Mad Science

Have you ever wondered why movies are always depicting mad scientists and science experiments gone wrong?  Because science is cool, experiments filled with things that fizz, pop, and explode, explanations on how the world works or how to build amazing things.  I know I have always been enamored of science and all the wonderful things it can teach me.  Kids are no different, they love science experiments even if they just like to blow stuff up.

Today the girls and I decided to become mad scientists ourselves and fill the evening with fun science experiments.  Looking outside there wasn't much else we could do anyway what with rain and thunder just threatening to explode mixed with the kind of horrible humidity that makes you feel as if you just stepped out of the shower.  So we rounded up some material, mostly just water and food coloring and some containers.

First off we decided to make it rain and explore just what does make the rain fall out of the sky.  Here's how:

Step 1:  Fill a jar 1/3rd full of boiling water.  Add some food coloring to make it fun.  Here is a picture of what it looked like when we first added it.

Side Note:  Cool experiment in and of itself, play with adding drops of food coloring one at a time to both cold, room temp, and hot water.  Watch how long it takes the food coloring to disperse throughout the liquid.  What makes the food coloring in one jar disperse faster than that in the other jars?

Science Alert:  The rate of diffusion, how fast one solution mixes in with another solution, depends on the rate of movement of each of the molecules.  When solutions or molecules are heated up, they move faster, hence why solutions such as food coloring will diffuse into a homogenous mixture faster in hot water than in cold water.

Step 2:  Place the lid on the jar or cover with a metal lid or plate.  This will seal in the evaporating water molecules and allow them to collect onto the lid.

Step 3:  Place ice cubes on top of lid. We didn't have ice cubes so we used ice packs instead. 

Step 4:  Watch and wait for the rain to start falling. We waited and waited then decided maybe using a paper plate wasn't the best idea and redid the experiment with a plastic plate. It worked better the second time but we still only got a few drops of rain at a time. Great way to get the kids to be quietly occupied for about ten to fifteen minutes though. 

Next up we made a tornado in a jar. 

Step 1:  Fill a jar almost all the way with water. We also added some food coloring and glitter for fun. Add a dash of dish soap and a teaspoon of vinegar as well. 

Step 3:  replace the lid and shake away. Once you stop swirling the jar a "tornado" will form inside the jar. 

Really cool and it did work although you can't really see it in the picture.

We all had a great time and made some homemade fruit roll-ups too.  They were pretty easy to make as well.

Step 1:  Puree some strawberries (we used frozen but forgot to thaw them first).

 

Step 2:  Add to small saucepan and mix in sugar and lemon juice. The pin didn't state how much of each but we used 1 C of sugar and 2 Tbs of lemon juice. We also added 1 C of water for some extra liquid.   Boil mixture until it thickens up like jam.

Step 3:  Place a large piece of parchment paper onto a cookie sheet. Pour mixture into paper and lightly spread into a thin layer. 

Step 4:  Dehydrate in the oven on the lowest setting for 3-4 hours or until tacky like a fruit roll up. 

Step 5:  Slice into strips and roll up in strips of parchment paper. 

We didn't have time to let ours dehydrate  properly so instead of roll ups we had an ooey gooey mess, but it tasted just like fruit roll ups. Yummy. 

It's off to bed. Wish me luck tomorrow. 

The Perfect Fit

A few years ago my husband and I were invited to attend a wedding.  I remember thinking, "what on earth am I going to wear?"  I mean I have absolutely no formal wear whatsoever.  I'm just not the kind of girl that gets all gussed up.  I dreaded having to go to the mall and find a dress.  I know what you're thinking, "what woman doesn't love to shop?"  Well that's me, the abberration in the family. 

I always start off with fresh energy if not exactly excited to shop, pick out a ton of beautiful garments then head back to the dressing room with high hopes.  I take the time to get undressed and pull the first one on over my head only to stop half way on as it gets stuck around my hips.  No problem, I pull it off and try on the next one.  Nope that one I can't get my arms through.  Take it off, try on the next one but I can't zip up the back.  By the time I take this one off my hair is standing on end and flying into my face.  This is the part about shopping I hate.  Nothing ever fits and it ends up just being a hassle with no reward at the end. 

I get the bright idea that instead of trying on a bunch of great dresses that won't fit and finally settling on something that looks terrible I will just make my own dress.  Yes that's the ticket.  I spend hours, days really, sewing up this great dress with really gorgeous fabric, but guess what?  It doesn't fit right either.  The sleeves were a bit too tight, the bodice a bit too big, and little pooches where the darts are (okay that last bit was just because I'm not a very good seamstress yet).  All that time and money and it still turned out awful. 

