Want a free movie??

Are you a movie buff? Watch a lot of movies? Then it's safe to say that you may have already known about the awesome-ness that is

But just in case you've been under a rock....I've got a great deal for you! Clicking here will take you to a special link that RedBox helped me create. If you click on the link and it's your first time renting online, they'll give you a free one-night online rental credit. And I'll get a free rental each time you rent via my link through 3/17/11.

Reserving movies online is the way to go! Putting in your zip code will pull up a list of all of the kiosks local to you. Once you select the one you'd like to go to, you can then view the movies that are currently available at that location. As you are confirming your reservation, they then ask for your credit card information to hold the DVD for you to pick up. Your card is not charged until you go to the kiosk to receive the DVD. But don't forget the card you used.  At the redbox, touch "Online Reservation Pickup," swipe your credit card and go!

What are you waiting for?? The movies await!!

Knitting: Not just for grandma anymore!

Being a housewife that does not work, I have a lot of free time on my hands. And while I know quite a few women that would kill for just a little bit of free time to themselves, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Don't get me wrong, I've been on the other side as well. At our last duty station, I did work outside the home and felt like I never had enough time to do anything else. But for now, I am fortunate enough to spend my time at home.

With that being said, it got to a point recently that it was just too much time. I had nothing to do. When we first moved here, I had gone on a decorating, recycling, painting etc spree. I have all the walls covered with my creations, with no room for anything else. (I already feel like it's a little cluttered as is. I didn't need to add to it)

So in my fits of boredom, I brainstormed ideas that could get me into something new. A friend of mine had started learning how to knit a few months before, and I got to thinking about it. I hadn't ever tried to learn or had anyone to teach me. But it didn't stop me from looking up videos on YouTube. You can just about anything and everything on there, I swear!  Without boring you with all the details, long story short is that I got hooked. My first project was a simple garter stitch scarf on straight needles. I just didn't know what it was called at the time. All I knew was that I was knitting row after row after row.

But enough of the talky talk...I'll get to pictures. To limit the sheer amount, I'll add them in collage and then describe below. You know...cause I can't seem to stop talking....ever!

1. My very first knitted project.
2. a set of cabled wristlets to try doing cable stitches. It was so much easier than I had ever imagined. As
    long as you have the right supplies
3. a hat for my daughter, first one made with circular needles. The only problem was that it got too small to
   finish on the circular needles, so for the first time I transferred the work to double pointed needles (dpns),
   and some where in the process I messed up and knitted the opposite of what I needed. That's the reason
   for the large pom pom to help hide the mistake ;) Lesson learned
4.my first of many newborn hats. This one was sent to our friends in NC that are expecting their first little
   one!
5. more newborn experience, this time for friends expecting baby #3...along with a custom designed onesie
   with their nickname for the baby while still in the "oven"
6. a girly colorful number made for a friend's toddler...fit for a little one that already loves to accessorize.
    LOVE it!
7. living with my husband, I knew that I needed to attempt to make a New York Yankees hat. Thankfully
    after some advice from the owner of www.verypink.com I got the results you see. (this was attempt #3)
8. After making #6, I knew I couldn't leave out her older brother. And he loves loves loves Yo Gabba
    Gabba.
9. Yet another newborn hat. This one was shipped out to Virginia to some friends that unexpectedly had to
    move. They had been stationed here, and she had become my thrift shopping buddy. I was sad to see
    them go. But they are also expecting their first baby girl. And she's the first in line of my 4 friends to 
    deliver. I can NOT wait to see pics of this little one!

There you have it. The abridged version of my last 2-3 months. I am by no means anywhere close to an expert knitter. And I guess that's why I felt like I didn't have much business blogging about my creations.

Ok, I must go. I'm off to start on the last of the newborn hats. Love it!!

The world for a pen!

I'm sure all of you can understand this next scenario. You get a phone call. The person on the other end has some information to give you, that needs to be written down before you forget. Oh crap! Where, where, WHERE is a pen???  I grew tired of the hide and seek game that all the pens in our house was playing. When coming across a pen randomly laid out on our counter, or table, or floor, or laundry room, I would then walk it over to the side table in our living room. We have our couches in an L shape with a large square table in the corner. After a while I had gotten quite the collection. So much so that it was taking over and looking way too cluttered. But what to do with them all? I still wanted them to be accessible, but not neccesarily in the large heap pile they were in at the time.

The solution came to me in the kitchen. I was at the sink, cleaning out several items intended for the recycling bin. For supper the night before we had opened two cans of peas. And the cans looked like a perfect container for all the pens I had accumulated. So once the insides of the cans were clean, I then tore the labels off.

But they still needed a little something else. Don't you agree?

And yes, that is one HUGE pen there in the middle. My daughter bought it from a Mother's Day fundraiser at her school. What's that? You'd like to see it? I knew you'd ask ;)

All together now...awwww! I'm so loved

So I'd love to say that I covered the metal cans right away. My original thought was to cover them in scrapbooking paper, and scrapbooking embellishments. Lord knows I have enough laying around. But for some reason the task of measuring and cutting the paper was more than I felt I wanted to take on at the time. So there they say..in the metal cans for about a week.

