"I wanna make that!"

"Oooh, I wanna make that!" has been something I've found myself saying over and over again this week as I've browsed Pinterest, my new favorite website!  So, yesterday, I decided to make some of those things I've been saying I've wanted to make... although, since I live in Korea, and I can't exactly drive to my local Home Depot, Joanne's, or Michael's for craft supplies, I had to put my resourceful cap on and think outside of the box, to use the things I knew I COULD get in Korea! 

Inspiration # 1:  DIY Coasters!

These were made with 4 inch x 4 inch tiles, some craft paper (Mod Podged) and a piece of felt glued to the bottom.  I will definitly be making these THIS way when I eventually move back to the US, or find a tile store in this country that will sell me 4 tiles! 

Tutorial on: http://lightrefreshmentsserved.com/?s=coasters

Unfortunately, since I have no idea where any tile stores are, I went to where I knew I could find something that would work just as well, DAISO!  DAISO is kind of like the dollar section at Target, but AN ENTIRE STORE worth of it, and they have everything - not always a $1.00 though, from kitchen supplies, school supplies, home decor, gardening tools, baskets, bath accessories, makeup, oragnaizational stuff...  It's fabulous!  Anyhow, I found these tiny sauce dishes for .90 cents each, and figured they would work just fine as coasters.  Originally, I was going to use them upside down, like in the picture, but later decided to set them right side up, so the cup could sit snuggly inside.  I also bought a small roll of handmade Korean traditional paper in a nearby market for $1.00 to cover them with!

The final product!  They're not perfect, but that's the point, right!  Anything handmade should look a little like it was! 

Inspiration # 2: Covering flowerpots

(or in my case, a wine glass!)

I had some paper left over and had seen this tutorial for covering flowerpots...  http://www.christinechitnis.com/2010/01/pretty-pots.html...

... but decided to cover an empty wine glass instead, which now humbly sits upon my refridgerator as decoration!  It's cute from afar, but not so great up close!  Patience is not one of my strongest virtues, and this sometimes carries into my projects!  lol

Inspiration # 3: Crafty envelopes!

Lastly, I saw these envelopes a couple weeks ago and thought they were so cool and creative...

http://michelleums.tumblr.com/page/24

So, I took the final scraps of paper that I had, and a couple HomePlus paper grocery bags and made my own version of the crafty envelopes!  Mine, however are brown on the inside, with the fancy paper on the outside!  Now I just have to start writing letters again so I can actually use them!

 

If you're not already a fan of pinterest, you should be!  We can follow each other and get inspired to be creative!  My username is: JillinKorea... Fitting, right?!

So, that's what I've been up to this weekend!

Sometimes I'm crafty!

My sister Kelsey recently introduced me to Pinterest! She warned me that I might get addicted, so I begged her not "to invite me"!  But, she did, because she knew I would thank her later, which I totally do now!  

I've been re-inspired to get creative again and pull out my sewing kit and art box!  Last night, I bought a $3.00 apron from a local market that had these 3 patterns in pink, brown, and white.  I cut it to pieces and fashioned the scraps into little roses, which I then attached to a pearl bracelet I already had in my jewelry box! Simple, easy, and a conversation starter!... especially in Korea, where they've never seen anything like this!

If you don't already have a Pinterest account, sign up!  It's fabulous!

Japanese Mickey Mouse!

Aaron and I decided that since we haven't been able to go to Disneyland in America together, that we would go while we were in Japan together!  (Monday, September 12th)

I know, we live a tough life, don't we?! 

Admission was $80.00, which I thought was less than Disneyland CA, but it looks like it's the exact same price.  Oh well, it was worth it!

They gave me an English and a Japanese map.  Wish I knew how to read both!  Maybe one day!

This is the main street at Tokyo Disneyland, which they call "The World Bazzar."  It wasn't quite as cute or quaint as CA Disneyland. :(

We headed straight for Tomorrowland to go on Space Mountain, but stopped in our tracks when we saw that they have Captain EO in 4-D!  It's a classic from our childhoods, and ended up being the first thing we did!

