Monday, April 30, 2012

UGA Organizational Board Revisted

Okay so here are some additional things I want to mention about the Org. Board!

1. You may want to consider stronger adhesive for the paper mache box. Ours falls down, so Alex just used some super glue and glued that sucker onto the box.
2. Because certain members of my family needed this pointed out, you are using glass picture frames so they become dry erase! :) If you didn't see it before...EXPO is the way to go!

3. Leave enough space between the date of chores & the first chore. That way you can write the month name in there and the seasonal group. The daily is easy to erase every day. I haven't decided if I'm going to write the week on there yet. However, this will keep you from cheating & checking off things that you didn't actually do!

4. I think in order for this not to become wall art, you need to customize it. You need to write down things you are actually going to do. I have mop floors & vacuum once a day...yeah...that hasn't happened. The entire list isn't filled of these things, which would mean I'd ignore the list. However, having one or two that I constantly have to stare at as not marked off, is great. I actually do think about vacuuming every day. I'm about two weeks off from actually starting it. The other thing is the Menu..I'm not a dinner planner for the week. However, I am trying to force myself to do it. We'll see...


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Our Monkeys

I'm also going out of town to visit family this weekend then on a business trip next weekend, so I'm feeling a bit sad about leaving our monkeys, the pet name for our furry friends. 
Reagan & Duckie
The first two are Duckie & Reagan. I got them when they were 4 weeks old. They're coming up on their 6th birthday! I was living with some friends for two months. Over Memorial Day weekend one of my roommate's mother's cat had kittens. They were going out of town so asked that we watch the four kittens. Well we returned the momma cat two weeks later, but kept the kittens.

 I took the two females and they took the two males. Duckie is the talker. She meows allllll the time. She's also big & fluffy and has a habit of knocking things off tables.She curls up into the oddest places. She is the king of the dogs, er queen. She just walks past the dogs and has a cool attitude. They generally leave her alone, because of that. We say she occasionally gets lost, because she'll go upstairs and meow in meow that sounds like a "hello?" If you call her she comes running, as if "Oh! You're finally here!"
Reagan
 Reagan is the sweetheart. She's the only animal that comes every time I call. I pat my chest & say "Kitty" or "Reagan" and she wakes up and comes running. She is definitely a needy cat. She has to be on my lap at all times. She also drools...yes I have a cat that drools. It's gross. If she could spend her life on my lap, I think she would. She's more skittish with the dogs and has no problem swatting them if they get too close. She loves the window sills, especially when the window is open.
Gus with Rhino, his hamster.


He lays like that...all the time...
 Gus has been our learning experience. He was our first dog. Gus is a pure bred chocolate lab. He was born in July 2008, and we found him on Craig's List in March 2009. So he was 8 months old. The family was moving and couldn't take him. Good gravy he's been a handful! He had to have shots before we got him, because he found a copper head in the back yard and was playing with it. Aside from crying the entire way back to the house, when we got him, he's completely ours.  He loves his momma, and as such my little man has some severe separation anxiety! He chewed out of his crate one day, as seen here. He was able to open the closet door, even if we tied rope from the door around a large cage. He'd sneak himself in (and then would lock himself in).  He was house trained, and my Dad leash trained him with us. He's finally over his chewing stage (calmed down about June of last year). 


He loves trash (once ate old previously-frozen sausage out of the trash...he's gross...). We could let him have free range of the house if it weren't for the trash can. He's smart too. He can beg, give you his paw to "Say hello", will then give you "both hands", he knows the "Go Dawgs" cheer, jump through a hula hoop, "Bang Bang You're Dead," and Rollover. He cycles through them all when you have a treat. Almost like..okay I did them all! Now where's my treat. He likes to lay between Alex & I...adding to his momma's boy, neediness.

 He also loves water. We had to get him a life jacket, because he just kept swimming. He'd wear himself out! He's super sweet and a momma's boy. If I fall asleep on the couch, wake up in the middle of the night (realizing oh crap, I'm still on the couch), he's right there with me. He's gotta a little barky lately towards other dogs. He sounds a lot more ferocious than he is, but good gravy that's our next big project...curb the barking! In the furniture he's gnawed on, carpet he's chewed up, doors his scratched, clothes/shoes he's chewed...we've learned to control our anger & have patience.As you can see, he's a total ham.


