Crafting for Zombies

I don't really know any zombies (does anyone?), but my sister plays Humans vs. Zombies at her college practically every weekend (okay, I might be exaggerating about the frequency, but in my defense, I sort of tune out the zombie talk). She is pretty obsessed. I know Nerf guns and bandanas are involved, and that it's kind of like tag.

So for her birthday I decided to make her a t-shirt! Her birthday was actually at the end of September, but I couldn't find the t-shirt I had bought.. And then when I got ready to make it finally, I couldn't find my craft box!

Guess where it was, guys?

In my closet.

Which means that I put it away, and didn't think to check where it was supposed to be. Logical! So I continued my Ugly Betty marathon binge while I crafted.

One of the many lifelong skills I learned in joining a sorority is how to craft a t-shirt. If you don't know how, an easy way is to use Heat n Bond, shown here!

I think the most fun I had in making this was sketching it out! I haven't done any crafting or sketching or anything in so long! I did paint one painting around May, but since then.. Pretty much nothing. So I loved drawing the letters and that little zombie guy. I stole him from the HvZ website and kind of took some liberties, but I think he turned out pretty cute.

As you can see, I have tons of fabric that I will probably never use, but I wanted to be simple for this one (basically I want my sister and her friends to think it's cool) so I went with black for the letters and orange for the heart. I think I remember her squad or team or something using orange as a color..? I could be totally wrong about that though, haha! But also with the shirt in green, I didn't want to go with Christmas colors.

So if you're following along and wondering when I'm going to get to the next step, here it is! Trace your letters (or picture or whatever) onto the Heat n Bond paper - backwards! It has to be backwards otherwise it will be wrong on your shirt (or pants or blanket, etc). Don't cut out the letters, but cut around them so you've got a square/rectangle of Heat n Bond to iron onto your fabric. Put it on the "ugly" side of the fabric - this didn't matter for the black but did for the orange! It makes more sense once you've done it once or twice and you think about the process.

Once you've ironed the paper onto the fabric, cut out the letters/shapes. Peel off the back of the paper (now do you see why we needed to go backwards and use the ugly side?) and place your stuff in the right spot on the shirt. Now iron!

Sometimes (like when making sorority shirts with Greek letters that I'd wear a lot or that would get passed down to future sisters for years and years and stuff, I would use puffy paint around the edges to make sure everything stays on through washing, but for this one I just went without. I'll just advise her to hang dry instead of putting it in the dryer. I was going to use the puffy paint to draw the zombie guy in the heart, but then while searching for black, I found a black fabric pen and decided that that would work much better! And I was so right!



So here it is before and after the drawing - I wasn't sure it was going to look right so I almost left it off, but I sent her a picture and she loves it, so I'm glad I decided to add it!

This wasn't a very exhaustive tutorial, but I am happy to answer any questions you have about crafting your own t-shirt! You can buy fabric, Heat n Bond, plain t-shirts, and anything else you might need at Walmart! (Or craft stores!)

Happy crafting!

Weekly Wishes #8

This Weekly Wishes post will be a place for me to share my goals for the week. Hopefully blogging about them will help them to actually happen!

This week, the picture of Lilo and me was featured in Melyssa's participant art - so awesome! That's really exciting. 

I had a great weekend this week - I went to my first alumni event ever! I was, of course, the youngest one there by at least 8 years (not including people's children), but it was still fun. Then Saturday I had to work really early, but was done early, and got to visit an event at my old dance studio, and then go have a drink with the woman whose dogs I sit for. Basically it was a lot packed into two days. Whew! 

Last week, I wanted to: Craft (and blog about it). After decades of searching for my crafting box (which of course was put away.. Why would I even think to look in its spot?), I did make my sister's shirt, and it was fun! I sent her a picture and she thinks it's awesome. Did not blog about that, but look for a post to come! 

