Winter Coffee Filter Wreath

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and got to spend time with family and friends. I am so thankful to have been able to spend time with family I don't get to see very often.

However, now that Christmas is over, I'm back at home and trying to figure out ways to spend the last few days of break before starting our Cardiology course next Tuesday.

I also dread having to take down all of my Christmas decorations, mainly because my apartment is going to be boring again. So I put two and two together and ended up with today's project: the coffee filter wreath. And to be honest, I'm rather obsessed with it, so I decided to tell you how to make your own.

Supplies:

Wreath form - I cut a circle out of leftover foam board

Two packs of 160 count regular white coffee filters

Glue gun

5+ glue sticks

Snowflake ornaments - I got mine in the Christmas clearance section of Target

A large marker or glue stick

*The letters I cut with my Cricut and covered with glitter

How to:

Take a coffee filter and stand your glue stick/marker in the center

Wrap the coffee filter around the marker/glue stick

Dab hot glue on the bottom tip and stick to the foam board

I was able to fit 4 across the width of my wreath form

Repeat this 275-300 times

This can get a little boring, so somewhere in the middle it looks like this

Make sure you glue them as close as possible for the 'full' look

Arrange your snowflake ornaments (and letters if you use them) however you like and hot glue on

And you're finished! Now you have a beautiful wreath to help liven up dreary winter :)

What do you think? :)

DIY Ornaments

I cannot believe it's Christmas Eve. At all.

But it is Christmas Eve, nontheless, and my future in-laws always do their extended family Christmas get-together on Christmas Eve. I've been the past few years and they always have gifts for me while I just show up empty handed. So this year, I wanted to do something special for them. 

I saw these browsing through Pinterest one day and I thought they would be a decent gift that didn't break the bank and I got to be crafty in the process. That's a win-win if you ask me.

So, that's exactly what I did.

If you want to make your own, here's what you need:

Your Cricut and vinyl in preferred colors

*Stickers may work in the place of vinyl if you don't own a Cricut

Clear or Frosted blank ornaments

Wired Ribbon

*I was going to use my circle cutter that you see in the picture to make polka dots, but my Cricut did that for me

I cut the letters and circles out with my Cricut and applied them to the ornament the way I liked. Then, I cut a small piece of ribbon to tie around the top. And that's it. Really, it's that easy.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Scrapbook Paper Tree

So, not only is it awesome that I have time to craft my heart out for two weeks, but my mom has also jumped on the craft train. Like, has taken control of it. It's almost scary. Especially if you know my mom. She doesn't typically like crafts. Ever. But the craft flu apparently hit her hard this season.  

She even found the craft that I am posting about today. (The tutorial is here)

A few hours of bonding later (and a few mumbled curses from mom about clay pots being hard to paint, her star being too hard to glitter and her tree being crooked) we finally got to the finished product.

I'm such a proud daughter. (Mom's is the little one)
:)

First Semester

I've completed my first semester of medical school

And I couldn't be more relieved

I also couldn't be more ecstatic for all of the things I have time to do over the next two weeks

I'll keep you updated. And rest assured that there will be craft posts in the future!

Reindeer Cupcakes

I can't remember if I told you this or not (so I'm going to tell you again), but we have had several pharmacology cases over the past few weeks.

And for some reason, I decided it was a good idea to bring cupcakes for my group every time we had a case. So, since we had another one yesterday, I brought more cupcakes.

Except, this one was our last, so I decided to make them festive for the holidays. And, once again, everyone was impressed for some reason.

So for this post, I am going to show you that you don't have to be cupcake-competent to make these little babies.

What you need:

Box of chocolate cake mix

Chocolate icing

Hard pretzals

Vanilla wafers

White candies for the eyes (I used York pieces)

Red and brown candy pieces for the nose (M&Ms)

Black icing for the pupils and a small round tip to attach

Steps:

Bake your cupcakes (follow the box directions - not hard, promise)

Let them cool

Frost with a butterknife (also not hard - no fancy frosting tip needed)

Add a vanilla wafer to on side of your cupcake

Dab a little frosting onto the side of the M&M with the writing on it and stick it on the middle of the vanilla wafer (disclaimer: this may be the hardest part....)

Add two white candies for the eyes

Take your black decorating icing and dab a small spot on each white piece for the pupils

(I made them all a little different)

I think this may tie with the nose step for the hardest part...

Then, add two pretzals for the antlers and you have some cute, festive cupcakes that everyone will be amazed by!

