A Marvelous Mess and a Chinese New Year Paper Craft!

Welcome to the party!

Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year to a lot of other Asian countries) is on January 31st! I made a craft to help celebrate it:

It is the symbol for spring in Chinese. 

Want to see how to make it?

1. Take a piece of red paper, square sized. Fold it in half vertically, horizontally, and then diagonally both ways. 

2. You should be able to get four definable corners by pushing the valleys of the vertical and horizontal folds inwards. 

3. Gather all four corners into one triangle shape.

4. Sketch this design on it and cut out all the place where it is dark. 

5. It should look like this! 

6. Use glue to keep the pieces together.

7. Take some scraps of red paper and make a fringe, then roll it tightly up.

8. Glue the fringe on the tops and sides to make it stay.

9. Use a gold string (or a red one) and hot glue it to the top of the fringe and to the bottom of the paper cut out, where the box meets together in the center. Find some red string and glue it to the top of the craft so that you can place it somewhere as a decoration!

I found some pictures for this craft, with no real directions, at this site. 

I shared this post at the following parties:
Between Naps On The Porch

What have you all been up to? 

Here was my fave from last week:

Chocolate Fondant Cookies from KiddieFoodies....

some seriously big yum for those right now. 

Now on to the party!

A Marvelous Mess

One of the coolest crafts I've seen in a while was linked up last week:

How to Make Your Own Ice Luminaries from One Little Project. This is SUCH a fun idea. I am definitely going to try it. I think I'm going to give it a little twist too...last year I did these same water balloon ice globes with different food coloring in them. I bet some lightly colored ones would be fun!

Now on to the party:

Make Your Own Window Screen

We happen to live right on the main road and our bedroom looks out over a parking lot. Makes for a lot of closed curtains, even during the day! Which means a lot less light. That is something I just can't tolerate... especially this time of year. So, I had read somewhere (years ago) of a way to make opaque window screens with contact paper and window cleaner.

See what I mean? Not enough light. 

Add a screen...

I was lucky enough to find some contact paper that had some scalloped texture to it, but was still clear. 

So, here's how you do it.

You need: 

Window Cleaner

Contact Paper 

Credit Card

~Take your contact paper and (before peeling off the backing) measure it to fit the window. 

~Spray the window with a lot of cleaner; really soak it. 

~Immediately place the paper, sticky side first, onto the window and slide it into place.

~Use a credit card to smooth out the bubbles in the paper. 

There you go!

This removes easily, even after months of being there!

Ooooo.....also wanted to tell you that I've got a new Valentine in my etsy shop:

It's a Harp Seal holding a heart. 

You've gotta go see him! 

I shared this post at the following linky parties:

The Weekly Creative

Link Party Palooza

Suggestions on How to Pass the Certification Exam Test for Cisco

This is a guest post for which I have been compensated.

The Cisco certification exam is a challenging test, and one that you will have to study for weeks in advance. Many students make the mistake of assuming because they know how to work with Cisco systems that they can easily pass an exam. Not so, because exams are often designed with tough and niche questions, ones that will test whether you have field experience as well as textbook knowledge. Of course, the basics of troubleshooting, regulations, and other mathematical questions are to be expected. However, you will notice that specific exams have their own specialty subject, such as the 640-554 test and how to implement Cisco IOS network security.

Some people choose to study using flashcards and online YouTube videos, and this is a good idea for reiterating the main points. Read over the text and freshen up on your mathematical skills. It helps to test yourself, asking questions based on the minute details you covered in studying.

However, one of the best ways to practice for the exam is by ordering an exam guide from ExamTrace, a test guide company. Practice tests cover similar material as your actual exam will do, and helps you to familiarize yourself with the types of question you will be reading, and the type of answers that you will be provided with multiple choice format.

Marvelous Mess and Snowy Owl Valentine

Welcome to my Marvelous Mess!

Guess what I made last night? 

It's a Snowy Owl Valentine. You can find it at my Etsy shop if you're looking for something a little different (and very soft and cute) for Valentine's day. :-) 

Here's a side view:

You were all up to some good stuff at the most recent party! 

Here was my fave from last week:

Some Winter Science Experiments from Kids Fun 101

I shared this post at the following parties:
Between Naps on the Porch

Link Party Palooza

On to the party:

Inspiration for those on Nutrisystem

This article is offered by Zara

Inspirational blogs for the Nutrisystem Dieter

Are you feeling low lately? Has your motivation been going through a slump? This is perfectly normal for anyone on a diet, especially for those people who know they are in this for the long haul. Other dieters that have been through your trials know that once you reach your goal weight, the entire journey seems worth it. So here is a list of blogs that will re-vitalize your drive levels and remind you why you started down this path in the first place.

