White Water Six Flags

Friday my sister, my mom, my brother, and I all went to Six Flags White Water for Homeschool Day. 

We had never been before and I was kind of skeptical. (I REALLY don't like roller coasters or anything like that..)

Of course EVERYONE else in my family LOVES things like that. When we first got there we waited in line to get in (there were a lot of people there.) And then, once we got in, they still had everything blocked off. We waited with a bunch of other people, who were ready to dash off and find chairs. We had never been, so we didn't know that there would be a mad-dash for seats like that. We just kind of caught on and jogged over to a "kiddie-area" to nab a seat. (After a while, we realized we were in DIRECT sunlight, but oh well.. It all worked out.)

My brother and sister went onto the little playground to play (she is just young enough to still be able to play and just short enough..) I wanted to play too because I had sadly realized  I wasn't going to be riding ANY of the bigger rides.. And that Kiddie Area might be my only chance at "fun". (Haha pathetic, I know..)

 (Credit to: Trip Advisor for the photo!)

(Credit to: Water Park Pictures for the photo!)

So, I just followed my sister, mom, and brother around. My sister kept on BEGGING me to go wait in line and ride some of the bigger rides with her. I (of course) knew I couldn't, because.. umm... well, because I had just eaten and EVERYONE KNOWS you're supposed to wait at least 15 minutes before going into the water! And it had only been 10.. (Okay, okay.. I just didn't want to go..)

My mom started to get mad and my sister did too. We had been there for about 3 hours and we still hadn't ridden any rides. It was pretty sad.. I felt bad, but I just couldn't bring myself to go on any of the rides.

We got our hands stamped, so we could come back in, and went out into the parking lot. (My mom had stopped by Subway before we got there. She read online that their food wasn't too hot, so she picked some up.) We ate in the car and after we were finished we headed back into White Water.
After a long time of walking around (in the kiddie areas of course.) We decided, since me and my sister weren't planning on going off alone, that we would go and ride rides everyone could ride. (Wow that was a lot of "rides".)
My brother (surprisingly) could ride one of the bigger rides. It was this green slide and you would go down in one big raft thing.

 (Credit to: Water Slide Database for the photo!)

(Credit to: Parkr for the photo!)
It was pretty fun. And after that, I felt more comfortable in the park. Me and my sister would walk around and then meet back up with my mom and brother (they would usually be in the wave pool or lazy river.)

Wave Pool
(Credit to: Atlanta Photos.com for the photo!)

Lazy River
(Credit to: Atlanta Photos.com for the awesome photo!)
The Lazy river was pretty fun. And I sat with my sister while she went down this HUGE slide, Cliff Hanger. (She rode it twice)

(Credit to: Forbes for the picture!)
I wanted to ride it, but fear of my bottoms "wedgie-ing", I didn't.
Me and my sister also rode two blue slides that went down side-by-side and let out into the lazy river.
Then, we made our way to the back of the park. My sister rode Dragons Tale.

 (Credit to: WaterSlideDatabase for the video!)

 (Credit to: Water Slide Database for the photo!)

Then we made our way to another mini "park"in the back. It has a bunch of different slides.

My sister rode this one that was actually three slides all side-by-side so you could race your friends. And I rode it too.

There was a "lilly pad crossing" and a bunch of other things.

(Credit to: Trip Advisor for the photo!)

That was pretty much it.. We arrived at White Water at around 9:30 and we left at 6:00.

Talk to you soon!,

 

Button Down Shirt into A Tank Top

After my last DIY or DI-Don't I was looking for more things to cut up. And I found this old button up top that is way too small for me now (I'm not sure why I haven't seen it for a while, it was just lost in my closet.) 

What better thing to do with an old shirt than cut it up, take pictures, and blog about it RIGHT?!

So, lets get into the actual DIY. Here is the shirt before I did anything to it.

I gathered some scissors and I already had a plan for how I wanted the shirt to come out.

I had seen a picture online of this REALLY cute idea!

(I also pinned this on my Pinterest...)

I am in LOVE with the website I found, she created this idea ^!

Cotton and Curls

(Cute name!)

Anyways, I just went right on into cutting. I first cut off both sleeves..

Here it is with one sleeve cut off, (I used the same method as the Denim Vest, but instead of leaving the sleeves cut like that, I cut off a little more. I was making a tank top..) I used a washable marker to draw were I wanted to cut the sleeves and neck first. (I also traced a crop top for where I wanted to cut the sleeves and for the width of them. I used one that had a good look, a look I wanted my top to have.)

 Another picture, but with both sleeves cut off.

