tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:50:06 +0000Craft GossipOahupeanut butter jelly timefalse economy of fast foodDIYmake money onlineretro journeyteam challengeValentine's craft ideasforaging for free foodvintage makeupetsyDIY bezelretro hairMarriage of FigaroIbottaRetro styleInbox Dollars reviewBubblewsThursday tutorialdolphinquiltingpasta primavera couscous recipeEPPBenefit concealermake extra money onlineget dog fur off carpetsubmissions to Craft GossipPumpkin pie cakeInbox Dollarscatsspring dessert ideasbaby bow tieKing Street Shop Walkbike to workEaster craftsfox poipumpkin pie cake recipeShabby Applewedding singer Charlestonanchor necklaceholidaysst patrick's dayonline writingDIY colored glasspin up girl clothingfree foodst Patrick's day craftsCrafty FeastSpring Flingredmake your own whipped creamDIY Jewelry standmultitasking mythGoogle Friend ConnectCute dogsonline writing tipshow to single taskcreativitysaving moneyChaos HeldrakeEaster tutorials2013 goalsEyelahowlsBBAhomemade gift ideasBenefit Bo-ingsqueegee carpetfrugal livingBlog Featurebird clutchchocolate bowlphotographyRandom Creativeteam treasuryMacaroni and Cheese recipeBlogging Business ArtisansHawaiiAlaskan huskyEaster tree tutorialthoughts on bulliesdolphin strand fishinghow to make a bezelhedgehog broochvintage hairrecipegiveawayBloglovincotton gin housewordless WednesdayGFCfood truck rodeoeasy bacon recipehomemade Valentinesonline incomesmall space gardeningworking on a holidayLow CountryMoo business cardsWordpressEnglish paper piecingthriftingCofC operahow toeasy image transferBeads and Brushstrokes Mt. Pleasantfeeling good on fridayspringfrugal living tiphomemade giftsretro makeupEtsy on SaleMooBoone Hall PlantationMoo printingDeb Guessrosescontainer gardeningspray paint tipsGoogle ReaderkittiesdogsCharleston South Carolinaboiled bacon recipeHubPagesspring tutorialsfree things to do in Hawaiibullyingfamily meal ideasspring challengeAmazon Mechanical Turkcook once a monthhow to color mason jarsThe Trippin Tonebetter breakfastsell onlineEasterflowerstrue cost of fast foodTreasury on Tuesdayseashell christmas ornamentswhipped cream strawberry bitesEtsy treasurydisclaimercute dogbook bindingsopranoNikon D3200March windswhite Alaskan huskyfast foodworking on ChristmasEtsy findsst Pat'sstrawberry dessert ideasMTurkSelf-promotion Sundayhow to make a chocolate bowlNew Years goalLunasell on etsymake your own bezelSmashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Primerworking on thanksgivingglitterself-interested Sundaycouscous recipeThe Silver Puffinfrugal living tipssolderingurban foraginghomemade Christmas giftstutorialcute cathub of the daycatbriar ediblegoalsDr. Richart Charleston SCpermanent DIY colored glass5 stitch book bindingCharleston food truck rodeobusiness cardsSoul Whispers Artfirst year bloggingpurpleMediterranean couscous saladLiebster AwardBBArtisansValentine's Daysingle taskingSEOEtsy on Sale reviewWarhammer 40KGerman Shepherdunder eye concealerMonday dose of cutesnorkelingConnorsingerbike commutechair makeoverJoin my journey as I attempt to become a starving artist, instead of just a starving grad student.http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/noreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)Blogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-2456901992592706933Tue, 26 Mar 2013 11:33:00 +00002013-03-26T07:33:40.411-04:00etsyBBArtisansMarch windsEtsy treasuryAll right, March, you've heard the saying. You've had your in like a lion, now I'd really enjoy some out like a lamb.<br /><br />I checked the historical data and March has been far colder than average for my location. Take yesterday - there were nearly 30 mph winds and the high was 57. The average high for 3/25 here is 74! These few degrees now may keep the water temperature slightly lower, meaning that next winter will probably be cooler, still. It's one of the joys of living right up on the water - this year's slightly higher or lower than average temperatures can have far-reaching consequences. A degree or two difference in the water temperature can me the difference between snow or no snow, for example. But enough about my weather! At least I'm not suck in a blizzard like some folks. No matter where you are right now, I feel like you can probably agree it's about time for some of that March lamb-ness to poke its fluffy little head around the corner.<br /><br />All these lambs and lions reminded me of another spring saying - "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers." That saying and the windy weather inspired this week's treasury, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA4Mjc2OTF8MjcyNDE4Mzk1Mg/march-winds" target="_blank">March Winds</a>. Everything in it is springy or windy!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA4Mjc2OTF8MjcyNDE4Mzk1Mg/march-winds" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5ErcWbBJi0/UVDsTpk2NUI/AAAAAAAAB-w/OVOgiNckp8k/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-03-25+at+10.43.28+AM.png" width="595" /></a></div><br /><br />Is March living up to its allegedly windy nature where you live? If not, would you like some of this wind? It keeps stinging my eyes when I'm out with the dogs!http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/treasury-tuesday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-4370702588345510050Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:39:00 +00002013-03-25T07:39:31.087-04:00peanut butter jelly timeMonday dose of cutedogsRemember that annoying banana that would sort of dance, sing "peanut butter jelly time" over and over, and became inexplicably popular? Yes? Well, this is way better.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://s2.hubimg.com/u/7337485_f520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://s2.hubimg.com/u/7337485_f520.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://s4.hubimg.com/u/7337487_f520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://s4.hubimg.com/u/7337487_f520.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I hope you're having a great Monday!</div><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/monday-dose-of-cute-peanut-butter-jelly.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-4843105755994890582Sun, 24 Mar 2013 10:28:00 +00002013-03-24T06:28:05.629-04:00Charleston South Carolinafood truck rodeoSpring Flingself-interested SundayCharleston food truck rodeoI would love to post another part of my retro journey, but today is my last Sunday at work and this week took a turn for the cold. Combine standing outside in the windy cold with hundreds of school kids and you have one exhausted blogger. I am so tired I actually wrote "coldy wind" the first time! I didn't want to rush a post and have it be less than what I wanted.<br /><br />Instead of sharing more of my vintage attempts, I want to give a shout out to an event happening in Charleston on March 30. It happens to be my first show of the season, but it's actually a combination food truck rodeo and Easter party. Yes - food truck rodeo!! I really hope my sister is available to help out so I can wander off for a minute and sample the amazing food truck wares.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LAnzayrxmu4/UUzyOxtkf6I/AAAAAAAAB-g/3niLZaarR_E/s1600/PastedGraphic-2.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LAnzayrxmu4/UUzyOxtkf6I/AAAAAAAAB-g/3niLZaarR_E/s640/PastedGraphic-2.tiff" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So who's changing their Easter weekend plans to take a trip to Charleston? No snow and a food truck rodeo - what are you waiting for?!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2013 has been pretty amazing to me so far and I've really enjoyed the awesomeness and support of Etsy teams. I am technically a member of several, but I'm only actually active in <a href="http://bloggingbusinessartisans.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blogging Business Artisans </a>and sort of active in the South Carolina team. I learned about this event through the SC team - if I hadn't joined up I never would have known about it. With a $20 fee for a full 10x10 spot, at least breaking even with my investment should be pretty darn easy. At worst, I'll enjoy a March day and see some cute puppies at this dog-friendly event. As long as hurricane season doesn't arrive half a year early, it should be a fantastic time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Because next Sunday is Easter, I probably won't post any additional retro journey then. I hope everyone will be spending time with family, not reading blogs! That means the next retro-ing will most likely be the first Sunday in April. I hope you have a fantastic pre-Easter week!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/self-interested-sunday-food-truck-rodeo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-4364610428145028523Sat, 23 Mar 2013 22:19:00 +00002013-03-23T18:19:08.734-04:00WordpressBloglovinI have initiated the domain transfer process. This can evidently take up to 5 days, so I don't know when, exactly, it will happen! I do not anticipate any real down time but if my blog suddenly disappears for a minute, this is why. I know that if you let your domain registration through Blogger lapse, your blog simply goes back to domain.blogspot.com. If there is a gap between when the domain name is transferred and when I get the content transferred, please just check http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.blogspot.com.<br /><br />I have found some code that allegedly will allow me to enable GFC on a WP blog, even though GFC is not officially supported on non-Blogger blogs. I don't know if this will work, though. To be safe, you may want to make sure you're following me some other way. I usually add new blog posts to G+, but Bloglovin' or an RSS reader are a great way to make sure you don't miss the action.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/5000995" title="Follow Diary of a Plague Year on Bloglovin"><img alt="Follow on Bloglovin" border="0" src="http://www.bloglovin.com/widget/bilder/fashionchalet.gif?id=5000995" /></a></center><br /><br />Thank you, everyone, for sticking with me through this (hopefully) little transfer!<br /><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/transfer-to-wordpress-update.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-3097662996351714326Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:48:00 +00002013-03-24T07:10:49.835-04:00BBArtisansspring challengespringMost of you have probably at least seem a picture of my rag wreath already from this past Thursday's craft tutorials, but I wanted to write about it a little more because it is my March <a href="http://bloggingbusinessartisans.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blogging Business Artisans</a> challenge piece.<br /><br />I was at the fabric store about two weeks ago now just browsing around and not thinking about the challenge at all when I saw this fabric. I suddenly knew I had to use it for the team challenge this month. I could probably be a little more pastel, but it's way more pastel and floral than anything I normally use and it just somehow spoke to me. After spotting a cool St Patrick's rag wreath with a 'tutorial,' I knew I wanted to write an in-depth tutorial of my own and this fabric seemed absolutely perfect!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lDcHkFinwoo/UUzd4rIyoGI/AAAAAAAAB-I/1FzB7_BO8_Q/s1600/DSC_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lDcHkFinwoo/UUzd4rIyoGI/AAAAAAAAB-I/1FzB7_BO8_Q/s640/DSC_0027.