Mosaic Binder Craft

I was looking for something crafty to do while home for Winter Break, and finding a tough time with it considering all of my craft supplies are back in my dorm room at school and I currently have no money. However,  a friend of my mother recently dropped off a large amount of office supplies to my house for my future use as a teacher, which included a heck of a lot of white binders. I have previously decorated many of my binders back at school with decorative tapes, (which I will explain further in my decorative tape post), so I decided to try to decorate one of these binders since I was feeling especially crafty. We just remodeled our basement, so we have a lot of painter's tape laying around. I tried to make a cute design out of the tape on the binder, but it looked cheap and unattractive, unlike how my decorative taped binders turn out.

It took me a minute for the connection to click in my head, that I was using painter's tape. So I decided to create a sort of mosaic on the binder. I found some acrylic paints from some Paint-By-Numbers kits I had already completed and decided to repurpose the paints. I wasn't sure if it would turn out well or not, but I actually thought it turned out really well and I am really proud of it. It is extremely easy to make, but takes about a day or two to complete.

To start, you will need the following:

~ hard cover binder (I chose a cheap, plastic, white 1" binder for my first attempt)

~ paints (I used acrylic paints I had from some Paint-By-Numbers I had already completed)

~ painter's tape

~ scissors (I would suggest using a small paper slicer if you have one available)

~ paint brush

~ q-tips

~ tissues

~ small cup of water

~ paper towels (to wipe your brush on)

~ old newspapers (to protect your workspace from paint)

~ a finishing agent of some sort (I used Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating)

To start, line the outside edges of your binder with painter's tape to give yourself clean edges along the sides. 

Then, you will cut up pieces of tape in various sizes and lengths. I first tried this without cutting the tape, but it ended up looking strange and with too many large gaps. 

I recommend cutting the tape into strips between 1/2" and 1/4" in width. A paper slicer would help with this, but I used scissors and had no problems. 

Once you have your tape cut up (you can do this as you go, as I did) arrange the tape in various patterns along the front side of your binder. 

MAKE SURE that the tape is firmly sticking to the binder and that there are no spaces where the tape is not attached. A trick I used was to take a credit card along each piece of tape to make sure there aren't any bubbles or gaps that paint would slip through. 

Once you have arranged your tape, start to paint in the various shapes you have created. Try to use enough paint so that you cannot see the binder through the paint, but not enough that it is excessive or globby. If you use too much paint, just try using the paint brush to wipe some off and then spread the remaining paint around.

Here comes the part that i personally hated... The waiting. DO NOT pull the tape up while the paint is still wet. It will be a disaster. Let the binder sit overnight in a place where nothing will disturb it.

Once the paint has dried, carefully remove the tape. There will be various spots where the edges aren't perfect, I had quite a few, but no worries! They can be fixed with a little light work.

For removing the paint blemishes, I used a little water, the back end of my paint brush, q-tips, and a tissue. I was able to touch up the binder in about 20 minutes and had it looking great.
First, put a small amount of water on a q-tip and gently wet the spots that you would like to remove. Then, take the back end of your paint brush and scrape at the paint until it comes off. Then, take the tissue to wipe off the removed paint. Use the dry end of your q-tip to remove any excess water or paint the tissue missed. Repeat for each spot.

Once you've finished the spot work, I'd let the binder sit about an hour to allow any paint you may have gotten wet during this last step to dry.
I recommend a finish of some sort, probably either Mod Podge or some sort of clear finishing agent, to ensure that the rain or a sort of spill does not ruin all your hard work. I used Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating to finish off my binders. 

Don't forget to go outside and lay down newspaper so you don't ruin your patio.

Here are some pictures of a few of my completed binders. 

Enjoy :)

Christmas Giving

With Christmas just a few days away, I'm reminded of an old family tradition from when I was younger that epitomizes the Christmas spirit and good will towards man.  

Growing up, my mother would host a food, clothing, and toy drive in our neighborhood every Fall for Serving People Across Neighborhoods (SPAN), which is a local nonprofit in Severna Park that is dedicated to helping people in need. She did this for at least 10 years before allowing someone else in the neighborhood to take over. 

