{Friday 5} Running Songs

...and some random running pictures!

This is my sister, Martha, who organizes our family to run the "turkey trot" every Thanksgiving morning!  This photo is from 2009.

I realized this week that I need new running songs.  Badly.  Mine are just not doing anything for me lately.  Yes, maybe the problem is that I have been listening to the same music for, oh, I don't know... 3 years!!!  I am not kidding.

Despite their "oldness" these are presently my {5} favorite running songs:
1.  Sexy Back- Justin Timberlake
2.  Poker Face- Lady Gaga
3.  Telephone- Lady Gaga
4.  I Gotta Feeling- Black Eyed Peas
5.  I Wanna Go- Britney Spears 

(My shuffle also includes Take Me on the Floor-  Veronicas, more Britney, and some Katy Perry. I just added the Britney Spears in October so those still sound like new to me.)

See a trend?  Or rather, the problem?  So I am trying to come up with some new songs that are totally *now* so I can listen to them for the next three years!  I don't really listen to the radio but last weekend I was on Pandora while I did the taxes (which are now done! thankyouverymuch) and I only wrote down one song that I really wanted to add to my mix.  It was Blow by Ke$ha.  Hey, don't judge.  I don't even know who these people are...I just like to run to the songs!

October 2004
I was SO 8 1/2 months pregnant here!

So DID I get your attention with that photo? Ha!

Please,

I desperately need some fun new songs that make me feel like kicking ass! 

Any suggestions?

{Tutorial} Glittery Shoes

My daughter's shoes were getting a bit roughed up and I really had to stop filling in the scuffs with my Sharpie as she left for school in the morning.  I had two ideas:  spray paint and glitter!

Oh did she looooove both ideas as much as I did!

I had seen glitter shoe tutorials before, and I knew the basics: Mod Podge and glitter.  But I wasn't sure about the order in which to apply them and what do I do about things like straps and buckles and cute flowers on the shoes?  I mean do I mix the Mod Podge and glitter together and paint it on?  Or should I paint on the Mod Podge and sprinkle the glitter on?  Here is what I found that worked best for me!

I started with these...

and turned them into these...

and it was pretty easy!

{Tutorial} for Glittery Shoes (with straps and stuff)

1.  Prep your shoes by stuffing with plastic bags and taping off parts you don't want glittered.  I unbuckled the strap and let it hang out.  I taped off the velcro on the straps, too!
2.  Put about a tablespoon of glitter in a plastic cup or something you can pitch when you are done.  I mixed three colors of glitter here- all Martha Stewart glitters.
3.  Add a blob of Mod Podge to the glitter and mix with paint brush until is it a thick mixture of the two.  At first it will be dry but keep adding small blobs of the glue until it is a paintable glitter.  When you paint it on the shoe, work in small areas at a time.  **I found this works better than adding the glitter to the glue because I couldn't estimate the glue and had to dump a ton of glitter in or paint on a bunch of coats to get it as glittery as I wanted.  And I wasted a lot of glitter by painting Mod Podge on first then sprinkling glitter on it.
I started at the toe and worked back.  I glittered the strap last.  And don't get any glue on the flower, if you have one.
4.  As they are drying you can add more glitter to any spots you missed.  For touch ups on the toes, I painted on only Mod Podge and then sprinkled glitter to really get them sparkly!  Repeat the layers until they look glittery enough for you.
5.  When the main color was dry, I smothered the flower with Mod Podge and poured silver glitter in every nook and cranny.  I let it set up just a minute then shook off the glitter.

6.  After they are dry...Lastly, I added two thin coats of just Mod Podge over the entire shoe.

When they are completely dry (patience...) carefully remove the stuffing and the tape.  I had to use my fingernail to keep the tape from pulling off the good stuff.  Just go slowly.  Trust me.

I think these shoes are pretty durable.  The Mod Podge kept them flexible enough for a five-year old to run around in them.   I think the thin layers of the glue helped also.

Have you glittered any shoes for yourself or kids?  I would like some glitter just on the toes of shoes for me.

ALSO,  this is My entry into Thrifty Thursday is sponsored by Appliances Online and the Bosch Washing Machines.

Linking to these fabulous parties:

Happy Easter and Weekend Wrap Up

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!  We definitely DID!  Yesterday afternoon we got together with friends and had a very delicious meal!  Every year I am responsible for making this dessert called Cherry-Berries on a Cloud.   I only make this once a year for Easter because it is quite involved.  Once I get to eat a bite of it, I remember why I am asked to make this every.single.year.  It is so good that it is worth all the fuss to make it!  I promise!

Here is the recipe.  It is from Betty Crocker.  Only thing I do differently (because I am lazy) is I use a whole 8oz package of cream cheese vs. the 6oz the recipe calls for.   It is a recipe that I start making on Saturday morning for an Easter supper!

In addition to making this fabulous dessert and some other side dishes to bring to the dinner I was also busy working on my front porch area...

Friday I started laying pavers to solve my nothing-grows-here-so-my-kids-are-always-digging-up-my-front-yard problem.

It took me a while to dig the area up, a good 5-7 inches deep.  And my kids were off school so you know I got *so* much help!  They did think they were helping.  The rest of my Friday looked like this: a trip to the hardware store, a quick dinner, baseball practice, then I totally forgot that I volunteered to work the nursery at church (it worked out that no kids came...but still!  I was so embarrassed.), more paver work, quick shower, and then off to the grocery store at 9pm to do the shopping for Easter and the week.  My back is still aching from shoveling the heavy mud.  I got one side laid out and I still have to cut the pavers for the other side.

Earlier on Friday I went to yoga, finished up a little sewing...

I have been working on a few sewing projects for my daughter, Stella.  This one is a cute skort.  I will be putting a tutorial together for you real soon.  I made a couple different skorts last week!