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />To make a long story short, I cut it in strips, tied the strips around a wreath frame, and sprayed the whole thing down with clear Krylon to help preserve it. (Yes, I do love Krylon! Someone I know asked me the other day if I was their secret spokesperson and I said I am basically an unpaid, unofficial spokesperson because I always talk about their products!) Then I hung it from my door knocker with some cool blue ribbon and have been freaked out by it ever since! I'm not used to seeing anything on my door and it still startles me when it's there. For a split second, I see something and think it's a package notice from UPS before remembering that it's just my wreath!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlCL_-cEfVI/UUzf85CzH-I/AAAAAAAAB-Q/Z3KR1KtvjsQ/s1600/wreath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="391" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlCL_-cEfVI/UUzf85CzH-I/AAAAAAAAB-Q/Z3KR1KtvjsQ/s400/wreath.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you want to know more about the creation process, just hop over to my <a href="http://natashalh.hubpages.com/_tashshare/hub/How-to-Make-a-Rag-Wreath" target="_blank">rag wreath tutorial</a> hub.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I really enjoyed this challenge. I was really at a loss when I first read it because I never use florals or pastels, but I ended up having a lot of fun! In fact, I found it pretty inspiring and I have some new literally floral jewelry in the works. I made autumn leaf jewelry in the fall and realized I could make spring flower pieces, as well. I'm still waiting for the flowers to finish drying, but I'm excited about them. I never would have turned my mind to flowers and spring colors if it weren't for this challenge!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Linked up at the Creative Weekend at <a href="http://madebyjoey.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Made by Joey</a>!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/march-bbartisans-spring-challenge.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-8268797259232394974Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:25:00 +00002013-03-22T07:25:26.807-04:00etsyEtsy findsfeeling good on fridayIt is my last Friday/Wednesday! I am so excited and nervous.<br /><br />Part of my leaving my day job will necessarily entail spending more time on my creations. I attended one craft fair last December and my items attended a second with my sister and things went well, but my display was less than cohesive. A lot of things about it were sort of 'meh,' at best, and didn't thoroughly reflect me. It was the end of the semester, though, and I didn't have the time for anything else. I used those standard black earring holders, barbell-shaped sticky tags, and those little thread and paper tags. They looked impersonal and both varieties of tag were impossible to write on! The ink simply wouldn't stay. Combine smearing ink with my fairly poor handwriting and you have people asking all day how much something costs. Not good.<br /><br />This week I'm feeling good on Friday about creating some new labeling for myself. It probably wouldn't suit everyone, but I think it's perfect for me. It's bright, a little funky, and definitely fun. I have a huge bag of card stock scraps purchased at the craft store because <strike>I needed it</strike> it was brightly colored. I cut it into strips of various sizes to make my own necklace hang tags and earring cards. I stamped "stws" on the front of each and the price on the back. Stamping the prices takes less time and is far more legible, but sill has a very organic, handmade look. Here are some pictures of the steps I went through:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NXfelKqp_w8/UUpWTNJMXKI/AAAAAAAAB70/3QnmuyOz2AE/s1600/DSC_0015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NXfelKqp_w8/UUpWTNJMXKI/AAAAAAAAB70/3QnmuyOz2AE/s320/DSC_0015.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9WInF44oio/UUpWS3LdTpI/AAAAAAAAB7w/Z7xUONY3M6g/s1600/DSC_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="269" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9WInF44oio/UUpWS3LdTpI/AAAAAAAAB7w/Z7xUONY3M6g/s320/DSC_0019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2S-ujbDHcxw/UUpWSgI6c7I/AAAAAAAAB7k/WYqZGDCxaJk/s1600/DSC_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2S-ujbDHcxw/UUpWSgI6c7I/AAAAAAAAB7k/WYqZGDCxaJk/s320/DSC_0027.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-csWP3inaAxc/UUpWtiRr5II/AAAAAAAAB74/CHZOFQ4JLRM/s1600/DSC_0033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-csWP3inaAxc/UUpWtiRr5II/AAAAAAAAB74/CHZOFQ4JLRM/s320/DSC_0033.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I'm working on tent-syle earring cards so I can stand them up, if I want to.<br /><br /><br />That's enough about me - let's get to some cool Etsy finds! I had so many Easter favorites left over after Tuesday's treasury, so I decided to feature a few of them today. As anyone who's seen my blog before knows, I am in love with felted critters. I saw this cutie and knew I had to share him! He is from&nbsp;<span style="text-align: center;">Milo and Ben and is called&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/120289699/edward-the-needle-felted-bunny" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Edward the needle felted bunny</a><span style="text-align: center;">. Too cute!</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/120289699/edward-the-needle-felted-bunny" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://img0.etsystatic.com/009/0/6422177/il_570xN.419788192_opv0.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/120289699/edward-the-needle-felted-bunny" target="_blank">Mill and Ben on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />We've all seen the Easter bunny ear headbands, but check out these <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/95161793/funny-bunny-ears-hair-snap-set-white-and" target="_blank">bunny ear hair clips</a> from Marie of linktowhat!<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/95161793/funny-bunny-ears-hair-snap-set-white-and" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://img2.etsystatic.com/016/0/5423519/il_570xN.432664830_tsda.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/95161793/funny-bunny-ears-hair-snap-set-white-and" target="_blank">Marie of linktowhat on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I hope you all had a sock monkey growing up. If not, I'm sorry. These <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/122532235/mister-rabbit-stripe-bunnies-sock" target="_blank">sock bunnies</a> put a new twist on an old theme with fun patterns and colors. They are made by Stella Melgrati of theYarnKitchen.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/122532235/mister-rabbit-stripe-bunnies-sock" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://img2.etsystatic.com/016/0/6193770/il_570xN.423503534_83it.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/122532235/mister-rabbit-stripe-bunnies-sock" target="_blank">Stella Melgrati of theYarn Kitchen on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This listing is for the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/42113010/spring-lamb-egg-cosy" target="_blank">lamb egg cozy</a>, but Lucy of Luuiiuk has some cute animals to transform your plain eggs without any dye, plastic wrappers, paint, crayons, or wax.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5270789/il_570xN.128225594.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5270789/il_570xN.128225594.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucky of Luuiiuk on Etsy</td></tr></tbody></table><br />And there you have it! This time next week I will be frantically trying to get my stuff together for my first show of the year! Oh, and probably panicking a little about not having a day job. Yes, that will be happening, too!<br /><div><br /></div><div>Totally randomly (this has basically nothing to do with anything): has anyone heard of chalkboard contact paper?&nbsp;</div><div><div><div><br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KKMO90/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B000KKMO90&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=hubp088f-20"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;ASIN=B000KKMO90&amp;Format=_SL160_&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;WS=1&amp;tag=hubp088f-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp088f-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B000KKMO90" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></center><br /><div><br /></div><div>I saw it while browsing Amazon the other day and people suggest that, as long as you 'season' it like you would a real chalkboard, it works pretty well. It could be a way less expensive and less permanent way to transform any surface into a chalkboard! That could come in handy for show, or you could make your entire fridge a giant chalkboard. How crazy would that be?</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/feeling-good-on-friday-and-etsy-finds.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-8561950298441379087Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:27:00 +00002013-03-21T07:28:15.896-04:00Easter tutorialsEaster tree tutorialEasterEaster craftsThursday again! This is a link up week (though I have to admit to including a new tutorial of my own).<br /><br />Anyone else a fan of the Easter tree? Anyone else even heard of an Easter tree? We didn't put one up ever year, but we sometimes decorated an Easter tree when I was a kid. Amanda at Small Home Big Start shows you <a href="http://smallhomebigstart.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-make-easter-tree.html" target="_blank">how to make one</a>!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://smallhomebigstart.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-make-easter-tree.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5579062291_7625b52622.jpg" width="266" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://smallhomebigstart.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-make-easter-tree.html" target="_blank">Amanda at Small Home Big start</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Want something a little less involved? Try Becky at Beyond the Picket Fence's <a href="http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/2013/03/simple-spring-centerpiece.html" target="_blank">simple spring centerpiece</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/2013/03/simple-spring-centerpiece.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HdHvId2UK9k/UUiIwXCCesI/AAAAAAAAH3s/LmEKHlv2qiE/s400/IMG_8758.JPG" width="301" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/2013/03/simple-spring-centerpiece.html" target="_blank">Beyond the Picket Fence</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><br />This tutorial on <a href="http://natashalh.hubpages.com/_tashshare/hub/How-to-Make-a-Rag-Wreath" target="_blank">how to make a rag wreath</a> is mine. It's fun, easy, and doesn't require any sewing so if you're nervous about needle and thread buy tempted by fabric, this is your chance!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://natashalh.hubpages.com/_tashshare/hub/How-to-Make-a-Rag-Wreath" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://s3.hubimg.com/u/7801162_f520.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now for some food! Isn't Easter Dinner the best meal after Christmas until you get back around to Thanksgiving? I guess I'm a bit spoiled. Not only is my mom excellent at making Easter baskets, but my dad is an amazing cook. His food was good when I was a kid, but now it's even more incredible. He puts so much time and attention into every meal that virtually everything he puts on the table was made from scratch by him. He's even made french onion dip from scratch - all the way from the raw onions!