the leaning tower of... cupcakes?

If you know me, then you know that I LOVE to make things! I think it is so fun to make something out of nothing!

I've been working on lots of fun projects that I haven't blogged about yet, but my most recent invention is cupcake stands for the wedding!

I went to the Dollar Tree with my heart set on some plates that I could use for the stands and it just so happened that they had four coordinating plates that would work perfectly! It was definitely meant to be. : )





Great colors right!? I was really excited when I saw them! How are those plates going to be cupcake stands you ask? I will show you. : )







Cute, huh?! I'm not quite finished with all of them yet. I still have to make two three layered stands like you see here and two with two layers and two with just one layer. : ) And I've managed to not repeat any of the same patterns!

A great tip for this is if you don't want any repeat patterns is to pre-arrange the stands before gluing. I just used hot glue, and the middle layers are just candle votives, also found at the Dollar Tree. You can also use drinking glasses, glass cubes, taller coffee mugs or anything else that leaves enough space for the cupcakes. If you want to be really creative you can place flowers, crystals, feathers or pictures under the votives or cups just to add more interest! I thought of doing this but that would mean more dollars and I was being cheap! Ps. All together I only spent about fifty dollars. I dare you to find me this mant cupcake stands for fifty dollars! Ps. #2 I'm considering finding some super cheap ribbon or pearl strands or something decorative to glue around the base of the votives to hide the hot glue a little but I'm not sure! The cupcakes might hide it enough so we'll see. I just like things to look finished!

I may post more pictures when I'm finished will all of them, but if I don't you'll just have to come to my wedding to see them! It's not very far away! : )

rockin robin

Yes that's right! I am a bird and I'm currently chirping on Twitter! (I'm still shocked.) I normally hate and avoid things like this but something came over me and I joined a couple of days ago and already I have considered deleting it multiple times! Lol. It is just waaaay to social for me!

Anyway, if you feel like spying on me my user name is brittersmarie. : ) Don't be surprised if I just up and disappear though! It's in my nature. : )

Ciao!

new poem

I wrote a new poem this morning. I was thinking about writing it all day yesterday. It's about a friend of mine who passed away back in 2003. She died in a terrible car accident as an exchange student in Australia.

A few months before she left she came to church with me and at the end of service we prayed together and she accepted Christ into her heart. She was totally changed after that.

Then just weeks before she went to Australia she let me borrow a sweater when we went to the beach. I wore it home and forgot to give it back to her and I've had it ever since....

People do weird things when they lose somebody they love. I had this sweater of hers and I felt like if I were to get rid of it, it would mean that I don't care anymore or that I don't miss her anymore or that I'm just totally over it. I had this attachment to it because it was all I had left of her.

I've looked at it time and time again thinking I was ready to get rid of it, but I wasn't so I would continue to let it hang in my closet until the next time I came across it. Well, about a week ago I decided that I had to let go of it. It's something that I needed to do. I didn't realize it, but by holding onto it and keeping it, it has really prevented me from totally being at peace with her being gone.

So... I took out of the closet and off the hanger. After holding it and remembering for a moment I folded it neatly and placed it in a box of things to get rid of. It was actually a lot harder than it sounds. Since she died away from home every now and then I would think she was still coming back. So by letting go of this sweater it meant I was really truly letting go of her....

Maybe this is lame or weird, but like I said people do lame and weird things when they are hurt. Anyways, here is the poem. I've name it Bright Yellow Sweater. I hope you like it.

please, don't go now
i still have your sweater
the one you said would keep me warm
but i'm so cold now
i still have your sweater
are you really gone?

what will i do
with a bright yellow sweater?
maybe i'll keep it for awhile....
but it's been years now and
i still have your sweater
no, i have not worn it again

all i have left of you is
your bright yellow sweater
only a sweet smelling sweater
to hide my pain

maybe today i will
let got of that sweater,
but today
i just can't let go of you

over the years now
my memory fades now
would i even know your face?
i still have your sweater,
that bright yellow sweater
it's all i have to remember you...

but i'm letting go now
i have to grow now
i have to heal somehow

i'll say goodbye to your bright yellow sweater
i'll say goodbye to my pain
will i still have you without that sweater?
this is the only way...

i'll let you go now...
no, i'm not cold now...
i don't have your sweater
bright yellow sweater
goodbye sweater

goodbye friend...

furniture frenzy

A couple of weeks ago Ben and I went to Ikea for the first time on Mars! (Ten points to the first person who can tell me what movie I'm quoting.) We had such a blast! We have been saving up our tree house dollars for quite a while now and we finally spent it! : ) (More points if you can tell me where I got tree house dollars.) It was so much fun!