Find a good journal and get ready for Everyday Happy! I found a cute journal! It's bright red and on the front says in gold foil, "She makes the day brighter. She leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes." So it's adorable and perfect, and I had already bought it! Even better. I've enjoyed using it so far for the course, which has been great.

This week I want to: Mail my Snail Mail Collective gift. I am so sorry that I'm an awful partner, and I will not be doing this in October because this month is just too busy.. But did you know it's kind of hard to figure out mailing stuff to another country? And going to the post office when you're working a 9-5? Yeah, shocking, I know. So I need to get it out this week or else I will just continue to be terrible. 
Get my big a wedding present. I am SO excited, because my big is getting married to an awesome guy on Saturday and I get to go to the wedding! I even get to go the night before and stay with her and her bridesmaids! I love my big (another shocker, haha) and I haven't seen her in 5 months! So I should get to getting that present.
Do some work on my blog. I keep meaning to add buttons, and do some other little things.. But I've been lazy about it. So I'm going to hopefully do that! And maybe a post besides WW would be good, right? Ha.

And as always, I want to keep reading. I did read a LOT of The Light Between Oceans today. Once I start, I can't put it down.

Wish me luck on my goals this week, and I hope you accomplish yours too! Don't forget to link up to Melyssa at The Nectar Collective to share with everyone else!

Weekly Wishes #7

This Weekly Wishes post will be a place for me to share my goals for the week. Hopefully blogging about them will help them to actually happen!

This week the photo theme is "Happiness" and I am obviously most happy when I'm with my sweet little Lilo, so here we are looking excited!

Last week, I wanted to: Read more of The Light Between Oceans for the Busy Bloggers Book Club. I spent two hours at Starbucks just reading, and then I've been reading before bed, too! I'm loving this book.

Clean something. I just really don't do well with the household wishes........ Oops.
Go to Maggie's. I went to this store! It was cute.
Have fun on Saturday! I did have fun at the Pow Wow! Mostly because the person I went with was fun. We're going to do more stuff together, so yay!

This week I want to: 
Craft (and blog about it). I wanted to make my sister a t-shirt for her birthday but then I lost the t-shirt, so.. That didn't happen. But I'm still going to do it! Presents can come at any time, duh!
Find a good journal and get ready for Everyday Happy! So excited for the e-course!! It starts tomorrow, yay!! I know I've got some neglected notebooks somewhere in my room.... If you hurry and read this and it's still Monday, then you can still sign up! 

It's going to be a crazy week at work (I just tried about 5 different times to get those week and work words in the right spot.. Is it naptime yet?) so I'm only going to have those two goals. But I also want to get some reading done so I can pick out some new books soon for Megan's Semi-Charmed Autumn Book Challenge! Yay reading!

Wish me luck on my goals this week, and I hope you accomplish yours too! Don't forget to link up to Melyssa at The Nectar Collective to share with everyone else!

Sunshine Award!

Aimee at Dear Harper nominated me for the Sunshine Award! Which is really exciting because I'm pretty sure Aimee and I would be best friends if we ever met, even if she doesn't know it yet. She's such a sweetheart! 

The rules are:

• Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you. 

• Share 11 random facts about yourself.

• Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.

• List 11 bloggers.

• Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate and let them know they have been nominated.

