Words In a Jar

Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts

I Like Change. (Was that Convincing??)

Maybe you've noticed, but I've made some changes to the blog recently. These changes have stemmed from a need to overhaul the messy look it had and to get ready for some new and exciting things I want to be doing.

I've been thinking a lot about my future lately. I know, I know, that's one of the things you totally shouldn't do, "live in the moment", blah blah blah.

But I'm allowed. I'm at that point in my life. I'm 22, I'll be graduating college soon and at heart, I'm a dreamer.

So what do I see when I look forward you ask?

I see a lot of hard work. And for once in my life, I'm not going to shy away from it. I'm going to relish it. Because hard work means I'm getting somewhere…it means I'm working towards my goals.

I have always lived by the philosophy that it is is better to have tried and failed then not tried at all. I think that is why I connect with this quote from J.K. Rowling so much:

Source: alittlefurtheroutoftheway.tumblr.com via Jess {-Words in a Jar-} on Pinterest

Many people have a fear of failure. And I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't share that fear. But fear is just a feeling, and I can get over it.

I made a promise to myself in the beginning of the new year, that I would not allow myself to make excuses. I will try my damndest to achieve my dreams. And if I still fail, then so be it.

But it will never again be for a lack of hard work.

So stay tuned! There are some awesome things coming this way.

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John Lennon Quote Mural Project Update: Phase Three…Done!

So here it is! My John Lennon Quote Mural Project is done! I was so excited to finish this project and see the quote painted in it's entirety. It fit in the space just perfectly and I think it makes good use of that awkward foot and a half between the shelf and the love seat.

Just in case you missed it, you can find Phase One of the project here and Phase Two here.

Below are some pictures, enjoy!

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John Lennon Quote Project Update/Phase Two

So Phase Two of the John Lennon quote project is finished! (For Phase One, go here.)

Phase Two includes the first side of the mural, with this part of the quote: "When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me happiness was the key to life.

So excited that I got this much done…stay tuned for the next phases!

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Coming Back...

I've been away from blogging for a while now. At first, I thought I liked it better...I didn't feel pressure to post anything, I felt like I had one less thing to worry about.

And for a while, that was cool. I was okay with it. But recently, I realized that I am not okay with it. I loved my blog. Even though I'm not sure that anyone besides my mother actually read it, I liked having this small piece of the internet to call my own.

So I'm coming back to blogging and this time, I'm not going to give up so easily...I think I'll stick around for a while, see where it takes me. :)

Updates:

I have a Storenvy store! HD computer wallpapers, iPhone wallpapers, etc! Check it out! More coming soon.
My Pinterest boards are overflowing...
My Design Business is going great! I have some new clients lined up for the fall and I'm really excited.
I'm in my Senior Year of College!! I'm ready to face the last year head-on and I can't wait to have that diploma in my hand.

There's tons more, but I'll save the rest for individual posts.

I hope someone, somewhere is happy that I'm back :D

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Rag Rug: Project 2012

So a few days ago I stumbled upon this beautiful rag rug on Flickr:

and I happen to have this empty space in my room that could use a rug:

so, naturally, this happened:

I need more rags though!!

Stay tuned for pictures of the progress!

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John Lennon Quote Project, Phase One

So my most recent project is a mural of a John Lennon quote that I LOVE.

Here it is: "When I was 5 years old, my mother told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, I told them they didn't understand life."

So because this quote is really long, the only space I had left for it (more on that in another post) was in my reading nook.

I decided to wrap it around the three walls underneath my bookshelves.

I downloaded a font of John Lennon's handwriting, which I think is really cool, because now it's like he wrote it on my wall.

I printed out the letters to the size I needed and then traced them onto Bristol Board, a really stiff artist's paper.

I had one for every letter in the quote and so then all I had to do was trace the letters onto the wall.

So that's phase one! Everything's all traced out and all that's left is to paint it! I can't wait, there's pictures below, stay tuned for phase two. :)

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My Avocado Trees

I love avocados…I love making guacamole, and now I love growing avocado trees.

