Rock & Worship Roadshow 2015

Hey hey!!! I went to the Rock & Worship Roadshow recently and all I can say is BEST. NIGHT. EVER. It was absolutely unbelievable!

There were so many amazing artists and performances-definitely something for everyone!

Jamie Grace because um YES

Basically what it is is a concert tour with 8 bands/performers. All Christian music, all amazing! The bands that were there were Mercy Me, Matt Maher, Jon Guerra, Tadashii, Jamie Grace, David Crowder Band, I Am They and Group 1 Crew. Each artist performed 3-5ish songs. It was $10, general seating.

It was $10 well spent!!! I took two friends along and we had a total blast! Afterward, we got ice cream so that’s cool too. My favorite person was Jamie Grace. She was so likable and had the best personality, plus she is an absolutely amazing singer and so beautiful! I also really loved David Crowder Band because it was seriously country which was fun. There was a cellist and violinist in that performance, and they were jaw-droppingly amazing! I also really loved Mercy Me…

I would DEFINITELY recommend going, no matter who you are there’s something for you- like rap? There’s Tadashii. Country? David Crowder. Techno/hip-hop? Group 1 Crew. Bright Pop-Country? Jamie Grace. But get there early, as in, before the doors open, because we got there about 15 minutes after doors opened and I’m pretty sure the line extended half a mile outside the door…so yeah. We ended up in seats that were almost behind the stage, but we were lucky to even get that! There were so many people that some didn’t even have seats!

See how we’re behind the stage and projector?

If you ever have the opportunity to go to this (it’s almost over this year, if it isn’t over already) DO IT!!! It’s one of the most spiritual and fun events ever! SO. AWESOME. Yes.

DIY: Tie-Dye Watercolor Easter Bow

Yeah. I got excited with the title. How about “The Most Amazingest Tie-Dye Watercolor Bright Easter Bow Ever” is that better? I like that one better. It’s more descriptive because this DIY is one of my favorites to date!

I’ve tried many different ways to make hair bows. They’re all okay, but I just decided to do my own thing today, and it came out AMAZING! (with everyone making bows out there, I’m probably not the first one to do it this way, but whatevs…)

Materials:
-Piece of fabric about 5″x6″
-Two pieces of ribbon
-Fabric glue
-Hot glue or Super Glue
-Anti fraying glue stuff
-Alligator Clip
-Sharpies (I know those are fabric markers in the pic, but you need Sharpies!)
-Rubbing Alcohol
-Qtips and paper towels

1. Wrap and glue one of the ribbon pieces around the alligator clip, like in the second picture. It should still be able to function normally.

2. Scribble on the fabric with your Sharpies. Leave a little room around different colors because the ink will bleed in the next step.

3. Lay your fabric on top of a paper towel. Soak Qtips in rubbing alcohol and rub all over the scribbled Sharpie areas. The longer you let the rubbing alcohol stay on the fabric, the more the ink will spread. When you’re happy with the design, rinse gently in cold water and let dry.

4. Once the fabric is dry, turn the fabric good-side down. Use fabric glue to glue the short sides about 1/2″ in, and the long sides about 1″ in. Look at the fifth picture.

*tip: apply glue just to the edges of the fabric so when it’s folded, the folded edge is puffy and free 🙂 it will give the bow better shape!*

5. Determine where the half-line is lengthwise, and fold and glue the top and bottom to meet in the middle.

6. Accordion fold the middle to create a bow shape. You may need to play with it a bit to get the shape you want. Once you’re happy, sneak a little fabric glue into the center folds so it lasts longer.

7. Glue an end of the second piece of ribbon to the center of the bow and wrap the ribbon around twice. With the same piece of ribbon, wrap around the bow and alligator clip together twice, then cut the ribbon and apply your anti-fraying glue stuff. Use fabric glue to secure the ribbon that holds the bow and clip together.

Ta-daaa! The folded edges and extra support of the fabric glue make this bow magnificently bow-shaped and amazing!!! I can’t wait for this bow’s debut on Sunday and to make  more bows like this!

Remember, if you like DIYs like this, follow the blog and subscribe! The new month is almost here, and that means… *royal trumpeting sound* a FREE FONT for subscribers!!!

What’s your favorite Easter craft? And most importantly, I want to wish you and your family a very happy and joyous early Easter!!!

Book Review: Before I Fall

All riiight, it’s time for a review of a book that’s really popular as of late. I’m not sure how many bestseller books I’ll review, but I can tell you that the next review will be a popular book too. This week’s book isssss *drumroll please* Before I Fall!

book image from Lauren Oliver Books

Book: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Rating: PG-13 — adult content, language, drinking/drugs/smoking
Score: 5/10

Summary:
Sam Kingston has THE life- she’s a popular girl with a boyfriend and great friends. She shouldn’t be the one to die, right? Fortunately, she has seven chances to redo the last day of her life. Sam discovers some interesting things, like how much she loves her family, what her boyfriend really thinks of her, and the secrets her best friend is keeping from her. What can she change in the lives of other people, and how can she change her own perspectives, before she is gone forever?

