Show Off Saturday

I am not really in a showing-off mood.  But here are a few things I did this week that were out-of-the-ordinary.

I worked on my portfolio.  I also made pumpkin carrot cupcakes.

I got everything (almost, anyway) that I need for Paul's birthday, 2 weeks away!  I still have to paint the flannel throws and a handful of other things, but I have at least BOUGHT almost everything I need...and today I finished up the goodie bags. :)  Our costumes are awesome, too, by the way.

I finished Caida's costume! She's gonna be a rock queen bee.  Can't wait to see her in it!

The headpiece is a tiara ($1 from Dollar Tree) and black pipe cleaners/pom poms (already in my stash).  The yellow shirt and black skirt I got from Good Will for about $1.50/piece.  The black tee shirt, cut into ribs (it'll look way better once she wears it) was a $2.50 tee from Walmart.  And I accented everything with a yellow feather boa I got for $4 from Hobby Lobby.  She'll wear it with black tights and THIS:

I bought this at Dollar Tree, also, and tried spray painting it.  I don't think it's going to work too well, though--the original orange is coming through too much still! So, I may go buy some cheap, thin yellow fabric for $1.50/yard from Walmart today.  Which brings the total of this outfit to: $13!

$13 is more than I had planned on spending, honestly, but it's still way better than the $30 queen bee dress she wanted from the mall...and the yellow shirt and black skirt can go into her wardrobe when all is said and done (I just used safety pins to pin that boa on).  Dual purpose = worth it!

I also practiced no-heat ways to curl my hair this week.  Specifically, with a sock and a headband.  Here's with the sock (a more natural wave-type curl):

And here's with the headband (more vintagey, especially if you brush it out):

And another time, not just overnight but all day AND all night with just-out-of-the-shower hair instead of a dampness:

My hair is thin and straight and boring, so this is fun to do sometimes.  And fast (sock took me 5 minutes, hairband took me about 10).  Want to learn how?  I'll share the video links. ;)

Sock bun video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FV-YO46E8Y&feature=relmfu
Vintage hair video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYxS1ohz4Ao

Also, we are now at 48 days since we told management about the leak in our bathroom.  15 days afterwards, they finally came and cleaned it out.  Here's where we're at today.

This is our unfinished bathroom ceiling.

This is the stuff they leave everywhere. (And McDonald's trash.)

This is our bathroom closet...after banging around in it off and on for an hour, I'm still not sure what they actually did...

They had just spray-painted over the rotting door frame...it's already cracking again.  And you can see black marks from various tools and ceilings and such...they haven't painted yet.

On top of that, they knocked down our towel rack when they tore down our ceiling, and haven't even started talking about putting a new one back up yet!  We've decided not to pay rent until they fix it, since it's WELL past the 30 days we legally have to give them according to the lease.  Of course, once we told them that, someone was here the next morning to fix it...but they didn't actually do anything, even though they came in and out four times over the course of 5 hours, so I'm guessing maybe the end of October it'll be done?  Oh well.  No rent this month!  Yay!  And if they try to evict us, we'll contest it in court.  I think we'd win.

That's my week in a nutshell.  :)  What have YOU been up to?

Family Friday: Things I've learned this week

1. Who needs a vacuum when you have two dogs?

2. Coconut milk and carrots (and some other yummy things, like ginger and curry) make for a REALLY good (and filling) soup combo.

3. I want to take ASL again.  You can thank Switched at Birth for that.  But, no, really.  I do.  I need to find a community class for that, Spanish, and Japanese. :)

4. Putting together a teaching portfolio that is professional-looking, concise, but still shows off all the best parts of me is SO hard.  But the process is good for me.

5. One of the hardest, but most important, jobs of a teacher/leader is setting the tone or mood of the class.  Paul's learning that right now in his merge-two-classes-into-one training class, and it's a good reminder for me, too.

6. Even when you haven't spoken with someone for a REALLY long time, if they cared about you before, they care about you now.  It's really a peaceful thing to remember all the people in the world who love you, even when you haven't really thought about each other in a while.  Love doesn't die unless you let it.

7. Everyone has that number that, to them, means so-many-I-can't-even-think-about-counting-it-right-now.  Like, when my to-do list is so long I want to cry, I say "80 million," because my dear friend Clair said that all the time when we lived together and that just sort of stuck.  But, for Caida, that number is 55.  That is a BIG number to her!  She says it all the time when she's trying to guess a huge number.  And if she wants to go bigger, she just tacks something on to the end of that afterwards...like "55-17!"  Hahaha...kids are funny.  What's YOUR number?