Let me just tell you about our Ikea-ness... We went on Wednesday planning on buying a sofa. We fell in love with one online and we just had to have it! Kyle and Rhianna were kind enough to let us borrow their truck for the day. If you recall, the last time we bought an enormous piece of furniture I convinced James that we would have NO problem stuffing the thing into the back seat of his two door car! (I'm totally laughing out loud right now about the situation!) I was sort of wrong so we decided that we would never ever, ever, EVER write a song about The Sibby or be able to fit a couch in the car! (I'll love you forever if you can tell me who The Sibby is.)

So, when we got there I was just so surprised at how big it was! I heard it was a giant, but I didn't know people were serious! Anyway, I was instantly in love. If you have never been there I recommend taking a whole day to go. There is just so much to look at! Thankfully we had already mapped out what we wanted or else I probably would have had major anxiety!

The sofa we loved was not in stock and let me admit that I wasn't happy about it so I sat on the floor model of the sofa we wanted for about five minutes pouting that I couldn't take it home. All the while Ben is being so sweet saying, "It's okay, Brittany, we will just come back for it. I don't mind coming back." Lol. I am such a brat. But, you see, when I have my mind made up that I'm taking a couch home today it's like someone is taking away my birthday when they say I can't have it. So.... I quickly got over it, thanks to Ben, and we decided, "Let's not let the trip to go waste (although it totally wasn't) and buy something else we need!!" : )

This is what we decided on:We were needing a bed frame to go along with memory foam mattress that we bought back in December and this one is just perfect! I think it has a neat look to it. : )

Since we didn't buy the sofa that day we decided it was important to go back and fetch it a few days later! : ) Thanks again to Kyle and Rhianna for letting us borrow their vehicular unit a second time because, like I said, we could never fit a couch in the car no matter how hard we tried! Ps. If you haven't read about the mattress being stuffed into our tiny car adventure, please do! I guarantee you will laugh!

Anyway, sometime between bed frame day and sofa day we also decided we were going to get a dining table too! It's really great. We saw it on bed frame day and really liked it. : ) Meet the table (or the Robinsons whoever you prefer):


Isn't it cute?: ) It does all these really cool tricks too! Here, I'll show you!

Wait for it....

Wait for it....

There it is!!!

Cool, huh?! We really like how the leaves pull out from under the table so we can save space and not have to worry about where to store them. We don't have any chairs yet, : ), because everything is sold separately at Ikea, but it's on our list of to-dos! : )

Okay, now the moment you've all been waiting for... The Sofa!!! Can I just say that I think Ben was more excited about buying this than I was! It is pretty cool... Alright, enough wasting time.

Here it is:

I love it! I'm so excited to get some great throw pillows and a cool ottoman to go with it! Ross, here I come! : ) There is also this really amazing chair on Craig's list that I have been drooling over for awhile now. I don't think many people are interested in buying an enormous green orange and yellow flower printed polyester chair from the seventies. I don't know why.... Anyway, It would look great with this sofa!

Well, there you have it! Our adventures in Ikea-ing! I'm really looking forward to decorating! : )

sunshine on my window

What a refreshing day! I love waking up to the sun. : ) I always feel so excited about the day when the sun is shining in the morning. It always reminds me of when I was little. I loved being outside.

Today was a great day. After church Ben and I went to lunch and then hunted down a few garage sales that I found in the paper. I love garage sales! I'm always so disappointed on sunny saturdays because I know there are going to be so many that I can't go to because I'm working. I'm jealous when my parents and my sister get to go because I feel like they are taking all the good stuff! Anyway, I didn't buy much today; just a cool trunk, a really neat yellow glass bottle and an old version of trivial pursuit. All for less than twenty dollars! I just love garage sales! I love them even more when I get to go with Ben. : ) We always have a lot of fun!

For the past few months I have been thinking about how I hate all of my furniture, but I know I'm going to need some of these things after I get married. I don't really want to buy all of it new so I've decided that I'm just going to paint and re-do everything in my room! I love reinventing things!

When I heard we were suppose to have nice weather this weekend I knew it was the perfect time to start my furniture make overs. I was originally going to work on my dresser but I couldn't find the perfect paint and since I've never done anything like this before I decided it would be better to start small. So, I chose one of the stands that I had hiding in the corner.

Here it what it looked like before:


It wasn't terrible to begin with, but not really something I will use/like in the future. But now, I love it! Take a look:


Isn't it great?! I really like it and I had a lot of funny working on it! Benjamin and the guitar kept me company the whole time. : ) It was a really calming way to spend the rest of my afternoon!

