Knitting: Not your grandmother's hobby!

As you can probably tell, I quite enjoy doing crafts and crafty things. One thing I have tried to do but didn't quite get into was: knitting. Who doesn't love something handmade and knitted? New modern techniques and patterns allow for amazing and really cool things to wear! And for some reason, I'm sure of which can be proven scientifically, is that mittens that were knitted for you somehow keep your hands warmer-or perhaps your heart is just warmer? :)

Anyways! I have yet to dapple in knitted creations but really want to- it's one of this things that I've always wanted to do. It is an inexpensive hobby and something fun that you can do to keep your hands busy while you watch tv or pass time. Speaking of that, I came across this article: Idle Pastime: In Off Hours, Truckers Pick Up Stitching With Less to Haul, Drivers Try New Hobbies; Quilting in the Cab, on a blog I read. And yup, it's exactly what you think.

Basically the article is about truckers who, during the tough economy, have less haul and more downtime and have taken up quilting and knitting! I think my favorite quote from the whole article was this: "The fact that you can take strands of thread and basically make something out of it, that's awesome I think," he said. "It's pretty cool stuff, man." Beside the quote is a picture of him, Kevin Abraham-Banks, a trucker, and he is making a sweater for his wife! How cute is that?

Anyways, for those who would like to knit there is hope for you! You can: YouTube it and teach yourself, ask someone to teach you (most people who already know how to knit are more than happy to help you) or take a class (if you live in the city!). The Loop on Barrington Street in Halifax, offers a variety of knitting and crocheting classes (pre req for Beginner Knitting?: You can't knit.) The classes there cost around $50 and it includes your materials. I'm sure it's totally worth it and a skill you won't be able to put down :)

Better After

This is my new favorite blog! And here's another plug for Google Reader- it was a suggested blog I would like based on blogs I'm already subscribed to! Oh, how right you were google reader!

Anyways, Better After is awesome because it is completely before & after pictures! Two of my favorite hobbies: taking something and repurposing it, and looking at what other people take and repurpose!

The blogger also encourages people to send in their own little projects which is really cool and another great way to share!

Basically this blog was the mother ship calling me home- so please if you enjoy my blog I guarantee you will enjoy this one!!

Free Rice!

Not for you-people who need it! Here's the deal: you answer questions (vocab) and each answer you get right, you donate 10 grains of rice! I was passed along this site my the little bowl of rice in my life, my friend Cassidy (her blog: Noodles and Spice).

So, about this site:
FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program. Our partner is the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

FreeRice has two goals:
Provide education to everyone for free.
Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the generosity of the sponsors who advertise on this site.

Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your education can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.

As of today,March 24th there has been 53,028,240 grains of rice donated yesterday. To date? Over 76 billion grains donated.

Amazeballs.

Seriously it works. If you're uncertain or have never seen any of these donating sites before, check out their FAQ to learn more- it's really neat! Help yourself, help others! Your brain=better their bellies-fuller!!

Thanks Cassidy for passing this along!! :)

Earth Hour 2010

It's that time of year again- Christmas for environmentalists and earth lovers- its Earth Hour 2010! For those of you who aren't familiar, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, wherever you are in the universe you shut off all your lights for one hour. It's so neat, so powerful and something that you can easily be a part of! Here is a little bit of history on Earth Hour from their site:

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

In March 2009, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour. Over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative.

Earth Hour 2010 takes place on Saturday 27 March at 8.30pm (local time) and is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community throughout the world. It is a call to stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead the way towards a sustainable future. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to Asia to the Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world from all walks of life will turn off their lights and join together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet. So sign up now and let’s make 2010 the biggest Earth Hour yet!.

It’s Showtime! Show the world what can be done.

So neat! The website has a spot where you can create a virtual lantern as a symbol of your commitment to the cause- also you can send it along to a friend to engage them in the process! They even offer How-to Guides for businesses, bars and communities on how they can participate!

Think you are only one person and can't really make a difference? Well sign up to show your support and then you can see a map of the number of people on each continent who have made the commitment! Click here to sign up!