Next, I cut off the collar. It was easiest to just cut the collar and then cut the neck wider.. I wasn't quite such how big I wanted it..

(Yes I kind of went ahead and cut the neck.. I forgot to take pictures.. So, I just pieced it together and snapped a picture..)

Then, I cut the neck hole bigger, I made sure to leave as little space from the first button as possible. (I didn't want a lot of extra fabric above it flapping around.)

 There is the finished piece. It looks a LOT better! (Not to mention, I can wear it now!)

I might do more of these "clothing upcycles".. I'm not sure.. They are really fun to do.. Hmm.. something to think about. If I get an idea for a clothing redo I'll post about it! Oh, and I am in the process of making a new DIY or DI-Don't.. Sorry it's been a couple days.

Talk to you soon!,

Tutorial Time!

So I (not so) recently filmed a tutorial... I put it on Youtube, hoping to get lots and lots of hits, comments, likes, so on.. I didn't really get that much, to be honest. And it was disappointing.. To know that I spent that much time setting up, filming, editing, and uploading.. But not to worry! I am about to share them with you! I hope you enjoy them. I had more to post on Youtube but, before I could even UPLOAD them my computer got a virus and all of them were deleted, gone forever.

Here is the first video I EVER posted to Youtube!

So.. my name on Youtube is CreativeCrafties.. If any of you want to follow, be my guest! But, one thing that is strange to me is that, when I go to look myself up on some else's account I can't find me. Is that just because there are a lot of people on Youtube, or because I don't have very many followers.. Not sure. 

My second video was about those  DIY Peter Pan Collars (I have a post about those! Go check it out!) I am still going to show it here, even though I posted about it..

(My nails were painted with a "Kroods" theme.. Did any of you see that movie? I painted my nails all of the different characters..) 

My third video was the first of about two tutorial on "string tricks". If you don't know what I'm talking about, its where people do things like Cat's Cradle..

My fourth video was on the ever popular Cup Song. But, when I made this tutorial none of my friends knew what that was. The song wasn't on the radio. And it was pretty much only popular on Youtube..

And here is the fifth video, its another string trick.. It's a beginners video.

My sixth video is pretty cute, it's of my kitten trying to nurse on one of our fluffy blankets.. This is Nala, one of my two kittens. (She is now WAY bigger).

My seventh video is my latest video, even though it was posted two months ago.. I have to say, I like this video the best. We had just gotten a new computer, so I can now edit my videos. I had more videos like this, but when we got a virus they were deleted.. I had taken SOOO much time to edit them.. too bad..

(And since I can't find it to put it on here, sorry, I am just going to put the link! I hope you enjoy!)
What's in my Beach Bag

I hope you have enjoyed this, stroll down memory lane.. Well, sort of. Anyways, I really enjoy making videos so, if you guys would like to see more comment!!

Talk to you all soon!,

3rd DIY or DI-Don't

Today I am going to do TWO DIY or DI-Don'ts in ONE day! (If you haven't see my last post on DIY or DI-Don't please click here to check it out...If you have, or don't want to, proceed on!)

I really wanted to do another one, because the last edition was so short.. So, I ONCE AGAIN went searching on Pinterest, and I RE-found this SUPER cute idea!

I have made, literally, TONS of these! I had first found out how to do them by YouTube, by the lovely miss Ingrid of Miss Glamorazzi!They are DIY Peter Pan Collars! I found the template she used and began making A BUNCH! I just found different things I had laying around the house and began embellishing them all sorts of ways! (I had originally made them for a tutorial I was going to put on YouTube, which I later did.. If you want to check it out, click here!) But, NOW I'm going to show you how to make them, again...

First off, here is the picture I saw on Pinsterest that made me think of these again!

Huge credit to Fashion Diva Design for the AMAZING blog!

I can't get over how CUTE this is! I LOVE the sequin material! I have made a TON of these, like I said before. Here is all of the ones I've made!

 (From top to bottom, left to right: White felt with glitter, pink, green, black, silver; Brown Felt with Brads; Two pieces of felt with Burlap on top; Fabric; Green Felt with jewels; Two pieces of felt with scrapbook paper on top; White felt with white glitter, held together with string; A piece of felt with glitter in an failed "Aztec" pattern; More Felt with glitter, silver, green, yellow, pink, and purple.) 

I just went crazy making these, I guess I really liked the glitter idea.. Anyways, onward with the tutorial!

First, start out by downloading the template.. Here it is CLICK ME! (You may have to make changes to the collar, in order for it to lay flat on your neck. Just cut out the template and measure where the necklace is going to sit.)

