and missing pieces is "charming" but after a while, a faceless, patch-less scarecrow is just a male doll sitting on a wreath. Creepy.

So this year I combined my need for a new wreath with my stress and frustration, plus some cheap craft supplies and about 20 minutes of free time.

 And I like it.

All I used was:
• A Fall floral bundle from Michael's
• Wired edge ribbon
• A foam insulator tube thing (probably not what it's really called)
• Duct tape.
(Please ignore my stained ironing board. ugh.)

I first duct taped the foam insulator tube thing's ends together to form a circle.

It's way cheaper (50 cents for the foam insulator tube thing plus duct tape) to do this instead of buying the foam rings at a craft store for $10+ so the choice was obvious.

Next I wrapped the tube with the wire ribbon. I used no glue or pins for this because the wire ribbon has wires on the edges. I poked them into the foam insulator tube thing to secure, then covered it up and kept wrapping.

Then I made a simple tie to finish it off. Again the wiring is nice and helps it stay in place. 

I started clipping stems from the fall floral bundle and tucking them into the wraps of the ribbon.

Again, no glue, because the ribbon was tightly wrapped so it made for a snug fit.

I kept tucking stems until I liked what I saw. And I like what I see now. This took barely any time, and it'll do until I get a better scarecrow wreath next year.

Happy Fall!

Swim with friends.

I think we can all agree: Cancer sucks. 

It's more than devastating for an adult who is told they have cancer, but consider the weight of that news when placed on a child. 

Did you know that approximately 12,000 cases 

of pediatric cancer will be diagnosed this year?

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and Aflac is geared up to fight pediatric cancer with the "Swim With Friends" initiative....and you, my fine readers, can help!

In an effort to maintain the theme of this blog of trying new things. I'd like to challenge you to try this. Try imagining what it would be like to tell your child he/she has cancer. 

Now, try putting yourself in his/her shoes and imagine how confusing it would be to hear this. 

I encourage you to do something today. Something that can make a difference. Something that goes beyond ourselves and helps cure a disease that we are all affected by at some point in our lives. 

This initiative is rather fun. And it's super simple to join. Here is how to get involved:

1. DONATE: When you make a donation of $12, you’ll receive a rubber duck and entry into the Swim with Friends virtual race. Each donor has a chance to win a family-friendly vacation for four to Orlando! Also, your $12 donation is matched by Aflac and all proceeds go directly to pediatric cancer research.

2. RACE: A Swim with Friends virtual duck race will be held on Facebook on October 9th at http://www.facebook.com/aflacduck. The owner of the winning rubber duck (which will be chosen at random) will win the family vacation for four! Swim with Friends and donate to get your rubber duck today at www.aflac.com/friends.

3. TWEET: If you're a tweeter or twitter or twit-master (obvi I'm not) you can also help by sharing tweets with the hashtag #AflackKids - each tweet will generate a $2 donation from Aflac directly to pediatric cancer research. Go go tweet to your heart's content!

For more information about Aflac’s support to fight pediatric cancer click here. Click on the "Dive In" link below to get started. 

Website: www.aflac.com/friends
Hashtag: #AflacKids
Twitter: @AflacDuck
Facebook: facebook.com/AflacDuck

Please be a part of this great cause and help us fight childhood cancer. 

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post for Aflac/SheSpeaks. Any opinions expressed are my own.

Football dip.

My husband and I (by association) are huge Bears and Purdue fans. If that makes you stop reading right now, I didn't like you in the first place. (I kid, I kid)

[and we all know, in every joke is a bit of truth....]

Regardless of your favorite team, I have a fun dip/piece of true artwork for you to make on game day. I made this for Super Bowl this past year, but completely forgot to post about it. Now is the perfect time, though. Football season is here. Yay!

All you need:
• Guacamole - which I make myself with 2 avocados and a mix packet
• Salsa - this I buy in a jar, though you could so totally make your own
• Cheese dip - ditto to the above
• Sour Cream - good luck making your own of that
• Cherry tomatoes

It's really very simple.

1. Fill the middle "half" with guacamole

2. Fill one side with cheese.

3. Fill other side with salsa.

4. This is where it might get a LITTLE tricky if you're new to "piping" with a sandwich bag. Place the sour cream in a sandwich bag, twist extra bag at top to close. Clip just the bottom corner off and push sour cream through. You're essentially creating a piping bag out of the sandwich bag. (this technique can be used on cakes, cupcakes, anything really) Proceed to piping end zones and yard lines. 

Don't be too worried if you don't have exactly 100 yards or, in my case, your yellow end zone is crooked. Nobody will notice after they start munching :) 

5. Place tomatoes on the field (this are supposed to look like footballs). I realize that in a typical game of football, there is only one football on the field at one time, but this is food. Not football. Relax.

6. Place on a larger platter, surround with chips and enjoy!

At our house, we love all things that chips are dipped into. So this was a hit! 

BOILER UP! BEAR DOWN!!