So Saturday night, don't read my blog, turn off the lights and enjoy the one hour of a major movement- literally of worldwide proportions! Also feel free to check out the WWF's website for more information and a Canadian perspective & their reasoning for you to participate: Political leaders have not yet negotiated a global deal on climate change. Demand action by joining the largest environmental movement in history.

This is more than a petition or a protest- it's action translated in showing what we want! Don't be the only house with it's lights on :)

A patchwork of comfort

The following is a piece I wrote about a prized posession for my advanced writing class- it will soon be turned into a podcast and perhaps I'll post it-but it depends on how much I hate hearing my voice! Enjoy :)

Even if I curl up as tight as I can, it barely covers me-but what it lacks in size, it makes up in comfort. I, as a 26-year-old woman openly admit that I still have a security blanket, or more affectionately known as “Blankie”.

Blankie was handmade with loving care by my grandmother in the anticipation of her first grandchild back in 1983. Although she has since passed away, Blankie is a special connection that I have to her. Although we were generations apart, sewing and quilting was a pastime we shared and bonded over and helps me appreciate the hours, days, months and love put into Blankies’ fruition.

At first Blankie was white, with bright blue pattern patches mixed with swatches adorned with ducks, rattles and other toys. Now, Blankie looks like the item that wasn't washed with the latest detergent: it's dark, dingy and stained. Let me assure you that my Blankie is a well-kept and clean item. However, with each wash in the machine, Blankie further deteriorates reaffirming that as I age, Blankie does too.

Blankie is my personal version of the Velveteen Rabbit, even as it becomes shabby; I love it all the same. My family over the years has moved around quite a bit and Blankie is that staple of comfort when I was somewhere new and unknown.

Blankie is my connection to my Nanny and it’s comforting to have it waiting for me when I get home. So, as not many people know of the existence of Blankie, it will continue to be my dirty little secret, or as I prefer my clean, comforting secret.

Like monies?

Great! Well here's a great resource for you: Fighting to be frugal- formerly the Maritime Penny Pinchers blog spot!

What is frugality? She actually talks about it: What makes you frugal?This lady is doing you a favor: giving tips, heads up on deals, and even frugal living tips!

My favorite part of her blog that I found was that she actually goes through the local grocery flyers on Fridays (when the new flyers start) and tells you the best deals from each! Seriously, this lady deserves a medal! She also gives you links to coupons, talks about some of the deals she finds (I love a deal!).

So if you like saving money, or hate physically shopping around, check out her blog- don't reinvent the wheel- she's helping you out! For users outside of the Maritimes- its ok! She changed the name to Fighting the Frugal to accommodate to shoppers and frugality seekers across the country :)

Also, take a look at this: Frugal Shopper Canada for coupons, flyers and contests!

Enjoy!

Scherenschnitte, no I didn't sneeze, it's an art form!

Ok since I stumbled on Google Reader it has opened my world to a ton of new blogs so I'm slightly overwhelmed (but in a good, organized way).

I came across this site, Scherenschnitte inwhich the blogger makes beautiful paper cutting designs and even kindly offers free templates (more free stuff!). Scherenschnitte is actually German for "paper cutting" and the blog offers instructions, templates and shares a lot of the art. It's another good resource for making your own art as you can use the templates and patterns for all sorts of projects (i.e. the embroidered pillows).

I love this site because I am a huge fan of icons and silhouettes. She also has some really neat and intricate designs, including some inspired by Alice in Wonderland. So neat!

Anyways, enjoy the site, as I have, and make sure to give credit if you make anything and someone asks where you found the designs! Happy Scherenschnitte-ing!

New towels and fresh towels!

This post was prompted by a friends' mom's & my moms' friends' facebook post about being excited to have clothes off the line- so jealous! Clothes line dried clothes are truly a simple pleasure. I don't know what it is- the fresh smell, how the clothes are nice and crisp or even the environmental benefits, but clothes lined dry towels are so nice!

Another towel simple pleasure? New towels! I came across this posting Solid Colour Bath Towels, which suggests using towels as a nice way to add colour to your bathroom. It is particularly nice when you live an apartment and can't paint, it's also a nice way to feel grown up and get a set of matching towels! The best places I find to get towels (locally) are Superstore, Winners, & Wal-Mart.