So when I decided this year to make a dress for my niece's Halloween costume I wanted it to be perfect.  I looked to my best friend, Pinterest, for advice and was directed toward a blog on how to adjust your pattern for a perfect fit before you cut it out and sew it up.  Awesome, just what the doctor ordered.  The idea is to make a cheap copy of your dress or outfit using muslin.  That way you can make adjustments to the outfit without wasting precious fabric.

How to Make a Muslin

Step 1:  Cut out your pattern pieces just as you would with the fabric for the dress except you will be using the muslin instead.  Be sure to mark all the sewing instructions as well as the pattern details just as you would when making the dress.  In this case I just did the bodice as the dress has a flowing skirt that will not need adjustment.

Step 2:  Construct the bodice according to the directions, but use a basting stitch instead.  In my case the bodice was very small and I just used safety pins to put the bodice together to try on.  Add the closure, usually a zipper for dresses in the back of the bodice.

Step 3:  Have your subject try on the muslin piece and mark any adjustments that need to be made.  Luckily for me if fit perfectly as is and there was no need for me to make any adjustments.  Yay!  Okay I lied.  I did find out that the dress strap needs to be lengthened about a 1/4", but really this is easily done.  If you weren't so lucky you can follow this link for instructions on how to do some basic alterations such as change the length and width of the bodice. 

Some of you may think this was a waste of time and material, my mom just uses the tissue pattern pieces after all, but this was definitely easier to put on a squirming child (a bit of an exaggeration) and there was no danger of ripping the pattern.  Bonus, I've decided to save time and use the muslin pieces as the lining for the dress.  Not such a waste after all.  In fact, while reading more of this woman's blog the post following the two links above was on underlining a bodice.  Didn't even know what that was, but basically it sounds like you just add the muslin as the backing to your fabric instead of lining to protect the skin from scratchy materials.  Not sure if I will do that this time or not though.  I would like to look into it more first.

Let you know how it all turns out.  Wish me luck.

Easy Way to Cut out a Pattern

With Halloween just around the corner, the question on everyone's mind is, "what do the girls want to be for Halloween?"  If I am going to make their costumes, then I need to know in advance.  And as you know girls in general can never make up their minds about anything.  But what I have come to find out over the last few years of making their costumes, is that what they really want more than a costume is a pretty dress.  No joke, the last couple of years running A was a beauty queen and a forest fairy (she had found a beautiful floor length green gown that we added leaves to).  So this year, once again they  both wanted a pretty dress.

No problem, B was able to find a really cheap dress at the local Goodwill that we can add accoutrements to, but A couldn't find a pretty blue dress (she is going to be the ocean while B is going to be Aphrodite).  We did, however, find a great pattern for a dress she likes at Joann's.  We even found some awesome blue fabric with a sheer blue sequined fabric for a train (hmmm it bears a strong resemblance to Elsa's dress). 

I love to make clothes and sew even though I may not be that great at it.  One thing I absolutely hate about the process is the cutting out of the pattern and as I plan on making a practice one out of muslin to get the fit right I will have to do this twice.  Yuck.  Adding to the problem is the fact that B now also wants a dress in the future made from the same pattern, therefore, I will need a way to cut it out that doesn't destroy the other sizes.

No problem, I found this great pin that is supposed to solve both problems.  It involves the use of freezer paper to first trace then attach to the fabric for cutting.

How to painlessly cut out a pattern (link) with freezer paper

Step 1:  Lay a piece of freezer paper, paper side up, on top of your pattern piece and trace all the markings onto the freezer paper.
Note:  I couldn't make heads or tails of which side was the paper side so I did one on each side to try both out.

This was and incredibly easy way to get the pattern for the size I wanted without destroying all the other sizes.  I didn't even need to go out and buy expensive butcher paper, etc. and the pattern was easily visible underneath to trace out all the details.  Five stars.  This may be harder though for a bigger pattern piece (maybe scotch tape freezer paper together for a wide enough piece?).

Step 2:  Lay the traced pattern onto your fabric, paper side up.  Using medium heat, iron the freezer paper onto your fabric.

Note:  This is where I had a problem.  The freezer paper did not stick to the fabric as stated in the post.  I tried ironing it on from both sides as I couldn't tell which side was the paper side.  It is also possible that wax paper, what I used, is not the same as freezer paper.  Not sure, but I may need to buy freezer paper from the store and try again.