Eleven Random Facts about Me

1.  When I was 13, my family moved to Germany, where we lived for 5 years in a teeny town called Großlangheim (yeah, I know, that eszett, what?! You say it like "ss" so the town was like "Gross"), which means Big Long Home. 
2. Don't let the five-year stint in Germany fool you; I'm pretty one lingual. BUT I am hoping to move to Latin America soon so I might get to change that to bi! (Is that two random facts? I'm counting it as one.)
3. I'm living with my parents at the moment and I'm pretty sure I've been here so long that my mother and I have begun sharing a brain. We think the same things at the same time. It's so scary. 
4. I think Hershey's Drops are better than a Hershey bar.. Even though I really recognize that they taste exactly the same. 
5. I'm addicted to the Game Show Network. I will watch literally any game show that is ever developed. My favorite is probably still Jeopardy! I think Alex Trebek would be an awesome best friend.
6. Leap Day is my favorite day of the year. My feeling is that since it only happens once every four years, I can use February 29 to do pretty much whatever I want to do. Last year I skipped my 1:30 p.m. class and went out for margaritas. Leap Day is the ultimate YOLO for me. 
7. I'm really bad at getting my hair cut.. I never know what to tell the person, so for the last few years I've been using the same stylist because she just GETS me. (And by that I mean, I say, I think I want it shorter but you're the expert so whatever you think please help me, and she makes my hair look good without asking too many questions I don't know the answers to.) But now she's gone and I really need a hair cut but I don't know what to do without her so I'm freaking out! 
8. I will watch anything The Rock is in. That's not to say that I have seen every movie he's been in, because I haven't, but.. I want to. I'm pretty much in love, and I can't wait to see him be Hercules. 
9. I just got that big tattoo on my leg and now I'm afraid to shave it, so I currently have 1.5 legs shaved.. 
10. I am 23 and pretty sure I still have about four years left on my Seventeen magazine subscription. Really don't know what happened there.
11. I never liked coffee until I went to Italy with my Italian Art course. We stayed at a family-run hotel and the little old lady made me a cappuccino, and that was that.  

Now Aimee's questions!

What is your biggest fear?
Starting off with a hard question, woo! I think my biggest fear right now is that I will never make any good friends again. I don't have any right now (I mean, I do, but none that are living near me)! I don't know how to make them! I've just started hanging out with someone from work and she is awesome but she is in her late 30s and I am in my early 20s, so we're at different stages. I'm afraid I won't make any when I move to another country, and then when I move back to the States it will be even worse. 
If you could change your name, would you? To what? 
I kind of tried to do this.. I used to go by Katie (and with some people, I still do) but I changed my preference to Cat because I thought it was A. Less common and B. Slightly more mature. I think if I changed it again I would go with my full name, Catherine. Might do that at some point anyway. I like my middle name too, and wouldn't mind being called Jane! When I was younger I thought Lola would be the best name to have, as in "she was a show girl." Don't know what I was thinking, really. 
If you had to dress in only one color for a month, which would you choose?
I have a LOT of turquoise/teal/aqua. It's my favorite color. So probably that. Or green! I love green too.
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Ben and Jerry's Phish Food! Or if we're being normal, mint chocolate chip.
If you won the lottery would you still want to work or would you quit your job?
I think that would be the perfect opportunity for me to try all the jobs I've ever wanted to! (Because in this alternate reality where I win the lottery, I think I can have multiple jobs without being a hassle to employers.) I do like mine, but it's not going to be anything permanent, so I don't know if I can fully answer this question. I think I would definitely work LESS.  
Books or movies? 
Books, of course! I can go a lot longer without seeing a movie than I can without reading a book, I think. Plus, so many more choices! And if the question is about the book vs. the movie, the book is usually always better. 
What is your biggest pet peeve? 
When people want me to turn right on red and I don't want to so they get mad. When people don't understand that my car from 1991 can't go as fast as their car that came off the line 5 minutes ago. When people text and drive. Basically anything car-related. I pretty much yell at everyone all the time when I drive. It's not usually very mean, but I do use the word "dumbhead" a lot. 
If you could live in another era in time, which would you choose? 
Whatever time involves going on a date with a different guy every weekend until one of them wants to pin you. (Only I would be in control, of course.) 
What is the farthest you've ever been from home? 
The first time I ever flew by myself, I went from Germany to Florida to visit some friends that had already moved back from Germany. It's weird when your first time alone is when you're crossing an ocean. Or when I went to Italy a few years ago while my parents lived in VA. I guess that's roughly the same distance from home. 
What was your favorite board game growing up? 
Uhhhhh, great question since I LOVE board games. Don't even have to think about this one; it's Mall Madness! Don't judge. "There's a clearance at the electronics store! There's a sale at the shoe store, and at.."
If you could go back to high school for one day, knowing what you know now, would you? 
I don't think I would. It's not that I didn't like high school. I did, most of the time. It's just that I don't really have the desire to go back, knowledge or not. It's probably better if you do it when you know less, anyway!