&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Instead of focusing on the classic Easter dinner favorites like lamb, I found some out of the ordinary creations to share. Ok, so I found lots of Easter desserts to share... Starting us off is Andrea from Strawberry Chic with some super cool <a href="http://strawberry-chic.blogspot.ca/2011/04/cake-pops-spring-flowers.html" target="_blank">tulip cake pops</a>.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://strawberry-chic.blogspot.ca/2011/04/cake-pops-spring-flowers.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nIxaX7jTeEE/TZrAEJroKSI/AAAAAAAAAl4/EMYrTgHyu8o/s400/IMG_6282.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://strawberry-chic.blogspot.ca/2011/04/cake-pops-spring-flowers.html" target="_blank">Andrea at Strawberry Chic</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These <a href="http://oursweetlemons.com/2011/04/easter-eggs-in-nest.html" target="_blank">eggs in a nest</a> are too delicious looking! They are from Our Sweet Lemons and have both peanut butter and fudge variants.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://oursweetlemons.com/2011/04/easter-eggs-in-nest.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="337" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kgFwp9ot1R0/TbBP8SCV9FI/AAAAAAAAM1A/i4xJA8FNvrc/s400/Easter-003.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://oursweetlemons.com/2011/04/easter-eggs-in-nest.html" target="_blank">Our Sweet Lemons</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Next up are these fantastic looking <a href="http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2012/03/burlap-bunnies-and-an-easter-blog-hop/" target="_blank">burlap Easter bunny cookies</a>. They look perfect, down to the last detail! They are from Sweet Sugar Belle and look way to in-depth for me to attempt, but they're perfect for anyone with a knack for decorating.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2012/03/burlap-bunnies-and-an-easter-blog-hop/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Burlap-Bunnies-600x606.jpg" width="395" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2012/03/burlap-bunnies-and-an-easter-blog-hop/" target="_blank">Sweet Sugar Belle</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Anyone else really craving cookies after that? I sure am! I hope y'all have enjoyed these craft and recipe links and are having fun planning for Easter!</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/tutorial-thursday-spring-and-easter-diys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-2880844325250160540Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:12:00 +00002013-03-20T07:12:59.061-04:00photographywordless Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O0K0Gk9sig8/UUjXq9pOs0I/AAAAAAAAB7Q/b6Zi0nKMxZI/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O0K0Gk9sig8/UUjXq9pOs0I/AAAAAAAAB7Q/b6Zi0nKMxZI/s640/DSC_0031.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/wordless-wednesday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-6188678961669881149Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:47:00 +00002013-03-19T08:47:23.645-04:00WordpressBBArtisansEtsy treasuryEastercute dogBloglovinGFCWhy aren't there more Easter songs? I love Christmas music. In fact, I can gleefully listen to it for months on end. I imagine I would feel the same way about Easter songs, and I think my "Bunny Paws is Coming to Town" could be a smash hit, if only I could come up with a few more lines...<br /><br />Anyway, that random train of thought it what brought me to this week's treasury title. I've always really enjoyed Easter, in spite of one Easter 1994 not being one of my better days. But more on that some other time...<br /><br />I probably love Easter because my mom is the Easter basket queen. Each of her baskets is a work of art with beautiful fill, ribbons, bows, gauze, mesh, ornaments, and who knows what else. Plus, she tends to go out of her way to get really delicious chocolates! Last year, I also got a cute little stuffed lamb. He's a fuzzy guy in a striped sweater, but I felt bad about keeping him to myself when it was clear Luna really wanted to play with him. I felt a little guilty handing over my Easter lamb, but I knew he'd be loved. He's still with us today, minus one leg (thanks, Connor), and is a much-loved member of Luna's toy family. In addition to my mom's great baskets, my family always indulged me with egg hunt after egg hunt as a child, and I loved every minute of it.<br /><br />Fond memories of Easter and spring, as well as the excitement of knowing I will be free on Easter to see my family inspired this treasury list. I've worked pretty much every Easter for 7 years, so this will be a real treat! Here's my celebration of spring and Easter in <a href="https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA4Mjc2OTF8MjcyMTU4MjgzMQ/bunny-paws-is-coming-to-town" target="_blank">Etsy treasury form</a>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA4Mjc2OTF8MjcyMTU4MjgzMQ/bunny-paws-is-coming-to-town" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0_W_9hSoAfs/UUesyeAcgeI/AAAAAAAAB6Y/4ntFYUxbh2k/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-03-18+at+8.09.13+PM.png" width="596" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Returning to yesterday's subject of the dogs - all went well at their annual checkup. Connor volunteered to go first and kept trying to barge in during Luna's exam because he was hoping for more treats. Luna seems to have a mild pollen allegory (poor girl! I know what it feels like), but the vet said not to worry unless she was rubbing her face a lot and to just give her a little Benadryl if she seemed irritated.&nbsp;Plus, my vet said about 3/4 of adult pets have dental disease. I'm happy to say that, even though they're 6 years old, my pups have squeaky clean teeth!&nbsp;The whole experience must have been very taxing because she spent the rest of the day cuddling with my bath robe.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In addition to celebrating good doggie health, this is also the time of year for commemorating Connor's adoption anniversary. I think it was actually the 21st or something and I could drag out the paperwork to be sure, but he was adopted after St. Patrick's Day. He might not want to celebrate the day if he could remember the arsenic injections to treat his heart worms and getting neutered, but I'd like to think he's found it a good trade. To celebrate another year of healthy pets and Connor's adoption, I'm having a 15% off sale on all my Etsy items! It will be launched by <a href="http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2012/11/review-of-etsy-on-sale.html" target="_blank">Etsy on Sale </a>at 9:00 this morning, so make sure to check in at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/StalkingTheWildSnark" target="_blank">my shop</a> if you've been eyeing anything.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UBj5dQ7bp1Q/UUevD5__QZI/AAAAAAAAB6g/CT2FoYmQVvQ/s1600/DSC_0155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UBj5dQ7bp1Q/UUevD5__QZI/AAAAAAAAB6g/CT2FoYmQVvQ/s640/DSC_0155.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And one final thought of the day - I've pretty well made up my mind to switch this blog over to a Wordpress account. If all goes as planned, this should mean nothing to most of you. Links *should* still work just as before and all my 'old' content will be at the same address on a different server. Hopefully. The only real difference for readers will be the loss of GFC but, since people have been importing their GFC blogs to Bloglovin' for the past week, hopefully that won't cause too many problems. If you only follow me via GFC, you have until at least 3/27 to follow me some additional way if you don't want to hunt through cyberspace!&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sorry for the long post, y'all, but tomorrow is 'wordless' and I had to pack a lot of stuff in! Hope you're having a fantastic last day of winter (according to the calendar).&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/treasury-tuesday-bunny-paws-is-coming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-6177846415113548999Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:25:00 +00002013-03-18T06:25:00.567-04:00WordpressMonday dose of cuteI should know better than to put my blankets on the floor, even if it is just for a minute to change the sheets!<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WqB_Pz6AUak/UUZjsjY-ztI/AAAAAAAAB6I/q8AptIY2i0M/s1600/IMG_1925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WqB_Pz6AUak/UUZjsjY-ztI/AAAAAAAAB6I/q8AptIY2i0M/s400/IMG_1925.JPG" width="355" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>She didn't get to relax long - I needed those blankets! And, yes, I do have that many blankets. Don't feel too bad for the critter, though, she just hoped right on the bed and got to using them again. I hope she's good and rested because this afternoon is the annual dog prodding! Poor Luna - the vet makes her so nervous. She walks in the door and starts stress shedding. She even panics while her 'brother' is being examined. He doesn't care about most of it, but the techs usually have a hard time getting blood from him because huskies have loose skin and his veins actually roll. It's kind of weird to watch! Right before last year's vet visit, Connor managed to get a small eye ulcer from running his face into something, but nothing appears wrong with them right now. Hopefully everyone is happy and healthy!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In other news, I'm thinking about transferring my domain/blog to Wordpress. My big hold up was the loss of GFC if I moved, but that may be leaving soon, anyway. Since I already have my own custom domain, any direct bookmarks wouldn't go awry and my business cards would still be accurate. I can import all of my content to Wordpress and then keep going from there.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm still a little hesitant and know it would mean more work for me, but I increasingly feel like it may be the best choice because Wordpress's extra work brings more freedom and options. I could offer downloads, for example, of patterns or downloadable versions of tutorials. Also, WP allows each page of your blog to be indexed by Google, which is not a luxury offered by Blogger. I try to write at least some things of lasting value and think this could be beneficial to me, too.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Any thoughts on the 'self-hosting' conundrum?&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/monday-dose-of-cute-and-wordpress.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-4435587244869501634Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:32:00 +00002013-03-17T09:45:16.127-04:00retro journeySmashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Primer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I promised more retro journey and here it is!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As I discussed last week, retro cat eyes and red lipstick just don't look good on 'unfinished' skin. I used to have really nice skin and I'm not exactly complaining, but working outside on the water for the past two years has left my skin a little less nice than it used to be. Additionally, my pale complexion means a light jog that doesn't even make me&nbsp;breathe&nbsp;heavily can leave me rosey-cheeked for hours. Freckles and red cheeks aren't exactly conducive to the pulled-together, retro look!