Harry Potter 7: The End of an Era

Very, very early next Friday morning, 12:01am to be exact, thousands and thousands of people will fill theaters across the country to watch the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, myself included. I am both anxiously awaiting it and dreading it completely.
I read the first Harry Potter book eleven years ago and I read the last one four years ago after attending a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows midnight book release party at Barnes & Noble. It was such a fun night. My dad and I got to the store about 7pm, making me number 183 in line to get my book at midnight.

I ran into Ben and Allison Walbrown there who were clearly more prepared than I was. They were number 92.

(I stole Allison's picture because I didn't take one of my own, shame on me.) They handed out bracelets to everyone to make sure everyone was in line correctly.
There were activities to keep us occupied until midnight, like wandmaking, fortune telling and a write-your-own-ending area.

There was even a parade of costumes. And the parade was longgg because so many people dressed up.

Moaning Myrtle, I think he was Nearly Headless Nick, the Fat Lady and Rita Skeeter. Brilliant.

And then just before midnight they rolled out the sealed boxes of books. I got mine shortly after midnight and started reading it the second I got home. I think I finished about 7 am. But then I read it several more times over the next week. I was in denial that it was over.

And then earlier this year, my family made the trek to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. I think my dad, who faithfully read every book along with me, and I appreciated it more than anyone, but everyone enjoyed it.

When it comes to crafting or baking, it's hard to pay homage to a favorite book. Most Harry Potter related knits turn out like this:

It's not that I don't want a scarf like that (but I don't) I was just looking for something a little less obvious.
So I've complied a list of a few of my favorite Harry Potter related crafts. Enjoy.

The Weasley Family Clock

I have always loved the Weasley's Clock that shows where each member is and what they're doing. I also love that Prison made the short list of activities. My freshman year of college, my RA had something similar, although unfortuntely I don't think there was an intentional connection to the Weasley's Clock. Prison was certainly not one of her options.

Sirius Stencil

The Leaky Cauldron website, where a lot of these ideas are from, has a whole collection of HP stencils. This is my favorite though. I love how sketchy it is. I could easily see this stenciled on a pillow made to look antique.

Gryffindor Apron

This apron is pretty outstanding. She went through a lot of trouble to make sure the apron was accurate. I just don't know if I could ruin something so great by baking in it.

Harry Potter Cupcakes

Maybe I could wear that apron if these were the cupcakes I were making... They're so simple and so perfect. The toppers are just made with chocolate. The combination of gold sugar and wings on the snitch is just enough to let you know what it is without going too far over the top. I love it.

Golden Snitch Necklace

Speaking of Snitches... I love this necklace. If you weren't a Harry Potter fan, you might never guess what this necklace was. Heck, even a casual fan might not notice the reference. This one's available on Etsy and I'm realllllly considering getting it.

Honeydukes Jar

If you've got a sweet tooth, what better place to hide your stash than inside a Honeydukes Jar? Another relatively vague reference. I love it.

Heather's Butterbeer Recipe

Last, but not least, Butterbeer, the most popular treat at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The almost sickeningly sweet drink is perfect while waiting in long lines at the park, but would be just as great at home during a HP movie marathon. Yum.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm working on a Hogwarts cross stitch.

Someday mine will look like this. For now, it's still a work in progress.

True Life: I'm a Compulsive Planner

I am not a spontaneous person.
I don't like doing things on a whim. I don't like not having a plan. I will never be a carefree spirit.
This irriated my college friends to no extent because they'd come up with a great idea, last minute of course, and I wouldn't be interested at all. The specific time that comes to mind was the night before my sorority's Formal my senior year. My date had some friends in town and we were all hanging out, when they decided they wanted to drive to the beach. It's probably a good hour drive to the coast and it was already well past midnight. Having no real plan except to head towards the shore, obviously I opted out. I have no idea what time they got back the next morning because I was long asleep, but it was after sunrise. The next day the beach-goers slept into the afternoon. Formal was quickly approaching and I had a well laid plan to get ready and get to the sorority house on time. My date, the carefree spirit he is, finally decided to wake up and go get food... around 4 pm. I was already getting ready. We were supposed to be at the house by 7 for pictures. After much chaos and several screaming phone calls, he strolled in around 6:45, threw on his suit and we headed out. He hadn't even had time to shower since the beach adventure and they had gone swimming in the gulf. We had an amazing time that night, truly, but the whole evening I kept thinking how much better it would have gone had he simply followed my well thought out plan. But alas, you cannot cage a free spirit.

