DIY Scrabble Magnets

I love words. I enjoy reading, writing, and words games, especially scrabble! I've seen some similar ideas floating around the interwebs, and so I thought I'd give this a try.

It started with me finding this down on it's luck scrabble set:

It's very old, and looks water damaged. I snatched it up, and since it didn't have a price, went to the checkout line to ask. The clerk responded with, "You want to buy that?!". After I assured him that yes, I did really want to buy it, he said, "I don't know, $0.10?" Awesome! I paid for it right then!

This guy's seen better days...

The box and playing board were both really damaged and falling apart, and I couldn't really use them for anything. So I removed all the wood tiles and gave them a good cleaning with my homemade cleaner.  Then I fired up my hot glue gun, and got to work.

I had these magnets left over from a previous pinterest craft attempt. I can't find the link now, but it involved gluing the magnets to small plastic baskets, to be used for spices on the side of the refrigerator. It was a huge fail. No matter how many magnets I glued on, the smallest item would cause the baskets to slide all the way down to the floor. Oh well!

I hot glued one magnet on the back of each tile, and then pressed them together for a few seconds so the glue would set.

Some of the tiles also had staining, but I like the look!

I let them dry for about a half hour (Hot glue dries super fast, and the tiles are light) then I arranged them all onto my fridge!

What do you think? I love that it's unique, and also since it's scrabble tiles you have the ability to make more words than with a traditional alphabet magnet set, because there are more duplicates. I actually ran out of magnets before I glued all the tiles, so I'll have to pick up some more to finish it out. I'm thinking there was about 100 tiles total, and I only had 50 magnets.

Fun Fun!

Waffle Iron Pressed Sandwiches

I LOVE pressed, hot sandwiches. LOVE. Panera is one of my favorite casual dining places, because of their awesome soup and sandwiches. I don't have a sandwich press at home, but it turns out, I don't need one!

I've had this waffle iron for a few years, and it works great even though I don't make waffles that often. I think I will be using a lot more after these sandwiches though!

My husband took one bite and declared it a "Glenn household regular".

I simply buttered both outer sides of the bread, and then layered them in the preheated iron.

I pushed down with slight pressure, just smushing the sandwich a bit, then let go. My waffle iron is has a "floating" top, mean it doesn't lock down. If it did lock down, I probably would leave it loose anyway. You don't want a completely flat sandwich!

I used black forest ham and american cheese. I left them in the iron for about 2 1/2 minutes, just until the cheese was melty and the bread nice and toasty.

I served them up with Cape Cod ranch waffle chips(Ironic!).

YUM!

Next time I think I might add pickles, mustard, and swiss cheese for a press cuban! Or pesto and chicken for an italian twist! Lots of possibilites, so much tastier than a plain sandwich. Let me know if you try it out!

Orange Dress to Shirt Refashion

Happy New Year everyone! I wish health & happiness to everyone in 2014! I rang the new year in with friends and family, and I did it wearing my first clothing refashion! Read on for the details!

I was searching through the dress rack at my local goodwill, when I came across this orange nightmare. It was a 50% off day, so I paid $3.00! It is extremely long, and the slit on the side is longer than my entire leg! I think it must have really been some sort of beach cover up, because I can't imagine someone actually wearing it as a dress with that slit.

Feel free to mock my expression and my excessive collection of empty shopping bags.

BUT I really like the silky, breezy fabric, it has no stains or tears, and although I'm not typically a fan of orange, I've been trying to branch out with my wardrobe choices lately.

The slit is higher than my waistband!

The pattern and color are very overwhelming for a dress. So I found a shirt of a similar material and that fits me well, and put it on top for comparison.

Next came the big (SCARY) chop!

No turning back now!

I then tried on the shirt, and decided I wanted to take in the sides just a tad. I needed to sew up that awful slit anyway.

I ran the hems through my machine, and then tried it on for size! I was happy with the fit, so I then pinned the bottom and hemmed the shirt.

Tada!

Voila! I was so pleased with my refashion I wore it out the same day, to my sister's New Year's Eve party! It was a bit chilly(for Florida), so I paired it with a white denim jacket (thrifted), a royal blue necklace (Target), and my favorite jeans.

On a more self depreciating note, here is what happens when your husband takes a photo right when you sneeze:

"Blue Steel"

I LOVE how this shirt turned out, and I can't wait until it warms up and so I can wear it without the jacket. It is a very light and breezy fabric and it'll be very comfortable in hot weather. I also have some plans for the scrap piece I chopped off, and keep an eye out for that!

Happy New Year!!