I am nominating: 
Stephanie at Meet With a Smile
Megan at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life
Alex at Our Lives Are an Open Blog
Allie at Call Me Sassafras
Kayli at Kayli Wanders
Amber at Mr. Thomas and Me
Codi at The Art of Balance
Angela at The Clutter Box
Alyssa at Lyss & Loveliness
Casey at We Took the Road Less Traveled
Lena at This Lovely Little Day

Some of you will find it strange that I nominated you because you may not have ever heard from me! But I either like your blog or your tweets or your Instagram pictures or something or all of the above and I'd like to know more about you! My blogging friends are still few in number too so maybe I will make a few more with this, too :)

My questions are: 
What was your favorite movie when you were younger? Has it changed?
If you knew when you were going to die, what would be your last meal?
What's the best book you've read lately?
If you were a cupcake, what flavor would you be? Be creative :)
Do you have a mantra, or quote you love that you try to live by? If so, what is it?
If you could only wear one pair of shoes for the rest of your life, what pair would it be?
Name the first three people on your invite list to a dinner with anyone - dead, alive, stranger, friend, movie star, whoever!
What is your favorite thing about yourself?
What song can't you stop playing right now?
Tell me one random fact that you know that it might be weird for you to know.
What's your favorite alcoholic drink? (Or your favorite non-alcoholic if you don't drink!)

I'm excited to see what everyone has to say! If you are too busy to participate or don't want to or think it's weird that some random blogger tagged you in something, totally okay! Just thought I'd throw some sunshine your way :)

Weekly Wishes #6

This Weekly Wishes post will be a place for me to share my goals for the week. Hopefully blogging about them will help them to actually happen!

The photo theme for this week is "Innocence," and while this isn't exactly my innocent childhood bedroom, it's my current one and still looks a lot like it! 

Last week, I wanted to: Call a friend. I called a sorority sister that I've been close to since my freshman year and who I miss a lot! She always knows what to say and we got to talk for a half hour this week. It was so great, and even though we haven't seen each other since May, we both randomly had been thinking about the same stuff lately and the conversation was great. It was as if we had had coffee that morning and were just continuing the talk. Our Delta Pi spirit was strong! I highly recommend adding this to your Weekly Wishes. It made both of our days. 

Update my calendar. I haven't gotten to this yet! But I will probably do that after I finish this post. 
Go 5 miles. Guess what? NAILED IT. I actually almost doubled it because my mom and I went to my sister's school for Family Weekend and walked ALL DAY. And MapMyRun is really nice about sending emails that "may cause spontaneous fist pumps." So inspirational!

This week I want to: 

Read more of The Light Between Oceans for the Busy Bloggers Book Club. I haven't gotten very far yet! The "busy" in the book club title is really accurate.
Clean something. I haven't figured out what yet, but.. I'm sure I will.
Go to Maggie's. I really want to visit this store I haven't gotten to but keep hearing about. I think they probably have something I want, haha.
Have fun on Saturday! I think we all know that I don't have many friends that I hang out with at the moment (what? you didn't notice that whenever I do something, it's with my mom or dad?) BUT someone from work and I are going to the Chickahominy Pow Wow this weekend! She says it will be really fun, so I hope so! It will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Hehe.

Wish me luck on my goals this week, and I hope you accomplish yours too! Don't forget to link up to Melyssa at The Nectar Collective to share with everyone else!

The Sunday Currently...

I love the idea of a simple post sharing what I'm doing, so when I found siddathornton's The Sunday Currently, I wanted to link up!

