Easter is Coming

While Easter may not be the biggest holiday such as Christmas or Halloween, I have always loved its bright colors, joyful energy, and not to mention it abundance of amazing candy. My favorites being robin eggs, and cadbury creme eggs. Back on topic, I thought that this year I wanted to be a little more festive than usual. I don't plan on going all out, but just small things to brighten my day. Then I thought, "Hey, I wonder if my readers want to be more festive too!" And so this post was born. So today (as in the day you're reading this), I'm going to share a few small ways to be festive in your everyday whereabouts.

1. The Computer

My desktop at this very moment.

So assuming that all my readers have some sort of device connecting them to the internet (kudos to those that don't and are somehow managing to read my blog. MAGIC), then that means you have a desktop, or phone background of some sort. Something you might already know about these backgrounds, is guess what! They 're customizable! In the spirit of Easter merriment, I have changed my backgrounds to things such as flowers, colorful Easter candy, and my favorite, bunnies! I can't handle it, it's too cute. Now opening up my computer to complete that Vital Vocab is as hard as I thought it would be.

2. The Room

If you are like me, then you might spend a good amount of time in your room. That also means your room is the perfect place for some Easter festivity. As you can already tell, I love Easter candy. Anyway I can convince my mom to buy more of it, I will do. So my first idea is, no surprise here, a jar full of candy. It's colorful, cute, and delicious. My only suggestion think about buying a candy you don't like, that way you aren't tempted to eat your new decor. Not a candy person? Try anything with flowers. You can put them in vases, or make paper flowers for a garland to decorate your walls.

3. The Bag

You take a bag or backpack almost everywhere you go. So why not take some Easter enthusiasm along with it. I'm not asking you to make a world class, hand sewn bag made from just scraps of cloth laying around your house. Just small things like tying colorful hair ties or ribbons to the zipper. The hair ties are perfect for controlling you hair in the ever changing weather that arrives with spring. That is, unless you like that windswept look.




You guys know the drill. Comment, follow, suggest, all that good stuff. Just make sure to share all your newly found gusto with all those around you. And while your sharing, share how amazing you think my blog is. They say there is nothing like "the word of mouth," except for maybe Easter candy. Help, I'm obsessed. I wish you all luck in these final days in the quarter, I'll see you all at the Easter candy obsession support group.

Pecularily Passionate

I don't know about you guys, but there are things that I get weirdly passionate about. Things that, as my can mom tell you, I can rant about for hours. And because my family is tired of hearing about the same irritating topics all the time, I thought I would share it with you, the internet. Because that has never gone wrong before for anyone else. Not to mention, talking about what bothers me often gives people an idea of my weirdest parts, and hey, what's just a little bit more widespread embarrassment right?

Pretty much sums it all up. Image courtesy of Tumblr.

Well, one thing I never understood was why people would stop trying in school. I am not talking about one person specifically, but I'm always confused when people don't even try to complete an assignment. I completely understand if you got confused on how to do the assignment, if you forgot about it, or even if you were absent. I do both of those things regularly. What makes me rant is when people knowingly take the zero. Is it that hard to just try it? And keep in mind,  you're going to have to know this information for the test anyways. Getting that zero now is just asking for another one later on. Besides, any amount of points is better than a zero for your grade. Just suck it up, and do the assignment. Most of the time, it's not half as bad as you think it will be.

While the last paragraph may outline something irritates me beyond belief, it does no affect my behavior like competition does. No matter how small, or pointless the competition is, I aim to win. This wins me glares, stares, and laughs from other people at times, but I am usually oblivious to all of that. While competitiveness isn’t always considered a bad thing, it can lead to a lot of disappointment for me. Especially when we are playing against other people in P.E. There is a saying, “Calm down, it’s P.E, not the Olympics.” Hearing this only encourages my determined behavior. Why should I have to calm down? Is it a crime to try? I understand if you don’t care, but don’t go criticizing me for putting in effort.

I could continue on that topic for a whole blog post, but we have to move on. The last irksome thing that we are going to talk (I say we, but it's really just me talking to myself) in this post is when people take authority. I don't mean teachers, or public authorities like the police or government. I mean when students are asked to lead. A recent example, if you're confused, is in ballet class a couple of weeks ago. My teacher couldn't make it to class so she appointed to other students to be in charge. I have no problem with that. The problem is when someone who I consider to be on an equal standing with me decides that they get to tell me what to do.  So, probably because I was jealous, I started trying to annoy this new leader in as many little ways as I possibly could. Upon reflection of my actions, at the break in the middle of class, I realized how terrible I was being. I apologized, and improved my attitude for the rest of class, but I still proceeded to complain about it to my mom afterwards.

Me during the second half of ballet class. Image courtesy of Pinterest

Moral of the story, I'm insane, and get set off about small, pointless things. Now if your not done judging me, continue to my other posts for more embarrassment. I hope you all have a relatively rant free day!

