Lettered for Life

I was looking through my blog and realized that my "crafty" section only has one post. This is shocking to me as I do LOTS of crafty projects and apparently I just don't blog about them...  So I am going to do one large posts of all the crafty projects I have done right before or during Spring Term. All of them are sorority related and most of them include letters. They are all of the things that people always ask me "did you make those yourself??" and I always proudly answer yes. I don't like to buy things when I can make them just as easily and customize them as much as I want.

The first project I wanted to share are bows. I have made bows two different ways with two different outcomes. They look slightly different but both are equally cute! It is just your opinion of which style you like/want I guess. (Thanks to Jes for teaching me the second way. Jes is the queen of bows.)

The two methods to doing this are the sew/cut method and the hot glue method. For those of us without sewing machines.. I would suggest the glue method. But if you like sewing, then I would say go for it! My two sewed bows are slightly lopsided and also my first two so they are far from perfect. Also, I sewed them by hand. 

Sew method: Cut two pieces of fabric the approximate size you want your bow. Turn them inside out and sew completely around the edges. Once is is like a little pocket you cut a small slice on one side and flip it inside out. Grab some fabric, ribbon or yarn and wrap is around the center. Ta-da!

Glue method: Cut one pieces of fabric that is about 4x the size of bow you want. Fold it in half hamburger way, then fold it in thirds. (This is extremely hard to explain with words... maybe I will make a YouTube video to follow or something.) Glue down the sides so it is a complete square. Pinch the middle and glue all the middle folds down. Wrap the middle once again and.. BOW!

Most of my bows go along with a set of letters. (Letters meaning a shirt/sweatshirt or something with my sorority letters on it.) 

These are just two of MANY examples.

The next crafty project I've done is the actual letters. Two t-shirts to be exact. The one on the right above, in Vera Bradley Marina Paisley, and one that is a doubled letter with lavender and teal polka-dotted patterns. 

I have made MANY many of these shirts, as have every other sorority member (at least at Alma). It is a very simple project once you have the right tools and materials to do it.

You'll need stencils, Heat Bond, fabrics, a t-shirt, fabric scissors and an iron.

All you do it cut a square of fabric large enough to make three (or two, depending on your greek letters) letters.  Iron on a piece of Heat Bond. Draw/trace your letters on to the back of the heat bond -- BACKWARDS! *Very important!* Then cut them out. Once cut, peel the backs off the heat bond and position them on the shirt. Iron for a minute or two or until all corners are not lifting. Let sit for an hour or two and then they are ready to be worn! (Don't wash for about 48 hours to make sure it is firmly set.)

Last but not least, my third project, which is not yet complete... big, fat, foam hanging letters! 

They are still a work in progress, mind you, but they're coming along well. Kayla and I (the best "big," "momma," or Sapphire Sister in the whole wide world) went to Walmart to find something to make hanging letters. We found sheets of foam but weren't sure if they would be enough so we ended up leaving with a big roll of 4 or 5 feet of foam. We drew stencils onto wrapping paper and then copied the stencils over onto the foam. We exacto-bladed and cut the letters of out the foam and began covering them. It turns out it is much lengthier project then we imagined, however, they're original and some of the coolest looking hanging letters I've ever seen!

I'm pretty sure over the past few weeks I have filled my crafting-quota for quite awhile, and definitely gotten enough glue gun burns to last a lifetime.

Keep Calm, Be Crafty and Go Greek!

xoxox

Time Flies

I cannot believe how time has flown by over the last few weeks. Tomorrow is the start of the end. I have my last Monday class until the fall. Thursday is final presentations and I am out of here and headed up north Thursday night.

I feel like I just moved in yesterday.

There are many things I will miss being away from campus such as the free workout center, friends being around every corner, sisters and spending evenings at the Phi Sig house, and afternoon walks downtown. Other things, like my miniature bathroom, Sodexo food and 50 year old mattresses  I won't miss for a second.  I cannot wait to get back to my home-cooked meals that I plan, shop for, and cook myself and know exactly what is in it instead of eating "Banana Surprise" - a breakfast desert made from what appeared to be cake, pudding, oreos, bananas and cool whip - good job, Sodexo! I will be so thankful to be sleeping at home on my brand new bed and enjoying all the comforts of home again, including spending time with family and Nick of course!