Then came Lucy. Alex felt lonely, because I'd end up with all 3 of the animals sitting on my lap (I have no idea how it was possible). He wanted his own dog. So last June/July, we went to the Animal Shelter looking for a Boston Terrier. We ended up seeing Lucy. Don't go to the animal shelter at lunch and not expect to come home with a dog. So we picked her up a few days later (after they spayed her), and brought her home. She's become the bully of the group. Gus is pretty good about taking it, but it runs on her time. They play constantly, sometimes a little rough, but they are constantly playing. 


She still has some accidents, so she's not allowed out during the day yet. Hopefully that will change, but Gus sleeps in my closet during the day so I'm sure he won't actually like that. Lucy, while we call her dumb because she's clumsy, has learned quite a few tricks. She can give you her paw, beg, and moon walk (stand on her hind legs and walk backwards). She almost has "twirl" down, where she twirls on her hind legs. She's learned some manners in the last 9 months and is absolutely one of the family. She likes to hide behind cushions, dig between the cushions, take something she shouldn't have and run up under the bed with it. If you get it while she's still playing keep away, you're fine. If not, she'll destroy it. She's eaten numerous pairs of glasses (hence my switch to contacts). Oh she also chewed up & ate her rabies & ID tag...they were metal. She's awesome like that...
The four never cease to amaze me. They generally all get along relatively well.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Coffee-Filter Wreaths

I'm still working on these, but will never ever do this again. Wow did this take much longer than I thought! 'm not sure I'd recommend this again. Granted, I was trying to make two wreaths at once (one for my mother & one for my mother-in-law). This is why they aren't red and black...I asked what colors they would like so they would match their houses.

Who I got the idea from: Lovely Crafty Home 

Time: Multiple Days 

Shopping List: 
2 packages of Coffee Filters (if you have extra...well it only costs $2 per pack of like 200...)
Acrylic Paint
Paint Brush
Cups
Cardboard Wreath Print Out
Ribbon
Scissors
Hot Glue

Instructions:

1. Prep: Be sure to prep your area. You'll want to hang clothes lines with clothes pins around the house. Please be sure to tell people you are doing so if you choose to use a chandelier & a door as part of your line. Put down painters cloth on the table  and underneath the pin area.

2. Paint: So for the colors here...I blended as I went so I'll show you the steps. The less paint, the quicker it drys. It only takes one or two to realize you should have let them dry longer. Semi-wet coffee filters don't stick to tape very well. 
  • Cup A - Coffee: I used strong coffee for the first set of colors. They gave the cream colored flowers. I had 50 clothes pin, so I did 50 of these. 
  • Cup A - Pink: I poured some more coffee into a cup and pink paint. The water cuts the paint so it doesn't take as long to dry (and makes the paint go further!). When you're done...don't dumb this cup out. I had 50 clothes pin, so I did 50 of these.
  • Cup B - Yellow:  I poured water & yellow paint for the yellow flowers.  I had 50 clothes pin, so I did 50 of these. 
  • Cup A - Burgundy: I poured the Yellow from Cup B into the Cup A for the pink. I added some dark red paint and swirled until i got a color I liked.  I had 50 clothes pin, so I did 50 of these. 
  • Cup C - Green: I poured a little bit of green paint, lots of water, and green food coloring in to get a pale green.  I had 50 clothes pin, so I did 50 of these. 
  • Cup C - Darker Green: I poured a darker green into the cup (and added more water if needed) and some more green food coloring to get a darker green. Can you guess how many I did?
  • Cup C - Dark Green: For this one I poured more green paint, green food coloring & blue food coloring into the mix. This gave me a rich dark green.
3. Make the Flowers: How I make the flowers, I'll defer to lovelycraftyhome.com. This takes about 6 minutes per flower. I suggest making one of each color as you go. That way you can start hot gluing the flowers in. This will make you a lot less depressed, since this takes so amazingly long.



4. Ribbon: I cut a hole in the middle of the cardboard wreath. I put both sides of the ribbon into the slot and wrapped it around through the large center part of the wreath. I tapped & glued the ribbon in place. If you do it this way, it's important you do this before you begin gluing the flowers!

5. Hot Glue: Glue the flowers onto the wreath. I tried to stagger the pattern a bit. In retrospect, I could have used another color, but I'm getting anxious just thinking about it. I originally cut off about half of the "masking tape stem" so I could stand them up. After the first 5 or 6, I stopped and just glued the bottom. As you're gluing you'll find you smush the flowers a bit. It's okay, just well unsmush them and be careful. 



