Life hacks plus Pintrest

Life hacks, what doesn't work, and why your Pintrest projects fail  

So I was having a conversation about Life Hacks and why are they called Life Hacks. They are more like clever ideas. Some that just don't even work. You'll see people post links on facebook all the time who think the ideas are cool but have just never tried them. There are so many of them Myth Busters could do a whole show on them. 

Here is a roundup of Life Hacks that I have found don't work.

1. Listerene Foot Bath - doesn't work, turns your feet blue
2. Toilet Paper roll cuff for wrapping paper- doesn't work falls off, never fits right
3. Turn back of muffin pan into a cookie bowl maker - doesn't work because what is featured is an ACTUAL Cookie bowl creator and not a muffin tin. 
4. Get a new pair of 5 dollar flip flops because a bread clip isn't saving them. 
5. A Cupcake sandwich makes just as much mess as if you just eat the damn cupcake as is.

We seem to take these "Life Hack Instructions" as truths. I was throughly disgusted at my feet after doing the listerene bath as my feet looked like they should be severed, belonging in a morgue with a toe tag on them. And don't try to impress coworkers at a picnic with your skills in making a cupcake sandwich. you'll end up looking like idiot with frosting on your fingers and crumbs on your shirt. 

On one side of the coin from life hacks that just don't work, we have Pintrest fails from people that can't write, or follow directions correctly.  Sometimes I wonder about people. Unless you are very skilled or an excellent cook, baker you should always follow the directions to a tee, and adjust if something doesn't work for you. I've noticed quite a bit of things. 

1. Cakes and cookies need to be completely cooled before adding icing/frosting. Otherwise you end up with a melty mess. 
2. Grease your pan so things will not stick or use a silicone baking mat
3. Taste as you go, check temps and consistency
4. Have the necessary tools, ingredients  
5. Read the instructions all the way through before starting
6. Don't take shortcuts you don't know will work
7. Use quality supplies 

And lastly know your skill set, take free classes, or read and do tutorials online. Test, Experiment and keep going. 

I lost my marinade in a sea of confusion. 

I'm not sure what is wrong with me. I think I might be suffering from the worst kind of hangover ever. and it's not the type that a large handle of rum causes. Although I do know that type of hangover pretty well.

After the holidays, and after finally moving into a new house I feel pretty uninspired. All of these things I had in my head that where marinating and waiting to be spilled out into a creative hot stew waiting to be pushed out to all who would love to experience it... just got lost in a sea of confusion. 

I feel like I'm just grasping at anything and everything right now and coming up empty handed. 

I know it is up to me to fix this. and perhaps this is just part of the process, of growing and evolving. You can not grow if you don't fail. If you're having one success after another you are not living up to the potential you have. 

Success feels good, growing pains and change are uncomfortable.  

I'm working on a bunch of things to remedy my current situation. I need to feel inspired but inspiration isn't something that always comes easy. For me it's a huge thought process, it's the foundation of creativity. It's the DNA building blocks, it's that shot of espresso, that psychedelic tea, that craft beer, that secret ingredient in your marinade, that one little switch that turns the light on in your head.

So what's my plan? It's everything and anything. It's to just keep going,  pushing through. Looking, seeing, doing, trying, creating, sketching, writing, cooking, conversing, being curious about everything and anything. Trying new things, listening to different points of view. Putting my hands everywhere, Opening my mind a bit wider, stretching, walking, and whatever floats my boat.

So here is a list of things I have compiled. 

• Write down the things that inspire me 
• Read 
• Write and Blog
• Sketch - keep a sketch book
• Unpack my Art Studio and get settled in
• Get together with creative people and have conversations
• Cook, Create a recipe, 
• Write everything I can down
• Share and ask for comments and constructive critiques
• Push away my negative thoughts and self doubt to give way to positivity and confidence
• Hang up Art in my house from me and the people that inspire me.
• Network within the art and digital media communities in my area. 
• Experiment 
• Keep an Art Journal

So I am planning on using this blog to keep track of it all and to communicate with others and hopefully get some feed back. If nothing else it will keep me from falling off a cliff and back into a sea of confusion. 

Lets see where this is headed.