Find more apartment ideas and inspiration at Apartment Therapy! So freshen up your bathroom with some new inspirations- spring is a great time to do it when you're doing your spring cleaning :)

Happy Toweling (yes I made that up...and yes you can use it)

Google Reader

My life just got easier, because of Google Reader! (wait, did I just rhyme and kind of make a poem?) Anyways, I was tipped off about Google Reader from my roomie (her blog: A Touch of Sound).

For those of you who already knew about this and used it: why didn't you share your secret!?!? For those that don't, onward ho:

Basically, I check about 3,000 websites and blogs a day. Ok so not 3,000 but sometimes it can be overwhelming to check everything and sometimes you waste time typing in the addresses or visiting a site that hasn't been updated since your last visit. Simply with your google account, you click on "more" on the Google Home page and then on "Reader". You add subscriptions that you want to know about (i.e. type in the web address of the website or blog that you follow) and it will add it to your list! Anytime there is an update, you can set your settings to have a number beside the title and bold so that you know how many updates there are since your last visit- then you decide if you want to check it, or save for later.

It's awesome because you can save a lot of time, organize your online frenzy's and keep track of what you read! It helps you keep control if you like to look at a lot of different sites! What's also awesome is that it keeps everything in ABC and you can have your mix of interests all waiting for you (i.e. feeling smart or newsy and feel like thinking analytically? Check CBC or Al Jazeera! Feeling like making something? What does Design Sponge or Noodles and Spice have on the go? Feeling tired, dumb and need something brainless that doesn't involve your drama and requires little effort? Check out Perez Hilton or fmylife!

All of the updates show up on the right hand side, or you can click on each site and it will show you the pictures and posts.

So needless to say, google is awesome and taking over the world, and rightfully so! Anyways,

Open letter to: Nickelback

Dear Nickelback,

I'm confused. Do people like you or hate you? It seems that in general, people have a strong dislike, even hatred if you will towards your band yet you sell-out concerts, make #1 hits and win awards. I am very confused by you!

I support you because you are Canadian but I am constantly confused by your popularity and coinciding unpopularity. Let's look at some facts:

You have sold over 30 million records; you're ranked as the 11th best selling musical act of the 2000s, and 2nd best selling foreign act in the US behind the Beatles (seriously, the Beatles!); you won best rockband of the decade according to Billboard magazine; your song "Photograph" was named one of the top 5 most annoying songs of all-time (you beat out the Hamster Dance, ..... ?); a Facebook group named "I bet this pickle can get more fans than Chad Kroger" and indeed it did; you have frequently been berated by Rolling Stone: ""All the Right Reasons is so depressing, you're almost glad Kurt Cobain's not around to hear it.", and ""If you're looking for originality, you might want a full refund instead of a Nickelback."; and finally Jam! Canoe columnist Darryl Sterdan named lead singer Chad Kroeger the second worst singer of all time, behind Scott Stapp of Creed saying: "Nickelback's frontman may not have invented that post-grunge moose-in-heat bellow he relies on, but nobody does it better than he does. And by better, I mean worse".

Anyways, just confused as I'm sure others are. Needed that off of my chest.

Sincerely,

Nicole

P.S. Chad- how do you permanently have terrible roots showing in your hair? Is this a conscious effort and fashion statement? Do you purposefully dye it this way?

Free Stuff!! & best meatloaf ever!

Now that I have your attention: FREE STUFF!!....seriously!

As a part of the Globe & Mails' Smart Cookie section, they have an article, Where to find free stuff. A favorite of mine is free samples! We always get too many bills, letters,boring stuff etc. in the mail so why not sign up and get something good for once!

One of my personal favorite free items is the Kraft What's Cooking magazine (link is to the online version). They have really simple and great recipes- using mostly Kraft products which are great because they are accessible, affordable and easy (I like easy, obviously). They also have a feature where you enter ingredients that you have, you select for what meal and they suggest a recipe! So neat!

Also, check out my favorite recipe of all-time, Favorite Meatloaf which primarily relies on a box of Stove Top Stuffing mix- so easy, so good and really yummy! You can also try making it in a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan to make little meat loafs that freeze really well!

