Adventures in Crafting!!

So after Erin got me hooked on Pinterest, my mom and I have gotten really inspired to get crafty! There are SO many good ideas on there! I have made some awesome new hair accessories, and Mom has made me 3 awesome new dresses! (Pics of those later)
So today I would like to share my latest creations:

(Sorry for the terrible photo, my camera is about 5 years old - which is TOO old these days!)
I also wanted to share some instructions on how to make these, because they are REALLY easy!!
I'll work on adding pictures, I didn't think of it until after I was done!

For the Pinwheel Clips:

You will need: 

• two different, coordinating fabrics (you can also use just one, but two is more fun!)
• Scissors 
• Some type of adhesive - I used some Dry-Bond adhesive sheets that I got at a thrift store for 25 cents, which isn't the greatest for fabric, but it works okay.  Anything that will let you fuse your two fabrics together will work! 
• A bottle of Fray-Check (glue like stuff that keeps it from fraying) 
• Needle and Thread 
• Some type of hair clip - snap clip, alligator clip, thick bobby pin, whatever you have! 
• Embellishments - buttons, pearls, jewels, brads, whatever! 
• Hot glue gun and hot glue

Okay now for the how-to:

1. Cut out a square of each of your fabrics.  I used about 3" square pieces, I think. 
2. Fuse them together using the method of your choice.  If you're using Dry-Bond, place on square of fabric face up on the sticky sheet, and rub it until all of the adhesive transfers to the back of the fabric.  Place your other fabric face up on the sticky side of the fabric.  Rub them together until they are good and stuck! Then iron them lightly to get rid of any wrinkles.
3. Use the fray check along the edges to get rid of any frays.  I didn't have any fray-check, so that's why mine look a little shabbier than others I've made and posted on Facebook.  
4. From the CORNERS of the square, cut a straight line towards the middle.  Don't cut all the way to the center, but you can get kinda close. You should now have four foldable "triangles" attached at the center.
5. Decide which way you are going to fold the pinwheel.  Which way you fold depends on what you want your pinwheel to look like.  For example, for the seersucker pinwheel, I put the navy blue facing down and then folded in, so I had more seersucker showing.  
6. Next, fold the corners in, one by one, and sew to the center.  Make sure you pick the same corner on each triangle to fold in so you get the correct pinwheel shape. As you fold the corners in, they will overlap in the center and be sewn together.  
7. Hot glue your embellishment in the center of the pinwheel to cover up the threads.
8. Hot glue your hair pin to the back. 
9. Clip the pinwheel in your hair and get complimented!! 

The Flower hair clip is a little easier - No Sewing! And no fusing any fabric together.  Here's a picture of the materials you'll need: 

I used about 7 or 8 of the flower cut outs for mine.

Here's how I did it: 

1. Cut 8-10 squares of the fabric you want to use.  It should be either a solid or a fabric that has the print on both sides.  Cut the little flower shapes out of the squares - they do NOT have to all be the same! 
2. Cut a small circle out of felt.  The bigger your circle, the more flower petals you are going to need! 
3. Take a flower shape.  Fold it in half, petal to petal.  Put a small bit of glue in the center (after it's folded in half) and fold in half again.  Repeat - it should now be a little cone shape! 
4. Glue the tip of the cone onto the center of your felt circle.  
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with all your petals, working your way around the felt until it is completely covered.  You'll have to play around with them before you glue to make sure you like how it looks! 
6. Add your embellishments to the center - I used the little buttons that come with button down shirts when you buy them! 
7. OR - You can continue folding petals and adding them until it is more of a fluff ball hair pin.  I did one of these as well with solid fabric, and it is really cute! 
8. Glue the felt circle to your hair pin. 
9. Pin it in your hair and enjoy saying "Oh, I made it!" when people ask you where you got it! 

I hope these are helpful directions.  I feel like the next two weeks I have before I have to go back to school are going to be filled with crafting! If you don't have a Pinterest - go get one! Comment and I will invite you to it! Also leave any comments with any questions!

Caroline 

Saving up a storm

First of all, I was so excited to have some workout partners today! Erin and Abby came over and we Body Rocked! It was hard, but we did all four rounds - ahh!! If you go to www.bodyrock.tv, it's the "Fierce Friday" workout if you'd like to try it! Working out is always more fun when you have people to do it with you. 

This afternoon Mom and I did our weekly couponing trip.  We were pretty successful today! At Publix, we got about 60 items (that includes 3 ten packs of mechanical pencils) for about $29! That's 50 cents per item folks!! At Kroger, we got 76 items for $112 (after tax), with a retail value of $215 - that's right, we saved over $100!! And we definitely have enough food to last us for a while! I was pretty proud of all the work I put in organizing the coupons, going through the ads and figuring out what we had coupons for that was on a good sale, and making sure we were getting the best price.  I'm kind of OCD about it, so it takes me about 2 hours to get everything sorted out and perfect! But here's the thing - it is not very hard at all and you can save TONS of money! So, thanks in part to my cousin Dana, I am pretty sure I am going to start a mini-business of couponing classes!! I went to a coupon class the other night, and I already knew as much as the lady leading it! So be on the lookout for updates about that :) 

Tomorrow is another day of Body Rocking! And trying to heat a little healthier than I did today ;) 

Wonderful Weekend!

Woohoo! Finally getting better at this blogging thing! I need to get my wonderful big, Kristin, to help with a few more things on here :) She was featured on a website that shows all the Alpha Gam blogs around - super cool!
So this weekend was filled with two of my favorite things: Thomas Mott and Alpha Gam.  I got to hang out with Thomas all weekend, and Saturday was spent with my amazing sisters doing RTS (Recruitment Training School) to prepare for rush! I was a little sad because I won't be an active sister for recruitment this year - but hey, I'll be an alumnae! So I'll still get to help.  Our VP Recruitment, Steph, is doing an amazing job and is so organized and prepared already!! I can't wait to see the wonderful group of girls that I know they will recruit in January!

