Yikesssss, its already Friday. I love Fridays but where has the time gone. I never ever have enough time to do the things I love.... not to mention work has been nuts! and I don't have any time to blog at all  

I did want to take a few minutes to share with you the a few pictures of projects I am starting on soon, (well one is finished) ... The southwest bead challenge I mentioned already. I got a pair of earrings done and I am hoping to start on a bracelet this weekend (we will see)  

Close up of an earring. 

I have spent more money at the stores than I thought or hoped I would, but each thing I have bought has had a purpose,  they have been for gifts to make, and majority of them had coupons, good coupons. I bought $44.00 worth of items at Pat Catan's for $3.38 and I got over $100.00 worth of items at Jo-Ann's for $28.00. 

These are the earrings I made so far.
Do they look south western to you? 

The beads I will use to make a bracelet. 

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I haven't been around in a few days; on Friday I mentioned what a busy weekend it was going to be and boy was it ever. We ended up doing a few things that I didn't even know we had planned. My boyfriend Will, has a 1966 Ford Mustang that he restored over the winter and we take it to car shows in the area.  So on Sunday after his family went back to Michigan and my family went back to Ada, Ohio, we took an hour break and then headed to a car show. I love car shows, they remind me of my dad. My dad passed away about 2 1/2 yrs ago and I miss him more than anything, he was a car guy. He was the type of guy that could fix anything and was a mechanic for several years. My dad also enjoyed Facebook and the one thing he would always do would be post pics of old cars, cars he wished he had, dream cars. I still go and look on his Facebook page to look at those pics.   Going to a car show floods me with emotions. I love seeing the old cars, spending time with Will and thinking about my dad. On top of all the busyness of the weekend, I also got sick. I never get sick! I woke up Friday with a very sore throat, by the time I left work at 4, I felt like crap (sorry to be ever so blunt), I spent all evening on the couch, I did nothing! Friday nights is my time to clean. I love nothing more than to wake up Saturday to a perfectly clean house - I am a neat freak, by nature and maybe a chemical imbalance...ha ha. Saturday when I woke up I had so much to do, plus fit in all the visiting, etc, needless to say it was insane and I ended up leaving work yesterday around 1 pm, because i was exhausted and feeling horrible. Today is much better and I am ready to start Living off the Closet some... I think I am going to start a project tonight, a secret project, it is going to be a gift.. I wont be able to post any pics of it, but I will show bits and pieces as I go.

I also am going to tackle the upstairs bathroom closet today or this weekend maybe, I have a ton of make up I was thinking I would experiment with, Ill do some before and after pics..

AND... I have a project due for bead guild and I have the beads found and I need to start that soon, I will definitely post pics of that too.

Will and I 

OK off to do some paid work, since I missed three days of blogging, I will probably be back later today!

My Daddy 

Last time I left you, I mentioned Julie and I were going to put some Nail Wraps on my nails. I had found a package in one of my closets and I loved the design and I really wanted them to work... and I want to report back to you saying... I LOVE NAIL WRAPS.... In Theory! I LOVE NAIL WRAPS... on other people.... I LOVE NAIL WRAPS.... In the package... I DON'T LOVE NAIL WRAPS... on my nails.  :(

So Julie and I added two types of wraps to my nails. We used Jamberry's  as accents on my middle fingers and Scratch's on the other nails. I must admit the Jamberry's did work a wee tiny bit better than the Scratch brand but not much. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think it has anything to do with the wraps, its just my oily nail beds. Regular and Gel Polish doesn't work on my nails well either and we are talking about big brands, Essie, OPI, Pop of Color, etc., it doesn't matter if I spend $1 per bottle or $12 it just won't stay on long.

Peeling and wearing off already 

Regardless I still have some wraps to use and since I cant get a professional Mani and Pedi any time soon, I will be using them, I mean they do look good for a few hours Ha ha!  and I am planning on learning how to paint my nails, and trust me pics will follow, everybody needs some comic relief... and comedy is what will be served in those pics :)

Until the urge for nice nails strikes again, I will move on to other things, first thing on the docket is a piece of jewelry or two. I belong to a bead guild and each September we have a challenge, this years theme for the challenge is Southwestern, and I waited til the last minute to decide on a project, so I will be working on finding a theme and then making something, I will post pics on this.

I also want to start on Christmas gifts, this weekend is jammed pack. Family is in town from both sides of the family and there will be no time for rummaging thru the closets, but I wouldn't trade spending time with the family for anything. I love getting to see my niece Kaitlyn and her husband Nathan and Will's brother Ken, his wife Kristen and their 2 kids, Nick and Riley.

