A Super quick and easy project: Boyfriend meets Boho shirt makeover

{making}

    As I was planning outfits and locations for our annual "fall pictures" I was looking for a new shirt for myself because I didn't want to wear anything that I currently had for the pictures.  I had originally thought I wanted a plaid shirt (we had decided to do the pictures in the Mountains on Skyline Drive and get another use out of our annual pass) and I even bought one, but then I was in the men's department of Walmart one day looking for something for my hubster and I found a shirt in a color I just loved (it's actually a little more towards aqua in person then it looks in these pictures).  It was solid color not plaid (which I decided would be better actually because my husband was wearing a plaid shirt and I thought the two plaids might not go as well together as I would have liked), and it was a man's shirt, but I really wanted it for the pictures.  So of course I knew it would just need  little makeover......

    Of course you can find probably a million hundred or more makeovers for men's shirts online, but this one is a little different, because most of them are taking an oversized shirt and making it more fitted for women in some way.  In this case I was buying the shirt new so I didn't nessicarily have to buy it too big.  But the problem with men's shirts (for me anyway) is that to get them to fit my shoulders and chest relatively well they are too tight across my hips and to get them to fit across my hips they are huge on my upper torso.  I had seen a pin on pinterest where someone had used a lace panel inserted into the side seem of a too tight tshirt to make it fit better, and I thought I would do something similar here.  And it was such a simple project that I ended up only taking one picture of the process......

    I started with a shirt that {basically} fit me up top (or course it's a men's shirt so it won't be perfect, but honestly for me women's shirt are rarely a perfect fit in the upper half either, and I do like that the men's shirts have a little more room in the upper arms). and of course as expected it was too tight across the hips

    The next step was to measure the distance between the shirts hem and my waist (or just slightly above) along the side seem of the shirt. Then all that's left to do is cut the side seem open from the hem of the shirt to the waist (using the measurement) and cut a triangle/wedge of lace (also using the waist to hem measurement) {I bought a quarter of a yard of the lace and that was more than enough... I did use the whole width though so if you want a really wide panel, especially if you wear a bigger size you might want to get a half a yard and cut it down}, pin the lace onto the outside of the shirt in the opening, overlapping the edges some, and sew it on.  (for a less Boho look you could also sew it so that the raw edges of both shirt and lace are to the inside, but 1: that's a little more complicated to pin in and sew, and 2: I actually had tried that first on this shirt and I didn't like the way it turned out (although I do think it would work on other shirts, I think it didn't look right on this one because of the way I cut the seem open because I cut on both sides of the original side seem), and of course repeat on the other side

    And voila! it creates a shirt that I can only think to describe as boyfriend meets boho (I loved how it turned out I might actually do it again, because I'm often seeing men's shirts that I like the color of..... and, at Walmart anyway, they are often cheaper then women's shirts.... this shirt and and the lace for it combined actually cost less then a women's shirt I had bought there a week before......).  For our pictures I paired the shirt with a scarf, a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, and tall dark brown boots.

Home-made Homemaking: reusable dusters and swiffer pads

{making}

For probably about a year now, I've been really into not using chemicals in cleaning (and of course trying not to eat foods that are not entirely actual food), and into as much being homemade as possible.  Of course Pinterest is a great source for all sorts of tips and tutorials for this type of housekeeping.  I've found the benefits to be numerous, typically I've been able to accomplish housework, in a more healthy, typically cheaper, and often more effective manner. {for example, I have completely stopped buying and using chemical cleaning products, all of my cleaning is done using baking soda, vinegar, water, hydrogen peroxide, or some combination of those, or Bon Ami cleaner. You can find this at Walmart for $.88 and it is an all natural cleaning powder and it is amazing)  So I am going to start a new series here on the blog called Home-made Homemaking, to share some of the different things I try, that fit into this kind of back to basics/diy/homemade housekeeping, and what some of my experiences with them are.