SPAN has a "SPAN Holiday Caring Program" which is basically a program in which you sign up and are assigned a family with children and you donate food, clothes, and toys for the children of that family, based on the information you are given in terms of the child's interests, clothing sizes, food allergies, etc. You select the number of families and how many children per family you would like to gather food, toys, and clothes for Christmas for when signing up. My mother would sign up every year before Halloween and would request between 10-15 families with a variety of number of children. She'd then send out an email to the neighborhood with a names of the children, their ages, and their interests. 

People in my neighborhood would sign up or ask to be assigned the different children and they would gather, buy, or collect their assigned category of items or items for their given child. Some people wouldn't sign up for a child, but would donate food or old toys or clothing anyway. 

From about the second week of November to the week before Christmas, people would be delivering donations to my house. Mom always stored them in our large dining room. We have a dining room table that traditionally fits between 10-12 people (even though we cram about 15 into it each Christmas) and that was where my mother chose to compile all of the donations each year. By about mid-December, we've have to start putting boxes on the floor, because the table was completely full. 

The week before Christmas, my mother would host "wrapping day", where our neighbors would stop by or come for a few hours to help wrap the presents for the children. This was always my favorite day, because the house would be filled with my neighbors, who would be busy gabbing and wrapping presents. Every room of the first floor of our house had a wrapping station with materials for people to use, and every year all of the rooms would be filled. I loved to help wrap all the presents for the children, even at a young age. 

My mother would always insist that the gift tags be signed signed "Santa" rather than the names of the people who donated them or our neighborhood name. She wanted to keep the Christmas spirit alive for these children, rather than take credit, even if it was deserved. 

Once all the wrapping was done, we would fill up both our cars, my grandparents two cars, and the cars of several neighbors who had volunteered to help and we would deliver the gifts and food to SPAN. One year we were even in the Severna Park Voice and The Capital for how much my mom was doing for the community. 

That tradition has always stuck with me and affected the way I see the world and how I go about trying to help others. It has always popped into my mind during the holiday season and always makes me appreciate the things I have and puts me in the holiday spirit of helping others in need. I hope it does the same for you. 

Merry Christmas!

Tales of an Average Lightweight Girl

Do you ever get so drunk that you just have no filter and word vomit the first thing that comes to mind without thinking about it? Ever have your friends tell you the next day some of the funny stuff you did and said the night before that you can't remember? Have you ever woken up after being drunk one night to find you have seriously offended half of your friends? Do your friends ever encourage you to take a bunch of shots even after you comment on how the room is spinning? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, you're probably a hilarious lightweight just like me.

Honestly I was late to start with the whole drinking thing. Up until I was 19, I had wanted to wait until I turned 21 to start drinking. Then a few friends of mine helped me realize that was a stupid idea... So I started drinking. I am such a lightweight that during my first year of drinking my limit was 3 Smirnoff Ice... Yup, you read that right. 3 Smirnoff Ice was my limit. 3 pansy ass 3.5% alcohol Smirnoff Ice and I was done for the night. The first time I got drunk was after having 3 Green Apple Bite Smirnoff Ice (still 3.5% alcohol) at the cast party for a show I had been in. I kid you not, I almost fell off the balcony and then slid down into the corner where I proceeded to giggle for half an hour... At nothing. My friends thought it was both sad and hilarious. As one person sarcastically put it, "damn that 5% alcohol is some serious stuff." I was too embarrassed to tell him it wasn't even 5%... 

I turned 21 back in September and was the last of my roommates to reach legal drinking age. Every weekend since, two of my roommates and I go out dancing at the bar near our apartment on Saturday night. Now I have significantly improved my alcohol tolerance since my first year of drinking, but it's still not exactly something to brag about. When my roommates and I go out, they each have like 1 or 2 fruity drinks and maybe a shot if I beg them to take one with me. I, on the other hand, end up drinking a hell of a lot more, mostly due to my roommates egging me on since they think it's funny. On a typical Saturday night I'll usually have between 3-8 shots worth of alcohol. 

