Mindfulness Technique

I overhead a conversation on the Luas the other day. A guy was trying to explain to his friend the difficulty of trying to practice mindfulness on your own.

"With an instructor and a room of people it feels so easy. Trying to be mindful on your own can be a bit - ugh."

I've definitely had the same experience. It's difficult to be quiet, close your eyes and relax your muscles when you're not being told to do so. It can be enough to turn you off mindfulness altogether.

But, there's one simple mindful practice I learned last year; a simple breathing exercise. I get stressed a lot. And a huge part of my stress has been mild panic attacks when I'm upset or overwhelmed. Regulating your breathing is a great technique for helping you to calm down and return to a more neutral state. Mindfulness, as discussed in last week's post, can help you with this.  

Inhale for 4 seconds
Hold for 2 seconds
Exhale for 6 seconds

It sounds so simple, but it's ridiculously effective. Deep breathing is a highly lauded practice in helping with anxiety. Basically, it's the ultimate in de-stressing, and it's worked for me.

But, as it's tough to remember to use these techniques on your own, I had to make a visible reminder.

Reusing an old Scrabble board, I painted the board gold and waited until it had dried fully.

On top of the gold paint I spelled out what I wanted to say via stickers (the Stickers I used are also gold, making them hard to read in this picture, but a bargain at €1.49 in Dealz). I also included an anchor because anchors are quite possibly my favourite ever thing, and this breathing exercise is perfect to keep you anchored.

Then, I spray painted over the stickers in pink spray paint (picked up from my local hardware store).

All that's left is to peel off the stickers and ta-dah it's complete! My own little personal reminder to turn to mindfulness when things get tough.

Seriously, give mindfulness a try. 

Mod Podge Crafting - Here it Goes!

This is the first in a series of Mod Podge crafts I’m going to present on my blog.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Mod Podge is a crafters essential. Basically, it’s an American dream come true; a decoupage glue that dries clear and is the perfect companion to many a craft.

I got my Modge Podge – Glossy Finish, for €6.95 in Arts and Hobby.

This was my first time using Mod Podge, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Looking at crafts on Pinterest cannot prepare you for how strong Mod Podge is (everything sticks instantly), or how much fun it is! Within a week I was addicted – I keep looking for anything lying around the house that I can apply it to!

So for my first decoupage trick I decided to do an upcycle.

For weeks now I have been urging my mum to get new coasters for the house (you know, to stop our cups staining the coffee table).  Eventually she did, so instead of throwing the old ones out, I decided to claim some of them for myself but give them a makeover.

I’ve had these old pictures sitting around in my room since I worked at a History Conference back at the beginning of June. They are so pretty, and have just been waiting for a useful craft to bring them to life.

My Post-Cut Pictures

So I have 4 Historical (I am former History student afterall) pictures to transform into Coasters:

- Ancient Portrait of Eoin O’Neill

- Depiction of Cathleen Ni Houlihan

- Two Old Maps of Dublin City

First up, I cleaned the coasters and took off any peeling plastic coating.

To get my pictures into shape I placed the photo over the coaster, and then turned it upside down so I could cut around the coaster using my craft knife.

For the thin layers of paper – My Old Maps and the Portrait of Cathleen Ni Houlihan – I picked up a little tip from Pinterest. I put some Mod Podge on the back of these pictures to prevent any bubbles forming when I stuck them to the coasters. Leaving this to dry, it strengthens the paper for future gluing!  

Once they were dried I applied a layer of Mod Podge to the coasters and placed the pictures on top. Lining them perfectly with the edge of the coasters was difficult. I did the Eoin O’Neill picture first, not realising how quickly the picture would get stuck to the Mod Podge, so unfortunately it’s not perfectly in place. There are gaps on the left hand side where I missed lining that edge, but I learned my lesson for the next three!

With the pictures in place, I applied three layers of Mod Podge over the top, allowing each coat to dry in between. This protects the pictures (future coasters), and gives them a wonderful gloss!

And Voila!

I have never been so proud of a craft before. I picked such wonderfully vivid pictures, that they look incredible now that they’re finished. They look so good that I’m not sure I will actually use them as coasters...

I literally want to Mod Podge everything in my life now!

So if you have any Mod Podge suggestions please send them my way. And if you do try it yourself, I’d love to know!

Mason Jar Gift

I love presents. Not receiving them though; I get awkward. Please don't ask me to open them in front of you.