Next, gather whatever it is you want to make the collar out of, felt, fabric, ect.

Then, your going to want to take a marker (I used a sharpie), the template, and the material of your choice. Fold the material in half and place the template right on the fold (like you would do if you were cutting out a heart..).

Trace the template onto your material, using the marker. 

Next, grab some scissors and start to cut. (I left the material folded while I cut, so that both sides would be EXACTLY the same.)

Then, you get to decorate it! I used a LOT of the glitter & Mod Podge technique. But, you can do whatever you'd like!
Finally, you are going to want to attach some sort of string or ribbon. This is a necklace after all.. I used elastic string, so that I would be able to stretch the necklace over my head. It's pretty hard make the necklace the right length & tie on your own neck.. I hot glued my string to either side of the collar, so I just stretch it over my head.
Then, your done!

 

Here's another picture..

And another..

I really hope you guys liked this tutorial! I cant wait to do more DIY or DI-Don't-s! 

Talk to you soon!,

Zoe

Second Edition of "DIY or DI-Don't"

Yay! Today I am going to set aside time to do another DIY or DI-Don't! I am in LOVE with this! I really love doing crafts, so any time I get to do them I am ecstatic! I have been scowering Pinterest for the perfect DIY to try! I have a very big DIY board.. so you would think it wouldn't be that hard...but I couldn't seem to find "the one".

After several minutes, and going through my blog Pinterest, as well as my personal, I am pleased to say I found a GREAT idea!
Check it out!

 This is the original blog, from which I found the idea.. Shop with Pippa.
I knew this idea would be perfect because, I too have a denim jacket that won't fit.. But instead, it is too small, not too big.. I can't even bend my arms or reach my hands above my head. It's just a pretty un-wearable jacket that sits in my closet.. But today, it will soon be wearable again!

So, here is the jacket...

Pretty drab compared to what it is now!
I started off by laying out the jacket and grabbing some really big scissors! I began to cut the sleeve, I made sure to stay really close to the seam, because I didn't want any extra fabric hanging around the arm hole. I wanted a clean cut.

I continued to cut all the way around, until I cut the the arms completely off.

 That was pretty much it.. It was SUPER easy! And I think it turned out GREAT! The jacket looks TEN TIMES better!

Here it is!

So, this is what it looks like now!

I hope you liked this "DIY or DI-Don't! I know it wasn't much of a "tutorial".. But, I really liked the way this turned out! If you have a Denim Jacket that is too big or too small I recommend doing this!

Stick around for another "edition"! Coming soon!,

Zoe

Pinsperation! First Ever DIY or DI-Don't

Hello everyone! I have been updating my blog, and posting a lot more.. I hope you like it! You can now, sign up to receive e-mails when I post something new, you can check out Youtube videos without leaving my blog (Just scroll over a video you would like to watch, and it will start playing!), you can see a slideshow of my favorite photos, and see how many people have checked out my blog! I also have links to some of my favorite blogs! So, go check them out! But, I didn't want to post just about the new additions to my blog, I wanted to do some crafts!

I haven't done that many in the past couple of weeks (more like months..). But, I wanted to start something new, *Cue the singing Disney Princess* "Its a whole new world!" (Not sure why, bit it reminded me of that..) 

I want to start a new "collection/series" of crafts.. I think I'm going to call it, DIY or DI-Don't. I want to find Pins on Pinterest and try them out.., see how well/easy these things are! I want to show you the pictures of their "turn out" and mine after I try it. So, without further ado, here is the first post in the multi part series,

DIY or DI-Don't

Hey guys! This is the first ever "DIY or DI-Don't"... I hope nothing too bad happens, but I'm ready to fail. Who knows.. it might turn out alright, right? So, I was just scrolling on my Pinterest, by the way you should REALLY follow me! (click here!) As I was scrolling, something caught my eye. I slowed down to see what it was...and what should appear, but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer! No, but a really cute, and pretty quick, DIY! It was, how to make a light bulb into a super cute night light! Here take a look!

Like I said, that's really cute! So, I am going to give it a try for you guys! I hope it turns out just as good as this picture..
Here's what it says to do, in case you want to, too! (Haha it rhymes!)

1. Take a lightbulb, you probably want to take one from the lamp you want the "night light" effect to shine through.
2. Take a Sharpie, or perminate marker. If you want a REALLY intricate design, I suggest using a fine tip marker. I'm going to use one of those fatter ones.. I don't think I have much to draw. 
3. Draw on the light bulb.
4. Screw it into the lamp or other fixture,
5. And BAM! You have a REALLY cool new "night light"!