Space Mountain had a 90 minute wait, so we grabbed a fast pass and headed for the cars!  You may think that was a lame choice, but when you haven't driven a car in almost 3 years, it's kind of fun again!  At Tokyo Disneyland, they have a sensor on the cars where they automatically stop when you get within about 5 feet of the car in front of you!  Smart, very smart!  I've had my fair share of whiplashes on this ride in CA!

 Call us crazy, but we went to Toontown next!  Tokyo Disneyland is kind of set up in a circle, surrounding the castle, so it was the next area to see!  We headed straight for the roller coaster, which had a 5 MINUTE WAIT!!  Amazing, right?!

It may be for kids and only last 30 seconds...

but I loved it and laughed the whole ride!  We were sat in the very back, which as everyone knows feels like you're going much faster! I know, I'm such a thrill seeker, aren't I!
(insert sarcasm here)

Toontown was darling, and most of the little Japanese girls were dressed up, head to toe, in their princess outfits!

Such a schmooch, huh?!

I kid you not, nearly 90% of the girls between the age of 12 and 20, were wearing one of these Minny Mouse headbands... literally, 90%!  I, on the other hand, just modeled it for the photo and placed it right back on the shelf where it belongs!

No trip to Disneyland is complete without a visit to Small World!

For whatever reason, the USA area was limited to 2 small cowboys and a whole room full of Hawaiian hula dancers!  

Thunder Mountain Railroad is, and will always be, one of my favorite rides at Disneyland! Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear the guys say: "Hang on to your hats and glasses folks, cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!"  Or maybe I did, but it was in Japanese! As you can see, I've ridden it a time or two, or 100!

 Sooo fun!

Tom Sawyer Island and the river...

You can't go to Disneyland without taking a castle picture!

Like I said, 90% of the girls were wearing Minney Mouse ear headbands, but what I didn't mention was the fact that about 30% of the groups of girls there that day were ALSO wearing matching Disney t-shirts like these girls!

I was sooo happy they had Splash Mountain, which Aaron kept calling "the flume ride!"  Made me laugh every time!

They sat us in the very front of "the flume" as Aaron would say, and we got drenched on the big drop!  It felt sooo good to be cooled off after being in the sun all day!

For those of you who went to HS with Aaron, you'll love this picture... The good ole' "raptor" came out for the drop picture!!  Yes, Aaron and his friends used to imitate raptors... weird, I know!  I guess it's what kids do when they grow up in the mountains!

Somewhere in Critter Country...

These cute little popcorn stands were set up all throughout the park, selling strange flavors of popcorn.  This one, for instance, offered "curry popcorn!"  I know it may sound gross, but it smelled heavenly!

I begged Aaron to come with me to the Jungle Cruise!  Who doesn't love the Jungle Cruise? ...Relaxing on a boat, while riding through what seems to be a real jungle, and listening to a comedian tell funny jokes!  Who wouldn't love that?!  Aaron said, if the wait was 20 minutes or less, he'd do it!  You can't tell from this picture, but it was exactly 20 minutes! haha! Sadly though, we didn't understand the jokes. :(

The jungle cruise...  We joked about how it looks like some of our recent travel pictures to South East Asia!

The Jungle Cruise...

Hello strollers!

An American girl... wearing a sombrero... at Disnyeland... in Japan?!  Does anyone else see the irony of this picture?

A soy sauce and butter popcorn stand!   hmmmm...

By this point, we were pretty hungry and were ready for some good ole Disneyland food for dinner, so we headed to this restaurant in The World Bazzar for some hotdogs!

Aaron is such a fat kid in a thin body!  He ordered a foot long hot dog!  I didn't even know those existed!

The castle with the moon beside it was so beautiful at night time!

I was so excited about the Electrical Parade!  I know parade time is the best time to ride the rides, but I didn't care...

It was actually better than I remembered! :)

After the parade we raced to Thunder Mountain just in time to beat the crowds and rode it for the 2nd time!

Then we finished off the night with another stop at Splash Mountain and 2 more rounds of Space Mountain, (Aaron's favorite!) before calling it a night and closing out the park!  I was really looking forward to the fireworks show at 9:30pm, but it was canceled due to the weather, which was strange, because it was a gorgeous clear night!  Who knows!  Anyhow, we had such a fun day; full of good food, lots of walking, tons of laughter, and some grade A people watching!  Farewell Mickey Mouse!  See you next time in California!