Step 3:  Cut out your pattern.
As the wax paper I used did not stick to the fabric I just used my phone to weight the piece down and then proceeded to cut out the pattern.  It still worked great for my purposes as the bodice pieces I was cutting out were very small and easy to weight down.

All in all still a very good idea and if indeed freezer paper is different from waxed paper and will actually adhere to your fabric, this would be an incredible way to cut out patterns.  I will definitely be using this again in the future and will be sure to try again with actual freezer paper.  Wish me luck.

How Not to Clean Your Grout

Before

As I gently slip in my last contact, a tear of solution runs down my face and I reach behind me for the towel only to have it slip onto the floor.  Bending down to pick it up I grimace to see the state of the grout on my tile floors.  We just recently bought a new house that was built in the 30's and unfortunately it looks like the tile and the grout have neither been cleaned nor updated since.  As you can see from the picture on the left it looks as if they used sludge as grout. 

Usually when I'm in the bathroom I don't have my contacts in and hence cannot see the nastiness that I walk across on a regular basis.  This morning, however, I can't help but notice.  Time to do something about that I think to myself.  So I set about in search of a pin on how to easily clean your grout.  Now the pin in question advertises that this is easy and will restore your grout to its original condition with the wave a magic wand so to speak.  No where near the case as I am soon to find out.

I run about gathering up my supplies.  Then I mix the salt, baking soda, and vinegar together in equal parts giggling when it starts to fizz.  That never gets old.  I bet it would make a great science experiment for the kids.  Anyway, initially I start off making a small batch to test in a corner of the bathroom, but after realizing that it needs to soak for twenty minutes, I go ahead and whip up enough to coat the whole floor of the bathroom.  It is part liquid, part salty sludge but I do my best to spread it evenly over the whole floor. 



 

After

Twenty minutes later I come in with the scrub brush and start scrubbing heartily, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies.  After scrubbing I realize just what a mistake it was to do the whole floor all at once with no way to clean it up.  I tried using a mop, which worked to kind of soak up the liquid part of the solution, but how to get all the salt and crud out from all the nooks and crannies in the grout was beyond me and was not touched upon in the pin.  I ended up using a damp cloth to once again scrub the whole floor and try to get up all the salt.  I eventually gave up after doing the best I could and decided I would vacuum it up later after it all dried out. 

BTW the picture on the left is how it turned out after it was all done.  Not much difference huh?  Yeah I didn't see a difference either, in fact when my niece looked at both pics she actually thought the before picture looked better.  And on top of the fact that it didn't clean anything, I can actually see places where the grout got eaten, that's right, corroded by the salt or baking soda or something.  I hope I don't need to re-grout entirely.  Although on the bright side, there is probably a pin for that and it would probably work a lot better than this one.

Later when I got back home I came back in and amazingly it looked way better.  Wow right?  Wrong, so wrong.  Turns out it looked better because all of the white salt had dried into the grout and made it appear whiter and less dirty.  There was no vacuuming it up as it was caked into all the grooves.  Argghh what a mess.

I've decided after once again scrubbing the floor and wiping it up with a damp towel that I need to now let it dry out again and scrub with a dry brush then vacuum up the salt.  I really don't know if that will work either, but I'm crossing my fingers.  So this post was definitely about how NOT to glean your grout.  Because it doesn't work.  I think the original poster of this pin was playing a nasty joke on everyone.  They are probably laughing it up right now, rolling on the floor with tears coming out of their eyes.  Yeah it was really that bad. 

Gosh I hope I can vacuum that salt up later.  Wish me luck.

DIY Earring Holder

A little over a year ago we were all walking through the mall when A jumps up and down begging, "mom can I please get my ears pierced?"  I remember I chuckled to see the look on my sister's face.  A had been begging for a couple of years now to get it done and my sister finally relented that day and let her do it. 

Her eyes were sparkling with excitement as she picked out her first set of earrings.  She nervously sat down in the chair while the saleswoman and piercer extrodinaire got the equipment ready and prepped her ears with a swab of alcohol and a little blue dot in the center of the lobe.  As the woman approached her ear with the ear gun she seized up and flashing clear as daylight across her face was the message, "I've changed my mind, let me out, NOW."  But alas it was too late and a second later a horrible waling scream sang out across the mall courtyard.  By the sound you would have thought she was shot by a real gun, full metal jacket and all. 

