No Bake Desserts

You know when recipes are all "ready in 5 minutes no baking needed!" those are the kind of bandwagons I jump on. If an oven is involved there is about a 90% chance the brownies are coming out hard as rocks. It's just one of those special gifts I have. This is similar to my inability to grow plants, I can put all of the right ingredients in there but somehow the cilantro will still die sooner than it is grown. REGARDLESS, I'm giving it another shot this year...In hopes that next year I will figure out how to grow a garden (third time's the charm!)....Also I had a fortune cookie that once said I had a green thumb, so I'm just out there trying to prove it right!

 

SO, here is a "5 minutes no watering needed" project! It's a terrarium, and they are all the rage these days. SO, first I stopped at Goodwill for a nice vase for  fitty cents. And was all "this is going to be the cheapest project ever!!"

 

THEN....I went to HD and bought the succa's (I bought agave and some other cool looking creature, around 3$ a pop). On my way out I needed to grab some rocks, because these succas like their filtration. I've also seen these terrariums made with just dirt, but each of my succas said to use rocks...

 

First of all, whoever is making money selling ROCKS, genius. HOWEVER, no I will NOT spend ten bones to buy them from you. So the succas sat in their crates for a week until the SNOW melted. Then I went out into nature and found rocks FOR FREE. #winning.

 

FINALLY, I was able to assemble my 5 minute miracle.

 

Step 1: Add rocks, big/med/small at the bottom of the vase

 

 

Step 2: Add a layer of dirt on top, leaving room for the succas

 

 

Step 3: assemble the succas!

 

You'll only need to spray this with water just to keep the soil a little moist, if it gets soggy you've added too much. This has been planted for a few weeks and I am happy to report they are still alive!

 

I hope everyone is having a splendid mother day! Shout out to mi madre, possibly the only one reading this...Love you!

 

 

 





Embrace the Imperfection

So, if you have read more than one of my posts, you may know that I enjoy making gifts for people. You know instead of buying them things they want/need I make them completely useless items. They love it, just ask them! Ha...

  

Lil sis went all 22 on us a few weeks ago, so I decided to take a little trip to Goodwill and see what I could muster up. The victims: A scratched painting of... Italy? and some of that drawer covering adhesive (yup, that's the technical term). The idea was to do an inverse painting...I made that term up so perhaps I should just show you the damage.

So I printed out what I wanted to inverse on the canvas. Lil sis turns ingredients into pure gold cupcakes, so I thought this was a fitting quote....

Materials, holler.

First I got rid of the beautiful painting of Italy with a solid coat of grey/gray (will SOMEONE explain the difference of these two words... no? Good, because there isn't one. I prefer Gray, if you cared)

Started with the Ombre look, you know it's so fetch

Whilst that dried, I tediously cut out each letter...which took roughly a coons age per letter

And then I was all....

Ah, Sweet Brown, you are so wise. 

Change of plans, went crazy on the colors and cut out a deer. The obvious next move...

This is what it's supposed to look like, but the Inverse...get it? So I painted grAy over the entire thing, leaving the deer sticker in place.

Unfortunately, homie didn't coat the gray on thick enough, started running late for said sister's birthday dinner, and pulled the trigger making it a faint deer....Below is a photoshopped version of more of what I was going for. Win some you lose some.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day Everyone! I'd recommend some parks to clean up, or fun outdoor activities... BUT its going to snow tonight (said between a fake smile)! Lets just hibernate a few more days and hope the weather peeps aren't lying about Saturday!

 

Although I love a good earth shot on earth day, I think the details of this place we inhabit are a beaut as well.

Have a good Monday!

Unsponsored post by George Washington.

Alternate title to my URL:
JennBlogsHereSometimes.com

I like to blame other things (read: inanimate objects) for my actions.

"The toaster burnt my bagel!" the fact that I left the room and forgot about said bagel for 5 minutes had nothing to do with burning a bagel.

So, to push the blogblame on something else: THE WEATHER.  boom.

I would go into details about how it's April and it's snowing which is COMPLETELY illegal after spring cleaning (occurred last weekend)...but I won't. You can go to Twitter/Facebook/Insta for your daily dish of complaints.

INSTEAD. I want to talk about something completely UNRELATED to any topic I have discussed before

In a land far far away...

MAINLY because all of my project are sitting in a now FREEZING garage waiting for some love. Snow days are great for strapping myself to a chair sifting through my 50 page thesis for the 5th time (force fake smile), so no, I won't be putting on the snow pants in the name of DIY...this time. And I know if I try to carry the shelving unit I built BACK up the deck stairs, I will fall, it will break, and it will be the stair's fault.

SO, Today's Topic, Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior

Why?!

Because I think we need a little refresher course on how to be polite in the 1500's. A few reasons why: I caught myself getting SUPER angry during traffic (who doesn't), which is something I actively try to avoid and not affect my mood. And second, the language from that era makes me chuckle. So lets take a looksee into how we 'SHOULD' be acting...but are doing the exact opposite.

http://www.anotha.com/f19/rap-lyrics-in-proper-english-t67186/

Mind on my money and my money on my miiiiiiiind (these are rap lyrics mom)

Ahem, back the The Rules:

A sampling of my favorite....


When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usually Discovered.

via

Caught ya buddy!