Sunday I woke up not feeling well at all, so I didn't go back up to Dahlonega for the second day.  Thomas's precious nephew, Cayden, turned 3 on Sunday and his parents had a little party for him.  He is the cutest three year old I have ever seen! I want to just steal him.  I'll try to find a picture of him to post on here - he's adorable!

Friday before I left I did another Body Rock workout - I was pouring sweat but I finished the whole thing! I took Saturday off, and last night Thomas and I did P90X Ab Ripper.  I truly already felt a little bit stronger! Then I did another Body Rock workout today and that feeling vanished!! But I really pushed and did my best, so I was okay with that.  Erin will be body rockin' with me tomorrow and I am really excited! Kristin and I have been reporting our results to each other each night, but it will be nice to have a partner! I really feel like I'm making progress on this goal and can't wait to start seeing my body change for the better!

Please comment if you guys have any healthy recipe ideas or fun cardio workouts - I think I need a little more of that to burn some fat, besides just strength training!
I'll let you know if Erin and I are successful tomorrow!
Buenas noches!

Getting better at this

Woo! Two blog posts in two days! What is the world coming to??
So I had kind of a breakthrough today.  I did Body Rock yesterday (which you know if you read yesterday!), and today I was  am SO SORE. Muscles are aching that I didn't even know existed.  I'm not joking when I say bending over to put my shoes on hurt like the devil.  I was also feeling a little bit under the weather today.  So normally I would've come home and just rested and not worked out. But before I went to bed, I forced myself to do some sort of workout.  Let's face it, I wouldn't have even made it through one round of body rock today, so I just did cardio instead.  I did some Zumba with my sister! Some people don't think it's a real workout, but it definitely is.  You get your heart rate WAY up pretty fast because you are constantly moving! Plus it's fun to do, which is a must.  I found this quote from Ryan Reynolds, who got really buff for a movie he was in:

"If you hate your workout, you're not going to do it."

SO TRUE.  So I'm going to try body rock again tomorrow and see if I can make it without dying.  Let's hope.
I'm also doing well on my diet, too! We went out to eat tonight, so I limited myself to a very small portion.  It still wasn't terribly healthy, but it was okay.  Better than my favorite Mexican dish - Burrito con Crema.  Its a deep fried chicken burrito with cheese dip and sour cream on top.  Let's face it, it's delicious.  Let's also face it, it's probably about a bazillion calories.  For a snack today, I had what is becoming one of my favorite things, so I will share it with you all! I got some plain Greek yogurt (NOT flavored!), tossed in some fresh blueberries, and mixed it all up with one packet of Truvia sweetener.  So tasty! Try it sometime this week! :)

Two more Motrin PM and it's off to bed for me!

Caroline

Terrific Tuesday

Good job me - I haven't blogged in a month.  I'm so lame! I don't even have an excuse, because it's summer and I'm not working.  I just haven't.

So I've been trying to lose weight this summer.  I've been semi successful - I've lost about 8 pounds so far.  But that's a far cry from my goal of 30 pounds.  I've been working out, but not consistently.  I've been eating pretty healthy most of the time, but going out to eat (which my family does a LOT) always kills me - I never make good choices :(  But this week I have been doing pretty well.  Someone told me this weekend they thought I was "taking the easy way out" towards working out and pushing myself.  Let's face it, I was ticked.  So instead of just being mad and not doing anything about it, I decided to work a little harder.  My awesome big, Kristin, blogged a while back about Body Rock, a free website that posts high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts, workout schedules, nutrition tips, and has a community of "Body Rockers" that support each other and offer advice as well.  Well I tried it today - it's AWESOME! The workout was only 18 minutes long, but I literally collapsed on my floor, dripping in sweat, when I was finished.  I definitely had to modify some moves because the leader, Zuzana, is in out of control shape - I'm talking probably ZERO percent body fat. See her picture below!  But I finished it, and I did better than I thought I would, reps-wise.  If you are looking for a home workout, you should try it! It's definitely challenging.  I'm going to try really hard to do it every other day, at the very least. So like Kristin said, if you talk to me, ask me if I've done my body rock workout that day!!

This week I also planned out some meals for my whole family.  I don't think my mom likes cooking very much, and as a result we eat out a lot - very unhealthy.  So I looked through the Weight Watchers cookbook I got at a thrift store for 50 cents and found a recipe for Southern Oven "Fried" Chicken.  I made it, and it was delicious! If you want the recipe, I can send it to you.  It's SO easy, and only 6 points plus per serving.  I also made a WW version of chocolate layer cake (3 PP), which was alright, but definitely tasted like diet food.  Tonight, we had a slow cooker supper of enchilada casserole from All*You Magazine and it was pretty tasty as well (7 PP)! On my Stumble Upon, a recipe from Bethenny Frankel came up for low fat fudge muffins.  I made those as well, and they are AWESOME! I made a few modifications because her recipes are 100% natural and vegan and stuff, and we didn't have all the ingredients.  But I got to use my Truvia sweetener and applesauce instead of butter.  They taste just like the full fat version :) So I am getting used to cooking and I really like it! Hint: it's so much easier when you have a plan!!

I was also pretty excited about couponing this week.  We got all the ingredients for our meals this week at Publix, along with some snacks and stuff for lunch, all for $75!! That is really cheap for a family of five with a brother who eats everything in sight when he gets off the night shift each morning!

So I will try to update more about my adventures in Body Rocking, cooking, and couponing :)
Now I'm going to take a motrin pm (which I got with couponing) and go to bed, because I know I'm going to be VERY sore tomorrow!

Caroline