At that point I wasn't sure the second one would get done at all, but the saleswoman, who must have had ample experience with this in the past, loaded the second earring right away and bam it was done within a second.  A didn't even have a chance to register the pain before that one was done.  I think she was still in shock from the first one.  As all things in life do, the pain subsided and in short order she was grinning from ear to ear and having everyone admire her new studs.  And gorgeous they were. 

Ever since it has been a never ending goal of hers to obtain as many different earrings as possible in every shape, size, and variety.  From little lady bugs to a set of pearls and yes even those cute little danglies mom just let her buy.  As the earrings pile up the question becomes, "where do we put them all?" 

Here is where I come into play with my Pinterest list that allows me to make all kinds of wonderful things. Just like the one pictured above.  Now I didn't realize, as I didn't with so many other things I pinned, that the link doesn't actually take you to a post with directions on how to make the object, but instead takes you to a website that sells the object pictured.  Wah wah total dud.  But instead of just deleting it I think, "hey it doesn't look that hard to make, I'll just look at the picture and wing it."  Yeah baby I'm a crafty making machine. :)

Turns out it wasn't so hard even though I did make a little construction mistake that detracts from the elegance of the exterior look, but you can learn from my mistake so that yours comes out fantastic.

DIY Earring Holder

Step 1:  Gather your materials. 

Felt or other material for book cut to the size you want your book to be when folded in half, 3 interior pages and 1 cover page (I used a fancy pattern for the outside cover and regular plain colored for the interior)
Sewing machine or needle and thread or hot glue gun
Scissors

See all the seam lines?

Here is where I went wrong.  I started by attaching the outside cover to the interior page first which in the end led to all my seams appearing on the spine of the book.  It turned out looking okay in the end, but in my directions here I will provide a way to construct the book so that these seam lines will be hidden.

Step 2:  You will need to assemble the interior pages first and attach them to the outside cover at the end.  Start by laying two interior pages one on top of the other.  Then pin them together to keep them from shifting and mark the midline.  Once the midline is found mark a line 1/4" away on each side of the midline.  These will be your first seam lines.  I then used my sewing machine to straight stitch down these lines.  You can also hand stitch or try hot gluing them together as well. 

Step 3:  Next attach the innermost page to the other two by stitching a seam down the midline of the felt pieces.  You should now have all three inner pages sewn together that when folded in half will be the size you want your earring book to be.

Step 4:  Last but not least attach the inside pages to the outside cover. Lay the inside pieces on top of the wrong side of your outside cover, making sure that the midline seam is facing up towards you. Pin the inside pages to the outside cover down the midline. Now you will need to sew a seam on either side of the midline about a 1/4" outside of the very first seam you made and only on the first interior page, not the one with the midline seam. This will mean folding the two innermost pages in half to get to that first interior page that you need to sew.

Once folded over sew the seam, then repeat on the other side of the midline seam.  Your book should now be all the way attached. 


 
 

Step 5:  As you can see in the photo, once attached some of the pages will be sticking out past the cover.  To fix this just trim up the edges with your scissors.

If you like you can add a thin piece of cardboard in the spine for added support, stitching a small seam along the top and bottom to hold it in.  I thought about this but as I put the book together a different way, there was no longer an area in the spine to allow for this.  As I was just using felt pieces there was no need for me to finish the edges, but you could finish the seams if you like.  I also didn't add holes as I think she could just punch the earrings through the felt easy enough. 



I plan on finishing it off later by adding her name on the spine, either embroidered or with iron on letters.  I think I might also add a clasp to help keep it closed.  Hope she likes it. 

Wish me luck.

Picture Hanging the Easy Way

Last night after finishing cleaning up the entryway of paper clutter, I noticed that I had some entryway clutter of another kind.  Here some keys, there some coats and everywhere some shoes shoes.  My goal for today was to clean up the rest of the entryway mess to leave myself with a fresh, clean space to walk into on a daily basis.

I rounded up all the shoes and threw them into the closet.  Okay more like I neatly stacked them into the shoe cubby in the entryway closet.  Here I also hung up all the winter coats and other items not in daily use.  That just left things like keys and coats, sweaters we are currently using.  What to do with these items that will otherwise get thrown willy nilly onto the couch, bookshelf or other available surface as we walk in and dump.

As I blow a puff of air upwards to get rid of the offending tendrils of hair hanging in my eyes, I place my hands on my hips and sigh as I do a slow circuit of the room wondering how to solve this problem.  As my eyes scan across the floor by the bookshelves, I stop and do a double take as a shaft of light halos the perfect solution to my problem, a coat rack/shelf that can be mounted just inside the door.  Bingo.  Now how to hang it?  Always the hardest thing to do and why I still to this day have yet to hang any of the numerous pictures I've accumulated over the years.

