I am too excited about my ombre pumpkin! Do you like? It took very little time to complete.
I started out with a fake pumpkin, two acrylic colors of choice (mine are hot pink and hot orange -- hello, '80s) and a make-up sponge.
Pink went on the bottom half, and I used a rubber band as a semi-straight barrier for me to avoid.
Orange was next, and I furrowed my brow more than once trying to figure out how the top should look.
I then combined the colors for the meeting in the middle. Not too bad, but I wish I had something that would allow the colors to stay wet long enough to combine naturally. Anybody have experience with an acrylic gel or medium?
I'll probably do a few more, like in March or June. Any color combinations you would like me to try? Blue and aqua make me smile, and maybe red and gold. Let me know what you think would be amazing!
Dudes. And dudettes. I don't know what happened to my motor-vation...but it left for a few weeks. That, and I feel like sleepy bear up there. I also feel dumpy and a little busy with a lazy Thanksgiving and pre-Messiah details. Ooooh, man. The excuses. They're coming quick, aren't they? My apologies.
I'm going to re-use the arms challenge from way back when! I promise to exercise every day this week...except the day I'm told to chill...by me. I will even exercise before I participate in the turkey challenge.
Week one (starting over):
(B)icep, (T)ricep, (S)houlder, (F)orearm
Friday (Shoulders): 2 circuits
10 each side Plank Press (S)
Rest 30 seconds between each side
12 Front Raise (S)
Rest 30 seconds
12 Standing Row (S)
Rest 60 seconds
Saturday (Fat-burning):
30 Second Wide-Leg, Straight-Arm Plank
Rest 30 seconds
30 Second Wide-Leg, Straight-Arm Plank
Rest 30 seconds
Begin Tabata Interval (from video)
The arms challenge continues! I did every day of the challenge last week. Did anybody reading this do that? Well, it's here if you decide to do it on your own timeline. So, without further ado, here are the exercises for this week, starting with tonight! I should plan better, I guess, so the exercises are ready for you if you workout in the morning...or we could keep Monday's routine as-is. Yes.
Friday (Shoulders): 2 circuits
10 each side Plank Press (S)
Rest 30 seconds between each side
12 Front Raise (S)
Rest 30 seconds
12 Standing Row (S)
Rest 60 seconds
Saturday (Fat-burning):
30 Second Wide-Leg, Straight-Arm Plank
Rest 30 seconds
30 Second Wide-Leg, Straight-Arm Plank
Rest 30 seconds
Begin Tabata Interval (from video)
I love Halloween projects! I think I could make something Halloweeny once a month and still have tons of projects lined up come October 31st. Here's the latest thang:
Isn't that fun? We did that with a real tiny pumpkin this year. Next year, we might try it with a fake pumpkin, just so we can keep him, year after year. I can't keep calling him 'him,' so he is now Vlad.
Here's our starting point. I guess there's a spoiler here:
First, we had to cut a mouth opening for Vlad. It took a while, but we finally came up with the correct dimensions to fit Vlad's enormous teeth. We used both a cheese knife and a safety knife and didn't slice or dice human phalanges. Hooray!
We cleaned out Vlad's brains, then had a fitting. Vlad's a snarky dental patient...
All is vell (said in a very dramatic Vampire voice), so we pinned Vlad's teeth in with his eyes. Sounds weird, but it works like a charm.
We had leftover glitter glue from the Creepy Eyeball Project, so we thought it would be funny to add a little in appropriate places. Muah-ah-ah-ah!
Vlad needed a friend, so we repeated the process for Constantine.
HA! I crack myself up with my little puns. Eyeball. Look out. Oh, ma-a-an. Classic.
So, I have had the 'ingredients' for this little project for a while, but I haven't been in the crafty mood...so I waited until today. I've got just enough time to panic and think that I don't have enough time to do all the things I need to do for Halloween. That's called 'motivation' in my world. I've been told it's called procrastination...whatever that is.
We'll jump right in! First, you'll need:
Googly Eyes, of all shapes and sizes (lots!)
Red glitter glue (or you can use regular paint in Halloween color of choice)
Cheap picture frame (got mine for $1 at Michael's, $0.60 if I use a coupon!)
Funky ribbon of choice
Letters of choice, from wherever (cricut, etc, if you have it, or store-bought)
Glue/epoxy of choice
Next, unwrap frame and get to it.
I think I used too much glitter glue, and probably should have used my fingers to rub it around, as that paintbrush was irkin' me. I declare! *ponder* Wow, I'm in full Southern mode, y'all.
At this point, I'm having fun putting the eyeballs into the glitter glue. Yay, me! Just a note: Obviously, if you use paint, you'd let that dry and then glue the eyes on. I know it doesn't always need to be said, but I'm covering my bases.