My friends think I am hilarious when I'm drunk, because they can always tell when the alcohol has hit me, and it's usually a good twenty minutes before I'm aware or willing to admit it. You know how some people play it so cool that you can't tell if they're drunk? ... Yeah that's not me. 

The first sign I'm drunk is what my roommates call the "Glinda voice" (for those of you that don't know, Glinda is the good witch from the Wizard of Oz and Wicked). As soon as the alcohol hits me, it's like I've sucked in 8 balloons worth of helium. I get high pitched, slightly whiney, and a huge case of the "gigs". 

The second sign I'm drunk is that I start dancing. A lot. Doesn't matter where I am. I've danced at a bar, I've danced while playing beer pong, I've danced in the middle of the street.. It's bad. And according to my roommates I purse my lips like a duck when I drunk dance... Lovely. 

The third sign I'm drunk is that I want French fries. Without fail, every time I get drunk I crave and beg for French fries. There really is no rhyme or reason to it. I just want French fries. A friend of mine that's a nursing major tried to explain the science behind it to me one time, but I was too drunk and too busy trying to evil genius a way to convince the people at McDonalds to give me a large thing of French fries for the $1.15 worth of nickels, dimes, and pennies I currently had in my wallet as well as the contents of my pockets, which at the moment were a sticky lollipop stick, a receipt from Chick-fil-a, a gum wrapper, and lint. Needless to say I did not get French fries that night. 

The fourth sign I'm drunk is that I say the most ridiculous, odd, random stuff that you can't help but laugh at. At one point I told my friends I was "inebriated"... I may be drunk but I'm still a college student after all. My roommates have started taking my phone at some point during the night to write down the things I say in a note so that I can see them in the morning. Here are the contents of that note as well as some context behind the quotes:  

~ "Pizza, you'll never leave me."

      I said this to a piece of pizza I was holding lovingly and then proceeded to eat. I kid you not, EVERY time we eat pizza now my roommates say this...

~  "11:11 kiss the clock! Or the wall!"

      I will one day find the person that years ago told me you are supposed to do this when you make your wish at 11:11. 

~ "You know when I get drunk I can't find my legs"

       My legs get kinda numb when I drink...

~ "I have to blink to see my phone" 

       When I get drunk I have to WINK to see my phone because I get double vision.

~ "You're very bright, just like an angel"

       I had blacked out for this one so I'm not sure of the context... As I was told, the context of this quote didn't cause it to make any more sense than it does right now. 

~ "I feel like I just snorted a lot of weed"

       I obviously know so much about drugs... 

~ "Your mother's a fat whore"

     This one actually isn't as bad as it sounds. My roommate was reading a note of funny quotes from her phone and one of them was "I hate to break it to you, but your mother is a cannibal". As if she was speaking to me, that was my response.

~ "Hellen Keller, Anne Frank, what's the difference? They both couldn't talk."

      Sigh... Another one that makes me sound completely uneducated... We were playing the beer pong game "Jews vs. Nazis" (Google it. Gather several of your friends that have a good sense of humor because you need to play this game. It is hilarious) and I was a Jew. The Jews get to hide the "Anne Frank cup". For some reason, I kept calling it the "Helen Keller cup" which is not even close... That was my explanation. 

~ "I'm gonna hate you! I'm gonna hate you when you're older and need 3 people to take me to the bathroom"

        Blacked out and it took 3 people to drag my drunk ass to the bathroom... Not really sure what I even meant to say. All I know is I said it while laying on the floor of my bathroom.

~ "You've got four eyes. You're like Spider-Man! But you're not scary, you're beautiful."

        The worst part about this is that I said it to my roommate who wears glasses.

~ "You guys just want to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me"

       I was in my apartment with 3 straight girls like myself... 

~ "That's about as straight as Ryan Seacrest" 

       Not quite sure where I was going with this one, but people laughed and seemed to understand the point.

~ "You were eating his French fry like Lady and the Tramp"

        My roommate shared a French fry with a guy like the spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp.

~ "Mickey you have so much knowledge"

        Mickey did have a lot of knowledge that night... 

~ "Who are you talking to?  We're all pansy white asses."

