Crafting Up a Storm

     After being in our house for a while now, believe it or not, we don't really have any pictures up on the walls yet. I've been buying black frames when I see them on sale and looking for pictures that we may want to print and put up. In fact, yesterday at Michael's I found several frames that originally were $30 or more marked down to $2! A few were white or brown but it was worth it to spray paint them.
     I used a simple glossy black spray paint that was on sale for $2.50.

     I've got all my pictures picked out but a certain someone (ahem- Travis!) was not as speedy about it. He finally got started on it today. Just in time because I painted the frames today. It was simple; I just removed the glass and went to work.

     I spray painted them in the back yard and brought them in when they were almost dry. They look just like normal frames so far. I've never spray painted frames before, though so we'll have to see when they're on the wall.
     Also at my trip to Michael's I snatched up some raffia, flowers, and burlap. I got some foam pipe insulators and masking tape at Fred Meyers. I used the masking tape to form the foam into the ring of a wreath. Then I covered it with raffia, using hot glue to secure it. I had to go around twice to keep the foam from showing. Then I cut four pieces of the brown burlap and glued them on in a cross shape. Next came the flowers. I chose a large orange flower (reminded me of Fall) and some light orange berries and attached them on the wreath. I used the string that came with the wrapped burlap to hang it from a screw that has been in our front door since we moved in. I would never advise anyone to put a screw in your front door! They have great wreath hangers you can buy, even clear ones. I went ahead and used it since it was already there, though. Excuse the picture, I took it after dark tonight but you get the idea :)

     What's next? An art project! Take a guess at what these are:

    
Glass pipettes! I'm going to paint then, then take the canvas I got yesterday at the craft store, paint it,  and stick the pipettes on the canvas. I think it will be super neat looking. I will post it when it's done and try to take pictures along the way. Tomorrow I start my three shifts, though. Soon my pretties!

-E

I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I coooommmee!

Kansas City, Part I

     A couple weeks ago I was able to make it back to Kansas City to be a bridesmaid in my friend and former co-worker, Jordan's wedding. I also managed to convince my parents and my friend Dana to drive the 4ish hours to come see me, too! It was a blast!

     I flew out on Thursday afternoon after getting off that morning and not sleeping. Ouch! I worked my usual 12 hour shifts at the hospital on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. When I got off Thursday morning I booked it back home to pack, then headed toward the airport. Unfortunately, the down side to where our house is is that it's farther from the Max. Instead of walking to it like we could at our apartment, we have to take a bus to the Max. Once I made it to the Max, I was so tired that I briefly fell asleep. That left me feeling super groggy and increased my stress levels because I briefly panicked, not knowing where I was or if I had missed my stop. Ack! I breezed through security, however and managed to get some sleep on the flight. Jordan and Tiffaney were nice enough to pick me up when I got in around midnight. We were talking so much though that we went the wrong direction on the highway and ended up almost in St. Joseph (NOT Kansas City). Oops.

      That Friday was the rehearsal dinner. While we were getting ready, I was watching Jordan curl her hair and realized that I have been curling my hair wrong my entire life. What?! How is this possible?? I usually take a piece of hair, clamp the curling iron onto it, slide it down to the end and then curl it up. Jordan only slides it to about the middle of her hair and curls it while gently pulling it to the end. I tried it and it works SO much better!

     We then headed to Club 1000, where the ceremony and reception would be on Saturday. We did the rehearsal, ate Jack Stack catered dinner (no, I didn't eat the meat in case you're wondering), and learned a dance. Jordan's friend Kelly had choreographed the dance for the bridal party reception entry to Bruno Mars' song "Marry You". It was simple, cute, and fun!

     After the rehearsal, Tiffaney did my finger nails and toe nails to match hers and Jordan's. Way cheaper than a mani/pedi and probably nicer, too! This girl should seriously get paid to do nails. She had skills!

Jordan

Her engagement ring

Getting ready for the rehearsal dinner

This is how boys get ready

Wait, what are we doing again?

Our verse: "Well, I know this little chapel on the boulevard we can go, no one will know, oh come on, girl"

In heels! This girl is a superhero!

Soon to be married!

Pepper

Couldn't resist putting up a couple of these pictures of Pepper that Travis took with my camera tonight while I was messing with the Simple Garden. It's so hard to get good pictures of long haired black cats. You usually end up getting their skin under their fur but these were adorable :)

-E

Green Thumbs

I don't have them. Or light green thumbs. Or cyan. Or teal even. Nothing close. In fact, I kill plants. I forget to water them. I don't put them in the right sunlight. I always want to plant too many, too close together. The only plant that lived for more than a few months was a Dieffenbachia plant that I got the summer after 8th grade when I was at the Joseph Baldwin Academy. I think it lasted for several years before it kicked the bucket. I keep trying to grow something every now and then though because growing things is just so satisfying!


Last week I found an all-in-one planter at the store for 30% percent off. I figured if I wanted to give it a go again in the new house this would be an easy way to do it. I got everything set up tonight and took some pictures so you would know how easy it was.

