Thursday, May 31, 2012

Cheer coach in training maybe?

Lets start at the beginning.....
For the last 4 years I have taught dance classes with the Community Recreation Center (click here for classes offered) in town and I have loved every minute of it. I have taught ages 3- Adult and in the styles of Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Hip Hop. Until recently these have been the only style of dance that I have taught. Starting last year I became a gymnastics teacher and team taught  classes ages 3-8. It was so much fun! Now keep in mind I dont know anything about gymnastics except what I have taught myself. And lets just say I can do a wicked somersault (forward roll) and some pretty dang good cartwheels. But my knowledge is very limited. But nevermind that I was asked to team teach in a gymnastics class and to my surprise the class was actually very enjoyable and I really liked teaching those crazy kids! I even learned how to do a cartwheel correctly! After teaching gym classes last year, this year I was roped into teaching a Power Cheer and Stunting Class. Now lets just say that my cheer skills have been acquired from many years of dance and are therefore subject to criticism. I know how to do the following:

Half T                   R Bow and Arrow
Full T                    L Bow and Arrow
Daggers                Hands on Hips
Candle Sticks       Cleaning  Position
Buckets                Clasp
High V                  Low Touch down
Low V                  Box    
R Check mark      Left L
L Check mark      Right L
W                        Punch
R Diagonal           R Herky Jump
L Diagonal           L Herky Jump
Goal Post             Hurdler Jump
R K                     Pike Jump
L K                     Straddle Jump

           Now you make say wow that is actually a lot of different arm movements but really.... there is so much more. I have no idea how to do any tumbling nor any stunting. But I played it off cool as a cucumber and demonstrated what I have seen on TV and in observing Cheerleading at the high school and college level! I'm very proud to say that I now know how to do a back hand spring and a standing back tuck!
 (Thanks to my dear friend Mrs. Cohlee). I also know how to do these two stunts now!

Stunt 1
Basic Cheer Stunt

150px-CheerPrepGood.jpg (150×225)

Stunt 2

Liberty Cheer Stunt
2116712065.jpg (180×240)

The girls in are class were so wonderful and I loved being able to teach them! They did a fabulous job at their recital last night and didn't even drop a stunt (that is really bad in the cheer world)! Im so glad that I got the opportunity to teach cheer this year! I got to fulfill my wildest dreams an be a Cheerleader even if it was only for a little while!
Check out the video of our cheer dance and cheer side line on YouTube. ( still to come)



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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

DIY Photo Canvas


I decided that I should probably hang some pictures of the Hubby and I around the house seeing as we haven taken family pictures recently and we needed to spruce up the place a little bit. I LOVE the look of canvas photos but didn't want to spend and arm an a leg to get them  done. Pinterest to the rescue! I found a wonderful  tutorial online here if your interested in looking or you can follow along here.

Things you will need:

Mod Podge (made here)
Scissors
Canvas
Pictures to size
Paper cutter
Paint color of choice
Wax Paper ( to keep the table clean)


Things needed

  • First measure the canvas for sizing. Unless you can remember the size of canvas you bought after you have taken off the packaging... OOPS :)
  • Cut (more like trim) the photo so that it is barely smaller then the canvas . About an 1/8"- 1/4" Enough that it will sit on top but not hang over the edge. If for some reason you are a smidgen off on your cutting don't worry you will paint over that in a latter step.







  •  You must paint the canvas and the photo with the modge podge first in order to make the picture stick to the canvas. DIY Mod Podge here
  • Place photo on canvas and center. You can kind of move the picture around to center on the canvas but be very careful because the glue will dry quickly making it very difficult to move the photo. 
  • Use a towel to press the photo down firmly to avoid finger prints and smudges on your beautiful photo.

  • Allow the photo to dry in place at least a half hour. probably closer to 15min 
  • Next cover the entire photo and canvas with a layer of mod podge. Try and keep even strokes to allow drying time to be even. 
Obviously my skills in painting glue evenly are lacking and I need some practice.

  • This drying process will take the longest amount of time. I left my first photo to dry for about an hour and it was just about dry. Make sure you hold the photo up to the light so you can see where the glue has completely dried and where it has not. 
  • Put on another couple two three coats and call it good in the glue department. 

  • Now the fun part. Painting the edges of your canvas photo. For some reason I love painting and this part was my favorite part. My first photo I painted the edges a little too far in and have more black then I wanted. But it still looks great.
  • You can either do a little sponge painting or just sweep it on whatever look you desire.
  • After painting put on another couple of layers of mod podge and your finished.
as you can see my paint is not all the way dry. allow time for your paint to dry.




These beautiful pictures are now hangin up on the wall in the master bedroom and ready for when we redecorate the master bedroom. Which is hopefully very very soon.











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MOD PODGE

So the coolest stuff ever is mod podge! You can do all sorts of crafts with it. At first I didn't think that I would like it but I decided that I did that is until I saw the price of one of these little bottles. $10 for this measly 8oz bottle I think not! After searching the Internet I decided that I could make my own. So that is what I did. Down below you can find the experiment!

Mod_podge_matt_8oz.jpg (420×420)

Things you need:
Elmer's glue ( only the white kind) 
An air tight container
rubber band 
1/4 cup of water

 Empty the glue in to your container using the rubber band to secure it (I thought this was a pretty dang good idea and I'm so thrilled I thought of this all by myself!) to the container so that you don't have to hold the bottle while for hours waiting for all the glue to run out.

 After all the glue is emptied out add minimal amounts of water (about 1/4 cup) and shake till your little hearts content to mix up the glue and water.

Viola! now you have pretty dang good mod podge that works like a charm. Remember that in order for it to stay fresh you do need to keep the lid on tight while not in use. 

*There are other recipes out there that have a couple more ingredients to them. I have NOT tried these out but when I do I will update! 
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

I have many idiosyncrasies that some would say a quite a bother but to me they are very important. So important I feel that I should tell them to you. So here goes

1. I set the alarm 15 min early no matter what time I have to be up so that I can press the snooze button at least  once. Most times it is more then once.

2. I sleep with at least 2 blankets every night even if it is the middle of summer. On really cold nights I can be found with 5 or more blankets. Much to my husbands dismay.

3. All the clothes in my closet are turned right side out, facing the front, and color coded. Only nice shirts are hung in the closet. Any t-shirt is in a drawer in the dresser.

4. When ever I wear black with black they have to be the same shade of black.

5.When home by myself most of the lights are left on. especially when I'm in the basement.

6. The radio,TV and any other sound system volume has to be on an even number.

7.When getting into the car I have to press the unlock button at least 3 times.

8. I hate dish rags that are smelly and I will not use it if it is smelly. I will through it in the wash even if it has only been used once.

9. Anytime I walk past a cupboard that is not closed I will close it.

10. The chairs in my office have to always be straight. My desk is always clean when I leave work.

11. My kitchen table chairs are always straight and in line perfectly with the table.

12. The line across the table (where you can insert other leafs) has to be straight.

13. The silverware has to be straight and have equal distance between each piece. 

14. Because I can think of anything else right now I must add this line so that I have ended with an even number .

That is just a little bit about me and the silly things that I do. I'm sure that are many other things that drive people crazy and maybe later i will post some more.  :) 
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Friday, May 18, 2012

I think I need this......

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