8. Drinking tons of water means you have to go to the toilet all. the. time.  I don't know how any of you pregnant women make it!  Hahaha.

9. My hubby is a sexy pirate man.  ;)  Stay tuned for awesome pics in a few weeks for his birthday!  We're still getting the costumes together, but it's been SO fun.

10. I have 80 million ideas for projects right now that I want to do...thank you, Pinterest...and even MORE things I want to make for a future classroom just so I don't have to do all of it last minute someday.  But I should probably focus on the projects I'm already in the middle of first, right? ...

11. I have a temper.  This is something I've learned in the last two years, actually, not just this week.  But it still surprises me every time I lose it, because I never really did that before.  I found this amazing idea on Pinterest as an alternative to time-out, and thought I'd share it with all of you readers (whoever you are?)...it's for kids, but I TOTALLY need one myself.  In every color.  And a few for my future classroom.  And I'm gonna make one for any and every babysitting kit ever, too.

12. Steve Jobs was actually a pretty cool guy.  I always equate him to Bill Gates in my mind, who I don't particularly care for, but Mr. Jobs was really different than I expected him to be and he said some pretty awesomely deep things.

13. Paul and I have decided we're going to have soup and bread and watch Conference talks as our FHE from now on.  Keep the tradition of Brother I's institute class alive AND actually look forward to a low-key FHE every week?  Yes!

14. People can be awful.  They can be wonderful, of course, too.  But they can also be awful.  I hate being taken advantage of or feeling so vulnerable just because there are people out there who do mean things to people they don't even know.

15. They make Scrabble Cheezits.  Yeah.  Wrap your head around that!

Thankful Thursday

1. I'm thankful to have my husband to myself again...Cerene and Caida decided to move in with my mom this week, and while I miss Caida like crazy sometimes, I'm super happy to have our home be ours again...well, sort of.  Until my mom gets into a 3-bedroom we're still storing most of their stuff in our back room.  :)  But my mom lives just about 50 feet away, so it's not like I never see them. :)

2. I'm thankful to be focusing on teaching again.  I've applied to a few jobs (aides in a preschool and in first grade classrooms), but I haven't heard anything back yet.  Waiting is not my favorite.  But, between pinterest, a few teaching blogs, and updating my portfolio, I think I can at least be a good sub if nothing else pans out.  And it's fun to dream big again, instead of just living each day the same as before and not really having much to look forward to.

3. I'm grateful for the women I work with in activity days.  They're great, and fun, and wonderful planners and people.  I'm lucky to be learning from them!

4. I'm thankful for autumn!  The weather has been cool, the leaves are just starting to change colors, and going on walks with the dogs is a lot more fun in this weather than that unbearably hot summer we had! I am sooo looking forward to pumpkin and caramel apple flavored things in the next few weeks...and Halloween!

5. I'm grateful for the power of water to heal.  Just a little.  But drinking lots and lots of water lately has helped my headaches a bit and the back pain, too.  And it has filled me up so I don't feel the need to eat as much.  Step 1 to getting healthy: drink 1 quart of water first thing in the morning and drink a glass or two every couple of hours throughout the day.  :)

Why I Believe Wednesday: The Priesthood

The priesthood, for you non-LDS readers, is basically the power and authority of God, given to mankind to act in His name to bless His children.  Women in our church do not hold the priesthood--not because of anything demeaning to women, but because it is a responsibility men in this patriarchal church have as a division of labor (and women have their own responsibilities that are equally important and valued in the eyes of God, with their own associated blessing, not to mention we work together with men in unison with our unique strengths and responsibilities so we can better build up the kindgom of God in an orderly way).  No one can use this priesthood for themselves, and women still receive all the blessings associated with the priesthood (particularly in marriage), and most righteous priesthood holders have said at one time or another that men *need* the priesthood to be as discerning and aware of the needs of others as women already naturally are, so it doesn't bother this feminist one bit.  And, in fact, I LOVE it.

