DIY Art Glass Paperweight

The hubs brought back a transparent rectangular shaped water bottle that a friend gave to him. While I really like the shape of the bottle, which is pretty unique for a water tumbler, it is not practical to use it on a daily basis as cleaning it is a torture. Note the small opening and narrow neck of the bottle.

 

So I had an idea. I decided to transform it into an underwater / aquarium-themed art glass paperweight.

Together with Cass, we shopped for golden dust and hunted around the house to look for underwater ornaments.  Cass took a few Hebrew Cone shells that her uncle Richard collected from Ebeye Island (some where in the Marshall Islands) to put into the bottle. She also found some colorful crystals and water-proof confetti in multiple shapes hiding in her ‘treasure box’.  What’s missing now are tiny sea animals, which we are still hoping to find to add into the paperweight bottle.

The result is amazing. I find it therapeutic to shake the ‘aquarium’ and watch the shells, gold dust and ornaments slowly whirl and drop to the bottom.

I’ve promised Cass that I will buy a few more unique shaped transparent bottles and ornaments and her next school holiday project will be to fill up the bottles with ornaments. These paperweights make very pretty and inexpensive DIY gifts.

 

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4 Ways to Stay Motivated When It’s Cold Outside

On the approach to summer, you diet and exercise in an attempt to achieve the ever sought after, perfect beach body. Then, summer arrives. You look great. You feel confident, and it’s warm, so you keep it up. You go to the gym or out for runs in the sunshine. You eat salads and drink plenty of water. You’ve got loads of motivation, and you are reaping the rewards for all of your hard work.

Then, it starts to get cold. It’s dark before you leave for work, and dark when you get home. Motivation has left the building. All you want to do is put your pyjamas on and pig out on some warming comfort food and treats. Besides, you’re going to be covered up for the next few months now, who cares if you get fat?

Well, you should. Gaining weight at any time of year can have a negative effect on your confidence, mood and quality of sleep. It can leave you at a higher risk of picking up winter bugs, and it can even lead to long-term health conditions. So, you need to find ways to keep motivated, whatever the weather.
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Give Yourself a Kick Start
It can be demoralizing when you are dieting and exercising and not seeing any results. Sometimes you need a kick-start in the form of a diet plan with fast results. To get the best results, it’s important that you workout while dieting, check out the workout schedule for the 21 day fix from defendyourhealthcare.us to see how a plan like this could help you. But remember, once you’ve had your kick start, you need to keep it up to see sustained results.

Exercise Early
Exercising early in the day is an excellent idea in the colder months. That way it’s done, and you don’t have time to make excuses later. It also means you’ll start each day on a high, feeling happy and proud of what you’ve done but also getting a nice little adrenaline buzz.

Eat Well

Soup, Vegetables, Pot, Cooking, Food, Healthy, Carrot

One of the main reasons people gain weight over autumn and winter is their diets. It’s tempting to eat huge hearty meals every night as no one wants a salad when it’s snowing outside. The key is finding ways to make your warming meals healthy. Cook from scratch, so that you know exactly what is going into all of your meals. Then, use low-fat ingredients and pack each meal with vegetables. Eating healthy never has to be boring, you just need to think about it.

Find Something You Love

The best way to stay motivated when it comes to exercise is doing something that you love. If you hate running, you’ll hate it even more on a cold winter morning. So, don’t force yourself. Go to a dance class instead. If you like doing something you are much more likely to make time for it and stick with it instead of making excuses.

It’s perfectly possible to have that perfect body all year around. You just need to stop making excuses and push yourself that little bit harder when it’s cold.

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HEALTH FREAK MOMMY