Name Tag Tutorial

Oh boy!!  My first tutorial! 

So for Gifted Institute we have to make name tags for all of our camper's doors and I was inspired to make these puppies for my girls!!  So here we go. . if I left something out feel free to write it in the comments and I will fix it lickity split.

First off. . . materials
Tulle*
scissors
needle/thread
paper
letters
glue

*I bought a little over a yard to make 13 name tags and I had enough leftover to make +3 more.

Start off by cutting the tulle into long strips.  mine were 3in wide and the length depended on the size of the name.  But a general rule is a little more than an arms length.  After that, tie loose knots to separate the little flags. ( Make one knot for every letter in the name plus one more).

Next, you are going to cut out little flags (triangles) to put all your letters on.  I made a template and traced it on all the paper I wanted to use.  My flags were 3in long x 3.5 in tall, and I found those were just perfect!

Woohoo!  Halfway there!  Next you'll glue your letters onto the flags, I just used a glue stick because I will only need these for a week, but if you want these to last a little longer I would use modpodge or something similar.  You can use stickers or letter from a cricut, which is what I used since I needed to make so many.

Now for the fun part.  I really didn't know how I would go about connecting my pieces together, and finally I decided to use a needle and thread.  But I suppose you could use some strong double sided tape or hot glue.. . whatever you feel most comfortable doing!  (I only did two little tacks on each side of the flag)

Tada!  You name yourself a name tag to hang on a door or a wall or where ever you want to put it!

I plan on doing a whole bunch more of these fun tutorials from my adventures in crafting. . so stay tuned :)

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere

GAH!

I have so much to tell you!  And by “you” I mean anyone who reads this little wee blog of mine.

For a while I didn’t think that anything in my life was blog worthy *hang head in shame* but but but now I feel like there are things worth blogging in my life.  Now, stay with me, it’s gonna get a little crazy!

I have been watching WAY too much Netflix since Jess and I put it on our Wii, and one of the shows I have watch constantly is Hoarders. Today I saw a few too many similarities between me and those on the television; I spent the next 4 hours cleaning and purging my belongs, and I must say I really keep a whole bunch of unnecessary clutter with the mentality I may one day need it.  In the end I got rid of enough junk to fill the trunk of my car (both trash and donations).  And as always, about halfway through my project I realized I should have taken before and after pictures. . .oh well, you’re just going to have to take my word that the change was significant.  Now on to other business.

As summer quickly draws to a close I am confronted with the fact that there are many things on my summer bucket I have yet to complete.  Some things are simple, like buy the movie Peter Pan.  Others are bigger commitments, like going to the ghost town or visiting friends in Laurel.  But what can you do? With only a few weeks left of my summer, I’ll do what I can and fit the rest in during the school year.  :)  

Okapis. . . have you heard of them?  They look like a mix between a giraffe and a zebra (how that happened I don’t even want to know) but I find them unpleasing to the eye.  Okapis look like someone cut and pasted different parts numerous animals together.  Nonetheless, well, I don’t know where I was going with my rant about okapis, but there it is.  And a picture, behold an okapi.  

Oh boy, I am dreading Thursday and I can’t wait for it to come!  On the up side, LIZ is coming to visit before Gifted Institute, and on the flip side, we both take the Praxis II.  Once we are finished with our test, it’s off to the fair for the both of us to get in some quality grownup girl bonding time!!  Those of you who don’t know. . . Liz is one of my very best friends and I have missed her terribly these past few weeks.  Going from living with someone and having almost every class together to not seeing them at all was tough! I’m pretty sure I was having withdrawals when she first left.  Do you have friends like that?  Oh, I hope you do, because I think best friends are marvelous.

So. . .That’s pretty much it, were you expecting some bigger news?  If so, I’m sorry to disappoint but my life isn’t all that thrilling at the moment.  But really, that’s okay.  Things will happen when they are supposed to, even if I feel the constant need to rearrange the timeline of my life :)

p.s.  Choose to shine

With an Attitude of Gratitude

There’s nothing like Independence Day to remind you that we have so much to be thankful for.  Not only do we live in a remarkable country chalk full of opportunities, but we are FREE.  Free to practice our beliefs and express our opinions, an indulgence many around the world do not have.  I was also filled with gratitude yesterday while spending time with an amazing group of people I am privileged to call friends.