I almost give it up in regret when I decide maybe I need a little help from Pinterest and those pioneers that have gone on to hang beautiful pictures perfectly centered with the ease of an amazing plan of action.  Ten minutes later after searching for the post in question (stuck it in the handyman board) I jump in triumph and realize that this is going to be much easier than I had made it out to be in my head.  Observe.

Step 1:  Gather your materials.  This was actually the most time consuming part of the post.

Painter's Tape (didn't have any, ended up using some left over moving tape)
Hammer
Nails
Level (used an app on my phone).

Step 2:  Use the tape to span the distance between where the object will hang on the nails.  I placed the tape from the middle of each hole.  Sound easy?  It is and there really is no catch.

Step 3:  Peel off the tape and then place it on the wall where you want to hang the object.  Here is where the level comes in handy.  Use your level to make sure the tape is hung straight.  Then use your hammer to place the nails in the wall on either edge of the tape.  I placed them at the top corners of the tape so that they would be level. 

At this point I was a little bit alarmed as I could hear stuff falling down inside the wall.  No idea what it was that was crumbling as I pounded a couple of very small nails in the wall, but hopefully it didn't damage anything too important.  *Nervous giggle* 

Now that the nails are in the wall, you can peel off the tape and hang the object.  It's just that easy folks.  If this were an infomercial I would totally be sold.

Have a great day, see ya tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

The Paper Tornado

Today was a Goldilocks kind of day.  Not the greatest, not the worst, but just right.  It started off with an exciting lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, meeting new people and hanging out with my sister.  Then I spent a couple of peaceful hours helping my sister out by decorating her classroom.  I got to utilize my newly improving crafty skills and take some quiet time out to myself.  I love hanging out with my husband and my family, but sometimes it's nice to just have a quiet moment to yourself. 

 

Then it was off to HuHot Mongolian Grill for another lunch :), Yeah totally stuffed myself, with some friends.  Followed by a movie, not gonna lie wasn't too thrilled at the idea of seeing Standing Tall, which was actually very good.  Total tear jerker.  I cried like five times, at least. 

 

Just when I thought the day was over my honey was like, "let's go do something."  I wasn't up for the bar so I suggested we do something else.  We decided on bowling and headed out to the alley up the street.  Unfortunately they were closed.  As hubby was opening up the trunk to put the bowling balls back in, he ripped the back panel with the handle off the car.  Hehehe.  It was kind of funny, but he was really upset and got real pouty like he always does.  We decided to save the night and MacGyvered the thing back on with duck tape, seriously no joke, and headed off to another bowling alley.

All in all I had a great day so when it started raining I wasn't phased.  Until I got home and tried to maneuver a stumbling honey into the house in torrential downpours only to get inside and stumble over piles of mail.  Couldn't set my purse down either due to piles of mail on all the surfaces just inside the door.  I mean I don't even know how there got to be so much mail everywhere.  It was like a huge tornado had run through the house and dumped paper everywhere.  Or an evil Leprechaun.  Yeah definitely and evil Leprechaun.  It was a crappy end to a lovely day.  It's no wonder then I decided it was time to get rid of the clutter and get organized.

 

 

 

Evil Leprechaun

7 Steps to Organize Your Paper Clutter

Step 1:  Set up a collection system into which all the paper that comes in the door goes into.  Shoe Box, check.  It may not look pretty, yet, but it will work in a pinch to hold all the junk that comes in the door.  Bonus, I found a cute little dish to put my keys, phone and other junk into that I also set on the first available surface just inside the door. 

I also took some time at this point to appoint a bag for trash and proceeded to go around the general area picking up all the paper and junk strewn all about the room and organizing it into trash, bills, and keep.  Nasty little Leprechaun. 

Step 2:  Set up a system for my "action" papers, AKA papers like bills that need attention.  This is good because I lost a couple of bills last week in the sea of papers and thought I had already sent them out.  Thankfully I was able to open them up and pay them online before they were past due.  Phew.  I know I'm behind the times, but I just can't bring myself to trust paying bills regularly online.  I'm afraid I'm stuck in the stone ages on this front. 

Anyway I decided on something that would be handy for storing bills, yet also slightly decorous so that I wouldn't want to throw it across the room when all those bills started piling up.

