Very Superstitious

According to American Humane Societies, black cats don't get adopted half as often as other cats. In honor of Halloween and National Cat Day (yes, it's a thing), I just wanted to brag about MY black cat.

This little lady is Luna. When I met her at the humane society, I instantly fell in love. I asked the kid working in the "cat room" (can I have one of those? That sounds like heaven...) if I could hold her, and he sweetly obliged. I opened the crate, and she walked straight over to me. At 12 weeks, she was much older and bigger (and therefore less likely to get adopted) than all of the other kittens in the room. 

I picked her up and she laid in my arms like a baby. She immediately closed her eyes and began to purr. The kid in the room looked up at me with shock in his eyes, and said "is she purring? I've never heard her do that."

I sat in that cat room for almost an hour watching Luna sleep and continue to purr with the occasional Candy Crush noise coming from the kid. I had to get home, so I stood up and went to put her back in the cage. Candy Crush boy looked at me and said "You can't leave without her. She chose you."

Certain circumstances made it impossible for me to adopt her that night, but I called out for work and went to get her the next day. I can't imagine my little apartment without her now.
My soft, black little baby gives me nose kisses and sleeps on my pillow with me every night.
She plays fetch and begs at the table like a dog, then walks around the house like she owns it. 
And for heaven's sake, she's the smartest, sweetest, and sassiest cat I know.

She still walks up to me every time I walk through the door. I pick her up, and she closes her eyes and purrs. 

Open your heart and home to a black cat or dog this season. They will love you forever. 

The Pumpkin Problem

I loooooovvveeee holidays. Love em. It's the perfect opportunity to decorate, craft, and bake. I mean, what could be better (a million dollars? Okay, yeah...)? But every year about this time, I get too anxious to carve pumpkins that they end up being mushy, stinky, trick-or-treater deterring... Things by the time Halloween actually comes around. What mom is going to let their kid come up to a door that has half-smiling unidentified orange blobs greeting them at the front door? 

OR maybe it's a good scare factor!

Either way, it's the stench that I can't stand. In the words of my southern momma, pee-yewwwww!

So in my avid Pinterest browsing (daily intervals during boring classes, work breaks, and every time I can't sleep), I came up with this idea: 

Paint them! 

Why on earth have I not thought of this before? 

Either way, these cuties can stay inside on a desk, table, counter, wherever! If my cats didn't love raffia so much (fall decor isn't complete without it), these puppies would make an adorable centerpiece. 

Whatever your style, pumpkins can be painted, glittered, spray painted, whatever you like! And they won't scare the neighbors!

Happy Thursday!

Gluten-Free "Thin Mints"

The happiness is real. 

I'm tellin you guys. When I found out that I couldn't have gluten any more, I knew I would miss some things. But it didn't occur to me at that moment that my heart, in fact, would be able to go on. 

But that did take a solid year. A year of agony. Of turning down some of the cutest little Girl Scouts ever. So let me save you the pain- the agony. You can be happy again. In only 15 minutes. 

Ingredients: 

- 1 package of gluten-free 'Oreos'

- 1- 12oz bag of semi- sweet chocolate chips

- 1 1/2 tsp. mint extract

First, twist apart all of the Oreos and remove the cream (whether it's with a knife or your mouth, I don't judge). 

Next, melt the chocolate chips. When it has reached a smooth consistency, remove from heat and add the mint extract. 

Dip the cookies in using a fork. Tap off the extra chocolate (or leave it on...), and place the cookies on parchment paper. 

Let them dry.

I know you hate me for that, but let me assure you. They're so much better dry. Totally worth the wait. 

Improving the Already 'Perfect'

If you haven't seen this, you should...



And now that you have, think about this: that instrument was considered complete before he made those modifications. He didn't build the instrument from scratch. It was made for one purpose. To be played as a ukulele. But James Hill saw an opportunity to take something that was already perfect and modify it. And for that, I applaud him.

Don't take things as they are.

Change them.
Hack them. 

Grace

God's grace covers my imperfections and shortcomings, and that is true, true love. 

Happy Friday. 

DIY Screenprinting

If any of you are like me, you think there's a work-around for just about anything. Thus I present to you, easy at-home DIY screenprinting. 

Let me tell you, I have wanted to do this for quite some time now, and when I stumbled upon Calico Skies' Tutorial I decided it was time to give it a try. 

Materials:

- Plain t-shirt

- Knee-Highs (cheap and sheer)

- Modge-Podge

- Permanent Marker 

- Embroidery Hoop

- Paint Brush

- Paint (I used Martha Stewart Satin Multi-Purpose)

Step 1:

 Make a sketch of what you want to screenprint. Make sure you don't exceed the size of the hoop. Also make sure that your kitty approves.

Step 2:

Cut the knee-high (or pantyhose) so that you have the greatest possible amount to stretch over the hoop.

Stretch it around the hoop (make sure it's tight!). For me, it was a two- man job. 

Step 3:

Trace your design onto your hoop using the sharpie.

Step 4: 

Paint the negative space with modge podge. Wherever you DON'T want paint, there should be modge podge. This step is arguably THE most crucial part of the whole process. Hold it up to the light so that you can see and fill any holes. 

Let dry completely (it took 1 hour in front of a fan for me).

Step 5: 

Time to start the fun part! Put something inside the shirt so that the paint doesn't get on the back panel of the shirt. Place the screen on the shirt where you'd like the print to be. Squirt the paint all on the screenprint. If you did step 4 right, it will only touch the shirt at the right parts. Use anything that will scrape the paint evenly across. Let it sit for just long enough to get tacky (10-ish minutes), then lift!!! You can now see the print, but be careful not to touch it! 

Let sit overnight. 

Ta-da! If you can't tell, I'm fond of my home state. What design did you choose? Comment below! 

Good luck!