Select-a-size

Paper products. 

Like a growth chart for kitties.  


First was toilet paper. 
Then napkins.  
Now paper towels.  


Awwww...our little bads are growing up!

The Rug

O ye of little faith!  I got the "woman you have lost your mind" look from the hubby when he spotted supplies for my next project.  Not sure why that look exists for me anymore. I mean...hello...I built a bed.  From scratch.  With absolutely no experience.  

Soooooo...

Yes...I'm going to DIY an 8x12 area rug. Yes...I'm going to take 4 perfectly good smaller rugs, cut them up, and reattach them all back together into 1 large rug.  Yes...I think it's going to work.  Yes...it could totally end up looking like...well...cut up rugs.  Yes...I'm going to try it anyway.  


Anymore questions?  Didn't think so.  Now wish me luck...
Update:  The Rug (Part 2)

Coat Rack Table

So it's quite possible that I might just be a teeny-weeny bit obsessed with our local free-cycle spot...but my obsession is totally logical to me.  What I can't understand is why more people don't "shop" there.  I mean...it's FREE!  

It was during one of my first visits that I picked up a free standing wooden coat rack.  It was a little bit wobbly but I figured it could be fixed with some wood glue and maybe a screw or two.  But I never got around to it and, of course, once loaded up with coats, the wobbly rack fell over and broke.  Oh well...at least it was free.

Upon further investigation, prior to tossing the whole thing, I found that the broken top part could just be unscrewed from the base (which was not broken).  So I kept the bottom part figuring it could have a new life as a table one day.  While working in the garage on a few other projects, I decided to add some scrap wood to the base so I'd have something to screw a wooden top to...if I ever got around to buying one.  This required a large pilot hole and what I thought would be some creative assembly (finding a nut and washer the right size to bolt it together and sit flush below the wood scrap, etc, etc, etc).  

But as happy accidents happen, my pilot hole was just a bit too small and as I turned the wood to force it on the bolt, it started to screw itself into the wood.  So I just kept turning until it was flush, tight, and secure.  O happy day!

And even though this "table base" didn't have a top or even a designated spot to live in our house, I made an executive decision to go ahead and spray paint it oil-rubbed bronze.  And I'm so glad that I did. Because now it's too cold for spray painting.  That season has officially come to a close.  

However, I did find the perfect spot for my new table in our living room.  I decided a rectangle top would work best in it's new location, which seems like an odd choice for the top of a 3-legged table, but somehow it just works.  The new top is actually just a 2x12 that I cut to size, sanded smooth, and rounded out the edges.

Chunky and cheap.


Hummm...not sure if that describes me or the table...

Of course, the table is still not finished.  Here's hoping I get around to staining the top sometime in the near future.  And because decorating on the cheap is a game to me...I estimate this table only cost me about $5 in supplies to make or the equivalent of 5 McD's sweet teas.  Good thing I don't have to choose between the two.  Otherwise I'd be table-less! 

12.25.11

Happy Festivus!

They. Don't. Quit. Ever.

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

~Calvin Coolidge

1 cat up.  1 cat down.

1 cat up.  1 cat down.

1 cat up.  1 cat down.

1 cat up.  1 cat down.

1 cat up.  1 cat down.

Multiply by 2.  There's power in numbers.  

Okay.  You win.  Roam the kitchen counters all you want.  Just please don't lick the clean dishes.

Tebow Mania

Zoey requested a Broncos Tebow #15 jersey for Christmas.  Hummmmm...I wonder if they sell those at Petco...

I should go to the gym today...

I'm not one of those people who casually fall off the diet wagon.  Nope.  That's not my style.  I prefer to jump off...going full speed ahead...traveling first class on an all expenses paid vacation at the "gain 5 pounds in record time" luxury 5-star resort.

And that is why experts say that diets don't work.  Well...I say the experts are wrong.  The diet part was working just fine.  It's the sky-diving into a jar of peanut butter with a chocolate chip cookie parachute part that's the problem.

Duck in Disguise

Zoey's thoughts:

If I sit very still and pretend to be a duck...maybe no one will notice that I'm planning an attack on that plant up there.

Ziggy's Solution

Problem:  Need a cat tree/climbing post thingy.

Solution:  Our christmas tree.

Two for One

My creative right brain kicked into cah-ra-zyyy mode. Which is totally worse than The Little Bads Gang tag-teaming attacks on my toes. Seriously…sometimes I wonder if the logical side of my brain even exists anymore.  Right brain was trying to address 2 problems…




Problem 1: I feel like the little bads need a some kind of cat condo/scratching post/climbing tree kinda thingy. But the ones sold in stores are really ugly and really overpriced. And since I build furniture…why not a cat tree? Problem: where to put it and what should it look like? So now I’m stuck on the design. Like crazy glue kinda stuck. Ughhhhhh!!!


