Upcycling: Bright Ideas

Hello again blogosphere! I apologize for my inconsistent blogging, but we are knee deep in a home remodeling extravaganza!  Such is the topic of this blog...

Now I know this picture is a little small but bear with me. This brass light fixture originally came in my sister's house.  She was not a fan, despises brass colored lights to the infinite degree, and found a replacement light at IKEA to send this one packing.



So now that we are moving in to a house, which to give a little background is really old and historic but the inside looks like something you see on those shows where the people flip the house, this light suddenly came back on the radar.



My sister offered to bring up the light, and we started brainstorming on all the different things we could do to it to make it look like an IKEA light, without the IKEA price.


It turns out the same principles that apply to jewelry making...apply to light refinishing.

What We Used:
       Black Metallic Flake Paint (2 cans)
       Clear Glass Beads
       Silver Beads from my grandpa's jewelry he made for us that I have been upcycling
       Crystal beads in diamond type shapes
       Silver Wire
       Wildfire beading cord
        Jump rings of varying sizes


Step 1: My sister repainted the ugly brass a beautiful black.  This light has about 8 arms on it if that gives you an idea of size, and we really needed 2 cans of paint to do it.  We ended up using one regular black and one metallic flake black, but it still came out just fine.

Step 2: While she was painting, I made the little hang jewels for 3 different levels of the light.  Pictured here are the top jewels which include 2 small silver beads from grandpa's creations and some clear beads.  They are all attached with 24 gauge silver wire, which I actually would argue is far smarter to use on everything than the wildfire cord.  Turns out wire makes this project go a lot faster.

Day late and a wire short I suppose...

Here is the bottom bling.  This gives you an idea of what I was talking about with the diamond shaped guys, my sister found them at the craft store in the wedding department.

They aren't cheap, but look how cute it is... Or if you have a friend getting married con them into DIYing something and sticky finger a few...

HAH just kidding.

Regardless, the sentimental factor in this light is that the 2 gray beads and the center silver beads are ones that I got from my aunt who gave me a lot of jewelry to take apart and use in my mecca creations.

(For anyone who doesn't know, I call my lair the craft mecca.)

Step 3: Put the finishing touches (such as a spot of glue) on your jewels to make sure that the string won't break and they won't come off the light, and attach.  If you use wire you can for the most part avoid having to do a lot of this, but I would argue that a little E6000 glue never hurt any project.

It could be E600 glue...but THOUSAND sounds so much more intimidating.

You can find it at your favorite craft store, I get mine in the jewelry section.


Before, I wouldn't have even paid $5 for that brass looking light at a yard sale.  Now, I feel like we paid $100 for it at IKEA or something.  We have decided that if anything could be gothic chic, it's this light. 

I think I may start my own light flipping business, and give ugly lights a second chance at life...
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Entitled

I find myself increasingly more agitated with many of my peers, and sometimes the population in general.  One of the things that really bothers me that seems to be running rampant these days is a sense of entitlement.  As if we deserve to get everything handed to us on a silver platter or something of that nature.

Well it drives me bananas.

Now I am not saying that we shouldn't ever think we deserve good things, good jobs, good spouses, we all do deserve the core components of life.  I think everyone deserves regular meals and shelter each day.  I think we all deserve to be treated with respect.  But the type of entitlement I am talking about that drives me bananas is the one where people start thinking they deserve it all.  And for free.

My last blog I talked about my trip to DC with my fellow full ride scholars.  Note #1, college: paid for.  So the same group that handed us all the scholarships always takes their juniors on a trip each year, and allows seniors who missed their junior trip to attend.  They paid for the flight, the hotel, bus fare, all the shows we attended and museums and such.  They also paid for almost all of our meals, only a few were on our own. 

So needless to say I was really appreciative to be on this trip.  It is nothing that I ever could have afforded.  However, some of the scholars were actually a bit annoyed at the fact that they had to pay for a few meals.

Really?  A hundred bucks over the course of a week in food, with the thousands of dollars from the rest of the trip paid for, and you are complaining?

