Saw it on Pinterest

This so called "Sharpie Mugs" have been all the rage on Pinterest. Some work better than others, but this one I found to be the most helpful. I had made a few with different markers and they faded fast. I just took the writing off with nail polish remover and put the mug aside until I could get better markers.

I like the mugs from the Dollar Store. I'm sad to say that I am there wayyy too often. I just can't help it, everything is a dollar.

After the first round of mugs fading, I knew I needed something different. I talked with someone at Micheal's and they recommended the Sharpie Paint Markers, that are oil based. Guess who had some awesome coupons and saved ten bucks? ME!

I also nabbed some fancy graphite pencil we used in art. I had a few ideas in mind and I want to be able to trace something and have it go onto the mug before taking a marker to it. This worked very nicely after a few attempts.

This mug is a gift for my youth director. It's part joke but she also partly said she wanted an "I heart Honey Boo Boo" mug. I am hoping for a nice finished product to surprise her with!

Here is how I did it: 

I typed up what I wanted and printed it out. This was the easy part.

Cut it down to size so it would go on the mug. Also, very easy.

Take that fancy graphite pencil and trace on the back of the paper. I put it on the window so I could get a nice trace. I also went over it another time to make it dark. 

Why on the back you ask? So when you type it on the mug, the words are the correct way. Any tape works, it just happened I had painters tape handy. And I knew it wouldn't rip the paper.

Why is she tracing the front of the paper? It's to put pressure on the paper and get the tracing you did on the back to go on to the mug.

 After you take the paper off the mug will look like this.

Then just go over it with the paint markers. And don't worry if you make a mistake, it wipes off with a little nail polish remover.

I think it turned out pretty good! I just need to throw it in the oven after waiting for it to dry for at least 24 hours. Based on a few articles I've read, I bake my mugs at 325 degrees for 40 mins. You must put the mug in the oven while it preheats so the mug warms up with the oven. You might need to adjust the time based on how long your oven takes to preheat. Be sure to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't turn yellow, another problem I've read. After 40 or so minutes turn the oven off, but leave the mugs in there to cool. I made the mistake of touching a mug after it cooled down and it smudged it. I touched it up and I will send it back in the oven with this mug here. I can't say for sure if these guys are safe for the dishwasher, but I will try it and let you guys know!

I'm gonna go watch the Grammy Red Carpet for now and later tune into Honey Boo Boo. Enjoy the last few hours of your weekend, friends!

Ashlyn

I seem to be a bit behind

You see, this little thing called school, is taking up a lot of my time. Sad, I know. 

No actually I'm really happy with my class this semester. They are keeping me busy, that's for sure. This weekend I'm working on a few projects (I can share after Skinny Man sees them). And no Skinny Man, I won't tell you what I am doing, just know that you will like it.I guess I should do some homework too. I mean that's the whole reason I'm in school isn't it? 

I hope to get a few post written for the upcoming week. I know you are all waiting to hear from me again. Just humor me and pretend that you are, it makes me feel good about myself.

Well I'm curled up watching Nicholas Sparks movies in bed. It's kinda awesome. Probably will be falling asleep early even though I'm the only person I know who gets 9 hours of sleep on a school night. Wow, I'm more lame than I thought. 

Thanks for stopping by! Anyone seeing any movies this weekend? 

Ashlyn

Listen Up: Week #4

It's pretty rainy and icky out today. I got up and ran this morning. I was thankful to only have one class and then able to hang and do homework all day. And laundry. Gotta love laundry day!

If you are a fan of American Idol (I like the show, can't stand the judges right now) you might have seen this contestant:

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Tracks from "The World from the Side of the Moon"

Man on the Moon 
Home 
Gone. Gone. Gone 
Hold On 
Tell Me a Story 
Get Up Get Down 
Where We Came From 
Drive Me
Wanted is Love 
Can't Go Wrong 
A Fool's Dance 
So Easy 
 
 Check out his performance on Ellen recently:

Skinny Man

He has been begging me to write about him on here. Looks like you get your wish Skinny Man! 

Needtobreathe Concert #3 together. Seeing them again in May!!

Few things he loves: Apple products (and the late Steve Jobs), bacon, Coke products, making things look and sound pretty (lighting and audio), Switchfoot and How I Met Your Mother. Anything I left out Skinny Man? 

