Monday Night Date Night: The Price is Right Edition

Okay here is a date night that was originally brought to Date Night Enthusiasts by The Dating Divas! This date was originally supposed to be a group date, but I just made it work for Chris and my weekly date night.

I started out by sending him a picture of the adorable free invitation all filled out (it would have been too much of a hassle driving the twenty miles out to him just to hand deliver it), and then when he got to my house on we had some dinner and filled out the Game Cards (Rounds 1 & 2) (Round 3 & Showcase).

We then headed out to the Target close by and completed all of the Rounds and Showcase and the winner was...

Drumroll...

Christopher!

And then me in Second Place!

We decided that the winner was going to get a prize chosen and paid for by the second place-er (loser sounds mean!)! So I ended up buying Chris Magic Cards and a Star Wars light-up yoyo! And because he is such a sweetheart, Chris bought me a Barbie light-up yoyo and a Disney Princess Pen complete with bubbles and Princess stamp.

After we got back to my place, Chris and I went on a walk in the dark with our new yoyo's! 

Basically, this is an awesome date from The Dating Divas and I highly recommend it!

Think Before You Ink Bulletin Board

I just finished my most recent bulletin board! The title is Think Before You Ink and it is all about tattoos.

I included six sections on this bulletin board.

1) Top 10 Tattoo Fails: This is where I found ten terrible tattoos from Pinterest and Google Images to make my board more eye-catching and draw residents in to read my information.

2) Tat Stats: Five statistics about tattoos, including percent of Americans that regret their ink.

3) Before: What to do before you get a tattoo.

4) After: What to do after you get your tattoo.

5) Placement: The most painful and least painful places to get tattoos.

6) Removal: Tattoo removal methods (mostly laser removal).

DIY Dreamcatcher!

I am sorry that I have been away, school has been super busy and so has work! But moving on to the tutorial. So I did a program of making dreamcatchers for my residents! It turned out really well, and I was able to get enough materials for 30+ dreamcatchers at Hobby Lobby for less than $13! This can be done with anyone that has some basic craft skills, but I wouldn't recommend it for young children. This craft is probably 8 years and older.

Materials:

-Pipecleaner (I chose brown)

-Yarn (I chose a brown/beige/white tie-dye type yarn)

Cut your yarn into one long piece (at least 1.5 feet) and three smaller pieces for tassels

-Beads (I bought a bag of teal ones)

-Feathers (I chose a more natural brown/white/black bag)

Step 1: Gather your materials

Step 2: Make a circle with your pipecleaner

Step 3: Tie the long piece of yarn onto the pipecleaner circle

Step 4: Use this video (skip ahead to 1:15 for the important stuff) to learn how to make the inside of the dreamcatcher!

Step 5: In order to make sure that the middle of your dreamcatcher stays secure, tie a knot in it and add a bead for embellishment! Cut off any little strings of yarn you do not want hanging.

Step 6: Add your three tassels to the bottom of your dreamcatcher (or anywhere you want them) and cut them to desired length. Also, cut a small piece of yarn and make a loop at the top in order to hang your dreamcatcher.

Step 7: Add beads and feathers to your tassels and you are done! But beware: this could take a very long time depending on how detailed you want your beadwork/featherwork to be.

Hang your dreamcatcher over your bed now that it is done. The Ojibwa tribe hung dreamcatchers over their heads so that only their good dreams would be filter through, and would slide down the feathers to their heads.

Rec Room/Lobby Bulletin Boards

Okay so I am in charge of the TV Guide board in the Rec Room next to the tv, and I needed to put together a bulletin board for the Lobby! Here is each one with some tips on how/why it is the way it is!!!

So the theme for our hall this semester is Superheros! So this is what I put together for the TV Guide board! I started out by putting up some navy butcher paper, die-cutted out yellow star boarders, die-cutted TV GUIDE, and die-cutted the citty boarder in black (I know, I love die-cuts). Then I traced the Batman symbol on my tv (hooked up to my computer) and colored it in with paint markers. I also added all of the TV channels in our area, but I thought that this poster showed it best.

This board was a little more fun for me! I used this blog post (that I did not tag in my last post, you can read why there) to do the boarder, but basically I posted the question and die-cut a bunch of coffee cups for residents to write their answers on!

Cuddle Sutra...A Valentine's Day Bulletin Board

Okay so this bulletin board was inspired by a board that I saw my freshman year in the Res Halls! It is from the book The Cuddle Sutra and I took screenshots from the online book and basically put it up on my board. It is super simple but it looks incredible. The boarder was inspired from a post I saw on Pinterest! But I will not be linking to that post because my residents ripped the boarder down, so I am sure most of you other RA's will understand residents vandalizing your boards and whatnot...So here it is, I hope you are inspired to do a cuddle themed board!

CVS Haul and Extreme Couponing: Makeup Edition

Okay, I know that I have said it before, but I cannot pass up a good deal! For those of you that are unaware, when you sign up for CVS's ExtraCare program, you can earn ExtraBucks when you buy certain products, they work as CVS money. So when I was at CVS last weekend and I got three coupons:

$3 off Almay

$3 off any Revlon purchase of $10 or more

$1 off Maybelline

I made my total purchase in three transactions, so stick around! Coupon craziness is about to begin!!!