This is the kind of thing that just irks me.  So many people have a lot of things handed to them all their life and they start feeling like they deserve it.  I was not a kid that was overly spoiled, we had everything we needed, though maybe not every single thing we ever wanted (still waiting on that husky puppy).  But I had the vast majority of the toys a kid could dream of and always had good clothes as a teen (although my docs lasting 8 years has really helped).  So needless to say this trip was something I really considered a gift. 

I think this happens a lot in the workforce to.  Some people get in a job position, are there for a good long time, and just start seeming like they are entitled to it.  I work at a bank in the summer, and I notice this a lot about my fellow workers.  People who slack off, have relatively negative attitudes, and just don't seem to care.

Well, maybe you should go ask someone who is unemployed and barely getting by if they would appreciate your job.  Or (since many of us are females here) maybe go ask some females in a different country who are not allowed to work and have to basically be baby factories if they would appreciate your job and income.

I really wish all people had to go through a time when they really had to pay attention to money.  Even though I was young, I think throughout my childhood I understood that we needed to not go overboard on things we bought.  I don't think I was the kind of kid that always begged, or at least I hope I wasn't. 

So what I am saying is people need to take a look around.  Look at your neighbors who are barely meeting their payments, look at the people around you who are unemployed, and look to other countries and realize how incredibly lucky you are.  Because not everyone has these opportunities.

Corinthians has a verse in it that says something to the effect of "whatever you do, do it heartily."  Put everything you have into your job, your passions, and whatever you do.  People will notice. Pin It Now!

A Whirlwind of Shenanigans

Being the slacker blogger that I am, I have not blogged a bit over this trip to DC. You know, the one I was panicking about many blogs ago? Well it wasn't a bad trip at all, I'll try to do a relatively succinct rundown of the trip in its entirety. So day one started with the flight. I was initially super intimidated about the whole flying thing. I was pretty convinced I was going to puke or something, but in all honesty I was fine with the whole trip. We did hit some turbulence on the takeoff, so I naturally started calling that Spinosaurus Egypticus. You know, Jurassic Park 3 where the plane takes off and hits the ginormsaurus? Anyways, when we got to DC we checked into the hotel, which by the way Marriott's in DC apparently haven't ever heard of continental breakfast or free wifi. It's pretty lame. But regardless, we took a bus tour around a few monuments such as the Korean War memorial, the MLK memorial, the Iwo Jima memorial, and so forth. If I could upload epic pics from my phone I would, but my phone won't let me. We also started our first few attempts with the metro and let me tell you I LOVE the metro rail in DC. It's incredibly well done compared to most public transport systems so I was pleasantly surprised. Chicago could learn a thing or two from DC. So day two we started out by visiting FaegreBD which is a firm that works with our school a lot on different things, and they know how to serve a breakfast let me tell you. We had eggs and bacon and humongous fruit bowls and so on. They were so nice and the day was fantastic in general. We went to the Smithsonian Museums and toured around and I could have stayed in the Natural History museum all day. I love dinosaurs and geology happenings. That night we ate at Fino's which is an Italian food place and it was so fantastic I almost cried. A few of us went to Sprinkles cupcakes and I had one of the best red velvet cupcakes of all time. I will crave it evermore. Day two arrived (with no continental breakfast) and we haunted off to the capitol to get a special tour from Ed Pease, who is from Indiana. It was really interesting to go in there and we met a few interesting people along the way. I got some really neato pics with my camera, but since Laptopzilla is still in Indiana I can't upload those either. Techno fail from the college kid, I know. Another food note, we ate at the American Indian Museum's restaurant Mitisam and it was FANTASTIC! I had the most delicious quesadilla with mushrooms and a sweet potato cheesecake. Oh my. I really need their recipe for those. That night we saw "1776" at Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was assassinated, and it was spectacular. A must see if you go to DC. We walked by the White House, which isn't all that cool from the outside, and nearly missed the train we needed. I actually did have one instance where the director of the Honor's program and myself were sprinting toward the train that we needed to be on as it was about to take off. We dove trough the door just in time. Day 3 we toured Lincoln's cottage and it was cool but not impressive and so I just won't really go into detail but later we went to the Washington National Cathedral and an eventful time was had by all. First, we got to go right up on the front altar where probably a zillion important people have been married over the years, or something like that. Anyways point is we got to do stuff not everyone gets to do. Then, just as we were about to trek up a zillion stairs and look out of the topmost parts of the tower... A fire alarm goes off. So we scramble to evacuate and round up all of our people. Oh, I should mention we had the most amazing tour guide. Her name is Eileen and she is going to be inducted as an honorary canon later this week. How cool is that? We finally got most of the way up the tower later and also got to your the crypt. Even though other people in our group didn't get to do both hehe. Guess that makes us the favorites, huh? That night we saw the Captiol Steps, which I said were like watching Steve Colbert on crack. They were a complete riot and you would be sorely mistaken to go to DC and not see them. They made fun of just about everything big in the news and I was rolling most of the whole show. Saturday comes around and we hit a tiddly bit of a speed bump. Our lovely bus at first would not open. As in the door was completely vacuum sealed shut. 2 hours later...the mechanic had just now arrived. So approximately 3 hours later than planned we finally started the three hour drive to Antietam. We walked around when we got there, it was hot an the bugs were awful and basically I was borderlining on miserable. And so was everyone else. We then went to Harper's Ferry and I think our responsible adult humans must have realized we were all getting near a meltdown... Because they bought us ice cream :). Good job humans. Mine was red velvet. It kinda had no flavor. We had Texas Roadhouse that night, and it was pretty good. I felt kinda bad cuz the honors director kinda got stuck with me and this other boy who kinda are a little more of the line wolf variety instead of his fellow responsible adult humans. But they all got margaritas so maybe that made it ok. The next day we drove to Richmond and went to an ironworks place which was neat and later visited the Edgar Allan Poe museum WHICH WAS AMAZING! It dealt a lot with the Raven which is my favorite Poe poem of all time. We ate at an excellent pizza place called Bottom's Up, at which a few of our members probably had a few too many drinks. I am not a drinker so I cannot really relate to the desire to drink at all. Like I just have no interest in it honestly. True story. After that we went on a ghost tour which was freaking fun! I don't know if I believe in ghosts but I don't necessarily not believe in them but I do believe ghost tours are amazingly fun. Today we went to Fredricksburg and Mount Vernon and again had the coolest tour guide at Mount Vernon. We had McDonald's for lunch and it was gross. Leave it to McDonalds to be able to take forever to make a parfait and then manage to make it suck. As you can tell I'm not a fan. So I skipped dinner sort of and ate a granola bar instead and did yoga. I like to think of it as detox. Tomorrow we go home! Pictures may follow. Pin It Now!

