The BOLD and the beautiful

My friends Megan DVD from Beauty in the Attempt and Gail from My Repurposed Life are doing a really neat blog hop!! They are inviting people to get critiques on their blogs and to critique the blogs of others. Sounds like fun!!

I decided to join! So please feel free to critique my blog--tell me what you like, what could be better, etc. Please be gentle:)

Thanks!

Gearing up for the New Year and new challenges!!

Happy New Year!!! 2011 is looking to be a great year--graduation, hopefully a new house (fingers crossed I get a job), a trip out west (the cabin and meals are being paid for by my in-laws!), and who knows what else. Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked! However, I do have a few challenges ahead of me. The one I'm most excited about is our weight loss challenge. My mother in law and I have decided that all of us going on the trip need to lose weight (we want to hike some pretty nice trails in the Rocky Mountains). She threw down the challenge of a couple's weight loss. Whatever couple loses the most combined weight-wins. I'm not sure what we're "playing" for yet--but my competitive juices are in high gear (I can be a little competitive--I was in band and played softball in high school--and I HATE losing). Now to motivate the hubby... Any suggestions? ;)

Let it snow!

So, I am officially on break from rotations!! Yay! I've been on break for a couple of weeks and I've been working like crazy on crafty projects for my friends and family. One thing that I have finished is my snowman plates! I think they are very cute (I got the idea at the Michael's store near me). They were fairly easy to make.

You need:

Charger plate(s)

SnowTek

Orange and pink paint

Buttons (2 for eyes, 3 for nose, and 3-4 for mouth)

Glue (I used the Gorilla Super Glue--AWESOME!!)

Ribbon

It's really easy. I used a sponge to apply the Snow-Tek to the charger plate.

I had to let these dry overnight. While waiting for that, I painted the buttons for the nose orange (to make it look like a carrot of course!)

After everything was dry, I glued on the buttons for the eyes, nose, and mouth. I painted two little rosy cheeks with the pink paint. I made a bow with the ribbon and glued the bow on the snowperson. This is what I ended up with.

So that's one project down, many more to go. I guess I better get busy! Until next time, adios!

New additions

So, I haven't blogged in forever. Mostly because of school and projects :(. In good news, in sticking with the purpose of the blog, I have started eating healthier (yay me!). This could be because the hubby, PG, has been diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Guess who gets to deal with taking care of the meds... that's right-me. But that's ok. But I digress. We have some new additions here in the house. First of all, my wedding set got upgraded! Happy birthday/anniversary to me!

Then, I had to get a new phone-my other one failed. Not that I'm complaining--love my new phone. And lastly, I have a new nephew. James David Banet was born on 9/2/10 sometime around 4 ish. He was 19 inches long and 6 lbs 9 oz. He's a doll baby--of course, I'm completely unbiased! ;) Sadly, he lives in Louisiana, so I won't see him as much as I like. However, when I do, Auntie Trish will spoil him rotten! Well, I must get back to my projects. Till next time, adios1

Goodies from Goodwill-part 2!

Okay. So I have some of my stuff redone and the rest is in progress. The mirror, picture frame, and jewelry chest are not quite done yet. I broke the glass part of the mirror and now have to find a replacement. I'm still trying to figure out what to put in the picture frame. The jewelry chest-well, that's just taking a little longer than I anticipated. But, I will show you what I have done to them.

The jewelry chest

Obviously, I have a little ways to go, but it'll get done (at least when I get a break from school!).

The picture frame

I'm thinking about putting some kind of paper on the back and gluing a shell in the middle, but we'll see.

The mirror

This will have a mirror in it when I find one.

The tray thing

I like it much better in the oil rubbed bronze than the silver! I used the ORB from the Shop and Hop Swag Bag. I LOVE IT!!!

The candle holder

Again with the ORB. But it looks sooo much better than the white!

Well, that's it for now. I will post more when I get them done and hopefully soon get back to what I really started my blog for--new year, new lou! Until next time, adios!

Goodies from Goodwill!

I'm late to the party, I know. But, I have finally taken pictures of some of the things that I found when I went to the Goodwill Hop and Shop that was put together by Beckie from Infarrantly Creative and Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick. It was a blast. I met lots of interesting women and got to eat and shop. I digress. Here are some of the things that I found. (There are more, but I haven't photographed them yet).

This is a jewelry chest that has seen better days. I believe she will be painted a creamy white with new handles and either kept as a jewelry chest or transformed into a phone charging station (thanks for that idea Megan!)

This candleholder will be spray painted with the oil rubbed bronze that was in our swag bag. The white just isn't doing it for me.

This darling little mirror is also going to be painted with the oil rubbed bronze and put in my bathroom!

I'm not really sure what I will do with these two yet, but I have some ideas. We shall see.

Hopefully, I will have after pictures for these finds soon. Until next time, adios!

Meg and Lou do Indy

I just got home from Indianapolis with my friend MeganDVD. A bunch of bloggers met up in Indy thanks to a couple of really awesome bloggers who put it all together. I met a lot of great ladies and just got to take a day to unwind. It was a nice break from studying for finals anyway. There were some great finds and I was able to find some things to do for projects over my upcoming break. For now, I must return to studying. Until next time-adios!