Glitter Dinosaurs.

I have a younger sister. She has a thing for dinosaurs. Not Ross Gellar style, more like give her a dinosaur balloon on her birthday and she'll be your best friend. She also loves metallics. And jewelry. And pretty things. And make-up. And the NFL. And cute puppies. And vodka. Sometimes white wine. And definitely anything that is remotely random and funny.

So the whole dinosaur thing. It started with a Christmas ornament. When we were little we each were given a sequin dinosaur ornament - one brontosaurus and one stegosaurus. A few years ago my mom sent me back to Canada with a small collection of my childhood ornaments. Among them was a sequin dinosaur. My sister had an absolute fit. Apparently I took HER dinosaur. "Thief!!" she yelled over and over through text message.

Seriously, it's been like three years and she still talks about it.

Did I mention that she also loves drama? Shoulda been her middle name...

Anyway, do you ever have a quick little craft project in mind and then out of nowhere it snowballs into a completely different bigger project? Somehow you're standing in Michael's with one item in your hand and then you notice something on the shelf, get a brilliant idea and the next thing you know you've gone from Michael's to Target to WalMart and are now elbow deep in glitter. Yeah, that's how this went.

On the up side, I did get the original smaller project done, but for now let's focus on the project that snowballed out of control. The giant glitter dinosaur for my sister.

A quick text message told me that she has a special place in her heart for all dinosaur species but that if she was forced to choose one that it would be the triceratops. I'd love to tell you that I scoured the toy section at Target but the place with the best dinosaur choice just happened to be the local Dollar Store.

I'm hesitant to show you the naked version of the dino because you might not be able to look at the glittered outcome the same, but I like to live on the edge. Just erase your memory right after this:

Scary business.

I considered using glue, but went with a light coat of modge podge for the initial coat.

It should also be noted that two sizes of glitter exist: chucky flakes and small powder-ish. I went with the bigger flakes for this project.

I used a thin fanned paint brush to cover small sections at a time and then sprinkled each section with big gold glitter, letting the excess fall onto newspaper. Pro tip: start with the belly since you'll need to be able to lift it up for this phase. Also, be sure to get in all the armpits and in between each horn.

I let the first layer sit overnight to dry. Once it was completely dry the next day, I used the same brush to put an additional layer of modge podge on. As I went I sprinkled on additional glitter to any area that seemed a bit thin. Then I let that dry for a the night.

The next day I added two more layers of modge podge. It goes on white but dried perfectly clear and created a layer thick enough that won't allow one single flake of glitter to fall off, but still allows the glitter to shimmer and shine.





All told, there were four layers of modge podge and the triceratops is glittery and rock solid.

When I said the whole thing snowballed, what I meant by that was I'm still cleaning up glitter in my kitchen. Also, that the dinosaurs ruled my house for a solid week. And then of course, one dinosaur wasn't enough. I ended up also making a silver stegosaurus and t-rex with another one still to come.

I'm hoping my sister's dinosaur will end up as a great conversation piece in her office. As for my stegosaurus, he's going to eventually live on a floating shelf on my office wall. I think he'll be happy there.

You know what? All I really want is a brontosaurus.

Do you know anyone who could use a glitter dinosaur?

Instagrams on Display.

This past summer I discovered a website/app called FoxGram that prints your Instagram photos. It's the simplest thing ever - you simply log into FoxGram with your Instagram name and it pulls up all your photos.

You check the ones you'd like to print and then choose to print them as 3x3 for 25¢, a 4x4 for 45¢ or as magnets for $2. Then they arrive in your snail mail box a week or so later!





I always go with the 3x3 because that is a more standard size and seems more Instagram-y to me.

But then the question of what to do with them all? I did have them covering my refrigerator but I took them all down when we moved and decided to go with a clean fridge this time. Pintrest and blogs have plenty suggestions for displaying Instagrams but most involve using pins and string or tacks. I've googled the hell out of 3x3 frames and none seem to really exist - especially not in a way that is conducive to buying twenty or thirty of them or avoiding the overlapping collage look.

So I noodled on it and then one morning while I was drying my hair it hit me! I knew what to do.

I grabbed one of the photos and stuck it in my purse to take to Home Depot. In the lumber section I held it up to pieces of wood until I found a width that was about an inch wider than the photo. It was 4 1/2 inches wide and 6 feet long and cost $4.50. SOLD. The nice Home Depot man cut it into six pieces that were each a foot long. (Math genius warning) Actually, we decided on a foot because that length nicely would fit three photos with a little room in between each picture.

But imagine the possibilities - six inch wide wood would have had a completely different feel. Or we could have cut two or three foot pieces that would have also give it a completely different look.

At home I gave the wood a very quick sanding and primed it, but only because I happened to have primer laying around. I (don't tell) spray painted two coats of black semi-gloss and then promptly forgot about them for a couple of weeks.

When I remembered the frames again, the final step was to add some picture hanging "teeth" to the back of each. I debated between making them vertical or horizontal but finally went with horizontal in the end.