Oh, for the record, at the time I was making these, I honestly thought there were 12 reindeer and that I was being super creative for making only 1 Rudolph. (Don't ask me why, but I honestly thought this for a decently short time). But once I sang the song (AFTER I had made them), I realized there are really only 9. So, whatever. Knowing how many reindeer there are doesn't exactly take priority on my knowledge list. Maybe it will after my test Friday.

DIY Festive Garland

Today, I have another DIY Christmas craft for you

But before I show you, I ask you not to make fun of my Christmas "mantel."
(I live in an apartment, and I have to make do with a shelf instead of a real one.) That's also why I'm obsessed with this craft. It kind of gives it that "real mantel" feel. :)

But anyways, I decided to make my own "garland" instead of just buying an itchy pine one and trying to string lights around it. BORING. I found a post on Pinterest where someone took a strand of lights and tied pieces of tulle around the strand. I decided to take this idea and run with it, except instead of tulle, I used regular fabric.

And this is what I came up with.

Yes that is my kitchen in the background.

Supplies:

Pack of Christmas lights ( I used white)

Scissors

A yard (total) of different festive fabrics

A roll of thin ribbon (I chose gold glitter ribbon)

Steps:

Unwind your light strand.

Cut your fabric and ribbon into 6 inch strips.  I wanted mine pretty short, but if you want a longer look then cut them longer!

Then, take one strip, fold it in half, loop it around the light strand and pull the two ends through the loop. (You could also tie the strand in a knot, but I liked the other look better).

Alternate the different fabrics and your ribbon throughout the strand. This part is very time consuming and considering I don't have a lot of time, I only did half of the strand and twined the other half through the finished half. If you do the whole strand, you need more than a yard of fabric.

This is super easy, but it does take a little time.

Here's a close up of my final product.

14 days until Christmas!

Christmas Charger

So, remember my Thanksgiving charger?

Well, my mom apparently liked it enough that she asked me to make her a Christmas one.

So that's what I did.

(And then I made me one too)

I've already told you how to make one! (here)

So go make one :)



Oh, and if you didn't already know, it's Friday!!

Stocking Holder

So, it's been a little while since I posted. Sorry about that. Not a lot has been going on.  Just a lot of studying Microbiology. Pretty sure I won't be an infectious disease doctor. But what do I know. I will give it the benefit of the doubt.  This stuff is actually okay compared to the Immunology we just got finished with.. Bleh.

The fact that Christmas is steadily approaching is causing my dear friend, Motivation, to hide from me. I think he already went home for the holidays. Haha...But really. That's okay though, at least Crafty has stuck around to keep me company.

I started decorating for Christmas after Thanksgiving break, and it wasn't until then that I realized my random decorations don't actually make a difference (except the tree).  I had a stocking, but no stocking holder. So, as you guessed it (and probably because you saw the title of this post), I am going to show you my DIY stocking holder.

It's not great, but it will do for now.

And it's ANOTHER Mod-Podge craft. Go figure.

Supplies:

2 pieces of scrap wood

Mod-Podge (d'oh)

A paint color

Paint brush

Foam brush

E6000 or wood glue

Paper

Letter of your first name

(chipboard or sticker - I used my Cricut)

A hook

(got mine in the Walmart hardware section - they screw in)

Paint your wood pieces in a preferred color
Cut your paper down to size and Mod-Podge on your top piece
Stick on your letter with glue or Mod-Podge
Glue the top wood piece to the bottom piece
Screw your hook into the front of the bottom piece
Hang your stocking on the hook!

:)
Stay tuned for more Christmas crafts!

Thanksgiving and Other Randoms

So, you remember how I mentioned the med school thieves?
I know I told you I would give you more of the story, but really, there is nothing more to it. I brought my Mountain Dew to school, put it in the fridge, went to grab it when I was desperately in need of caffeine, but it was gone. And I never figured out who took it. RUDE.

Before I tell you about my Thanksgiving break, I want to give you a recap of my run in with not-so-pleasant policemen a couple days before my test.

Here I was, on my way home from a rather early night of studying.

Apparently 12:30 am is really late to cops, but I beg to differ. But anyways.

As I was making my 7 minute drive from my second home (Volker Hall), I came upon some flashing blue lights. Note to self, if you see blue lights anywhere in Birmingham, make sure to take a detour before getting any closer.  Those blue lights ended up being a roadblock, and apparently 12:30 is too late of a bedtime for this girl.