I.
Hate.
Googly.
Eyes.
I never want to see another one again. Seriously, I think I googly-eyed for two hours straight! I can set this aside for a few hours to let it dry.
After all that glue was dry, I ran a black sharpie around the inner and outer edges of the frame. I love the drippy glitter glue. Makes it creepy...well, creepier.
<------
I then wrapped a bit of ribbon around the bottom, and held it there with my handy-dandy clippy things. I have to say, I lucked out with the ribbon. I had no idea it was see-through, and that really works for this project! ------>
I glued the very punny letters in place and filled the frame with nothing. Look: that one eye has two pupils.
I really like the red glitter glue. It's icky and shiny and gross. Enjoy, while I go to my next panic project!
Sorry for the long absence! I haven't been feeling all that special, and this blog is the first thing to suffer in times like that. However, I'm back with a bang, and I want you to join me.
I am starting a 30 day challenge. You can go along with me, if you'd like, and do everything I'm doing, just in the comfort of your own environment. Don't start unless you get your doctor's okay, though, especially if you are of the older, more mature variety. :-)
This will be an arms challenge. I'm providing a before picture of my poor, neglected arm muscles. At the end of 30 days, I'll do a side-by-side comparison and, hopefully, we'll all bug our eyes out and hang our mouths open for several seconds. It's a wish I have...
So, without further ado, here's my arm:
Great Googly Moogly! Ten inches of pure bicep monster!
Throughout this challenge, I'll update weekly with different things to do. I want to confuse your muscles with, like, math and stuff. I'll work the biceps, triceps, shoulders and forearms. You'll need some equipment, like hand weights of various sizes, a yoga mat, a chair on 'concentration' day and proper outfits. No workouts in cocktail dresses! I also want your body to become familiar with one of my faves: Tabata Intervals.
Tuesday (Shoulders, Fat-burning): -- Still recovering. Tabata is no joke.
12 Standing Row (S)
Rest 30 seconds
12 Lateral Raise (S)
Rest 30 seconds
Begin Tabata Interval (from video above)
Wednesday: Rest -- This is good, since I can't move my arms.
Slowly stretch the muscles you worked after each workout. That should do it. Are your arms hurting already? If you aren't familiar with some of the exercises, let me know...or check out the internet search engine of your choice. There are great videos on youtube on how to do these exercises in a safe way. Just remember to keep things tight (don't flail about as you handle hand weights) and always, always check your form. Also, if you feel the need to stop because you are about to puke (thank you, Tabata!), do so...but try to finish after you recover. Concentrate, y'all. It's your temple you're dealing with here!
If you do this, measure your arms, take pictures, whatever. Slow and steady wins this arms race.
Since it's September and I am notoriously slow at starting things, I decided that I was just going to go ahead and prepare for Halloween. This year will be full of Pinterest crafts and ideas. I have about two months to do it all, and that stretch of time terrifies me! Can. I. Do. It?! Follow along and see!
I started with the magnetic spider project. I gathered a couple of big spiders, a bag of spider rings, magnetic tape, round magnets and fairly strong adhesive.
I did the big spiders first...'cuz those are freaky!
I put adhesive on both the magnet and the underside of the spider.
I did a push and twist, push and twist -- just to make sure the magnets stuck. Then I set them aside to dry.
Next came the smaller spiders. If you can find spiders by themselves, more power to you. I found the rings, and they were cheaper than the sparkly paper spiders...and more realistic (except for the large circular appendage protruding from their abdomens).
I ripped those off. I heard no screams.
Next came the rest of the surgery. Before I started this step, I had little visitors, like flies, dragonflies and ants. Afterward, I suppose the carnage that lay before me scared them off. They didn't return. Coincidence?
I cut the magnetic tape to the perfect size or thereabouts, and put adhesive on both magnet and spider, once again. Overkill...or thorough. Let's go with the latter.
Alright, when you get finished with all the little ones, set them aside to dry for a while.
* By the way *
Silly me. I was hating life out there in the grass. Ever just think everything is crawling on you? I'll be feeling that for the rest of the week...and so will you when you see the end result of the big spiders and the small ones below on my front door? Ready?
Oh, gross!
What is happening?!
Call the exterminator!!
Well, that was fun! I love how they turned out. I tested their sturdiness by opening and closing the door a few times. I also scared the kinder. That was pretty fun, too. She knew they were plastic, but like I mentioned earlier, skin-crawling uneasiness happens, especially when you see spiders, fake or otherwise.
Okay, so I would like a little interaction on this blog, and one way I think I might get it is to put out a challenge. As the title states, I want to get some stuff going with Pinterest, and I don't want to do it alone. I want company. I want witnesses. I want fellow failures...to laugh with me at our horrible results. Please fail a few times with me!