*****UPDATE: So as you can see I finished the first wreath. I feel as though I could be lulled into a sense of "oh you can do it again." To break down the hours:

Set up: 20 minutes (includes stringing lines for the filters to dry & cutting wreath out of cardboard)
Painting Filters: 2.5 hours (I did four colors so 30 minutes x 4 plus any in between time)
Each Flower: 3.5 hours (6 minutes to make & there were probably 36 flours on the wreath)
Gluing onto the Wreath: 15 minutes
Total Time: approximately 6.5-7 hours

The biggest task is painting the filters. Beacuse I did enough coffee filters for two wreaths it took most of my day on Sunday. Doing a few flowers a night while watching TV wasn't bad at all. 

A Few Final Notes:
  • I varied between wanting little flowers & big flowers. Ultimately be generous with your masking tape so you can make large ruffles for large pedals. This will take up space on your wreath and they don't look bad.
  • I realized I didn't have cardboard after I started, so I found an old Christmas Garment  box and cut it from there. This gave me two wreaths and worked pretty well. I mean we collect the "gently used" boxes every year and they seem to just collect in a pile so why not!
  • If you were slightly impatient like me and didn't wait for the filters to dry, if you leave them overnight, they dry!
  • I also folded all of the flowers into 4 for easy storage. I didn't trust either of the dogs or cats to leave alone a pile of coffee filters. 
  • Last, I'll post the green one once I'm finished. I have about 4 hours to go on that one.

UGA Organizational Board

This was a lot of work, but I think it turned out great!


Who I got the idea from: Girl Loves Glam

Time: 5+ hours

Shopping List:
19x31 Piece of Plywood
2 8x10 Frames
2 5x6 Frames
2 Large Clips
3 Frame Hooks
2 8x10 pieces of Colored Card Stock
3 Packages of Command Strips
1 Paper Mache Box
Black Paint & foam paint brush
Hot Glue Gun
Scrapbook Kit
Dry Erase Markers
Nails & a Hammer

Instructions:
1. Paint Plywood: I had my Dad cut me a piece of plywood. I think mine is actually 19x30. The exact size fits to your needs. Then I painted the plywood & the paper mache box. I put two coats on and let dry overnight (this is why it took so long). 

2. Frames: Hot Glue the glass to the inside of the frames.  

3. Print Offs: Print out the lists that you want. I made my own, because I wanted them UGA themed, and I'm a bit of a freak. I also wanted to use the same font - I used Kristen. The original website had links to what she did. 

Calendar: I used a table in Microsoft Word word. I left extra space at the top so I could write the name of the month. I then printed on Red Card Stock I got from Hobby Lobby. Then I put this into one of the 8x10 frames.
 
To Do List: I changed Microsoft Word's page size to 5x7, printed it on white paper & put it into one of the 5x7 frames.  


Scrapbook Kit: I had a scrapbook kit I never used that was UGA themed. I used boards & stickers from that kit to add color to the lists. 
 


Chore List: I knew I wanted a quarterly list, but seasonal fit better so it was named seasonal. I think the important thing to remember with this type of list is make sure you put down what you're going to do. If you're not going to vacuum every day, don't put it down. You won't want to see that on the list and you'll ignore doing it.
 
  
Menu:  The menu was easy enough. Again word and 5x7. I would suggest starting the week on Sunday or Monday depending on your schedule. I do my shopping on Sunday Morning so it was best for me to put Sunday first.  If in your mind you run Monday-Sunday, then put Monday first.




4.  Command Strips: Put command strips on the back of each of the frames (I used 4 for the big frames, 2 for the 5x7s, 3 for the paper mache box, & one for each of the clips). 

5. Picture Frame Hangers: I used the tooth hangers, because that's what the original post had. I was clearly not thinking and spent quite a bit of time putting them on the back of the board upside down. This was the hardest part, because the stupid little screws wouldn't go into the plywood. I don't really have a better suggestion other than patience & a glass of wine. Be sure the strips are level...if not then you have to make the nails in the wall uneven so that the whole thing is even.

6. Organize: Lay out the frames & clips on the board how you want them. Then peal off the command strips to put each piece on the board.

7. Hang: Hang up your frame! I used three nails, because I was sure it was coming off the wall. So far it's held up after 2 days!

Notes: Use Expo Dry Erase Markers. I bought ones with an eraser on the top. They weren't as good as Expo.  If you don't plan out a menu...don't put it on there. If you know you won't use an item, then don't bother putting it on there.

Red & Black Fence Pots

I did these at the same time as the 3-Tiered Pots, because well I had the spray paint. We have an ugly privacy fence, that probably needs to be pressure washed/stained & replaced. So when I saw this, I thought oh! This will help cover up the dullness of the wood fence! As such, I opted to only do 6 rather than 9 pots. I figured I can always go back and swap them out.

