PetsMart actually sells the plastic sticks, so I got a green one (my fav color).
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Dangle cat toy
One of my Christmas gifts this year was a kitty of my very own. My parents have two cats as well and when they were moving I "housed" them for a week so that they wouldn't get out or stepped on. While they were at my apartment I got them a dangle cat toy. Its just a plastic stick with a ball on the end of the stick and a sting dangling from it. They love killing it. Stella, my kitty, is NUTS about it, so I made one for her to have here at my apartment. (I take her with me whenever I go to my parent's place.)
PetsMart actually sells the plastic sticks, so I got a green one (my fav color).
I had some extra ribbon and buttonhole thread (stronger) that was a bit strechy. I crunched the ribbon length wise and sewed it together that way. Because I used a strechy thread it contracts in size when pulled and let go. I had a little bit of fringe yarn left from a gift, so I knitted a two knit wide strip. I swirled it around the ribbon and then sewed it in place.
One end was thicker from all the ends being together. I used a glue gun to glue that end to the open end of the plastic stick. Then I glues around the opening to make it stay better.
Now I have a toy for Stella to kill and its all my making.
PetsMart actually sells the plastic sticks, so I got a green one (my fav color).
Starry Night
My friend Sarah was an Art minor in college and she has always been an artist. She sent me a card with Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night" on the front and it gave me an idea for my bedroom. People tend to over look their ceiling as a option for projects. Mine is less than great because it has styrofoam balls all over it. However, that did not keep me from doing something for it.
Hobby Lobby has an entire role of cardboard items. I vagely remember them having cardboard stars, which they did. They were 2 for a $1, so I got 15 of them. (I like odd numbers) I painted them a dark metallic blue (took two bottles of it and they were $.97 each). Office Max had a small contairer of white thumb tacks (to match my ceiling) for $2. Took me about a week to paint them all. I did one side at a time so it would be easier to have them dry. I had blue fingers for a while... I always manage to get paint on myself.
Once I had them all painted I randomly hung them and now I have my very own starry night.
Hobby Lobby has an entire role of cardboard items. I vagely remember them having cardboard stars, which they did. They were 2 for a $1, so I got 15 of them. (I like odd numbers) I painted them a dark metallic blue (took two bottles of it and they were $.97 each). Office Max had a small contairer of white thumb tacks (to match my ceiling) for $2. Took me about a week to paint them all. I did one side at a time so it would be easier to have them dry. I had blue fingers for a while... I always manage to get paint on myself.
Once I had them all painted I randomly hung them and now I have my very own starry night.
Floating Shelves makeover
Floating shelves come in very handy and look pretty awesome. I have several of my own and I got my mother into them when they moved into their new house. Even got my dad into them, which is saying something. =)
I believe it was the weekend after Christmas mom and I went to the ARC store closest to them and we found 5 of them all in good condition. They were all on sale (not like it mattered because they $2.99 for the 3 smaller ones and $3.99 for the two larger ones. The total of all of them is still less than paying for ONE of them in a store) so of course my mom got them. The only downside was that two of the smaller ones were this NASTY burnt orange, one of the large ones was a dark purple, and the other large one was gray. I told mom I could make them any color she wanted, so we settled on white.
Now I knew I could do this because I did it already. I happened to find a white one at an ARC store, but I wanted to match the other stuff in my room, so I wanted it to be espresso brown.
It is actually surprisingly easy to make them into any color you want. I am working on all of moms right now.
All you need is primer (if it a dark color), and whatever color you want it to be, varnish, and some paint brushes. I would also suggest using paint tarps to protect the surface you are painting on.
First you prime the shelves. I do about two coats depending on how dark the previous color is, as its easier to paint if you prime it better.
I am going to VERY lightly sand down the edges where some of the paint pooled on the tarp and created little "extra" walls. The large ones are going to take longer and normally another coat. Not sure if they are just made of thicker wood that doesn't take as well, or what, but its a pain some times. I'm on the final coat on the large ones. I should be finished by the end of tonight. You don't need to coat the back, unless you really want to. I did simply so that the ugly orange doesn't some how rub on the wall.
I believe it was the weekend after Christmas mom and I went to the ARC store closest to them and we found 5 of them all in good condition. They were all on sale (not like it mattered because they $2.99 for the 3 smaller ones and $3.99 for the two larger ones. The total of all of them is still less than paying for ONE of them in a store) so of course my mom got them. The only downside was that two of the smaller ones were this NASTY burnt orange, one of the large ones was a dark purple, and the other large one was gray. I told mom I could make them any color she wanted, so we settled on white.
