DIY Hanging Christmas Ornaments

Two craft posts in a row- whoa, never thought that would happen! This isn't so much a craft but a super simple way to decorate an empty window during the holidays.

 It's pretty easy so I'll just give you a quick summary of what I did; you can do whatever works best for your needs. You'll need ribbon, plastic ornaments of different sizes and some command hooks, or tape, whatever works!

All the ways I have seen on Pinterest the ribbon is hanging directly from the curtain rod but I didn't want to do that because I like my curtains closed most of the time.

So I kinda went a little...creative. I put a command hooks on the wall behind the curtain rod with a piece of ribbon tied on each end to make a ''ribbon rod''. Then I tied ribbon of different lengths to the newly made ''rod'' and tied the other end to a plastic ornament. (Not lettin' my cat win this one!) Curled the extra and done, simple as that!

I'm just starting out with Christmas decorations and it can get expensive but this really is a cheap and fun way to add more decorations to my ever growing collection. Hope to compete with the great Clark Griswold someday! What DIY holiday decorations do you have that would make Sparky jealous?

Bonus picture frames I painted- I can't help myself!!
                                           

DIY Melted Halloween Candles

    I'm usually not very crafty but this one is easy, I promise. Maaybe I should have posted a bit sooner, but here's to hoping you have time or can save the idea for next year.

 Making fake, melted candles for Halloween decorations. I'll tell you what I used and you can go from there.

• old toilet paper, paper towel rolls 
• elmer's/school glue 
• hot glue/gun 
• tacky glue(optional)
• black spray paint

First I played around and stacked the rolls until I found a patten that I liked. I cut some of the rolls in 1/2 and then some of those halves in 1/2.

Again, you can cut however you want- in 1/3's or 1/4's- whatever strikes your fancy.

Now, onto my favorite part, the drips. I like to use both hot glue and tacky glue.

The hot glue gives it nice thick drips while the tacky glue has a nice long drip appearance but also shows up thinner when dry, so squeeze hard!

You can add all your drips at once or add some, let dry, then add some more.

Either way I add a ring of hot glue around the top of each candle stick. I think it gives it a melty, used candle look.

White drips are tacky glue, clear drips are hot glue

Spray paint black and voila- you almost have Halloween candles!

 After extensive review reading on Amazon I decided on the 12 Battery Operated AMBER LED Tealight Candles Flameless Heatless No Heat Candle Flickering Wickless Led Long Lasing Life Faux Wedding Holiday Christmas Thanksgiving Party Light Dozen They have the perfect 'flame' for spooky looking candles that look like they belong to the scary bitch witch of the house. Also, I don't have to worry about burning the apartment down!

 The tea light candles come white and I can't have white tops with black sticks so I had to keep painting.

Then I stuffed the rolls with plastic grocery bags as a prop for the tea lights to sit on. All in all, I'm super proud of this project and think it came out great!

If I could figure out how to make the drips red  that would be awesome and then I would also try painting the candles white. Any ideas on how that could work?

Places I've Been: San Diego Zoo

I don't live two hours away from just any old I zoo, I live two hours from the World Famous San Diego Zoo! This place is by far worth the money and the 2 hour drive, for that matter. 

How I know we're almost there!

So worth it we have season passes. Dual passes (2 adults, 1 household) will cost you $109, which is only a little more than the 1-day ticket ($44) and is good at BOTH the Zoo and Safari Park for a whole year!

 Unlike other theme/amusement parks in So Cal, these season passes don't have any blackout dates. Repeat, NO blackout dates! If you have a 1-day ticket you can always pay the difference (~$54) and 'upgrade' to the season pass.

Doesn't get very crowded (like at Disneyland) but it does get a little busier on the weekends. The weather is always nice but during the summer it gets pretty hot!! Definitely recommend good walking shoes- you will walk your butt off.  Learned my lesson the hard way when I tried wearing flip flops to be 'cool' - my feet were dirty and they still hated me two days later.

Also something I've learned from numerous trips- bring your own lunch or at least a few snacks. You can bring whatever you can fit in your back pack; no coolers. Also good to note, no straws (something to do with the animals). If we don't have a big breakfast before leaving we'll bring a few PB&J's with us for when we get there. Some of my favorites to bring are Clif Bars, apples and tangerines. Healthy and easy to carry around all day. Best and cheapest spot we found to eat at- Poppy's Patio by the Children's Zoo. Stuff like Hebrew Nat'l hot dogs, french fries, nachos, chili cheese fries- not so healthy but really hits the spot. In fact, now that I think about it I don't remember anyone checking our backpacks or anything- just ID's for our passes.

If you're really looking to save money bring your own water bottle and just keep refilling it at the fountains around the park. I usually just bring 2 water bottles, one for me and one for the fiance and it works out fine.

Call me cheesy but I like getting the animal souvenir cups. $10 with 99 cent refills is okay with me for a cool cup. At one point I remember the refills being free but hey what are you gonna do about it? Another good reason to bring my own snacks is so that I don't feel so bad when I do wanna spend some money.

One of my favorite things to spend money on at the zoo- beer! Yes, beer. Think about it... after you make the long, uphill trek to the very back of the park -and I mean very back- past the elephants, past the lions and all the way at the end of the Artic... cold refreshing beer! Might I also add that the prices at this particular spot are about 50 cents cheaper then the other beer spots, not much but every penny counts right?

Cheers!

All this and I haven't even said anything about the reason for going to the zoo- the animals! Take the guided bus tour to see about 75% of the zoo so you can get an idea of what you wanna go back and see up close. I've learned to take advantage of the express bus; you can hop on or off at 5 different stops throughout the zoo with pick ups every 15 minutes. Top of the bus, right hand side is where to sit for maximum viewing pleasure.

There's so many animals that I love I could never pick a  #1 favorite, but I can tell you which are my must see and why.

Big Cats
Big cats are probably the closest to being #1 if any thing else so, Big Cat Trail is always a must. Actually it's more like a must see at least twice to be satisfied. The big cats are more nocturnal animals so go to see them as late as possible for the most action. Although last time we went early and had perfect timing. The keeper was feeding them breakfast and we just happen to be there right when he was and kinda followed him exhibit to exhibit until he was out of food.

*Note- Not all big cats are on Big Cat Trail but still a must see!

Chinese snow leopard

King of the jungle

This guy lives in my backyard!

Northern Frontier: Polar Bears

These guys are just so cute! Good thing to catch early as they are more active in the morning hours. At least that's what I've noticed so far.

Play days are worth the crowds- get there early!

Amazing to be so close

Other Must Sees

Gorillas, monkeys and orangutans

Gorilla habitat

More gorilla habitat

Silly guy likes to roll around a lot

There's an orangutan under there somewhere

Meerkats

"You talkin' to me?"