BeerShot Battleship

This is a really difficult thing for me to admit... and I can't believe that I am actually saying it... but truth is... oh man, this is hard... ok, so up until this week... I have... ummm... I've NEVER been to a Hobby Lobby. I know, I know! It is an abomination to all things sparkly and hot glued. And, I feel like a total crafting poser, however, I needed to get this off my chest so I can move on with the rest of my life and finally commit to a well rounded life of craft stores. Phew... That being said, holy s*&% Hobby Lobby is AWESOME.

There is one by work and since I had a laundry list of items that I needed to pick up for some upcoming projects, I figured now was as good of a time as any to check it out. For my first project, I wanted to replicate this game that I saw online and apparently (according to someone who has traveled via plane 150 times last year) can be purchased through Sky Mall. When I saw this, my brain started turning a mile a minute because I was trying to come up with ways to make this game bigger and better. So, after a couple additions to the game board and a quick switch-a-roo with the drink of choice.. it is time to get ready for some...

BeerShot Battleship... I guarantee you, this game is going to be fun. 

I wanted to make the game as large as possible, you know, in order to make it impressive, and I think it worked. To just give you an idea, the game took up my entire living room table, which measures 4' x 2.5'.



Clearly, my theme is Go America (since we only had Polish beer in the fridge at the time, America is NOW in an all-out naval war with Poland!). To construct this masterpiece (Milton-Bradley who?), you will need:

* One Foam Board
* 2 Poster Boards
* One Styrofoam Block
* 4 Sheets of Funky Foam
* Masking Tape
* Letter/Number Stickers
* Decorative Stickers (optional)
* Contact Paper
* 42 Plastic Shot Glasses
* 6 Beers (to play one round)

I used the 2 pieces of poster board, masking tape and letter/number stickers to create the 10 x 10 game board (if you want a full visual, this template that I found on Wikipedia will help). I decorated the boards 

with my patriotic stickers and then covered each board with contact paper (to protect these little gems, seeing that we would be pouring beer onto it and duh, I want to be able to use these again). Since I am a math drop out, I failed to realize that each space on the board should be a perfect square in order to use the ships both vertically and horizontally (FINALLY, an answer to the question "when am I ever going to need math in real life?") so I was unable to keep the boats whole. 

Instead, I measured and cut out the 'Funky Foam' to fit each box (you will need 21 for each side) and then copied out this cheat sheet so each player will know how many and how big each ship needs to be. Each side needs:

* One Aircraft Carrier - 5 spaces
* Two Battleships - 4 spaces
* One Submarine - 3 spaces
* One Destroyer - 3 spaces
* One Patrol Boat - 2 spaces


The white Styrofoam block was used to help keep the foam board upright (I drew a line down the middle of the block, length-wise, and by continually dragging scissors along the line, you can gradually create a wide/deep enough slot for the foam board to fit right in).

Once the line is cut out, slide the foam board in place. I thought it was going to be really wobbly but with the foam board about 1/2 way into the block, it was extremely sturdy.




So, the game is played exactly like regular Battleship except that instead of inserting a peg once your ship gets hit, you fill that cup up with beer and take a shot. In the original rules, the shots were to be consumed, all at once, after your ship has been sunk. However, after 5 quick shots of Zywic, I nixed the idea and switched it over because I quickly realized, I'm not in college anymore :( Play either way you like, but be ready because it gets pretty competitive.  

All I have to say is...
                                   it's time to BATTLESHIP!!

Halloween Centerpieces

** Sorry about the quality of the pics.  Not that I was the best photographer before but I lost my camera cord in the move and had to take all of these pictures with a cell phone.**  

In the spirit of All-Hallows-Eve (ummm, maybe my most favorite holiday ever), I created some super spooky, super simple centerpieces that I think you might enjoy.  I pulled together a lot of items that already existed in my various craft/holiday bins (I feel like there are so many things that can become a "Halloween decoration" simply by adorning them with spider webs) but acquired some new elements that I absolutely fell in love with and had to share.  The ghostly pictures that I found on Gizmodo are extremely creepy but if you read the article, you'll find that the story behind them is actually pretty neat.  I downloaded the pics from the website and then printed them out at Walgreens.  Sadly, there is an error on the web page and only two of the photos will work but still, they are too good to pass up.

I found the picture frames at T.J. Maxx and while I bought them for a girls' only spa night, they actually work perfectly for the spooky centerpieces.  I bought the roses at Aldi for $3.99 and spray painted my formerly gold candelabra black.  I used a black table cloth and covered it with a piece of scrap lace.  All-in-all, the centerpiece on the left cost me under $8 (in new materials) and I was thrilled that I was able to reuse items that were purchased for other parties. 

For the next two flower arrangements, I used white hydrangeas (I'm fairly sure that's what they are called.  I had to look it up.  I usually call them the fluffy white flower balls), orange roses and pumpkins which were all purchased at Trader Joe's for a little over $15.00.  Once again, I reused some materials from earlier projects, then went crazy, absolutely crazy, with the spider webs.

I hope everyone has a WONDERFULLY haunted and spooktacular Halloween!!  It is time for me to get the rest of my costume together..

Ohhhh man, I LOVE this Holiday!!!

   

Haunted S'More Treats

We were having some friends over for a little festive fall gathering this past weekend and since I now have a backyard, I wanted to fulfill my lifelong dream of sitting with friends on hay bales, around a bonfire, drinking wine.. like they do in the movies (granted, I feel like this is how all Horror movies start but it still looks like they are having a good time, you know, before they are hunted down by a crazed lunatic). 