       I think this one kind of explains itself.

"Haha Harry can't finger." 

       We were playing beer pong and there's some rule where if girls are playing you can try to finger the ball out of the cup before it hits the water. We were playing with my roommate's exboyfriend. Needless to say, he couldn't finger. 

~ "That's the only time Harry has made Brittany wet" 

        Shortly after the last quote, he spilled a drink on her. 

~ "Just like 9/11, that fry will be remembered."

         I told you, when i'm drunk i love my french fries. I dropped a French fry while laying across the entire backseat of my car as my roommate drove us home. My birthday is 9/11 so I kinda feel like I can get away with saying something like this.

~ "French fries are like dicks, except you bite them."

         Again showing my odd affinity for French fries....... And dicks...

~ "I can't feel my lips."

          We had a shot of Firewater for the first time. For those of you that don't know, Firewater is essentially Fireball on steroids. Fireball is 35% alcohol, whereas Firewater is 50% alcohol... It burned.

~ "I think I got roofied"

         That Firewater was strong!! 

~ "Hooters!"

         She sang as she laid across the backseat of her car while her roommate drove her drunk ass home.

~ "Oh no, the last French fry - Outback!!"

          My ADHD and my short attention span come out when I'm drunk.

~ "Help me! I'm like the fly from Emperor's New Groove." 

          (If you don't get it go watch The Emperor's New Groove). My roommates and I came back from a fun night out and got into the elevator in our building along with an RA from our floor and his girlfriend. He said "hey" and I just lost it and fell over from giggling so hard. I said this as I was asking for help getting up off the floor. But I will forever be "that weird, drunk, giggling chick that tanked it in the elevator."

~ "Obama promised us change, and the vending machine gave me some."

         Honestly, I am quite proud of this quote, because it can still make me laugh. All that happened was I bought a honey bun from a vending machine. The machine spit out like 3 quarters for my change and I apparently took it as a sign to become more political.

~ "I'm sorry for slavery."

          Where to start, where to start? So my roommates and I were coming back from a bar one night along with two guys we just kind of picked up along the way and were talking to. One of them was black. Now my roommates and I have put our own little twist on the F-U-N song from Spongebob and made it more hilarious and collegiate. Here's how it goes: 

"B is for bitches who do stuff together, U is for you're a slut, N is for nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, We changed the word to bun." 

Yeah... So I decided it'd be fun to sing this song since I was drunk. My roommates told me I couldn't. I then looked over and noticed that the guy walking next to me was black. I literally asked him if he was black -.- . I then proceeded to sing the song anyway and he laughed so hard. He was such a good sport since he could tell how plastered I was. I then proceeded to give him a hug, attempt to convince him I wasn't a racist, and apologized for slavery... Yes, I am that girl...

~ "If we're lightweights, that makes you a heavyweight!"

         Okay I mean if you think about it, it makes complete sense... If lightweights can't handle alcohol, then people who can would be called "heavyweights." But it totally came out the wrong way... 

~ "My lips feel funny"

           Moonshine will do that to you. (It was my first time having it.)

~ "Mommy Sarah said she was gonna hit me..."

         More like Mommy Sarah was about to beat my ass for being drunk and stumbling around our apartment. My roommate told me to sit down since the room was spinning and like a child I refused. So she turned on Mommy mode. I won't lie, I'm a little scared of her when I'm sober, so when I was drunk it was like having your mom put you in time out. 

~ "Ghetto ass bitches in my club, doing their thang, doing their thang. Ghetto ass bitches in my club, shwang shwang." 

        I deserve at least a little creative credit here. "Thang" is not an easy word to rhyme with when you're drunk. I get drunk and send little songs to my roommates via Snapchat. I wish I had an explanation for this one... 

~ "I wanta kiss someone, but not a black guy, because I have standards. But I'm not a racist."

        Where to even start with this one? When I get drunk I want to kiss random strangers whose names I do not know... Um all I can say is that I am a huge fan of black people, I really am. I think they're really funny, friendly, and cool to be around. That being said, I grew up in a town where the first time I interacted with a black person was like second grade. My elementary school literally had like 600 students, and 6 of them were black. So yeah... Idk really what else to say about this quote other than that I'm pretty sure I yelled it while at a bar and got a really weird look from a black guy a few feet away. Hence the "but I'm not a racist" part. 

