The One With the More Doing

You may or may not have noticed I’ve been pretty absent as of late.

I’m not sure if it’s too nerdy or just nerdy enough to admit I really miss blogging, but I do. A lot.

In fact I shared that fact with a friend recently*, as we crafted up some fall decorations and a random jewelry holder I’ve been slated to make for my sister since July.

 

It felt good to finally give some projects a try, to get my hands in some glue. It felt really good.

 

I’m not sure what it is about this Summer* (So yea; I wrote this in August!), but I've spent much of it worrying that I’m somehow behind.

Like I should probably have accomplished a lot by now, but all I’ve really done is waste most of the Summer incessantly perusing Pinterest and blowing up Instagram (and watching old Friends episodes on Nick at Night... how weird is that?).

 

It’s too late to go back and do things differently, I know that of course. But I can still kick my butt into high gear… to soak up every last bit of this lovely (but unbelievably sweaty) season, and of course, to get around to Do-It-Myselfing at least some of those crafty projects I’ve been pinning.

 

Craft Night inspired me to finally start doing the stuff I've been putting off, like gluing together Goodwill plates and saying "hi" to my poor, neglected little cyber space.

I hope you can handle seeing a few more projects around here for the next little bit. (Eyeroll as necessary guys!)

 

I don’t want to sound too much like a Home Depot commercial, but I think this is my “More Doing” post.

The one where I challenge myself to start tackling (long overdue) projects and to enjoy late night strolls and guzzle iced tea and wear flip flops … while I still can, before Summer completely passes me by.

And, for those of you interested, we used three Pinterest ideas for our girls' night/Craft Night.

1.) Giada's Pesto Pasta for dinner. (Cleavage not included with recipe.)

2.) DIY Decoupage Glue. (That's right, we made our own "glue.")

3.) Plate Stand/Jewelry Holder.

 

And here are the verdicts on the projects.

1.) This is a bold-flavored pasta. If you love avocado and basil you'll like it. Plus, I made it unsupervised which means it's simple enough for even a novice cook. You will need a great blender or a food processor though!

Tips: Choose dark, soft (but not mushy) avocadoes. Minced, cannged garlic is perfect. We always substitute spinach for the arugala. It's a bit milder flavor and super nutritious. Feel free to choose almost any nut you like in lieu of the pine nuts. (We've tried it with almonds, peanuts and pistachios and all worked well.)

 

2.) This project came out of pure desperation. I invited my friend to come over and decoupage (yes, I'm that cool!) then realized I didn't have any decoupage glue. Instead of driving 15 minutes (one way) to pick some up, we walked to the dollar store then made our own.

Mix equal parts Elmer's glue and water in a sealable container, stir well and voila! You have decoupage glue that's actually less irritatingly sticky than the expensive stuff at the craft store.

My friend and I both liked this version better, as it was easier to work with (without getting stuck to the project), less expensive AND far more matte. The newspaper we used looked almost untouched when we were finished, as opposed to the gloppy and slightly shiny finish that generally occurs with the store-bought kind.

 

3.) Choose a handful of cheap dishes that stack well. Use E600 or an equally super glue to stick them together and you've got yourself a pretty jewelry stand. Or, if you opt to stack only one plate on each cup you can create cute mini cake stands! Martha recently ran an entire article about how to create your own stands with three methods... she said if you use hot gun glue instead you can take the dishes apart as desired.

Comments

[Allison]

That top plate.... I have those! And I like your robot!