I had a good day! : )

mi favorito

I've decided that it would be fun to share a few things that I like to call my favorite. In no particular order, the nominees are:

- Oreos. They are a delicacy when dunked in milk.

- Laughing. Sometimes/all the time, I laugh without reason.

- Quoting movies... and then laughing. Favorite movie to quote: all of them.

- I love to lie, make up stories, and do anything I can to convince others that I don't have common sense. Their reactions are hilarious! Example: I convinced a person that I think the people who drive taxi's are called taxidermists, and when this person told me what a real taxidermist was I told them there was no such thing.

- Nicknames. I often rename people, and inanimate objects and normally I'm the only one who knows about it.

- The Discovery Channel.

- The Office. Ah, I've seen every episode and have laughed during every one. Man, Michael is so embarrassing sometimes!

- I love speaking with a British accent! Often when I'm talking to myself, I am British.

- Flowers, among many obnoxious hair pieces, are my favorite way to accessorize my hair. A lot of times it's to disguise the fact that it hasn't been washed in days..... Shh! Don't tell!

- I love the truth and speaking truth even if it means people don't like it.

- Callie is my favorite friend. : ) We have been BFF since the beginning of time.

- Ben is my favorite boy. I hardly know him ; ) but there's just something about him that I love.

- Asking very random would you rather questions is a favorite ice breaker of mine.

- People watching! Ahahaha!

- Baseball, although, there is no crying.

- Singing. I just love singing!

- Bomberman, but hate the gold guy! Ugh!

- Currently, my favorite color is green, but I'm pretty sure it's always been my favorite.

- Fishing with my dad is also a favorite pass time. I've been fishing every year since I was two and have caught more trout than I can keep track of, but my favorite fish to reel in is definitely a salmon. Oh how I love a good fight!

- Surprises!

- I love to change my mind, but only when it's my idea. : )

What a variety of favorites! I think I'm going to pause for now before I start rambling. ; )

the promise of all promises

adventures in h2O

The other day I was so thirsty! I normally bring my own agua, but on this day I forgot to. When this happens I usually buy some in the food court. For only twenty five cents I can get a huge cup of water, but the mall wasn't open yet and I had a client coming in soon. So.... I walked to the vending machine and they want a bone a half for a bottle of water! I couldn't believe it! But since I was so thirsty I decided to shell out the buck fifty to quench my thirst.



So.... I go the vending friend and insert my dollar and it tells me that I need exact change. Well, I don't have exact change so I tried again.... and again, didn't work. So I thought I was being really tricky and put my other dollar into the machine next to it and pressed the coin return. Take that you exact changer you!

Much to my annoyance the coin return gives me this:

UGH!!

But lucky for me there is yet another machine neighboring my water enemy. So I put another dollar into that one and you know what it did? It ate my dollar!!! It wouldn't give it back! What a jerk! So rather than kicking the darn thing I bought some mints.

By this time, I had already run into my client and she was patiently waiting for me so I ran back to the salon, grabbed some quarters, and dashed back down the unfriendly vending friend. And guess what?

IT WOULDN'T TAKE MY CHANGE!!!!!

So, I pretty much wasted several minutes desperately trying to get water only in the end to be left terribly thirsty! Ah!

only a glimpse

I've been far away for quite sometime.... I've been reflecting a lot these past days.

I remember when I use to live and breath only to write and paint. Everything was art to me. I miss that.

So, I've decided that I really want to get back to being me.

I've been feeling very inspired by many people and places and I truly feel that I have reached a turning point in my life where I don't have to settle anymore. I feel like I have cut myself short from reaching my true potential, and well.... I'm over it.

Here is poem that I randomly decided to write. It's hot off the press. I think I would like to call it A Thousand Words. I painted a small picture of my self and you know what they say...

A Thousand Words

I am a tree, that sun flower reminds me of me, but I also have wings, and my ears can scream.

I relate to my cat, she knows where it’s at, she wants to be near only when she’s near, and that’s the end of that.

I sing really loud but without any sound, I only dance when no one else is around, and often wonder what it’s like to be the ground.

I whither after I grow, have nowhere to go, but I never let it show.

My face is cracked, but no one asks who is that girl behind the mask?

I am a tree, that sun flower reminds me of me, but I also have wings, and my ears can scream.


I really like it. : )

I think I should probably go to sleep now. This is the first night in a while that I have gone to bed really happy.

Goodnight!