DIY Custom Envelopes

I'm sending a letter and resume to an incredible director I met last week. I found out we have something in common, so to make sure my letter stands out and and actually gets read by him. I decided to make it a little personal. It's no guarantee, but it might improve my odds.

1. I took apart a size #10 envelope and traced its edges on an 11 x 17 inch sheet of paper with my customized design.
   
2. Next, I cut along the traced lines and folded the four flaps inwards.
   
3. I used glue to attach all but the top flap. Try something that's not too messy. I used Duck's Easy Stick rolling system - it's like that roll on "white-out" correction tape. I found it lying around the office and it worked great!

And "wallah!" You've got a customized envelope just begging to be opened. Even if they throw away the contents and just keep the envelope, it's still got your name on it, lol.

UDC Tuition Hike - giving back

So, I've decided, while I can't do anything about the tuition hike. I can support the students - and not just with rhetoric. Being a recent grad myself, I don't have a lot of cash to spare, but I did donate some of my used textbooks from college to the campus' Learning Resources Division.

I asked before I dropped them off and they okayed the titles and publication dates (they prefer texts published after 2001). Hope it helps some student that wants to save a few on school supplies.

That's my good deed for the season.

UDC Tuition Hike Unfortunate

As I type this, University of the District of Columbia students are preparing to rally in protest of a declared tuition hike at the long running community college. UDC's new president, in place for five months, is backing the doubling of tuition for four-year students as part of an effort to distinguish the bachelors degree program from the two-year associates degree and other programs.

The above may be an oversimplification of the situation, but any way you explain it's still absurd to me. I have a big question mark about increasing the burden to attend school, especially for an institution whose main purpose is to provide affordable educations to those who might otherwise not be able to afford college. It's a community college for crying out loud. And why double tuition? If anything, wouldn't a more gradual increase be more appropriate?

When school leaders make decisions like these, I wonder if it's less about benefitting the students and more about padding the resumes and CVs of those in charge.

Valentine's Day knick knacks

To give you all enough time to make your own (if you so choose), I'll post instruction now:

You'll need three colors of yarn (pink, red, white).

1 18mm jingle bell

1. Cast on 3 stitches (pink yarn)
   
2. Knit (K) row
   
3. Pearl (P) row
   
4. K1, Increase (Inc) 1, K1, Incr1, K1
   
5. P row
   
6. *K1, Incr1, K1, Incr1*, K1, **Incr1, K1, Incr1, K1**
   
7. P row
   
8. *to*, K5, **to**
   
9. P row
   
10. *to*, K10, **to**
    
11. P row
    
12. Stockinette stitch (K row, P row) for 6 rows
    
13. K 2 together 1, K 6, switch to new yarn (still pink), K 6, K 2 together
    
14. P 2 together, P 5, switch yarn, P 5, P 2 together
    
15. ***K 2 together, cast off next 2 stitches, K2 together, cast off***, switch yarn, repeat ***to***

Pull loose yarn end from top of heart through bell loop and attach loose end.

Knit two hearts, line them up (wrong side facing out), and sew edges. Flip heart right side out and use needle and yarn (red and white) to embroider details.

I used the XOX theme, but you can also use an arrow (<--<<) theme.

Hearts and Taxes

I've been neglecting my blog... still getting the hang of it, but here are a few rants that I would have covered in the past few weeks:

taxes - I've been in a fellowship for the past few years. I get a stipend. They don't take out taxes, so I have to set the money aside myself and pay quarterly. I've never had a full time job before, this was my first time paying taxes ever...yet I still managed to do it. Apparently, I'm a prodigy, cause some folks in the six figure range (enough to pay an accountant) can't seem to figure it out.

Maybe with a lot of assets and deductions, taxes get super complicated and people make mistakes, right? My question: if taxes are mandatory and everyone has to do it, why make it so complicated that you have to hire someone to figure it out for you?

I hate spending extra money, so the thought that I'd have to pay to have my taxes done, which are mandatory doesn't seem fair...but, that's just me and I'm a cheap bastard.

I'm also a crafty one, check out the Valentine's Day knick knacks I'm making for friends, coworkers, and family:

I made up the pattern, though I'm sure there are others out there. I'll share instructions in the next post.

How to make a Gift Bow

Here are the instructions I promised for the gift bow featured in my last post. Sorry for the delay, I've been busy making inaugural plans (Yay!) and juggling my other projects. 

The nice thing about this project is that you can use whatever material you like, not just newspaper, which was brought to my attention by a reader (see 1/05/09 comments). My initial intent, as in many of my projects, was to find a creative way to recycle materials around my apartment. Enjoy!

For my first official blog post, I'd like to brag, not so much about the gifts I brought people this season, but how I wrapped them. I combined my frugal (read: cheap) nature and my inclination towards recycling to get creative. 

I wrapped gifts in old newspaper...which is nothing new...folks have

 been wrapping stuff in newspaper for decades (i.e. raw meat, press and curls, doggie poo). But I like to think I took it a step further by creating ribbons and bows from cut strips of paper in styles similar to those you buy at the store. Take a look:

I did a number of other styles, but these are the best.

I'm quite proud of myself.

While I'm sure people can figure out how I did it, I'll post a diagram of how I made the ribbons anyway.