He likes to remind me, as frequently as possible, that everything worked out that weekend and there was no need to form a plan. (He clearly doesn't realize a girl can't just throw on a formal dress without showering. The idea makes me want to shudder.)

But my planning is not limited to my social life. I need a plan in every aspect of my life. Like my hobbies...

My mom has a very funny story about the first time I tried to learn to knit. I was essentially knitting on a crochet hook. I don't want to butcher the story, so I won't even try to tell it, but I was about 10 and had no idea what I was doing. I learned from the girl next door... who also, clearly, had no idea what she was doing. After losing interest very quickly, like a 10 year old is apt to do, I didn't pick up knitting again until some time in high school. Luckily for me, Al Gore had invented the internet by then, and I stumbled across one of the greatest websites of all time. http://www.knittinghelp.com/  Man, was it easy to learn to knit after I found this collection of videos. (This was before Youtube was started.)  I quickly set a rather lofty goal for myself: To knit a patchwork afghan. The pattern I found was very easy to follow and I slowly, but steadily, knitted piece after piece until I completed the afghan.

There's a thick brown border around the edge of it now, but I can't seem to find my picture of that...
After following the plan and learning all the stitches required to make this afghan, I am able to knit almost anything.


When I decided about a year ago to start running, I put on sneakers and headed out the front door. I couldn't even make it the quarter mile down my street without dying. I quickly gave up my dreams of being a runner.
But then about 4 months ago, I was introduced to C25K! (insert dramatic music) A running PLAN! I could do this! And lo and behold... I ran my very first 5K in June.

Yes, I do look overly excited about my number, but hey, this was a huge feat for me. Cut me some slack. Now I have several more 5Ks planned, a few 10Ks and even a half marathon! The Disney Princess Half Marathon next February. There is nothing that could motivate me to run 13.1 miles more than running through Disney World.

Through all these instances, I see a trend. With a well laid plan and a goal in sight, I can't go wrong.

Marble Tulle Necklace

I love this kind of necklace and I've been wanting to make it for a while now, but finding black tulle is harder than it seems. I finally tracked some down at a Hobby Lobby. Success.

Materials
- Tulle. I chose black. Choose any color you'd like. I started with about 5 feet of tulle and it made a necklace about 3 feet long.  Of course, you can make yours as long as you'd like.
- Black thread and a needle or a sewing machine. I used my machine, but a needle and thread would work too, it would just take longer.
- Marbles. I chose clear, but, again, you can choose any color you can find.
- A safety pin and scissors.

Fold the tulle in half and sew near the folded edge. I sewed mine about 7/8" from the edge, but it would depend on the size of your marbles. My marbles are about 1/2" in diameter. Choose smaller marbles and sew closer, choose bigger ones and sew farther from the edge.

Like I said, I sewed mine on my machine, but a needle and thread would would just as well. Just keep the stitches tight and neat.

Trim away the excess. I left about an 1/8" of tulle, just enough to make sure the thread stays in place.

To turn the tube inside out, pin one end with a safety pin and feed it back through the tulle tube.

As you feed the safety pin down the tube, the pinned end will follow and it will double up with one layer inside the other.

Pull the safety pin out the opposite end and slide the fabric all the way down until it's completely reversed and then take out the pin.

Put a knot in the tulle and slide a marble down the tube until it reaches the knot.

Add another knot and another marble. Continue this pattern until the necklace is as long as you'd like, ending with a knot to secure the last marble. Leaving enough to tie the necklace together, cut away any excess tulle.
In this picture you can see the black thread cut right across the two right marbles. It's a pretty faint line and while wearing it, it's basically invisible.

I took some extra tulle and added a bow over the final knot, but I could've tied the knot and cut away the extra tulle or created a tulle flower to add there.

