Now when it comes to DIY food, I am going to need some help. I like to cook, and I'm not bad at it, but it does confuse me how people get dinner on the table by 6 when they work until 5. When I cook, it's usually at all hours of the night, and then I have leftovers at normal meal hours. Is there some secret stash of recipes that are both delicious and quick to make out there somewhere?
But this is a whole lifestyle DIY challenge and I feel that I'm getting caught up talking about food.
In other news, this week I made my first DIY cleaner! So here's the story that goes with it...
The only Christmas presents that I had left to get were for my fiancé and for my boss. I meant to get them last weekend, but Oklahoma City was hit with a snowstorm and businesses all over (including mine) were closed. On Monday after the storms the roads were still incredibly icy, but I had a mission to get Andy's present so no amount of sliding down 23rd in my beat up old pick-up was going to stop me.
I had decided to get him a pocket watch. It was a perfect idea because every time we went out shopping together we had to stop and look at the watches in the jewelry store. Also he was always talking about needing a watch, and he got incredibly excited once when he saw a little kid's plastic pocket watch. So with not much money in my budget I traveled to 7 different pawn shops before I found --the one--. Not only did it still work, but it was within my price range! The only thing wrong was it was a little grungy.
Resisting my urge to hit up the cleaning aisle at Wal-Mart I traveled back home and decided to use everyday items instead to make the watch sparkle!
I mixed together in a small bowl, water, baking soda, salt, and dish soap. With a rag I used the mixture to polish the outside of the watch, and soaked the chain in the bowl for a few minutes. It actually worked! The watch sparkles and I did it without breaking the bank! Here's a pic of the finished product
Now my Boss's present I really took my time getting... mainly because I couldn't decide if I should get her anything. In the end I looked back at all the things she's done for me and taught me over the last year and how she's done everything she can to prepare me for running my own store (which thanks to her I might be getting in a few months) and decided not only that I needed to get her something, but it needed to be something personal.
So one of the things I know for sure about my boss is that like the rest of Oklahoma she is a die-hard OKC Thunder fan. I am not, but that's because I prefer NFL to NBA. I decided to make her a wreath for her front door that she could leave up even after Christmas, and naturally I picked out OKC Thunder colors to go on it. I wrapped the colored wire mesh onto a wire wreath frame, ironed her last name onto a piece of fabric, hemmed it, sewed it, added some ribbon, and TAH-DAH!
I hope she likes it. I'm going to wait until a day that I close the store and she opens the next morning to leave it in our office. I love giving gifts, but I hate to do it publicly and I'm thinking that this will be the most appropriate way to surprise her anyway.
By the way, neither my fiancé nor my boss know that I even have a blog so don't worry about them figuring out their gifts before Christmas!
Again if anyone has any ideas for ways that I can DIY my life post a comment and I'll try to give it a whirl! Also if anyone has any good squash recipes... After the ice storm last weekend the market by my house was sold out of every other veggie, so I stocked up, but I have no idea how to cook the darn things.
Until next time!