That's right, I'm growing trees! Cool right??

Anyway, I started growing the first seed a few weeks ago and it has since grown a shoot about six inches high! I'm so excited to be growing a tree, it's ridiculous. I drive my family crazy with all of the tree updates :) The other day I made guacamole and gained two more pits to grow.

Of course, it's entirely possible that they'll never bear fruit. If they do, it might take somewhere around 10 years for the first fruit to appear.

But I don't care, I just think it's awesome watching them grow :)

If you'd like to learn how to grow your own avocado tree, check out this article here.

If you'd like an awesome guacamole recipe, check out my post on my other blog, TheFoodXchange.

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This just happens to be one of the most amazing/awesome things I've seen in my entire life.

I'm going to have to make it.

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Quote/Mural in My Room:

I painted this quote on my wall above my closet. It's from Jason Mraz's "That'll Do" (Also know by several other names…) The font is FG Petra, used on some of Jason Mraz's cds and whatnot.

My bed faces it, so I wake up every morning to this amazing piece of advice, one that I plan to live by.

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Yes, as a Matter of Fact I do Crochet. No, I'm not Eighty...

I started this crocheted blanket as a "summer project" probably about two or three years ago.

Obviously I didn't finish it in one summer and I haven't really touched it for a while but I had some free time today so I thought, why not?

My Grandma actually taught me how to crochet and I started this project after seeing it in one of her books.

I'm looking forward to it looking more like a blanket and less like a weird table runner.

p.s.- I also cross stitch...

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My Nail Polish Collection

So I was bored and I wanted to use my lightbox. I wound up taking pictures of my nail polish collection, so here it is!

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Peace Sign Light: Weekend Project, Update- It's Done!!!

So because of school I haven't had a chance to post about my Peace Sign Light recently.

But here's the update: when I got home from work on Friday night and went up to my room, I got a big surprise:

It was done!!

I was so excited, it looks amazing! I just love it.

Thanks, Daddy!

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Peace Sign Light: Weekend Project, Day Three Update

So today after I got home from school and my dad got home from work, we started cleaning up the sign. The edges were rounded and the face and sides were sanded.

This time, we have a happy face…that's due to the fact that the peace sign isn't crooked…

Then he spackled the walls, to get rid of any tiny imperfections.

Tomorrow when the spackle is dry, it'll be sanded and hopefully prepped for paint!

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Peace Sign Light: Weekend Project, Day Two Update

Peace Sign Take Two- With Plastic Wood Drying on
the Router Mishap...

So day two brought it's own challenges...I'm not quite sure why this project is giving us such a hard time...we made my entire bed with less mishaps then this peace sign!

This morning after my dad cut the new, non-crooked peace sign out, he went to go route the edge where the back pieces are going to sit...and something went awry. (haha, I said "awry"!)

Anyway, the router went bonkers and gouged the face of the sign.

Don't worry, it was filled in with plastic wood and sanded down to look good as new.

Then, after a quick trip to Home Depot, then Lowe's, then Home Depot again, we came back and started to put the pieces on the back that will cover the lights so they're not visible from the side.

So that's it! the pieces are clamped down and in the next few days we'll be sanding, shaping and just generally cleaning it up to get it ready for paint and lights!

I'm so excited, I can't wait!

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Peace Sign Light: Weekend Project, Day One Update

The Rope Light for the Peace Sign

The Empty Spot in My Room for the Light
(One of the Only Empty Spots Left!)

So yesterday we got started on my Peace Sign Light Project. First we tried to figure out how to lay the rope light out…

Trying to Figure out How to Wrap the Lights

Then we decided that it was a losing battle until we had an actual peace sign to work with. So we took the widest part of the wood and made a circle that big:

Then we started drawing the peace sign…at which point I took out my iPod Touch for reference and my father claimed that he'd seen a lot of peace signs and he knew what he was doing because he was, "a child of the 60s". I'm not going to argue with that…