</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />As someone who doesn't regularly wear makeup, this has been a big 'problem' for me when developing a retro look. I have sensitive skin that doesn't react well to a lot of things and I really want to maintain a natural look. Once again, with the help of the great folks at Ulta, I've been able to resolve this 'problem.' They helped me pick out&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DKJRTC/?tag=hubp088f-20" target="_blank">Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Primer</a></span>&nbsp;<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Yes! That's it's name! What a mouthful) in green to balance the red tones. It is available in a sample/travel size, so you don't have to go all out and buy the bigger bottle if you want to try it.</span><br /><br /><br /><table style="float: left; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-right: 10px;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="background: white; border: 1px solid #bfbfbf;"><div style="padding: 5px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=273898645&amp;pid=uid84-14938422-52&amp;utm_medium=widget&amp;utm_source=Product+Widget" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.shopstyle.com/action/productWidgetImage?id=273898645&amp;size=Large" style="border-style: none;" /></a><br /><div style="font-size: 11px; margin: 3px; width: 148px;"><a href="http://www.shopstyle.com/item/smashbox-nordstrom-face-primer-photo-finish-adjust-color-correcting-foundation-primer/273898645?utm_medium=widget&amp;utm_source=Product+Widget&amp;pid=uid84-14938422-52" style="color: #606060; text-decoration: none;">Smashbox 'Photo Finish - Adjust' Color Correcting Foundation Primer</a></div></div><div style="padding: 0px 2px 2px 2px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.shopstyle.com/browse/face-primer/Smashbox?utm_medium=widget&amp;utm_source=Product+Widget&amp;pid=uid84-14938422-52" style="border: 0; color: #909090;"><img alt="Smashbox at POPSUGAR Shopping" src="http://resources.shopstyle.com/im/widget/ShopStyleLogo_powered_small.png" style="border-style: none;" /></a></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Weirdly, it works. You can still see my freckles because I'm not wearing any sort of concealer or foundation, but you can tell a bit of the red hue is gone.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eUEH-SmmGVI/UUXCpGWa5-I/AAAAAAAAB5Y/HRpjibAHqMI/s1600/DSC_0009-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eUEH-SmmGVI/UUXCpGWa5-I/AAAAAAAAB5Y/HRpjibAHqMI/s320/DSC_0009-002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh from the shower - wet hair and nothing on my skin.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i4sbDH89sPE/UUXEI7iDWzI/AAAAAAAAB50/RU-rsV6UWI0/s1600/DSC_0007-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i4sbDH89sPE/UUXEI7iDWzI/AAAAAAAAB50/RU-rsV6UWI0/s320/DSC_0007-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Photo Finish Primer and naught else.</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">I ask you - what's the point in taking pictures of yourself if you don't make silly faces?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, as you can see, I am one step closer to creating that polished vintage look. This Smashbox primer is pretty amazing, really. You just rub a dab of it on your skin and you can watch the red magically vanishing. I was ready to jump up and down with excitement the first time I saw it working!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next Sunday will be my last Sunday working, but I'll do my best to continue the retro journey then. Hope y'all are having a great weekend and St. Patrick's Day!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/self-interested-sunday-retro-journey.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-2782298471804553364Sat, 16 Mar 2013 11:27:00 +00002013-03-17T15:23:31.927-04:00Google Friend ConnectGoogle ReaderBloglovin<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WoMr7SlKMK8/UUO5EE7oIhI/AAAAAAAAB4w/KQ4WeV5Gi4U/s1600/DSC_0015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WoMr7SlKMK8/UUO5EE7oIhI/AAAAAAAAB4w/KQ4WeV5Gi4U/s320/DSC_0015.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's the point of a post with no pictures?</td></tr></tbody></table>*Sigh*<br /><br />As everyone on the Internet knows by now, Google Reader is about to become the dearly departed Google Reader. A lot of people are talking about Google Friend Connect, but there has been no official news of its demise. That having been said, I believe GFC's days are numbered, too. Perhaps not as numbered as the 100 or so days that remain to Google Reader, but it's probably on the way out. It's too bad, really, because GFC is my favorite way to follow blogs. Google stopped supporting it for non-Blogger blogs last year and Google Reader is getting the axe this year, so even if GFC survives this round of lay-offs, I feel like there's a good chance it will be next.<br /><br />Bloglovin' is by far the most popular GFC alternative, but I'm actually not a huge Bloglovin' fan. My reasons are pretty silly, but hey. Until Google announces that Google Friend Connect will be buried along with the rest of Google's products we've all come to know and love, I won't remove my GFC widget to solely promote Bloglovin', but I have decided to go ahead and add the option to follow via Bloglovin'. Importing blogs you already follow using GFC/Blogger to Bloglovin' is absurdly easy and there are lots of posts on how to do it, so I won't bore you with that. For now, I'll just leave you with this button:<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/5000995" title="Follow Diary of a Plague Year on Bloglovin"><img alt="Follow on Bloglovin" border="0" src="http://www.bloglovin.com/widget/bilder/en/widget.gif?id=5000995" /></a></center><br /><br />Anyone else bummed out by the impending loss of Google Reader? Anyone else not in love with Bloglovin', or am I the only one?<br /><br />**Updated on 3/17/13 - In your profile settings, you can change the way you view blogs to frame or no frame. If I set my reader to no frame, my blog will still show up in frames for other readers but, if you don't like viewing blogs in frames, you can change this! Yahoo!**<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/bloglovin-bandwagon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-4381162826507771435Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +00002013-03-15T07:00:28.505-04:00etsyanchor necklaceEtsy findsfeeling good on fridayfox poiWow - what a week! Friday has been my Wednesday for a long time, but this is my penultimate Wednesday-Friday. Allow me to explain:<br /><br />This week I gave my slightly more than two week's notice at my day job. It was a really tough decision, but it had to happen. I am taking four graduate classes and was already totally overwhelmed with school and work. Earlier this week, I began my practicum hours for teaching which means I have less time and more school work! It was a tough choice and I feel both sad and excited at the same time. This is actually the second time I've quit the same job, strangely enough, and both times were because of school. I think it was more difficult the second time around, knowing they'd hired me back after I quit once.<br /><br />It isn't all moping and school work, though. Leaving my day job means I'll have a lot more time for writing, crafting, and shows. In fact, I have my first event of the season already lined up for March 30! Plus, I was invited to apply for a monthly juried event that happens about 20 miles away from me. <br /><br />This Friday I'm feeling good about having such great, supportive family and friends who've helped me through this tough decision. Some folks have been urging me to make this decision for months, and maybe I should have listened to them, but they didn't give up on me. One friend even called to check up and make sure I'd really gone through with it when I said I would! It's not often in life that a person's friends, parents, and boyfriend are all on the exact same page, and I think it's a good indication of the correctness of my choice.<br /><br />I'm also feeling good about starting my own page for Stalking the Wild Snark on Facebook. I am a little behind the times on Facebook, so it took me a minute to figure out how to do it! Not to get in an 'I heard this band first' argument, but I signed up for Facebook the first semester it was available. You had to be a college student with a valid college email address and it was super basic. People were literally asking others if they'd heard of this new Facebook thing! After college, I didn't log in for over a year. In the past year, I've been trying to get more involved with Facebook to help promote my shop/writing and things other folks I 'know' online create. After finally getting the business page up, I added an app that allows my Etsy store to show up on Facebook. We'll see how that works out!<br /><br />Now to to this week's Etsy favorites! Warning: they are totally random.<br /><br />Shop TreeSky has some really cool wooden creations, including these<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/119814926/wooden-coaster-coaster-wooden-coasters" target="_blank"> puzzle piece coasters</a>. I've never seen anything like it before - have you?<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/009/0/7458356/il_570xN.433177201_s49z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/119814926/wooden-coaster-coaster-wooden-coasters" target="_blank">TreeSky on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Has anyone done poi? I haven't, but I've seen it done and it looks way cool! If I ever start, I will need these adorable <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/92935767/practice-poi-amigurumi-made-to-order" target="_blank">fox practice poi</a> by Randy Lee of Lady Lilliput.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/92935767/practice-poi-amigurumi-made-to-order" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/001/0/5862447/il_570xN.392989297_6ok6.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/92935767/practice-poi-amigurumi-made-to-order" target="_blank">Lady Lilliput on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />The instant I saw this, I knew I had to feature it. It is just so perfect for me! This <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/124023623/anchor-interlocking-relationship-halves" target="_blank">interlocking anchor quarter</a> would be great for anyone who loves a sailor.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/124023623/anchor-interlocking-relationship-halves" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://img0.etsystatic.com/013/1/6315709/il_570xN.429077960_6et2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/124023623/anchor-interlocking-relationship-halves" target="_blank">Name Coins on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Ok, so I guess there is a bit of a unifying theme, after all - things I never thought to even imagine. Hope you've enjoyed!&nbsp;What are you feeling good about today? Anyone have big plans? Fun plans?&nbsp;</div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/feeling-good-on-friday-and-fabulous_15.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-5913535960139348571Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:25:00 +00002013-03-16T07:44:17.162-04:00how to make a chocolate bowltutorialchocolate bowlThursday tutorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ah, it's tutorial Thursday again! This is a non-link week, so here's my tutorial on how to make a decorative chocolate bowl. Who doesn't want a chocolate bowl?