So, I'm not sure how to do this, but I figure I could post a few pins and we could have a survey of which failure to fail at first. Should I start with something related to a season coming up or a hair-do? I do want dudes to participate, too, so scratch the waterfall braids. See, I'm arguing with myself right now, making sure to type it out so you can feel as though you are part of the process. Isn't this exciting?
She is excited!
Okay, I've had more inner dialogue and have found three pins. We'll all vote on one pin to tackle next week. I'll give you a few days to shop, then we'll work on the winning pin starting...whenever I decide. Do I have some participants? Lemme know by leaving a comment. Who knows? Maybe the best one will win something from me.
Here are the pins [and since I don't want to get into trouble for posting pics without permission, I'm only posting the links]:
Yes, these are pretty easy. What can I say? I don't want to fail too badly right up front. So, this should be fun! Leave a comment with your choice of pin from above (A, B or C) and we'll get started! Huddle up!
Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I graced the pages of my own blog. I've been consumed with Olympic coverage and working out and summer fun with the family!
Let's start with the Olympics. Yes, I've already given you my thoughts on some of the Olympics events, but I'm opinionated and must make noise whenever possible. I won't make much noise, though, because I've been grumbling about the coverage since coverage began. They had their heroes, of course, and that's who they showed. I hate that athletes spend their lives (perhaps) training for the Olympics and the only coverage they get is a name on the screen and a satellite video with them plopping out of the starting blocks or diving into pee-water. I also laugh at the drama of it all, since most of it is pre-recorded and we pretty much already know the outcome.
Working out! I'm pretty excited to return to my routine. I like bossing people around, and I work out more often if I have someone there. They are doing 5K training on the days I'm not there, and circuit training when I am there. I am sore every time I leave those workouts...and they aren't! What's happening here? I shall bring my lifeguard whistle and tweet them and taunt them! I shall!
Anybody have any great ideas for 30 second circuit stops? I don't want to be boring as I tweet and taunt. I'm trying to get to Tabata-type workouts, which make me want to throw up, but I don't want to scare anyone away...plus I despise throwing up. It's not my fave. Lunges are my fave...
Summer fun is a great time for visitors and pools and beaches and theme parks! We ran around town from sun-up to sun-down for a week straight, it seems. I'll go into more detail later, but for now, I will praise the wonders of sunscreen and snarl at roller-coasters.
I sit and watch these Olympics, proud of everybody -- not just Americans. I am going to give you my thoughts on stuff (and I guess that's why I have a blog, yes?).
This scene scares my windpipe.
Swimming More power to these folks. I can swim, no problem, but I have a tendency to choke on my own spit...and that's on dry land. I've known swimmers, from high school and beyond, and know that the workouts are long enough and hard enough to allow them to pig out and still look like upside down triangles. Also, my appendages are more than likely a drag to perfect streamlining. So...I'm out. Can't medal in swimming.
Oh, I could do this!
Gymnastics See, when Aly fell on her head while warming up the other day, I relived my own head-bonk from high school. I was mid-back-flip and stopped to check the time, I guess. Bonk. There I went -- down to kiss the ground of my homeland. Blerg. I think some people gasped, as did I, so after that, I think I was too scared to go further. That, and I saw one of my class-mates knock a woman's nose sideways while doing her back-flip. Oh, it hurts, y'all! It hurts! No medals!
Not me. My laces would be out.
Cycling I just can't cycle for more than an hour. Maybe I'm not wearing the right padding or something. Maybe I'm lazy and don't stand up as often as I should. Whatever it is, I dislike my tush after my rides and curse it repeatedly. 'Leave me alone!' I say, as I shuffle to the water cooler. 'Take a day off!' I could probably medal in a 30 minute leisure ride. When's that event?
Badminton Oh, if losing gets you a medal, this is the sport for me! Check me out! Boom! Right in the net! I lose! And by that, I mean 'Give me my medal!' I'm just not sure how to feel about losing on purpose to get an easier competitor. That doesn't seem like winning to me. Seems like cheating. Meh. DQ.
I'm sure I'll check some more events later this week and give more thoughts. I will end, however, with some thoughts about China. Right after Wu Minxia won a gold medal in diving, she was finally told that her mother had been fighting breast cancer (for a year) and that her grandparents were dead (and had been for about a year)...and the family didn't tell her because they didn't want to distract from her training. I read an article where this information was disclosed and there was even a quote from a family member:
I don't even dare to think about things like enjoying family happiness.
This makes me sad. I'm all for the best winning the medals, but at what cost? Maybe that's why I'll never medal in anything. I enjoy my family happiness -- so I'll count that as my achievement and hang it around my neck.