Its pretty easy.. as long as you have a partially steady hand and don't smudge it while its wet. A while back, I saw on Pinterest (where else?), a peter pan cut out that someone had put on the top of a lamp shade, it had a really cool effect. It was like Peter Pan's shadow was on your wall.. I had really wanted to try it out, but with no suitable lamp shades, I tossed the project. Now, that I am doing this, it would be a great idea to try and draw Peter on the top of the light bulb and see if it works the same way.. Its a good plan, but will it actually work? Hmm.. I'm off to test the theory! I'll be back with pictures of my adventures! By the way, here's the peter/lamp/nightlight.

Ok... So after a looonngg 15 something minutes of trying to save this project, its finished. I started out by finding peter pan shadow clip art, knowing I COULDN'T for the life of me free hand. I found a good one, (If you want to do this project I advise you read to the VERY end.. but here's the clip Peter Pan) I took that image and put it in WordPad. I made it small enough to fit on the top of the light bulb and printed it.

 I taped it on, as you can see. Then, I ran into a small (but HUGE) problem. How am I going to stencil this onto the light bulb? The image is too small to cut out with scissors.. an exacto knife might have worked, but I thought I could get the sharpie to bleed through the paper and onto the bulb. I tested it by writing a small dot on the paper, and it...worked! So, I began filling in all of the peter image with sharpie. 

After a while, I wanted to check and see how it was coming out. I lifted the paper... and nothing. Nothing was on the bulb, except a few black smudges where the ink and "attempted" to come through. So, I couldn't just leave the bulb... I began to free hand it. It was going okay, until I started Peter's right leg.. I knew I had to make this picture into something else.. because the way it was, it didn't look like two legs. It looked like some deformed line.. Long story short... This is the finished product..

I know.. It looks BAD.. I made it into two chevron stripes, with a bow in the middle. Then, I drew in some random designs. It looks REALLY bad... But, I thought maybe it wouldn't be so ugly, if it actually turned out a cool shadow. I ran over to my lamp and screwed it in! I'll save you the trouble... It didn't "turn" out anything.. It's about 3:00 p.m here.. so, maybe I'll give it another shot at night? But, its looking like a dud.. And I only had the lamp on for 2 minutes and the black sharpie part of the bulb is SUPER hot!! Maybe, don't use black Sharpie? I wouldn't try this for the "night light" part, but because you could make a really cool bulb design.. (To show off when its NOT on!)

I hope you liked this DIY.. Even though it didn't turn out good.. That's what is fun about it! Testing out the different projects! Stick around for another "edition" soon! 

Talk to you soon!,

Zoe

My New Story!

     I occasionally write stories.. I don't keep track of where I put them, or when I wrote them. I'll randomly find a few as I go through my bedroom or school work...  But, recently I picked up a spiral notebook and began jotting down a few stories. I thought I would share a couple, as they began to get very long, one was twenty five pages.. I'm not very good at drawing it to a close, as you could tell.  The story I wanted to share first, just came into my mind, and I was going to just make it into some short story I was working on, on the side. I ended up having a great idea for the story.. Anyways here it is, I hope you like it!


     "Come on guys!", I yelled to my friends Genna and Janie. I was sort of nervous. We walked over to my neighbor's house. "So, whats the plan again?", Genna asked. "We are going to knock on some of the kids doors and see if they want to play games until it gets dark.", I reminded her. I was super excited for this! I in-visioned us with a good sized group of people, laughing and having fun, playing flashlight tag. Janie was definitely the most brave out of us. She just waked right up to the door and knocked. Me and Genna stood behind her and watched the door to open. "Hello Mrs. Williamson! Can we speak to Claire?", Janie politely asked the woman in the doorway. "Oh sure! Claire, someones here to see you!", the woman called for her daughter. Claire walked up to the door, she was wearing running shorts, tennis shoes, and a T-shirt. Her hair held up tightly with a rubber band. "Hey guys!", she said, waving. "Hey Claire!", we all said waving. "So Claire, we were wondering if you wanted to come with us and play a few games in my yard, like Hide-and-Seek, until it gets dark?", I asked her. I hoped she would say yes, I wanted a big turn out...like those little neighborhood gatherings I had seen in Dennis The Menace so many times.. You know! Right at the end when they are pushing that guy into the cop car? "Sure! Sounds fun! I'll ask my mom.", she said turning to go find her. It had been a couple of minutes and we were waiting for her to come back out, she had said she needed to get some shoes.