The priesthood is used in many ways.  All ordinances of the gospel, including those in the temple, are performed by the authority of the priesthood.  This makes sense to me--you can't pull someone over and give them a parking ticket unless you're a cop, so how much MORE important is it for things of eternal consequences to have a need for authority?  So far, I have received many blessings through partaking in the ordinances of baptism and confirmation, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, renewing those sacred covenants through the weekly ordinance of the sacrament, and receiving my endowment in the temple before being sealed to my husband for time and all eternity.  These are general blessings that the priesthood can do for anyone who is willing to seek for them.

The priesthood is also used to give very personal blessings--blessings for the sick, blessings of comfort and direction, patriarchal blessings, and more are all blessings we as members of Christ's church have access to--indeed, a NEED for and a RIGHT to, if we are faithful.  I've seen the miracle of this priesthood power in my life, even more poignantly than the saving ordinances listed earlier. 

I think the first experience I can remember is when I was only 5 or 6 years old.  My little sister was born with mutliple non-cancerous tumors on her body that continue to grow whenever they feel like it, so she's had multiple surgeries to have them removed when they pinch a nerve, cause her bones to start growing in a way they're not supposed to, or push into her lungs.  When she was 4, she also had pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital.  I don't remember much of my childhood, but I remember looking down on her as she was in this plasticy tube struggling to breathe, and I remember my dad giving her a blessing.  I had been taught about these things, so my innocent child-mind just sort of understood that because she had been given a blessing and promised she would be okay, I had no reason to worry.  And I didn't.  She recovered, and has had many blessings since for these tumors and her surgeries, and every time those priesthood blessings give me comfort and strength.

One time when I was a teenager (my parents had just split up, but we were still in our Battle Ground house), my dad got sick.  I mean, randomly and suddenly, he went from my dad to a person I couldn't understand at all who looked like he was going to fall over any minute.  His speech was incoherent and his eyes had a glazed-over look, and I at first panicked...I'm the oldest, who else is going to help me?  What do I even do?  But I made out something in his words that asked for a priesthood blessing, and, thankfully, our neighbors across the street had several priesthood holders.  So I rushed over and called a few of them to help, and (true to worthy priesthood holder fashion) they dropped everything to run to our aid.  They gave my dad a blessing, and immediately he was improving.  That was the first time I really remember *needing* the priesthood to work, *wondering* if it would, instead of just taking for granted that of course everything would be fine.

Still, I suppose I needed more testimony-building experiences.  I'd had father's blessings before school almost every year, and blessings of comfort and health, but, again, it was just sort of what you did/needed, I didn't really appreciate them or take home a greater testimony of the priesthood itself.  There was a time at BYU when I was really taught, very personally, what an incredible power and MIRACLE this priesthood is. I was visiting my aunt and uncle and cousins over a holiday weekend.  I wasn't feeling great, but mostly that was due to women's issues and you just sort of persevere.  Well, on Sunday morning I became VERY ill, much worse than I've ever been before or since.  And it happened suddenly, too.  I became not only nauseated and crampy, but dizzy, to the point I was certain I would faint.  At first I laid on the couch to slow the spinning, but that wasn't stable enough.  I laid down on the floor, face pressed to the carpet.  Still spinning.  I couldn't even *think* straight.  My aunt called for my uncle (who'd already walked to church, gotta love Utah!) and he came back with another priesthood holder to give me a blessing.  Now, normally when I get a blessing, it's comforting the way a person's kind words are comforting, at least for me.  And it gives me some direction that I *know* I should follow.  But this experience was unlike anything I've had before or since...it was a physical sensation.  It was literally as though the moment they placed their hands on my head and began pronouncing a blessing of healing, I felt this warmth and light and clarity of mind start at the top of my head and continue down through my mind and into my heart and stomach.  I just knew, and still know now, that I was feeling the power of God flowing through me.  And I was healed, in that moment.  It doesn't totally make sense, if you think about it.  I feel in my heart that that was a God-given experience, just to help me appreciate the priesthood more in my own life.

Not all priesthood blessings are so *obviously* miraculous, of course.  With my own health problems, I have been given several blessings of healing, but I have yet to see those blessings come to pass fully.  I've been given counsel and promises in some blessings, from years ago even, that are still playing out today. And I know that sometimes, the sick are blessed to an eternal rest instead of being healed the way we want them to be.  Having the priesthood doesn't mean we have a "get out of jail free" card for all our problems.  But it DOES mean that God loves His children.  He has organized a way to bless them--US--in every facet of our lives, and He is there in our darkest moments to whisper comfort, peace, direction, and hope to us.  He is aware of our needs, and every priesthood blessing and ordinance is a testimony to that fact.  I know, too, being married to a priesthood holder, that learning to truly magnify that priesthood is a sanctifying experience, for the man who holds it and all the people whose lives he touches through it.  I am so grateful that God still speaks to us today, not only through a prophet, but through the least of us.  And He never forgets us.  How could you not want those blessings associated with the priesthood in your life--in your home? 

