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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Wednesday night fun times!

On Wednesdays, D bowls in a league... this means I'm home alone and free to play as I please!

Tonight's project: Transfer images on to stretched canvas.

I'm cheap. Since this was the first try, I wanted to go as cheap as possible, so I printed out 2 pictures of our kiddos at an undisclosed location (that's right, SECRETS!) and got the smallest canvases I could find. Because they're cheapest. Yep.

Step 1:  Print picture on regular printer paper. Use gel medium to adhere picture (I flipped the picture around before printing it, as they transfer backwards) to canvas. Cover canvas in one good flat coat of this stuff.  I was told (by Pinterest) to get medium gloss gel medium or something, but I ended up with this stuff and it apparently worked just fine!
Glue the pics on to the Canvas with ^^ That stuff... looks like this... 


Step 2: Smooth out lines on paper with something flat... credit card, ruler, or... you know, cardboard from the new glitter you just bought... :)

Step 3: WAIT forEVER for it to DRY.  (And by forever, I mean about 3-4 hours)
Step 4: Douse the paper with water from a squirt bottle til it soaks through... pull/ball/roll off the paper slowly.



 Rub gently and the paper will start to rub off.

I rubbed the edges of each picture to make them look all jagged, too. So that's neat. :)  ALSO, Carmen is too dark. I kept re-wetting and re-rubbing to get all the paper off of her picture so that I could see her & accidentally rubbed off some of the picture. Oh well. That adds to the novelty, right? 


Carmen's finished picture... note the white spots where I rubbed the picture off. Haha oops. 

Tini's completed picture... 
Step 5: When the canvas is pretty much dry, swipe with a medium-thick layer of the gloss/gel medium stuff again to set it. This way- you won't continue to wipe off the picture! YAY!

I am so excited to know how to do this! You better believe that I will be doing this with every dang picture from NOW ON.

Oh- relatives, loved ones, etc... you're welcome. You're welcome for your awesome pictures you'll be getting done like this for the rest of your lives!
Enjoy! 
♥ 
EM

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Shutterrific!

Buying a house is dangerous business, I tell ya.
Here's why I say this: when we were house shopping, I had a tendency to see one thing I loved and notice nothing else. In the house we ended up purchasing, that one thing was our bath tub. It's a giant jacuzzi/garden/whatever you want to call it- tub. Jets and all. I saw it, jumped in in my clothes and shoes, and sat down while proclaiming, "I'LL TAKE IT!" And we did. 
  The following things were items that may have slipped by me: 
     - No fireplace
     - No entry closet/LR storage
     - No water pressure in the master bathroom shower
     - TINY CLOSET to SHARE *(it looks like a "Walk-in" until stuff is in it, then it's a "Stand-in-&-don't-turn-around-too-quick-or-you'll-knock-over-my-shoerack" And our condo had 2 closets in the master- one normal for him, and one that slightly resembled a baby-sized bedroom for me. SO SPACIOUS. I lust while thinking of how badly I miss that closet) 
     - Tiny Pantry
     - Ugly gold fixtures EVERYWHERE 

Now, I don't want you to think I hate this house, as that list IS somewhat extensive, but I can say--- I may already be making a list of features that we MUST have in our next house. In 5 years. When we have a kid or two and have severely outgrown this 1222 square foot lovenest.  

All that being said, I have solved some of the problem today. We have no coat storage since we have no entryway/LR closet. 

ENTER $5 SHUTTER (and a bunch of hooks) 
One day, once this room is painted, the shutter will be much more noticeable

 Most people who know D & I well know that we both have an affinity for any clothing article that comes equipped with a hood and pouch. Maybe we love the way hoodies accent our svelte figures, maybe we really enjoy repping our teams/sports/etc, or maybe we just really like being able to throw something on that is comfy and alleviates our need to suck-in because of the adorable potato sack shape. Who knows?  Either way, we have an extensive collection of all things hoodie. There's really no convenient way to store these wardrobe monstrosities, either. I mean, EACH ONE takes up an entire drawer if you fold them.  Also, I needed a place to store scarves so I could find them, since "under the bed or on top of the table" has become my most frequently played game, but it has never been my favorite.  

So here's how it worked. 

Step 1. Buy a shutter from Habitat for Humanity for $5. Yep. $5. That is a STEAL. LOVE it! 








Step 2.  Figure out where to hang it and put screws/anchors in wall. I write all over everything when hanging stuff- thankfully, all my notes end up under whatever gets hung. 

Step 3. Attach hanger thingies. Yes. That's the technical term.  I began to do this myself, but he just wanted to help, so I let him... ♥ 
This makes me think of whenever there's a children's activity described on TV and they say, "Ask a grown up to help!"

