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Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Here’s what happened okay?

Goodreads has the usual challenge you can set for yourself right? Apparently they also now have some other challenges going on that they’re Betaing.

When I realized this I checked it out of course and found that I had already completed 4 out of 6 challenges.

Two left!

I liked the idea behind it because there were books on the approved lists to read from (to complete the challenge) that I had on my TBR.

I got one done and it wasn’t a bad book.

It was ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ which is a fiction title. Right there you understand why I said it wasn’t a bad book. I don’t do fiction because it’s so every-day and I live that already.

I want vampires and things exploding and space ships!

For a fiction book it was quite good.

The last challenge had to do with ‘fall vibes’ and so I chose a book that I’d been seeing at work and was marketed as cozy small-town romance with spice.

No one can tell me what ‘spice’ actually means so since I enjoy small-town romance I figured why not find out what spice is all about these days?

😑

I should know better than to listen to the masses.

I was unimpressed, to say the least.

Technically book 2 was the one allowed for the challenge but since I don’t read books out of order, I bought all three that were out already and read book 1 first.

As you do.

Book 1 (The Pumpkin Spice Cafe) was the unimpressive one, but not bad enough to make me stop reading.

Book 2 (Cinnamon Bun Book Store) however was bad enough that I left a review saying why it was DNF.

Which brings me to now.

Since I didn’t actually finish the book for the challenge, I feel guilty for “earning” it. I went looking for another book on the list to try and found ‘Legend of Sleepy Hollow’.

A classic!

I’ve started it and it’s…interesting.

The olde English style of writing is taking some getting used to, but I should still get it done by the end of the year which is the deadline.

I’ll let y’all know what I think when I’m done!

Classics are hit or miss for me.

I didn’t like ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’ or ‘Candide’, but ‘Metamorphosis’ wasn’t bad. Creepy and gross, but not bad.

Until next week, keep reading!

You’ll never know what book will become a favorite until you’ve finished it!

A couple of weeks ago I gave y’all a snakes peek at a crafty.

Now, you shall see it all!!

The Miniverse has Lord of the Ring sets!!!

I was SO excited when I saw these on Facebook and even more excited when I wandered into a Walmart and they actually had them!!

A closer look at what’s inside. The packaging isn’t as cute as others, but that makes sense and I’m not unhappy with it.

What’s funny is that they give you 4 handles for the blades, but only 2 display stands for them.

I like that they always give you extra!

I can experiment or just have cute small stuff around!😁

The actual making of the swords was a bit aggravating because you have to squeeze the resin into, then down a tube (upper right hand of pic) to the base of the mold.

Without getting bubbles…

I’m sure with enough practice I’ll get better at it, but my first sword came out without the tip.

First attempt on the left and next attempt on the right!

It looked like there was resin left in the tip, so I decided to make another sword to try and clean it up. Thinking I hadn’t let it set long enough the first time.

Second attempt I used uv lights to help with the curing.

It didn’t actually work.

I thought it was me, but then I happened upon a video post that talked about the exact thing happening to them! Same set and everything!

Apparently, the mold is too thick and so the tip takes way longer to cure than you’d think.

I did try using a nail drying uv light to cure them and that seemed to do the trick since I got a sword with the tip now!

I certainly intend to get more, but since it’s so close to Christmas I’ll wait and see what I get from the family!

I do, however, have a box of unopened Miniverse kits that I fully intend to keep adding to until I decide to take a whole week off and do them ALL!!

I’m so excited!

Next crafty thing is actually my scrapbooks!

Ciao!

My car has been sounding a little rough the last bit so I have to be up at a ridiculous hour to take him in to be seen.

May or may not have to leave him for a couple days. It’ll depend on what the peep says.

See y’all next week!

Please pray whatever the problem is it’s easily fixed!

I am beat.

Black Friday isn’t usually a problem for me but for some reason I am totally done in.

Enjoy this sneak peak at my latest crafty and I shall see y’all next week!

No post this week because Thanksgiving is almost here and I have family coming into town! 🎉

I also work the entire Black Friday weekend so I’m not sure about next weeks post, but I’ll do my best!

Don’t forget while you’re counting your blessings to thank God for giving them to you!

Another successful year for Toys for Tots donation! 🎉

I actually sorted them out this time and labeled the boxes to make it a little easier for the volunteers.

I had a couple boxes of Barbie’s I got at last years half off sale at work (SUCH a great sale!), bunch of LEGO’s again and then this year I was trying to get more toddler toys too.

Got a fantastic deal on two learning play sets (the blue boxes to the left) and was SO EXCITED!!

This isn’t everything either!

I knew that Ollie’s was an official donor to Toys for Tots, but for some reason it didn’t click until I went to look at something entirely different and saw the signs up that they were a drop off location too!

I did take this load to the warehouse directly for obvious reasons, but I also spent about $50-$60 on toys at Ollie’s too and put them in their boxes!

I’m not done yet because we still have the rest of November and December to go and guess who’s local B&N has Toys for Tots as their Holiday Book Drive recipient this year?

😁

I have a bunch of Rewards stacked up that I was going to use for toys, but I decided to use them for books instead this year!

I love Christmas time!

I will see everyone next week for a crafty post but until then, look up what charities and non-profits are in your area that directly benefit your communities and consider donating!!

Thank you to every Veteran!

I wouldn’t be able to do any of this had you not sacrificed without even knowing me!

All the crafty!

Check this one out!

By now you all recognize the tiny bookshelves I’ve been using. I decided to make a longer one to display tiny things that weren’t books.

I love the color! It’s calypso blue and the brightness is fantastic!

This was a test one for me though because I painted the individual pieces before assembly. Not a good choice.

The paint made it thicker (obviously) and so it was difficult to get them to snap into place. I wanted a nice outdoorsy theme so added fairy stickers.

Not a problem, except that when I went to use varnish and mod podge in the hopes it would keep the stickers adhered better, it instead made them wet.

And crinkly looking in some cases as the larger fairy shows.

*le sigh*

I still love the finished product and have definitely learned several things from it!

I’m working on the last of my figure paintings and hoping it’ll get done in the next week or two.

We shall see!

Toodles!!

Okay, so look.

I didn’t intend for this to happen and I completely blame my coworker who had one on hold and reminded me we had them, but!

We received a stencil kit for book page edges.

You know the prettiness that’s taken the publishing world by storm?

There’s a kit for that!(part of it ofc)

So I bought one…

It was only $6 with my discount or I wouldn’t have done it!

I wasn’t sure which book I’d try it on since I’ve obviously never done it before and didn’t want to ruin one of my favorite books.

I showed my mother though because it is exciting and she suggested I just buy a used book from one of the libraries around here and test it out that way.

However!

A better idea came to me after her suggesting! I have a couple of ARC’s at my disposal that would be perfect!

I don’t have to spend more money and it’s not like they can be sold so even if I still donate it to a Little Free Library it won’t be a problem!

I am still going to wait until I’m done with my last figure painting because after that I can take down the second table in my room and start getting the Billy Bookshelves for my books.

More space and more shelves!!

So exciting!!

Until next week my peeps, stay crafty and don’t forget to go vote!