Copy of a Copy

I totally ripped this post off from Mary. She copied Princess Nebraska's post, so that is how I'm going to justify my thievery. I don't mean to offend anybody with this post, and please understand that I'm not making fun of anybody else's tastes. Anyway, here's my list of:

Things Other People Love That I Just Don't Get

1. Navigation systems

2. Lady Gaga & Adam Lambert

3. The Office

4. Oprah

5. Half of the things on Etsy. Don't get me wrong, I love Etsy, but some of the things that get showcased or put into treasuries that end up in my inbox just make me scratch my head.

6. Racoon Eyes. Not racoon's eyes, but racoon eyes on women. You know what I'm talking about. That heavy black liner all the way around the eyes that actually adds 10-20 years to a woman's face.

7. Escargot, Caviar and Sushi. Just thinking about escargot makes my stomach churn, and I have never understood what could possibly be so delicous about fish eggs and raw fish.

8. Ripped jeans. If someone wants to pay $100 for a pair of ripped jeans, I'd be happy to sell them mine.

9. Sinks that look like bowls.

10. Stainless steel appliances. They look nice, but the first thing that pops into my mind is fingerprints. Lots and lots of fingerprints that I'll spend endless hours on trying to clean them off.

11. Super modern home furnishings. I like clean lines, but some are just too sharp.

12. Over-edited photography. Sure it looks cool, but shouldn't it be considered more digital art than photography? Let's face it, by the time some people get done Photoshopping, the end product looks nothing like the original photograph.

13. American Idol

14. Puppy purses

15. Beer

16. Kristen Stewart in any movie and Robert Pattinson in the Twilight movies. Robert is pretty good in his non-Twilight movies, but Kristen is a horrible actress in everything she does (that I've seen, anyway).

17. Low-rise jeans. It makes sense for those of us with a shorter torso to wear them, because they come up to our belly buttons. For those with a longer torso, it appears that these jeans can be a little to revealing.

18. Home Depot. I'm sure there are some pretty awesome HD's out there, but the one that's closest to us kinda sucks.

19. HDTV & Blu Ray

20. Gummy worms

Book Trailer

I love that people are now creating video trailers for books!

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about this AWESOME book. The publisher recently sent me an email with the trailer for the book (WARNING: Not for young eyes):



If you're like I was, and don't think these kind of books are your cup of tea, you can download the first two chapters free, and see if (also like me) you change your mind! Go here for the links. If you don't have an Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, or Sony Reader, you can download the Kindle for PC free! The book becomes available on Tuesday if you want to read the whole book.

Then, there's this trailer for another great book; Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters:



I am currently reading "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith (he also wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - another book mash-up worth reading). I'm only about 1/2 way through it, and I can tell you that this is an amusing piece of work!

This Saturday...

Do you know what's coming? New Moon is finally being released on DVD! I had it pre-ordered from Amazon...until I realized that copy would not include the 8 minutes of Eclipse footage. So yesterday, I canceled that order, and pre-ordered a copy from Wal-Mart. I won't be getting it for another week, but it still beats trying to get a copy from our local WM, especially since I don't know if we'll make it into town this weekend (and if we do, I'm not sure we'll make it to Wal-Mart). Until my copy arrives, I guess I'll be hanging out at my sis-in-law's house! My niece turns 14 tomorrow, so they're going to brave the crowds to get her a copy.

I also found this clip on YouTube. It's only 2 of the 8 minutes of exclusive Eclipse footage shown on the NM DVD!

St. Patrick's Day

I love St. Patrick's Day. Always have. Perhaps it's because I'm part Irish. I used to hate my red hair, now I love it. As I learn more and more about my ancestry, I love my hair even more because of where it comes from. I have Irish hitting me from at least 3 different sides of my family - the Stewart's, the Elwell's, and the Scott's. I hope to find out exactly where in Ireland they came from, and would love to take a trip over there.

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

Hope you all have an enjoyable (and safe) day!

A Good Weekend

Did you know that March is National Crochet Month? I had planned on making something and sharing the pattern with you, but with a gazillion things to do, I don't see that happening before the end of the month. So, I'm going to share one of my favorite sources for patterns with you instead. The Lion Brand Yarn website has a ton of knit, crochet, and craft patterns for you. You have to register, but it's free!

(Okay, am I the only one who can't stand Miley Cyrus? A commercial just came on with her talking about being in The Last Song - the only Nicholas Sparks movie I don't want to see because she annoys me so much - and she just really annoys me!)

Anyway...I sometimes go a year or two without setting foot inside a movie theater. Not this year...Saturday, my mom and I took the boys to see Alice in Wonderland. LOVED it! When everybody is here for Easter, we're going to take the kids to see How to Train Your Dragon, and I'm dying to see the new Clash of the Titans. It's in 3D! This summer is going to bring Eclipse and Jeremy and I will be taking the boys to Avatar: The Last Airbender (I'm excited because my favorite Cullen family member is in it). Then in November, Taylor and I will be going to Harry Potter...and guess what?! As I was looking for links, I came across an article that said the final two HP films will also be 3D! And did I mention that New Moon comes out this Saturday? Yeah, I pre-ordered it. Did you know that if you pre-order it from Amazon, they'll send you a link so you can watch it online if you don't get the DVD on Saturday? We were hoping to find a PS3 so I could watch it on the TV instead of the computer, (well, Jeremy and the boys want one for video games and Netflix) but everybody is sold out!