I played with the configuration of the six pieces for a few days before I finally settled on a pretty basic staircase. I chose it because it filled the right amount of wall space and it will easily lend itself to adding additional frames in the future.





I was pretty proud of my measuring tactics too. Instead of complicating things I just roughly figured out how far apart I wanted them and then put a piece of painters tape diagonally on the wall that was marked off at 8 inch intervals. That way there was no chance of anything being off center or uneven!

To attach the photos I used putty which any teacher should be able to lend you. Or you could just go to WalMart. It's designed to adhere paper to walls and never dries out - it is definitely handy to have around.

I thought about using spray adhesive or that fancy wall tape and even modge podge but I wanted something that has no chance of harming the photos and that will allow me to switch out photos if I ever want to update.

It's displayed right across from my desk and so far I'm loving the look of it. I like the modern geometric look but I especially dig the pop of color! I probably should have cleaned up my desk for you, but I'm just trying to keep it real here.

What do you think?!

I love it so much.

Making Moves.

So I think I owe y'all a bit of a house tour! We moved into our new house two months ago. In those two months I've dreamed up plans for every ounce of space - I know what walls colors I'd like, I know what light fixtures need to be replaced, I can just see the table and vase that will eventually sit in the front entry way. It's all in my head and sketched out in a notebook just waiting to happen.

We're taking things slowly but I do finally have one room painted. It's not quite complete but the point of progress we reached this weekend has brought it to a functional level, and darn it, it's making me happy to just look at it.

It's the smallest of the bedrooms so we're going to use it as my office. My very own space! I can decorate and clutter and work in it as I chose! I can hardly believe it.

Here's how it looked on inspection with the previous owners belongings. What you can't see here are the amazing vertical blinds and the super cool sheer rosette thing in the half-circle window. It's really something special.





This is what it looked like right after moving day.

Instead of using a real desk I decided to bring in an old kitchen table that has been hanging out in the basement. My uses for an office span from computer work to all sorts of DIY projects so I wanted something big and also something that I'm not scared of getting a little dirty.

I love bright rooms and have grand visions of a giant gallery wall full of all my favorite photos. With that in mind I decided to paint the room a bright white complimented by a charcoal underneath the chair rail. The white makes all that natural light even better and is the perfect canvas for the upcoming gallery wall.

For the table I debated between a few colors but finally settled on my favorite color - dark purple. It brings a fun factor to the room and is a nice pop of color.

Every year at Christmas TC and I spend an afternoon wandering through a few of our favorite auction houses. We just go to check out the cars and bikes but this year we walked in and saw this great Georgia sign made from scrap metal. Expecting it to be way out of our price range I about died when it was most definitely in our budget.





Behind the desk will be the gallery wall. I've got a good collection of prints and photos ready to go but I have a bit more planning to do before I start putting the nails in the wall. Fingers crossed, we should be in business in another week or two.

And, hey! No more vertical blinds or rosettes!

The only other piece in the room right now is my treasured lingerie chest that I inherited from my grandparents. I'm constantly debating whether to paint it or not. It definitely will need some new drawer pulls. Feel free to offer your opinion!

The closet also got a fresh coat of white and, just for practice, I threw in a few stripes as an experiment. I'm so glad I did because I learned a few tricks along the way. The plan is to add some square cubbies underneath the shelf for added storage also.

I'm feeling really good about this progress. Finally a room that isn't brown! Once the gallery wall is up, I'll get a new desk chair and start hunting for a great rug. I'm thinking shag!

Project: Chalkboard Thought Bubbles

At camp I'm always looking for fun little side projects to do. Our camp is big on photos. We have two full time photographers that upload around 800 photos every single day so that the parents can be sure to see their kids in action. Right before camp it dawned on me that thought bubbles might be a fun element to add to our arsenal of equipment. You know, like a cartoon. Cute, no? Perfect for saying "Hi Mom!" or "Happy Birthday!"

I made these in our maintenance shop so I had plenty of tools and materials at my disposal, but it is nothing special that you wouldn't have at home...or at least with a cheap trip to Michael's or Home Depot.

The first step was to grab some scrap plywood. Mine was a 1/4 inch thick because that's what I had on hand. Tyler and I quickly sketched out a few different shapes (square and oval) and then grabbed the jigsaw to cut them. He has a much steadier hand that I, so I left the drilling to him.





Next, we sanded down the rough edges and rounded out the corners a bit.





Now, here is a key step. You need to have a way to hold the sign up, so we took scrap lumber (2x4) and cut a few small blocks. Ours were about six inches long.





Then we lathered them in wood glue and placed them on the back of the sign.





See? Makes it easy to hold up the bubble.





To finish it off Amanda and I used regular chalk board paint and put on two coats.





Once they dried, we followed the directions and conditioned the bubbles with chalk and then set about writing cute thoughts. To change the thought, we simply wiped it off with a cloth or eraser.

Fun, right?!





It would be fun for a birthday party, wedding photo booth, a classroom or anything really!

There are a million ways to do it - do what works for you and have fun with your thought bubbles.

