Sunday, April 17, 2011

A New Puppy.

We are getting a puppy! We will be picking her up next Friday.

As I am sitting here, procrastinating from everything I need to be doing around my house, I am thinking about how the idea of a getting a puppy started. I am also wondering how I agreed to, and lost the battle of getting a larger dog- a golden retriever. It's true that they are wonderful dogs, but I have always been a small dog type of person. My husband's family raises goldens, so I guess it's a part of his DNA.

I woke up one day and just decided, I want a dog. My husband being thrilled at me admitting to it, immediately starting looking for one. Through this process of searching, I keep finding my self more and more excited. There has been a lot going on in life recently, one with my leg and just coming down from a huge event at work, I have realized a puppy is just the medicine. Something to love and care for. After we decided on the puppy, my husband I discussed what our new life with the puppy will look like. We talked about how this dog will be with us for the next 15 years or so. She will be there with us in our next house, with our first child, following children, and other milestones in our lives. I love the feeling of consistency by having her there.

I am looking at everything I need to dog-proof before this weekend. There are so many targets for little puppy teeth in my house- I am hoping the bitter spray I purchased will be the perfect deterrent. I have a very small house and not a whole lot of storage. I am sure the little one will be finding things that I had no idea was there.


I have gotten a great start on purchasing items for the little one. I'll start with my favorite purchase:
"Kona" is our puppies name, I love the variety this lady provides through her etsy shop. PoochyCouture.Etsy.com














Here's to new frustrations, cleaning messes, losing a few items due to bite marks, and unconditional love. I am so excited for this new chapter of my life.

{S}

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Project Inspiration: Wall Art

I have always wanted to be an artist. Unfortunately, I was not blessed with that talent. I wanted to make something custom for my upstairs "cove and I love LARGE pictures. I thought of just stretching some cool fabric over a big frame. I searched and searched and could never find any fabric I liked for the space. I remembered that a while back, a friend of mine had used an old overhead projector to project an image on a wall that she painted.
Remember these? I think this one was last serviced in 1981. Still worked!
I thought, well I could do that on a canvas. I found my inspiration while I was working at the salon one night. Thank you Aveda Holiday packaging!
I took off the cardboard wrapping and cut out the design with an exacto knife. Tedious, but worth it. Check out the process.
I had my husband build a 2x3 frame

Tightly stapled the fabric over the wooden frame

Projected the image from the overhead projector onto the canvas. Adjusting it to the desired size.

Mixed the paint


Applied the paint


Finished and let it dry.


Just the right splash of color! This is one of the easiest projects and I love the results!

{S}

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Kids Crafts and House Decor

I love to decorate. I love crafts. I have never really thought you could combine the two, then I was introduced to Design Sponge. So many things I would like to make and so little time.

Not too long ago, I was have difficulty liking what I was doing in my "cove" area in my upstairs. Bored with drab browns, blues, and greens, I decided to completely change my direction in color and decor. Not wanting to spend a lot to re-create the space, I decided to make wall art made out of toilet paper rolls. Yes, toilet paper rolls. Again, thank you design sponge!




See the process!






I then went to bring the "wall art" out to the garage to spray paint. It takes about 3 coats. I left it out in the garage to dry.

Where is the finished picture you ask? Well let me tell you. The next day I decided to park the garage. Know where this is going? Sure enough I drove right over my beautiful piece of art. After hearing the crunching sound beneath my tires, I knew immediately what had happened. I threw the car in reverse as my jaw dropped. Sad, dirty, broken art project. At least now I see it sort of humorous.

It's a fun project with cool results, give it a try!

I am still deciding whether I want to make another... time will tell!

{S}