just a man and his will to survive~ it's the EYE OF THE TIGER

a little inspiration,
roar,
ibs

Know What I like About You?

The other day I picked up this months copy of home life. In it was the article by Marie Armenia "Know What I like about you?"  and I liked the article so much I wanted to share.  In it she talked about how her husband and she had been so busy that she realized that she hadn't said anything nice to him in a long time.  So she turns to him and says, " Know what I like about you?" He looked at her, and she finished with, "you always smell so good."  No, it wasn't anything earth shattering, just something simple and nice.  But it was something that made her husband feel good.  "Know what I like about you?" has become something, a way for them to just connect with each other.  In the crazyness of life we can use all the help we can get to connect with the people that are special in our lives; our spouse, our children, our friends.  I'm not a terrible mushy person, but I think I can handle doing this.  So, I am going to give "know what I like about you?" a try.

under the same moon and stars,
ibs

DIY How to make a Lamp

Okay, here is a really great retro looking lamp you can make yourself.  It's so easy and you can do it for under $20!!!  I found it in a Better Homes and gardens mag DIY.

you will need

~ the inside of 2 embroidery hoops, I picked up 2 eight inch round hoops at the thrift store for 50 cents each.

~ 2 twelve inch dowels

~ 12-15 sheets of vellum, more if you're going with a larger hoop

~ light cord and socket, i picked mine up at Lowes for under $6

~ cutting mat, straight edge, ruler, glue (gorilla glue is good) , and wire

 Cut the dowels into 4 equal sticks.  I cut mine with my straight edge into 5 inches.

Glue the dowels around the inside of the hoops.

 While the dowels dry on the hoops, cut the vellum into 8 inches square.  Then cut one and  half inch slits into opposing corners starting 1 inch from the corner.  cut one slit toward the top of the square and one toward the bottom.  

Fold the vellum into a cylinder held together by the slits. TIP: you might want to try this out on a couple pieces of 8 inch square paper and make yourself a template so you don't waste your vellum. 

 Once you have all your cylinders and the dowels have dried glue the vellum around the outside of the hoops.

 Voila!  Once the cylinders have dried use some wire to hang the light socket in place and hang!  You will want to use a low watt bulb or a CFL so it doesn't get hot.

 I used a translucent vellum, but you could use any color/ pattern that matches your decor.  You could even draw some patterns on the vellum with a metallic sharpie before you glue them to the hoops.  Whatever you can think up!
Happy lamp making!!!

under the same moon and stars,
ibs