I've been blessed by the priesthood power, and there yet are blessings to receive and miles to go before I sleep.  That is why I believe.

10 Things Tuesday: Leaves!

Autumn is practically here...I can smell it!  And it's my favorite ever!  So, how can we bring the happiness of autumn indoors?  Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

10.  Wax your leaves so they'll keep all season long!  FamilyFun tells you how.  Then you can use them in decor--in baskets, on table runners, or in glass vases/hurricanes/empty glass lamp bases--anywhere you can see them!

 9.  Turn a leaf into a piece of art--like thumbprint drawings, only earthier.  :)

 8.  Make the leaves into something else--collage style!

 7.  What about these awesome clay leaf-imprinted coasters?  Another great craft from FamilyFun!

 6.  Make a pretty autumn mobile!

 5.  Use the leaves as stamps to decorate pillows, journals, and more!

 4.  Use the leaves to make crayon rubbings, and then turn this into stationery or artwork!

 3.  Make a lovely autumn wreath for your doorstep.

 2.  For extra flavor in your barbecues (or extra incense in your bonfires), burn a few fragrant maple or apple leaves in your grill or fire!

 1.  Make placemats with your awesome new leaf collection...so pretty!

Don't you just want to go rake leaves and jump in a big pile of them already?  Soon, friends, soon!  Until then, happy crafting!

Mmm...Monday! Poor Man's Sushi

I really love sushi.  Well, not the stuff with lots of raw things draped over the whole top...and not with roe...but put some tuna or salmon or crab or some SMALL amount of raw fish with some veggies in there and I'm all about it.  :)

I made "poor man's sushi" for our ward's break-the-fast last week, and it was a hit, particularly among the kids who wanted to feel adventurous (Caida included).  Surprisingly, they loved it (although Caida picked out all the veggies she usually likes, but she kept the seaweed in, so...).  I don't know if I would have liked it as a kid, so kudos to them.

The mountain of sushi for the ward.  :)

Anyway, sushi is already pretty easy to make, just a little more time-consuming than a casserole.  I call this "poor man's sushi" for a couple of reasons.  (1) We always have white, long-grain rice in the house, and that's what I use instead of going out and buying sushi rice separately (not worth it, imo, unless you're trying to impress a Japanese person).  Although, you DO want rice vinegar instead of any other vinegar out there. (2) No sesame seeds or any meat (raw or otherwise) involved--so no shopping.  Although with some of these pictures we have canned salmon, that was mostly because when I taught my sister and niece how to make their own sushi I wanted options.  :) (3) The only veggies I included are a few cheap ones that I also use in other dishes--carrots, cucumber, and green onion.  You can get more adventurous if you have the money and are so inclined.  :)  So, basically, it's awesome because if you already have the vinegar (which lasts forever) and rice and a couple of veggies anyway, all you have to do is buy the toasted seaweed for like $2/20 sheets at Walmart.  And if you do that, you don't even need a sushi mat to roll anything.  So we can do it on a tight budget whenever we want.  $2 seriously makes like 80 little sushi.  :)

Here's how:
Gather all your supplies for rolling, filling, and dipping on the table. :)

1. Cook rice however you normally cook it.  We use a rice cooker.  You want about 2 1/2 c. of dry rice for all 20 sheets.
2. In a small bowl, mix together 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and 1 tsp. salt, or to taste.  Warm for about 30 seconds in a microwave. 
3. Pour vinegar mixture all over the rice and fold until every grain is covered (fun to do with hands, but you can use a regular rice spoon, too).  Obviously you don't really account for every single grain--when it's plenty sticky, like so sticky you could pick it all up at once, it's good.

Kinda like this...mushy and sticky.  But even more so if you can get it.

4. Cool rice for about 30 minutes, or 'til you can touch it a lot.
5. Lay out your sheet of seaweed.
6. Have a small bowl of warm water nearby for rinsing your hands/keeping them from sticking to the rice and stuff.  Dip as often as you feel is necessary!  Starting firm and full on one side (usually left if you're right-handed and vice-versa), pack down rice all along the end, trailing a little thinner as you work your way to the right (or left, if you're left-handed). Only put rice about halfway to two-thirds along the wrapper.

