Christmas Candle Holders

I have decided that this year for Christmas I am going to try and give everyone homemade presents. But that means starting Christmas prep super early this year. My fist project is glass candle holders.

I found some plain glasses, without any sort of designs. For this I ventured to my basement in search of extra glasses.

I found this box, which originally came
from Homesense for only $9.99.

Next I went to my neighbourhood art store and bought some glass paint. For this project I used a pebeo frosted medium and a pearl outline.

First I painted each glass with the frosted paint. I gave them each two coats to ensure a pretty frosted finish.

The paint was fairly fast drying,
this step only took about 30minutes.

I decided to use a snowflake design for two and a flower design on the other two. I painted these on with the pearl outline. This type of glass paint is raised so it had a nice effect.

The finished product

Next thing to do is make the candles to go inside. I'm thinking some nice white vanilla sented ones would work well in the snowflake ones, and perhaps something red in the flower ones.

Thoughts are always apperciated.

The Creation of an Owl Toilet Seat

It was one of my best friends 21st birthday which left us with the daunting task of getting her a present. Now she has everything she needs and then some so getting her a present isn't exactly easy. After much thought and consideration we came up with the PERFECT gift.

Her toilet seat had a crack in it and she is currently obsessed with owls, so naturally we figured she need a new toilet seat and it only made sense for it to be decorated with an owl.

Our first task was buying a toilet seat and so we ventured to Walmart. Here we learned all toilet seats are the same size (thankfully because we would not of known what size to get) and that we had the option of wood, porcelain, and plastic. We went for plastic cause we figured it would be less likely to crack on her awkwardly shaped toilet.

Next, paint was required, we decided on acrylics and also bought a sealer so that our paint job would last through, well the use of a toilet seat.



And then, we got started our design. We found a picture of an owl online and used it as a guide line to sketch on the toilet seat. To sketch we just used a water based marker because it would stick to the toilet seat but also wipe off easily when we made mistakes. After we drew out the owl we painted it and then added a tree branch. We also decided to paint the inside in just a random pattern.





Finally we let it dry and then coated it multiple times with the sealer and attached it to the toilet.

As The Summer Goes On

So far things at Cooke's have been going very well! I now know how to use their cash and do coffee orders. The coffee at Cooke's is unique because they roast the beans themselves and then create different blends. The hard part of coffee is remembering all the different grinds because most of the time the customer does know the number and just describe their filter but I'm getting the hang of it.

In other news I have become quite busy, I have joined my sister in-laws stitch and bitch where I will be learning to crochet and may be joining her book club as well, and have started being more active by doing yoga with my good friends. Since I'm currently only getting approximately 16 hours at Cooke's it's nice to have other things that take my attention. My manager did say that my hours will increase as people begin to take holidays so that's nice.

Once I have completed my scarf I will post pictures :).

Working Girl Day 2

I started my position at Cookes yesterday and it is great so far. On my first day all I had to do was walk around and get to know what the products are and where they are. Let me tell you there are a lot! This store has more kinds of mustard than I knew existed but eventually I will get the hang of it. It was very nice to be given that time to acquaint myself with things so that I wasn't in over my head too quickly. Today I learned how to do cash which wasn't difficult. However, it is very different to the cash I am used to which makes things a little confusing.

I'm lucky to be working with a wonderful group of people who all seem to have a grand sense of humour. My boss is a very sweet lady who is extremely welcoming to questions which makes life much easier when you are learning.

So far I am happy with my decision to take this position and I'm sure I will continue to be so.

I'm Employed

I am lucky to have been given a position at Cookes Coffee in Kingston (http://www.cookesfinefoods.com/). Cookes is a five minute walk from my house which is extremely convenient.

The decision to take the Cookes job was not an easy one. I was offered a second interview at the events and promotions marketing firm but finally decided that it wasn’t the right place for me. They don’t focus on the types of event that I want to be a part of. I would like to organize fundraisers and parties while they set up booths in banks and grocery stores which is quite different. I didn’t close a door at the place however, I told them I wasn’t ready to start my career (very true) and asked if they are expecting to any opportunities in the future. So in the fall if I change my thinking they said to feel free and contact them :).

I’m excited to start work at Cookes on Monday. It will be nice to see the difference between a small specialty store and the department store that I am used to.

Interviews One and Two of MANY I'm sure

So far I have struck success in the job hunt! One in event planning (eek just what I want) and one in retail (which fits my summer plan). I'm super blessed to have two prospects when a bunch of people I know are still hunting. Both of my interviews are tomorrow which makes for a little bit of a hectic morning because they are on opposite sides of town.

Currently I'm trying to be a more go with the flow type of person so if one doesn't work out it is because it was not meant to be Bah! that's what I say now.

Fingers crossed one interview is a success! Wish me luck :).

Thus it Begins

I have started this blog as a yearlong project detailing what I am doing with my first year out of college. It's a way to keep my friends updated in what I'm doing and give the world an impression of what life is like the first year out of college. I like most graduates have a plan, one that I feel comfortable and confident with despite the stress and anxiety of being out in the "real world". My plan is not set in stone I expect it to change and grow as I find other opportunities; really it's more of an outline.

This summer I plan to find a retail or another type of summer job it's the fall when my true plan begins. I would like to move to the Kitchener Waterloo area and search for employment there, preferably either in events or media planning. It's where my boyfriend is so just makes sense to start my career where is career is already located. HOWEVER, if I came across a job in the Kingston area that just seemed perfect I would not just let an opportunity pass me by.

I finished school on Friday and tomorrow marks the beginning of my summer job search.