A Guide To Gifting

Believe it or not, but birthdays, and holidays tend to be an annual thing. The annual part can be hard when it comes to getting gifts for the different people in your life. I have trouble especially when it comes to unknown relationships. Gift giving is dangerous territory, but with this guide, and practice you can become the non-mythical equivalent to Santa. All this for only a payment $99.99 a month for 9 months. Just kidding, it's all free, you're welcome.

Possible reaction to a mediocre present. We can do better than this people. Image courtesy of Elfarandi.

1. Best Friends "Five-Ever" ( Get it? It's bigger than "four-ever.")

Don't let this title mislead you, this section of our guide is not only for very close friends, but also family. This grouping of loved ones can is most of the time either the hardest, or easiest to shop for. While these are the people you know the best, the pressure is on to get them the perfect gift. My suggestion, make it personal. I have gotten my "bestie" a variety of gifts customized to reference our inside jokes. This can mean customized phone cases, headphones, or even t-shirts. Also a possibility, make something yourself. DIY's are fun, and are often the perfect gifts, and guess what! I have posted pages of ideas for you to choose from. Other ideas I have include a surprise room decoration, planning activities to do together like planning a whole day together. The reason you are close with this person is because you love them so it's important that these gifts come from you, not from a store.

Results may vary. Image courtesy of Elloecho

2. Just in School Friends

This section should be used as help when deciding on a gift for an acquaintance. I use the word acquaintance very specifically here. This section is for those friends you aren't extremely close, and maybe don't know as well. Here it is more acceptable to buy things from a store. I commonly go for gift cards, or clothing and accessories if I know their style. Gift cards are perfect because you can  buy one from a store they like to make it personal instead of just handing them cash. Another good idea could be a colorful box or basket full of candy they like. This is inexpensive, but anyone you give it to will love it!

3. That Special Someone

Now you know you've done it right. Image courtesy of Popsugar.

Before you get too excited, I'm not going to talk about what to give you boyfriend or girlfriend. I have no experience in that area, and my advice might do more harm than good. While that may be the case, I know what having a crush feels like. I know that getting a gift for someone you like can be a tricky subject when they don't know about your feelings. So, my suggestion for these gifts is to do it casually. The gift shouldn't be really expensive, or big. Making it really personal might also freak them out. My go to is to make a batch of cupcakes for all your friends, and just happen to have an extra one when you run into him or her.

Well guys, I know was a random time for this post. It would be better received at Christmas, but recently I've felt like a gift guru. So, no more judging for today, unless you decide to look at my other pages, and posts, and also decide to follow me. I promise I won't file a restraining order, even though stalking someone is really creepy. Have a great life, and I'll blog again very soon because I love you all. (Honestly it's because I need more posts to get an A in English.)

Oridinary Miracles

This post may not be relevant to anything I originally set out to do in this blog, but I thought you might enjoy it. After all, laughing is the best form of therapy that doesn't cost ridiculous amounts of money. So to make you laugh today, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite ordinary miracles.

1.  Well, Maybe You Should've Looked Harder

How does she do it? Image courtesy of Elfarandi.

Everybody loses things, and when the time comes that you need them, a chaotic mess is created by your frenzied search. Even if you have checked every nook and cranny, no matter how improbable they may seem, some items may only be found by none other than your mother (take a moment to enjoy that rhyme). Some may say it's a keen eye that evolved through the process of being a mother, but I have a more simple theory, magic. It's the only reasonable explanation. This miracle does become a thing to keep in mind if you're mother, like mine, doesn't like to look for my things when I've lost them. That may be reasonable, but in my opinion, if your are granted such a gift as my mother's, you should use it for the good of others!

2.  Weight Lifting Wonder

While the title of this section may make this seem active, don't let it fool you. This phenomenon occurs in presence of extreme laziness. Picture this, your mom just got back to the store with a car full of groceries. She brings the majority in, but just asks you to take the remaining bags inside from the car. At this point it doesn't matter if there are two or twenty bags left, you are going to make only one trip to carry them in. You are never at a stronger point in your life than when you don't want to make more than one trip, which is generally always. While your at it, enter a weight lifting competition, or audition for superman before the adrenaline like feeling dissipates.

3.  First Try

My face every time. Image courtesy of BookBloggersInt.

Nothing makes you feel more like a boss (check out that hip vernacular yo) than turning to the right page in your textbook on the first try. If this isn't a miracle than I don't know what is. The only thing that may be more spectacular is if anyone witnesses the action happening. If so, be sure to revel in the widened eye contact that ensues because that my friend, is an improbable event. Although I wouldn't draw too much attention to it, or you may get a more common look from your teacher, the death stare.

If you want more miracles to brighten your everyday life, checkout my other posts (I flatter myself). Also, if you want to make my day better, comment or subscribe. Also, I have a page full small projects for you crafters to do in your free time (if there is such a thing). I hope you all have wonderful days and weeks to come, and I'll blog you later.