So I stopped, the cop walks up to my car shining his flashlight right in my eyes.

I must make note, he seemed to be was extremely skeptical about my car, but just because you have a crack in your windshield doesn't mean you're selling Schedule 1 drugs or headed to beat someone. Promise.

Policeman: "Did you just drive by here a little while ago?"

Me: "No sir, I did not."

Policeman: "Do you have your license?"

Me: "Yes sir"

(Fumbles for wallet and shakily hands license to p-man)

Policeman: "Maylene? What are you doing out here so far from Maylene?"

Me: "That's where my family lives. I live in an apartment up here because I attend UASOM and I have been studying all night."

Policeman: "It's too late to be out, GO HOME."

(In the meanest voice I've ever been talked to in by someone that didn't know me)

Me: "Uh, yes sir."

I know. You're probably wondering. That's it? Yeah, that's it.

The moral of the story is: 12:30 is NOT too late for me to be out.

Where was this policeman when people were stealing my Mountain Dew out of the fridge. Sheesh.

On another note, Thanksgiving break was rather delightful. I spent Thanksgiving day with my family and then Friday I went to the fiance's family Thanksgiving. I ate a lot, regretted eating as much as I did, and relaxed as much as humanly possible. I also continued the Black Friday shopping tradition and spent Thursday night shopping with the family. (Black Friday = shopping on Thursday? Still don't understand that.) Except this year it was different. Normally I only go for the cheap movies, but this time I wanted to get a special present. I got to Walmart at 9:00 and pretty much walked out as soon as I walked in. So my sister and I headed over to Target and waited in line, outside, in the cold, for 2 and a half hours. However, our patience failed to pay off and I walked away from Black Friday empty handed. (That's never happened.) At least Target gave us maps and free Luna bars. Target > Walmart

That was pretty much the extent of my break. Now I must make it through this last 3 week stretch until I can relax again. I can't believe I'm almost done with my first semester of med school.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

On Halloween, I made cupcakes for my study group/friends and my ICM group.

(ICM is our Intro to Clinical Medicine course where we learn how to take patient histories, communicate effectively, etc.)

Anyways, those cupcakes turned out to be a big hit, even though they were just boxed funfetti cupcakes with store-bought icing. So, for this week's meeting, I decided to make some homeade cupcakes to show them some real skills.
Okay, not really. I had just been eyeing a recipe I found online for these carrot cupcakes (mainly because the pictures of them are so pretty), and I finally decided I wanted to try them. 

Oh, and classmates make the perfect guinea pigs for taste-testing.  Well, they are more like vultures really.

You can probably imagine the amount of people that want to be my friend for a day when I bring cupcakes, especially since I have ~180 classmates and only 24 cupcakes - you do the math.

I just followed the recipe (linked above) and this is how they turned out

You'd be amazed at the number of med students who get impressed over "pretty" cupcakes and tell you that you should have opened a bakery instead of going to medical school.

Honestly guys, it's not that impressive. It's just some measly sprinkles.

I will admit, however, that they tasted pretty good.

But, no carrot cake will ever be as good as my grandma's.

:)

Happy Tuesday!



Gobble Til Ya Wobble

I've been on a roll this week, and by on a roll, I mean I have another craft for you guys. You feel spoiled yet?  You should, because instead of crafting, I really should have been studying.

But that's okay. Studying isn't as fun.

This was another easy craft.

And it involves Mod-podge.

Are you noticing a theme yet?

It's all I tend to have time for, so don't hate.

I found this idea on the one and only, Pinterest.  Like always.

It's perfect because I had everything I needed and it involved wood. I am just a little obsessed with wood crafts. Oh, and it's Thanksgiving decor!

Supplies:

3 pieces of scrap wood (8", 3", and 11")

Scrap paper

Mod-Podge and Foam brush

Paintbrush and paint to match your paper

Letters in your saying of choice (I used my cricut to cut them, but you could also use stickers)

Oh, I also had to use sandpaper to sand down my blocks because I cut them with a jigsaw.

• First, paint your blocks a solid color and let dry.
• Cut the background paper to the correct dimensions to fit the front of your blocks and adhere with Mod-podge.
• Adhere your letters to the top and brush 1-2 coats of Mod-podge on top.
• I also used my Cricut to cut out a turkey, but you can pretty much do whatever you want with this kind of craft.

And there you have it. Another easy DIY Thanksgiving decor craft.

12 days until turkey!