(No, I have no idea why Brittany is wearing pigtails. Or a visor. Upside down. She was feeling very camptastic that day apparently.)

Wednesdays Are My Favorite Night.

Our weekly gathering of Why Not Wednesday had a twist to it tonight. Instead of hanging out at our favorite hole-in-the-wall, The Laundromat, we went over to my dear friend Annie's brand new house! It's absolutely adorable and the space fits her just perfectly. Great layout, beautiful floors, awesome paint colors and fun art. I couldn't be more excited for her. It is a really cute house and if I'm being honest, I'm a tad bit jealous of all the fun she is having with it.





We had the full crew together tonight, but sadly the founder of our little Wednesday night group is moving on to a fun new adventure in Nova Scotia next week. We'll miss her tons, but she won't soon be forgotten because she brought us all gifts tonight. Like, reverse going away gifts so we won't forget her. Annie and I are both in the market for new teaching jobs so she brought us each an old school bell. You know the kind that sit at cash registers for you to ring when you need the clerk? That kind. As much as I would like to think it would be great in a classroom, I can very easily see it ending up next to the couch so TC can ring me when he needs his pillows fluffed or a fresh glass of water.

(I can see his feathers getting ruffled right now. I'm only kidding, honey!)





As usual, we talked about a whole lot of nothing. Work, babies, plans for the summer, how bad my calves hurt from the ridiculous martial arts/cardio class I took at the gym tonight, where to buy cute summer dresses, many tales of old injuries, and pilonidal cysts (don't google if you have a queasy stomach). Basically, the usual conversation.

{Are you going to google it?

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Seriously, don't do it.

And for the record, none of us currently have a cyst. I don't really know how it came up...

Let's pretend I never even brought it up.}

Speaking of creativity in her new house and summer plans - Annie and I will both be heading to Maine for the summer in a few short weeks. In honor of our home away from home, she made the coolest coasters to decorate her coffee table since she wanted a fun splash of color.

Can you tell it's a photo of the coaster as seen through my glass of wine? Photography at it's finest.

I'll have to get the exact details from her, but she essentially took a pieces of $0.20 tile, cut out a piece of a map, glued it on with spray adhesive and mod-podged over it. To finish it off she bought a pack of leather cut-outs for $10 and glued them to the bottom of the tile to prevent scratching.

She made several versions. Some coasters with maps, some with scrap book paper, some with pages from her favorite books, and some with a combo - so creative, that Annie!

That's all for tonight, folks. Let's hope that tomorrow I have more exciting things to report.

Seriously, don't google the cyst. If you don't know what it is, be thankful.

Third Time's The Charm?

I've lived in this house for almost two and a half years.

Wanna know how many times I've painted the living room?

That would be three.

Three times I've painted this thing. Two times I picked the wrong color.

And when I say wrong, I mean the exact opposite of what I had in mind.

It's like I have a gift for choosing the worst color ever.

When I moved in, the living room was fire engine red. Like, if you were on the street looking through the window, you might have thought that shady things were going on inside.

So, I painted it a color that I thought was a nice neutral beige. But it was an awful yellow caramel.

I hated it, but let it stay for a year out of pure laziness and anger.

Then last spring the dining room (which is adjacent) was painted a lovely green/gray color. I liked it so much that I took that color down a few notches and painted the living room what was supposed to be a light grey with a green base. 

Yeah. Not so much. It was mint green.

The photos are not doing it justice. You can kind of see how green it was when compared to the grey hallway. Now multiply that difference times a million.

This past weekend I decided to give it one more shot. This time I picked a light grey that actually came from a black base instead of a green. I wanted my new color to be as far away as possible from the yellow or green spectrum of the color wheel.

If colors could be enemies, I wanted my new color to be in a full on war with yellow and green.

Once I had my new grey paint, I started with the basic paint prep. 

See what I found? The awful caramel with hints of the atrocious red peaking out. Apparently I was too lazy last time to bother with taking off the outlet cover.

Seriously. How did TC live in that red room for five years?

When I got the trim on the walls, I started having minor heart attacks.

It was so dark. Too dark! I sent out SOS texts to my mom and sister.

"Ahhh! I've chosen the wrong color AGAIN! Send help."

But it got better as I painted and my heart attacks slowed down when I realized that it wasn't as dark as I originally thought.

In fact, it was looking much better. Hell, at this point anything was better than pale mint green. Except caramel. Or red.

Yes, it was no longer my own personal waffle cone of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

In fact, the living room was so grey that the "grey" dining room started taking on a green hue.

Can you see the outdated/needs-to-be-replaced green couch sticking out? That's not exactly helping my cause here...

Yes, much better.

See how before it was a green living room and a grey dining room?

Now it's a slightly green dining room and a grey living room.

The magic of paint is fabulous. Now, instead of hating the whole room, I only hate the furniture.

Oh, but just you wait. Come August there are going to be beautiful new couches. Right, TC???

Insert TC's voice: Yes, darling. Whatever you want. Of course we'll buy new couches if that's what makes you happy.

Excellent. That's what I like to hear.