This week I had the good fortune of photographing two beautiful little girls. I was so excited to edit the photos…so I’m thrilled to be bringing you a sneak peek tonight! Without further ado, feast your eyes on Baby Robin and her big-girl sister, Danica.
This session was especially exciting for me because recently I’ve stocked up on props and back drops. {And more are on the way!} See…I’ve never worked in a place where outdoor photography was not a year round possibility. So I’m getting creative and making this whole winter thing work to my advantage. This session was so fun. Robin is precious, as you can see…and a joy to shoot.
Now meet Danica. I just love this girl’s personality. She is a bit of a tom-boy…but boy does she clean up nice! She was eager to give me her “Princess Smile.” But when I handed her a strand of pretty beads to play with she didn’t pretend to wear them. Instead she quickly told me that it was a snake that had poison and could bite. Hey…whatever floats your boat. I love a girl with imagination and attitude.
{Notice something missing there? We’ll get to that in a second…}
So I have this issue. I can’t keep things to myself. I can for a while…then, I just spill it. Wait, I’m giving you the wrong idea. I don’t mean I can’t keep a secret. I’m very good with secrets. I never tell something said in confidence. I’m talking about a much more surface level problem.
Awkward things that happen in my day to day…I just can’t keep them at bay forever. When an incident occurs I’ll vow to just keep it to myself. Why does anyone need to know anyway? Then after a few days I decide that whatever it was was simply too funny/ridiculous/unbelievable to hold inside.
A good example of this happened when I was living in Oklahoma. Derek and I went down to the state fair where I gorged myself with “fair-food.” At the end of our fun day I we were polishing off an elephant ear before hopping back in the car to go home. I dropped a napkin on the ground…upon picking it up I tore the butt of my favorite skinny jeans. {Guess I wasn’t so skinny after all.}
The tear isn’t even the awkward part. That kind of thing happens. What doesn’t happen is this:
I donated the jeans to a local thrift shop that I knew got a profit for recycling the material of clothing that was damaged. A few weeks later I was shopping at said thrift shop…where I happened upon the most amazing pair of skinny jeans. It was a magical moment. They were just my size, even the same brand as the ones my big butt had destroyed. {Do you see where this is going?} So I tried them on. A perfect fit.
That night when Derek got home I was so excited to tell him about the magical experience I’d had. How the universe had delivered a replacement pair of jeans to replace my favorite pair. So I put them on to show him this rare unicorn of the denim world. For the first time I turned around and looked at my backside in the mirror.
You guessed it. They were ripped. I bought back my ruined jeans. So lame.
Well…last week I had another episode of awkward that I vowed to keep quiet. But I just can’t. The Bible tells us to speak encouraging words to one another. And I hope that hearing the ridiculous happenings in my life will uplift you…and make you feel more normal.
Here goes. Last week I was sick. It started as a sinus thing, then settled down into my chest. Thursday morning I got up and ate some left over biscuits and gravy for breakfast, then proceeded to return some emails. Everything was going fine. Then I started coughing. I really didn’t even cough that hard, but the next thing I knew the coughing had turned into puking.
Yep. I threw up. Right on my laptop.
Not kidding. This happened. B&G made it’s second appearance and it landed on half of my key board, a little on the screen, and on my favorite pajama pants.
Like lightning I went to the kitchen for a damp rag. I threw off my puky pants and began to wipe down my computer. The last thing I need is a laptop that doesn’t work because my own vomit fried it’s board. When all was clean I noticed that a few of my keys were still pretty gross. So I got a butter knife and gently pried them up to clean underneath. I successfully popped of and replaced “Tab”, “Caps Lock” and “Shift.” Then I popped off “A.” Funny…it wouldn’t go back on. So I did “S” and figured I’d try to get them both back on in a minute.
Nope.
Turns out I broke the keys with that gentle butter knife. Lame. So now I’m typing without the A and S with makes it pretty slow going. You use those letters a lot. Customer support said my insurance would cover replacement keys from a dealer in Minot. That’s on my list of errands for tomorrow.
Those are true stories. I can’t make it up…and for some reason I can’t hold it in.
Hi there. So…as promised, today I’m going to show you how I whipped up these pillows. Now, you are not even going to believe how long these took. Ready? 9 minutes 35 seconds. Did I just blow your mind. Okay, total transparency…they took that long to make each…and it didn’t include the time it took to cut out felt hearts and glue those on. That was another 10 or so.