DIY Charger

I'm so excited it's officially the holiday season.

Except for some reason, people seem to have forgotten there is a holiday between Halloween and Christmas. It's called Thanksgiving guys. You know, that holiday where you give thanks, eat a lot of turkey, dressing, and hashbrown casserole, and then fall into a deep glucose-and-tryptophan-induced coma .

Yeah, now you remember, huh? Anyways, I didn't forget about it, and, as much as I can't wait for Christmas, I am trying to refrain from putting up all my Christmas decorations.

However, since I had to take down my Halloween decorations down (which, by the way, Halloween came and went faster than a witch on a broom), I wanted to decorate with something.  So, that leads me to what today's post is actually about.

Since I don't have a better name for it, I'm going to call this project DIY Thanksgiving Mod-Podged Charger.  That's kind of a mouthful, but whatever.

This took me about 2 minutes. Seriously.

Supplies:

Cheap plastic charger from a craft store

Some letters to spell out what you want it to say (I cut mine with my Cricut)

I also cut out some cute fall related shapes

Mod-podge and a foam paintbrush

I slathered some Mod-podge on and laid out the letters how I wanted them. Then slathered some more Mod-podge on. That's it. And voila, super easy Thanksgiving decor.

Can you tell I like projects that require Mod-podge?

Happy almost Thursday! :)

FUN 2

So, I don't know if I told you or not, but I started the second round of "fun" about 2 weeks ago.

Fundamentals 2.

So far, so good.

Actually, to be quite honest, it's been a lot better than the first round of fun.

I think it's because of this:

Okay, so probably not because of this.

It's just a decorated flashcard box.

But, hey, I will admit, it makes studying my flashcards a little more tolerable.

All I did was take my boring black 3"x5" flashcard box from Office Depot, cut some pretty paper to the correct dimensions and slathered on some Mod-Podge to make it stick.

Simple as that.

And now I have a cute little box to keep my millions of flashcards in.

I'm sure by the end of med school I'll have a whole rainbow of boxes (considering I've already filled up one box and this one is actually my second). Sigh.

Time to get back to paying attention.

Oh, and I almost forgot, how was your Halloween?

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone eats lots of candy today!

:)

BOO!

Last week while I was on Fall Break, I got to enjoy some quality craft time.

And, I got to enjoy it with a friend. Even better.

So, I wanted to show you guys our cute Halloween craft (before Halloween is over).



We had been searching like crazy for Halloween crafts on Pinterest prior to fall break and decided on one like this so we could break out the mod-podge.

However, the mod-podge turned out to be a bad idea when I dropped the bottle on the floor while trying to put the cap on.  It splattered all over my floor and jeans and I now have these lovely large white streaks all across my super-faux hardwood floor. But now, everytime I see them, I am reminded of the super-fun memories of our craft day! Too much? Yeah, probably.

Okay, so, if you want to have your own super-fun craft day and mod-podge adventures, then here's what you need:

• Wooden letters (what I used) or chipboard letters (what R used) - we spelled "BOO" but you could also do "EEK" or anything else really.We kept it simple.
• Mod-podge (we like the matte kind)
• Halloween scrapbook paper
• Paint (colors that match your paper)
• Paintbrush, x-acto knife or scissors, and a pencil
• Sticker embellishments

 What you do:

• Paint your letters
• Trace letters upside down on the opposite side of the paper that you want to show
• Cut letters out with x-acto knife (You can also use scissors, the x-acto knife just gives cleaner cuts)
• Brush a layer of mod-podge onto your letters and position the paper letters on top.
• Brush a layer on top of your paper. (I always let that layer dry and do another one)

So excited

Hard at work

R's almost finished letters

My finished letters

The bat is my favorite :)



Only 4 days until candy!

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

I told you guys in a past post that I had my first wedding project to show you.

And I do. I'm just slow. 

So for my first wedding project

....drum roll please....

I made cards to ask my bridesmaids

Okay, not really that exciting, but I wanted to do something a little more special than asking via facebook or text message.  Not to mention, we all like snail mail these days.

All I used was some scrapbook paper, ribbon, and little paper flowers you can buy at a craft store.

I also thought it would be cute to make the cards "propose" to them.  I found some really cute, cheap bow rings at Forever21 and the fact that they were bows meant I couldn't pass them up (because I am obsessed with bows and there will probably be bows everywhere at my wedding.)

Oh, and they all said YES

Only 352 days to go! :)