Jazzed up votive candle holders

This is a bit of a side thing, but I want to put candles on the tables in our backyard for the wedding and dinner/hanging out. And maybe also inside. But I think most glass candle holders are kind of boring and lame. So I scoured the internetz and found some interesting ideas! So I splurged on an unnecessary Martha Stewart purchase and bought this thing that punches out a sweet little lacey design out of paper (can't remember what they're called off the top of my head). So I cut out this pattern on one side of some vellum paper (semi-transparent paper):

Honestly, it's so unnecessary but SO SWEET! Okay, so cut it to an appropriate length for the glass container you will use it on. I have only tested this method on non-curved surface so try that at your own risk. Put two strips of ZIPS right next to each other and press the ends of the strip of punched vellum. It looks like:


It's hard to get the edges to line up nicely so be careful. I put in a little tea light and had it lit for about an hour to see how the adhesive would handle the heat. It was fine and seemed pretty unaffected by the heat. Here's a picture of the end result. I'm going to try to do a few more vellum things with the candle holders (maybe some stamped initials or something), but that's for another day:


I just love the softness of the light coming through the vellum paper. It's exactly what I hoped it would look like!

Q-tip holders

Today, I'm going to outline how I made the little Q-tip holders for the survival kit (inspiration from a blogger over at WeddingBee). These are totally unnecessary as they do make travel-size Q-tip holders. Unfortunately, the containers are not cute and I won't be able to impose my own colors on them. So without further ado, here is a rough outline of how to make them.

First place however many Q-tips you want to have side by side on the paper (I used 8, I think). Outline the shape of the "envelope" with pencil. Note that the dotted lines are where I will be scoring the paper to make it easier to fold:


Next draw the sides, bottom, and top fold around the base:


Sorry it's hard to see. I don't have any pictures for the next few steps, but it is pretty straightforward and requires only a little guess and check. So next you cut out the whole shape of the envelope and score the dotted lines so that the flaps are easier to fold. Be very gentle when scoring because you don't want the paper to split as you fold it. Next cut a little slit in the bottom flap where the top flap will tuck in once it's all put together. Next put two strips of ZIPS on the two side flaps so that the bottom flap will fold over them and stay secure. This is the result:


Next I created little labels so that people would know what's in the envelopes for convenience:


The finished result is:


Woohoo! That wasn't so bad and the result is pretty cute!

Day ??

Here's my food and exercise break-down:

0800

• Smart Ones bfast sandwich
• Coffee as usual
• Cranberry juice as usual

1100

• Babybel light cheese wheel

1200

• PB&J
• Chips & guacamole
• water

1530

• C25K Week 3 Day 2 (went well - blisters are not going great but leg feels fantastic)

1730

• Small dish of cantaloupe
• a few servings of baked organic sweet and spicy sweet potato fries
• mayo + sriracha sauce
• water (great dinner huh)

1830

• tall sweetened iced coffee with soy milk from Starbucks
  

Wedding gift "survival kit" part I

So I'm making a more extended version of wedding favors since we are having so few people at our wedding. Included in the gifts will be a "survival kit" with stuff that people always forget when the travel, e.g. Q-tips. So I'm DIY-ing the kit and making little holders for all the stuff that is sold in larger containers that aren't easily split up (Q-tips, bobby pins, blotting sheets). So today I'm going to outline how I made the bobby pin holders. So here's a pic of the paper I picked out at Michael's for the various things for "the survival kit":


I took the paper and cut out two pieces that looked like a good size to hold bobby pins (exact dimensions were 3" by 2.5"). Then I cut a slit in one of the pieces with an Exacto knife (where the bobby pins go). I also cut 3 or 4 cm worth of ribbon. The supplies at this point look like this, noting that the green piece is just the flower side turned over:


Attach each side of ribbon to one piece of paper with ZIPS (super awesome adhesive that is way neater and more effective than glue):


Then attach strips of ZIPS along the outer edges of the pieces of paper:


Then stick 'em together and you get (front and back):



And repeat nine times...


And a preview for next time...Q-tip holders:


Price breakdown:

• pack of bobby pins: $2.49
• ribbon spool: $1.00 (used less than 1/4 of it)
  
• ZIPS: $5.99 (used less than 1/4 of it)
• 4 sheets of scrapbooking paper: $0.99 each

Total price: $5.24
Unit price: $0.52

Today I ate,

0800
Slimfast (cappuccino)

1230
Thai 99: red curry with chicken and a thai iced tea ooooof

1830
PB&J from my packed lunch
Guacamole with chips
Babybel light cheese wheel
water

Worked on some more wedding stuff. I'll post that later.

Day...?

Oops! I got off-track with this blog thing. I'm going to change up the format of my entries to include exercise for the day and reading too! Also toying with the idea of posting DIY stuff for the wedding and the house, but I can't promise anything at this point :).

Some updates: Casey and I have started the C25K plan and are planning on running a 5k this summer! I'm really excited about it. So far we've passed the first two weeks with flying colors. Today we're starting week 3. I'm also planning on starting up the 100 pushups challenge again to do on C25K off days. So that will be included in here too.


Today I've eaten,

0800

• 1 Smart Ones breakfast sandwich
• Coffee as usual
• Cranberry juice as usual

1100

• Babybel Light Cheese wheel (YUM!)
• water throughout the morning
  

1200

• PB&J
• 1 lame-o serving size of Tabasco Cheez-its (ughhh processed...)
• water

1645

• smoothie inspired by Casey: strawberries, blueberries, half a pear, greek yogurt, splash of Silk almond milk, some ice, handful of spinach (it was SO GOOD and even Nate loved it)

1830

• Philly cheese steak Lean Cuisine
• Water
• 1/3 cup of guacamole (avocado, lemon juice, half small white onion, half roma tomato, salt, pepper)
• Handful of Garden of Eatin' all natural, no salt added organic Blue Chips OM NOM

Water throughout the rest of the night


I ran C25K week 3 day 1 today and felt good. I counted the number of each leg's footfalls for 20 seconds. Andrea (big runner and fitness buff) told me that 30 footfalls is the ideal, I counted 27 for each so I guess I have a little bit of work to do.

Day 18

Today I ate:

0915

• 1 piece of toast with peanut butter
• Coffee

1230

• ~1 1/2 cup of pasta from two nights ago
• 2 Tbsp guacamole
• 10 guacamole chips
• Little piece of Dr. Pepper cake (all gone now...)
• Water
  

1330

• Mini 3 Musketeers bar

1700

• ~1 cup Dr. Pepper
• ~1 1/2 Tbsp guacamole with less than a serving of guacamole chips