I recently decided to try making home made laundry detergent but, I haven't gotten a chance to actually try that out yet (I hate going into our basement to do laundry so I've always made sure I had enough unmentionables, etc. to not have to do laundry very often (and I might have a lot of clothes too) I think my record is being able to go a whole month between laundry days.  My husband however wants laundry done a lot more often then I need to do my own and he just does his those times, so he's used the detergent but I haven't actually used it yet myself, I'm coming up on needing to do some laundry for myself though pretty soon here so I'll review that shortly, but for this first post I'm going to share some reusable dusters and "swiffer" pads I made.  I saw many posts about these on Pinterest and didn't really follow any one tutorial or anything but if you look on Pinterest, like I said, you'll find plenty of results for both of these.

{Reusable Duster Cover}

sorry, I forgot to get a picture before I tried it out..... but you can see how well it picked up the dust....

I love, love, love this! It actually works better than the disposable ones I used to buy I think.  And of course the other benefits - I don't have to keep spending money on something that's only going to get thrown away; I'm not creating as much trash (which believe me in this house, as often as trash day is forgotten until after the trash truck comes through, is a good thing); and I can make them in whatever colors I want, to coordinate all my cleaning supplies (I'm a bit OCD, as well as being very into color and design so this is actually a serious benefit for me).  Rather than buying fleece from the fabric department I just bought a $2.88 fleece throw from Walmart..... now yes I probably could have gotten a smaller amount of fleece from the fabric department and paid less and just only had enough to make one or two, but for the amount of fleece I got and the number of these duster covers I can make from it, it was definitely a great price (especially considering one package of the disposable duster covers are I think at least $3 something.  This duster cover is made from 4 layers of the fleece (but you could probably make it a little thicker and fluffier with a few more layers) I sewed the sleeves for the handle to slip into by sewing the outside and top edges on the top two layers and then sewed the bottom two layers and the top layers as one stack down the middle to divide the sleeves.  It was so quick and easy to make, I didn't even measure anything, just laid the handle on top and marked where seems needed to be, the only thing to do other than sew those few seams was to cut the edges so they would have all the little sections.

{Reusable "Swiffer" pads}

I hadn't gotten Velcro yet when I tried it out and took this picture so if you look closely you can see it's pinned on instead of Velcro-ed

These were a little more complicated to make, but worth the effort.  Most of the ones I saw on Pinterest seemed to be made of terry cloth, so I bought one of the super cheap towels they sell at Walmart to make this from (another $2 and some change).  Again I didn't use a pattern I just drew up a pattern using my Swiffer as reference.  I sewed around the edges leaving a small opening, turned it inside (right side) out and closed the hole and topstitched around the edges.  It was a little difficult in a couple places getting all that terrycloth through the sewing machine, and I think when I make more I might try just using a cotton or something for the side that goes against the swiffer, I was thinking this way they would be reversible, so I could use them for longer before they needed to be washed, but that doesn't really work anyway, unless I were to sew Velcro on both sides.  After I sewed it all up I sewed on Velcro to hold the flaps together over the swiffer. (In the picture if you look closely you will see I just have straight pins holding them together.... I didn't have any Velcro and needed to go get some but I didn't want to wait to try it out).  Now I'm not sure the terry cloth works quite as well as the disposable pads do on picking up dust and such from the floors, and I think I might try making one from the fleece and see how that works, but what the terry cloth is great for is for damp cleaning.  I use a baking soda, vinegar, water, dish soap mix for mopping the kitchen floor, but I had been using Swiffer wet pads for the bathroom floor and occasionally on the wood floors in the rest of the house when they needed more than sweeping, but after making this I mixed up a spray bottle of water and vinegar and misted the floors with that and then went over them with the terrycloth pad and it worked great! If the fleece ends up working better for dry "Swiffering", then I will just make a couple of both and use them for the different purposes.

So these are definitely a win, and relatively quick easy little projects I would definitely suggest making to add to your cleaning tools.

Theme Food Week: From Dr. Frankenstein's Kitchen {October}

{cooking}

What? Theme Food Week again already? Well, yes. As it turned out this month's Theme Food Week ended up following pretty closely on the heels of September's. You see, my parent's will be out of town for parts of 2 of the weeks, and then the week after that is the last week of the month (and we were trying not to squeeze it in at the very end of the month - like last month) so this past week it was.........

