#54 "visit/hike a waterfall"

During my camping trip to the North Georgia mountains, we hiked to the Raven Cliff Falls on a five-mile hike.  The hike was one of the best I've done. Since the trail follows the river almost all the way up the mountain, the scenery is amazing and there are several neat little places to veer from the trail and see some awesome falls along the Chattahoochee. Going on this hike made me realize how much I miss doing stuff like this with my family and how I can't wait to drag my kids up mountains one day and teach them to appreciate the outdoors...there's simply too much beauty out there to sit inside playing video games all day...boy my kids are going to hate me, I can already tell :)  Anyways...here are a few pictures of some of the pretty sights from our hike!

#5 "go camping"

From Thursday, June 23-Saturday, June 25, my aunt, cousin, and I decided to "rough it" for a few days by camping in the North Georgia Mountains.  This was such a fun adventure!  We stayed at the Yonah Mountain Campground right outside Helen, Georgia.  The people there are so friendly and helpful and I will definitely be staying there again in the future.

Setting up the tent...I promise I helped, but I had to stop for photo ops!

 After setting up the tent and eating lunch, we headed into the Chattahoochee National Forest where we went on a five mile hike.  On the way down the mountain, we're pretty sure we interrupted a few bears who we could hear growling at us from either side of the trail...we're choosing to believe they were bears and not mountain lions...

Five mile hike on the first day...more about this in #54

The next day, we tubed down the Chattahoochee River with the Cool River Tubing Company in Helen, GA.  For first time tubers, I would say using a company is the best way to go, but since I had tubed several times on my own growing up, I would say if you've done it before, don't go with a group because the people there will annoy you and detract from the beauty of the trip...also because idiot teenage girls will poke at water moccasins with sticks and try to pick them up out of the water, flinging them dangerously close to you...I would say I had more than enough encounters with wild creatures here to last me for a while.

After our tubing trip, we visited the Alpine Village of Helen and had dinner on the River at the Troll Pub.  Unfortunate my camera batteries were dead and I didn't get any pictures, but it is adorable and a must-see for anyone visiting North Georgia. 

Saturday we packed up our tent and headed to Atlanta where we visited the World of Coca Cola, Centennial Olympic Park, and had lunch at The Varsity. 

Visit to the World of Coca Cola in Atlanta

Lunch at The Varsity before heading home Saturday

It was a fun, quick and really cheap trip (without gas, I think it wound up costing about $40 a person). I was also so excited to get to cross several things off my list this weekend!

#97 this one's a suprise for someone special

The "surprise" was to get my boyfriend Andrew tickets to a sporting event.  When Groupon had Charleston Battery tickets for half off, I knew I had to get them.  Anyone who knows me knows I am not exactly a sports fan...and to be honest, I don't see the point of sports at all. Athletes have always seemed overpaid to me and the value we place on "winning" and the disgrace in "losing" really bothers me...however, sports are important to Andrew and I am trying to appreciate and enjoy things that he does so we can appreciate and enjoy them together.

We went to the Battery game on April 30th and it was my second time at one of their games.  The first time, I was in elementary school and when the guy in front of me jumped up to catch a t-shirt, he sloshed his giant cup of beer all over my mom and me.  (Perhaps this single event can explain my hatred of all sports?) We had to leave the game.  I was sure this game had to be better than that one, so we arrived and found our seats.

Unfortunately, our tickets happened to be in what Andrew told me was the "soccer hooligan" section.  Some Battery groupie who apparently holds season tickets and hasn't missed a game in several years leads a bunch of other strange looking folks in VERY VERY LOUD chants, screamed rude things at the other team (and at the Battery players) and was just extremely unpleasant to be near. They also have these giant flags they wave. We were surrounded.  The only other "normal" people in our section told us that this was the wrong section for us to be in if we wanted to enjoy the game...so we found other seats....next to about 30 teenagers whose mothers had apparently dropped them off at the game and left them to scream and throw food and harass everyone around them...I sure have a knack for picking seats.

However, despite the screaming people who get way too excited about silly things, we actually had a really nice evening, which ended with me getting a giant cone of chocolate ice cream (and as you know, chocolate ice cream makes EVERYTHING better!)

