They See Me Rollin': Repurposed Magnet Ads

My apologies for the very long delay between posts! I went from working zero hours a week to becoming gainfully employed (Thank God!) and working full time with a crazy commute. I've managed to crochet a lovely slouch hat and a pair of fingerless gloves by free pattern and decided to create a scarf to go with them. Not quite finished so that will be a future post.

Then Thanksgiving came! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday and their families and friends. I for one boycott Thanksgiving day shopping. Of course, I boycott Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and generally avoid shopping as long as I can. I've heard "People who work retail need the hours.", but I know people who work retail, and not a single one of them would rather work than stay home with their families during a holiday. And having worked retail myself not so long ago, to those people who attempt to advocate for retail associates while never having done it themselves, I say walk a mile in their shoes - try working retail for minimum wage on a holiday with crazy, often rude and demanding customers and tell me what you think about needing hours then. NOT. But I digress. Oops.

One of our Thanksgiving Family Celebration Contributions

Everything tastes better dipped in chocolate! I got a Baby Cakes Chocolatier while I worked retail, using my minimum wage salary and 15% employee discount. A Baby Cakes Chocolatier is basically a miniature crock pot. Add your chocolate chips to the ceramic bowl, microwave for one minute at 60-70% and stir. Repeat as needed. Then plop your ceramic bowl into your BCC, plug it in and it keeps your chocolate melted without it getting clumpy. Dip to your heart's content! Dipping has never been easier, with my exception of cake balls. I tried once and never, ever, ever want to try again (please sing that like Taylor Swift). I purchased two large containers of strawberries, washed and dried them but after dipping them I still had leftover chocolate. What to dip? First, my boys dipped one piece of bacon - as the rest was used in another recipe... and they LOVED it. The rest went to cookies. Clean the pot and start over with white chocolate. Repeat, down to dipping cookies in what was leftover. YUM.

Then, we had friends over to watch the hockey game #LoseSomeTeeth. Their daughter surprised us with a lovely painting of Blitzen, Rudolph, and Dancer. I love this. I told her I would bring it out every Christmas to decorate. She said, "That's what Mommy said you would do!" Then gave her a big ol' Rolly Hug. Er, er er (SQUEEZE)!

My newest Christmas decoration!

All the while I have been thinking I must get back to the blog! Moving in at work is a daunting task. I've been tasked with getting rid of clutter and reorganizing, and learning my new job while documenting everything. If only I could blog while I commute. What I can do while I commute is think about what crafty thing to make. Here is what I came up with. Every year, we are bombarded with a fresh batch of yellow phone books. Though I miss the days of one book (these days I get about four), I do like that each comes with a magnetic ad conveniently attached to the front. I save them all, but to my knowledge, I've never used them to call a vendor.

Tom Lewis does care. I like his magnet. Thank you Tom.

I printed photos and generously applied adhesive to the magnet, making sure to get the corners and edges nice and sticky. I just used a glue stick and they are holding up quiet nicely. Mod Podge would work nicely here too, both as adhesive and sealant. Just don't over do it, as you can warp the magnet, rendering it useless as a magnet. Next, line up the photo and rub hard to ensure a good seal. Then use a handy-dandy photo trimmer to trim away the excess. My handy-dandy photo trimmer nicely sliced through the magnet as well, so your picture doesn't have to be the same size as the magnet. Finish by sealing it with a clear acrylic spray or a coat of Mod Podge. Ta-da! Thanks Yellow Phone Book Companies and business that paid for the magnet ad!

After the Warrior Dash picture, magnetized.