Here it is my lovely box for bills.  I also put my checkbooks, a calculator and some pens in for good measure.  Ooh note to self:  add some postage stamps and the address stamp as well.  Nice, now all my bill paying stuff will all be in one place so I don't lose it.  As my niece is always saying, "you lose everything."  In fact she even wrote this cute little note on the measurements I took for her dress so that I wouldn't lose them.

 Step3:  Set up a system for reference papers.  Okay I know what's a reference paper right?  She explains it as things you may want to keep, but that aren't that important at the moment.  Things like restaurant menus, etc.  Well at first I didn't think I would need this, but then I found a piece of paper with my sister-in-law's address and the combo to a lock I use for the gym and decided I needed one after all.  I thought this nice little picture binder would work out perfectly.  I had some photos in the front and open spaces in the back that I put the "reference" type papers into. 

 Moving right along.

Step 4:  Set up a filing system for your archive papers.  Check already done that awhile ago.  I have these wonderful binders that I file all the papers into.  One for bank statements, one for credit card statements, etc. and a great big box for important papers that haven't been filed yet.  The problem is I never end up getting to that box to "archive" stuff.  So I decided that my filing binders will need to be close to all the other paper systems and I will be eliminating the box of important papers all together.  This way I will file the stuff right away.  Crossing my fingers.  I will be going through the current box of papers another day.  I think I have put in my time for today.

The other three steps I did as I went along or will do tomorrow, i.e. taking care of back log, creating good habits and enjoying my clear countertops. 

All done, it looks amazing.  Definitely too clean to be my house.  Hopefully the Leprechaun doesn't come visit again tonight and undo all the work I just did.  Wish me luck.

Yoga Me to Sleep

After picking up the girls this morning we head over to the zoo for a fun filled day of animals. The day starts off with a nice lunch in a huge pavilion followed by ice cream treats and a couple of special animal visitors. Who would have thought a snake would be the biggest hit. If it were me I would run away screaming like a little girl but all the kids loved it. 

Next stop, petting the stingrays at Stingray Beach. Note to self: next time pick up a map to take along with you at the front of the park. Seems a no brainer but we didn't and got lost, turning what should have been a small jaunt into a long trek. No worries though we used the opportunity to stop at some other exhibits along the way. 

A was like a kid in a candy store. Every two seconds she would run off squealing, "oh look it's a (insert random zoo animal)."  We ran into the camel rides along the way which I have to say was kind of a rip off. I mean five bucks a piece for one short, and I mean short trek around in a circle. Luckily they passed by the baby camels who came out to say hi which totally made it worth it for the girls anyway. 

While the girls were getting off we just happened to notice that oh hey there are the stingrays. Just about passed them up without realizing it. We head inside, slip a couple bucks to the ladies at the desk and come away with two halves of a small fish to feed to the stingrays. Gross I know, but it was worth a try. We head to the pool and A and I (B chickened out) put the fish in between two fingers and then dip our hands under the surface of the water. In no time flat stingrays are gliding over and swoop up to suck the fish right out of our fingers. Just imagine huge flappy mouths opening up and sucking up the fish like a vacuum. A little unnerving at first but worth the experience. 

We continue to lean over the pool and hold our hands in the water to pet the slimy backs as they pass by. At one point A jumped sky high because a stingray came up from behind her and bumped her hand when she wasn't expecting it. Funniest thing ever. As I laugh the same thing happens to me and I about take a dive into the pool. My turn to get laughed at :). 

Anyway the day is long filled with lots of walking in crazy heat that only gets hotter as the day goes by. By the time we leave I'm exhausted and ready for a shower. Then unfortunately it's off to work at the casino. 

Needless to say I just want to crash when I get home but again my body is aching from all the exertion today. I like how well the other yoga routine worked out so I think I will do another one tonight. 

Just gonna be lazy tonight and put up the pics from the post. I'm pretty sure I won't last to write about my experience as I will more than likely fall asleep half way through. So goodnight, see ya tomorrow. Wish me luck. 

DIY Luminary

I remember watching the movie Tangled with my nieces and becoming mesmerized when they sent off all the paper lanterns. There is just something enchanting about watching the slow flicker of a candle light up the colored tissue paper of a Chinese lantern. So when I came across a pin on how to make your own paper lanterns that we could also incorporate our pressed flowers into I couldn't resist. 

We set about gathering our supplies. Amazingly we were able to use stuff we already had lying around the house. 