Speaking of Nick, I am not sure if I mentioned this on here or not yet but the reason we are heading north this weekend is for Nick. He will be running his very first marathon on Saturday morning. It is called the Bayshore Marathon and spans the length of the peninsula running alongside the bay the whole time. It is going to be truly beautiful and is my favorite city at least in Michigan.

Then we will have a weekend of celebrating his completion and birthday (Sunday!) I feel like it was just the other day when he was up at Alma visiting and had to get up bright and early to secure a spot in the marathon. Ever since then he has been training and working his way up to run this 26.2 mile journey.  I am incredibly proud of him and his determination to do a marathon before he turns 20, which he will be doing by less than 24 hours!! And I am so happy that I will get a chance to be there for it.

Sadly, being there means I have to miss Highland Festival in Alma. I have always wanted to be here for it and haven't had the chance too, yet. I will (hold me to it!) be here for it next year. It is a day of all things Scottish from food, to music, to attire and everything in between. My family will be here and my sister will be competing in the Highland Dance competition. I'm sure they will have a great weekend.

Anyway, back to Spring Term ending. I am pretty sure part of the reason it has gone so fast was that I went home two of the three weekends and this weekend my aunt (and Alma College Alumni) and two of her friends came up for the night. I took them on a tour of "what has changed in Alma" and we got Pizza Sams! We also went to Petticoat Junction for breakfast this morning. It was a good time and I was so glad to see them.

Another thing on my mind today is that this weekend is both DHS and EFHS's proms. I cannot believe it has been two years since Nick and I attended our senior proms. (They were NOT on the same weekend - that is just crazy!) We had such a great time and I sincerely hope that all the seniors this year have the same experience we did!

Throwback prom photos!

Now I am going to be reminiscing through "old" photos all day!

Happy Sunday! Go plant a garden or something!

xoxox

Life is What You Bake It.

Spring Term is more than halfway done! It is amazing how quickly it has all gone by and in less than two weeks I will be headed North to Traverse City! Knowing that, the rest of the time is going to fly by!

For the last few days I have been busy planning things out for my business endeavor Cravings by Cailee <--- if you haven't read that blog, be sure to check it out!

I have been working on everything from logistics, to flavors, to prices, to advertising/social media planning.

I have officially planned a "debut event!" Cravings by Cailee will have it's first official sale at the Edison Street sale on June 1st. I was already planning on attending this event and selling off some stuff I've been collecting for the sale, but now I will be setting up two separate "booths" in my location and doing a little bit of both!

I am currently working on a menu for this event, but am thinking of doing 1 or 2 flavors of cupcakes, 1 flavor of cookies, 1 flavor of cake pops and possibly some homemade donuts! I will also have coffee available (as that was a big sell for me last year!)

Be sure to stop by and satisfy your sweet tooth! I will provide times and address closer to the day-of the event.

Flavors.... there have been lots of flavor ideas floating around my head.. I need some feedback. For cupcakes, I've been thinking about making Strawberry Lemonade, Salted Carmel, Boston cream pie, Red Velvet, some sort of Peanut Butter, or maybe even Mocha Coconut Frappuccino! Which of those sound good to you? Do you have something else you would like to see? I love getting thoughts and feedback, so let me know!

My business cards and other "loot" should be arriving any day now.

I am so excited to get everything up and running and cannot wait to begin brining smiles to faces through the power of a sweet treat. There is nothing better than to see happiness with someone enjoying one of your creations, and that is a big part of the reason I love to bake.


Somehow, though, I need to remove all of these thoughts of sweets out of my head and buckle down and finish up my Spring Term class strong, get all of my classes for the next two years laid out, and move out (wasn't I just moving in?!) After a short weekend up north, I will be returning home to get everything in order and have less than one week before the big day. I hope to see many of you there and be able to provide you with some tasty treats.

Life is What You Bake It.

xoxox

Some big news...

I have something big and exciting to announce!

I always talk of my dreams of opening a bakery or a coffee shop. I imagine and plan it in my head quite often. Well yesterday I took the first step in making it a reality.

I am officially opening an at-home business called Cravings by Cailee.

So far I am just a Facebook page. I am going to see how business goes through that and business cards (which should be here next week!) I can begin taking orders after June 1st.

My logo is a Cupcake, in honor of my favorite thing to bake and my tagline is "Any occasion is a good occasion for baked goods."

The logo and Facebook profile photo - image is also featured on my business cards!