And apparently, I'm not the only one with this dream :) 

(Note: I just had to say that not only does he love his PetSmart Fall Sweater but he was super excited for the Hay Bale Photo Shoot, so I don't want any emails about how I tortured my dog by dressing him up and making him pose for pictures.  He LOVES it... well maybe not loves it.. but he sure loves the treats I give him afterwards!!) Since it is absolutely outrageous to sit by a fire and NOT eat S'mores, I made some goodie bags so everyone could enjoy a little fireside treat.

  They were extremely cheap (and easy) to make even though I told people I slaved over them for days :)  Shame, I know. 

To make 35 treat bags, you will need :

• 1 bag Hersey's candy bars - $2.29 (Target)
• 2 bags Reece's Peanut Butter Cups - $4.58 (Target)
• 1 package of 50 cellophane gift bags - $3.99 (party store)
• 2 boxes Graham Crackers - $4.98 (Aldi)
• 2 bag Marshmallows - $1.98 (Aldi)

For a grand total of :

 $17.82 (before taxes, of course). 

**I made the tags in Microsoft Word and saved the templates here if you want to use them**

Hopefully, we will get a couple more nice days before the "Winter of the Century" hits us...  fingers crossed, I definitely need to use these hay bales a couple more times!! 



Etsy Shopping to Pass the Friday

Sooooo, I spent my morning perusing Etsy for things that I would purchase if I actually had some extra money, you know, just laying around.  It was awesome.  However, since I spent all of it on tile, paint and a functioning toilet (granted our upstairs toilet works just fine, I just have to manually push the plunger back down so it fills the tank back up with water.. no big deal....oh and it's red...with an owl on it), my credit card must stay in my wallet.  Below are some items that I fell in love with and hopefully, some of you might find them adorable as well.  That way, you can purchase them and then let me borrow them!  Kidding :)  Kind of...   

• Wire Wrapped Earrings... Perfect for any weddings or a sophisticated date nights out.    
• I find Feather Earrings to be super cute for Fall and I really want a pair...  Although, there were a couple more styles that I liked from this person but she isn't really wearing a shirt in those photos and well, that's just a little awkward.   
• I'm not sure if it is a real thing but I definitely going through some sort of skull phase.  It could be that Halloween is quickly approaching but I am seeing earrings/purses/scarves with skulls on them and snatching them up.  So naturally, these Day of the Dead Earrings would be amazing...  Oh, and these as well.  I'm not sure if one can have too many pairs of skull earrings... ask me in December.
• My forementioned skull scarf would look AMAZING tied onto this leather handbag.  One should always purchase a $200 leather bag to accompany a $9 scarf, yes? 
• I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to borrow this Love Birds Necklace from anyone I know (I really did a complete scan of all friends and couldn't come up with any S and J's... sad face) however, this would make a wonderful gift.. hint, hint, wink, wink, wink...    
• Clearly this coat is amazing.  I would need to start wearing fluffy, short dresses though... hmmmm defintely worth it.  
• The super artsy posing by the elephant is throwing me off but I think this poncho would be adorable with jeans and some sassy riding boots (I might have gotten distracted by something and wandered over to Zappos for a bit).   
• Maybe it's because it comes in orange or maybe it's because I've been watching too much Gossip Girl.. No idea why but I really want a cape like this. 

Hope your Friday is going as fast as mine :)  Happy Fall Shopping!! 

Some Easy Fall Fun

The fact that I have recently been MIA is not due to my crafting laziness.  I promise!!!  Nor, is it the fact that I've gotten take out almost every day for the past 3 weeks.  Well, I have, but the reason is far greater than my unwillingness to get near a stove.  My current home remodel has taken up ALL of my time (that, and this little thing called work) so I have not been able to do/blog ANYTHING.  I have, however, been daydreaming of things I want to do once I've set fire to all of my paint brushes and am finally moved in and settled to the new place.  So here they are, some fun things I want to do this Fall, in no particular order...  

1. Make my own Ravioli from scratch and learn how to make homemade Pierogies (this will require some assistance from my delightful, little, Polish friend Michelle :)...  I know this isn't a typical "Fall" activity but I can finally turn my stove/oven on without turning my house into a sweat lodge, so I say it counts.    
2. Knit a new winter scarf.  I've been learning to knit and feel like it's time to up my game.  My dog has enough blankets.    
3. Enjoy some hot Apple Cider Donuts while sitting in my yard (weather must cooperate, not too cold, not too warm.. looking for the perfect brisk day... let's make it happen Skilling).
4. Have a Ghost Adventures viewing party since the new season is kicking off on Friday, September 23.  Nothing gets me in the Halloween mood quite like Zack Bagans and his amazing hair gel and graphic tees.  If you've never seen the show before, then I urge you to tune in to check it out (with an open mind, of course).  I promise you wont be disappointed (fyi: you might find yourself making side comments throughout the whole episode, ala Mystery Science Theater, but that's where half the fun lies).  
5. Get a side job so I can purchase this ultimate Fall sweater.  I love me some "sweater weather" and this one just looks so incredibly cozy.  But, I can be practical and order this comfy cableknit which is more in my price range.  
6. Drink some Hofbrau Oktoberfest from the one liter stein that I carted back from Munich after college.  Due to its extreme weight and the lengthy distance I carried it, it has been decided that this mug really needs to see more action.  
7. Finally, finally, finally make my dog a Halloween costume.  I have no idea what he will be yet, but this year, I am making sure it happens. 

I feel like 7 is a random number to end on but I ran out of ideas... if I come up with anymore good ones (during a fit of spacing out at work) I will make sure to add them to the list!  Ohh man, I am so ready for the Fall.