DIY Luminaries

Materials

Wax paper

Pressed flowers

Iron

Tape

Scissors

Step 1:  Cut out four pieces of wax paper. Cut them out so that when folded in half they will be the size you want the faces of your lantern to be. Each girl picked different sizes. 

Step 2:  Place your pressed flowers (or any flat decoration) in between the pieces of folded wax paper in any layout you desire. Just be sure they aren't too close to the edges of the wax paper as this will prevent a good seal when ironed.  

The girls spent most if the time figuring out the layout for their lanterns. The ideas behind their layout were quite interesting. For instance B's told the story if the life of a flower each stage a different face of the lantern all the way from blooming and wilting to the aftermath of a tornado.  No joke. She's so cute. 

Step 3:  Once you have the layout you desire take it to the ironing board. Place the iron (low to medium heat) flat onto your wax paper and let rest for five to ten seconds. When you lift the iron gently slide it of the wax paper and proceed to press the entire face of the wax paper. It will leave some wrinkles but don't worry these aren't that visible later on. 

My niece A was quite worried about this at first, but even she thought they looked great at the end. 

Step 4:  Use your tape to attach each panel together. Place to faces next to each other so they slightly overlap (make sure the side you want up is facing you) then place a piece of tape over the seam. The tape should be slightly longer on each end. Then flip the faces over and fold over the ends of the tape. Repeat for all the faces, creasing each seam as you go. 

Et voila you have a beautiful paper lantern. You can add embellishments as my niece A did or as B said you can also add a bottom and a handle to make it into a basket. There is no wrong way, go crazy and just have fun.  Here is the lantern A made, she added a lovely border of purple Popsicle sticks for decoration and added support. She's so creative. Definitely the crafty one in the family. She is always making things out of toilet paper rolls or sewing up felt food. I love it. She truly inspires me. 

Sleepy Time

My muscles have that nice achy soreness today, the kind where it hurts to walk down stairs or use your arms. Okay so maybe I wouldn't call it nice, but it's what happens after a good workout when you are out of shape.  As sore as I was I still managed to eke through the rest of my day wincing here and there.   

As I trudge up the stairs on my way to bed I think about what I tell my clients, "working out is great, but make sure you take care of your body afterwards to avoid injury. Get plenty of massage an do your stretching."  Yada yada yeah right, it's been a long day and I just want to go to bed. So I lay in bed my aching body keeping me awake and realize I still haven't done my pin for the day either. 

I pound my fists on the bed. "Argh, fine, I'll do it."  So I looked up my pins on stretching and found a good one that is supposed to help you sleep. As I begin to do the stretches, my body gradually relaxes and by the third stretch I'm falling asleep on the pillows. I can't tell you how hard it was to bring myself to write this blog afterwards. I think this set of stretches will be my new daily routine for the evening. 

Yoga Poses That Put You to Sleep

I've again used myself as the model in the demo pics as unflattering as they may be. If you want to see the original post in all its glory with a beautiful model you can find the link here. http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/the-yoga-poses-that-put-you-to-sleep

Pose #1: Reclined Spinal Twist

Start off laying on your back with your right knee pulled up towards your chest. 

Then rotate your leg across your body to the left and allow it fall to the side. You will notice your spine gently twists at the hips. Keep your shoulders flat. If you need to you can place pillows under your leg for support until you are flexible enough for your leg to rest on the floor. 

Rest like this for as long as you want, a minute or two is good.  Then switch sides and repeat with the other leg. 

Pose #2:  Reclined Big Toe Pose A&B

Laying on your back raise your right leg towards your head, leg straight, gently stretching out your hamstrings. Use a strap or towel if necessary to help you raise your leg without straining. The goal her is relaxation so don't go overboard. A light stretch will do. Breath into it and feel your body relaxing. 

Next you pull your rigt leg out to the side of your body, again using a strap if need be. Let your leg hang, feeling the stretch in your adductors. 

Once complete be sure to repeat on the other side. 

Pose #3:  Supported Bridge Pose

This one was a bit complicated as I didn't have a yoga block as the pin required. Instead I used two pillows and tucked them under my lower back bridging my hips up as you would in a standard yoga bridge pose. It was slightly painful at first, but as I relaxed into it and shifted the pillows until they were in a better spot I was able to let go and relax into the pose better. 

Pose #4:  Double Pigeon

Sit criss cross applesauce with one foot over the opposite thigh in a sort of half lotus pose. Use pillows to prop your torso up as you lean forward over your legs. If you are super flexy bendy like I used to be you won't need the pillows, just bend forward over your legs and rest. 