Dollar Monger

Thirty-one year old Sarah from Portland has blogged about her 15-week Nutrisystem journey at Dollar Monger. Being busy with 5 kids in her house she welcomed the opportunity to lose weight with this meal delivery diet back in March 2013. With a starting weight of 213lb, she followed the plan diligently eating 6 meals a day, drinking enough water, and trying to fit exercise into her schedule whenever she could. On Nutrisystem you lose weight pretty fast, and this is motivating. Sarah lost 7 lb the first week. Within 15 weeks she lost 28 lbs, which is a weight loss rate of almost 2lbs per week on average. Sarah not only looks younger and prettier but her skin is cleaner and healthier as well. “I feel more confident in my abilities to eat smarter, maintain portion sizes and continue living a healthy lifestyle” says Sarah. If you are on Nutrisystem and need encouragement and motivation visit her blog and read her 15-week Nutrisystem report. She has plenty of information including weight loss progress charts, how to make Nutrisystem friendly vegetable juices, and links to other sites where you can get Nutrisystem discounts.

Bubbly Nature Creations

Rachel started her blog in 2008 to document her journey to making soap but later her creativity expanded to include delicious recipes, wonderful crafts, photography and blogging about all things parenting, babies and kids.  Rachel has been struggling with her weight since 4th grade. While she managed to bring her weight to a healthy BMI as she grew up, after high school she gained the “freshman” 15—a weight increase that her relatively small frame didn’t welcome. Five pregnancies later, she ended up with an excess of 40 lb that she would gladly get rid of.

Last March (2013) she joined Nutrisystem. She had seen so many success stories and wanted to be one of them. The convenient, calorie-portioned food that is nutritionally balanced, easy to prepare and easy to take on the go, would fit into her lifestyle. Rachel followed the plan for 15 weeks and lost a total of 16 inches and 11 lb, which doesn’t seem like a lot until you consider that she has hypothyroidism, which makes weight loss not that easy. “I feel so much better”, she says, “and my stamina has improved”. Read her Nutrisystem posts here.

Susan

33-year old Susan from North Florida was 260 lb when she started Nutrisystem. A busy lifestyle with frequent fast food eating is what gave her a place in the obese category. At some point she was 300 lb. In WeightLossTriumph.com, along with other women, Susan gives “before and after” photos as she narrates her 108 lb weight loss progress. Going from size 24 to size 4 is hard work, Susan says, but Nutrisystem makes it simple. If you are thinking of joining Nutrisystem, you can find how a typical day is, tips to succeed, how to transition to regular food, and a lot more in her report.

Keenly Kristin-

Kristin is a PR executive and a full time working mom. Her blog contains tips on how to juggle your work and family life, while maintaining your weight and your sanity. Her writing style is witty and quirky, leaving you feeling light and happy after reading her posts. She seems to be able to find a light side to everything so you will come across posts about her own struggles while losing weight, as well as others. Kristin posts success stories of other Nutrisystem dieters as well, giving you a more diverse range of people to read about. Her journey is fairly recent so for dieters that are just starting out, they will see insights into their own problems in her pages. Kristin lost over 25 pounds and published several articles dealing with important issues that Nutrisystem dieters face, like “How the meals taste”, “How to do Nutrisystem on Holidays”,  “Why Nutrisystem can fit any person”. All this and much more you can read in her blog.

A Marvelous Mess

Welcome to my newest Marvelous Mess party!!!!

I only had one project of mine new to the blog recently:

A Russian Father Frost I had painted for my Brother-In-Law.  I love his face! :-)

Here is my fave from last week:

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies from Organizer By Day!!

Now, on to the party!!

Painted Father Frost

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a safe and joyful evening last night! I wanted to show you something I painted for my brother in-law, who is Russian:

Father Frost is Russia's Santa and he is usually accompanied by the Snow Maiden. I was given the blank carved wooden piece last year, after my Brother in-law traveled to Moscow, and I took the time to paint it and give it back to him as a Christmas present. 

Father Frost makes appearances at holiday parties and gives presents to children, sometime fighting off the evil witch, Baba Yaga, who likes to steal the presents. My brother in-law told us stories of being a child in the city and having Father Frost visit his apartment to give him his gift.... then traveling off to other children's apartments (sometimes several well-paid Father Frosts could be seen wandering the halls of apartments and streets of the city at a time). These Frosts were well paid, and not just in money.... this is Russia after all!... they would usually get a little vodka for the road. :-)

Here are some images of the Father Frost and his Snow Maiden:

He's a fairly bold figure.... standing tall in his sleigh as it races across the land.

 And, as he races rockets in the sky!

 This is the one I based my painting off of:

I shared this post at the following parties:

Between Naps On The Porch

Link Party Palooza