Step 4. Attach hooks for hanging scarves, jackets, etc.  

Step 5. Take oldest child to Target for the 2nd time today to get more hooks. Realize they no longer make the same chrome hooks as you have already put on the stupid shutter.  Concede to using brushed nickel and dare anyone to say somethin! 

This dog is ferocious. You've been warned. 
Step 6.  Hang the dang thing & finish putting hookers on!



Have a grown up help with this part, too, Kids! 

Step 7. Decorate accordingly.  BAM! 
YAY! Now they can all cuddle and keep each other warm until I need them!



That's all I have for now.

Well, that and 
GO PACKERS!!! 

EM





Saturday, January 7, 2012

Twenty-Oh-Twelve

That's right. Twenty-oh-twelve. That's what I said.
No, that's not what I call it... as far as you know.

By now, you have realized that I am an awesomely fantastic blog-updater, and you haven't missed a thing. Right? I mean, I update daily, so I don't know why you're making that face.

I haven't updated about how awesome my 101 in 1001 is going (or about anything else at all) in a while, so I thought tonight would be a good time to do so! You are welcome. In advance.

After this update, I have completed 27% of my list (well, actually more, but I haven't blogged about the others, so I'm only counting 28/101 items) and I am 37.3% through my 1001 days.  That's not too bad!

I have (since last update & strikethrough) completed the following:
#35. Spend time in California
   This was a LONG and EXCRUCIATING story. Basically, in October, D had a conference in Vegas (Yeah- 2 birds w/1 stone. #54.) and we flew out American Airlines. Our layover was in LAX, and our plane had to be rerouted due to bad weather... so we- and 10 other people- were stranded in LS for 16 hours. I thought- LET'S GO TO THE BEACH!!! So we hopped in a cab to Santa Monica at 10:30pm and went to a bar by the pier. I'm not counting this as #1. Visit the Beach because I did not get sandy. haha
A picture from our bench in Santa Monica... where we sat. and froze. waiting for a cab at 1:30 am on a Tuesday.  Because we're smart. 

#38. Build a fire pit
    This is interesting. Basically, here's how it goes.
  - Step 1. Buy way too many concrete blocks
  - Step 2. stack them in a square
  - Step 3. Light stuff on fire inside of said square
Yep. That's it. It isn't pretty, but I have every intention of buying some scrap tile @Habitat or something this summer, beating the crap out of it, and tiling in the outside of the concrete blocks in a mosaic-like style.

#41. Buy (and successfully wear) flat boots
   I don't know that anything else needs to be said. I bought flat boots. I look cute in them. :)

#47. Get a new TV for our LR
   For Thanksgiving, I bought us a new 51" giant tv. It is beautiful. I don't have any pictures of it, so you'll need to come see it yourself! Yay!

#51. Build seating area around fire pit
  You know how I said "Buy way too many concrete blocks"?
 The "too many" is what I made 2 benches out of. They aren't permanent. But I'm counting 'em!

#54. Go back to Reno or Vegas
    It was uhm... an experience. That's what I'll call it. It was interesting.  D had to go for work, so I tagged along. We got stranded in LA for half of the trip, but I made the most of it!
Some pictures:
View from our floor... SIGH

The View from our ROOM! Thanks Planet Hollywood for the complimentary upgrade! ♥ 

Holy MOLY our room was sweet! The thing you see on the far side- that's a WALL of a WINDOW with a remote controlled screen/blind thingie that rolled up on command. I felt like such a poor person because I found this so exciting. hahahah 


#61. Get a new mattress/box springs
   King. Size. Bed.
     That's right- I can sleep with my husband in the same bed and NEVER EVEN TOUCH HIM. Not that I want that... but I kinda do sometimes. You know. We're both wild sleepers. This thing is amazing. I'll post pictures of it one day. That way you can see how pretty our bed is with the headboard. :)

#76. Put a desk (of sorts) in the office
   Another thing I need to post a picture of is this DESK! I have 2 baby filing cabinets (the 2-drawer ones) and for Christmas, my brother gave me a giant piece of granite!!! It's BEAUTIFUL! and lays perfectly across the 2 cabinets to make a desk.
I. Love. It.
Makes me want new countertops... hmm...

There are some more that I don't think I've updated, but I'm just going to mark them out anyway.

Also: I'm counting #93 as complete as well. For Christmas, D's dad got Carmen and Tini Packers Cheerleader uniforms. I'm using those as their new outfits. SO CUTE!
 They're really short, so the girls look a little slutty.. but we all knew that about them all along.



And now I'm sleepy. That's all I have time/energy to update about tonight. Maybe more this next week... or next month. You never know! I like to keep you guessing!

Enjoy!
♥ EM