Keep Calm and March On

THANKFULLY I did not trip at graduation...though sadly I did not come out of last week unscathed.

On Friday I was packing up the remaining pieces of my life still left in my apartment.  I had made a delicious dinner of stuff pork chops and oven fried asparagus, had relaxed long enough, and began to pack up my kitchen stuff.  In our apartment there is this corner cabinet that has 3 shelves, the top of which is really high.  I noticed I had disposable bowls and plasticware that I had not used since the beginning of school (it really kills my soul to even own them but such is life) on the top back farther than what my abnormally long arms could reach.  So I pulled up a chair and bebopped right on up to grab them....

Or I was going to right up until my chair decided to bebop on forward and throw me in to the counter on one leg and the stove knob on the other.  Meet my ego bruising injury:

The one on the left is right after it happened.  The one on the right is what it looks like today.  You can even see the two lines from where each side of the knob scraped. 

The moral of this story is disposable dining is not only bad for the eco system, but incredibly dangerous to your personal well-being.  So don't use it. 

And yes I know I am pale.

Graduation itself went very smoothly, I found a friend to sit by and we jumped over into the right line at the last minute so we could sit on the side closest to the reader.  We were in the second row of the College of Arts and Sciences, so we got through it pretty quick once our college was up.  I didn't cry, still haven't, and probably won't.  I am just not the type of girl that gets that sort of sentimental about things like graduation.

It's mostly because I am a realist.  Your undergraduate years are usually about 4-5 years of your life and that is all it is meant to be.  It is destined to be a temporary thing, and there is really no reason to get all squishy eyed over it. 

In usual graduation fashion, our college speakers sucked.  The main guy was pretty much depressing and the student speaker talked about shark infested waters.  Call me crazy, but I prefer motivational speeches that make me want to go out and fight a war or suit up for battle or something.  I want to be inspired. 