Oh and while the meatloaf is cooking, freshen up your ipod with Meatloaf "I would do anything for love", awesome love ballad, and extra Meatloaf in your day, but no more calories!

A country song pour vous!

I am not one for country music. It's not my thing but, on a rare occasion, I find a wonderfully delightful country song, or pseudo-country as I refer to it (therefore it is not a full on country song liking), that I love.

Enter Lady Antebellum I Need You Now. I assure you, as a non-country music fan that this song is amazing! So pretty & sweet- good song to break up some of the other louder and harder songs on the ipod. Oh, plus it helps that they're all fairly smokin hot lol..

So check out the video, hope you enjoy and hope it makes an appearance in your play lists!

p.s. pseudo-country 1, cole 0.

Cleaning out your closet!

It is such a beautiful day here in Halifax today! Although it is only 5 degrees, it feels like 30 since we're just coming off of winter. Ofcourse, nice weather brings about spring cleaning.

I just wanted to share my experience related to spring cleaning- recently I cleaned out my closet (I have way too many clothes that I don;t wear) and brought them to a consignment shop. For those of you not familiar with consignment shops, basically you take your clothes that you don't want and they sell them for you. The standard amount is they keeo 60% and you keep 40% of whatever the item sells for. It's a pretty good deal if you don't wear the clothes and want to make a little bit of money. The shop I deal with, Put me on (Queen Street, Halifax) sets up an account with you and you can periodically check-in to see if your clothes sold. In my contract, I opted to have the clothes donated if they don't sell after a certain period of time ( a few months or so). It is really nice because they then donate your clothes to charitys that they have selected.

So, let the weather inspire you today to clean out your closet! Don't forget about other charities that also accept clothing donations such as The Salvation Army Thrift Store (in Halifax, they have student discount days!) and also the Canadian Diabetes Association who actualyl takes items that you donate (ps they will acutally send a truck to your house to pick stuff up if you arrange it!) and they sell it to Value Village (neat eh?) They also have those big red boxes in the parking lots found at Superstore. For more information on their Clothesline program as it is called, click here.

A little bit overwhelmed by your closet? Here is a site that offers a cool "box method" of how to sort your clothes and figure out what you actually need!

Own a piece of Canadian Parliament!

Over Spring Break, stemming from discussions on giant Canadian flags seen about, a friend tipped me off to an interesting little diddy!

You can actually put your name on a list to receive the flags that are flown on Parliament Hill! I copy and pasted the info below (check out the wait list time: 19 years for the small flag and 27 for the big flag!!!!!!!!!)

Anyways really neat, check it out and perhaps write in if you know what your address will be in 19-27 years :)

Canadian Flag
Add your name to the waiting list for a Canadian flag that has flown on Parliament Hill
To request a flag that has flown on Parliament Hill, you must send a written request with your name, complete home address, telephone number as well as your choice of flag.

The approximate waiting period is currently:

Flag Size Pole requirements Waiting period
Peace Tower flag 230 cm x 460 cm 10.7 m pole 27 years
East Block flag 137.2 cm x 274.3 cm 9.1 m pole 19 years
West Block flag 137.2 cm x 274.3 cm 7.9 m pole 19 years

Our policy is to give only one flag per household. As these flags are paid for by Canadian taxpayers, they are given to residents and are not sent outside of Canada. Should you move before having received your flag, it is your responsibility to notify our office of your change of address so that we may update your file.

To request a flag or to report a change of address, please contact PWGSC by letter, facsimile or e-mail:

Public Works and Government Services Canada
Office of the Minister
18A1, Portage III
11 Laurier Street
Gatineau, QC
K1A 0S5

Fax: 819-953-1908
E-mail: Minister@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca

Wanting the same side of the bed

Immediate annulment of relationship- it just can't work! One of you would have to suffer for t he rest of your life (even if you traded off days, someone is always hating life!).

Oh and the picture above? That's the solution to this if an annulment is too expensive (kidding p.s.)- the cheeseburger bed! There's no side- it's round!