Problem 2: The additions of The Little Bads required a second litter box (so now we have one on each floor of our house). Unfortunately, the location of this second box was dictated by Zoey. And that location was in the corner right next to our dining room table. In my mind…that’s the equivalent of hosting a dinner party in our bathroom…"why don’t you have a seat on our porcelain throne and pass the rolls please". So I came up with two options: either move the table or the box (genius....ehhhh????). I decided that I should try moving the box first.  After much debate, I found a corner in my office that will suffice. However, that’s still not quite acceptable. If I’m going to have a litter box next to my desk…it shouldn’t look like one. So my right brain launched “operation conceal the litter box.” I’m pretty confident I could build a most fabulous contraption to house/hide the litterbox. But let’s be realistic…I’m just trying to disguise a cat toilet! So I’m not interested in investing a lot of time/money/energy into something that hopefully we won’t even need in a few months. I pondered combining my two problems…build a cat tree that could also accommodate hiding the litter box. But that idea just rendered me completely frozen in indecisiveness. My solution: give up and take a nap. Maybe eating in the bathroom isn’t so bad after all…

Apparently, I was trying to decorate in my sleep because I woke up with this great makeover idea for a metal cart that I brought home from our local free-cycle spot. Perfect. In crazy right brain world it makes complete sense to start a completely new project that is completely unrelated to the cat tree/litter box issues that have been driving me crazy. Gotta love how right brain works…throw in an unrelated project to make me crazier!

However, working on this cart did involve breaking out ol’ miter bob so the thought of actually doing something made me happy. And as I was assembling supplies for the cart makeover, I passed a bench/table piece in our basement that I also picked up a few weeks earlier at the local free-cycle spot. Whoa…nelly! I think I just stumbled onto greatness here! If I do a little bit of dismantling and reassembling with a few modifications…I may have just solved the litter box issue. Maybe right brain isn’t so crazy after all!

So I started working on the cart which involved several coats of spray primer, oil rubbed bronze spray paint, and cutting 20 pieces of 1x3’s into 14 ½ inch sections. The stars were starting to align in my favor. The width of the cart was exactly the width of ten 1x3’s (for which I had plenty of scraps on hand.)

The measurements of the bench/table would accommodate the litter box once I made a few "tweeks".  So I set out taking it apart.  I cut the bottom shelf to make it shorter by 4 inches and reattached it closer to the ground.  I added some 1x2's to the arms on the top so the original bench seat would just sit on top.  That way it could just be lifted off, which would provide easy access to the litter box.  And a piece of particle board from the cart was a perfect fit for a piece missing on the top of the new litter box “table.” I just wrapped it with some leather fabric (that I already had in my stash) and secured it with duck tape.  It was meant to be!! 

A few hours later…after some spray paint, wood scraps, duck tape, and leather fabric…I emerged with a litter box table and a custom metal/wood cart. Of course I'm only about 90% complete at this time (just keeping pace with my completion batting average). I still need to sand/stain the wood but it's good enough for now.  And progress thus far made right brain go into hibernation for a few days. Halle-freakin-luja! Soooo shhhhhh…let’s not wake her up…I’m in need of some serious couch time!

Metal Cart Makeover

Table/Bench/Litter box Makeover

Metal + Cold = Broken

It never even crossed my mind that even though I was okay with working in the 35 degree unheated garage...my tools were not.  The first casualty was my drill bit.  It snapped in half.  I just chalked it up to being overworked and worn out.  Then the screw head broke off.  What the heck!!!!  If everything keeps breaking...this is soooo gonna take a while! Until I remembered that metal gets brittle when cold. Duhhh!!!!

I think my tools should learn to man up!  I mean...really...35 degrees is only a bit chilly.  It's not like there's a negative sign in front of that temp...at least not yet!

Plants on the Move

I was planning to get a goldfish and name it Jaws.  Good thing that never happened.  Even with a name like Jaws...that guy would not have stood a chance against The Little Bads.  Can you say....Sushi?!?! 

And the acquisition of the little bads also required all of our house plants to go into protective custody on top of the TV cabinet. It was the only place I could guarantee their safety from those little mafia members hiding out in our house. 

That is...until now. Their safe house is no longer safe. Their cover has been blown! Zoey finally figured out how to get to them. I really think she has been secretly plotting her attack since day one!

Now I need to sneak my plants into witness protection.  Wonder if Jack Bauer will come out of retirement to help me out?

Serving Up Sawdust and Paint

Cooking on Thanksgiving???  Not me.  Not this year.  We opted to go out to eat instead and left the cooking (and dishes) to someone else.  Ahhhh...it was sooooo nice!  And it didn't require any therapy afterward...unlike last year's encounter with the random "parts and pieces" stuffed inside my Butterball!

So instead of slaving away in the kitchen ALL day...I spent the day building, spray painting, and watching football.  


Wow.  I sound like a dude.  

Black is the New Black

99% of everything looks better in black.  

Except teeth.  

And bedding.  

My preference for those is white.  
Especially when it comes to teeth.

But...for my latest free-cycle acquisition...I opted for black.  Ya know…since it didn’t fall into the teeth/bedding category.

Old ugly headboard…please meet my good friend...Mr. Can O’Black spray paint.  Mingle quickly ‘cause you’re about to spend eternity together.  

