I'm About To... ::Removes Sunglasses:: ... BOW YOU OVER

You know, I'm not sure that title works. ::squints:: I can't tell if you're going to read "bow" like "OW" or "bow" like, y'know.  

 

And even if you DO read it as bow-like-y'know, there's no guarantee you'll think that rhymes with bowl, OR that you're even familiar with the phrase "bowl you over."

Huh.

Nope, definitely doesn't work.

Still leaving it.

So this weekend had A LOT going on. I loved every second of it, love being busy helping other people, but I'm also a little...

Mostly when I look at the to-do list I've been putting off, ha.


First, since so many of you offered such great advice, here's how the party went down:

I complained in my Story that it took forever to tie 3 balloons together, and someone told me Command makes a doo-hickey for that?? Next time.

In fact the balloons in general betrayed me: everything looked so good, but then...

I'm always amazed just how weak ceiling paint it, ug. Next time I'll try painter's tape. After we repaint the ceiling.

The pretties:

The tags are all printed with the little clues I told y'all about last week.

And here's the lady herself:

It was just us and John's sister, but I think Mum preferred it that way.


Next, a few hours after Mum's party:



Craft Night!

This is our weekly (masked) gathering with a few local friends, almost all of whom live alone and could use the contact. We average about 6 people, and though the crafts are secondary to socializing, I gotta say we really outdid ourselves this week with our first round of glass etching:

Look what John did for this Dollar Tree mirror! Eeee!  

(That reminds me, we're watching Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy this weekend on Discord, if you'd like to join us. Which is especially fitting since it's one of my last weeks being the answer to life, the universe, and everything. :-p)


My turn:



Dollar Tree just started carrying tiny bottles of etching cream, so in theory you could get everything you need there, including the vinyl for the stencil. We already had this bottle of Armour Etch from Amazon, though, and I highly recommend it. It's about $9 and goes a loooong way, even when you pack it on like we do. (Gives the best finish that way.)

So cute, right? Just needs a ribbon hanger... although I'm debating adding a braided trim around the edge made out of clay to look like Rapunzel's hair. With little flowers on top? What do you think, does it need it?

I'm calling it a feature.

This craft is also a great way to use up the funky colors in your vinyl variety pack:

Arielle rocked this Tiki design. (Her house is midcentury modern, so these are perfect.)

If you love spooky geek art, go follow Bonnie's art account!

The glass is from a Bath & Body Works candle - great way to upcycle them, plus you can spray-paint the lid and glue on a crystal knob to make it a fancy container.

On Saturday John and I worked all afternoon volunteering for The Sharing Center, a local thrift shop that funds a free medical clinic, food pantry, and homeless care center. (We were told 90 cents of every dollar goes right back into their community services, pretty sweet.) We've shopped and donated there for over a decade, but this was our first time actually volunteering, and y'all, it was the highlight of my weekend! The people were amazing, the atmosphere was super chill and casual, some of the staff were loudly discussing geeky things (which I immediately jumped in on) and - AND - I was on the team sorting clothing donations.



They're very picky about which clothes they'll keep to sell, but everything they don't keep goes to third world countries, so nothing is wasted. It still felt like a huge pressure deciding which clothes were "good enough," to keep, though. (My brain, everyone. Why am I like this.)

And of course, OF COURSE, after a while I started a tab of clothes I wanted to keep for me. Nothing special, just a cardigan here, a shirt for John there, but then I found THESE:

Behold, my new Christmas shirt.

And then the shirt John is sad he can't wear, because it's a size too small:

Awww yeeeeeah.

(Picture me surrounded by new-with-tags donations from Banana Republic and Gap, slinky prom dresses, and smart work attire galore, but going straight for the ripped-up cat t-shirt. The easier that is for you to picture, the longer you've known me. :p)

But wait, there's more!

After a quick power nap to recover from the sorting center, John and I jumped into giving his mom's old car a much-needed deep clean. Three hours of scrubbing, vacuuming, and Armor-Alling later, the inside almost looked like new.

Which FINALLY brings me to my terrible title for this post.

John's mom very graciously let us have her old car when she moved, and we immediately knew what to do with it. Suffice to say it's going to someone who does amazing community work for not nearly enough money - often for free, even -  and whose current car is always in the shop and not long for this world.

To make the hand-off a little more special - and goofy - I decided it needed a bow. 

 

A big bow.

No, bigger.

BIGGER.

Amazon does sell car bows, but the biggest one I could find was only 30 inches, and cost at least $15. 

 

Meh. We can do better.

So here's what you do: head to Dollar Tree and buy 2 plastic rectangular tablecloths, and a piece of posterboard.

Next, partially unfold your tablecloth, and try to convince one of your pets to sit on it. Now, I know, this is very hard to do, but with a little coaxing I'm SURE you can get one of your furballs up there.

0.01 seconds later:

Thanks, Eva. I can always count on you.

Tape the ends of the table cloth together to form a giant loop.

Next, scrunch the middle:

... and wrap a strip from the second tablecloth around for the knot:

 To add some poof, cut your posterboard in half and roll each side into a tube. Place the tube in each side of the bow to help puff it out. This wasn't enough stuffing for me, though, so I also added 2 small balloons left over from Mum's party:

Then use the rest of the 2nd tablecloth to make the ribbon leg dangly-bits.

BOOM. You've got a 48-inch bow for $3!

Of course when John and I went to put it on the car we suddenly had gale-force winds, which NEVER happens in Florida unless we're trying to install large inflatable creations made from dollar store tablecloths. Go figure.

So after half a roll of painter's tape and 10 minutes of John pleading in exasperation, "Jen, please. LET THIS GO", we ended up with this:

Not too shabby!

I have to remember this next Christmas, I want giant bows on everything.

(Oooh, giant RAINBOW bows, even.)

I'll end with a few laughs from my Story:

(True Story: I have CBD oil for my anxiety but I'm too anxious to try it. Ha!)

I hope you had a restful weekend, friends, or one that was exhausting but still filled you up they way mine did. The more I remember that we are "wired for connection," the more I realize that's where my focus should be: connecting. It takes a little push for us introverts, I know, but I promise even the smallest effort can bring amazing rewards.

So hey, find a way to connect with someone this week, k? If face-to-face is impossible or feels like too much, remember there's always a community here online waiting to cheer you on. Go say hi on the Epbot Discord or FOE. Send a DM to a friend. Log on to Movie Night this weekend and just lurk - that's both allowed and encouraged! Or tell me you're a newbie, and I'll send you a chicken .gif to celebrate. :D

*****

 

 

 

P.S. If my etching pics have you feeling crafty, you can browse my Tutorial Page for more ideas!