Something like this? (I didn't make those, but maybe I'll try.)

The grand total for my necklace came to $4.98 plus tax. I have yards of tulle left over (never a problem for me) and enough marbles to make another necklace. I love cheap crafts. :)

Go Ahead and Judge a Book by its Cover

My friend, and fellow bibliophile, Kendel, recently blogged about real books vs. ebooks and it reminded me that it's about time I did a post about books. They're a small HUGE obsession of mine. I don't think I could ever own enough books. But I'm very particular about the ones I buy. While I would (probably) not buy a book purely for it's aesthetic quality, if there is more than one option, you can bet I'll buy the best looking one, regardless of price (within reason). When bookcases are such a large part of many homes and the obvious bookcase fillers are books (duh), why wouldn't you buy the best looking one?

This may be the only time you ever hear someone say Go Ahead and Judge a Book by its Cover.

A little sneak peek at SC's bookcase...

While I could never organize my books this way, by color with no regard to author or genre, it certainly creates a beautiful effect.

My books are arranged a little more methodically.

I need a bigger bookcase...
Pride & Prejudice and the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes are my two favorite, and most collected, books. I currently own at least four copies of each. (to be fair, two of the P&Ps are modern rewrites, but it still counts) All with very different covers and typefaces.

Let's take the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for example.

I found these editions (listed with their original publication date) currently for sale on Barnes&Noble's website. After I gathered enough to prove my point, I stopped looking. There were still more options. This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what you could find at a used bookstore or another online bookstore.

1960

1992

2003

2003 - one of the editions I own. :)

2004

2009 (released the same year as the movie starring Robert Downey Jr, clearly)

2009 - one of the other editions I own.

With this many options to choose from, why settle for an ugly book? And with so many old, used books needing homes from used book stores, why buy a new one? There's nothing I love more than $0.50 stickers on books. Heaven on earth.

Aunt Mae's Treasures

If you asked my brother Tim if I'd rather get something new or be given something old, he'd immediately sigh and choose the older option. He has never understood my fascination with things from the past. I wouldn't call them antiques because that will give them a certain air of value or quality. I appreciate worthless crap too.
When my Great Aunt Mae died earlier this year and our family started cleaning up her house, I jumped at the chance to take things no one else wanted. Specifically crafty things. Sewing, knitting, that kinda stuff. I knew my aunt shared my love of crafting, so I figured I might get a few pieces. Little did I know...

...I'd inherited an entire closet worth of stuff. And yes, since you asked, my grandmother IS holding an alphabet stencil ruler. Aren't I lucky to be the proud owner of that priceless gem now?
But in all seriousness, I gained quite a few things that I am more than excited about.

These cameos belonged to my Great Great Aunt Hannah. (Pure coincidence that we share a name. It was not intentional of my parents.) The sticker says genuine cameo and I have no idea what that means, but these are just beautiful.

This is a shoebox full of nothing but zippers. I don't know what I'll do with them, but they're way too great to not hold on to. The zipper lying on top with the orange sticker on it was originally 19 cents. That sale sticker says its reduced to 10 cents. Talk about a bargin!

This cardboard cutting board is 6 feet wide. You can still find these, and fairly inexpensively, but the logo on it is the best part.

PieceGoods was my mom's first job. I'm fairly certain they don't exist anymore. I tried to do some Google research and found nothing. There's a facebook group for it, but the last anyone mentions seeing one was in 1997.

This is one of my most prized additions. I just can't handle how cute this instruction manual is. I want to frame it. But seriously.

I've saved the best for (almost) last. This was what I was most excited about. A dress form. She'll need a name, so if you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it. That dress she's wearing comes off and I can adjust her a million different ways until her shape almost identically matches mine. I haven't figured out how to use her yet, but once I do, she'll be my new best friend.

This bucket was another exciting acquisiton. (I think I've said that about every one of them now.) It's from my grandmother, not my great aunt. It's a large tin, filled to the top with buttons. Hundreds of buttons. Years and years of saving those extra buttons that come with clothes. I've always thought that jars of buttons are about as perfect as crafting life comes, so when I saw this bucket, I fell in love and started planning.