(What’s with all the blue Chaquita banana stickers!  Seriously…is it possible to eat that many bananas at one time?!?!)

Gobble Gobble!

Thanksgiving Day:  I am thankful that I am at the top of the food chain.  I bet there's a whole bunch of turkeys wishing they could say the same thing.

On Cloud 9

iCloud = iLove

Best.  Invention.  Ever.

Office Tetris

Time to rearrange the hubby's home office space (yet again!) in hopes of getting it right this time.  It just wasn't working for me.  Not sure why that matters exactly since it's not my office and I don't spend much time in there.  Nevertheless, I was set on changing it.  


However, despite my best planning efforts, it still required physically moving every spare piece of furniture around the room a million times.   So the whole concept of “creating” a room to scale on graph paper was completely useless and totally a waste of time!  Why I bother to follow expert advice…I do not know!!!  

The tried and true method:  carry random pieces of furniture up 2 flights of stairs from the basement (over and over and over again).  Then do the hokey pokey dance with all of it.  One piece in one piece out and spin it all around…  And then ya guessed it…carry most of it plus some back down 2 flights of stairs to the basement.  Fabulous.  My own personal stair master machine.  Except without the machine.  And using actual stairs.  Imagine that...exercise that doesn't require electricity.  Such a foreign concept!

Keeping Watch

Better keep an eye on that green one...if it moves...ATTACK!!!

Udder-ences

Apparently, if I hit and kill a deer with my car, I have the right to take it home with me. Good to know. Of course I would totally need a truck that said "mudder fudder" first. Somehow...any other method of transport just wouldn't seem appropriate.

How (not) to open a box

I went to the basement to do some laundry and was greeted by this box of Tide.  

Hummmm....I've never encountered a box of laundry detergent opened quite like this before.  

Maybe the detergent requested a skylight.  As crazy as that sounds...it was the most logical explanation I could come up with.

Another Chair Makeover

So I’ve accepted the unthinkable reality that I will probably never win a Nobel Prize or make it onto the NY Times Best Sellers list. Ohhhh well. However, I’m still doing my small part in making the world a better place. 


One ugly chair at a time.  


Poor little discarded old chairs...kicked to the curb (literally) by their former owners.  The nerve of those people…

Well...good thing I’m like the Humane Society for chairs. Lots and lots of strays somehow find their way into my garage. Just don’t tell the hubby. He still thinks I have this free-chair-addiction thing under control.

Ha! Ha!

No way…not even close!
 

Recently I decided that our guest room needed a new chair.  Good thing I have a lot to chose from.  All this guy needed was a few quick coats of white spray paint and a fabric switcheroo.  Voila!  And now I have another recycled chair that I love! love! love!  (And it appears that Ziggy endorses the addition of this chair!)

Election Day

These stupid stickers are such peer pressure!

Pets or people?

Some days I prefer pets over people. 

Today happens to be one of those days.

FL Redneck!

You might be a redneck if you are the sender of this photo and accompanying text message....

"Isn't it beautiful?"

Got birch?

(Inspiration photo source)

I'm a little obsessed with birch trees.  Probably because I didn't grow up with them.  Palm trees are my normal.  But up here in the good 'ol north pole of Minnesota....birch trees are everywhere!!!  O and I can't even express in words how facinated I am with "christmas trees" growing in people's yards.  Seriously...how cool is that to grow your very own christmas tree!!

Anyway...one day I was driving along and spotted some fallen birch trees.  Of course I absolutely HAD to have them.  Well they ended up living in our garage for 2 years.   Just waiting.  Then this summer I came across an inspiration photo of stacked wood.  Perfect!

Especially since our fireplace doesn't work anyway.  Well...I'm guessing it would work really well one time but then our whole house would be nothing but a pile of ashes, completely burned to the ground, and we'd be homeless.  And that would super suck!  Therefore...there will be no firing up of that massive box o' bricks around here.

Hummmmmm...if I can't use the fireplace...then I should decorate it!

So I put 'ol miter bob to use and started cutting away.  It took foreverrrrrrrrr to cut all the birch pieces and created a huge mess of the garage.   Ughhhhh...more sawdust...more sweeping...more cleaning.  Such a never-ending battle!  But I was really excited to see the finished product all stacked and lovely in our sorry-excuse-for-a-fireplace.  Until I realized that I wasn't going to have enough birch pieces to finish the project.  Not even close.

Perfect.

Another unfinished project added to my list.

Peak this my peeps

Sneak a peak.  A peep show.  Not the peeping tom kind though.  Well...unless there's a weirdo peeping my windows.  In that case...I apologize.  I'll try to make it to the gym more often.  Or just remember to close all the curtains.

Anyway...I have successfully finished a few of my never-ending-projects.  However, they are still-never-ending-because-I-now-gotta-write-about-em projects.  So my brilliantly lazy self just had a stroke of pure genius. I'll just share some of the in-progress photos.   Truly clever...ehhh???  But it's pretty transparent that I'm just trying to cover up an epic case of laziness. Ya know...'cause I may have spent the last few weekends in my pj's watching movies and football.