7. Lay your veggies and anything else you want to fill it with in the middle-ish (see picture).

My dear hubby...he learned after a few tries to put the meat/veggies a little closer to the outside so when you roll it it will truly be in the middle. :)

8. Roll TIGHTLY from rice-and-veggie side over to the non-rice side.  When you get to within an inch or so from the edge, wet it down with your finger dipped in the warm water bowl so it sticks to itself.

9. After you've made sure it's packed tightly, Cut into smaller cross sections (I do about 4 with the hand roll sheets). 

See?  Pretty!

10. Serve with soy sauce (and, if you're not poor, wasabi and other fun dippings).  Makes about 80 sushi.

We had more fun than it looks like...you know it's REALLY a hit when everyone's too busy making and eating to even smile for the camera. :)

Sunday Thoughts

I love General Conference.  So many times, it's not what was said but just the Spirit that is felt that makes all the difference.  My mind tends to wander at times, but I let it during Conference, because as long as I'm being directed by the Spirit, you never know where those thoughts will lead.  I decided five main things during this conference weekend (and last weekend, too, really, with the women's session):

I need to work on enjoying the moment more, and making the most of what I have instead of feeling sorry for myself for all the things that haven't worked out the way I wanted.  (I'm so spoiled sometimes.  I need to have more faith in a loving Father.)
I want to do more service. (Use my talents for people I DON'T know, too...)
I want to be better about my scripture study. (FOR REALZ.)
I want to work. (And I need to.)
I want to go to the temple again. (Yay, Provo, and Paris, and CONGO...woohoo for more temples!)

On an unrelated note, someone in church recently mentioned this series of books called "6 Word Memoirs."  I guess someone started this online project that sort of became HUGE (how did I NOT know about this?) in which they submitted the stories of their lives in 6 words--no more, no less.

I have a lot of fun thinking about what I would have submitted.  I think it would have depended on the day. :) But, overall, at least for now, I think I'd say, "I kept trying, no matter what."

The lady that shared this said that her father (or grandfather? I don't remember) told the family he'd sum up his life in the words, "I said my prayers every day."  I like that, too.  :)

What would YOU say about your life, however long or short it has been so far, if you had to sum it up in a 6 word memoir?

Faux Corset Top Tutorial (and what NOT to do!)

Okay, let's start with a disclaimer.  I'm not a seamstress.  I'm not a great tutorial maker.  And I had no idea what I was doing when I started this project, other than I wanted to use what I had to make a fake corset top for my pirate wench costume, which I don't want to spend any money on if I can help it...This fake corset is for costumes and such, not everyday wear.  SO.  While I will initially share my tutorial with you on how I actually made this, I will also share with you all the things I wish I had done differently so that you don't make the same mistakes.  But, even saying that, I still love how it turned out.  So here's a tutorial.  But you really ought to read the end if you want to make it better than I did. :)

YOU WILL NEED:

* black (or whatever color you want) tank.  The actual corset is just a tank top/spaghetti strap shirt or tee shirt with sleeves cut off...I have lots of these for undershirts that are getting kinda gross or worn out or boring and need upcycling.  So, enter the black tank top.  

* matching WIDE (at LEAST 1 1/2"...mine was 2 1/2") ribbon, at least 5 yards long.  This is the stiff paneling for your corset top.

* red (or whatever contrasting color you want) ribbon, skinny (mine was 1/4" wide) and shiny, at least 10 yards of it.  This is the lacing.  If you want to use something else, like shoelaces or yarn or something, go ahead.  :)

* Fabri Tac or other glue, or, if you want, you can use good ol' needle and thread.  I used Sew No More, because it was cheap and supposedly washable and flexible, but in the end I wished I hadn't (see notes) and just pulled out the old hot glue gun...it's just a one-day costume, right?  In the future, I'll take the time to actually sew, probably.  But this was fast.