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FHamsWQWQVo/UUBl2OrNaFI/AAAAAAAAB4g/-R7OdBYlYW4/s1600/chocolatebowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FHamsWQWQVo/UUBl2OrNaFI/AAAAAAAAB4g/-R7OdBYlYW4/s400/chocolatebowl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br />I was inspired by Pinterest pictures of some chef effortlessly creating a beautiful, large chocolate bowl. It doesn't work quite like that...<br /><br />After a lot trial and error, I figured out how to actually make a chocolate bowl that works. I also learned that crafting and cooking are not for the faint of heart! The chef pictured on Pintrest must have used an industrial strength punching bag balloon, because normal balloons pop when you put something hot on them. And when you put something mostly warm on them, too. Yes, human and dogs alike were frightened by the sound of popping balloons and batteled eachother to see who could clean up the resulting chocolate mess first!<br /><br />You can make this bowl in any size, but I happened to have a lot of small balloons on hand from my paper mâché Easter eggs, so I made a small bowl. It's pretty easy, now that I've done all the trial and error. All you need is:<br /><br />Chocolate. You can use chocolate chips, bakers chocolate, morsels for making candy, or just shout anything else.<br />Wax paper or parchment paper.<br />A double boiler or a pot and a second, smaller pot or heatproof bowl/measuring cup&nbsp;that fits inside the first pot.<br />A balloon.<br />A rubber or silicone spatula. <br /><br />Begin by using or creating a double boiler to melt your chocolate. You can also melt chocoalte in your microawave, but it is easy to scorch and I don't own one, so I'm demonstrating with&nbsp;the water and double boiler method. <br /><br />To create a double boiler, simply take your larger pot, put several inches of water in it, and place your second bowl or pot in the water. Turn your burner on low heat. I'm talking 1 or 2 on the heat scale. If you heat chocolate too quickly, it becomes grainy and weird. Stir the chocolate as needed using a silicone spatula or metal utensile. Do not use wood! Wood can hold moisture and any contact with wtaer will instantanously ruin your chocolate by cuasing it to seize up. Do not worry if the chocolate doesn't look melted enough to be pourable because you aren't really going to pour it.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D7f0bNwuhyQ/UUBflevuN3I/AAAAAAAAB3Q/WFw2qjzWI38/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D7f0bNwuhyQ/UUBflevuN3I/AAAAAAAAB3Q/WFw2qjzWI38/s400/DSC_0031.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water bath/double boiler set up.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />While the chocolate is melting, cut a piece of wax paper or parchment paper and place it on your counter. Then, blow up a balloon and tie it off. Balloons can have a weird powder on them and this will come in contact with food, so advise washing the blown up balloon with hot water and a little soap. Dry it off and place it, knot down, in your holding container.<br /><br />After your chocolate is fully melted, remove it from the heat and wait. Because you are not going to pour&nbsp;the chocoalte, it does not matter if it isn't runny. It just needs to be melted. Stir the chocoalte periodically while you wait to make sure it doesn't end up hard on the outside and still melted in the middle. Wait for it to cool a lot. I know it isn't as glamorous as pouring hot chocolate, but hot chocolate will burst your balloon unless, persumably, you use some industrial strength balloon made of magic. If you find that balloon, please let me know!<br /><br />When you suspect the chocolate is pretty darn cool, try carefully applying a bit to the ballon using your silicone spatula or fingers. If it doesn't pop, keep applying more until you're satisfied with the way it looks. You can smooth it pretty nicely with a spatula. Then, apply a little more chocolate at the 'base' of the future bowl, flip the balloon, and press it flat against the wax paper to form a stable base. You may have to hold it in place briefly, but it will probably stand up on its own.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0cDPDnq9zsY/UUBhJEWdOKI/AAAAAAAAB3k/JlCwKvrbKiQ/s1600/DSC_0001-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0cDPDnq9zsY/UUBhJEWdOKI/AAAAAAAAB3k/JlCwKvrbKiQ/s320/DSC_0001-002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wp3GjH-8oLI/UUBhxxpIgKI/AAAAAAAAB3w/No3zb2aA3oI/s1600/DSC_0006-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wp3GjH-8oLI/UUBhxxpIgKI/AAAAAAAAB3w/No3zb2aA3oI/s400/DSC_0006-001.JPG" width="318" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br />You can always experiment with the chocolate while it's cooling, if you don't mind the potential for cleaning up chocolate splatters. Chances are good there will actually be a point when the chocolate is still a little pourable and won't destroy the balloon, but that exact temperature depends on your balloon. I did get it to work with some just barely melted enough to pour chocolate, but I don't want to advise just pouring hot chocolate on your ballon!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nzHhLVtfqWc/UUBhA_ADvcI/AAAAAAAAB3c/a_x2ppVYxt4/s1600/DSC_0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nzHhLVtfqWc/UUBhA_ADvcI/AAAAAAAAB3c/a_x2ppVYxt4/s320/DSC_0050.JPG" width="228" /></a></div><br /><br />Allow the chocolate to cool and harden. This can take a while, depending on the temperature in your home, so you may want to hasten things along by popping them in the fridge for a minute.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XiFpOMvVL-0/UUBjAViHJqI/AAAAAAAAB4E/Z-XcQXzBRLQ/s1600/DSC_0005-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XiFpOMvVL-0/UUBjAViHJqI/AAAAAAAAB4E/Z-XcQXzBRLQ/s320/DSC_0005-002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Loosen the balloon bowls from the wax paper. I stressed about this, but it is the easiest part! Lastly, remove the balloon from the chocolate bowl. If you can simply pull the balloon out, go for it. If drips and the balloon's shape mean your balloon is trapped, hold the knot firmly, poke a small hole in the balloon using a pin or needle, and remove the deflating balloon. Your chocolate bowl is ready to use!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-blpi0zLex20/UUBkxnPMeSI/AAAAAAAAB4U/3I_RB7y1PE4/s1600/DSC_0006-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-blpi0zLex20/UUBkxnPMeSI/AAAAAAAAB4U/3I_RB7y1PE4/s400/DSC_0006-002.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Chocolate bowls are easy to customize. You can add sprinkles or other decorations while the chocolate is still (sort of) warm, or you can make a second coat with a different type of chocolate. To get really crazy, use white chocolate and food coloring to make your bowl any color you'd like.<br /><br />You can use a chocolate bowl for many different things. It is a particularly attractive way to display fruits and fruit salads, for example, or you could use a chocolate bowl for small cookies or candies. I also think it's the perfect way to display pretzels to go along with my <a href="http://natashalh.hubpages.com/_tashshare/hub/Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-Dough-Dessert-Dip" target="_blank">Reese's Cup chocolate chip cookie dough dessert dip</a>. In fact, a chocolate bowl perfect for just about any occasion, except maybe the Fourth of July picnic!<br /><br />I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial Thursday. Anyone ever made a chocolate bowl like this before? Anyone going to try it out for the extra wow factor at Easter at the end of the month? Just remember that I'm not kidding - pouring hot chocolate on a balloon only looks glamorous for a split second before it pops and sends chocolate everywhere!<br /><br />Linked up at the&nbsp;<a href="http://madebyjoey.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Made by Joe</a>y creative weekend blog hop.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/tutorial-thursday-how-to-make-chocolate.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-6784689988194615545Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:52:00 +00002013-03-13T06:52:32.747-04:00photographywordless Wednesdayspringflowers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hUtL2-5Jvzk/UUBaE5dUxiI/AAAAAAAAB3A/1vYBcTGcApg/s1600/DSC_0026-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hUtL2-5Jvzk/UUBaE5dUxiI/AAAAAAAAB3A/1vYBcTGcApg/s640/DSC_0026-001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/wordless-wednesday-spring-sprang-sprung.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-6926758119364352127Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:34:00 +00002013-03-12T06:34:49.214-04:00etsyBBArtisansEtsy treasurypurpleIt's Tuesday again! This time I'm bringing you an all Blogging Business Artisans treasury in all purple! Yep, all purple.<br /><br />When I was a kid, I hated pink and loved purple. My favorite sweatshirt was purple and said "I love purple," and all my favorite pencils and notebooks were purple. In 3rd grade, I found an all purple store in Boston. Wow!!<br /><br />Today I've diversified a little and moved on to liking some other colors, too. Purple will always hold a special place in my heart, though, and my man insists it's his favorite color. I'm honestly not sure that it is because, as far as I know, he doesn't own anything purple. He knows I like it, though, and maybe that's good enough for him. Even though I'm currently pretty enamored of blues and greens, today I'm kicking it old school, my style, with my latest treasury, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA4Mjc2OTF8MjcyMTU0NjAxNw/pretty-inpurple" target="_blank">Pretty in...Purple!</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA4Mjc2OTF8MjcyMTU0NjAxNw/pretty-inpurple" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yb3UL_XA7K0/UT524FElCtI/AAAAAAAAB2w/OgS4zTNjz1c/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-03-11+at+8.19.21+PM.png" width="604" /></a></div><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/treasury-tuesday-pretty-in-purple.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-7923301504025776186Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:06:00 +00002013-03-11T10:06:41.571-04:00dolphinCharleston South Carolinadolphin strand fishingLow CountryMonday dose of cuteOk, I admit, maybe 'cute' isn't exactly the right word for this, but it is cool!<br /><br />Strand fishing is a very unique way some dolphins hunt. They strand fish in the South Carolina/Georgia Low Country, part of Mexico, and part of Portugal. No other dolphin populations in the world hunt like this! They do it alone or in groups (this girl is solo) by charging through the water to scare the fish. They basically corral the fish into a bait ball and then strand them in the shallow water or up on the banks. If they come out of the water, dolphins always beach on their right side. This allows scientists to easily tell if a particular dolphin strand fishes because he or she will have extra wear on the right-side teeth! People who aren't familiar with the behavior frequently think something is wrong with the dolphin and it's trying to beach itself like a whale, but the activity is entirely normal.<br /><br />Most of the dolphin's charge isn't shown in this first clip, and she didn't strand all the way because the tide wasn't low enough, but you can see the action and the brown pelican who has figured life out! This bird followed the dolphin around and reached in for the steal when the dolphin scared up the fish.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zS1NP9cM4Iw/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zS1NP9cM4Iw?