Things that make you hum

I was searching around Spotify for music and stumbled upon this new Christmas song by Sara Bareilles. It's a lovely song with a simple message - one we all know but easily forget.

"Love Is Christmas"

I don’t care if the house is packed,
Or the strings of light are broken.
I don’t care if the gifts are wrapped,
Or there’s nothing here to open.

Love is not a toy, and no paper will conceal it.
Love is simply joy that I’m home.

I don’t care if the carpet's stained; we've got food upon our table.
I don’t care if it’s gonna rain, our little room is warm and stable.

Love is who we are, and no season can contain it.
Love would never fall for that.

Let love lead us, love is Christmas.

Why so scared that you’ll mess it up? Imperfection keeps you haunted.
All you need is your best my love, that’s all anyone ever wanted.

Love is how we do, let no judgment overrule it.
Love I look to you, and I sing.

Let love lead us, love is Christmas.
Let love lead us, love is Christmas.

Repurpose Cereal Containers

My Mom has sent Zach and I several containers of cereal by a company called Me & Gogi (now out-of-business). They come in tall cylinders perfect for repurposing once the cereal is gone. If your cereal comes in a box, don't worry. There are lots of things that do come in cylinders like some brands of tea and coffee, oatmeal (A.K.A "rolled oats") etc. Next time you finish your cylinder of whatever, don't throw it out. Repurpose it into a cool container you can use to store just about anything...pens, pencils, paintbrushes, extra cotton balls. Heck you could even use it for more cereal or oatmeal, but now you can leave the container on the counter 'cause it looks so cool and modern. Okay, enough babbling. Here's the how-to:

I had an old atlas lying around, so I selected some maps from places that are significant to Zach and me. But you could use any decorative paper you want.

Measure the height of your container. If yours has metal rims on top and bottom (like mine do), measure between those metal rims. Wrap your paper around the container and make a small pencil mark about an eight of an inch beyond where the paper meets. This will give you a slight overlap so your container looks neat and clean and none of the container shows from underneath. Trim your height (from that measurement you just made) and width (based on the pencil mark) with an X-acto knife and ruler on a cutting mat (or scissors if that's all you have).

Apply double-sided tape to the wrong side of your paper on all four edges. Make sure you get the tape right to the edge so your paper doesn't curl up or pull away from the container.

Line up the top edge of your paper with the top edge of your container (right underneath the metal band in my case) and gently start wrapping the paper around the cylinder making sure to keep it aligned with the top edge as you wrap. Lightly press down the rest of the paper as you go until you have wrapped the entire container. Your paper should line up on the top and bottom and have a small eighth-inch overlap from top to bottom. Once you're happy with how the paper is applied, firmly press it down all over the container. And presto! You've got a lovely, repurposed container perfect for storing all those things you need but don't necessarily want to look at.