Please don't hurt me for including this picture. I love pictures of my dog :)

Okay so his name isn't really Skinny Man. My family started calling him this last fall. You see, Skinny Man is in fact skinny, thus Skinny Man. It's kinda a funny nickname and we mean no harm by it. Luckily he doesn't mind it too much.

Since I never had a date in high school to dance with at homecoming, I get to make up for it in college right? I think yes. Had a great time 2 years in a row!

It's very effective to yell at the ski slopes because there are a million of guys with his name.  

Skiing last weekend. Safety first my friends!

I'll give you the short handed version of how we started dating. We had gone to church together for a couple years. Basically he might to text the person above me on his contact list. Well, I received the text instead.  Kinda caught me off guard, but I responded and we started to hit it off. I was bored out of my mind up at my grandparents and he was at home. It was a nice way to pass the time. I don't really think either of us knew what would come out of talking for a few days, but we agreed to grab a sandwich and then meet my best friend and her boyfriend at the movies. 

We kept hanging out and talking a lot.  Then came the church mission trip. Everyone thinks that we started dating on the mission trip, false. My brother and him went to the movies together and Skinny Man was nice enough to drive him home. We went to hang out at the park and then he asked me out. Yea yea I know it's cheesy. 

Football game last fall with the rents

Then came August and I was packing up to head off to college, I was ready to go and I had been really looking forward to it, but I was kinda sad to leave Skinny Man for the first time. I didn't know this until after the fact, but he took it way harder than I did. He wanted me to settle into school and not worry about him. Looking back on it, I feel back I knew nothing about it, but at the same time, I'm not sure I would have known how to help him.

Like anything new, we had to learn how to be together without physically being together. Since we didn't have much time together before I left, it was hard to know what being in a relationship was really like. I think it took us some time to get used to it, but we have gotten much better over time with phone calls, texts and usually Skyping before bed. 

Of course I hate leaving him, but I know I am where I need to be to go to school. My focus while I'm away is to get good grades so I can land myself a job after I graduate. He supports me and encourages me to be the best I can be and I make sure I do the same for him. It's nice to have someone always on your side to cheer you on when you are down. My favorite parts about our relationship is that we can have a good time doing just about anything, we know how to make each other laugh and we really have gotten to understand each other.

Group hug!

I have been working on a few projects for him and I can't wait to share them, after he gets them of course.

Hope I did you justice Skinny Man! Spending the rest of the night watching Friday Night Lights and getting organized for the week.

Ashlyn

 
 

But really

Truth! I love getting up and getting a few miles in before starting my day. My mom signed my family up for a race the last weekend in March, which is my dad's birthday! Last year the race was on my birthday and I made sure to stand out: 

Red tutu power!!

I offered to make my dad a tutu in the color of his choice, he declined my offer. His loss, he doesn't know how run it is to run in one of those things. 

One class left until the weekend. Probably just laying low this weekend. I feel like it's been ages since I've been at school for a weekend. 

Laterz!

Ashlyn

Listen Up: Week 3

I'm kinda behind here, please forgive me. 

But I do have a few minutes to tell you folks about some music. 

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This week I picked The Lumineers self titled album. 

Just like last week, for me it's all about the sound of the artist. 

I'm still trying to figure out how to describe their sound. Have a listen for yourself and tell me what you think!

Flowers In Your Hair

Classy Girls

Submarines

Dead Sea

Ho Hey

Slow It Down

Stubborn Love

Big Parade

Charlie Boy

Flapper Girl

Morning Song 

Listen Up: Week 2

Today got to be a little crazy than I was anticipating. So I apologize for the short post, but I have some reading to finish before I crawl into my nest for the night. 

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This week’s listen up is someone who is a newer to my iTunes library: Andy Grammer. I think of him as a mix of Adam Levine and Gavin Degraw. 

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 I really like the sound of his voice and his has a “whole cd artist”. Whoa making up words on us on. In my book I think of that as an artist where I enjoy listening to their whole cd. I tend to get bored of the same artist (unless it’s NeedtoBreathe), but there are always a few I can listen to their entire cd and be entertained. Maybe it’s because I was singing in the car to it on the drive back to school? Who knows? 

If you are in need of some new music, be sure to give Andy a listen.

Here are the tracks on his self titled album:

Keep Your Head Up

Fine By Me

Slow

You Should Know Better

Lunatic

Miss Me

The Pocket

Ladies

Love Love Love (Let You Go)

Build Me A Girl

Biggest Man In Los Angeles