I am going to need lots of support over the next few weeks as I begin to get things up and running and the most important thing I need help with is getting traffic to my Facebook page. You, as blog readers, will be the first to have the link and than you can take it from there to share, share and share some more.

Also, keep me in mind for any orders you may have, especially over the summer. :) Birthdays, graduations, fathers day, ANY OCCASION!

So here is the Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/CravingsByCailee
"Like" the page to stay updated with my progress and then SHARE the page with anyone and everyone.

I cannot thank you all enough for being supportive in me trying to get this started. I am so excited to see how it goes!

Thank you.

Like, Share and Eat a Cupcake

xoxox

Spring in the Bubble

Just to clarify for those of you that don't know... people that attend Alma tend to say we live in the "Alma Bubble." Which is where "Spring in the Bubble" comes from :)



Imagine turning a corner to green lawns, people on bikes, people laying around studying on blankets in the sun and even some people playing frisbee. That is what it was like when I turned into campus last Sunday afternoon.

Mind you, I hadn't been on campus since the first week of December. When I left it was cold and snowy and most people were hidden inside under blankets.  Seeing campus like this, alive and outside, was refreshing.

Spring Term is so different than a normal semester. Most people only have one class that last just a few hours a day. Others are in class 9-5 right now, but are leaving for Europe or some other exciting place this weekend. I, personally, am in a class that is just 2-2.5 hours a day and the homework is relatively easy, which means I have a lot of free time. I am working between 10-15 hours a week, on top of RA work and duty, but I still have incredible amounts of free time.

Over the course of this week I have studied outside on a blanket, read under a tree, got a sunburn, spent lots of time people-watching from the service learning house porch, got ice cream at Stucchi's, been on duty twice, worked out several times, kicked a ball over the roof of the service learning house (did you ever make it Heather or Kayla?!), spent an hour catching up with people in Marketing and Communications and also quite awhile catching up with admissions staff,  and so much more. When would I have time for that in a normal semester?

Also, Kayla and I began a bucketlist for the rest of Spring Term. Go for a bike ride (with borrowed bikes), get Coldstone, get Tim Hortons (which is conveniently in the same building as Coldstone!), play tennis, go for a walk... I can't think of the rest off the top of my head, but you get the point.

We have lots of free time to be outside and enjoy the lovely (hot!) weather we've been having.

Get Outside and Enjoy It!

xox

Catching Up

It has been over a week since my last blog post. A lot has happened in the past week.

We're going to rewind to Thursday and Friday, as I was prepping for Relay for Life.

First and foremost, I met and exceeded my goal of $750. I actually ended with more than $800, which is absolutely amazing. I spent all day Thursday and Friday running errands and making sure we had everything in order for Relay. I made signs, went to party city for decorations twice, and baked more than I've ever baked in one day, ever before. I baked over 4 dozens cupcakes and close to 100 cake pops.

Did somebody say Bake Sale?

Then before I knew it it was Saturday morning. We got our site set up and we were all decked out in neon and ready to rep the 80s. 

Our team, Notorious C.U.R.E. or "The Little Team that Could" raised over $3,500.  It was a great day or celebration, remembrance and lots of people fighting back! As an event, we raised over $111,000! Thank you to every one who was involved, no matter the amount of involvement!

After Relay, bright and early Sunday morning, I returned home. I power-showered, took a quick cat nap, packed up the car and headed north back to Alma.

I knew moving back to campus after 6 months away was going to be an adjustment, but I never knew how hard it really would be. I've been at home cooking, spending time with family and having the freedom to go and do whatever I wanted. Now I am back in a dorm room, not to mention alone for the first time, with suite-mates I don't know and trying to make the best of it. Keeping busy is going to be key for me. I have made a promise to find some time, every single day, to do some sort of workout whether it be a run, a walk, some time on the weights.. anything. Just something to keep me up and moving.

I will begin "work" (one of many) tomorrow and will be working about 6-8 hours a week in the lab. Friday I will begin giving tours again, which I am really looking forward to as I really enjoy the interaction with potential students and their families. 

Friday evening I am actually heading home for the weekend. This was not planned, but came up as I was spending time with some of my sorority sisters and realized that one of them is actually heading home my way on Friday, which has really helped me pull through this week.

After I return from the weekend at home there will be only 18 days left until I can return home for summer and not have to be back here until Mid-August. I am definitely looking forward to having Ashley & Jes as suite-mates in the fall, because I know that will change the whole environment of my living situation. 

