Baltimore Beader

For my first podcast I did an interview with Towson University senior, who is also known as the Baltimore Beader. Take a listen and let me know what you all think!

Creative Exercise: Tape and Canvas

This is the step by step demonstration mentioned in my eBook!
Hope you Enjoy!

Clothespin Wreath Tutorial

Check out my video tutorial of this awesome craft below! This idea was inspired by this Pinterest craft:  Sewsara Blogspot

 

My First eBook!

Its crunch-time for the life of a college student. Semester is ending, final projects and tests are being shoved down your throat all at the same time. How do you find the time to relax?! (I know I for one haven’t) Take some time and look at my first eBook called Arts and Crafts for the Soul…the Budget Boutique Blog version of course. In it you can find lots of information about arts and crafts as well as some examples to do yourself to relax and get your mind off of this crazy season.  ENJOY!

Arts and Crafts for the Soul version BBB

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know this is a day late but Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Now is the time to start breaking out all of your Christmas decorations! Time to deck the halls, put up the tree, and crank up the Christmas Music? Is it just me and my family? Or does everyone break out their Christmas things the weekend after Thanksgiving? We spent all day outside in the nice weather putting up our outside decorations. Here are some holiday decorating safety tips! Please stay safe this Holiday Season!

As the holidays approach, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is urging people to look for and eliminate potential dangers from holiday lights and decorations that could lead to fires and injuries. Each year, hospital emergency rooms treat about 10,800 people for injuries, such as falls, cuts and shocks, related to holiday lights, decorations and Christmas trees. In addition, Christmas trees are involved in about 400 fires annually, resulting in 20 deaths, 70 injuries and an average of more than $15 million in property loss and damage.

Trees:

• When purchasing an artificial tree, look for the label “Fire Resistant.” Although this label does not mean the tree won’t catch fire, it does indicate the tree will resist burning and should extinguish quickly.
• When purchasing a live tree, check for freshness. A fresh tree is green, needles are hard to pull from branches and when bent between your fingers, needles do not break. The trunk butt of a fresh tree is sticky with resin, and when tapped on the ground, the tree should not lose many needles.
• When setting up a tree at home, place it away from fireplaces and radiators. Because heated rooms dry live trees out rapidly, be sure to keep the stand filled with water. Place the tree out of the way of traffic and do not block doorways.

Lights:

• Indoors or outside, use only lights that have been tested for safety by a recognized testing laboratory, which indicates conformance with safety standards. Use only lights that have fused plugs.
• Check each set of lights, new or old, for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections, and throw out damaged sets. Always replace burned-out bulbs promptly with the same wattage bulbs.
• Use no more than three standard-size sets of lights per single extension cord. Make sure the extension cord is rated for the intended use.
• Never use electric lights on a metallic tree. The tree can become charged with electricity from faulty lights, and a person touching a branch could be electrocuted.
• Before using lights outdoors, check labels to be sure they have been certified for outdoor use.
• Fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, house walls, or other firm supports to protect the lights from wind damage. Use only insulated staples to hold strings in place, not nails or tacks. Or, run strings of lights through hooks (available at hardware stores).
• Turn off all lights when you go to bed or leave the house. The lights could short out and start a fire.
• For added electric shock protection, plug outdoor electric lights and decorations into circuits protected by ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs). Portable outdoor GFCIs can be purchased where electrical supplies are sold. GFCIs can be installed permanently to household circuits by a qualified electrician.

Decorations:

• Use only non-combustible or flame-resistant materials to trim a tree. Choose tinsel or artificial icicles of plastic or nonleaded metals. Leaded materials are hazardous if ingested by children.
• Never use lighted candles on a tree or near other evergreens. Always use non-flammable holders, and place candles where they will not be knocked down.
• In homes with small children, take special care to avoid decorations that are sharp or breakable, keep trimmings with small removable parts out of the reach of children to avoid the child swallowing or inhaling small pieces, and avoid trimmings that resemble candy or food that may tempt a child to eat them.
• Wear gloves to avoid eye and skin irritation while decorating with spun glass “angel hair.” Follow container directions carefully to avoid lung irritation while decorating with artificial snow sprays.

Fireplaces:

• Use care with “fire salts,” which produce colored flames when thrown on wood fires. They contain heavy metals that can cause intense gastrointestinal irritation and vomiting if eaten. Keep them away from children.
• Do not burn wrapping papers in the fireplace. A flash fire may result as wrappings ignite suddenly and burn intensely.

Give a little bit, Give a little bit of your time to me

There are a number of different ways to do something nice for a struggling child this holiday season who might not get anything this season. These programs are a great way to help teach your kids how to give instead of receive this Christmas; teaching them humility and humbleness. I hold many of these organizations very dear to my heart.

Last year I Adopted an Angel from the Angel Giving Tree that the Salvation Army runs every year through JCPenny. In this program they have children you can adopt for the season and buy them things they need and want for the holiday season. Every Angel on the tree has sizes of shirt, pants, shoes, and a toy or two that each Angel wants.

If you don’t have enough money to spare to go all out on all those toys and clothes do you can do your part by participating in Operation Christmas Child .

In Operation Christmas Child, which I have participated in before and will be participating in this year, you stuff shoe boxes full of presents and necessities for a child in need. For example, in a shoe box for a boy you might put: shampoo, colored pencils, action figures or a yo-yo; just to name a few. You can actually buy most things for your shoe box(es) at the dollar store for relatively cheap. (Mine a few years ago were only about $10-$15 each) For the full list of ideas for boys or girls click on the pictures below:

Finally if you only have the budget for one or two toys please use this extra money to buy a few toys for Toys for Tots. “The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.” according to the Toys for Tots mission statement on their website.

If you don’t have the extra money to spend on these things please consider volunteering your time this holiday season to help those less fortunate than you. Maybe sign up to volunteer at a soup kitchen or maybe use your new found crafting skills to create and give gifts out to the local retirement community.

Whatever you decide to do please do something for someone else this Holiday Season. If you have any question, comments, concerns you can contact me on here and I will answer to the best of my ability. If you would like to participate in any of these programs click on the links above for their prospective information. On their website are drop off locations and who to contact if you have any addition questions that I cannot answer.

Hopefully everyone has an amazing holiday season and God Bless everyone.

Baby it’s Cold Outside

I love autumn its my favorite season because you can get all snuggled up in cute sweaters and hoodies without having to break out all of your winter gear. However this year, unfortunately for me, the seasons have decided to skip over fall and go straight for winter. So here is one accessory that I adore that is hopefully coming back into style this season; fingers crossed.

That’s right the Ear Warmer is my new favorite winter accessory for this year! I’ve always been in love with big crouchéd hats with big giant flowers or bows on them. However, unfortunately for me I don’t know how to crouché which is the first problem. The second thing I don’t like about winter hats is that they usually mess up your hair. So I looked up DIY ear warmers and here is the first blog that came up: Delia Creates

This website is insanely beautiful and super creative. On her blog be sure to check out the DIY tutorial for this ear warmer above (actually made from a thermal shirt sleeve) as well as many others.