DIY: photo frame notice board

A couple nights ago I couldn't sleep and 3am came and met me (what else is new). I sat up watching episodes (that I've seen before) of My Wife & Kids with the volume down hoping that boredom would take over and I'd fall asleep......

That didn't quite work but anyway...In one episode, the son (Junior) who isn't the brightest crayon in the box, did the SAT's and surprisingly came home with superb scores (by the end of the show you found out that he got the wrong results).

While in his 'genius mode' he would scribble all his 'brilliant thoughts' unto his mother's glass door with a marker. That kinda made a light bulb go off in my little brain. I remembered a friend of mine who had scribbles on her bedroom mirror using a dry erase marker.

Now today (while I was cleaning my room) I decided to run a little test and used my dry erase marker to put a smiley face n my mirror. I got a bit of felt and wiped it off (of course just to make sure that my Mom wouldn't go berserk if she saw it on the mirror).

It worked!.....and from there my 3-year-old mind went around the house scribbling on any random bit of glass I felt like lol. After scribbling on a picture frame and giving my sister a randomly placed bow on her head, that's when another light bulb went off.  

And from there.....this DIY project was born *insert cool dramatic music here*

Now it's really easy and all you need is:
- a picture frame
- a dry erase marker
- a picture
- a square of felt
- 12inches of ribbon/string

1. The first thing I did was to use the backing of the frame to size the picture I was going to use.
2. After measuring it up, I cut along the lines to make the picture small enough to fit into the frame
3. I placed the picture into the frame and fixed the backing in place.
4. I need to get a nail in place to hang this on my wall, but for now it can just stand on my night stand and remind me of the things I need not forget.....or the errands Mother dearest wants me to do for her.

Oh....for the eraser, I looped the ribbon through the frame and did a quick stitch to attach it to the felt (that way it never gets lost).

Viola....the picture frame notice board.

just me and my budget

Now this is a serious topic that many persons don't take into consideration.....budgeting

My Mom has always told me that the most important thing for you to do is save! Now that I've started working and all, I've noticed that the second most important thing is to budget your spending!

Although it can act as a sad reminder of how broke you are, a budget helps to control your spending and can save you the embarrassment of swiping a card that has no cash (yup I've seen this happen before) or overspending and then freaking out when you see your bills.

My personal budget is pretty simple too. There are no fancy formulas and from the budget I can see where my money is going and know just how much I have to spend. All I did was open a excel spreadsheet and list all the things I spend on monthly.


In a nutshell my list includes:
- bills
- gas for the car
- savings
- loan payments
- everyday stuff

Each month about 10% of my salary goes to savings, 15% to loan payments, 20% to gas (yes gas prices are not working for my budget at all), 20% to bills and the rest is for my everyday stuff.

I don't have many major expenses more than these, so my budget doesn't go in depth to pick out just how much I spend on food, random night's out and all that. Not like I spend much on that stuff individually anyway...plus living with my parents definitely cuts lots of expenses which to me really isn't a bad thing. =]

Please note though loves that I'm horrible at accounts so I make sure to keep things simple and I include any specific info so that I never miss a payment, I'm sure to get some saving done and all my basic needs are covered. I also make sure to note any additional spending for specific months (like gift shopping for Christmas or a special birthday).

Most people don't have a budget at all.....and the result of that is being totally broke and not having a clue where the money has gone.

By the way...budgeting is an excellent New Year's resolution so get to it!

all I want for Christmas is....

This time of year can be very depressing.....because more often than not, the list of 'I want' is usually much longer than the list of 'I can afford'.

If you're anything like me, all year you try to find ways to save but then the savings never seems to match up the the cost of all the 'I want.' Then to top that off, the older I get is the more I can understand why gifts move from 'buy me something pretty' to 'buy me something I need'. lol

Once upon a time my Grandma would go out and buy some hot new toy or girly thing for my sisters and I....now we each get an envelope with a cute little card and money. Usually inside the card is a nice little Christmas blessing and the words 'you know I would never know what to get you so be sure to treat yourself to something nice' (or at least its something to that effect.)

Then that money from Grandma usually goes into buying the outfit for New Years Eve, something I actually need....or gas for the car.....or some other random thing that comes up.

But this year.........I'm thinking of sending a message to all my gift-givers:

I don't really want gifts, because everything I really want is gonna cost a pretty penny. Instead I'll be taking donations to go towards my Graduate School Fund.....if you are still adamant about buying me a gift I would prefer if you selected from the list below:


- money for my charity projects (my Deaf kids need all the help they can get...plus it's a worthy cause for the season of giving)
- a Kindle/Nook (preferably with a blue or green case)
- a new laptop (preferably one that has all the specs for graphics and entertainment)
- a shopping spree (save yourself from buying clothes I may not like or end up never wearing...instead just let me run wild in the store and you pay for it)
- a car (it need not be too fancy but spare me the gas guzzler)

I think it's a pretty good sum up.......I am also very aware that I may not get these things lol. On a serious note though

It's the thought that counts....and getting me a gift makes me feel special enough =]

DIY: wrapped bead bracelet

I promised DIY projects but because I had not pics I wasn't posting them. (sorry)

Well, now that we've solved that problem! Here's one really simple project I did for less than JA$500 (US$5).

The first thing to note is the fact that I could probably find this here in Ja....but it would probably cost much more than it cost to make it.

Anywho there are only 3 items needed to make this happen. Please note that the colour, size and design of each item is really up to you.

You'll need: 
1 embroidery thread (about 34inches long)*
2 beads (the amount needed will depend on the size of the beads....but I'd advise to not make the beads too large)
3 jewellery fastener (the fastener I selected is very easy to attach)


*to determine the length of the thread I measured the size of my wrist (mine was about 6inches), multiplied it by 5 (totalling 30inches), and added 4inches (remember you'll be knotting the fasteners and needing that extra bit of string.

The project needed only 3 items, and was finished in only 3 steps:


STEP 1 - Knot one side of the fastener onto the thread. I would recommend that you knot about three or four times to make sure it's secure and leave some thread hanging in case you need to loop it again. 


STEP 2 - Start threading the beads onto the side that is attached to the fastener. This may be a tedious task if the beads are small so your patience is surely an asset lol

STEP 3 - When the string or beads is almost full, knot the other side of the faster to the thread. Once again be sure to do it about multiple times to make sure it's secure. Then of course you can cut those extra strings off.

And that's about it. But then of course you're probably wondering how this becomes a bracelet.....simple....wrap it around your wrist!

Remember to check the length of the embroidery thread in relation to the size of your wrist. As I mentioned, mine was long enough to be wrapped about 5 times but depending on the length of string you choose and the size of your beads it may be more or less.

I decided to keep it simple because I have really small wrists and bulky bracelets tend to make me look super skinny. =(

Anywho, it's all up to you and you can make it as unique and complex as you want. =]

with not a care in the world

Today is the first in a long time that I have absolutely nothing planned!

To be honest it's a little weird being at home just watching tv without a care in the world, but I must admit that I kinda like it. Initially I woke up wanting to bake, but then I reminded myself that I'm relaxing today......and so far so good!

The only problem is that I keep thinking of things I need to get done, and I keep writing them down on my t2d (things to do) list....that means I'll have a super long list of stuff to do next week. =/

Oh well! I'm enjoying my lazy day....next week I'll worry about that list.