Lux

 Kate and Nate will bring their fur baby Lux also, shes my sweetie pie, I ll post some pics of her and her fur sister Rylee (not to be confused with Will's niece Riley...lol)

Rylee 

Day 2 was semi successful, I worked on my list of items needed for Christmas / Birthday gifts and I am going to need to do a little shopping, but I decided I am going to hit yard sales /garage sales this weekend. The items needed are items that are not expensive so I dont think  it will be much and I will use my weekly "allowance" for these items. I am going to get started soon on gifts, some of the items I make I wont be able to post any pics of because if any of my family is reading (they better be!) then their gifts will not be surprises.  :(  but don't worry I have all kinds of other "homemade items" ideas using my Closet finds that I can make and post pictures of..... Hmmm I wish I could find some extra time in one of my closets Ha ha

So remember I told you that I found some nail wraps in one of my closets, well I wanted to show you the before and after of these wraps.... below is a picture of  my nails currently.....

after Julie and I get the my wraps on my nails I will post a picture of how they look, tonight I am using the scratch brand wraps   https://www.goscratch.it/Wish me luck, I am hoping they work well. I really like the design and I want them to work so badly!


Good news today is yesterday I did so well on my working out and eating healthy plan. I walked on the treadmill as well on my lunch, ended up getting my 10,000 steps in and didnt over eat. I also got up this morning around 5:30 and walked for about 2 miles. Yeahhh Me, I hope I make this a habit. :)

See you next time :) 

OK so day 1 wasn't so bad, I spent a lot of time online window shopping and I even considered purchasing items, but I never hit the add to cart button, so go me!  I do have a lot of items still coming in from pre-challenge purchases, I am a huge eBay and Amazon shopper and a lot of the stuff I purchase is from China and takes like 2 months to arrive so those items are still trickling in. Weight loss challenge was OK, I did cheat,( I had some salt and vinegar chips and some trail mix)  but I also exercised, so I would say I did OK, not bad, not good, but OK.

 Why do you lose all will power as you get older??? Ugh so unfair. Do you ever get to a point in your life where you just know things have to change. That is where I am at now. I know the spending has to slow down and be more controlled, as well as the laziness and eating habits. I need to make a change and I am going to make a change. There isn't any doubts any more, I know it wont be easy, I know I'll have some hangups and I' ll have some falls, but the thought of " can I do it" is gone, I have to do it and I will do it.

Back to the spending, or NON Spending challenge, I was thinking about this and I kinda realized, that if I am going to be Living Off the Closet, and make all my own Christmas gifts, I need to get motivated and start making stuff. I have 9 close family members to exchange gifts with this year, and I want to do at least 3-4 gifts per person so I need to at least get a plan in place and a "shopping list" created.

That will be a project for this weekend.  :)

Tomorrow I am getting together with my friend Julie and she is going to teach me how to put acrylic nail stickers on my nails, I am a big manicure girl and always go to a salon to get them but now that I am not spending, I cant go to a salon, so I found these nail stickers things https://www.goscratch.it/
in one of my many closets and decided I would use them up, Julie is a pro at them and they look so professional and the designs are so cute, so we are getting together to fill my manicure addiction (for free!) and she is even going to feed me (Julie makes the best salads, EVER) I really think she should open a salad cafe'.. :)
 I will post pics of the my nails on Thursday, and of the salad too!

Adios my Living off the Closet friends, I have to get to my real job; you know the one who has given me the money to build up my closets to plentiful !

OK today is day one!!!!   I have to admit I am not mentally prepared, not at all..... Yesterday I did do some "last minute shopping" I bought a new bottle of nail polish, some socks and a few other things, you know just in case..lol  I also put all my credit cards away so I dont "accidentally" shop.  Today is also day 1 of my weight loss plan so I should stay busy enough to not want to buy anything...

I did come up with some other "rules" .. I am the type of person who has to have everything planned out, I dont do well when I go with the flow... so here all some more of the rules I have created for myself.


1. Entertainment - I am allowed to spend money on going places/ doing things. I am a homebody for the most part, I get the most enjoyment out of being at home, doing stuff around the house, cleaning, gardening, making jewelry is what relaxes me.. Going out doesn't appeal to me to much, so I don't do a lot of that, but i do know its important to get out with friends, family, etc and do stuff so I am not taking that away.

2. I get an allowance each week, 20.00  a week. I can use this on necessities or I if  I want I can save it up for something major that I need. (new walking shoes, hair cut, etc)

 3. In order to use some of the stuff I have in the closets, I am going to have to buy other stuff , for instance I found a really cool project to do for a gift, but I know i don't have one of the main items, so I am allowing myself to buy things like that. The items I buy have to have a purpose, they can not be "just in case" items and I have to try to find them as cheap as i can (yard sale, thrift store, etc)

OK so I am off to work, I'll check in later or tomorrow to let you know how day 1 is going  :) 

I wanted to add a few pictures of the closets that I will be raiding and living off of the next few months...

I should have no problem with clothes or bath and beauty supplies!   :)  

Ok so spent a few hours thinking about how I am going to justify buying and spending money and I now know that this will be a work in progress.... not all rules will be made by Monday morning...

