Instructables.com

So, I found this fan.tast.ic. website, www.instructables.com.  It is literally DIY Heaven (I think that's actually their motto).  You can create a tutorial and post it to their website, you can view a tutorial for EVERYTHING on their website, you can enter contests on their website, you can vote for contests on their website.... Y'all probably see where this is going :)

I entered a tutorial into 2 contests - the First Time Authors Contest, and the Fall for Yarn Challenge.  I was wondering if y'all wouldn't mind heading over to their website at this link (like, click this text right here. It should be purple or blue or something.)  and voting for my project, which is a Crochet Bobble Beard.  It's really cool :)

If you do take the time to click the link to go vote (which doesn't take more than 3 min) follow these steps:

1.  When you click the link, it will go straight to the contests page.  However, you have to sign in to vote.  If you already have an account (it would be, like, really cool if you did) just go ahead and login at the top then A) click the "explore" button at the top of the page next to the search bar, B) click the "contests" button on the top left of the menu that will come down, C) scroll about halfway down the contests page, click on the "Fall for Yarn", scroll down to the entries, and click the "vote" button at the bottom of mine (which, once again, is this super cool Crochet Bobble Beard modeled by my lovely younger sister :D)  If you don't already have an account, you can...
2.  Sign in with Gmail, Facebook, or Twitter.  Do this by scrolling down to the entries on the contest page and clicking  the "vote" button.  A window will pop up with sign in options.  When you choose your sign in option, you'll sign in and it will take you to the main page of the website.  After that you can just follow A, B, and C of numero uno up there (number 1 :D)

When you figure that out, you're more than welcome to do the same for the First Time Authors Contest (there are quite a few more entries, almost 400 - mine is only a few rows down though bc it's more recent).  You can find it on the Contest page as well.

Well, that was an incredibly long blog post.  I have some super cool Nail Art and Crochet DIY's/Photo-Showcase-whatever thingys, plus the results of the 2015 TN Valley Fair (!!!).  Thank you all soooo much for reading all this and voting for my project!  I'm really excited! Stay tuned...

** Please feel free to share the link to this post with your friends, on social media, etc.  I'm trying to spread the word as much as possible! :)

"O Christmas Tree..." - A Different Kind of Tree

I like Christmas.  A lot.  Especially the Christmas baking and food.  I'm sure you do too :)  Anyway, a few years ago, my friend and I entered a Gingerbread house contest.  It was super fun building and decorating the house.  I can't remember if we won or not, (this was a LONG time ago :D)  but I still remember all the fun we had putting it together.  At that point, winning didn't really even matter.  We just liked having fun

together.  I haven't done anything else like that since... until this year.  A lady at my church gave me a little gingerbread kit for building a Christmas Tree.  Pre-baked, Pre- everything.  Except put together.  And that's the fun part!  Yeah, I like the baking part too, but the best part is putting it together.  So that's what I did.  I built... A Different Kind of Tree.  

The kit.

The "taken apart" kit :)

This is what it will look like... sort of... just prettier...

Step 1 - Apply WHITE frosting to each cookie, then stack them, alternating the points to create the effect of a tree.

Applying more frosting.  To more cookies.

So far, so good.

It's a little taller now...

Done!  (It took about 30-45 mins just to get this part done... yeah)

I like photography, so I took this pic.  It looks pretty cool!  Oh yeah, and after you put the frosting on, you sprinkle sugar all over it.  That's what the sparkly stuff is :)

Next step (2 I think)  - Use the GREEN frosting to go around the edge of each cookie.  This makes it look like a tree.

Working my way up... (this was the super tedious part :) )

All done!

The top view... again.

Next - Use these little edible pearl candies to "decorate" your tree.  I think I put enough... what do you think?

The final touch - The Star!

I added a "little" more sugar too... can you see it?  :)

The star on top.

The "top shot" again.  :)

And that's my Gingerbread Tree for ya!  Coming up soon.... Christmas candy!  And cookies!  Or, in other words, my BAKING PAGE!  :)

It's been a while...

So I know it's been a while... but we finally got a new charger for the computer!!! Yay!  Now I can get caught up with posting.  I will finish up the Nail Challenge soon - I think there are 10 days left (yikes) but in this post I want to share some pics of projects I've completed with my new favorite hobby... Crocheting!!!  At my co-op (school) this year, I am taking a crocheting/knitting class.  During this semester that we just finished up, I learned to crochet.  And next semester, I am going to learn how to knit (hopefully! :D)  There have been a lot of fun projects I want to share, plus some that I just decided to do on my own!  Hope you enjoy!

My first hat... well, actually, I made one like this before, following the pattern, but it was way too small so I did it again (the one above) and just kept adding until it actually fit right :)

The second hat...  I don't know if you can tell, but there is a spiral pattern all around the whole thing.  It's also really warm and soft!

Gloves!  Well, fingerless gloves, but still they were really fun to make and I really like wearing them!  And yes, I know, my nails aren't done... shame on me.  :)  But they are still taking a break from that Nail Challenge!  lol.

Another hat!  I kind of just made this one up.  It's really easy to make one once you know how to get it started, because they all start the same way.  Unless you want to do one like the spiral pattern, then you need to either have the pattern handy, or just have a really good memory :)

There are a few more, but I don't have pics right now.  So I will post them later!  It's good to be back :)

DIY - Nail Art - Taping, Dotting

This design and pictures are from my sister, Emma, who asked me to post.  She said she is not sure what it is called but here it is! ;)

For this DIY you need:
White, light pink, hot pink, and glitter nail polish
Tape
Scissors
A nail, bobby pin, or sewing pin

I'm not sure of the names of any of these colors but they are a hot pink, light pink, white, and glitter.  Tape, scissors, and a nail, bobby pin, or sewing pin complete your supplies.

I was not around when she did this, but I will do my best to explain all the steps ;)  First, paint a base coat of light pink.  When it is completely dry, cut a narrow strip of tape and place it down the middle of each nail at a slant.  

Paint the uncovered part of your nail with hot pink, leaving a light pink stripe down the middle.  Pull the tape off and let it dry.

Next, take a paper plate and put a couple drops of white polish on it.  Using your nail, bobby pin, or sewing pin, put a dot of white in the middle of the center stripe on each nail by dipping the round end in your paint and pressing it onto your nail.  You have to do this rather quickly, or it will not work.

When it is all dry, add a coat of glitter polish and your done!!!