As you may have noticed there is a trend right now for food smash-ups.  There's even a food contest show called FrankenFood, all about new smashed up food creations, and there was an article in a recent issue of Rachel Ray magazine with several different smashed up recipes (2 of which were meals this week). And what better theme for October than dishes that are as much a combination of  random foods as Dr. Frankenstein's monster was a combination of parts. So as the monster came from Dr. Frankenstein's labratory perhaps these meals have come straight from.............

Dr. Frankenstein's Kitchen

{Menu}

Monday:Applebutter BBQ pulled Chicken Mac and Cheese with cornbread and green beans
{Pulled Chicken Mac and Cheese}
Ingredients:
-2-3 boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (depending on size, I used 3 but they were pretty small)
-18 oz. BBQ Sauce (I used the applebutter bbq sauce that I've been getting from a local farm market Miller Farms Market...... it is delicious, but you can use whatever your favorite sauce is)
- Vinegar
- 1 box Pasta (elbows, nuggets,mini shells, bowties, rotini, etc.) cooked and drained
- 4 Tbs butter
- 4 Tbs Flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups shredded cheese (I used colby jack to go with the applebutter bbq sauce, but you could choose a different cheese if you'd like)
- Salt and Pepper
- Dry mustard

Prepare Pulled Chicken
{1}Place chicken breasts in a pot with enough water to cover them and a spoonful of bbq sauce and a little bit of vinegar.  Bring to a boil
{2} Boil chicken until done through (usually about 20-30 minutes, but I've had it take longer and I've had it take less time, depending on the size of the breasts, so make sure you check that they are actually done.)
{3} Using two forks (or however you want to do it) shred the chicken
{4}(after dumping out the cooking water) return the shredded chicken to the pot and mix in remaining bbq sauce.  Heat, stirring every so often, over low-medium heat, until heated through.

Prepare Mac and Cheese
{1} Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat
{2} slowly add flour to melted butter, stirring continually as you do to avoid clumping. (you can use a whisk or spoon for this step, but you will need a whisk for the next step) Cook continuing to stir/whisk over low heat until a paste forms (just a minute or two)
{3} Slowly add milk whisking constantly to avoid lumps.  Increase heat to medium-high and continue to whisk/stir until sauce thickens and bubbles
{4} Add Cheese and cook until completely melted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add a pinch or two of dry mustard (it enhances the cheese flavor.  I even do this with box mac and cheese)
{5} Mix cheese sauce into cooked,drained pasta

Combine Pulled Chicken and Mac and Cheese
{cornbread} I just used a Martha White cornbread mix
{green beans} yeah.... I just warmed up canned green beans

Tuesday: off night

 Wednesday:Spaghetti Tacos w/ toppings bar with roasted corn (kernels)
{Spaghetti Tacos} Cook your spaghetti as you usually would and add sauce, again as normal, then use that spaghetti to fill crunchy taco shells (leave room for toppings), our toppings bar included, ground beef, sauteed mushrooms, black olives, jalapenos, and shredded mozzarella cheese
{Roasted corn} drizzle frozen corn kernels with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, spread on a baking sheet (still frozen) and broil for about 5 minutes.

the chicken "crust" on these seemed a little thick to me, but that could have just been me, it also could have been that my "crusts" were a little smaller around and therefore thicker than they were supposed to be since I only have 2 8 inch round cake pans and I left them at home (and was fixing these at my parents house) anyway, so I just estimated the size wrapped them in plastic wrap stacked them on a plate and froze them...

Thursday: Chicken Parm Pizzas and broccoli
{Chicken Parm Pizzas} the recipe is here.... this is one of the ones from Rachel Ray.... instead of just leaving it as is with the cheese on top I made ours a little more pizza-y by adding toppings such as mushrooms, black olives, and jalapenos (different toppings for different family members..... except mine, mine just had the cheese because, as you may have noticed, the toppings were leftover ingredients from the night before and I don't like mushrooms, black olives, or jalapenos lol) of course you could use any other topping you wanted, I wish I had thought to get mini pepperonis, I think that would have been good.
{broccoli} I just steamed the broccoli (although I didn't pay enough attention and way overcooked it so it ended up being more like broccoli mash by the time I mixed in a little butter and salt haha oops)

My ramekins are slightly smaller than what is called for in the recipe and so the "buns" were going to be a bit smaller, in trying to make the burger a little smaller to fit them better they ended up so thick we could hardly eat the whole sandwich.... I think next time I will go with thinner and the burger hanging over the edges a bit lol.