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zS1NP9cM4Iw?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br /><br />The bird and dolphin are a little further away in this clip, but you can really see how vigorously the dolphin charges and circles to round up her dinner.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/un-YOZ0YtyE/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/un-YOZ0YtyE?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/un-YOZ0YtyE?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br /><br />In case you think I'm just trying to be stubborn by referring to the dolphin as she: I do now know for an absolute fact the dolphin was a girl (she didn't swim over and flop on her back to allow me a closer look!), but female bottle nose dolphins are far larger. This dolphin was huge! She was probably about the full 8 feet an adult bottle nose can reach. This was one of the bigger dolphins I've seen in the creek, which is why I suspect 'it' was a 'she.'<br /><br />And, on a totally random note, while I was double-checking to make sure I'd gotten all my strand fishing facts right, I found this totally ridiculous and simultaneously awesome dolphin stained glass window. It's incredible - you really can find anything on the Internet!<br /><br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YJ8T7I/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B000YJ8T7I&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=hubp088f-20"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;ASIN=B000YJ8T7I&amp;Format=_SL160_&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;WS=1&amp;tag=hubp088f-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp088f-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B000YJ8T7I" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></center><br /><div><br /></div><div>I hope you enjoyed the dolphin, pelican, and mini-lesson on nature. =)</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/monday-dose-of-cute-dolphin-strand.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-9077028824525141258Sun, 10 Mar 2013 19:42:00 +00002013-03-11T13:27:08.895-04:00vintage makeupretro makeupBenefit concealerRetro styleBenefit Bo-ingunder eye concealerI got bored with Self-Promotion Sunday because, well, I don't really want to push myself every week. That may sound silly, but it's just not my thing. Instead, I've changed it to Self-Interested Sunday and I'm going to write about me or whatever I've done recently for myself. This may prove more challenging than promoting myself because I don't really get me time every week! It does seem like the perfect way to get back on track with my retro journey posts, though, and a good way to maybe make myself have some 'me time.' In fact, I think Self-Interested Sunday could be a great blog hop where people share what they did for themselves that week! But anyway.<br /><br />It's been almost two months since I first posted about trying to '<a href="http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/01/vintage-journey-part-1-gathering.html" target="_blank">retro myself</a>.' The big reason is because I made a somewhat tragic discovery; Having retro'd out lips and eyes on top of bare skin just looks funny. Great cat eyes with huge dark bags just doesn't really create that pulled together, vintage look.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L1ftDuVoBo4/UTzhsHnzBNI/AAAAAAAAB14/RRRr1kCAy98/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L1ftDuVoBo4/UTzhsHnzBNI/AAAAAAAAB14/RRRr1kCAy98/s200/5.jpg" width="200" /></a>The problem is, I'm really not a makeup person and pretty much every concealer I've tried has just looked worse than my natural raccoon eyes. Since at least seventh grade, allergies and funny sinuses that give me headaches whenever the weather changes have made me look like I just stepped off a red eye flight, even if I actually just had a nap marathon. I've tried three or four different drug store variety concealers, but they've all looked chalky, creasy and generally awful. I had a Victoria's Secret concealer pallet once (I got it for free - thanks coupons!) and it was ok, but then the plastic lid broke and everything got covered in some terrible fuzz in my backpack. I've spent the last two months researching, reading up, and figuring out how to look a little more 'polished' for my vintage eyes and cherry lips without actually looking makeup-y. I am astonished to announce that I may have finally figured it out. A little bit.<br /><br />I realized that part of my problem was probably the drug store nature of things I'd tried. &nbsp;Just like inexpensive red lipstick looks crummy, cheap concealers look yuck on me, too. Maybe they work fine for other people without so much baggage, but they just don't cut it for me. I did a lot of research and finally happened upon a great post at House of Smiths on how to create a <a href="http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2013/01/skincare-flawless-face-makeup-tutorial.html" target="_blank">natural, flawless look</a>. Natural sounded exactly like what I wanted! I checked out her product recommendations, researched them on other sites, and even sought the help of some 'experts' at the local Ulta store. It was sort of frightening, really. I've never had anyone actually see what 'shade' I am! The lady asked me what shade/products I'd used before and I said 'Ummm...nothing?' I explained my 'issues' and she helped me pick a concealer and find my shade. I'm "number 2," in case you're wondering. Here's the concealer winner (that I can't get to center up for some unknown/annoying reason!). It's called Boi-ing, but it's pronounced boing. It's one of several concealers made by Benefit and was my favorite of all the concealers the patient Ulta clerk tried on me.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><table style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="background: white; border: 1px solid #bfbfbf;"><div style="padding: 5px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=2740682&amp;pid=uid84-14938422-52&amp;utm_medium=widget&amp;utm_source=Product+Widget" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.shopstyle.com/action/productWidgetImage?id=2740682&amp;size=Large" style="border-style: none;" /></a><br /><div style="font-size: 11px; margin: 3px; width: 148px;"><a href="http://www.shopstyle.com/item/benefit-sephora-eyes-concealershadow-base-cosmetics-boiing/2740682?utm_medium=widget&amp;utm_source=Product+Widget&amp;pid=uid84-14938422-52" style="color: #606060; text-decoration: none;">Benefit Cosmetics Boi-ing</a></div></div><div style="padding: 0px 2px 2px 2px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.shopstyle.com/browse/eyes-concealer-shadow-base/Benefit?utm_medium=widget&amp;utm_source=Product+Widget&amp;pid=uid84-14938422-52" style="border: 0; color: #909090;"><img alt="Benefit at POPSUGAR Shopping" src="http://resources.shopstyle.com/im/widget/ShopStyleLogo_powered_small.png" style="border-style: none;" /></a></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It works far, far better than anything else I've ever tried and it really doesn't leave you looking 1980's makeup-y. It has a very thick texture and clearly lasts a long time. I've used it for several days and you can barely tell it isn't &nbsp;brand new. If you rub a little between your thumb and finger instead of applying it directly from the container, it warms up a little and goes on even more smoothly.<br /><br />Just like with every other concealer, foundation, etc, it looks best when worn over moisturized skin. I have some specific under eye moisturizer that I probably don't use as often as I should. When I don't use it, I just use my regular moisturizer around my eyes. People tell me you're 'not supposed to,' but I get oil free moisturizers so they haven't bothered my eyes yet.<br /><br />As fate would have it, my eyes were probably the less allergy-tastic today than earlier this week, but I wanted to demonstrate that Boi-ing really does make a difference. It doesn't make my allergy eyes vanish, but it does bring them to a 'I woke up too early" level. The first photo is raccoon me (taken indoors with my phone, which is why it looks a little different, but it was too cold to go outside with wet hair! I'll try to retake the photo outside soon so I can post that, instead.), the second is with a drug store brand concealer that is leaving chalky lines, and the third is with Bo-oing.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RMk72mGOPE4/UTzf3xLZbQI/AAAAAAAAB1g/twk7oPfe03U/s1600/IMG_2163-0011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RMk72mGOPE4/UTzf3xLZbQI/AAAAAAAAB1g/twk7oPfe03U/s400/IMG_2163-0011.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hot shower made my nose look funny, too!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GnTy7qyxzzw/UTzgDciAMwI/AAAAAAAAB1o/haZESBmSeHI/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="128" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GnTy7qyxzzw/UTzgDciAMwI/AAAAAAAAB1o/haZESBmSeHI/s400/DSC_0017.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See the sort of chalky lines?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cAdjR6nhekM/UTzgNhbJ9xI/AAAAAAAAB10/CDYWV3yr4Wk/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cAdjR6nhekM/UTzgNhbJ9xI/AAAAAAAAB10/CDYWV3yr4Wk/s400/DSC_0001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boi-oing and absolutely no photo retouching.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />It's amazing to me that I can actually tell the difference!<br /><br />That's it for today because I don't want this to turn into a book, but I hope to use Sundays to demonstrate some of the retro/vintage styles and tricks I've been learning from my fantastic book Retro Makeup. Maybe some day I'll get really crazy and show off the techniques it reveals for making your face actually look like it's a slightly different shape by using contouring! This book is crazy in-depth to the point of showing you how to recreate the idea face, lip, and brow shapes of each decade without actually permanently altering your appearance. Now that's a good book!<br /><br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0981663923/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0981663923&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=hubp088f-20"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;ASIN=0981663923&amp;Format=_SL160_&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;WS=1&amp;tag=hubp088f-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubp088f-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0981663923" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></center><br /><div><br /></div><div>Anyone else out there get allergies this time of year? The reason my eyes look particularly bad is they get puffy when I cry or my eyes water. The pollen has my eyes watering nonstop, leaving me with swollen eyes every morning.<br /><br />Linked up at <a href="http://www.agapelovedesigns.com/2013/03/mother-daughter-makeup-challenge.html" target="_blank">Agape Love Designs</a>!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/self-intrested-sunday-retro-journey.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-5432389945405882615Sat, 09 Mar 2013 12:15:00 +00002013-03-09T07:15:16.774-05:00strawberry dessert ideasspring dessert ideaswhipped cream strawberry bitesmake your own whipped cream<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lBulr3m2Ck4/UTqSRviO3XI/AAAAAAAAB0w/DW_H3nUe5TE/s1600/DSC_00161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lBulr3m2Ck4/UTqSRviO3XI/AAAAAAAAB0w/DW_H3nUe5TE/s400/DSC_00161.