Now I knew I could do this because I did it already. I happened to find a white one at an ARC store, but I wanted to match the other stuff in my room, so I wanted it to be espresso brown.
It is actually surprisingly easy to make them into any color you want. I am working on all of moms right now.
All you need is primer (if it a dark color), and whatever color you want it to be, varnish, and some paint brushes. I would also suggest using paint tarps to protect the surface you are painting on.
First you prime the shelves. I do about two coats depending on how dark the previous color is, as its easier to paint if you prime it better.
Obvious let it dry before you do another side, which can take a while if you did a thick coat. Once you have primed it to the best of your liking (i.e. you can't see the other paint through the primer coat) you can start painting it the color you actually want. In my case its going to be white, so the primer acts as a real bonus for me. So far I have coated the small ones twice and they are pretty much done. I just have to check for random spots I missed.
Once everything is completely dry (I am going to let them sit over night) you can do a coat of varnish. Now this step is done to seal the paint and also to make it look more "real", or like it was always meant to be that color. Once its been painted and dry you notice the dull look to it. The varnish will make it look shiny. (the above picture reflects the varnish.) It looks like it came from the store this way now.
So if you come across a shelf (does not have to be just a floating shelf) and you would like to change the look, this is an easy way to do just that.
K
Scapbook Quotes
I keep a book filled with quotes that I have collected or heard over the years. I use them in my cards and scrapbooks. Here are a few:
"Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you"- atrributed to Elsie De Wolfe
"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." - Oscar Wilde
Father's Day
"It's only when you grow up and step back from him-or leave him for your own home-it's only then that you can meaure his greatness and fuly appreciate it." - Margaret Truman
"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap on a rope." - Bill Cosby
"Your father, he never loses patience-never doubts or complains- but always hopes, and works and waits so cheerfully that one is ashamed to do otherwire before him." - Louisa May Alcott.
"The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get." - Tim Russert
Weddings
"There is no remedy for love, but to love more." - Henry David Thoreau
"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." - Mignon McLaughlin
"There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage." - Martin Luther
"He is husband, she is wife. She fears not him, They fear not life." Robert Frost
Thank Yous
"I can no other answer make but thanks And Thanks." - William Shakespeare
"That best portion of a good man's life; His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." - William Wordsworth
"People who give will never be poor." - Anne Frank
"Pleasantest of all ties is the tie of host and guest." - Aechylus
"Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark our coming and look brighter when we come." - Lord Byron
Graduations
"There is nothing like a dream to create the future." - Victor Hugo
"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith." - Steve Jobs
"The future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o'clock." - Woody Allen
"We want men who will fix their eyes on the stars, but who will not forget that their feet must walk on the ground." - Theodore Roosevelt
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." - B.F.Skinner
"There are two ways to spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." - Edith Wharton
K
"Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you"- atrributed to Elsie De Wolfe
"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." - Oscar Wilde
Father's Day
"It's only when you grow up and step back from him-or leave him for your own home-it's only then that you can meaure his greatness and fuly appreciate it." - Margaret Truman
"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap on a rope." - Bill Cosby
"Your father, he never loses patience-never doubts or complains- but always hopes, and works and waits so cheerfully that one is ashamed to do otherwire before him." - Louisa May Alcott.
"The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get." - Tim Russert
Weddings
"There is no remedy for love, but to love more." - Henry David Thoreau
"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." - Mignon McLaughlin
"There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage." - Martin Luther
"He is husband, she is wife. She fears not him, They fear not life." Robert Frost
Thank Yous
"I can no other answer make but thanks And Thanks." - William Shakespeare
"That best portion of a good man's life; His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." - William Wordsworth
"People who give will never be poor." - Anne Frank
"Pleasantest of all ties is the tie of host and guest." - Aechylus
"Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark our coming and look brighter when we come." - Lord Byron
Graduations
"There is nothing like a dream to create the future." - Victor Hugo
"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith." - Steve Jobs
"The future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o'clock." - Woody Allen
"We want men who will fix their eyes on the stars, but who will not forget that their feet must walk on the ground." - Theodore Roosevelt
"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." - B.F.Skinner
"There are two ways to spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." - Edith Wharton
K
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