So here is what I say to all the graduates across existence:

Keep calm, and march on.  March on is something we say at Indiana State in our fight song, but it applies to everyone who is facing the next chapter of their life or a new beginning. Think of the armies of old when they set off to meet their opponent midfield- they marched.  Were they facing something difficult? Absolutely.  Were they nervous? Undoubtedly.  But they had a goal in mind, something that they believed in, and something they saw worth fighting for.  Your future is that same thing.  No matter your age or your goal, march toward it with determination and knowledge that you have everything you need to get where you want to go.  You are only as limited as your own faith in yourself, and have the necessary tools to make anything possible.  90% of any obstacle is your perspective and attitude.  So keep calm, and march on.

And don't buy disposable bowls and junk like that because nothing good will ever come of it. 

And go trees! Pin It Now!

A Salute to My Undergrad Years

Graduation day is fast approaching! As I ponder how to get across the stage without tripping, here is a look back at some of my favorite memories of Indiana State.

• Registration day: First I registered and they told me they had me in the College of Ed for Psych Ed.  I said there was no way in heck that I was ever going to be a teacher (though I had mentioned guidance counselor before) and demanded they switch me over to undetermined.  Later in the day I got separated from my group and was wondering around campus, and it's amazing I ever made it back.
• That same day, I bounced a pencil shaped stress ball off my group leaders head...he was super cute, and I guess I reverted to Kingergarten style flirting.  Sadly it did not win me a date.
• Back up to Scholarship interviews, the director asks who was sure they were going to win a scholarship that day, my hand shoots up, I look around... and no one else has their hand raised.  I was almost embarrassed, until I figured out I had impressed him and made everyone else incredibly jealous.  Luckily, they made an honest woman out of me and I won it.
• One of the first Intervarsity Christian Fellowship events I was at we played sand volleyball.  I got up to serve and nailed about 12 aces in a row against the boys.  I think that is when I unknowingly sealed my status as alpha female.  Conveniently, most of the boys don't remember that day.
• My first roommate and I almost never talked to each other. She would talk to my friends but not me, and I would laugh at how dumb hers were ("Like, do you think, like, they have black sheeps that make black uggs out of?? Where, like, do you think they find those??").  Good grief.
• My best friend and I:  one time I dead legged her and her contact popped out of her eye.  Another time I scared her when she came out of the bathroom and she retwisted her ankle (and I died laughing).  She repaid the favor by sneezing literally in my face one day in the car (and again I died laughing).  I think I am still ahead, because at Thunder Over Louisville a few years ago she wiped powdered sugar in my hair, so I smacked the funnel cake plate and sent a cloud of sugar all over her.  What are best friends for, am I right?
• My interview for the IT Help Desk.  I walk in, said "hi my name is Jenna" and immediately got the response of "we see you have excellent communication skills" and I got the job. 
• Being recruited so to speak for the GIS Help Desk, which did not involve nights and weekends unlike the IT was gettting ready to, and helping this same guy through almost every project he did.  I think he has my email on speed dial.
• The year of my single.  I went way overboard on decorating and that room looked like a clown had thrown up in it with all the multicolored picture frames I had.  I still don't know what possessed me to do that.
• The Asian Invasion and Fratitude.  I won't miss either of these boys.  I currently haven't seen the Asian Invasion for a few weeks now and I am not sad about that.  Fratitude did friend request me again, basically so he could get my final exam answers, which I just claimed I hadn't had time to finish my take home exam yet. 
• Chasing my best friend (who was on crutches) down to hold an umbrella while she walked to class.  Not that it was hard to chase her down...but we had a really good bonding moment.
• Making Christmas Cards for Lighthouse Mission.  It will always be one of my favorite charity places, and I know that money would have been more useful than 150 cards, but I have to believe that someone really enjoyed getting a handmade card that season.  I still wish I had done it more.
• Finding myself in the GIS program:  this program has changed my life for the better in so many ways and I really felt at home here.  I have become so close to so many of my professors, and I know I will truly miss them after graduation.  They told me they unanimously and without debate nominated me to be the outstanding senior for the department, and this meant the world to me.  They said it was the first time an agreement had come so easily.  I really feel like I was able to leave something behind here and really make a difference, and that is all I have ever wanted.