Someday...

I knew I needed to divide them, so I grabbed cups and labeled.

I started with 12 different colors, thinking that would be enough, but by the time I finished, I'd expanded to 16 categories.

Black, silver, gold, brown, red, orange, yellow, white, green, blue, navy, cream, purple, pink, wood, and clear. There are some truly amazing buttons in there. And I learned a lot about how organized my aunt was by sorting them.

A lot of the buttons were still inside these paper envelopes and she had written the corresponding outfit on the paper. I have no idea if that was the original intention of the paper envelope, but I think it's pretty brilliant.

Some of the buttons that were still attached to their original boards I left alone. 29 cents for 6 buttons? How times have changed...



For those of you who have held on through that trip back in time... I have a future project to share.

This Christmas tree hangs on my grandmother's wall all year. I am so in love with the idea. The entire tree is made of old jewelry. Good jewelry that has seen better days. An earring without a mate. A pin missing a few stones. Beautiful pieces.

It's so fun to look at. You always see something new. In the lower corner of this picture you can see an owl. When I first joined Kappa and noticed the owls, I tried to count all the owls on the tree, but every time I came up with a different number because I'd find a new one, or forget where one was hidden. If you look, you can made out a telephone pin. My grandmother worked for a telephone company for years. There are at least 4 telephone in the tree. It's just such a unique piece.
When I told my grandmother that I wanted to start collecting pieces for my own, she gave me about half a sandwich bag of old jewelry to start with. She said I'll need more than a shoebox worth before I'm done, but it's a good start! She also said that people donated a lot of the pieces when they heard what she was doing. They'd rather it go to her art than to a garage sale.
So I'm sending out the same plea. If you have any old, lonely, broken jewelry that would otherwise find it's way to the nearest Goodwill, send it my way. I'm thinking of making a big crown instead of a tree. The whole thing will sparkle. It will be glorious.

Grow A Little Garden

I've decided to give SC a little time to move in and unpack before I show the world her apartment. (But the wait will be worth it, trust me.)

So in the meantime, a little something else... Gardening. :)

I love sunflowers and every summer when I was little my mom and I would plant sunflowers outside my window and cross our fingers they would grow. They usually did, but I think it had more to do with luck and the hardiness of the flowers than our gardening skill. I tried other flowers later, but my attention span was too short and their growing time too long. Usually I'd forget I even planted something after a few days and mom would have to deal with the mess I left.

So understandably when I told her last summer that I wanted to garden, she was skeptical. But I was determined. I wanted a vegetable garden.

I started with jalapenos, and they did so well and I saw growth so quickly that I HAD to grow more.

So my garden grew to include cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers.

They grew better than I had ever dreamed. I felt like a real gardener.

I was so proud of my first tomato! But unfortunately I only got a handful of tomatoes and never got bell peppers or cucumbers. They grew, they just never matured.

I got a million jalapenos though! By the end of summer, my family was sick of eating Mexican food. (And that's saying something for us.)


I wanted to garden again this summer, but I wanted to give flowers a try. (A few weeks later and they aren't doing so great, but let's pretend you don't know that.)

I started with all the basics. A planter with a thick row of rocks at the bottom for drainage then good soil, a watering can, a shovel and a hoe, and a set of gloves. Notice they all match. All encouragment purchases from my mom. She knows me well. Haha.

I knew that my balcony gets a lot of sun, more than 6 hours a day, so when I went to pick out flowers I made sure to get full sun flowers. While some of the shady flowers were pretty, I knew they'd never last in the hot sun. That'd be like getting a Husky and moving to Ecuador. It's just not gonna work out. Flowers have to match the sunlight levels.
I decided on Dahlias because I just love them, Marigolds for color and Salvia for height.

Leaving them in their containers, I set them in the planter and moved them around until I liked the arrangement. It's way easier to try it out this way than after the containers have been removed.

Once I liked the placement, I marked where they were in the dirt, shoveled it out to make space, planted the flowers and then filled in with the extra dirt.

And then I sat back and enjoyed the beauty of the flowers. :)

Now if only I can keep them alive....