Review:
The plot of this book is really interesting. However, the beginning was slow and boring. There were lots of things I didn’t enjoy reading because of my personal beliefs and morals, like underage drinking, [talking about] sex, and smoking. Maybe this is normal teen stuff, but I’m not a stereotypical teenager, so I’m not really sure, haha. I really did love the character development, though, and reading about what Sam did each day to change the outcome. But the negative actions were so frequent that it made the book not very enjoyable for me.

If you don’t mind reading about the stuff I mentioned above, then it’s a great book, but if you’re like me and that stuff bothers you, I wouldn’t read it at all.

Have you read Before I Fall? What did you think? Were you bothered by some of the topics and main characters’ actions? Let me know in the comments!

DIY Graphic Tee + Gift Box

GOOD MORNING! Or afternoon, or night, or whatever time it is where you live! 😀 Today I’m sharing my Dad’s entire birthday present…don’t worry-his birthday was last week, hehe!

Everything here today is SHIELD/Marvel themed, but you can do these techniques for any image.

Materials for Graphic Tee:

-Tee Shirt
-Fabric Paint
-Foam Brush
-B&W Computer print out of your image
-Craft Knife
-Iron & Ironing Surface
-Freezer Paper
-Scrap Cardboard/Cardstock (ex. cereal box)
-Pencil

1. Place a sheet of freezer paper on top of your image, plastic-side down, and trace your image.
2. With the scrap card stock underneath, cut along the lines of your traced image from your freezer paper. Keep in mind that your paint will go in the negative image, or empty spaces. I really had to think about this!
3. Insert a scrap piece of cardstock and a fresh sheet of freezer paper plastic side up within the t-shirt, smooth out, and place on the ironing surface.
4. Place the cut pieces of freezer paper on your shirt to form a stencil. Remember: the places where your freezer paper is will not have paint on them!
5. Iron the freezer paper onto the fabric! The plastic kinda melts onto the fabric so you can paint without worrying about moving the stencil!
6. Paint away! Make sure to use multiple coats of paint if you want to get a good, opaque color.
7. Once the paint is almost dry to the touch, peel off the freezer paper! I’ve found that it helps to flip up a corner of the freezer paper with the craft knife, and then I can peel the rest off quickly.
8. Let dry for 2 days, or according to the fabric paint directions, then wash inside out. Now it’s ready to be worn and shown off! 🙂

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Now for the 0-8-4 Gift Box! For all you non-SHIELD people out there, “0-8-4” is simply a SHIELD term for an item of unknown origin. Like a present, for example!

Materials for 0-8-4 Gift Box:

-Cardboard Box
-Black Acrylic Paint
-White Acrylic Paint
-Foam brush
-Tape
-Computer print out of text, get mine here (Uses D-Day Stencil font from Dafont)
-Craft Knife
-Cardstock, Black Marker, & Ruler for Mission Card

1. Paint your box with a coat of black paint.
2. While that’s drying, cut out the wording (remember, negative image) this time, the stencil will simply be the paper itself. I recommend cutting the “SSR Item #” and “084” into separate pieces of paper to really get them aligned. Set the stencil aside.
3. Paint a second coat of paint onto the box. I tried to get a light texture by daubing the paint- it didn’t dry textured, but it did get a nice, even coat.
4. While it’s drying a second time, make the Mission Card like I did above: sections for name, date, mission description (body of your card), location, difficulty, weapons, and “commander signature”
5. When the box is completely dry, tape the stencils in position. Use the foam brush to dab white or light gray (mix a little black into the white) paint on the stencils. DAB, DO NOT BRUSH! Using a brushing motion will push paint underneath the stencil, plus dabbing paint with a foam brush gives the paint a perfect effect.
6. Remove the stencils, let dry, and the use le box! If needed, touch up the paint with Sharpie.

If you have a Marvel, especially Agents of SHIELD, fan in your life, I promise they will be absolutely delighted with these presents! And if you don’t know what I’ve just been inwardly fangirling about, well you can still make amazing graphic tees with this fabulous technique! Be sure to let me know or send me pictures if you make a shirt (or box) like this!!!

