Synergy Stew and Some DIY

Our homework for the fitmixer® boot camp this week is to come up with our synergy stew. Candice explained that it’s not just ONE thing we need to focus on but a combination of many different things to have a balanced, healthy lifestyle. This is my mixture of ingredients that fit my personal taste.

Sleep. I’m pretty sure I require more sleep than the average person. Not sure why but I just do. If I don’t get enough sleep I pretty much can’t operate. I get irritable, my brain doesn’t want to function properly, I drag throughout the day, and I am just not a pleasant person. I try to be in bed around 10:30 during the week and never really stay up past 1:00 on the weekends. Lately, I’ve been having trouble sleeping and I can definitely tell. Talk about feeling blah… I love my sleep. I love naps. I love sleeping in. I love going to bed early. Sleep is good, sleep is great.

Morning drink. Every morning I need my coffee or my fitmixer® amino to get me started. I’m one of those people who have accidentally become addicted to caffeine and now there’s no stopping me. Plus, it’s a little ritual every morning that I look forward to. It comforts me and gets me ready for the day. I need that jump start to begin the day properly.

Exercise. We all know how happy and good exercise makes you feel. It’s vital. There’s no getting around it. Everyone needs exercise in their synergy stew. Everyone.

Quality time with Steve, family, and friends. I’m a girl that likes to have fun. I need to laugh daily. I need to be around people that I care about and just have a good time with them. Steve is my most favorite person to be with so I make sure to get plenty of time with him. Also, my friends keep me sane. I need them over at least a couple times a week for dinner and to chat. I need to have weekend adventures with them. I love people. Especially happy, positive people…I must surround myself with them.

Love. I’m a sucker for love. Whether it’s doing something nice for someone else or feeling kindness and appreciation in return. I love to love and be loved. I need the love of my puppies every day and taking care of them gives me a greater sense of being. I need to do kind things for other people to feel good about myself.

Music. Music is my outlet. I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I can’t play any instrument… but I need to listen to music daily. Everything is better with music. If I’m feeling down all I need to do is put on a happy song and I can instantly lift my mood. Music also can calm me when I’m wound too tight or need to let loose. It can push me through a tough workout, and it can release emotions bottled up inside.

Well, that’s my synergy stew. I need a combination of all of those things to feel healthy and happy. If I were to miss out on any one of them, I would be incomplete. I don’t get every ingredient in my stew every day. It takes work and effort to make sure I’m keeping myself in check.

What makes up your synergy stew?

Before I wrap this up, I wanted to show you my DIY projects from last weekend! Once in a while I’ll get a little creative bug in me, I wish it happened more often but I’ll take what I can get. Here are a few projects I just wanted to pass along!

(Please note! I didn’t take pictures every step of the way. I’m new to this and didn’t even think about it! Duh! I’ll do my best to explain. )

Earring Holder!

I’m working on organizing all my jewelry and this is my project for my dangly earrings. I just got a frame from the craft store but I’m sure they have them at Lowes, Home Depot, TJ Maxx, etc.

Find a frame you love and that’s a good size (just the frame part, you don’t need the glass). Then I got some chicken wire from Lowes. The kind I used are little squares but they come in a couple different shapes. I can’t remember how much it cost but it was pretty cheap and you get a lot so you can make a few different ones if you want or have a craft night!

All I did was cut the chicken wire to fit in the frame and then got my staple gun and stapled the wire edges on the back of the frame. Voila! Mine is hung in my bathroom and it’s SO nice! Steve said he wished I did it months ago…there’s even enough room for future earrings.

Next up: grungy, cut up shirt

You may be thinking to yourself, “Yuck, that looks like an old, beat up shirt” …and to that I would say, “mission accomplished!” For this I just got a black t-shirt and soaked the end into a bucket of water and bleach. I didn’t measure anything… I just filled up a bucket of water and poured the Clorox in till I felt good about it. I let it soak for about 30 min then I pulled it a little further out and let the very bottom soak a little longer for a faded effect. This was my first attempt… After I laid it out in the sun and let it fully dry.

Now, for the cutting! I cut the sleeves off then I took the scissors and stabbed little holes all over. I made different sizes, some were big holes, some were very small. There’s no rhyme or reason to this, just do whatever makes you happy! For the neck line, I really wanted to make it look grungy. I poked the point of the scissors through one layer of the neck and drug it along to make tears all over. You can’t mess this up. Promise. Then I cut some fringes on the bottom part to spice it up, only because I’m obsessed with fringe at the moment.

Try the shirt on and make any necessary tares, holes, or cuts that you feel needed. It will turn out, I promise! I wore this to a pool part last Saturday with some cut off jean shorts and one of my friends asked if I bought it at Urban Outfitters! Holla! Nope, homemade!!

Last, a coat hanger for the entry way

I started this because I found some knobs at Anthropologie I just could not pass up but you can find new or used knobs in so many places.

I got a plain, wood board and brown stain from Lowes. Then I took a hammer and chain and whatever else I could find to it. I beat the crap out of the board. This was probably my favorite part. You can’t make it look over-weathered so really go at it! Next, I put a layer of stain on, let it sit for 15 minutes and wiped it off with a rag. I then marked where I wanted my knobs to go and drilled little holes to screw them in. After they were secure, I had Steve cut off the extra threading and this is the end result!

Well I hope you enjoyed and if you do any DIY projects or write up your synergy stew PLEASE send me a link or a copy! I would love to see what you guys come up with! Thanks for reading and I’ll talk to you all again soon!