*Optional: pins and cardboard for the glue, eyelets to make it more realistic, wide creamy-colored lace to put underneath the corsety part. 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Determine what sort of shape you want for your fake corset. This will depend not only on your tastes but your body type.  I initially thought I'd go with a vee-shape, but once I looked at my actual body (so wide, especially at the hips) I decided I liked the straight better.  If you go with the hourglass/star pattern, you'll want to find out where your natural waist (the skinniest part of you) is so that you can mirror that with the shape of the corset lacing.  :)

My awesome drawing on Paint...so you can get a visual. :)

2. Put the tank top on to measure where your bust line is on the actual shirt.  That's where the top of your lacing is going to be.  Mark it somehow, using safety pins or chalk or something.  Take it off, fold it over at that line so that you've only got the front part below the bust line showing, and lay it flat.  If you want, especially if you're using Sew No More, place some cardboard inside the shirt to keep the fabric glue from seeping out everywhere.

3a. (If you're using the wide lace to layer/panel underneath your ribbon lacing, cut it to fit from the bottom to this bustline and glue/sew in the middle now!).

3. Take your super-long red thread and do your best to find the middle.  Pin that to the middle of the bottom of the shirt.  If you're off a little, it won't matter, though...so don't stress if it's not perfect!

4. However wide you want your laced section to be (the width of your lace panel if you're using it), glue or sew the ribbon down in a straight line so it's tacked there.  I glued and then pinned it while it dried so that it wouldn't shift with all the folding/moving I was about to do.  Again, hot glue or sew is best, depending on your purpose for making this. :)

5. Lay out the general shape you want.  Feel good that you're starting to see the vision!

6. Zigzag the ribbon back and forth up the shirt to that bust line and back down again, gluing or tacking or sewing somehow at each turn/"corner".  I started off making the lacing too wide--almost 2" apart--and then went back through the middles so they are actually about 3/4" apart now.  You can do more or less, of course.  The zigzag lines should be parallel to each other.

7. Cut your wide ribbon into two lengths (from the bust line to the bottom of the shirt) and glue/sew them down so that they are just overlapping the sides of the lacing.

8. Glue or sew the middle of a looooooong length of the wide ribbon (long enough to pull around and tie in back) at the top, where your bust line is.  I started using the hot glue gun here, and glued at the tops of the two previous wide, black panels and in between.  Also tie a bow with your red ribbon (with long, flowy ends) and glue to the middle here.

9. Voila!  You're done!  Admire your work by pairing it with a peasant shirt or the like.

Imagine this with a tattered black skirt, red bandana  wrap, and boots?  Yes!

Okay.  Now the things I learned.

1. While Sew No More was cheap and is flexible, it makes everything UGLY.  Seriously.  See all that glue?

I thought, like Elmers, that it would at least dry clear and things would look fine in the end.  But it never quite dried clear and, even worse, it seeps through all the fabric and turns it ugly, too.  And, unlike Elmers, it doesn't come off your skin too easily...I was still picking at my hands the next day. I looked at reviews online after the fact, and it seems like Fabri Tac might be better about those problems (probably why it's more expensive), but I have no experience with it so I can't say for sure.  I ended up using the hot glue gun and wished I had done that from the beginning...but I also wanted some flexibility and washability, which is why I didn't in the first place.  Maybe I'll sew next time?  I don't know.  I was VERY disappointed...but I should have done my homework first.  Sew No More is really more for patching rips and hemlines, not major sewing projects!  Still, the edges/corners were covered in the end so the worst of it gets covered up, whatever you do...

2. I also, because this is a cheap costume for a birthday party and I didn't want to spend any money, didn't buy the wide lace paneling or the eyelets.  But both are great if you want it to look more realistic!  Some things to consider, though...first of all, the lace has to go down first.  Secondly, if you're using eyelets, I think what I would do is glue down the wide black ribbon-paneling first, then thread the skinny red ribbon through the eyelets...and then glue the eyelets down where I wanted them...it would be easier that way than gluing half of each eyelet down and trying to thread the ribbon through afterwards.

Eyelets...like this!

3. I should have done a little more measuring on this...especially ON me.  Tanks have a lot of give to them...especially if you have one with ribbing.  So what looks like the middle or the right width on a hanger might be a little different when you put it on.  And the shape may get slightly changed if you don't measure first...although, with the glue and such, it doesn't give TOO much where it counts.  I think next time I do something like this, I'll wear it, look in a mirror, and use chalk to outline the shape I want and where the true middle is.  If you look too closely, you can see that it's a little off.  :)

Still, not too bad.  Fast, cheap, and cute.  And for what will most likely be a one-night-wear, I can't complain!

If you end up making your own version of this, link up and let me see!  :)  Happy crafting!