According to the booklet, growing plants in raised containers (in pots like this or raised beds) helps with three vital things: air flow, absorption of nutrients, and water management. Because the air, nutrients, and water are all managed better, the plants produce 1-2 times as much as plants grown in the ground. That is, if I don't kill them...

The Simple Gardens come in lots of varieties. I chose one that had a beige planter and came with tomatoes and basil seeds.  As you can see in the picture, it really is all-in one. It even comes with the soil!

One of the most helpful things is the booklet that came with it. I can't believe all the useful information that's in here. It goes over preparation, planting, seed germinating, watering, sunlight, transitioning to a bed, etc. That's the part that I need the most help with. Okay, okay I need help with all of it!

This is the spacer. It fixed my problem of wanting to over plant. The planter's about 12in x 12in. Left to my own devices with just a pot, soil, and seeds, I probably would have planted seeds in about 9 places, probably about where the brown circles are in the picture. I found out that really I was supposed to plant them pretty far apart. In the booklet, you just look up what you're planting and it tells you which circle to put the seeds in, the depth to push the seeds down, the hardiness, the sunlight need and any other special instructions. Both the tomatoes and basil need to be planted in the orange circles.

Under the seed spacer was the seed pusher (the green stick) and 2 soil bricks. I have heard of soil bricks before but never used any this big. It was really cool to watch!

It came with 2 bricks but you're just supposed to use one in the beginning. The other is just extra right now. It's really hard and when you brush your finger against it it doesn't even get dirty.

Then you start adding 1.5 gallons of warm water slowly. The brick bubbles a bit and then the water sinks in. After while the brick starts to look a little bloated. When you've added about half of the water then you flip over the brick.

Penny was helping me. She enjoyed licking some of the water out of the watering can and hanging out for moral support.

After adding the recommended 1.5 gallons of water, I still had a few pieces and one big chunk of soil that weren't dissolved yet. I was really cautious about deviating from the directions. I want these babies to live! But soil isn't much good if it's dehydrated in a hard clump. I added another cup slowly and that did the trick. Then you fluff the soil so it's mixed well and smooth it down. Now I was ready to plant my seeds!

You're supposed to put 2-3 seeds through each hole in the spacer. I was glad they told me that. I would have just put one seed in hole. In the back 2 holes I put the tomato seeds. In the front 2 holes I put the basil seeds. Then you push then down however far that particular seed is supposed to go with the seed pusher (it has handy depth measurements on it). Both the tomato and basil seeds were supposed to go down 1/4 in. Then I smoothed over the soil and added the cover.

I bought the recommended green house lid separately. It's supposed to keep the seeds moist. Then they recommend you cover the vents with tape to help trap the heat and moisture.

Now, I'm supposed to leave it covered, make sure it gets at least 4 hours of sunlight per day and wait for the first two leaves (called seed leaves) to show up. Then, I think I can uncover it and just make sure I water it about every 5-7 days. I may get the Fertile Earth Water Stick, Thirsty Light, or a moisture meter. I think it may help keep me from over watering.

I'll let you know how it goes. In the mean time, I'm going to transition myself to bed! ;)
-E

TV and The Olympics!

The 2012 Summer Olympics are here! I missed the opening ceremonies because I was working (gotta pay the bills!) but was able to catch some of them tonight.
Before today, if you turned on our TV you would see a blank screen until you either turned on the Blu Ray player or hooked up the laptop. We mostly get our TV watchin' done through Netflix that we can watch on our Blu Ray or online from shows that stream live or that we've downloaded. Today, however, I went to Best Buy and was going to get a converter box. I learned that you don't need a converter box if you have a newer, digital TV. We just needed an antennae. Did you know that those can cost $70? They have all kind of crazy technology like "omni-directional" and "amplified" that add $$ to the price. The guy working there asked where in town we lived and what kind of house we lived in. I guess if you live right by the towers you don't need one that's as strong. Also, if your house if older, like ours is, you can get a lot of interference from old wires and such. According to him. I haven't done really any other research on this.
I ended up getting one that wasn't quite the most expensive but also not nearly the cheapest. When I had the TV scan for channels, it found 26!! We got really excited that we could again watch TV for "free" (minus the cost of the stupid antennae). We didn't get all 26 channels though. About 8 or so of the wouldn't come in well, even after adjusting the device.
In the end, we decided that it would be worth it to pay $70 for the top of the line one to at least see if it gives us the other channels. Tomorrow I'll return this one and we'll try the other one. Worst case scenario, we end up buying this one again. We already know it works for the most part.
It was so great to be able to watch Olympic gymnastics again! I did gymnastics for awhile when I was younger and have always enjoyed watching it. In fact, that's how I broke both the bones in my left arm. Oops! My mom even stood in line for hours with me to get Dominique Moceanu's autograph after seeing her perform. What a mom! I think I may have Dominique Dawes's and Shannon Miller's as well. I would have to double check. It's on the Wheaties Box in my old bedroom at my parents' house.