And don’t forget to follow the blog and subscribe to the email newsletter if you want free fonts, printables, and more fantastic stuff! 🙂

SWITCH Students and Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Hope you had a good St. Patrick’s Day! …We’ll come back to that later…

But first, on an unrelated note, I want to introduce you guys to a really good reference for, basically, life. My church has this fabulous youth group called SWITCH Students, and something new they’re doing this year is a blog to post all the sermons. And the lessons are GREAT! I’m not sure how often they update it (the most recent post is from February but we meet every week), but the posts that are on there now are, in my opinion, super important for teens (and everyone!) in this modern day to read!

You know what the best reference is? Yeah? The Bible. UMM YES! I know, it’s challenging (but totally worth it), so look at the SWITCH page for some awesome ways to implement the Bible in your life!

Now I’d like to show you the bracelet I made for a little green accessory 😉 It’s kind of like a charm bracelet, so I think I’ll just make new charms for each holiday!
You just need: jewelry wire, fabric paint, and metal file (optional)

If you want to read more awesome and easy DIYs and craftsy stuff, be sure to follow the blog and subscribe! PLUS, when you subscribe you get a free password organizer, and a free font each month! Whoo!

What’s your favorite holiday craft?

The Liebster Award

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Hello! Today I am delighted to say that I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award by Sophia over at Someplace in the Midst and Sophie from iDesigns by Sophie! Thank you so much!

image from Wording Well

What is the Liebster Award?
I had to look it up, and it turns out the Liebster Award is somewhat like those annoying chain/forward emails you got when you were in middle school, but without the annoying part! It’s actually really cool, because bloggers nominate other bloggers (who have less than 200 followers) as kind of a “welcome-to-the-blogosphere-you’re-really-cool” gift! You ask questions for your nominees to answer, and they just pass it on!

Because two people nominated me, I’ll just answer 5 questions from each person 🙂

1. (Sophia) Favorite YouTuber? Umm honestly I don’t really get on YouTube as much as expected I guess…When I’m on YouTube I like vlogbrothers I suppose.

2. (Sophia) Favorite celebrity? I’m also not that into pop culture, oops. But Jennifer Lawrence is always cool. Always.

3. (Sophia) Favorite Disney princess? Ha! See now, this is a question I can answer!!! Maybe Merida because she’s super awesome and independent and is amazing with her bow. 🙂

4. (Sophia) Favorite vacation? Honestly, I love visiting my grandma. Okay, so it’s not a huge vacation, being just three hours away, but it’s always fun! 🙂

5. (Sophia) Last movie watched? The Hunger Games- it was on last night!

6. (Sophie) Favorite book series? Oooooh, this is a hard one….I LOOOVEEEE Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Maximum Ride, and most recently the Graceling world has been in my mind.

7. (Sophie) Favorite holiday? I truly love Christmas! I love love love making gifts for my whole family and all of my friends; there’s so much variety in the crafts I can make! I also love the baking (the lovely smells!), the music, the food, getting together with my family, and unity in celebrating my faith. It’s such a  great feeling 🙂

8. (Sophie) Favorite author? James Patterson is pretty great. So is JK Rowling, Rick Riordan, Suzanne Collins, and Michael Crichton. I know I know, I’m so decisive.

9. (Sophie) Career goals? At the moment, I want to become a biomedical engineer designing artificial hearts. But it changes every few months–last year, I wanted to be a hematologist.

10. (Sophie) Favorite DIY? Seriously, Soph?! DIYing is my life! XD Buutttt today I tried a label-removing solution that was like magic…ask me again tomorrow, it’ll change, I’m sure.

I nominate these wonderful blogs for the Liebster Award, and can I just say, I’m thrilled and honored to be a part of the wonderful blogging universe! (By the way, I’m friends with a lot of amazing blogger people who also deserve this award, but if I’ve seen you’ve already been nominated recently by Sophia or Sophie, I didn’t nominate you because I though you’d be kinda overwhelmed, but do know that I really love being friends with you all!!!!)

The Lolly Project
Pebbles + Peaches
Wispy & Willowy
Reckless
A Little Yarn Blossom
Eve of Womanhood

Here are my questions 🙂 Answer all, none, or however many you want! And to the magnificent people who are reading this post and didn’t get nominated, answer these questions in the comments! Or on your own blog (if you have one) and link back to this post so I can read them!

1. What do you fangirl over?
2. Three weird, random facts about you?
3. What are you most proud of?
4. What would be your dream place to live?
5. Favorite dessert?
6. What are you doing at this moment besides writing this post?
7. Do you have any pets?
8. What superpower do you want?
9. If you could meet anyone (past, present, or future; fictional or real), who would you want to meet?
10. Fruits or veggies?
11. What do you want your legacy to be? In other words, what do you want people to remember you by/for?

I love all you people, those who I mentioned and those I didn’t, thank you so much for stopping by and reading my blog. I truly appreciate it so much! And don’t forget to comment with your answers to the questions! 😀