So yeah... That's the extent of my drunk quotes so far... My roommates and I have created a board in our apartment that we fill with the hilarious things we all say. 90% of mine are from when I had been drinking. But I mean that's one of the best parts about drinking. You not only have a fun time because you're letting loose, but you're also giving other people a fun time as well. Everybody wins. 

So basically, the moral of this story is get drunk and say funny stuff. (But never let people record you). 

He's Probably Gay...

We've all been there. We've all found ourselves falling for a closeted gay or even an out one that just never disclosed his sexual preference to you. It's embarrassing and it can lead to a lot of awkwardness. There are always exceptions, but don't get your hopes up...

 So here are some general guidelines to help you avoid the unintended "fag hag" status. 

1. If a guy points out a tiny flaw in your makeup:
   ~ He's probably gay...

2. If a guy has ever shown any interest in trying on your clothes, bra, or shoes:
   ~ He's probably gay...

3. If a guy enjoys going shopping with you for clothes, shoes, accessories, makeup, beauty products, etc.:
   ~ He's probably gay...

4. If a guy watches any of the following TV shows, Project Runway, Pretty Little Liars, Downton Abbey, Glee, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, True Blood, Degrassi, Ru Paul's Drag Race, Sex and the City, Once Upon A Time, Dancing With the Stars, Dance Moms,  any of the Real Housewives, or anything on Lifetime:
   ~ He's probably gay...

5. If a guy quotes, enjoys listening to, and/or idolizes Cher, Kathy Griffin, Bette Midler, Liza Minelli, Rachel Zoe, Lady Gaga, Kristen Cheonwith, Bernadette Peters, Idina Menzel, Carol Channing, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Carol Burnett, Adam Lamberg, or Ru Paul.
   ~ He's probably gay...

6. If a guy enjoys performing in and attending musical theatre:
   ~ He's probably gay...

    *Side Note: Music majors and those with a music-based or theatre-based career can go either way. Your guess is as good as any.

7. If a guy takes longer to get ready than you do:
   ~ He's probably gay...

8. If a guy has never shown any signs of being physically attracted to you or does not respond the way most guys do to certain sexual situations:
   ~ He's probably gay...

9. If a guy stares at other men frequently, even if he tells you it's nothing:
   ~ He's probably gay...

10. If a guy has some odd or somewhat gay fantasies:
   ~ He's probably gay...

11. If a guy has a lot of gay, closeted gay, or female friends:
   ~ He's probably gay...

12. If a guy tells you that a lot of people have thought he was gay:
   ~ He's probably gay...

13. If a guy has a way better fashion sense and dresses much nicer than you do:
   ~ He's probably gay...

14. If a guy has been with the same girl for years, never gets jealous, and is able to move on fairly quickly after the breakup of a multiple year relationship:
   ~ He might be gay...

15. If a guy makes male friends at the gym:
   ~ He's probably gay...

Keep in mind that just because a guy may fit some of these criteria, he may not be gay. There are exceptions to every rule. 

More to come at a later date... 

25 Ways To Know A Guy Doesn't Like You

 1. If a guy tells you he misses you, but only talks to you at his convenience and ignores you when it’s not (sometimes for days at a time):

   ~ He doesn’t actually miss you... 

2. If a guy tells you he cares about you, but tells you how many girls he’s slept with in the past few weeks when you didn’t ask and it didn’t fit the context:

   ~ He probably only wants to sleep with you too... 

3. If a guy comes to you out of the blue with his problems and tells you that he loves how you’re always there for him even when no one else is, yet he is never willing to be there when you have problems and need him to be there:

   ~ He’s selfishly taking advantage of your kindness... 

4. If a guy tells you he’s too busy to talk because he’s spending time with his family or doing homework or playing video games, yet he tweets lyrics to Bruno Mars “Just the Way You Are” or any other love song:

   ~ He lied and was with the girl he’d gladly choose over you... 

