How to Turn a Book into a Vase

So, some of you may have guessed based on the title of this blog, regardless of the lack of knitting content, that I'm a bit of a crafty person. I've always loved making things. In my old age, I've tended to focus on knitting just so I have a focus, but I love to paint, draw, make ornaments and decorations and I'm planning on learning to use my new spinning wheel and sewing machine this summer. At any rate, because of my inherent craftiness I thought I would share this amazing video on how to turn an old book into a vase. I don't necessarily advocate tearing up books, but I'm sure I could find some random ones at the thrift store to sacrifice. I think these are super cute and I would love to have a little collection of them filled with pretty faux daisies in my classroom. Maybe I'll take a break from knitting for a bit to churn out a few. :)

The how-to video below is via Green Upgrader, which I just stumbled upon, but it looks like a super fun website. Anyway... enjoy! And please share pics if you decide to make some vases for yourself. :)

Still here- with a Wee Bit of Me Wednesday

Well... yeah... not a whole lot to say. :) I'm still alive, still reading, writing, knitting and panicking, but just not blogging about it. In an effort to get back into the groove of blogging, I'm going to start participating in Wee Bit of Me Wednesdays which I shamelessly stole from Jumblemash (who is awesome!) and who stole it from myleighashley (also awesome). I have read roughly one bazillion books since April, bought a Kindle, went back to work and have not been writing at all... so I do have quite a bit to talk about, but blogging just seems so daunting, for no particular reason. At any rate, I'm going to do Wee Bit Wednesdays so I can have something to write about. Hopefully it will get me back into the groove of blogging. I'll keep my fingers crossed. :) So without further ado...

{one} have you ever seen a ghost?

Oh, goodness... a complicated question to start. Yes, I believe I have seen a ghost. When I saw my mother right after she passed away there were a few moments where she was standing next to me before she left. An interesting experience to say the least.

{two} when was the last time you dressed up for Halloween?

Last year. I generally dress up every year, but the hubs was out of town last year and so I only sort of dressed up. This year we're going to a club themed party though, and I'll be rockin' a totally sweet 80's outfit. We'll see if I wear it to work on Friday as well. I may just blend in with all the retro 80's looks the kids wear.

{three} what’s your favorite candy?

That is a tough one. I used to love Twix, but since I can't eat gluten any more that's out. I do love caramel though, or Skittles.

{four} did you have a favorite costume growing up?

I think my absolute favorite costume was the black cat costume that my mom made me. It was a huge furry body suit that she accidentally stitched her thumb to in the process of making. It was warm and fuzzy (two of my favorite feelings) and perfect for cold Colorado Halloweens.

{five} did you carve pumpkins this year?

No. Halloween always sneaks up on me and I never quite remember to carve pumpkins.

{six} what’s your favorite scary movie?

I'm not a huge scary movie fan, but I did love Zombieland, though that wasn't really scary. The Shining  is good, as was the Aliens trilogy, but I don't really like hard core horror.

{seven} haunted houses or corn mazes?

Mmmmm.... not so much on either. Corn Mazes are fun, unless they have those ridiculous chainsaw dudes. And I really don't care for Haunted Houses. These aversions may also be due to the fact that both places are generally infested with high school kids acting dumb, which I get enough of at work. :)

{eight} are you superstitious?

Sort of. I'm not super superstitious, but I do knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, say rabbit rabbit, etc.

{nine} have you ever owned a black cat?

Yes, one of my favorite kitties, Ralphie. He was the sweetest cat.

{ten} what are you plans for this coming Halloween?

We are heading over to a friend's house for a Halloween Party. It should be fun! I'd like to hope that we'll get Trick or Treaters, but we've only had two ever in the six years we've been in the house, so I don't think I'll worry about it this year.

More on Gilbert and Eat, Pray, Love

I saw this video on Ted.org which if you have not been to that website...GO! NOW! It's amazing. Anyway, I saw this right after I finished the book, and it just made me love Gilbert even more. I really like this idea... makes me feel a little better when I'm struggling with my own writing and creativity.




And.... just in case you hadn't seen it yet. The trailer for Eat, Pray, Love the movie. Which stars Julia Roberts (who I love) and is coming out this summer. I never have high hopes for a movie that has been adapted from a book, but we'll see. It looks like it has potential at least.
And... despite my best web-editing efforts, I can't the the video to scale to the proper size. So, if you know how to fix said problem, leave me a comment. Otherwise, I guess, just deal with it. :)

The past oh.... two months

Well, I hadn't really realized quite how long I'd been away from the blog. So much for my grand plan of blogging at least four days a week. Ugh. I don't really have any specific stories or grand excuses for my absence. Life has just been a little insane.

School started back in mid-August and that definitely took some getting used to. I'm really not a morning person, so having to get up at about 5 to get to work just doesn't cut it for me. I'd much rather stay up until 3 or so and roll out of bed around noon. Unfortunately, school doesn't start at noon. :( Overall the transition back to work has been okay. I've been pretty exhausted and feeling stressed trying to get a handle on my job, but things seems to be calming down a little bit. I'm a literacy coach at a high school, which means that I monitor and teach students who are not reading at grade level. Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone really doing that job full time previously, so all of the files and data were a mess. It definitely took a while to organize it all and get into the swing of working. The kids have been decent and I generally like it, though I much prefer staying home and writing.

In writing news... well, nothing has really happened. I haven't been working on the book. I was working on revising a short story, but that has also fallen to the wayside in recent weeks. I'm really hoping to get back into writing this weekend and in the coming weeks. I just haven't felt inspired. I'm definitely questioning whether I have the chops to really be an author. Feeling a little depressed and down on myself about it... but I suppose all writers go through that. I'm just not sure if I'm good enough. No way to find out though unless I actually finish something and get it out there. Alas... I really wish some one or some thing from on high could just tell me if I should keep going or just quit now. Meh. I've also been half considering an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing. I definitely don't have the time or money to do either, but the thought is nice. I guess I just want some outward assurance that I'm on the right track, that I have some talent and might actually get published. Something...

Knitting has also been rather slow. I finished up the Sleepy Monkey baby blanket and gave that to Andrew's cousins. I have a few other projects that just need to get finished, but I've been working on knitting mittens and hats for Boulder's homeless resource center The Carriage House instead. They're pretty quick and it's satisfying to get something done. I have a couple of friends who are having babies in the spring though, so I'm going to need to come up with some more baby projects.

In reading news, I finished Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon. I'll post on that next week. I've also been reading the 2008 Best American Short Stories. I may or may not report on those. We'll see if I can find a non-irritating way to review a collection of stories. I'm still working on The Writer's Journey and plan to read another Chabon. Probably Kavalier and Klay.

Other than the general stress and self doubt, life is going okay. I might be having some eye surgery. I meet with the doctor again on Tuesday. If so, I'll definitely post on that since my own research into the subject has yielded little in the way of anecdotes. More to come Monday, when I hope to return to a semi-regular posting schedule... but we've all seen how that goes. :)

I am Awesome :)

Dana just took the What are you born to do? quiz.

Best at Everything: You are the social person who makes useful contacts. You introduce important people to influencial people and always reap some sort of reward as a result... but you dont enjoy the spotlight as much. You prefer to stay in the back as there is more room to stretch and you like the feeling that you are the one with the power and most of the time that is true... You will do well in almost any field. You know how to flatter without being too obvious and you can make just about anyone like you!



Fantastic... if Facebook tells me I'm awesome, it must be so. :)