I know this post is kind of all over the place, but I have to mention the most exciting part about my weekend. I've been wanting to redo the kitchen backspash for a while (right now it's painted red), and I love the look of subway tiles, tin tiles, and beadboard for backsplashes. Tiles are expensive, and the thought of trying to keep grout lines clean exhausts me, so the subway tiles were out. If I go with tin tiles, they will be tin, not plastic. Those suckers are ex.pen.sive., so they're out. That leaves beadboard, but I have a headache just thinking about getting it cut right.

Image from Better Homes and Gardens

Then several months ago, I found this:


It's wallpaper! I thought my problem was solved when I found this on the Home Depot website. Only $22 for 56 sq. ft! I didn't really want to pay shipping, so I headed to the HD about 45 minutes away. Lowe's has it for $15/roll (also 56 sq. ft.), but I didn't want to drive 2 hours to the nearest store. Saturday, we went to the local Menard's. I found it. $13 for a 55 sq. ft. roll! So excited!!! Now I'm coming up with more and more projects that I can use it for. Jeremy's worried that our house is going to turn into one gigantic beadboarded chalkboard!

Book Wreath - a tutorial and a tip

First a tip, then a tutorial...

Tip:
When hanging things like wreaths, I like to use cup hooks (especially when I'm using ribbon to hang them). It drives me nuts when the ribbon doesn't sit right because of the nail. So, I use cup hooks. I have found that they are a little more secure (and when you live with 2 young boys and a 12-year-old trapped in a 33-year-old's body, security is a good thing!), and I can turn the hook sideways to slide the ribbon on, and it sits the way I want it to!


Tutorial:
I have seen these all over the blog-o-sphere, and in a few shops. The prices people are charging for them are INSANE! Seriously...charging $45 for something that costs less than $10 to make is a little ridiculous. Here is how I made mine (once I can make it back to Hobby Lobby, I play to buy brown velvet ribbon to hang my wreath):

I started my wreath before it occurred to me that I should be taking pictures of the process, but I think you'll still understand my tutorial!

Supplies needed:
Foam wreath
Old Book
Brown, watered down acrylic paint
Paintbrush
Straight Pins
Ribbon, Fabric, Wire (something to hang the wreath with)

Take an old book (mine is a copy of "Little Women" that I found at Goodwill for $1) - the size of the book you need will depend on how big your wreath will be - and paint the edges brown.


I used "Asphaltum" by Americana brand acrylic paint.




Once the book is dry, you can start tearing out the pages.

For the back row, hold a page by the top or bottom, and do an accordian fold so there are 3-4 layers (but don't press), like this:


Fold it in half, kind of on an angle...

And pin it to the back of the wreath.


For the rest of the wreath, I held my pages with one hand along either the top or bottom of the page, and crinkled it.


Fold crinkled page in half, and stick a pin through.

Stick page onto wreath, and move on to the next one.

Keep adding pages till the wreath is full, and finish with the last row the same as the first, so that the back looks like this:


Add a hanger or a ribbon, and hang up to enjoy! I used natural colored raffia for mine. I took one long piece, tied a couple of knots about halfway down, shoved a pin through the knots and secured it to the back of my wreath. Then, I grabbed several more pieces, wrapped them around the wreath and tied a double knot where I wanted it to hang from the cup hook. This would pull and scrunch the book pages, which is why I added the single piece. That piece is actually holding the weight of the wreath. (I hope that all made sense!)

My costs:
Book - $1
Wreath - $3
Paint - free (a small bottle will cost $1-$2, depending on the brand and where you buy it)
Straight Pins - free (usually cost around $3-$4 for about 300 pins)

I wish I could say that no books were harmed in the making of this tutorial, but that's just not true. If you're like me, and hate the thought of tearing up books (it feels kind of like burning them), talk to your local public or school libraries to see if they have any that are destined for the trash pile. Trust me, you'll feel a little better about ripping it apart since you're repurposing it and saving it from a much worse fate.

Linking up here:

PPZ:DOD

What can I say? This book was awesome! I received it a couple of weeks ago, and read it twice within the first week. Then, I re-read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to see how they flowed together (very well), and read Dawn of the Dreadfuls a third time just a few days ago.

While reading PPZ, I couldn't help but wonder what could have happened to turn Elizabeth Bennet into a young woman who's first thought is to slit a man's throat when he offends her. After learning of the heartbreak, disappointment, and feelings of betrayal she endured, my question was answered.

The book opens with a funeral, where the poor decedent isn't as dead as the guests thought. With the realization that the unfortunate plague has reappeared, Mr. Bennet insists on training his girls in the deadly arts. Mrs. Bennet is horrified by the fact that this decision has ostracized the girls, and is tormented by the fact that their chances of finding suitable husbands is now almost non-existant. Despite being shunned by polite society, the Bennet sisters, with the help of Lord Lumpley, find that being courted by suitable young men is still a possibility. Those neighbors who at first rejected them, find themselves owing their lives to the unorthadox daughters of the Bennets. This story has comedy, drama, romance, and, of course, the zombie factor.

Dawn of the Dreadfuls was written entirely by Steve Hockensmith's hand, so it was an easier read than PPZ that is mostly in Jane Austen's words. It's a fun, enjoyable novel that not only works well with it's sequel, but is also a wonderful book on its own.

I highly recommend this book, and encourage you to go to your nearest book store on March 23rd (or go here to find online stores) to pick up this gem.

In the meantime, check out the website here, and enter their contest here (remember to mention my review, please!). Quirk Classics is giving away 50 Prize Packs that include:

• An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
• Audio books of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (both wonderful books)
• A password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls
• An awesome Dawn of the Dreadfuls poster
• A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal
• A box set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies postcards

Happy reading!