Friday: Ramen Cheeseburgers with homemade fries
{Ramen Cheeseburgers} another Rachel Ray recipe...... you can find it here, and of course since there were 4 of us I doubled it, as I did with the Chicken Parm recipe (although it probably could have fed 4 people, because I don't think any of us actually finished our whole pizzas, but I wanted to do an individual one for each person, since we were doing different toppings).  We really liked these, but my husband says he would have likde to change the toppings up a little and take it a little more away from the typical American burger.  Also we didn't use the siracha mayo that the recipe calls for we just used regular ketchup/mustard/mayo
{Homemade Fries}I just cut up several potatoes, toss them with olive oil, salt,pepper, garlic powder, and a little paprika and bake at 425 until done (the time varies depending on the type of potato, size of the fries, etc., but plan on it at least taking probably 15 minutes at the least, probably it will be more like 20-30, unless you have cut them awfully thick or thin - and that's based on using regular russet potatoes, red or white potatoes cook faster generally)

{P.S. I'm super excited about next month's Theme Food Week.... since it will be November the theme will be "Thanksgiving Deconstructed" .... what exactly does that mean? you might ask..... stay tuned and find out...........}

Halloween {part 1}

{living}

I have been busy busy this week trying to get some back logged housework done as well as getting decorated for Halloween (and making some new decorations), I still haven't gotten all the decorations up and new ones made, but today feels like its going to be a do nothing kind of day (except for making dinner, since we are just finishing up another Theme Food Week - I'll be posting about that sometime this weekend).  I was going to wait until I got all the decorating finished and post a "tour" of all my Halloween decorations, but since that is taking longer than I had hoped I decided to give a little "sneak peek" of some of the decorations in the living room. (Sorry for the poor quality pictures, I just snapped them real quick this morning and the lighting wasn't great..... I'll try to get some better pictures when I do the whole decorations tour)

view looking into the living room from the front hall (just the one side of the room though..... the other side is a mess and still needs some pillows made for the chair on that side lol)

the pillows are a mix of ones I've bought and ones I made

I love having a bunch of different throw pillows to easily change out for different seasons or holidays, it's a quick was to decorate.  I like to change out small decorations like flower arrangements too (there's normally a butterfly topiary on that table)

normally the windows just have the honeycomb blinds on them, swags are made from black poster board and black and gray cheesecloth/"creepy cloth"

the mantel decorations....... haunted house, abandoned graveyard, a full moon, bats winging off through the night, and a spooky "forest" 

this is actually a haunted dollhouse that I've been working on for a while now.... I don't have all the rooms inside done though, but I want to get a mirror to set behind it so that you can see the inside too.  The full moon is a round mirror that came out of a frame that I used to make a beanbag toss game a couple years ago for a Valentine's day party.  The mirror had just been laying around waiting for a purpose...... the bats I just cut from black construction paper and taped up on the mirror and wall.

The spooky "forest"..... which consists of a picture of some 18th century people having a masquerade in the woods and a black {glittery!} cardboard tree....... and of course some pomanders and an owl..... lol

abandoned graveyard littered with black {glittery again!} pumpkins...... the headstones I cut from some balsa wood, then used a ballpoint pen to write on them and used an inkpad to give them some uneven weathered color

Once I get the rest of the decorations finished I will post all the decorations with a tour of the decorated rooms.  And of course the upcoming post on this month's Theme Food Week, and I have a couple more things up my sleeve, including a new series that will pop up from time to time, called Homemade Homemaking ...... the first post will be about my reusable duster and "swiffer" pads I recently made.

