Happy Black Friday! ...That IS why we don't have school right?

Shoppers waiting in line at  Target

Hello world, and happy Black Friday! Oh, what's that? We don't get vacations for Black Friday? It's actually for Thanksgiving? What's Thanksgiving?

This seems like the kind of mentality people have at this time of year. Maybe I'm exaggerating it a bit, but isn't it ironic (don't you think?) that we spend one day being thankful, and then the next day, or even that night, we go wait in line to buy more stuff. It's just... I don't know, it doesn't seem right to me.

Click the jump for more!

Creative Wednesday: Libby

Art by Libby

Hello! I'm back with Creative Wednesday, and this week I have some artwork by my good friend Libby. (Psst -- Check out her blog here.)

As you can see, she's an amazing artist. I love seeing what she draws. What I have here are a three drawings Libby sent me, just a sampling of what she's done. Click the jump to view the other two.

I really hope you enjoy looking at them!

And remember, if you want to be featured on a future Creative Wednesday, you can write me a comment below, or shoot me an e-mail at thechumbles@gmail.com

The Gallagher Girls

Happy Friday! This week, I have a sort of book-review type of thing, except this time, I'm reviewing an entire series. The Gallagher Girls books by Ally Carter has recently become one of my favorite book series, and I've pretty much been dying to talk about it.

So, a short summary: The Gallagher Girls books take place in a small town called Roseville, Virginia, at a school known as the Galllagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. The stars of the series are Cammie Morgan, Bex Baxter, Liz Sutton, and Macey McHenry, all of them spies-in-training. Other characters include Josh Abram, Zach Goode, Rachel Morgan (Cammie's mother), and other side characters.

Since the Gallagher Girls is composed of six books, it would be hard to rate the entire series. However, you can click the jump to find out more of what I have to say about the books!

Craft - Bottle Cap Jewelry

Learn how to make some
awesome bottle cap jewelry!

Hey all! This week, I have a craft tutorial I made. It's for some bottle cap jewelry, and I thought it would be fun to share. The materials are below. I made my necklace using the glitter method and the earrings with the sticker-paper method, but you can do whatever you want!

Materials
Glitter or paper
Stickers (optional)
Circle cutter (make sure whatever you use will fit your cap. Mine are about 1 inch)
Mod Podge
Paintbrush
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
Plain bottle caps (can be found at most craft stores)
Earring hooks
Some kind of string for your necklace (I used craft lace)
Scissors
Hammer

Click the jump to get the instructions!

Creative Wednesday

Alright. First, I apologize for not posting this past Friday. I have no excuses - I just couldn't think of anything. To make up for it, I'm going to introduce a new thing for every week (or every other week, depending on how it goes) called Creative Wednesdays.

Click the jump to read my brother's poetry!

Creative Wednesdays is a feature where I showcase the creative endeavors of a person. This person will be a reader of this blog, or someone that I know personally. If I can't find anyone, then you'll probably get stuck with me. Now, I know you don't want that, so that's incentive to ask about being featured! More information at the end of the post.

This week, I have some poetry my brother wrote. He was nice enough to let me post his writing last-minute, which is awesome. Click the jump to check it out, and find out how you can get featured on my blog!

America's Got Talent?

Want to know a little pet peeve of mine? When people say, "Wow, you're so talented! I wish I could [insert activity here] like you do!" Granted, I am/was one of those people. But let me explain.

When you say something like that, you're putting yourself down. You're telling yourself that you could never measure up to what another person can do because they're just naturally better than you are. That's not good, because what happens is you give up on trying to get better. You think, "I'll never be as good as they are, so why should I even try?"

I'm not saying that talent isn't real. People do have gifts for different things. Me, for example: I happen to really like words. I like to express myself through words, and I know how to make them work. Some people have a natural affinity for a sport, art, or music. They just know where the pencil lines need to go or how to hit a baseball just right. But when you but everything down to just dumb luck, that's not fair to the person.

Click the jump for more!