Housing Guide - Winter 2015 by Times Media Group

Housing Section!

We have a very exciting new addition—a map! Check it out on page 4 and 5! We have all the hottest apartment complexes labeled as well as the Phoenix Metro Light Rail route and all campus locations. This will be super handy for you in picking your next place of residence. Location is the most important part of real estate, after all!

Holiday Décor on a Dime

EASY AND CHEAP CRAFTS TO DECORATE YOUR PLACE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

JASMINE KEMPER • COLLEGE TIMES

Let’s face it, guys. As students, we don’t have the money, space or time to buy expensive holiday decorations. However, there are ways to make winter décor without emptying your wallet. Check out some of these adorable, fun and cheap crafts you can make this holiday season.

Sparkly Branches

This one is easy to do because branches are free! Cut the branch to your preferred size and spray with the adhesive. Lay your cookie sheet down and cover the branch in glitter, you can also use the Elmer’s glue with the decorative accents or Epsom salt to create an icy appearance. You’ll have a simply beautiful decoration that you can make any color to match your other decorations.

Supplies:

Tree branch

Metallic silver spray paint

Silver glitter

Decorative accents or epsom salt

Elmer’s Glue

Pruning shears (or scissors) Cookie

Courtesy of: momtastic.com

Toilet Paper Roll Snowflakes

This one you can make from things you already have around the house. One toilet roll equals one snowflake, so start saving those suckers! For this project, cut the roll into strips and arrange the pieces to your preferred shape. Then, simply glue it together, spray paint it and cover it in glitter while wet. The shapes and colors possibilities of these snowflakes are endless!

Supplies:

Empty toilet paper roll

Hot glue

Spray paint

Glitter

Courtesy of: thekrazycouponlady.com

Holiday Floating Candles

You don’t need a lot of supplies to make these wintery candles. Put the rosemary sprigs in the jar and fill it ¾ of the way with water. Add cranberries and a tea light and tie a ribbon around the jar. They look pretty, and we’re sure they smell delicious, too.

Supplies:

Wide mouth mason jars

Fresh rosemary sprigs

Fresh cranberries

Tea light candles

Ribbon & tag (optional)

Water

Courtesy of: adventures-in-making.com

Ornament Christmas Wreath

This is a great project for those of us who have extra ornaments lying around or if you spot some at the 99 Cent Store. You’ll need to secure the caps of the ornaments with the glue gun. Then, bend the hanger in a circle. Untwist the end of the hanger and string the ornaments on the hanger. You want to alternate the sizes of the ornaments to create variety. This craft is more unique (and cheaper) than the expensive wreaths at the store.

Supplies:

Round ornaments of various sizes

Glue gun

Metal hanger

Courtesy of: shelterness.com

Mason Jar Snow Globes

You can put anything you want in these delightful snow globes, from toys to miniature Christmas trees. Glue the “trinket” to the lid of the Mason Jar and let dry. Fill the jar with water and add a few drops of glycerin and glitter (lots of glitter!). Glue the lid to the metal screw band and let dry. Finally, glue the inner edge of the lid before screwing onto the jar. Let dry and shake the globe!

Supplies:

Mason jars (assorted sizes)

Waterproof super glue

Holiday trinkets

Glycerin

Glitter

Courtesy of: southernliving.com

Campus Locations

Have you ever heard that saying about the three Ls of real estate? Location. Location. Location. When choosing your next apartment, making sure you’re where you want to be is of utmost importance. We’ve put together this handy map of plenty of housing options and where they are in relation to the different campus locations and the Phoenix Metro Light Rail route. Happy apartment hunting!

Apartments near Valley Metro Rail: A

Frequent and reliable all-day rail service operating 365 days a year linking Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa with connections to Sky Harbor Airport and many bus routes. See valleymetro.org for a detailed map. College Campuses Valley-wide:

Valley Metro Rail

Hosting a Holiday Soiree

TIPS FOR BEING THE BEST HOST OR HOSTESS AND KEEPING THINGS CHEAP

BREANNE DEMORE • COLLEGE TIMES

This time of the year is so festive and fun, you’ll definitely want to celebrate with all of our newly made college friends. The best way to do this is to host your own holiday soiree! It’s super easy for these types of parties to get a little out of hand price-wise, so we’ve gather some tips for you to keep everything in your budget.

Food

You have a few options here: You can ask all of your guests to bring something and make it potluck. You can simply do finger food and small appetizers that don’t take up too much time and money. Or you can even just plan your party after a meal and do a hot cocoa or ice cream sundae bar and let everyone pick their own toppings.

Drink

This is another one where you can ask people to bring their own, but it

is always best to have something on hand for everyone. For the under 21 crowd, have a small variety of sodas and maybe even some sparkling cider. Add pomegranate seeds to your cider for a fun and festive addition. For the over 21 crowd, class it up a bit with an original cocktail (a simple punch is much easier than making each individual cocktail) or grab a box or two of wine (Trader Joe’s is superior to most of the others.) and serve them chilled.

Décor

We have some adorable holiday crafts on page 2-3 of this Housing Section, but apart from those, we truly believe it is best to keep it simple. Decorations, especially single-use ones, are so pricey, and if your crowd is truly fun, you don’t really need them. Another option is to make your guests participate in decorating. Set up a station to make old school snowflakes from white paper or find a fun holiday print online, have everyone color their own version of it and then hang them around your apartment.