Just as I was about to give in to the measuring and cutting of paper, another idea hit me. I still had some burlap leftover from my table runner for my tv stand that I could use, as well as some leftover fabric from another art piece.

I don't have pictures of the process of putting the cans together. Sorry, bad blogger! But I do have the after shots.

The first one is covered with some brown fabric, a little piece of webbing leftover from the same table runner, and a set aside piece from an old necklace.

I used my handy dandy glue gun to attach each of the fabrics to the can, with the seams lining up in the back. It still needed a little more embellishment. And what's better than using something you already have? I had bought a necklace a couple years ago, but never liked the tassel the hung from it. I had removed it before wearing the necklace, but didn't want to part with it.

I ran a piece of embroidery thread around the can to hang it from.

As for the second can, I wanted to go with something a little "frillier". I felt like the one above felt a little structured, so I wanted to soften the other one a little. It got covered with the burlap, white ribbon, and some white felt.

After seeing these felt pom pom flower type things all over blogland, I had been wanting to make one. I just hadn't had the right place or reason. It was perfect for this situation. Opposite of the first can, I left the unfinished seam in the front. I wanted to be able to see the fringe left on the top and seam. I then ran some white ribbon around the can with the seam also in the front so that it could be covered by the felt.

And there you have it. Recycled vegetable cans into functional but pretty pen and cord organization.

Pay no attention to the layer of dust on the lamp. Geez, what was I thinking??

But you get the idea. Now when I get those phone calls, I know exactly where to go for something to write with. No more hide and seek playing with the pens. Now just if the paper would come out of it's hiding, I'd be golden. It never ends!

DIY table runner, on a budget

After putting away Christmas decorations, it always feels so bare in the house. At least at mine anyway. While decorating for the holidays, I came across a festive table runner that I had forgotten all about. Yes.....had forgotten all about when I had just purchased and used it last year. I know, pathetic...but what can I say? Moving will do that to ya.

Remember this?

The placement of the runner sort of was an accident, but I loved having something under the tv so that it wasn't just a bare cabinet underneath.

So I set out in search of an everyday option. I looked at several stores and just wasn't finding anything that appealed to me. There were lacy numbers...bleh. Stripes...again.bleh. Florals..uh uh. I'm not quite sure why it took me so long to get to my next conclusion. Why not just make my own? Oh that's right...cause

I DON'T SEW!

So what is a non-sew-er (it looked strange w/o the dash) to do in times like this? Turn to blogland for inspiration of course.

I've seen so many neat projects others bloggers have done using burlap, and even seen Nate Burkus endorse it on his show.That's it!

Today I set out in search of the burlap. Not knowing my way around the fabric section, I had to ask for help finding it. They had light brown, tan, white, black, sage, and hunter green. I had given thought to some green to add a little color, but really liked the natural raw look of the natural brown. But oh crap! I forgot to measure the cabinet top before I left. So I got 2 yards just in case. And thank goodness!

I had more than I needed, but 1 yard would have some up short. That just means I'll have some leftover to use on other things...yippee!

I then eyeballed about how long I wanted the sides to hang off..

And then made a cut. Of course as soon as the scissors made the first cut, I realized that I was cutting into the unwrinkled end of the burlap. Crap. I could have easily cut off the other end so that I didn't have to iron it. Oh well...ya live and learn. It was too late at that point.

After cutting off one end, I folded the material in half lengthwise to cut the width to the correct size. I'm horrible at cutting a straight line, so I wanted to lessen the length I'd have to cut. The burlap was a little hard for my scissors to cut through since it was 4 layers thick, but they also have a hard time with paper..lol. So I cut 2 layers at a time up to a point, and then followed with the same cut on the remaining layers, making sure to follow the same line as the first cut. (That made sense in my head. Hope the picture helps)

It was than time to fray the edges. Here is where I'd like to give first time users of burlap a little piece of advice. Do not sit on the floor, in dark jeans while fraying the edges of burlap. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

It gets messy. Just sayin.

But it's worth it. It has the natural look I was going for and has just enough color to be a good backdrop for other decor. Oh and it's CHEAP! At only $3.99/yard, you can't go wrong.

Oh yea, and I also bought a couple yards of burlap webbing. I had originally planned to wrap it around a few vases, but the burlap needed something a little more to go along with it. But at 79cents/yard, I can easily go back for more.

I've had this frame for only a whole year and a half, and just now filling it with pictures. I love when projects motivate me to finish others. It's sat in a box, unfilled until now. (Bought from Michael's some time last year cause I HAD to have it....yep)

On the left are 2 of 3 whiffle balls from the 99cent store covered in hot glue and jute string. I love all the ideas you can find for cheap. Decor balls can get so pricey!

On top of this thrift store book find, is a glass piece that belonged to my grandmother. On our most recent trip to Indiana for Thanksgiving, my dad got some of her things out of their storage. I didn't see a lot that I could envision using in our house, but this way too cute to pass up. In person it looks almost like lace. I had originally thought it would make a great landing place for jewelry while doing dishes.

Not bad for a little over $10 right?

The tv doesn't look so bare anymore :)