Currently... 

Reading Two things. I keep one book upstairs and one downstairs. For before bed, The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. For during the day, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman with The Busy Blogger's Book Club!

Writing to-do lists! Okay, I wrote one yesterday. Really not doing that much writing. 

Listening to The Emmys!

Thinking about what I will miss in my friends' lives while I am off in another country for two+ years. Also that my feet hurt from working all day! 

Smelling the wine I have sitting next to me. It's pink and yummy. 

Wishing I could be in one of my best friends' weddings, and that I would find out my placement soon so I can think about the good part of the future instead of the sad part of it. 

Hoping for that placement email! Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying.. 

Wearing comfy shorts and a college sweatshirt.

Loving my puppy when she's quiet.. Now is not that time. 

Wanting the dog to shuttie. And a donut. And a nap, even though it's closer to bedtime. 

Needing to go to bed, since I have to work early tomorrow too :(

Clicking competitive word searches.

What are you doing right now?

5 Things I Love Right Now

I haven't been posting too often here; really I'm lucky if I make it to Weekly Wishes on time (and for the past two weeks, I haven't!) so I thought I'd actually sit down and write about something. As I am a Cat on the wall, I don't have much of a direction for my posts so I decided to tell you about 5 things I am loving right now. Now, some of these things aren't just a "right now" love, but so what?!

1. Sweatpants
If you don't like sweatpants, I don't like you. Just kidding! But seriously, they are so comfortable that I don't know WHY anyone wouldn't like them. I mean, it doesn't even make sense. I like mine to be really big so I can basically swim in them. Now, I try very hard to never wear sweatpants out of the house, but when I'm in my house... Let's just say it's sweatpants, shorts, or nothing. The ones I'm currently rocking all the time are the ones my sister sent me for my birthday, shown above.



2. Pretty wine glasses!
I love my wine, and while boxed wine could make this into a list of 6, I decided to make it seem like I didn't drink constantly (I don't!) and just do one alcohol-related love. A few years ago, my friend Katherine got me a wine glass decorated for the birthday girl, which you may have seen on another post of mine. I didn't use it for a long time, thinking I could only drink out of it on my birthday, and always forgetting to do so.. But then this year I brought it out of hiding! Then on my birthday I found a Lolita on sale for $2.60 (they are normally $26!!), so I HAD to buy it! It's got all these dresses on it and says "Always a Bridesmaid." Cute and accurate! Haha. We sell them where I work but I hadn't bought any until recently.. Now I want to grow my collection.

3. The Mindy Project
I was really obsessed with New Girl when it first came on (I mean, I still am. Love me some New Girl). When Mindy started a year later, I had to see what that was about, too. My friend and I now compare ourselves to the leads of the two shows (she's Mindy, I'm Jess) because we are so similar to them it's scary. Both shows had their season premieres this week, but my mother was not caught up on them, so we binge-watched The Mindy Project season 1, which was a GREAT time. You guys, I haven't told you this yet, but.. I'm in love. And it's with Danny Castellano (on right). I'm also in love with the fact that I need them to get together soon. Just a kiss, that's all I'm asking for. Forget Pastor Casey, adorable as he is.

4. Take It Easy
This was a free app from Starbucks earlier this month, so you can probably still get it! (Actually the SB app still has the code up if you've got that.) It is so much fun. You have to line up matching panels, and it's really addicting. It's great because games can be quick or you can take a while to think about your moves. I really like the puzzle mode because you have to get things in a certain order and it really makes you think!

5. Lilo
Duh, I always love my little puppy! What an angel she is. Today a man insisted to me that she had some pit in her. I mean, okay, sir. I have no idea, but I believe you! I don't care what dogs she's mixed with, because I know she's made up of perfect and wonderful, so... There's that!

So there you have it! My list. What are you loving right now? What are you obsessed with? Please tell me so I can find more things to love. And if you're reading this, you're probably on my list too!