How to Raise $200

Those of you who know a little bit about my church know that attendance at Timberline has been growing exponentially since we started in 2003, particularly in the last few years. The current lobby/cafe/library area gets pretty crowded on Sunday mornings, especially between services. We are finally at the point where we can begin Phase 3 of our building project, which would expand the cafe area to reduce the congestion and make the entrance area a more guest-friendly.

In order to raise funds for this project, the fundraising committee is asking for each family unit to raise $200 (above and beyond their regular giving) by the end of the summer. This is very doable for a lot of the families in our church, and I figured that my family would be no exception to this very reasonable endeavor.

But guess what?? Something extra-special-awesome happens when you graduate from college.... you suddenly become independent, and therefore your own family unit!! So yes, I was informed today that I am my own family unit, and therefore they are asking me to raise $200 by the end of the summer to contribute to the Phase 3 building fund.

Now, I could go off on some rant about how I have massive college loans because I went to Messiah and gas is so expensive and I'm still living with my parents because I clearly can't support myself yet, so I should probably just be counted in their family unit. But I decided that the mature thing to do would be to prove that I am, in fact, an independent person, and raise the money myself. I figured, I'm a super arts-and-crafts-y person, surely I can figure out something to make and sell to raise money.

SO HERE'S HOW I'M GOING TO DO THAT!!
Many of you have probably seen these DIY projects popping up all over Pinterest. You may have even noticed that I've done a few myself. It's clearly the "in" thing right now (Esme Squalor would totes agree).

 These canvases are customizable and one-of-a-kind, so they make great gifts! Here's where I come in.
I will be selling custom, original canvases (whatever size, colors and quote you want), with all of the money going to the Timberline building fund.
I just wanted to make sure you would be able to see that, since it's kind of the point of this particular post.
Anyway, here are the prices:

8X10 = $15
11X14 = $20
16X20 = $25

These make great wedding/birthday presents! They can be inspiring bedroom/bathroom/living-room decor! Also, boys, these make great gifts for your girlfriends/fiances/wives.... trust me, girls love this kind of thing.
Need a Mother's Day present? For only an extra $5, I'll have your order ready by Saturday evening, if you order by this Wednesday!

You tell me what you want it to say and what colors you want, and I will make it for you. I also just really like crafty things, so if you find another similar project on Pinterest that you want me to try, let me know and I'll give it a whirl. Here are some more pictures of what I've done:

And of course, you can get it in GLITTER for an extra $7 (see pics here), because who doesn't want something in glitter?? And of course, if you have an extra-special request, let me know!

Anyway, help a girl out.... because in the end, you're actually helping Timberline out. If I somehow manage to raise more than the $200 that I need to contribute my part, the rest of the money will still go to Timberline, whether it's towards the building fund, towards one of our missions projects, or towards the general expenses of the church. For more information about the church, click here.

Have a question/order? Email me at liesl.nafziger@gmail.com!

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

So a number of months ago, somebody posted a video from the Lizzie Bennet Diaries on Facebook, and since I had just finished watching the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries with Sara and was feeling obsessed with anything Jane Austen, I decided to give it a go and see what it was all about. It took about 2.5 seconds before I was hooked and from then until the series ended, I eagerly rushed home from work every Monday and Thursday so that I could quickly squeeze the new episode in before supper.

What is the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, you might ask? It is an original web series that aired on YouTube, created by Hank Green and Bernie Su, and is a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice! Now, obviously there are a lot of modern adaptations of Jane Austen's beloved novel, and I'm pretty sure that many of them just don't do the book justice (*cough* Keira Knightley version). But while this series of vlogs puts an extremely modern spin on the story, I found myself being drawn further into their world.

The premise of the series is that Lizzie Bennet is a 24-year old grad student who starts a video blog with her best friend Charlotte as part of a class project. Of course, her sisters Jane and Lydia are a big part of her life and the vlogs (Mary Bennet is a cousin and Kitty Bennet is... well, a cat), as are the rich-hot-and-single Bing Lee and the aloof Mr. Darcy.

One of Lizzie's trademarks is her use of costume theatre to portray everyone who she talks about, especially her mother. I think she's portrayed just about everyone on the show, and the impressions are usually dead on, with just enough caricature to make it the exaggeration that it is.

I'm in the middle of re-watching the series, and this time around I just find myself marveling at the actors. I'm literally watching Lydia Bennet deteriorate before my eyes, and Mary Kate Wiles just kills it! You don't even realize how gradual the change is until you go back and compare episode 1 Lydia to episode 87 Lydia, but the differences are night and day. And don't even get me started on the way Lizzie slowly fall in love with Darcy. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I found myself rooting for her the entire series.

Basically, if you are all about Pride and Prejudice, then you must give this series a chance. Look, I've even embedded the first episode, so you don't have any excuse to not start watching right now! And make sure you don't miss Lydia's spin-off vlogs. There's also the Collins&Collins channel and Gigi's Domino demonstrations that help tell the story later on. Seriously, it's like a whole new world that's been created for these characters.

But consider yourself warned--once you've started, you won't want to stop. So give yourself plenty of time. Like, say, a lazy Saturday when you don't really have anything else to do. :)

*Update: Here's a link to a YouTube channel that put together all of the videos in the series, in chronological order (including Lydia's videos, some from the Collins&Collins channel, Gigi's Domino demonstrations, and also Maria Lu's videos): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KisuGP2lcPs&list=PLS_PzAkdmDSI-KhZcGAFIveX0RC6jGhOb