Repeat on the other leg. 

Pose #5:  Reclined Bound Angle

After the last pose which I may have snored my way through I was pretty far gone and ready for bed but I trudged on to this next pose. 

Place some pillows behind your back and lean back onto them with your legs crossed. I wasn't sure on how to strap my legs so I just let them rest criss crossed and it worked great. 

Now I think a great finale to this would be the corpse pose, but had I done that I most definitely would not have been awake as I write this now. 

That's all I have for now, yawn, wish...me...lu...zzzzz

Kicked My Butt

 



This is me

Do you ever have those nights when you dream over and over again that you have to pee?  I had one of those last night and woke up at three in the morning with a full bladder.  I turn over, my back aching and roll out of bed only to have my lower back seize up on me and drop me to the floor in excruciating pain. 

This was just one of the many times in the past few years that I realized I am an overweight old lady.  Unfortunately things are only going to get worse.  It seems that once you hit thirty, your body falls apart never to be whole again.

In an effort to stave this off I have decided to do something about it, however small.  With the state of my lower back right now I am limited in the types of exercises I can do.  It does seem that, except for sit ups, exercises that increase core strength really help.  Therefore I have decided to go through my pins on exercises and find ones to help get me in shape and strengthen my back.

As you can see from the picture, I'm not in the best of shape so I will warn you, I did modify and/or decrease the number of reps on several exercises.  If you want the original pin you can find the link here.  This workout, while hard, was great and totally kicked my but.  The wonderful thing was it only took like ten minutes and had me breathing hard, sweat dripping down my face.  I also like that it does not require a gym, weights, or any special tool of any kind.  Just a wall and your own bodyweight.


                                             
                                                                  The No Equipment Workout
 

Exercise #1:  The wall sit
Start off sitting against the wall and carefully cross one leg over the other.  It took me a second to get my leg up, but once you do it goes pretty easy.  Place your arms up like a goal post next to your head.  Then raise your arms straight up and then return to the original position.

Do 12 reps, then switch legs and repeat for another 12 reps.

 

Exercise #2:  Side plank
This was a hard one to get into position.  Start on your side resting on your arm as pictured.  Then raise your hip up off the floor and do your best to get your top leg up along the wall as pictured, other arm extending into the air.  If you can't get your top leg up onto the wall don't fret just raise your hip up off the ground legs parallel and stacked one on top of the other.

Hold position for thirty seconds.  Switch and repeat on the other side.  I managed to get a good 15 seconds on each side.

Exercise #3:  Climb the Wall
Okay so this one I modified because I mean who can hold this position for long?  Maybe super man.  It was hard enough for me to hold it long enough for my husband to get the picture.
 

Modification:
Start in the plank position as pictured to the left, if you can raise your legs up the wall as in the previous picture or just realize that you have to start somewhere and do what you can. 

Once in starting position proceed to pull your knee up towards your chest and back to starting position.

Continue alternating legs for 1 minute.  Not gonna lie I only made it 30 seconds.

Exercise #4:  Let's call this wall push-ups with a twist
Start facing the wall, arms held up in front, palms against the wall.  Lift your right leg up, knee bent.





Then lean into the wall, arms bent at the elbow as you extend your right leg out behind you.

Repeat for 10 reps.  Switch legs and do another 10 reps.

 

Exercise #5:  Downward Dog
Start out in plank position.  Again for added difficulty you can be a hero and put your feet up level with your hips against the wall.  Once in position push back, lifting your but and hips up into downward dog. 

Do 15 reps.

Exercise #6:  Bridge
Lay down face up on the floor and scoot up to the wall.  Keep one knee bent, foot on the floor and crawl the other leg up the wall, knee bent to ninety degrees.

Then lift your hips up off the ground while pulling the leg up towards the ceiling.  Notice here how my right leg is angled back towards my face.  It should actually be pointed towards the ceiling in an L shape.

Do 15 reps, switch legs and repeat.  I think I got in 10 reps before I wimped out.

Exercise #7:  Plank
Get into plank position, again if you are super human put your feet up against the wall level with your hips.

Hold position for 1 minute.  If you are out of shape like me you will be shaking like a leaf after 20 secs and fall on the floor after 30 secs.

Exercise #8:  Squat Jumps
If you have any energy left, I didn't, you can do these babies.  Or when we get stronger the pin says to do these in between each of the other exercises.

Start off in a deep squat, deeper than I can do here.  Then explosively jump up as high as you can into the air and back down into a squat. 

Do for 1 minute.