Hopefully in a few days I won't be blogging about tripping at graduation, or getting lost on my trip I am taking shortly after.  We shall see! Pin It Now!

Fully Funded: Tips on College Scholarships

Note in advance, this is all completely my opinion on what won me 2 fully funded degrees, one that will be completed this Saturday, and another that will begin in the fall.

I will try to keep this a little shorter and more succinct than some of my previous, and get down to the heart of the matter!

What I Think Were Important Components to Winning Full Rides:

1. Being a bookworm- my mom had me read to her in elementary while she cooked dinner.  Later she bought me all sorts of books from every genre and author (even Stephen King) starting in my middle school years.  When you read from a wide range of authors and genres, you come in contact with a lot of words you may not otherwise.  Even if you don't look them up directly, it is amazing what context clues will do for you. 
2. Being an athlete- sports taught me to work for a jerk.  Sports taught me to keep cool, even with a coach in my face yelling about what I did wrong.  And most importantly, it taught me to stick with things.  My mom is a firm believer in finishing what you started, and when the season got hard you better believe you were going to tough it out.  Even if sports aren't your thing, I think it is incredibly important to find something you are dedicated to.
3. Being comfortable in a room of adults- when you walk into a college interview, you are not being judged by your peers.  You have to be able to converse with adults, professors, decision makers, and donors.  My mom often took us to various places or had parties where we would be in a room full of adults.  We were not sent to our rooms, but always encouraged to be a part of things.  When you are comfortable talking to your mom's friends, your friend's parents, and your teachers throughout school, you are able to channel that in an interview.
4. Being Unique- you don't always get full ride scholarships by acting like a bleach blonde valley girl who says like every other word.  I am not saying that looks play in to stuff in interviews necessarily, but you need to have something unique that you bring to the table.  In my undergraduate case, I was a part of interesting clubs (Youth Philanthropy Council, for instance) that really registered with my interviewers.  I was never the president of student council or class president, and they were perfectly fine with that.
5. Being Confident- hands down, this is one of the most important things, and it is really interlinked with what I have mentioned before.  When you admit to yourself that you are talented, skilled, and capable, you give yourself the ability to walk into a room like you own it.  I know for a fact that I test well, that I am smart, and that I can get alond easy with adults.  So every time I go in for an interview, I am prepared.
6. Being Prepared-  They are going to ask you the tough questions.  For instance, in my undergrad interview I was asked what the toughest obstacle I had to overcome was.  I actually paused over this one for a moment, grasping for an answer, and finally settled on not really having a dad around growing up.  And you know what, I was so surprised with how much truth was in it that I cried.  Right there, in the interview.  Not like bawling but I definitely teared up.  And you know what else? They loved my honesty and my emotion over it.  They don't mind knowing they are awarding that much money to a real human and not some perfect robot.  Whether it is scholarships or job interviews you had better be able to answer what a big obstacle is or your biggest weakness, and you better have a realistic and honest answer.
7. Being Skilled- for my graduate degree, I brought to the table being awesome at GIS.  This is something that many of their graduates were not familiar with, and is something that many of their projects and professors are looking for.  Know software, know programs, if you are going in to anything technical look in to programming languages or website writing, know useful tools.
8. Being Multi-faceted- Whatever you do, don't be a one trick pony.  I think it is important to have hobbies, to volunteer, play sports or join clubs...whatever it is, don't JUST be all brains.  To get the best results, you want to be able to perform.
9. Being a mystery- Alright that was difficult to come up with something that started with being, but what I am getting at is not showing all of your cards.  For instance, I walked on to the campus I wanted to attend grad school and knew I had to be there that instant.  However, when asked how I was feeling about the campus so far, I made sure to not only tell them that I was very interested, but also that I had other colleges I was going to visit later that weekend as well, and specifically named where I was going.  I think sometimes you have to make someone feel like you are a hot commodity on the market, and that if they don't act quickly someone else will.
10. Being well-spoken- It is obvious, but you need to be able to accurately convey a message.  Be able to get to your point in detail, without repeating yourself a hundred times.  Use good English, and for the love of God don't say like every 2 seconds.  Sit up straight and pour on the poise, male or female.  You need to be composed. 