Here are the things I do know. 
1. Christmas Gifts for the Boyfriend (super wonderful boyfriend of 7 yrs) will be bought.
2. An occasional splurge is ok. (i.e. celebratory Mani. and Pedi., or a garage sale treasure, etc. )
3. I am allowed to obtain new stuff if it is free, however I have to keep purging if I do get new stuff
 --- I get a lot of coupons for free items or dollar amounts off a purchase, A lot of $10 off of $10 coupons for department stores and rewards coupons
4. Small items are allowed to be purchased in order to use a larger item (if i need a tube of $2.00 glue in order to make a $40.00 gift with items I already have, thats ok)

This whole experience is really exciting to me, I just want to start delving into it and start creating and using and writing about it, but really nothing will change other than instead of rushing out to the store to buy I will be rushing to the closet to see what i can use.  Shopping is a serious habit of mine, a bad one but a serious one. I wonder if I will go thru withdraw. I wonder how hard it will be. I am alreday panicking over no manicures and pedicures. I swear I am not high maintenance, but I may be lazy and clumsy and having to paint my own nails feels overwhelming to me right now.   Silly, right? 

I think I will take some pictures tonight of all my closets; closets that I will be digging into over the next few months finding items that I will be using until I am out of stuff or out of patience. I am kind of excited for Monday! 

I am not a writer or a blogger (well I guess I am a blogger and a writer technically, since I am writing this blog) but this is not what I do normally, this is my first attempt at writing anything. I have never enjoyed writing, and all that goes with it, proper grammar,sentence formatting, etc.  I skated thru high school English classes with C's. I was more of an artsy creative type, I enjoy making jewelry and art work, not literary papers. But, every now and then something comes to you, an idea of sorts, a vision (OK so maybe that's a stretch), a desire to do something great, a challenge! And that is exactly what happened to me on the afternoon of Tuesday Aug 5th .... Oh and to get back to the part about me not being a blogger or writer, the point of telling you all that is, I have no idea if I am doing this "blog" correctly, I am not sure of the "rules", are there rules?......

I don't know. Are my sentences right? Am I using run on sentences, am I placing periods, commas, semi colons in the proper manner? did I use the words "proper manner" just a sentence ago, correctly?  I have no clue and to be honest, I don't really care.. this blog is me documenting my idea.. now about my idea.. I work full time, I have a good job, I make pretty good money, I live in a nice home and drive a new car, I want for nearly nothing, but money is always an issue for me. Its not that I don't have enough money to survive, I even get to take nice vacations and buy nice things, my issue with money, is I spend way to much of it. So I was looking at my credit card statements and I just thought to myself, why do I keep doing this, why do I spend money on stuff I don't really need. What is wrong with me??  and this idea came to me (the one I mentioned a few sentences ago) why don't I see how long I can go with out buying stuff, I have so much stuff already; clothes, makeup, shoes, hair products, bath salts, lotions, hair ties and bobby pins, perfume, powders, nail polish, jewelry, coats and boots, socks and pajamas, crafting items and picture frames, oh my the list is never ending... I have tons of STUFF! I love my stuff and I don't want to give my stuff away (although I did part with a lot of stuff a few months ago in a yard sale) I just don't want any more stuff and now I want to see how long I can go with out buying new stuff. I really put a lot of thought into my challenge. I want to not only use the stuff I have for daily use, but I want to re purpose and use my stuff for gifts for Christmas and birthdays, I want to live off of my closets.  Closets at my house are the places where stuff goes to live. The Pantry Closet has tons of food items (all good stuff) that needs used, the Linen Closet has all my nail polishes, lotions, hair products, powders, perfumes, etc. The Master Bedroom Closet has enough clothes to cloth several large villages, families, etc. The Closet in my craft room holds enough random items (beads, glitter, glue, greeting cards, silk flowers, scrap book paper, photo albums, frames, spray paint, makers, stamps, ink, etc)  that I should easily be able to create gifts for everyone as well as make any thing I could want...I am going to Live Off the Closet for as long as I can. My goal is 1 yr, I know in certain area, this may be impossible. I am not going to walk around with dirty hair next April because I ran out of shampoo, or go with out feminine products because the closet is empty, and as much as I need to lose weight, not eating is just not an option. So I will do what I can with what I have and buy what I absolutely must have but for luxury/splurge items, 1 yr is the goal. I am psyched about it and think I will do well. I am a mental person, as long as I feel good about something in my head, then I usually succeed. I have to be in a good head space.  The actual challenge starts on Monday,  Aug 10th. I don't plan on running out this weekend and purchasing a whole bunch of stuff, but I am the type of person who just does better when I start something at the beginning of the week. I also will be starting a weight loss journey/ challenge on Monday Aug 10th as well, so it makes sense to start both at the same time (well in my head it makes sense) There are still some "rules" I want to figure out about this challenge. I don't want this to be a challenge about living off the land or turn into one of those amazing people who make everything they use (clothes, food, necessities,shelter, etc) I don't want to stop enjoying my life, I just want to simplify.  I still plan on "buying" some stuff. I just have to figure out all of the rules, I will give myself until day 1 to do that. I plan on blogging each adventure and keep updates, that should make it fun as well as keep me accountable.  :) 

Ill let you know some of the rules once I figure them out.