  I spent the first part of the 4^th with my roommate and her boyfriend having breakfast for lunch and eating a scrumptious fruit pizza that I was inspired to make at 1a.m., and the rest of the day was spent at Hauser Lake with another wonderful group of individuals. We had a marvelous time eating way too much food, riding the Jet Ski and I got to drive the boat!!  It was an extremely liberating experience to not have to stay in one lane or use a turn signal, but do not fear, I was the epitome of caution.

                                See. . . it DOES look scrumptious doesn’t it?  

I am grateful for friends and family not only here, but all over that bring such joy and excitement to my life.  I am grateful for my jobs and the opportunities I have been given that brought me to this very moment.  And now I’m now asking you, what gives you an attitude of gratitude?  

My Stint with Chili’s

Many of you may know that I took a job at Chili’s Grill and Bar the beginning of May, and I was super excited about it.  I never really had much experience with the food service industry so I was looking forward to getting some new skills under my belt. I felt very confident this job would be a great fit for me, I love working with people and I think I am a pretty talented multitasker.  Training alone took two weeks but after that I was a server.  I must add that I admire all those in the food service industry, they have multitasking down to a science.  I felt so overwhelmed my first night by myself, but all of my coworkers were incredibly helpful and got me through it (: .   But every day I still dreaded going into work, and I mean dreaded.  The anxiety would start to build and I would start daydreaming of excuses I could use to get out of work (Of course I never did use them because I would have felt so incredibly guilty my stomach would have eaten itself).  I also had these crazy recurring dreams about Chilis, I’m talking 4 or more a week.  I dreamt that I mixed up orders or came in wearing the wrong clothing.  I began to wonder  maybe this job wasn’t for me.

I decided that before I resigned, I needed to have another job lined up, so I set up a profile on Care.com, but none of the jobs would fit my existing schedule.  It just so happened that last week Connie posted a tutoring job outside her office and I just thought “this is it, this is my sign, my indication to go to another job”.  So blah blah blah, Thursday came and I turned in my letter of resignation to Chilis, and what a peace I felt!!  It was an incredible feeling, although that feeling quickly faded when I called and discovered that there was no need for a tutor anymore because the family had decided to go with a different organization.  

Well, nuts.

Now what was I supposed to do?

Oh me of little faith.

Moments later, I get an email on my phone, it’s from Care.com! Mrs. K. has found me and asked me to call her; she was interested in hiring me to watch her two little girls. HALLELUIA!  So I met with the K family on Friday and we really hit it off!  I am beyond excited that this opportunity came about, it is going to be such great practice and will keep me on my toes.  Now, even though I no longer work at Chilis, I am still so grateful for the opportunities I had there. I met so many wonderful people and learned so much.  But I am even more grateful that this job came at a time in my life when I didn’t need its income to survive.  I already had the Admission office job and really, that would have been enough to get me through the summer if I hadn’t found the nanny job.  I really don’t give God enough credit, but I’m working hard to change that.  I heard on the radio the other day that events that seem to happen just in the nick of time are right on schedule for Him.  They aren’t early nor late, they happen exactly when He planned, so from now on I plan to worry less and trust more, because timing is everything (:

A Happy Coincidence

On Monday at work, we were taking pictures of the summer workers for the bulletin board outside the Admission office.  While we were outside we ran into Kenton (the photographer that takes all of our view book/mailing/promotional stuff).  He was back on campus to photograph students outside because when they were here in April, Carroll’s campus looked less than spectacular in many shades of brown.  So we got to spend the next hour frolicking in the fountain and having a marvelous time!  Now, these are pictures Steph took of the event, but hopefully soon I can get my hands on some of the professional ones, because they looked absolutely splendid.  And one the pictures I am really hoping to get is one with my dear friend Paul, because he so graciously allowed us to tackle him and drop him, gently, into the fountain.  He was such a good sport about it and we were all so thankful he happened to be walking around the corner.

And today will be filled with even more excitement!  Kenton will be back so we all threw together a BBQ in the back of St. Charles and after lunch we are going to go ice blocking down Guad hill!  **Side note**  I have wanted to go ice blocking for the past three years I have been at Carroll, but as luck would have it I just haven’t gone yet.  But today is the day!!  I am looking forward to the rest of today with anticipation of new adventures and a whole lot of laughs.  So . . . 

It was a happy coincidence that we were outside taking pictures when Kenton arrived on campus.

It was a happy coincidence when Paul walked around the corner right when we needed a boy to toss into the water.

And best of all, it was a happy coincidence that this April was particularly drab colored month.