Just call me Toucan Rosi (:

Those of you that know me personally would automatically know that I am very sensitive to smells.  And I don't mean a little either.  No siree!  I could probably bet money that you have never dealt with anyone as annoyed pissed off as moi when I get a whiff of some disgusting odor.And I am not talking about smells such as toilets, dog poo, a sick child's vomit or anything yucky like that.  Nope, I'm talking about supposed "good" smells, such as lotions, some cleaning supplies, laundry soaps, etc.  I promise I am telling you the truth when I say that I would never work in the laundry soap aisle of the grocery store.
Not even if they paid me one billion, gajillion, fafillion, shabadubaludshakilamazookdfkdijfidu-illion dollars. (What movie is that from?) HA!
Not kidding.  I dislike can't stand HATE it that much.  The only smell I can tolerate in things such as PineSol is the lemon one.  That is my ONE must have for cleaning the house.  It cleans everything from toilets, sinks, floors, I mean everything.
My kids and I have exzema, so for years, I've used these:

Yep, our laundry soap AND Downey are free of perfumes and dyes.  Our skin has never been happier!  Or my nose!  Another plus to using these laundry necessities has to be that when you do put lotion or perfume on, guess what?! You only smell the perfume! It's awesome.

My intolerance to those smells the other laundry soaps have is so bad that I have actually ran back inside the house (many times!) if say, I go outside and one of our neighbors is doing laundry and that God-awful smell impregnates the air outside!

 I also cannot stand to have to walk by someone at a store who smells like they washed with Suave (like every. single. scent. available!), then put on some clean clothes washed in a combination of all of these:

Then proceeds to apply some Musky scented lotion,  and tops it off with Dollar Store perfume.  And I don't mean, you know, just a little squirt from the perfume bottle, I'm talking about the ones that literally douse themselves with it!  GA!
(I am almost ready to throw up now just thinking about it!)
Ok, I had to say all of that to get to the point of this post.  Recently, the Stryker Institute (where I received my awesome scholarship, in case you've forgotten or did not know) hosted a Christmas party for all of the Stryker ladies. It was almost Standing Room Only! Everyone took spouses and kids and we all had a good time.  There was tons of food,  in fact, we gave Golden Corral a run for their money!
I got to see all of the Stryker ladies and it was a lot of fun.  Oh, and we also had a gift exchange. (:  I know the easy choice for most would be to buy a scented candle.  Well, any candle I would gift would literally have ZERO smell, that wouldn't work, so I decided to DIY for the gift I was taking.  And since I've always loved pillows. Big, small, round, square--I don't care, I love 'em all.  So I didn't struggle with "What to take."  Everyone like pillows, right?!   Especially the ones you DIY because those, in my opinion, are the best!
Well, I was on Pinterest a few weeks back and fell head-over-heels in lOvE with this pillow made by Donna from Funky Junk Interiors:

I found her blog by chance, and let me just tell you that you will need something to catch the drool when you see all the beautiful creations this talented lady has!  She is incredible.

Anyway, I wanted that pillow.  Bad.  So I followed her example and used the hand saw to make the buttons.  I already had the twine and the fabric, so the only thing I had to buy was the stuffing-stuff. (:
I made two pillows and here they are:

What do you think?  I am very happy with the results (; The "envelope" pillow is by far, my favorite.  And they were so fun to make!
And since I gifted them at gift exchange, I must now make another set for myself.  And my mom also wants a set for her home.  She said "Only if you have time."
Well, Wednesday is my last final at school before I have a whole month off, so yes, I will have time. Wow, I'm excited!
Today was my final in French (that most definitely deserves it's own post.  This is the professor that HATES me ever since she fell, remember?)

Technically, I set this time aside to study for tomorrow's final, so I will write more later in the week.

God bless!