Oh...... and I've started working on my Halloween costume, I've already gotten some of the accessories done and hopefully will be starting on the dress next week (I have to get some fabric dye and a couple other things before I can really get going on that)

Let the 3 months of craziness that is October-December begin! ;)

Theme Food Week: Fall Flavors Week {September}+ a bonus recipe

{cooking}

Theme Food Week: Fall Flavors
    If you remember (or saw) in a previous post I had mentioned the "theme food" weeks that I was going to start doing and make a regular feature on the blog.  In case you don't remember (or didn't see) here's the basic idea..... One week of every month will be "Theme Food Week", with a different theme each month.  Dinners that week (and by week I mean Monday-Friday for the most part) will be dedicated to the theme (although most of the ones I have so far I've only planned 4 nights for because there always seems to be at least one day a week that we end up getting dinner somewhere else).  The goal is to use it as a week to try new and different recipes/foods and to have a little fun with dinner, and break out of the food ruts we tend to get in.  So for September my theme was "Fall Flavors"... pumpkins, and apples, and sweet potatoes, and warm cozy spices...
    Last week was Theme Food Week and the first official week of fall, so it was the perfect week for "Fall Flavors Week".  My husband is not always a fan of non-dessert (or coffee) type foods that have pumpkin or fall squashes in them and he's not typically a very adventurous eater (even though he's a Chef - go figure) so I actually bribed him with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to not complain too much about the food, but even he liked some of these dishes.  (we are sharing Theme Food Week with my parents so I get other reasonable opinions on the dishes other than just my own haha)

{Our Menu For the Week}
Monday: Fall spice rubbed NY strip steaks; Sauteed green beans; and Apple-Bacon-Walnut crostini
{fall spice rubbed NY strip steaks}I made my own fall spice rub blend for the steaks
                                              1tbs Sugar
                                              1tbs Allspice
                                              1tbs Nutmeg
                                              1 1/2tsp paprika
                                              Kosher or sea salt and black pepper to taste
Sprinkle/rub as much of the spice mix as you want onto one side of the steaks before cooking (I broiled ours)
{Sauteed Green Beans}drop fresh green beans into boiling water for a few minutes, then saute in olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
{Apple-Bacon-Walnut Crostini} the recipe is from Entertain, Decorate, Celebrate magazine's October 2013 issue. Unfortunately they apparently don't leave all of their recipes on their website so I can't give you the recipe link, but if you do get your hands on a copy of the magazine, I did make a few small changes, I used goat cheese crumbles instead of blue cheese because my mom and I don't like blue cheese and I also used slices of an Italian bread instead of a baguette since we were eating it as a side dish not an appetizer (also the store was out of baguettes when I went)

Tuesday: Chicken- Pumpkin Soup with whole grain bread
{Chicken- Pumpkin Soup} the recipe is here, and it.is.amazing. even my husband liked it (after adding hot sauce/jalapenos that is lol)

Wednesday: This ended up being the night we got other food (Chinese).  I had planned for that to be Friday, but my schedule for Wednesday ended up being different than what I had expected it to be and also I had forgotten to thaw the puff pastry)

Thursday: Apple, Sweet Potato and Bacon Turnovers; Roasted Red Potatoes; and Sauteed Broccoli
{Apple, Sweet Potato, and Bacon Turnovers} here is the recipe. I think I made ours bigger than they were supposed to be, but maybe not because I ended up with the correct number of them and seemed to have the correct amount of everything... I did mine rectangles instead of triangles too.  Oh and there were no eggs (oops) so I brushed them with olive oil instead of an egg wash so they didn't get quite as golden.  They were soooooo good though! And if you left out the bacon they could even be dessert.
{Roasted Red Potatoes} cut red potatoes into 1 inch chunks and toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder.  Roast until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. (you can set the oven temp. anywhere from 350-425, if you're using the oven for something else too it's easier to just roast them at the cooking temp for the other dish.  Obviously they take longer at 350 and less time the higher the temperature)
{Sauteed Broccoli}Same as Monday's green beans, but with broccoli florets