I love giving presents. I love putting in the thought, time and effort of personalised gifts.

So for Amy's 21st birthday I was in my element.

I'd seen the Mason Jar gift on the internet over a year ago, but I hadn't attempted it before. Basically, it's putting your gift into a Mason Jar, using it as a hamper.

I got all of my materials together:

• Purple Mason Jar from TK Maxx - €3.99 (Purple is Amy's favourite colour!!)
• Penguin Purse from Tiger
• Lancome Touch of Pink Cremes
• Ghost Tissues from Tiger
• o2 Think Big wrist band - 'Just Keep Swimming'
• Smiley badge
• Mustache Tissue Paper
• Green Ribbon for the outside of the jar
• And a Happy Birthday mini banner on card

I actually had a few more bits and pieces that I wanted to put in, but I underestimated the size of the Mason Jar! They're actually pretty tiny, and it is difficult to fit that much into them. So I scraped the other cremes and body lotions I had planned, and started putting the hamper together. 

Amy and I have always had a thing for mustaches; she bought me the cutest mustache travel mug last year! So I loved the mustache tissue paper that I used to line the Mason Jar. However, it was a little guilty for taking up a lot of the space in there! The tissue paper needed to be trimmed around the top of the jar.

Once I had the tissue paper in, I started to pack in the real parts of the present - the penguin purse, the cremes etc.

To top it off I tied a green ribbon around the outside of the jar and added in my Happy Birthday banner. The jar was overflowing, it has to be said. Ideally, the lid would have closed to make the jar easier to transport. But instead I had to carefully surround it with bubble wrap and hand carry it down to Wexford.

Conclusion
In future, I am definitely going to go for a bigger mason jar. Because the beauty of this gift is that there are all sorts of everything in it, you need a big enough jar but put all-sorts in!
But, Amy was thrilled with it. And that's good enough for me.

Amy and I at her 21st

Crafting To Ease The Pain

Two years ago I decided to start crafting. If there is one thing I don't like, it's having too much spare time. I had entire summer to kill, so what better way to keep busy then to get creative?

While I can't claim to be the next Martha Stewart, I do enjoy sitting down and spending an afternoon putting together new decorations for my bedroom, or a hand-made gift for a friend or relative.

As a student I was the same. I needed extra-curricular projects to keep busy, to escape the fact that being on my own or having nothing to do left me alone with my thoughts. And a Depressive's thoughts can be very harmful. Whether it be creating UCD's Before I Die Wall or campaign managing Students' Union election hopefuls, I busied myself with all sorts of projects I was passionate about. At times it did lead me to taking on too much. I burnt out. But I preferred that to hiding under my duvet for days on end. Spare time meant I had to deal with my distorted patterns of thinking: jumping to conclusions, feeling inferior & unworthy, discounting the positives.

'Before I Die...' Wall, UCD

I also think my obsession with keeping busy also comes from how alone I felt in my 1st year of University. I felt that I was missing out on certain aspects of the college experience (See: Where it all began...) . So I threw myself into everything that came my way over the next few years. By my 3rd year I had more than made up for it through committee, society, students' union and peer-mentor involvement.

And when it came to the summer holidays I found myself with a lot of time I needed to fill to stay healthy. I spent a lot of this time reading. I'd immerse myself in stories; fantasies I could be a part of. But I ran through them too quickly. Be that due to escapism, or just plain boredom. I read the first Game of Thrones in just over 24 hours. I needed something other than books.

I'm not blessed with creativity. I couldn't draw a heart until I was in secondary school (I kid you not!). So I did start out very simply, often finding DIY projects under the 'Children' sections of websites. But I took comfort from the pretty things I could create. They were simple, but my mind was focused and my hands were busy. It was a release, albeit temporarily, from my self-defeating thoughts.

Toilet Roll Owls

Pumpkin Carving

Collection of Summer 2013 Crafts

These days I have found that balance I lacked in the past. I still work on countless different projects and keep busy, but I always factor in downtime by myself and with friends/family so that I don't burn out. While my negative thinking will always be a battle, I have lately been able to identify and start to tackle the patterns.

So now I am finished UCD after 4 long but productive years, which leaves me with a lot more time to fill in an assignment-free world. But I am looking forward to being able to spend more time crafting. Not just to fill time from being alone, but because I do really enjoy it.