Pocketful of Joules

I’ve talked about how much I love the whole Marvel Universe on Netflix before. I was initially sucked in with Jessica Jones (I posted about it here), which was pretty easy to do since it was about a badass woman superhero. From there, I went through two seasons of Daredevil, caught up with Luke Cage and finally binged on Iron Fist. There are more seasons coming for each series, but what I’m looking forward to now is the upcoming Defenders show, where they all interact with each other.

Before we get into The Defenders, I wanted to do a mini review of each of the shows leading into it…

Daredevil Season One (2015)
This was the first new show in the Netflix Marvel Universe and introduced us to Matt Murdock (lawyer by day, Daredevil at night). I enjoyed this season but it did kind of drag a little. The villain, Wilson Fisk was AWESOME though. Claire, the “night nurse” first appears on this show and she shows up on every other show in the Universe after this too.

Jessica Jones Season One (2015)
My absolute favorite out of the entire series so far! Jessica has superpowers and is rebuilding her life as she deals with PTSD. I loved the entire storyline of the season and absolutely loved Krysten Ritter as Jessica. This show also introduced us to Luke Cage (before he got his own show). The villain, Kilgrave, was scary as hell and weirdly funny all at once, which I thought was great.

Daredevil Season Two (2016)
Out of the two seasons of Daredevil, I like this one better. After introducing the character of Daredevil in the first season, the second season really fleshes him out. However, he’s also kind of a butthole in this season. You know who WAS awesome? The Punisher! {swoon} I totally loved him every time he came onto screen even though he’s kind of a bad guy. He’s getting his own series in the future, and I’m totally there for it.

Luke Cage Season One (2016)
Season one of Luke Cage happens a few months after his appearance on Jessica Jones, so it’s cool to hear mentions of what happened in the past from his perspective. I didn’t really feel an attachment to Luke when he was on Jessica Jones, but after watching his season of his own show I’m totally digging him. I enjoyed his relationship with Misty, as well as his attraction to Claire. I also LOVED the villains on this show and can’t wait for some of them to pop up again.

Iron Fist Season One (2017)
Literally the only reason I forced myself to watch Iron Fist is because he will be involved in The Defenders. This show was pretty awful. I mean, Danny Rand (played by Finn Jones) is really cute. The storyline was not my cup of tea though and I sped through it as quickly as possible.

The Defenders (COMING TOMORROW!)
The Defenders brings together ALL the superheros to fight together. I. Can. Not. Wait. I literally can’t watch the trailer without getting chills. Seeing my favorites interacting together has me totally geeking out!

Are you super excited for The Defenders? Do you have a favorite character/show so far?

Disclosure: This post is not sponsored. I’m just REALLY EXCITED for the new show. However, if Netflix want’s to send me to meet Krysten Ritter that would be cool.

Now that my summer Master’s classes are finished and I have a few weeks off before the fall semester starts, I finally have a little extra time. And I know EXACTLY what I’m going to do with that time… rip my whole house apart.

I hate clutter and I feel like our house has just been getting more and more cluttered every month. I anticipate taking loads of stuff to the local thrift store and probably a load or two for a dumpster too.

I can’t wait.

I especially can’t wait to be able to open the front closet without being smacked in the head with a rogue suitcase!

Over the weekend, I started in the kitchen. I organized my recipes into a binder and also replaced a bunch of half-empty boxes in the pantry with nice organizers.

I bought the Rubbermaid Flip Top Cereal Keeper for $7.66:

Source: Amazon.com

And the Rubbermaid 8-piece modular canister set for $15.97:

Source: Amazon.com

I love looking in my pantry and seeing matching organized stuff!

I told my husband over the weekend that we won’t just be cleaning stuff out, I want to go through the house like we are listing it for sale (we aren’t). I want to attack the kitchen cupboards that are overfilling with dishes/cups/travel mugs, the front hall closet that will barely close because it contains too many coats, the playroom closet that houses my husband’s (unworn) clothes, and the basement that contains boxes unopened from our move over FIVE years ago.

So yeah, I have a pretty exciting few weeks ahead of me.

Do you get weird and giddy about organizing and throwing stuff away?

Disclosure: Pocketful of Joules is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Overall, I’d consider myself a pretty crafty person. Over the years I’ve done some cross-stitch projects, whipped up some pretty snazzy stained glass windows and even threw some porcelain on the pottery wheel. While I enjoy painting stuff like furniture and walls, I’ve never really been artistic in the way of being able to draw things. So, whenever I’d see someone post about a Paint Night event I’d think it was cool but knew that my painting would be the worst in the bunch.

Also, what would I even do with a terribly painted picture of a random flower or sunset? Probably just hang onto it until I decided to throw it in the fire pit…

A few weeks ago I saw that they were doing a Maryland-themed paint night event at the Columbia Arts Center.  So, I decided to suck it up and try it out for myself. The class was taught by Mark Russo from Mark Russo Creations and he provided the paper guide to our design, a reclaimed wood pallet, all the paint and measuring materials needed… and the moral support.

I was actually surprised that there were no stencils involved, just a sheet showing you how to divide up the sections of your design. Oh, and I could have done a few different designs such as a Maryland crab, Black Eyed Susan (the Maryland flower) or the Maryland Flag (with or without a crab added) and I decided to stick with just the flag design.

I started by sectioning out the pallet penciling on all the lines that I would need to make the design of the flag.

Then, I used the paints they gave me to mix up some custom colors and started on filling in the guides that I had drawn.

I did two coats of each color and finished up by adding on the black and then white to cover up some of my pencil lines.

And BOOM, I’m done! It took about 2 ½ hours but I did this 100% by myself and I’m thrilled at how awesome it turned out!

Now that I’ve successfully completed my first pallet painting, I’m thinking about doing another one. I have the guides for the Maryland flag, so I might try to do my own Maryland flag beer openers on some blocks of wood, like on Mark’s Instagram page. If I can figure them out, the will make awesome Christmas gifts for my siblings!

Have you done one of those Paint Night classes? What did you make?

{This is NOT a sponsored post, we just really love the monthly workshops and I wanted to tell you all about it!}

Did you guys know that Home Depot has FREE kid workshops once a month? We started going a few months ago and every time I mention it to a mom friend they are always shocked that they haven’t heard about it. The kid workshops usually occur the first Saturday of each month, but you can check their calendar to confirm that there is one near you: Home Depot Workshops.

On our first visit to a kid workshop, Jack received his own little Home Depot apron. Each time we go back, he wears his apron and earns a new button for each project. It’s totally FREE and the projects are free too!

Over the past few months he has built an Easter bunny basket, a Mother’s Day flower pot and a bug house. This past weekend, he worked with daddy to build a wooden Penske Truck. See, he’s pretty thrilled with himself:

Every single thing about the workshops is totally FREE. They provide the kits and also have tables filled with whatever you might need to complete the project, such as hammers and paints. Sometimes they even have juice boxes, cupcakes and balloons. FOR FREE! We already registered for next month’s project of building a ‘Back to School’ pencil box.

Have you done the Home Depot kid workshops before?