If You Cough, Sneeze, Sigh, or Yawn, do it not Loud but Privately; and Speak not in your Yawning, but put Your handkerchief or Hand before your face and turn aside.

A Burp isn't included in this...does that make it legit or were burps not invented in the 1500's?

When you Sit down, Keep your Feet firm and Even, without putting one on the other or Crossing them.

Shift not yourself in the Sight of others nor Gnaw your nails.

Shake not the head, Feet, or Legs roll not the Eyes lift not one eyebrow higher than the other wry not the mouth, and bedew no mans face with your Spittle, by approaching too near him when you Speak.


The only person in history to accomplish these 3 tasks:

 Via

Read no Letters, Books, or Papers in Company but when there is a Necessity for the doing of it you must ask leave: come not near the Books or Writings of Another so as to read them unless desired or give your opinion of them unasked also look not nigh when another is writing a Letter.

Uhh, whoopsie libraries...

via


When you see a Crime punished, you may be inwardly Pleased; but always show Pity to the Suffering Offender.

Via

We all failed at that one...

Do not laugh too loud or too much at any Public Spectacle.


via

Read: Everyone's college years/ still my life.

In visiting the Sick, do not Presently play the Physician if you be not Knowing therein.

This applies to you WebMD!

Eat not in the Streets, nor in the House, out of Season.

So...uh, what if it's raining Georgy? What, you didn't have RAIN?!... or SNOW in April?!

This must have been the diet back then...."Well its August and Raining, can't eat outside, will have to wait until tomorrow" They might say Morrow...idk jk lol brb


Be not immodest in urging your Friends to Discover a Secret.


Via


While you are talking, Point not with your Finger at him of Whom you Discourse nor Approach too near him to whom you talk especially to his face.

Via

Via
Georgy is rolling in his grave each time I watch Real House Wives.

Entertaining any one at the table, it is decent to present him with meat; Undertake not to help others undesired by the Master.

I wonder how a vegetarian would take this one...


via

Also, does this meat have to be cooked?



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This was an unsponsored post by George Washington, all opinions are his, the jokes were mine. We'll go halvsies.

SheSellsSeaShells

What an awesome business plan, if I lived closer to the ocean i'd totes do it. FREE materials (shells) and a hot glue gun...girl can move mountains. Well, mountains made out of sand but whatever. Anywho, so last week I was all "I'm going to Florida"...

  

  

But more on that later. Let's talk about Sea Shell Art. But not the kind you find at a South Florida Church's Shell Art show, just ask my father #notimpressed. We like to keep it classy up north. So, I took a few walks along the beach and collected some Jangle shells, google it. They are subtle, but gorgeous glistening shells and I wanted them allllllll (said in the voice of the purple girl (Veronica?...10 points for knowing her name...) from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory).

p.s I collected them in a water bottle for safe keeping #genius. TSA can't mess with MY shells.

At first I wasn't sure which scrap wood i'd use. One square, one rectangle, or two rectangles. After sorting out the shells, the square seemed like a simple design that would put the shells front and center. 

I wanted to go for an ombre look. 

Side note: i'm pretty sure the ombre is a direct correlation with the recession. What your hair dye is growing out?! Your jeans are fading?! Let's just make it  fashionable so people won't need to spend more money. It's genius,  and I love it.  

Anywho, my shells will be fading from gray to yellow to white, as those were the colors I collected.

Since the wood was stained (left over from this project) I wanted to give it a fresh coat, make it feel all special and such. I went with gray to not over power the shells, and had some left over terra cotta paint which gave it a nice texture.

I also added a D-ring hook to the back for hanging...and plugged in the 'ol hot glue gun to get 'er done.

Then I started...my method? Quick and Dirty.

I sorted out the shells in a gradient so i'd just have to grab a new shell. Some I played with a bit to make sure they would fit, others I applied the hot glue and randomly placed them. It's not a science people.

I love the texture and colors that come from the shells. I also love that this piece of art is a reminder of my favorite vacationing spot: Marco Island. It seems whenever I would go on vacation as a child i'd come home with little trinkets from the area...keychains, picture frames, shot glasses...But those would soon find their way into a junk drawer. When I went to Nice last summer I collected some sea glass and put it in a jar, its a great way to remember a trip without spending money

Now, if only that Florida weather came back with the shells, i'd be one happy girl! Also, I think we need to get ourselves a new groundhog...has this guy EVER been right?

Happy Thursday People!

Binding a Book

Today we are going to talk about #5, which I first showed you here. This little gem was given to me a few weeks ago by my Grandpa. He wrote various books/articles/journals in his day (Here is his latest!) and would bind the documents himself using this contraption. 

COOL HUH! So, I made a little calendar for some friends for Christmas and thought i'd bind her myself! BUT JENN, how do you have time? Multitasking whilst listening to Lecture?! #thankgoditakeclassesonline

First things first, Kinkos needs to figure out full bleed printing. It's their job to print things, so you'd think they'd have it figured out. But they don't. After 10 minutes of the rude lady behind the counter telling me she wouldn't be able to get the cuts right on the line (again, isn't this your job?!) the perfectionist in me cut them myself #stickittotheman

Then came the fun part, binding them. I'll let the pictures take ya through the process...they are better with words than I am...

 

 

 

Then you can hang it on a light switch! haha, I didn't have a nail dug yet for my copy...still working on a little room decor in the 'ol chambers gimmeabreak.