Fabric Covered Binders

Since I'm not able to do my three hour workouts this month, I've decided to tackle some of the 2016 Personal Challenges. This one was pretty awesome.

I decided that I needed some pretty binders for several things: kitchen appliance instruction manuals (I have a few), to-go/restaurant menus, household management folders, etc. I put this project off for a while because I thought for sure that I needed to match the decor of our new house...which will be accomplished this year (fingers crossed). At one point, I just turned all valley-girl and said, What. Ever! I decided to just pick some patterns with some colors I liked and go for it. Boom.

Here's what you need:

Binder, 1/2 yard fabric, paper/card stock to match, spray adhesive, scissors, tape measure, E6000, binder clips (or paper clips, if you're in a bind).

Get it?  People, I crack myself up!

The first thing I did was to put the fabric pattern-side down on my table. 

Measure out from the binder about 1 1/2 inches. Isn't that the cutest tape measure?

Mark it or just eyeball your cut line. Cut.

Go outside (yes, please) to spray adhesive all over the outside of the binder. Try to keep the spray even and don't make pools of it. It'll soak through!

Come inside and CAREFULLY place the binder on the awaiting fabric. Pick it up and make sure there aren't weird ridges or bubbles in the fabric. Fix what you can. Most spray adhesive is pretty forgiving for a few minutes.

Once you have done that, start applying the E6000 to the edges of the binder and work quickly to get the fabric in place. I went under the metal binder piece, so try to do that, if you can. Makes things perty.  PERTY, I say!

Leave the sides and corners for last. This is where the magic happens!  Lot of magic around here, people.

I did hospital corners on my binders.

Just look at that!

Once you finish with the gluing, use your clips to hold everything in place. I left mine overnight because I simply hate getting glue on weird stuff.

This binder is weird since it has a HUGE middle area (room for all my kitchen appliance manuals!), and I had some leftover fabric, so I covered the area with it. E6000, baby! More clips.

Here's where it all comes together. The paper. Measure it and cut it to fit where you like. I sprayed the paper (outside), brought it inside, placed it perfectly and smooshed it down.  You can smoosh, too. It's fun!

And here are the two I completed. Aren't they fab?

Your turn.

Hairpins

If you remember my 2016 Personal Challenge post, you'll note that I have some Pinterest project to complete. I've done a few of them, but have yet to post them...until now. Exciting, isn't it?

Number 24 on the list includes Pearl Hairpins. If you check it out, it looks reeeeaaaallly easy. Let me be the first to tell you that making these is a real lesson in patience and determination. I had hopes of doing five today and finishing up with 20 little pearl ones tomorrow. Well, completing one was the beginning of the end. I'm lucky I got the second one done.

I took plenty of pictures up front...but I gave up the illusion that this is a quick how-to as soon as I had to start wrapping wire around stuff. Maybe my wire was too thick. Maybe I am clumsy. Maybe I'm making it easy for you to drop this project from your list. LOL

Anyway, I started with all kinds of hope and supplies, including beads, wire, wire cutters/needle nose pliers, super glue, bobby pins.

I thought I could just string wire through each bead and wrap, but that didn't work. The bead kept slipping to the wrong side and was just too jiggly.

I ended up bending the wire in half, crimping it and then gluing it into a bead.  Make sure you let everything dry.

*Magic happens*

along with some

*Magic Words*

Final product.

Wasn't that great? I have another one (one of the green ones, in honor of St. Patrick's Day), but at this point, you'll just have to imagine its beauty. I threw everything in a bag and don't want to see it for at least four days.

My cousin was under the impression that I had soldered the beads onto the bobby pin...and I think that sounds fabulous. Has anyone tried that? Oh, well. I'll try it.  Why not?

By the way, if anyone has tried this and found it to be easy, reveal your secrets. Now.

I'm gonna explain...

Smiling through the pain...

So, all those who have followed my progress with the challenges will wonder why I stopped abruptly a while back. Welp...several reasons:

1. I didn't win the billion dollars the lottery had up for grabs, so, of course, depression...
2. I volunteered to work the Highland Games for a few days.
3. I hurt myself.

My version of hurting myself can look pretty benign. It can look like I pivoted slightly or even just straightened my leg. Yep, I can straighten my leg and not be able to walk for a few days. So, when I pair that with lots of challenges that actually test the control I have over my leg, I come out looking like a wimp.

I am trying to recover, and once I do, I'll pick up where I left off. I will probably use lots of kinesio tape and wraps and pain meds and cortisone shots (okay, maybe not lots of these), but I'll finish!

Yum-Yum Breakfast Bowl

If you know me, you know I am not a morning person. I can sleep through fog horns pointed directly at my face. It's true...and I've passed that trait on to my offspring.

One thing that will tempt me to shuffle out of my comfy bedroom is a concoction I lovingly refer to as my yum-yum breakfast bowl. It is sooooo good!

First step? Get all the ingredients you need, specifically:

1 scallion, sliced
1 blob of coconut oil
2 eggs, size of your choosing
1/2 avocado, checkerboarded
1 pile Tony Chachere's spice mix of choice

Optional:
diced tomato, to taste
2 tbsp salsa
sliced jalapenos, to taste

I start by cooking my scallions in a big blob of coconut oil. Call me paranoid, but after scallions were the subject of quite a few foodborne illness breakouts, I couldn't eat them raw anymore.

After a minute or two, I add my eggs. I have experimented with the number of eggs I can consume at any given time. It's the three bears of eggs for me.  One is too little. Three is too much. Two is juuuuust right. I break the yolks and stir and stir and stir.

It's up to you whether you keep the eggs in long enough for them to dry out. I'm married to a dry-eggs guy, but there was a time that I ate runny yolks. Okay, I still eat runny yolks when I don't have a yum-yum bowl.

Transfer eggs to bowl of choice and start slicing your avocado. I use a fairly dull knife to do this because I don't want my knife going through the skin. After slicing and cross-slicing, I use a spoon to get all that goodness into my bowl. I have to point out that, before I halve the avocado, I wash the outside of it (because ew, germs).

Once I mix this all together, I cover it with Tony's. I stop one shake before I know it'll speak to me later in the form of heartburn.

Now, you could stop right there and start eating because I know it smells good. You could also add diced tomato or salsa, and even jalapenos, if you can handle them. My esophagus usually says no.

I know everyone is thinking 'what's up, girl, where's the bacon?' -- and you would be correct. Where?!  My bacon would have a whole post to itself. Today?  It's a day dedicated to my yum-yum bowl.

So, there you have it:  a good reason to get up in the morning.  Thank me after your first bite of bliss.