First transaction:

I bought this Almay Intense I-Color eyeshadow for my friend Ashley's birthday! She will love it, I own the one for green eyes and I love how it makes my eyes pop!

Originally Priced: $7.79

On Sale For: $5.99

Coupon for $3 Off Mean I Paid: $2.99

PLUS when all was said and done, I got $3 ExtraBucks back for my next transaction.

Total Cost with Tax: $3.44

Total Cost for Haul: $3.44

Second Transaction:

I bought the gel eyeliner because I have wanted one for forever, and the reviews on this one for Maybelline were awesome! And the color tattoo is rumored to be as awesome as Mac's Paint Pot line--so I had to get one of those too!

Color Tatto: $6.99

Gel Liner: $10.79

Subtotal: $17.78

$1 Off Maybelline Coupon: $16.78

$3 Off Because of ExtraBucks: $13.78

Total Cost with Tax: 15.11

AND $5 ExtraBucks because I spent over $15 on Maybelline!

Total Cost for Haul: $18.55

Third Transaction:

Okay, this is where I am going to blow you all away. Sometimes you have to comb through the aisles of the store in order to find the best deals. Some of the Revlon Colorburst lipsticks have been discontinued so they are 75% off at CVS! Which means that regularly priced $9.99 lipsticks are a whopping $2.49!!! I bought two of the Rosy Nude ones because I needed to go over $10 for my coupon to work! And get this--because of the $3 off, I spent less buying five than if I had just bought four!

Revlon Lipstick: $9.99 x 5

Subtotal: $49.95

Lipsticks 75% Off: $2.49 x 5

New Subtotal: $12.45

$3 Off Revlon Coupon: $9.45

$5 Off Because of ExtraBucks: $4.45

10% Off Coupon Because of CVS Beauty Rewards: $3.20

Total Cost with Tax: $4.04

TOTAL COST OF HAUL: $22.59

For those of you that are wondering what the 75% off lipsticks actually look like--check this out!

My Couples Bucket List

Okay, so let's just be honest, this will probably be the most personal post yet. I started making this list the Summer after Chris and I started dating. And I just showed it to him the other day, because I wanted to give him the heads up that with his permission I would post it! Of course being the wonderful man he is, he gave me the go ahead and here goes nothing!

My Couples Bucket List

1. Build a fort in our living room
2. Build a treehouse in our backyard
3. Watch a meteor shower
4. Have a food fight
5. Walk everywhere for a day
6. Throw a black tie dinner for two
7. Take dance lessons
8. Get lost on purpose
9. Preform feng shui to our house
10. Write a note to our future grandchildren
11. Kidnap each other for a play date in the park
12. Book a trip and travel in the same day
13. Campout close to home
14. Do something touristy in our hometown
15. Burry a time capsule in our backyard
16. Set a world record in something
17. Spend the night in someplace haunted together
18. Cook something we grew
19. Go on a hot air balloon ride
20. Build a house of cards and then run through it
21. Build something that will outlast us both
22. Volunteer at a soup kitchen on a holiday
23. Go white water rafting
24. Test drive a car we will never be able to afford
25. Skip out of work and go bowling
26. Make our own pasta from scratch
27. Donate blood together
28. Carve our names into a tree
29. Watch 26 movies in 26 days, each starting with a letter from the alphabet
30. Send a message in a bottle
31. Watch the sunrise and set in the same day.
32. Pay for the next person’s toll on the highway
33. Go for a ride on a scary roller coaster
34. Ride cross country on the train
35. Take a cooking class together
36. Build a bird house
37. Plant an herb or vegetable garden
38. Volunteer at the ASPCA
39. Put together a giant jigsaw puzzle
40. Split a milkshake
41. Go to the aquarium
42. Kiss in the rain
43. Get matching outfits
44. Ride a Ferris Wheel
45. Go on a road trip
46. Stargaze
47. Go to the zoo
48. Watch fireworks
49. Read a book together
50. Look at Christmas lights

So of course we have done some of these things, but the majority of them we have not. And I printed out a copy and put it in a Willow Tree box that Chris's Grandma gave me for Christmas. It is the Embrace box:

I am not going to lie, it is probably one of the most beautiful and perfect gifts I have ever received. 

As we make our way through this list I plan on dating each completed activity or task, maybe even adding a memorable moment! I will definitely keep an update on here as we go. But for those of you out there that have maybe been working on a list similar but have not shared with your better half, do it. Sharing this list with Chris made me want to complete it and actually feel motivated to start doing some of those things. I can promise you that when I go and visit him this weekend we will for sure do at least one!

The Couple's Bucket List is a good idea in my opinion because you can put things on the list that are out of your usual routine of dates or activities. I am especially excited for the 26 movies in 26 days, but I know that will only be possible once we are able to see each other on the daily. And the Ferris Wheel will be an experience because I am terrified of heights. But watching the sunrise and set in the same day is definitely a possibility for the near future. I wanted to mainly focus on things we can work on this year, and leaving the big ones for our future together. But I love my man and I cannot wait to get this list started. 

So grab a pen and paper and get to work on your Couple's Bucket List!