5. If a guy tries to put off making definite plans until the day gets closer and never follows up on them or tries to suggest that some time in the coming months would be a better time to make plans because he’s so busy right now, but he hangs out with all of his other friends practically on a daily basis and every time he’s not he’s playing video games:

   ~ He’s not busy he just doesn’t want to hang out with you... 

6. If a guy takes a bunch of cute pictures with you when you’re hanging out, but refuses to let you post them on Facebook because his mom would ask a bunch of annoying questions, his buddies would make fun of him, he’s not ready to take things to that level yet, etc.:

   ~ He doesn’t want other girls to see that he’s “involved” with you... 

7. If a guy forgives you when you make little mistakes, but then has a complete temper tantrum for any other mistakes you make and blames you for every mistake (big or small) that he makes:

   ~ He was trying to pick a fight to have an excuse to not talk to you... 

8. If, while you’re hanging out with him, a guy agrees to plans you suggest, yet forgets about them and makes other plans or stands you up without any sort of explanation, even if he apologizes for it days later:

   ~ He didn’t want to hang out with you... 

9. If a guy tells you the reason he never texts you back while he’s hanging out with his other friends (especially the female ones) is because he doesn’t want to be rude to them or he just takes hours to respond to your texts in general, yet he is constantly on his phone when you’re with him:

   ~ He’s lying and doesn’t want his friends to know about you... 

10. If a guy loves to tease you and be a sarcastic smart ass toward you, yet he flips out any time you try to playfully tease him or be a smart ass in return:

   ~ He’s a hypocritical jerk and is using his sense of humor to hide the fact he’s telling you all the things he can’t stand about you directly... 

11. If a guy gets mad at you for tagging him in a post on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram etc., yet he has no problem with any other girls doing the exact same thing:

   ~ He doesn't want other girls to know about you... 

12. If a guy gives you any sort of explanation for why he cannot date anyone for the next few years:

   ~ He's just setting up a time frame he knows you won't wait around for... 

13. If a guy says he can't come visit you because he doesn't have money for gas or there is something wrong with his car, but he doesn't mind you driving to visit him:

   ~ He doesn't want to come see you...

14. If a guy tells you that you can't come visit him because he doesn't have anywhere for you to sleep, even though you tell him you don't mind sharing his bed with him:

   ~ He doesn't want his roommates to know about you or see you sharing a bed with him...

15. If a guy tells you he's too busy with work and homework to hang out with you, yet he frequently tells you about how he hung out with some friends the night before:

   ~ He doesn't want to hang out with you...

16. If a guy points out how good another girl's butt or breasts look to you:

   ~ He's much more attracted to her than he is to you... 

17. If a guy gets mad at you for asking about one of his female friends:

   ~ He's either sleeping with her or wishes he was sleeping with her...

18. If a guy doesn't text you back after giving you his number the night before at a bar, club, or party:

   ~ He wasn't really into you...

19. If a guy asks you for pictures of any kind within the first few hours of texting:

   ~ He only wants nude pics, not a relationship...

20. If a guy tells you he's just getting out of a relationship and/or isn't looking for anything serious right now:

   ~ He just wants to sleep with you and not have to call you after...

21. If a guy tells you that the reason he doesn't like you is anything that he deems "your fault":

   ~ He's just blaming you for the fact he never liked you to begin with...

           *Note this doesn't apply if you cheated on him, killed his cat, got him fired, or anything else that is generally regarded as a deal breaker or illegal.

22. If a guy knows that your friends or family do not approve of him, yet he makes no effort to try to win them over and may even make comments that it doesn't bother him what they think of him:

   ~ He doesn't see this becoming long-term... 

23. If a guy has a passcode on his phone or will not let you touch it:

   ~ He has something to hide which is most-likely nude pics or texts from other girls...

24. If a guy tells you he won't become your Facebook friend or Twitter follower because he hardly ever uses Facebook/Twitter:

   ~ He doesn't want you to see he's actually in a relationship with someone else...

25. If a guy will only hang out with you alone at his house, regardless of how many times you ask to do something else:

   ~ He only sees you as his friend with benefits...