Start early, whether you are a Senior in High School or a Senior in college, because many programs make these decisions early and you have to get everything together in advance.  Again, the most important thing is to realize that you are a perfectly capable human and a program would be lucky to have you on their team.  You walk in with that mentality, and you would be amazed how much of a difference it makes as compared to walking in intimidated and defeated.  Believe that you are the best, no matter what.

There is probably no one surefire way to get someone to pay for your degree, but these tips and tricks on what I think won mine will definitely not hurt your case any.
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The Soundtrack to Your Life

A lot of songs go through my head on a daily basis.  Some real, some made up.  Some made to really annoying tunes so I will remember something. Music is one of the most important features or complements to our lives and we don't always realize it.  But a good song can teach you something, it can release emotions you are trying to hide, and it can help you learn things in school....

ALLLLAAAA-Bama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut...

You're welcome.  Anyone who knows that will be singing it all day.  You probably haven't since you were a kid in school, but that song never really can be forgotten.

What I think some people don't realize is that we identify with songs singing about something trying or something bad happening moreso than the others most times, and I truly think this is because we get the most and feel the most when we are on a downswing.  Adele has had many serious hits as the woman scorned, country songs are often singing about love lost, even the Biebs sings about it (much to my dismay that he sings in general mind you)...

I really don't know what rappers sing about...I really can't understand them most times.

Regardless, we learn the most from the times that hurt.  I am not saying we don't learn anything when our life is going good...but sometimes we get so complacent when it is that we stop trying as hard as we were or we are just content to let things be as they are instead of trying to make ourselves or our situation better or even the people around us better. 

Even in "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" it sounds like he is living a mediocre life, but he clearly up and left for the other side of the country because he was trying to escape something, and now his loneliness is still all around him while he is on that dock.  That's a mighty big change, and he probably should have just faced his issues, although I do appreciate the song itself.

We are shaped most by adversity.  When you are faced with a problem, you can either be "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" or you can instead choose to "Set Fire to the Rain".  You can either run, or you can face life head on.  No one promises that life will be easy, but you can rest assured that everything happens for a reason.  Most of the people around you that you feel are "strong" have hit the lowest points of brokenness in their life.

Their husband committed suicide, their house got repossed, their marriage of 40 years ended, they lost a child in an accident...

There are millions of people in this country with really big problems.  Some will take the weak way out, hop on the nearest bar stool and do their best to avoid it.  Others will pick themselves up and choose to face life head-on.

Only one of those ways fixes the problem.

The songs we identify with the most are often representatitve of all we have been through in life.  So think about it, what is the soundtrack to your life?  Mine won't be completely in order...

My Hypothetical Soundtrack to My Not So Hypothetical Existence

1. I'm A Survivor, Reba     (I wasn't really supposed to be born, different story different day!)
2. John Deere Green          (I think I have loved this song my entire life, and love green)
3. Iris, Goo Goo Dolls
4. Vienna, Billy Joel
5. Rumor Has It, Adele
6. Midnight Train to Georgia, Gladys Knight  (I always randomly burst out into this)
7. Going Away to College, Blink 182
8. Set Fire to the Rain, Adele
9. Turning Tables, Adele    (these two are back to back for a reason)
10. Gives You Hell, All American Rejects
11. Misery, Maroon 5
12. Daniel, Dia Frampton
13. It Happens, Sugarland
14. Haley, Needtobreathe
15. Drive By, Train           (if I fall fast it scares the daylights out of me most times)
16. The Outsiders, Needtobreathe
17. Hell On the Heart, Eric Church   (I think this may have been written about me)
18. Stronger, Kelly Clarkson    (It may be overplayed, but the message holds true)
19. Payphone                        (I am aware it is really new but the feeling is not, haha)
20. Red High Heels, Kelli Pickler

A lot of these are on my all time favorite song's list, though not all.  Like I said, we identify a lot with songs that have to do with pivotal moments in our life where we picked up the pieces or jumped into the unknown.  Those are the times that teach us the most.  You might look at this list and seeing a woman scorned or a broken heart, I look at it and see a learning experience and confidence I may never have found if I hadn't hit rock bottom.

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