Saturday I did our taxes all.day.long.  Except for the parts where I made that fabulous dessert!  Our taxes aren't hard to do.  I do them every year.  But our paperwork was a mess and I had a lot to update in our accounts before I could make much progress.  Do you do your own taxes?  Am I the only one??

Oh, then of course I had to get ready for Easter morning!  Putting candy and little toys in baskets because the kids love this on Sunday morning!

The rest of Sunday was church, finishing up food, and snapping some pictures of the kids in the backyard.  I totally wish I knew how to edit these to look awesome!

Things we didn't get done and are on my to-do list this week:  fix leaking toilet, fix leaking gutter, finish pavers, finish and file the taxes, get oil changed in van and alignment fixed, cleaning, & drop off recycling.  Not sure what I will get done with three baseball games this week for Nicholas and a gymnastics lesson for Stella.

The kids don't have school today so I am not sure what we will get into!  I really want to see if the new library is open.  Or maybe we will hang out here and they can help me split pavers!

Pinterest and Blogging- ideas to be better at both

First, a short while back I read this post at Living Locurto and this one at Stitched Simplicity.

Really got me thinking...

Next, I discovered, after looking at my blog stats, that there were some "pins" linked to my blog with images I had used (and CLEARLY and PROPERLY sourced) from another blog.  That's when I KNEW it was time that I rethink this Pinterest thing.  Like this post, for instance.

Don't get me wrong.  I {heart} Pinterest in so many ways!  I really do.  I am not ditching Pinterest.

I have devised a "new" way to pin.  I thought I would share it with you.

Here's my new way to pin images in Pinterest:
1.  Pin from the original source.  As a courtesy, I do this.  But Pinterest does maintain the original source on repins, too.  It takes two more seconds to go to the source site.  I have the Pin It Bookmarklet installed in my web browser toolbar which makes it very easy to do this.
2.  I type the blog's name in the description of the pin.  Such as, "Awesome craft ideas from Someone Else's Awesome Blog".  A couple examples here and here and here.

Here's how I source images on my blog:

1.  Text explanation and/or reference.  Such as "Source:  Someone Else's Awesome Blog" or "I saw this awesome craft at Someone Else's Awesome Blog"

2.  Links to their blog.  Where I have typed the blog's name, I hyper-link to that blog.  

3.  Link the image.  In Blogger it is easy to link the image to a website.  I always make sure that the image links to their blog.  (vs. to my Pinterest boards or the generic Picasa Web Album that you get with Blogger)

4.  I will be more inclined to use another person's image if it is watermarked.  I will most likely opt for a text link only unless I can't avoid it.  In that case, I will ask that the image be pinned from it's original source.

Another step I am making a better effort with is watermarking my images.  If I even think it has the potential of being pinned, I am watermarking it.  

Now I *just* started doing this.  And I won't always be 100%.  But I am certainly trying my hardest to be Pinterest friendly with my blog.

I just *never* want to give the appearance that I am being careless with crediting images on my blog, pinning awesome ideas, or intentionally using someone else's awesome photo to gain pins/repins/page hits.  Because I am not.

And let me be honest here- a good portion of my blog's traffic comes from Pinterest.  Love that!  So please, pin away!  But I feel my stomach sink when I see that an image has been pinned in which I clearly stated was not mine.  I start worrying that the other blogger is going to be mad or think "why should she get traffic from my picture? I should be getting the traffic!"  And she would be right.  I am just trying to do

By the way, if you should decide you don't want any of your images pinned, you can add this code that Pinterest has provided.

I hope this is helpful or gets you thinking...
                    Have you tried any new ways to pin or credit photos on your blog?  I'd love to know.  I'm trying to stay "friendly" on both fronts- Pinterest and Blogging : )



Linking here:
~ Today's Creative ~ Mommy by Day Crafter by Night ~ Jillify It ~

Sunshine Award for moi!

What a nice surprise to get the Sunshine Award from Randee at Randee's Organized Chaos.  I just love that girl!  I learned that she lives a few hours away from me.  I will be checking on her throughout tornado season!!

This is the award:

And now, as a recipient of this delightful award, I have a few rules to follow:

• Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog. See above.
• Answer 10 questions about yourself. See below.
• Nominate 10-12 other fabulous bloggers. See my list below.
• Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated. So happy to share the love!
• Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

1.  Favorite color?.....Blue
2.  Favorite animal?.....probably a dog
3.  Favorite number?.....4
4.  Favorite non-alcoholic drink?.....sweet tea
5.  Prefer Facebook or Twitter?.....neither really, but I don't do Twitter (yet)
6.  My passion?.....Honestly don't know what my "passion" is.  I have a LOT of interests.  Too many, I'm sure.  Perhaps I have a passion for learning new things.
7.  Prefer giving or getting presents?.....Oh, giving them!  (and I swear am not just saying that so you think I am super sweet!)  Especially if I make the gift!  I love shopping for gifts, too.  I try really hard to choose a thoughtful gift.
8.  Favorite pattern?.....Quatrefoil, at the moment.
9.  Favorite day of the week?.....FRIDAY, Friday, friday!
10.  Favorite flower?.....Fabric flowers : )

I wanted to highlight some "newer" (That term is all relative, I suppose.) blogs that I have run across in the recent weeks and months and are now in my "gotta read" list.  I like to check in with these gals as often as I can and see all they are up to.  Thought I would share my new reads with you and share this Sunshine Award with them today!

Momma to Binks and Bubble
A Crafty Bee
Goings On at the Glens
Mishshell
Glitter and Grunge
A Contented, Common Life
Oh Craft!
Among Other Things...
Dotted Line Crafts
Sew Easy Being Green