Who I got the idea from: Shelterness

Time: 90 minutes

Shopping List:
6 Medium Sized Terracotta Pots
6 Flowers (I got two different kinds of annuals - two of each kind, because I like symmetry)
3 cans of spray paint (I went for Cherry Red, Black & White)
1 can Thompson Water Seal Spray
Painters Tape
Potting Soil
Cordless Drill

Instructions:

1. Cover where-ever your painting with painters cloth (your husband will be upset with you if you don't cover everything...scrubbing afterwords takes forever...)

2.  Spray your pots & dish with the Thompson Water Seal Spray. You may want to read the instructions and not spray before it rains & let it seal....or you can be lazy like me and just go for it.

3. Spray Paint the edges of the pots white and let dry. It's okay if you go over the edges a bit.  It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to dry, especially if you do this on a nice sunny day.

4.  Put painters tape around the white where you just painted. Be sure to just go on the edge. If you don't wait to let it dry...you'll have to redo.

5. Paint the large & small pots with red spray paint, and paint the middle pot & bottom 
saucer with black spray paint.  Let them dry.

6. Take off the painter's tape. 

7. Plant your flowers. So my flowers were too big for my pots, so I didn't need any extra soil. I actually needed less soil.

I had to stop here, because I didn't plan ahead, and order the pot latch things. The only place I could find that had them was Vat19.com

8. Screw the Pot Latches onto the wood fence (they should come with screws).

9. Latch your pots into place! Voila!

Three-Tiered Pots

This wasn't difficult either. The hardest part was scrubbing the spray paint off the table from where I may or may not have fully covered prior to spray painting...

 
Who I got the idea from: Positively Splendid Crafts

Time: 90 minutes

Shopping List:
3 different sized Terracotta pots
1 Terracotta bottom dish
3 cans of spray paint (I went for Cherry Red, Black & White)
1 can Thompson Water Seal Spray
Painters Tape
Potting Soil
Flowers

Instructions:
1. Cover where-ever your painting with painters cloth (your husband will be upset with you if you don't cover everything...scrubbing afterwords takes forever...)

2.  Spray your pots & dish with the Thompson Water Seal Spray. You may want to read the instructions and not spray before it rains & let it seal....or you can be lazy like me and just go for it.

3. Spray Paint the edges of the pots white and let dry. It's okay if you go over the edges a bit.  It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to dry, especially if you do this on a nice sunny day.

4.  Put painters tape around the white where you just painted. Be sure to just go on the edge. If you don't wait to let it dry...you'll have to redo.

5. Paint the large & small pots with red spray paint, and paint the middle pot & bottom saucer with black spray paint.  Let them dry.

6. Take off the painter's tape. 

7. Put in 3/4 of the bottom pot. The original post said to put bricks & soda cans in there. I forgot to look for bricks and felt putting beer cans in there would be slightly trashy, so I just opted for soil. If you opt for just soil, be sure to pack it in so that it stays.  

8. I put the middle pot in at this time, and put my viney plants into the side. I may have shoved them in there, which I'm sure will make anyone that actually knows anything about gardening shutter. So you could put them around the edges, then put the pot in. Mine were a tight fit.  

9. Do the same with the middle pot. 

10. Put your plants in the top  pot. 

I had to play around with the layout a bit, because you originally couldn't see the black middle pot. My saucer is a little bit too big, but I can't fix that now. The other mistake I made was painting the red & black first, then painting the rims white. I ended up having to tape the entire painted pots so they wouldn't have white on them. In retrospect, I'm not sure what I was thinking...

UGA Ribbon Wreath

This was actually really easy to make and looks really good!  I can't wait to make more of these for different seasons (although is there really another season other than football?)
 
  
Who I got the idea from: Rollin' with the Wheeler's

Time: 90 minutes (max)

Shopping List:
1 stirofoam wreath (you can use the green one or a white one, the white worked for me)
6 rolls of different color ribbon (I used 5 here and could have used one more)
A packet of pins
Scissors

Instructions: 

1. Cut all of the ribbon into 4 inch pieces. I originally did longer like the blog did, but found I liked the smaller loops. (I looped the ribbon into segments and then cut, since that was quicker)

2. Start with one color and pin several loops around the wreath.

3. Take a second color ribbon and follow suit. My husband gave me really weird looks until it was more full. 

4. Keep pinning until you use up all of the ribbon. I left the backside mostly plain, because it's going against the back of the door.