Wow! It's late! Almost 2am already. I better get to bed. Tomorrow our neighbor is going to take us over to another neighbor's house and show us her garden. We've been hearing a lot about it so I'm excited to see it. I'm imagining something like the Secret Garden :)
Night, all!
-E

Our First Home Repair

There are lots of small things that we need to do to our home (add screens to some windows, put up some shelves, keep organizing, etc) but we have been able to put them on a To Do List until now. The sink in our master bath almost completely stopped draining. It was getting really gross.

We went to the store and got a sink plunger and some Drain-O. Travis tried with all his might and even used half the bottle of Drain-O but nothing happened. Then he removed the stopper, which involved unscrewing something under the sink (as opposed to the normal kind where you just unhook it). Turns out all the gunk was glued to the stopper and in the pipe right around it. We didn't have a way to get the gunk out but I had an idea- my crochet hook! Sick but functional. He pulled out a lot of nastiness and cleaned off a lot of crap out of the crannies of the stopper. Now it's flowing like a river again, thanks to my husband, the wonderful Travis!

Here's a picture of the travesty:

We Love Thrift Stores!

I'm pretty sure that the 5 people who read this blog know us personally. I'm also pretty sure that you know that we're not millionaires! When you have a finite amount of money with which to furnish your house (like most people) you may need to get creative. There are lots of ways to find great buys- the key is being patient. We went back and forth on the patient part, trust me.

1)  Garage Sales
          Best in the summer. Your local paper should have listings or you can also hop online. I found a website: yardsalesearch.com that lists them but there are several out there. The problem here for us is that they are usually Fridays and Saturdays, which I have been working. My favorite thing about garage sales is that usually everything is laid out. If you're looking for furniture you can drive by slowly and if you don't see it, chances are, they don't have it. Otherwise, you can just hop out of the car, do a quick look and hop back in. If you're willing to get up early on the weekend you can find great deals at garage sales. Sometimes people may be new to them and price their things too high but you can always ask if they are willing to negotiate. Just be respectful and be willing to say no. Remember, they got up even earlier than you did :)

2)  Craigslist
          This can be tricky but also very rewarding. I've found that people on Craigslist are often moving and want to get rid of their stuff quickly. Or, they have bought new furniture and need to get rid of the old furniture. They will usually negotiate on the price if you need to. Here are the tricky parts: personal safety for the buyer and seller, cleanliness of the item, and location. A lot has been made recently of the personal safety aspect. Bottom line- be smart. Don't agree to meet by yourself at midnight wearing a negligee. Got it? If possible, meet in a public place. Obviously, if you're looking at their couch, that may be difficult. If you need to go to their house, have someone go with you or at the very least let someone know the person's name and the address where you were going. Remember, the seller doesn't know you either. Now, the cleanliness of the item. You can't tell just by a quick glance whether something has bugs in or on it. This is the part that kind of creeps me out. I found a great website with recommendations for preventing bed bugs, which can be on other things than beds: Becomeanewyorker.com .I think it would help the general cleanliness and other bugs as well. Lastly, location. When you email or call the person, you may want to ask where they're located. They could be on the 4th floor of an apartment building. If you're getting an awesome couch for $50 you may not care but, remember, you still have to haul the couch down those stairs so you should at least take it into consideration! We found our coffee table from an ad on Craigslist that turned out to be for a store called Vintage Connection in Vancouver. They are closed until further notice because of rain damage to roof but were open by appointment for us to look at the coffee table.

3)  Thrift/Vintage Stores
          Portland has oodles of thrift stores. Even just searching "vintage" on Yelp will get you 82 entries. That's not even "thrift". These are certainly hit or miss. Be prepared to look around. And look. And look. Do your research online beforehand. We found out by looking on Yelp which thrift stores in the area have loads of furniture and which mostly specialize in clothes. If you're looking for furniture like we were, then you don't want to go to Vintage By the Pound, which you can find out on Yelp is a 50s clothes horse's haven! Unfortunately, not what we needed. We have been to several now.

Our favorite by far is Lounge Lizard. We got a light for my craft room, a chair for our living room, antique ice trays, T's desk, and some decorative antique lock back plates. Right next door is Really Good Stuff, which is just...odd. It is crammed with stuff- some treasures and some junk and it kind of stinks sometimes. We've been twice and will go back. It's the kind of place that I would bet you could find something totally awesome but you would have to look. We haven't gotten anything there yet. House of Vintage on Hawthorne had our living room side tables and a great vase (but they weren't there the first time). For decorations, we found some glass vases at Red Fox Vintage, though their furniture pickin's were slim. We also checked out Reviva but didn't find anything interesting that day. It's close to our house so we may go back at some point. We looked at Goodwill but surprisingly, it was really pricy. While there we also found our bedside tables. They may be posting some more stuff on Craigslist but will reopen at some point in Portland. Lastly, we really liked ReRun but haven't found anything there yet. They have a great selection of furniture but just nothing that fit out needs at the time.

Well, we're going to go do some yard work. Hope everyone is doing well. Miss you all!

old, hated Ikea coffee table

moving around the vase

Yay! Bedside tables!

Penny fits perfectly

Looking crazy

Old timey ice trays