Providing we can get better seats next time, I might even venture to another game!  Third time's a charm?

#82 give a gift for no reason (1/3)

As part of my crafting kick, I decided to repurpose/ upcycle a sweater that I got from my cousin. I loved the color but it didn't fit so here's what I did:

I forgot a "before picture" of the sweater...Oops.  I cut two pieces about 8" by 24" one from the front and one from the back.

I folded the neck warmers over, and used the buttons to sew the ends together.There are no button holes, the buttons just sit right on top.

I gave one to my cousin for letting me cut up her sweater and kept one.  We took pictures of ourselves wearing them...but it was 3AM and we looked a mess.  You'll have to settle for this.  That is what one of these neck warmers SHOULD look like...I imagine I'll get better at this because it was SO easy. The best part is no knitting (almost as bad as crochet) and almost no sewing...anyone can sew on a button!  Also, this was a completely free project. the tan buttons came from an old jacket, the sweater was free, and the blue buttons came from the sweater!

#89 try/learn a new craft

On my birthday this year, my present to myself was a $7 “teach yourself to crochet” learners kit.  (this was actually my 23^rd birthday, not my 75^th) After about 35 seconds of using said kit, I wished I knew enough stitches to crochet myself a noose. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it. I could have if I’d really wanted, but it was just so boring. So crochet was NOT the craft for me. 

This week, out of sheer boredom, I downloaded the “stumble upon” application to my computer and promptly became good for nothing.  I’ve actually given myself a sore thumb by clicking over and over on my laptop to go to the next great site.  As you can tell, I really need something productive to do, and so stumble upon, in its infinite wisdom started recommending craft sites to me.  I’ve now decided to become the queen of all things craft. The next Martha Stewart. I will become her. I will. 

Below are how-to instructions for a few of the projects I’ve completed in the past two days. Once I plug in my sewing machine I’ll be able to get several more completed, but for now….

#1: Wall Art Inspired by this. 

Supplies: Two canvases, old book pages, glue, water, paintbrushes, scissors, pencil, and black paint

Mix 2 parts water to 1 part glue. Paint the mixture onto book pages and lay flat on canvas.  I wrapped them around the edges when they hung over, but had to use clear tape later to seal them to the sides because they didn't stick well.

Be sure to paint the ENTIRE sheet (pay special attention to the edges and corners!)  Pages may be bumpy, but will flatten out when dry.

These are bird silhouettes.  I typed "Bird Silhouette" into Google and printed the ones I liked.

Sketch out the design you would like in pencil...I drew the branches and leaves freehand and then traced the birds in the spots I thought they looked best.  Now all that's left is to paint. I used acrylic black paint. The website this came from recommended Sharpie markers but I didn't want to be high while I completed my picture so I stuck with paint.

                   

 My finished products!

#2 Paper Flowers

Start with a piece of paper...I chose to use pages from the same thrift store book that I used in the wall art.

Cut a fairly circular shape.  The irregular edges will provide some interesting lengths for the petals.

Starting from the outside, cut spirals into the paper, keeping them the same width as much as possible. You need a nice round piece in the middle that will come into play later...

Beginning with the outside of the spiral, roll tightly around itself all the way to the end.

Once you've rolled all the way to the center, let go and you'll have a nice little flower. Add a dab of hot glue to the center part that you left in a circle and press the inside of the flower down so it sticks in place. *please excuse the glare...I'm trying to figure out  my camera.  For a better example of what the flower will look like, check here.

#3 Pillow Embellishments

I began by cutting apart a stained shirt.

I traced circles onto part of the shirt. You will need six to make the flower.

Cut out...

Fold four circles into quarters.

Lay one circle flat, and stack four that are in quarters on top.

I hand stitched the corners of the circles together so they'd stay in place. Lay one more circle flat on top of this design, and gather in the middle for a cute and easy flower.

I hand stitched the flower, along with two black leaves cut out of cotton fabric, to a pillow I previously made from quilting squares.  Around another pillow, I tied what had been the bottom hem of the shirt just like a gift ribbon, with the knot tied in the back.

And there you have it...a few of my recent craft attempts :)