Friday:  Roast Chicken; Wild Rice and Bread Stuffing with Pumpkin, and Apple; and Roasted Brussels Sprouts
{Roast Chicken}I actually just picked up a rotisserie chicken because I knew I'd be too short on time to roast one myself, but when I do I love using this turkey recipe (which I use for Thanksgiving for the turkey), just adjusting the time, etc. for chicken
{Wild Rice and Bread Stuffing with Pumpkin and Apple}This recipe was also from The October 2013 issue of Entertain, Decorate, Celebrate, and is also no longer on their website, but like every recipe I've ever gotten out of this magazine, it was good! (I did leave out the sausage that the recipe called for though because I'm not a fan of sausage).....{I did check on Amazon and you can get a copy of the magazine there or I'm sure you can get it as a back issue from the publisher..... the magazine's website is Celebratemag.com}
{Roasted Brussels Sprouts}Cut sprouts in half (after trimming off stem base and I like to take off the outer layer of leaves); toss in olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder; roast until done to your preferred done-ness.  (the note about oven temperature with the potatoes goes for these as well)

And my bonus recipe! I made these Sunday afternoon, even though Theme Food Week was officially over and it was a snack/dessert not a meal it's definitely a "fall flavor"

{Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Rings}

 you can find various recipes for these all over the internet, but here's mine.

3-4 large honey crisp apples
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup water
Cinnamon
Sugar
Oil for frying

{1} make batter - mix Bisquick, yogurt and water
{2} mix up some cinnamon-sugar in a bowl big enough to dip finished apple rings into (I don't measure, I just dump in some sugar and a few good shakes of cinnamon and mix it up)
{3} cut apples into round slices and use a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter to cut out center
{4} heat oil in fry pan, wok, or deep fryer
{5} dip apple rings in batter to coat and fry, turning once until both sides are golden
{6} dip in cinnamon-sugar on both sides as soon as they come out of the oil and place on a paper towel lined plate/cutting board/cookie sheet to drain and cool
{7} eat and enjoy!

In Memoriam

{making}

Mourning Jewelry
    Unless you are a historian or reenactor (or really into the macabre) you may have never heard of mourning jewelry.  I first encountered it as a Civil War reenactor while researching the 1860's.  The Victorian era was probably the height of mourning jewelry (as it was also probably the height of ritual mourning), but mourning jewelry had been around for more than a century before that.  "This is all quite interesting," you may be saying to yourself right now, "but what exactly is mourning jewelry?".  Mourning jewelry was a way of remembering a deceased loved one, to have something of them remain (especially in times before photography).  A Google image search will give you many good examples of mourning jewelry, often made with hair from the deceased (although they may also simply be black or a painting  of a tomb or willow, etc.) and ranging from simple to elaborate.  You will see broaches and rings, even bracelets woven with strands of hair.  There is also lots of good information and histories of mourning jewelry, but here's a little timeline of some of the highlights in the history of mourning jewelry:
15th C. - England - Earliest known example of a mourning ring.  The ring was decorated with a skull, worm and the name.
17th C. - Skulls popular motifs for mourning rings (early mourning jewelry was almost exclusively rings
17th and 18th C. - Mourning rings have become a status symbol.  Wills would detail the design and distribution for these rings)
19th C. - Using hair becomes prominent.  First in rings and then in broaches and other adornments
19th C. - Jet Mining increases along with its use in mourning jewelry.  Queen Victoria decreed that jet be the only jewelry worn at court for 1 year after Prince Albert's death.  Jet jewelry is the only acceptable jewelry for those observing the first stage of mourning (not just in the British court) with hair jewelry being acceptable in the later stages of formal mourning.
1860's - During the American Civil War soldiers often left locks of hair behind when they went off to war.  If the soldier died it would be made into mourning jewelry.
Early 20th C. - Mourning jewelry falls out of fashion