All Aboard the Struggle Bus

Come join me in my struggle today as I talk about what I hope is a shared helplessness. Today I wanted to talk about that one class we all have where we feel like Miley Cyrus will become clean and wholesome again before we do one thing right. This is going to be general advice for literally any class because if Brian from "The Breakfast Club" taught us anything it's that there is no such thing as "easy A" class.

To get the ball rolling, I'll share my experiences that inspired this post. It could've been a subplot in a mediocre high school genre film, an intelligent girl who never had any real problems with her core classes (me) decides to take a Jewelry class just for fun. As the class begins working on projects, she slowly starts to realize that she is really bad at drilling, and then sawing, and later filing. She tries to correct her mistakes, but nothing is making a large difference. The hard truth of it is, she is struggling in this class. She feels incompetent, and embarrassed. The academic confidence she once had has dissolved into nothingness, leaving her feeling seemingly weak and alone.

Me in jewelry class. Image courtesy of Barkpost.

But seriously guys, I am terrible at jewelry making, and the drill press is the worst part. As my friend Natalie nicely put it "The drill press is the bane of Allison's existence." How should I put this, I would rather write a twenty page essay on my experiences with watching paint dry than use the drill press one more time. It doesn't help that when I'm using it people are usually forming a line behind me. Those people are not really interested in how big of a challenge it is for me, they just want to drill there holes and get on with their lives. I mean who cares if I'm completely paralyzed by fear of the power tool they entrust to 9th graders (because we are supposedly so mature now. I'm trying really hard, but I'm not even living up to my own, now severely lowered, standards.

What I imagine my conversations with my art teacher are going to be like. Image courtesy of EpicPinterestFail.

  So clearly I'm having problems, but how do I, or you for that matter, fix that? my suggestion, find one part of it that you can do even slightly well, and maybe something that you enjoy. If you can focus on that, your life int that class might be easier (no promises in cases like mine), and less miserable.

This beacon of hope for me in my jewelry class is refining our pieces. This means sanding by hand for literally over an hour, and then using the buffing machine, which, by the way has scalped people. All this, just to make it look shiny. Sounds terrible, but I love it, I might even go as far as saying that I'm good at it. On a more social note, I also have good friends in that class (shout out to Sam and Franzi). They keep me from going insane, or should I say more insane.

Well, this is the end for now, but kudos to those who actually made it to the end of this post. Special thanks to my mom for at least trying to understand why I continually embarrass myself on the internet. And finally, none of this would be possible without viewers like you, thank you (PBS reference). Talk you you dorks later (even sooner if you comment on this post)!

The Only Good Reason To Destroy a Book

As the title of this post may tell you, at this point in time I believe there is only one good reason to destroy a book. Give me some time, and I could probably think of more, but for now the only reason is for it to be in the name of arts and crafts. You might be thinking, "That's nice Allison, but what does that have to do with us?" Well, today I'm showing you what I think is the book DIY to end all other book DIYs, the jewelry box book! This project is a little bit challenging and time consuming, but worth the effort.

Also a great for hiding that stash of junk food your parents don't know about.

First, you're going to need some supplies. The most obvious of course, is hardcover book you are willing to cut apart. Mine was a discard from the school library with about 300 pages. Keep details like these in mind when picking your book, it needs to be deep enough to hold your jewelry, but it can be hard to make if the book is extremely long. Next, you're going to need an x-acto knife to cut out the center of your book. You can find them at Michaels, but if you have never used one before, watch this safety video (you can skip the first part about the parts of the knife), and use this practice sheet first. I'm not going to get into the graphic details, but x-acto knives are dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Last on our mandatory list is mod podge. As always, there are infinite possibilities for other supplies to decorate your book including: patterned paper, stickers, and ribbon.

Next, measure an inch border around your pages as an outline for where to cut. I was able to cut through at least five pages each time, and more if I went over my cuts multiple times. Try to keep all the pages lined up as you cut to keep an even border. Use a binder clip to keep the pages you already cut out connected to your cover, and out of the way. Also, once I got about half way I decided to start working from the back so I didn't have to worry about the pages I already cut getting in my way. This is the most time consuming part of the project so stay patient. Your inside may not be perfect, but that's okay.

I don't even think I need a jewelry box, but I guess it's never really about what I need.

Now, if you wanted to put patterned paper over the cover, this is the time to do it. I like to cut mine about an inch longer than what I need around each edge so I can fold them down and glue them to the other side to prevent the paper from peeling up. Next, glue all your pages together with mod podge by coating all the sides including the newly created inside. Make sure that while your back cover is glued down to create your bottom, the front cover remains unstuck. I coated everything twice just to be sure. Wait for it to dry, and your done!

I hope you enjoy your jewelry box, and if you want to see the original video click here. Check out my new page filled with other things I have made, and watch out for the occasional poll. Feel free to comment, and leave suggestions. See you wonderful freaks later!