     We sat down on her stairs. "I sure hope a lot of people say yes!", Genna said verbalizing my thoughts. "Me too!", I said excitedly. Later, after Claire had joined us, we were walking over to Anne's house. Anne was mostly one of Claire's friends but, I talked to her sometimes and she was nice. Claire knocked on the door and talked to Anne. Anne said she would like to, so that meant we had a group of five people. I guess that's a lot, but not enough. Anne had a couple more friends to invite and so did I. So, we went to their house's next. They all said yes, our count of people was up to ten. Now thats a lot of people! We all went back to my house to take a vote, the girls who wanted to invite the boys from down the street and those who didn't. The boys from down the street had names, Tommy and Matt. "They might not want to play with a huge group of girls.", I pointed out. "But, I think it's worth a shot! Tommy and Matt aren't too bad.", I added. "As long as they don't pull any pranks!", Anne spoke up. We nodded in agreement. The boys were bad about that.. I went over to our refrigerator and grabbed sodas for everyone, we handed them out before Me, Janie, and Claire headed off for Tommy's.

     Janie knocked on the door and Tommy's mom answered, we asked for Tommy. When he came to the door his mom whispered, "Tommy, look some girls are here to see you!",she said as she fixed his hair, we laughed. "Aww! Mom!", Tommy whined. We asked him if he wanted to join us at my house and he said yes. I turned around to see some lightning bugs in the distance, I knew it was going to get dark soon. Janie offered Tommy a soda as we walked up Matt's driveway. We let Tommy knock on the door and ask Matt, since they are friends. Claire offered Matt a soda and we made our way back to my house. Once we got back, we began to choose a game, we had a lot of options since we had a big group of people! We had a grand total of TWELVE people! Me, Janie, Genna, Claire, Anne, one of Anne's friends Amy, Anne's friend Morgan, My friends Alexa and Austin, Tommy, and finally Matt. If that wasn't a big turn out, I don't know what is! We all decided on Freeze Tag and Alexa was it. She was fast and tagged half of the people we had, Tommy was just as fast though, and just as she would freeze someone he would un-freeze them.

     We played Freeze Tag for a little while longer, until everyone wanted to play a new game. "I want to play Hide-And-Seek!", Austin said. "Me too!", Amy agreed. So, we began playing Hide-and-Seek. I was it, so I started counting. "29, 30! Ready or not, here I come!", I called out. I walked around the yard, inspecting every hiding place possible. I glanced over at Mr. and Mrs. Warbar (pronounced W-RR-BUR), an old couple that has lived here since before I can remember. I looked at one of their old windows. There was such intricate detail surrounding the glass. The delicate lace curtains were pulled shut, but I could see a light on. It was very dim, probably one of Mrs. Warbar's antique lamps she loves so much.. I saw someone walk by the window. It was a woman with long hair, she had a slim figure, and was wearing a dress. That wasn't Mrs. Warbar.. Chills went over my arms and legs as I continued to watch the figure. The woman swiftly made her way by the window and I couldn't see her anymore. My eyes grew wider as I watched the window, waiting. I forgot all about the game, and sat down to make out what I had just seen. Mrs. Warbar was a big woman, with long white hair that was always pulled up into a perfect bun, on the top of her head.  Maybe, Mr. and Mrs. Warbar had someone over, they don't have any kids, but maybe it was a friend.. But, the way that woman moved by the window, so swiftly. It wasn't......human. I kept thinking back to one thing, I had I seen a ghost?!

     "Hey! Heeelloo? Elizabeth?", Matt called me. "Oh, what?", I said snapping back to the game. "Oh yeah! Sorry!", I called out. "Did you forget about the game?", Tommy yelled back. Everyone was walking from their hiding spots to where I was standing. "You guys didn't see that?!", I questioned. "See what?", Austin asked. "Well, right before I started looking for you guys, I looked at Mr. and Mrs. Warbar's house," I looked over that way for added effect. "And when I did someone walked by the window!" They all looked at me like I was crazy. "You didn't let me finish!", I said put my hands out. "Well go ahead.", Tommy said, looking at everyone sceptically. "Whatever. The person who walked by was a woman, but not Mrs. Warbar. I was thinking rationally, so I thought maybe it was a friend of theirs.", I went on. "Because they don't have kids.", I quickly added. "Okaay.. So they had a friend over?", Janie said. "Maybe.. but you should have seen the way that woman walked by. It was effortless, like she was floating. It wasn't right.", I said, almost whispering the last part..


     I hope you liked it! That was as far as I had gotten! Comment what you think, its always nice to hear! And if you want me to post more of this story let me know in the comments as well!

Talk to you guys soon!,

Zoe