For this project you’ll need 1 yard of fabric {that’ll make 2 square pillows}, felt, and hot glue.
This is a long post…so if you are following along, go on and click through now. (more…)
Let me be honest. Never in my life have I felt air as cold as what I felt today in Practically Canada.
I’ve been cold before. My senior year of college classes were cancelled because it was just so cold. Highs of 3 degrees with -20 wind chill. Well…Muncie, IN wouldn’t even know what hit them if they experienced today in North Dakota.
When I woke up this morning I looked out the window at the thermometer on the garage. Certainly it was broken. It registered -10. By the time we were home from our afternoon errands and activities the thermometer looked like this:
Yep. You are seeing that right. Nearly -20. The wind chill ranked in around -45. Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. the real temp will be -24. I just can’t even believe that this is happening. And locals say sometimes it gets even colder. HOW?!
It’s so cold this crazy sciencey thing happens. You aren’t even going to believe this…so we got video of it. To prove to you that it’s real. It’s so cold that if you throw a cup of boiling water into the air it all turns to steam before hitting the ground. When I heard about this I thought for sure it was a joke. Let me assure you, it is not. It’s really that cold here.
This little party trick kept up entertain for quite some time this evening. {A whole kettle full of entertainment.}
So, yes. This is crazy. If you need me, I’ll be on the couch Netflix-ing under the electric blanket. The only thing that warms me up on a cold night like this is a super cute, cuddle kitten. Really, is there anything better than a sleepy kitten? I highly doubt it. Panda Cat has pretty much given up on life outside of the down comforter. What a baby.
See you tomorrow! Be sure to come back for the no-sew Valentine’s Day pillow tutorial.
A week ago I pinned this lovely idea to a board titled “Pretties Please.” Every day since then I’ve gotten notifications that it had been pinned and repinned and pinned some more. The image links to a good page of 5 sweet ideas for upcycling old dressers. And that got me thinking…what else could we do with those drawers. So, without further ado, I give you 7 Upgrades for Old Drawers. {#1 is the planter above.}
Our second idea comes from Kamm’s Korner. Click the image and you’ll be whisked away to her blog for the complete DIY tutoril. Don’t you just love the look of the window boxes? You could always remove the hardware for a less obvious drawer look.
Olive and Love took some cast off drawers and transformed them into pretty, easily accessible under the bed storage.
Nice Girl Notes used drawers to make a perfectly portable dollhouse.
A Time for Everything made this jewelry organizer from an old wooden tray. But what’s stopping us from using an old drawer?
Entry ways can always use more storage. Why not get some of those shoes off the floor and up onto the wall? This project comes compliments of The Douangphila Blog.
Last but not least…Now that you’ve used up all the drawers what ever will you do with the dresser? Cameras and Chaos used this draweless dresser for storing her fabrics. I think it’d be lovely in a guest room or bathroom for storing towels and linens.
And where should you go to get these magic dressers? I dunno…thrift shops are always brimming with ugly dressers and nightstands. Check craigslist.org in the free section. Sometimes people are trashing the craziest things. {Like a dresser with no drawers…}
Here it is! It hardly looks like the same room. I know, amazing…right? I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves tonight.
Here’s a tiny peek at the process. Luckily we ran into some friends at the hardware store who offered the services of their brad gun, air compressor and miter saw.
We covered the linoleum with red rosin paper so that if there was asbestos on the backing it wouldn’t get kicked up in the air when we nailed into it. Then it was a matter of interlocking the planks and nailing each one in place. Oh, and lots and lots of cuts to make everything fit just right.
The whole project took 9 days to complete. From the day that I tore out the carpet until the last tool was put away. Read yesterday’s post about dealing with project aftermath for more on how to cope with the mess. Actually laying the flooring took two full days of work.
We went with bamboo for a few reasons. First of all, we really liked the look of it. I loved the color and texture. Second, bamboo is not a scarce commodity…it grows fast and is durable and hard. And third…because it grows so quickly it makes it an affordable choice too.
So, what do you think? Panda likes it. After all, we did find her wandering in the bamboo behind our house in Louisiana. I like it too. I really couldn’t be more please. So we will mark this one complete. Ahhh…it feels good to finish a project.
So often we can be fooled by DIY project photos. And I’m guilty of misleading you too.
We see the hideous “before.” The beautiful “after.” Photos of the steps that fall in between. But you know what you don’t see very often? The project aftermath.