Alright I'm being extreme! So if this is you, perhaps you could focus on making your apartment or house awesome to make up for the lack of sound sleeping by checking out Apartment Therapy, a cool website with ideas and solutions for people in apartments (or houses really).

It has a really cool feature where you can check out other people's houses in some trendy cities in the states. Basically it's my secret favorite thing to do (I'm talking about seeing people's houses at night and seeing what the inside looks like! Admit it, you do too. I'm not the only one)- except this is more socially acceptable and less invasive.

Enjoy peeping and getting ideas :)

Wedding Shower gift (sorry dudes :))

I stumbled upon this blog, First Comes Love, when I was googling a quote and it's a really cute blog, the lady is from Arkansas and also has a shop on etsy. Anywho, she blogged about a really cute idea for a wedding shower. And since I've come to the conclusion that I'm old, and that I am finding myself looking for ideas such as this, I've decided to share it!

Basically you pick one of your favorite recipes and put together a package or a basket that has all the non-perishable ingredients/utensils/instructions etc. so that when they happy couple returns from their honeymoon (probably sans groceries), they have a delicious meal just waiting to be cooked. And, as I know from some of my friends who have gotten married, some newly married women feel domestic and homey once married and love to cook- so this is a really cute idea!

Anyways, Jenn's blog is really cute, you can read about her telling about this present (the ingredient list is further up if you want to make her Deep Dish Spaghetti Pie recipe)

Profession, As Determined By Beard Length

When I need some brainless humor, I frequent Collegehumor.com. Recently I stumbled upon this picture, which was obviously awesome and needed to be shared. So, if you're bored, don't want to think too much and want to laugh, check it out.

$5 pillow

So in light of the last post- I thought I would share one of my recent sewing endeavors- and it only cost $5 (actually less). So, it began with two plain brown napkins bought at the Thrift Store for $0.99 each. Then I printed off a simple icon picture of an elephant, cut it out, tape it on to the pillow and simply sewed around it. Afterwards,I put in a $2.00 pillow form that I also got at the Thrift Store (I washed it, don't worry), and stitched up the bottom!

It turned out really cute, cost barely anything and it's another nice way to inject colour that you like, plus now an icon that you like! (And from the picture, obviously one that my bunnie Quinn likes :))

Anyways, just an example from the previous post of how easy it is to make a cute little project!

Sew what!

Sewing seems to be a skill that our parents and grandparents were proficient at but something we only dappled in (grade 7 sewing class was the extent for some of us). So I, as an avid cross stitcher transfer some of my skills to sewing (there is a difference between the two). I've had a few conversations with some of my friends who have always wanted to learn to sew.

So, here I am compiling a few good resources for those who want to teach themselves to sew!

Martha Stewart.com- offers projects (complete instructions, materials and tools lists), templates and help with techniques. March 30th, Martha is launching "Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts". I have yet to see it (obviously) but I do own her Encyclopedia of Crafts, and it's amazing and so easy to follow and I assure you that this will be as well.

Design*Sponge- I've already mentioned this in a previous blog, however they have some recent posts with Sewing 101 projects and techniques.

The best thing about sewing, is that you can learn by doing- making mistakes is ok-it's the best way to learn. If you want some cheap fabric to test on, check out: Walmart by the cutting counter- they often have scraps pre-cut for cheap prices, secondhand stores always have napkins and scrap fabric, and fabric stores always have good bargain buys.

For those who need some more structure, fabric store (i.e. Atlantic Fabric) offer sewing classes (a common pre req is complete lack of knowledge on sewing, so don't be scared!) Also, if you're scared- start out with a kids project to get familiar!

Anyways hope this helps to motivate you to sew!

Wordle speech from the throne

Ok so I did a previous post about Wordle, a really cool website where you put in words and pick colours etc. and it makes a collage of the words you put in- you can make great gifts and neat pictures.

Today while catching up on my news, I stumbled upon an article: A graphic look at what the Governor General said in which they put the words of Wednesday's speech from the throne into Wordle! The more times a word appears, the larger it gets, hence, a really neat way to look at what was mentioned most. Anyways really neat way to look at the speech and interpret what you personally think the size and appearance of certain words mean.

Enjoy!