    When our precious Pomeranian {Gigi} died a few weeks ago it was difficult for both my husband and I.  We had known she didn't have too long to live as she had been diagnosed with advanced congestive heart disease shortly before, but she had been given some medications and had seemed to really respond to them and do a lot better and we thought maybe she would make it longer than we thought even, but then after a couple really good and happy weeks for her she took a sudden turn for the worse and was gone the next day.  After her death I found some clumps of her hair around the house and decided I wanted to make some mourning/memorial jewelry.  I had originally thought to make a necklace for myself and a key chain for my husband, but then I realized I wanted mine to be a key chain as well.  A key chain I would use everyday, a necklace I wouldn't necessarily be wearing every day.   So, off to Hobby Lobby I went to look for bezels and resin to make these key chains.  They have a bunch of different bezels/pendants to choose from and I almost chose teardrop shaped ones since it was for "mourning", but in the long run I decided the heart was better.  I also got little "G" charms and key rings.  I thought I only had 2 clumps of her hair plus some left on her brush.

  Fortunately I found a whole pile of hair that had gotten left by the tub in our back bathroom after her last bath and trim, because my first attempt didn't work out how I wanted it.

I realized I needed something to hold the hair flatter in the bezel.  I got some wallet sized "self sealing laminating pouches" and cut it to fit the hearts and put the hair between the layers.  However the next 3 attempts I must not have mixed the resin just right because it never hardened all the way (ironically the resin in my first attempt hardened perfectly).  Finally after buying yet another pair of heart bezels (I think I bought 6 hearts in total) I finally got it right,  The resin hardened, and I added the "G"'s and key rings.

  And I love that I have a little bit of her with me everywhere I go.

Even if your pet is years from death and even with the issues I had with it, I would recomend this project (or something similar) to anyone.  Just make sure you mix the resin carefully...

Reading List: September

{living}
{*I had intended to post this post last week but our beloved pomeranian - who had been sick for a while and diagnosed with congestive heart disease and not given long to live - took a sudden turn for the worse, literally as I was beginning to type this up, and died less than 2 days later.  Needless to say I am just getting back to this post to finish it up and post it)

In honor of back-to-school, this month's reading list includes some nonfiction books I've read recently that I found interesting (and of course might teach you a thing or two you didn't know before)

Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and The Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak
    I have always loved Nancy Drew. I also knew that Carolyn Keene was a pen name, used by  multiple authors (even throughout the "original" book) and that the "original" books had been revamped in the 60's or 70's, but this book really fills in the who, what, where, when, and why, and reads almost like a novel while doing it.  The author also shows Nancy's place in a changing modern society and how she has always been both modern and nostalgic all at the same time, delighting generation after generation of little girls and grown women alike.


Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer
    This book takes a closer look at a part of The Bard's life that, if you're like me, you may not have ever really thought about before, and about which little is known.  But in the process of telling about the probable life of the woman who married Shakespeare a good picture of the lives of women in general in the time period is presented.  Including some facts that may surprise you.

Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night by Nicholas Rogers
    This book travels through the history of the celebration we call Halloween separating the fact from the folklore.   Following the trail the leads from ancient beliefs and rituals to the Halloween we know (and love) today.  I found some of the modern development of Halloween particularly interesting, and let's face it the history of Halloween isn't something we really hear much about, at least beyond it's connections to All Hallow's Eve and All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day, or the Celtic festival of Samhain.  And of course it's a timely read as October fast approaches.

Neverland: J.M. Barrie, The DuMauriers, and the Dark Side of Peter Pan  by Piers Dudgeon
    This one I can not technically say I recomend as of yet since I just started reading it, but it does promise to be a potentially interesting read, although I'm a bit hesitant about some of the suppositions I feel like the author will be making throughout the book.  Regardless of that though I am interested to read about the connections between J.M. Barrie, the boys who inspired Peter Pan, and the DuMauriers - I never knew there was a connection before.  One thing I would say about this type of book though, is to be cautious of blindly accepting certain conclusions that the author may push.
Even if the book contains plenty of primary source "evidence" remember that that evidence is often carefully curated and possibly edited to support the authors point.  Also consider that we are often looking at primary source materials through a modern filter, sometimes fully understanding the the time period may shed a different light on the material.  As I said I just started reading this one so it may be that none of what I just said applies to this book, but it's something that's always important to keep in mind when reading any book of this type.