Until then, I'll just keep pushing through. Just keep swimming... just keep swimming.

Cailee

xoxo

Dream a Dream

Everyone has dreams. Dreams while you're sleeping.. reflecting on the days gone by. Dreams that are sad, and bring up old memories and past sorrows. Dreams that are whimsical and full of fantasy. Dreams during the day, while you're wide awake but not paying full attention and dreams of the future. People dream about places they will go, things they will do. They dream about things that they want out of life and people that are or have been apart of it all.

I have a dream. Not different from the way Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once did. My dream is a personal dream, not a dream for the world (although, those exist in my mind as well.) My dream relates to my career and to my future.

My dream is to be successful, but happy.

You see, I have two career aspirations. They are two very different careers. Two very different jobs, and ways of life.  I see myself doing two things with my professional life.

The first, what I am going to school for. Something that has always come naturally for me... Communications, Marketing and Social Media. To some people that probably seems completely boring and too much of a "desk job." I, however, love communicating with others, and working to help them reach a goal in their life. I enjoy sharing my love for something with others (which is what got me hooked on marketing!) I have worked on yearbook staffs and shared my love of my school, our organizations and my friends all over the pages. When the books were printed and completed, I shared my love with everyone who held it in their hands. I created memories for people, and for that I am happy. I run many, many Facebook groups & pages. I share my love for the organization or company or what-have-you, through Facebook and love to watch peoples reactions and responses. I love the speed of social media, the speed of the interactivity and the short reactions times. I enjoy being connected, networking and talking with people from all over the world. And more than anything else, I love that social media is ever-changing.

I didn't know it then but my love for social media began when I was young, 12 or maybe 13 years young. I always wanted a MySpace and wanted to be connected to my friends. I spent hours configuring my "top friends" and my profile songs, and making sure the HTML code (yes, im serious.) made my sparkling cursor and background show up correctly. Several times, I was told I was too young and my profile was deleted. (Thanks, mom! Stuntin' my career growth..... sheesh.) Each and every time I was persistent, and a little sneaky, and managed to get back on and develop a new profile. A few years later, I was among the first of my friends to join Facebook. I remember having an attitude against it because you could not design a profile and because it was "boring." Look at Facebook now. Facebook has tailored their site to allow some personalizing through the cover photo. It is an organized site and has more than a billion monthly active users.  

With developing my social media career, I have developed and branched out my social networks. I am a member on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger (obviously!), WordPress, Yammer, Vimeo, TweetDeck & Hootsuite (multi-management sites), Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram, FourSquare, Google+, LinkedIn, Youtube and Tumblr. I currently have a Klout score of 61 meaning I am an above-average influencer. I love being connected and love sharing.  One day I hope to do social media for  a company or organization full-time. I am open to exploring other jobs within communications and marketing, and would more than likely enjoy them just as much because it is the connection and communication that excites me.

The second dream is to own a cafe'/bakery. I love being in the kitchen. I could spend hours baking, and dreaming up new ways to present sweet treats. My favorite thing to bake would have to be cupcakes, but I enjoy doing cookies, cakes, cake pops and a wide-variety of other sweet treats as well. I also love coffee. It began with frappuchinos, stemmed out to hot coffee drinks with lots of sugar and now is just a simple cup of coffee. Some of my favorites have always been Starbucks' White Chocolate Mocha, Tim Hortons' Iced Cappuccino, and a cup of Gevalia Columbian brew straight from my Keurig. I could drink 10 cups of coffee a day.

To be able to open a shop where I could be surrounded by two things I love, every single day, would be more than a dream come true. I would want a shop with comfortable seating, and a welcoming atmosphere, where fresh baked goods were cooking in the kitchen and coffee was always brewing. I would offer sweet treats in larger orders, so that they could be sold for parties and other events. I would have a plants and flowers in and around the shop, and bring in live music performers who were trying to find their place in the industry. It would be a place where people came to escape from their crazy lives, and I would go to escape from mine, and it would be a place of sweet bliss.

And that bakery would have some of the best social media sites you could ever imagine. ;)


One day, somehow, someway, I will find a way to blend my dreams together. I will find a way to finance my dreams and to create happiness for others.

Until then, I will continue my search for a summer job making minimum wage.

I guess that's why they call it dreaming.

Dream Big

xoxo