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />It's strawberry season! How do I know this? Strawberries are currently 3/$5 at the local grocery stores. Wow. I absolutely love strawberries. In fact, I like pretty much every fruit, other than ripe pears and bananas. Green pears and bananas are fine by me, but I don't like the texture of either when they are 'supposed to be eaten.'<br /><br />Something I love just as much as strawberries is making my own whipped cream. Store bought whipped cream has all sorts of weird ingredients, doesn't taste as good, and deflates quickly. You'd think with all the added, plasticized ingredients they could have figured out how to make it behave! Real whipped cream is made from cream and sugar, tastes amazing, and stays beautiful looking for days. Oh, and it takes about two minutes to make and usually costs less than canned whipped cream, too. If you don't know <a href="http://natashalh.hubpages.com/_tashshare/hub/A-recipe-for-making-whipped-cream-at-home" target="_blank">how to make your own whipped cream</a>, just check out my hub detailing the process. It includes some short video clips showing you how to tell if the whipped cream is ready and even tells you how to make it if you're weird like me and don't own a working electric mixer.<br /><br />Whether you decide to put the extra effort into making your own whipped cream or just can't live without the canned stuff, you can still try out my cool whipped cream strawberry bites. I apologize that the pictures aren't the best, but I was too eager to enjoy my whipped cream and strawberries to fully whip the cream or do a good photo shoot!<br /><br />First, cut the strawberries almost in half. I experimented and found that it actually works best if you cut a little V shape out the strawberry to allow space for the whipped cream.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-slS2x8ix-kk/UTqSXpm4H2I/AAAAAAAAB04/lFHKSrj0pRY/s1600/DSC_0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-slS2x8ix-kk/UTqSXpm4H2I/AAAAAAAAB04/lFHKSrj0pRY/s400/DSC_0007.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're like little strawberry PacMans!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Next, fill them with whipped cream! If you have a can, just fill them up. If you made your own and don't have a pastry bag or other fancy icing tool, you can quickly and easy make a whipped cream dispensing contraption by spooning a bunch of whipped cream in a regular zip lock bag, cutting the corner off the bag, and using it just like a store bought icing bag. Just check out the pictures below to see what I mean.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-poUP3IDlWn8/UTqSjsY8CfI/AAAAAAAAB1A/qcET5jGCeuI/s1600/DSC_0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-poUP3IDlWn8/UTqSjsY8CfI/AAAAAAAAB1A/qcET5jGCeuI/s400/DSC_0010.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qaNWXSn4ccc/UTqSjiMZM4I/AAAAAAAAB1E/G84ZfAhzCVg/s1600/DSC_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="362" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qaNWXSn4ccc/UTqSjiMZM4I/AAAAAAAAB1E/G84ZfAhzCVg/s400/DSC_0013.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ta da! Homemade icing bag.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Just continue filling them up until you can't stand it any more and simply have to eat them!<br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BpWONnJDnyc/UTqThB6LWQI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/PZTKh6iBFfM/s1600/DSC_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BpWONnJDnyc/UTqThB6LWQI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/PZTKh6iBFfM/s320/DSC_0018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Because I didn't whip my whipped cream as much as I might have, it doesn't look as pretty and sculpted as it could. If you whip it just a little more and have an actual icing tool with a decorative nozzle, you could make these really pretty. Since real whipped cream doesn't deflate, you could actually make a plate of these up ahead of time for a special meal or gathering and refrigerate them until they're needed. The whipped cream will dry up in the fridge if you leave it uncovered, so if you plan to leave filled strawberries in the fridge for more than an hour or two I suggest protecting them with plastic wrap.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you ever make your own whipped cream? Have you ever even had real whipped cream? I'm curious to know just how odd my homemade whipped cream habits are!</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><br /></div></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/whipped-cream-strawberry-bites.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-1702753045424645436Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:31:00 +00002013-03-08T07:31:32.321-05:00etsyhedgehog broochbird clutchEtsy findsbaby bow tiefeeling good on fridayAh, it's Friday again - that hump day of my week when I try to think happy thoughts to help me through "my Wednesday." I have to admit that happy thoughts are much needed this week. It's the start of a very busy time of year for me at work and I was already feeling behind with school!<br /><br />This week I'm feeling good about a fun, though small, custom order for a chart tie pin. The customer had a great suggestion to make little nautical chart charms as sort of collectibles for New England sailors. I need to decide exactly how it want to make the charms, but I can get nautical charts, scale them, and print them from the NOAA website. I've been so stuck on using actual waterproof, printed marine charts that I hadn't thought to print my own, even though I knew I could get print on demand charts. Like I said, the details aren't worked out yet, but I think New England island chart pieces could be the perfect addition to my store. Most of my non-doormat nautical decor is sold to folks in the North East (California seems fond of rope doormats!), so it could be a great new line.<br /><br />I am also pretty excited that, at the beginning of the week, I hit 100,000 all time views on HubPages. It took me from December until May last year to reach my first 10k, so that's a big improvement! February saw my best HP ad earnings to date, and March is already looking like it will kick February's butt. I've only been 'serious' about HP since I started my apprenticeship last May and, I have to admit, I was kind of pessimistic for a while. Then, starting some time in mid November, things really started to pick up. I know how fickle Google can be so I don't want to get overly confident, but I can safely say I am cautiously optimistic. <br /><br />The last thing I'm pretty pleased with is that I've made some more retro-ing myself progress. I haven't had the chance to write it up and do it justice yet, but hopefully I'll be about to share my little successes soon!<br /><br />So that's that for this weeks happy Friday thoughts and now it's time to move on to a few things that caught my eye on Etsy this week A couple of days ago, I noticed fellow BBA member's <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/125216046/light-blue-floral-and-bird-print-clutch?ref=v1_other_2" target="_blank">floral and bird print clutch</a>. I'm loving it! Everything about it just seems so perfect to me.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/125216046/light-blue-floral-and-bird-print-clutch?ref=v1_other_2" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://img2.etsystatic.com/012/0/6005399/il_570xN.433467862_b9hu.jpg" width="385" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/125216046/light-blue-floral-and-bird-print-clutch?ref=v1_other_2" target="_blank">Eyelah on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Then, while browsing a recent treasury list of hers, I discovered Mary of <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/myhideaway" target="_blank">myhideaway</a>. She has the cutest felt brooches. Just check out this little <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/122771856/blue-hedgehog-brooch-animal-brooch-felt?" target="_blank">hedgehog</a>!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/122771856/blue-hedgehog-brooch-animal-brooch-felt?" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/011/1/5791411/il_570xN.424394965_jx7v.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/122771856/blue-hedgehog-brooch-animal-brooch-felt?" target="_blank">myhideaway on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div>Her store is "on vacation" at the moment, but I'd also love to give a shout out to my new sponsor, Ashley Marie of <a href="http://chevronstitches.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Chevron Stitches</a>. We actually swapped ads, but she's the first person to personally place an ad on my blog and that makes me pretty excited! Don't forget that small ad spots have a free 30 day code to celebrate my first year of blogging - find out more on the 'sponsor' page. Anyway, her Etsy store is <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/OliversTreasureChest?ref=seller_info" target="_blank">Oliver's Treasure Chest</a> and her sold items reveal some totally cute accessories for the little guys and girls. Can't you just see a little man showing up for Easter in this?</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/transaction/114276625?" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://img0.etsystatic.com/006/0/7104903/il_570xN.358083148_nlz0.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/transaction/114276625?" target="_blank">Oliver's Treasure Chest on Etsy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And there you have it; three reasons for me to be happy and three fun things on Etsy. I hope it's enough to last me because I have a long day ahead.</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><br /></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/feeling-good-on-friday-and-fabulous.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-3863990262766433882Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:38:00 +00002013-03-07T07:38:00.583-05:00st Pat'sspring tutorialsThursday tutorialst Patrick's day craftsst patrick's dayIn case you haven't figured out the pattern (because I never specifically revealed it), I try to alternate between my own tutorials and a sort of mini round up on Thursdays. This Thursday is a link list day, so here are some great St. Patrick's crafts and recipes I've discovered.<br /><div><br /></div><div>I know I'm a 20-something and I live in the South so people may assume I'm packing my bags for the extravaganza in Savannah, Georgia, but that's just really not my style. (And I'm not just saying that because I expect my mom to read this!) In fact, I'm not even the 'right' kind of Irish. Or, rather, perhaps I am the right type of Irish, just not for St. Patrick's Day. =) Yes, that's right, my Irish family was Protestant Irish, those historically second class citizens in a second class nation. That didn't stop us from going to the St. Pat's parade the spring we spent in Ireland, though. I was young, so the details are a little fuzzy in my mind, but I know for sure I had an Irish flag and a green clown-style nose, and that the crowds poured off the sidewalks into the street to follow the tail of the parade when it went by. So, my family may not be the Catholic Irish type, but at least I've seen it first-hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, without further ado, here is my round up of St. Patrick's crafts and recipes!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Rebecca Cooper's simple <a href="http://www.simpleasthatblog.com/2011/03/simple-st-patricks-day-banner.html" target="_blank">St. Patrick's Day book bunting</a> is one of those things that makes me ask "why didn't I think of that?" The idea is so simple, but her beautiful photographs make the project look stunning.