The aftermath is all the things that are amiss you your home and life after a project is complete. As you well remember, just over a week ago I impulsively ripped out our nasty, smelly brown carpet. Eight days later we had a new floor and were able to call this project complete.
Seven days after I ripped up that carpet we had a new floor. Project done? Not hardly. Once you brush the saw dust off your hands, look proudly on your accomplishment, then promptly turn around to view the aftermath. Let’s see…there are tools strewn about. A Shop-Vac taking up half the dining room, the furniture is stacked Egyptian-tomb-style in the front room, empty boxes block the kitchen sink and cupboards, a basement full of saw dust and flooring scraps. And let’s not forget the non-project things that get neglected when doing some DIY…laundry, fast food containers {who has time to cook?}, the litter box…
Here are my ways of coping with the aftermath.
1. Don’t freak out. Yes, the house will be a mess. Don’t even try to stay on top of things while you are knee deep in project. Just let it happen.
Schedule in an extra day at the beginning of your project. Do laundry, make a big meal that makes good left overs, take out the trash, clean the litter box…do all those little things ahead of time. Make your unaffected rooms clean.
Schedule an extra day at the end of the project. When you put in that last nail, revel in your accomplishment. Go out for ice cream. Use the following day to put tools away, vacuum, do more laundry, etc.
Save the prettiest part for last. I use my favorite part of the project as a reward for getting the aftermath cleared. Rearrange my furniture in the living room until this afternoon…when everything had been put away and all the boxes were taken to the recycling center. I wanted the room to look finished, but knew that I had to do the lame stuff first.
Make piles. Don’t wear yourself out by making a million trips to the garage or basement. Instead, sort things out…then use plastic bins, bags or laundry hampers to haul big loads at once.
The moral of the story is that home improvement is more than just a before and after shot. {But seriously, who doesn’t love a good B&A?} I’ll show you the pretty before and after tomorrow. But for now, to be fair and totally transparent, I needed you to see the aftermath. Because I know we are all anxious…I’ll give you a preview.
That’s all you get. Now, don’t get your panties in a twist. The big reveal is happening tomorrow evening. So be sure to check back! And like the Facebook page, while you’re at it!
A few days ago I set out to do a routine shoveling. You see, I’d {we’d} slacked off a bit and let things pile up. A flurry here, a dusting there. Barely seems like enough to clear off. Eventually…the flurries and the dustings piled up. And they needed to be moved. The thing is, even after sitting for a few days, it had just stayed so cold the snow was still light and easy to move. So I started in.
It’s lovely to live on the corner lot. There are lots of perks. The drawback? Shoveling. Clearing the space all the way around the house. All things considering it was a nice day, and fairly easy work. So I didn’t mind.
After the driveway was clear I moved on to the sidewalks. I noticed that my slacking had indeed effected my neighbors. There were lots of tracks. Evidence that people had gone for walks, taken their dog on a stroll, went jogging…down my stretch of snowy walkway. Ugh. Now I felt bad. I’d just put it off because it really wasn’t effecting me…and because I’d barely had enough time at home to do it. But here is was, and I was a jerk. Just thinking of the poor mailman out doing his on-foot deliveries…bringing my mail–to my doorstep, mind you–through all the snow that I hadn’t had the common courtesy to move. Woof. I’m so lame.
So anyway I shoveled on. It only took about 15 minutes {isn’t that the way our most dreaded chores usually go?} to get to the end of our property line.
Then something weird happened. Instead of going inside to a cup of peppermint tea and a cuddle with the cutest cat in the world…I kept shoveling.
Because I was able. Because I had time. Because it needed to be done. Because I really do want to live my life doing as much as I can, for as many as I can, for as long as I can. Who knows what my neighbors’ excuses are. Maybe they are old, or sick, or tired, or lazy, or busy. Who cares? Why not help…even the tiniest bit when we are able?
Now…I don’t want you to read this and think that I’m awesome. Or think that I think that I’m awesome. {Savvy?} Because I’m not. And I don’t. In fact, I think I’m pretty lame. But I serve a God who decided that I was worth it. And he has seen fit to bless me with physical, mental, and financial health. He has trusted these gifts to me and I want to use them in a way that will make Him proud and glad he put His resources in my hands.
Each day we decide how we will live. How we will give. How we will Follow. It’s a decision that we must make every day. When we open our eyes and hearts we will find an abundance of ways to live a Much, Many, Long lifestyle. Where you will make a difference today?
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