More Attempts at Pinterest

OKAY. So I'm back from bum-outs-ville and I'm feeling so much better. Honestly, that brief period of sadness did me a world of good. I realized that almost every protagonist in feel good movies goes through some sort of down swing before they realize their true potential. I'm not saying that I have everything figured out (I doubt I ever will) but I'm definitely realizing what is important to me and what I want out of life.

This post is dedicated to my first attempts at self lead crafting. My grandmother is a crafting God and when I was a child she taught/ helped me with all sorts of projects. However, I'm 26 and it's been a few years since I broke out a glue gun. But you gotta start somewhere, right?

First thing first, my attempt at a sea shell souvenir frame!

My boyfriend and I went to the coast a month or so ago and I wanted a cheesy souvenir to remember the trip by. Unfortunately, cheesy souvenirs can cost a pretty penny. While strolling the beach I collected some shells and when I got home I figured I could hot glue them to a frame that displayed one of my beach pictures. 

I ended up picking up a couple of super cheap frames from Ikea that had a beach-y feel to them. They were around $3 bucks a pop.

I'm sure I could have done this project better or more professionally. My plan of attack was just to glue beads and shells on the frames until I ran out of space or beads. If you look really closely you can see a few strands of hair like glue from my hot glue gun. I didn't create a beautiful piece of art but I did make a cute little frame that will always remind me of a fun trip. Also, it does look better from a distance and surrounded by other frames.

I posted a few weeks ago about some homemade sugar scrub. It was seriously so easy! I made two mason jars full of scrub for $0! I had all of the ingredients for the scrub (brown sugar, white sugar, oil) and I had some mason jars and ribbon laying around my house. And the labels I used? They came with my crock pot. So easy.

A few weeks ago on Pinterest I saw a recipe for Cheesy Quinoa cakes. I could have sworn I pinned them on my DIY I Want to Try but alas I'm not seeing them. Either way, they were incredibly easy to make and so delicious. The recipe can be found on Spoon, Fork, Bacon:

Their picture is so much better than mine (did you notice how my dvd remote is photo bombing my cakes?)

Trust me, if I call a recipe easy, it's easy. Plus it's super cheap, all I had to go out and buy was lemons for the aioli and green onions (both were less than $1). I made them for Girls night and for my boyfriend and they were a hit. Plus, its the kind of recipe you can easily modify with success. 

Photo Update: Food Addition

Clearing out a few pics from my iPhone folder.

Cherry Pie filled Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Chocolate Ganache. 

Vader Hello Kitty Cake Topper. 

Vegan and Gluten Free Hamburger Cake (love the irony in this one). 

Dessert screaming for mercy. I gave it none.  

"Kitty Litter" Cake my Grammy made this for my younger cousins. They totally loved it.  

Vacation Feast pt 1: French Toast platter of the Gods.  

Vacation Feast pt 2: Seafood! 

Kahlua Coco and Marshmallows. Recipe is here.

Hoping this week is a good one; I'm (temporarily) back on my regular shift which means normal hours and actually seeing my friends/boyfriend. 

SXSW Photo Update!

Finally got back from the beach and I feel amazing! It's been years since I've been on a vacation and spending a few days enjoying a sunny shore with my boo was exactly what I needed. It is hard to adjust to being back but I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things.

As promised, here is another photo update and this one is still (relatively) current! For those of you who don't know each year during the middle of March Austin hosts a GIANT festival called South by Southwest (or SXSW or just South by). Shit gets cray. People are everywhere and bands are playing where ever (the street, door ways, retail shops, on the backs of trucks driving through town). Due to a major case of being broke (aka my life) I couldn't afford the $150-$200 for a wrist band to get into shows, let alone the $500 or whatever for a badge. BUT, the great thing about SXSW? So many free shows you don't even need to drop any money to enjoy music. Websites like do512 or Austin's free paper The Chronicle listed (almost) every party, event, and showcase and there were so many free one's because labels and companies want to splash out their band or product in a big way.

I worked a ton of extra hours at my second job because it's a retail shop that focuses on music and it's located in the heart of downtown. We were crazy busy but the money was awesome. I did manage to get Saturday (St Patrick's Day) off from both jobs so I wanted to experience a bit of music fun. First thing first, I had to buy some Irish whiskey (I'm Scot-Irish so I gotta rep my roots). There was a free afternoon/evening show on Auditorium Shores that I went to. The only thing I paid for was a pint of Fosters ($9!! But, honestly, can you really enjoy a beautiful Texas afternoon and wonderful music without some beer? No.).

There are sometimes I am so blown away by my town. I saw an amazing line-up of bands while standing on the shores of a river with the gorgeous Austin skyline in the background. Also, besides kick ass free parking because of my job I also enjoyed free food; Sabra hummus and Sun Chips were handed out to everyone. Can't really beat free music and free snacks.

Even though they don't have to, Auditorium Shores provided a ton of free porta potties which was awesome because a pint of beer can cause some gotta pee NOW issues.

As the sun set The Cult took the stage. The screen had a giant, really cool looking, skull on it but my iPhone obviously didn't manage to catch it. But look at that crowd! Thousands of people lined up to enjoy the show which was great and also featured a surprise cameo from Matthew McConaughey on the bongos (seriously, I can't make this stuff up). Don't believe? Here's a YouTube video.

Even though I'm young and fun and a giant fan of music after a 60+ hour work week I didn't want to deal with crowds or downtown or even people anymore. So I did the only thing I wanted to do:

I went home and enjoyed frozen pizza, bread sticks, whiskey, and yogurt pretzels with my boo. Sure, it's not as cool as some Vice or Perez Hilton after party or pre-party or whatever but my feet were the size of a beast and my sunny disposition was fading real fast.

So, there it is, my SXSW 2012. I managed to fit in work and fun and spent less than 10 bucks on everything. Now, obviously, if you were coming into town for the fest you would spend more (flight, hotel, etc) but for those of you that live close it's incredibly easy to not waste money or spend a lot.