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.simpleasthatblog.com/2011/03/simple-st-patricks-day-banner.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CXXRd9E2GQM/TXTYQ06FnhI/AAAAAAAAC9U/ecwf9QL2ZfQ/s400/IMG_9385+copyWEB.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.simpleasthatblog.com/2011/03/simple-st-patricks-day-banner.html" target="_blank">Rebecca Cooper's Simple as That</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Sugar Bee Crafts has a beautiful green <a href="http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2011/03/st-patty-wreath.html" target="_blank">paper rosette wreath tutorial</a> with really nice photographs.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2011/03/st-patty-wreath.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fX7Ks9lcDlM/TW1hY7q4S2I/AAAAAAAAgyM/ODyXAseS5do/s400/039+copy.png" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2011/03/st-patty-wreath.html" target="_blank">Mandy of Sugar Bee Crafts</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />I'd never really thought of St. Pat's as a big wreath holiday, but I found another great rag wreath tutorial from <a href="http://m/2011/02/st-pattys-rag-wreath.html" target="_blank">The Magic of Ordinary Things</a>. Isn't it cool?<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://m/2011/02/st-pattys-rag-wreath.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4UE-JEf_HAs/T0jGJ6BkkvI/AAAAAAAAIWg/SybeOG2dQek/s400/IMG_8898fb.jpg" width="263" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://m/2011/02/st-pattys-rag-wreath.html" target="_blank">The Magic of Ordinary Things</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><div><br />Babble has a fun-looking recipe for<a href="http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/03/02/mint-chocoalte-chip-cookies/" target="_blank"> mint chocolate chip cookies</a> with a little added green. I haven't tried the recipe, but it includes Andes mints so it must be good!<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/03/02/mint-chocoalte-chip-cookies/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://cdn.blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/files/2011/03/mint-cookies.jpg" width="266" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/03/02/mint-chocoalte-chip-cookies/" target="_blank">Babble</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><br />Alissa Roberts on HubPages has some great suggestions for <a href="http://alissaroberts.hubpages.com/_tashshare/hub/St-Patricks-Day-Cupcakes-Decorating-Ideas-and-DIY-Wrappers" target="_blank">St. Patrick's cupcakes</a> and how to to decorate cupcake wrappers for the day. It looks super kid-friendly, too.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://alissaroberts.hubpages.com/_tashshare/hub/St-Patricks-Day-Cupcakes-Decorating-Ideas-and-DIY-Wrappers" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://s2.hubimg.com/u/6233605_f248.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://alissaroberts.hubpages.com/_tashshare/hub/St-Patricks-Day-Cupcakes-Decorating-Ideas-and-DIY-Wrappers" target="_blank">Alissa Roberts on HubPages</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Want something a tad more healthy? Try Practical Stewardship's<a href="http://practical-stewardship.com/2012/11/26/green-key-lime-pie-smoothie-recipe/" target="_blank"> Key Lime Pie Smoothie</a>. Man, I love key lime pie...</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://practical-stewardship.com/2012/11/26/green-key-lime-pie-smoothie-recipe/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://practical-stewardship.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Key-Lime-Smoothie-@-practical-stewardship.com_2-768x1024.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://practical-stewardship.com/2012/11/26/green-key-lime-pie-smoothie-recipe/" target="_blank">Practical Stewardship</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />There are just too many great St. Patrick's Day tutorials to list them all here, and I don't want things to get too overwhelming! I'll keep some in reserve because there is, after all, another whole week between us and St. Patrick's Day - I can alway post more another day!</div><div><br /></div><div>How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? If you're not Irish, do you get on board with the "Everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day" philosophy, or do you prefer to do your own thing?</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/tutorial-thursday-st-patricks-day-round.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-6896700215869540135Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +00002013-03-06T08:52:37.405-05:00wordless WednesdayA candid photo of me taken by my sister. (PS - The bag strap on my shoulder is from my awesome thrift store bird bag!)<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wzLVYXurRh0/UTalqEWSv3I/AAAAAAAABzs/vy2Y-s9aAE8/s1600/DSC_0064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wzLVYXurRh0/UTalqEWSv3I/AAAAAAAABzs/vy2Y-s9aAE8/s640/DSC_0064.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/almost-wordless-wednesday-candid-photo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-1403780197317414020Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:55:00 +00002013-03-05T07:55:24.802-05:00BBArtisanskittiescatsowlsEtsy treasuryAnyone who's seen my blog or Etsy shop recently knows I've been in a real owl mood! Add owls with thinking about cats (because my sister is now the very excited owner of her kitty immortalized in necklace form) and you get my March Blogging Business Artisans treasury: <a href="https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA4Mjc2OTF8MjcyNDA3NDg0NA/hoo-meows" target="_blank">Hoo Meows?</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA4Mjc2OTF8MjcyNDA3NDg0NA/hoo-meows" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TplBmB1TTvE/UTVU7u4eeHI/AAAAAAAAByk/6_13liRcgPk/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-03-04+at+8.21.29+PM.png" width="595" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's an eclectic mix, I admit, but I'm liking it, and I didn't even include the tiny felted owls I loved on here a couple Fridays ago! Trust me, it was difficult to keep those cuties out of the list, but I thought some variety would be good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/treasury-tuesday-hoo-meows.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-5137331981339341781Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:33:00 +00002013-03-04T08:33:44.746-05:00white Alaskan huskyGerman ShepherdMonday dose of cutecute dogMonday morning was come, and all the winter world was bright and fresh. And a little bit frosty, too! Yes, it froze last night, which is an oddity for us here. The fur kids are loving it, though! When you look at them, you can easily understand why. Thirty-two probably feels just about right to them.<br /><br />On the subject of the fur kids, I insist on clean dogs. If they're going to share my apartment and furniture, they can't be smelly, dirty, or have that weird greasy feeling dogs get after a while without bathing. They aren't really amused by baths, though, but I suspect Connor is stubborn about them on principle. I happen to know he actually loves water, he just has to be a boy about taking baths! He gets his revenge, though. After I've toweled him to the best of my ability and released him, he runs right in to my bed and dries himself off! I'm not sure the licking gets him dry faster...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZOfZ-WEdWu0/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZOfZ-WEdWu0?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZOfZ-WEdWu0?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br /><br />Luna likes to use the bed for more sensible things, like napping with her favorite bunny.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CecTf1UWiy0/UTSiLzIoNtI/AAAAAAAABwI/WGsXD_m2Cgk/s1600/IMG_2084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CecTf1UWiy0/UTSiLzIoNtI/AAAAAAAABwI/WGsXD_m2Cgk/s320/IMG_2084.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I hope you've enjoyed this edition of the Monday Dose of Cute!</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div><br />http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/monday-dose-of-cute.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855067679617245622.post-7667767519707213824Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:24:00 +00002013-03-03T08:25:30.869-05:00Shabby AppleSelf-promotion SundayI'm sure you've all seen the Shabby Apple ads on other blogs. I've checked them out on several occasions and love their mixture of a vintage feel with clothing wearable in the modern day. As folks who've been around here for a little while know, I love vintage styles. I've checked out a lot of vintage-inspired clothing websites, including Mod Cloth, Pin up Girl, and Lace Affair. Then, when I wasn't looking for it, an offer to join the Shabby Apple affiliate program arrived in my inbox! I'm pretty excited because I love their products and I'm proud to display their affiliate ad on my blog.<br /><br />Proud? You ask. Why proud? Well, Shabby Apple not only has great clothes, but they also seem like a genuinely good company. They give 5% of their profits to help women break the cycle of poverty, get an education, and discover their self-worth. Plus, they have many made in the United States offerings, including my new favorites featured below!<br /><br />I absolutely love this outfit. The skirt is called "Boardwalk Baby" and the top is called "Fisherman's Find." I love the cowl neck on the shirt! It reminds me of two of my favorite shirts which, incidentally, also happen to be blue. I want the whole outfit - skirt, top, shoes, hair, and makeup! I really want both of them, but I'm afraid the skirt would be a little long (I'm only 5'2"). I suppose I could always hem it up a bit myself, if it came to it. I know for a fact my hair wouldn't stay like that for more than a few minutes, but I think I can manage the eyes and lips!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-1986-boardwalk-baby-skirt.aspx?AffiliateID=16299" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.shabbyapple.com/images/Product/medium/1986.jpg" width="237" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-1986-boardwalk-baby-skirt.aspx?AffiliateID=16299" target="_blank">Boardwalk Baby skirt on Shabby Apple</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shabbyapple.com/images/product/large/1990_1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.shabbyapple.com/images/product/large/1990_1_.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-1990-fishermens-find-top.aspx?AffiliateID=16299" target="_blank">Fisherman's Find top on Shabby Apple</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />So, whether or not I ever make a penny from my new Shabby Apple affiliate account, I'm happy do display their ads and hope they can continue improving the lives of women around the world.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Don't forget that it's the final hours of the giveaway on <a href="http://eyelah.blogspot.com/2013/02/meet-natasha-from-diary-of-plague-year.html" target="_blank">Eyelah</a>! Stop by the secure your chances to win.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101728681318768552003?rel=author" target="_blank">Natasha Hoover</a></div></div>http://www.diaryofaplagueyear.com/2013/03/self-promotion-sunday-shabby-apple.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Natasha Hoover)10