Bad News, Good News

Time for an installment of one of my favorite mind games, Bad News, Good News!

Bad News: Elvis was constipated for the past week because he wasn't drinking enough water.
Good News: He finally started drinking water and did "#2"!
Bad News: He did "#2" in the house, upstairs, in my bathroom, on my bath mat.
Good News: He didn't pee!
Bad News: This time.

What's more insane? How many photos I have of this dog, or how different he looks in each of them?

I promise...

I promise tomorrow that I am coming back. Until then, here's a cute picture of my boo covered in mud.

Photo Twist

Sometimes I want to frame a photo, but then I think it's missing something. Then, a couple of years ago I stumbled upon a neat little craft to jazz up photos.

Guess what photo I decided to use? That's right, a photo of MY DOG. I just can't seem to stay away. I wonder if I'll ever love kids as much as I love my dogs? At this point, I just don't see how it's possible...

Anyway, the twist to which I am referring is making a photo 2-D. I had already made one of cute Elvis when we first got him, so I decided I needed to get Cece caught up in the shrine department.

Notice the subtle "pop-out" of the photo. Here's the photo I decided to use of Cece:

She's just so freaking cute!

I used the following materials: several copies of the photo above, a black foam sheet, scissors, craft glue.

First, I decided how many layers I wanted in the photo. I generally stick with 3 layers, because any more gets complicated and takes too long and runs the risk of looking messy. So for this photo I went with the background/Cece's head, then her muzzle, then her round button nose.

Like so:

I had printed out 3 copies of the photo, and then cut one layer from each. Later, I decided that I could get away with only destroying 2 layers and keep the 3rd as a spare copy, like so:

Ok, and sorry but for some reason my computer thinks it's hilarious to UN ROTATE photos that I have previously rotated. So then I get side-ways photos. Loooove it.

Then I took the black foam sheet and traced the top two layers on it. Then I cut the traced areas out and glued them to the photo layers.

That traced section is actually traced onto a foam sheet that has a sticky side. Then I just had to peel the white backing off it and stick it on. But if you can't find that, then just glue it like I said before...

THEN, (and here comes the hard part,) glue all your layers together.

That's all! I am loving these easy 5-minute crafts lately. All of the results with barely any work.

Here's my finished result:

It was totally an accident, but that top spike of Cece's hair ended up hooking around the photo mat. I liked it and kept it because I thought it made the photo pop out more. Also, the frame I used is a semi-shadow-box frame from Hobby Lobby (half off!) I find that it works best if you are 2-D'ing your photos, so it doesn't get all smashed and defeat the purpose.

And here is a photo of my dog shrine/kitchen decor:

Any questions?

Donuts, Dog Park, Deconstruction & Done.

Kennedy and I had a very relaxing and productive day today. What's our secret? Relax first, work second!

We started off by getting some Donuts on our way to the dog park. This was the first time Cece has been. We didn't take her before because she was in heat, and well, that would've just been a disaster. But now she's all "fixed" up and healed. She was a little overwhelmed and stayed close, but did really well!

Elvis hadn't been in forever, so he was running around, high-fiving everyone. Glad to be back.

Anyway, I took a lot of photos while I was there, so I will now share my favorites.

This dog was so adorable...

Check out those eyes!

Sometimes Cece would be the only dog around, and she really got into the posing thing...

Pride & Joy

My absolute favorite Elvis picture of the day.

Loves in my life.

My absolute favorite picture of the WHOLE day.

Mud Buddy

Hmmm.....

It might be time for some grooming.

Specifically a bath. Then a little trim.

I'm so in love.

"Shoot, let me get your help for just a sec..."

That is the anthem of a husband in the middle of a project that you didn't volunteer for. It's never for just a sec.

Kennedy and I did agree on a project for the weekend together, however. And that is to create a fireplace façade to cover our brownish-pink brick fireplace.

Look, it's a nice fireplace, but it just isn't doin' it for us. Plus, we believe the mantle is ill-fitted and ill-placed. 

So let's just re-do the whole thing, right?!?! Progress pictures to follow. In the mean-time, let me share with you a completed project!

Here are Elvis & Cece, my little dog Valentines, sitting atop a brand new dog bed!

I made it! I found the fabric at Wal-mart, and the entire project totaled under $5.00 (including fabric & stuffing from old pillows.) It came out beautifully, and the dogs loved it.

Unfortunately, the other night, Cece ripped it up. I don't just mean she ripped the seams apart. I mean, she shredded it. So, I'll have to start anew. Hey, it was only $3.50, right?

This is getting boring. Let me show you how I made this:

This project is yet another thing that was under $5.00. It cost me about $4.75, if I were to guess.

Let's delve.

I started with this:

This is insulating foam-core from our recent work-out room renovation. You might have this lying around your house. But if you don't, you can find it at Home Depot or Lowe's. I don't know how much it costs per sheet, but it's cheap. REAL cheap.

Then I went and got these:

This is 12x12 scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby (aka heaven).

I found 9 that I liked, because I like square arrangements. You can find as many or as few as you'd like. Each sheet ran about 60 cents, except for 4 of them, which were on clearance for 12 cents. Score!

Then I took a sharp knife and a metal ruler and got to cutting that foam-core down to 12x12 pieces. This was tough. I recommend having a practice piece so you can get a straight cut. It tends to shred on the edges, which doesn't work for me. Maybe you want that look, in which case you would not use a metal ruler as a straight cutting edge, and you would not make several shallow cuts in the foam with a very sharp knife until a clean cut is made.

See how I did that? I just told you how I made straight cuts but telling you what NOT to do. It's called reverse psychology. Get used to it.

Ok, so NEXT!

 I took this black acrylic craft paint from my college roommate. Actually, she left a whole bag of paints in her closet when we moved, so I picked them up. This came in very handy for my next step. Sully, if you're looking for this paint, I have it, and you don't need it because you're too busy with med school.

So, obviously, I painted the edges of the foam. It went on easily, dried quickly, and shazam! The edges are now black. I believe this finishes the pieces off nicely.

(By the way, I stole this project idea from Stacy in South Dakota, hi Stacy! Stacy actually glued ribbon around the edges of hers which made it look REALLY nicely finished. They were beautiful. But I didn't want to buy ribbon because I'm lazy. So I painted.)

Finally, I glued the scrapbook paper to one side of the board and smoothed out the bubbles. Then I hung them on the wall, and viola! Cheap-ass art for my laundry room.

Now go! Go find your scrapbook paper and foam and make something of yourselves! I want to see your end results in exactly 16 hours or less.

Fuming

Our house is fuming (or fume-y, to be more accurate.) More on that later! Let's start this off right with the CUTEST VIDEO EVER!

That was Elvis as a little baby puppy....I think we'd had him for about 2 months at this point. Love!

Now back to business-as-usual. Which reminds me of the book I'm reading that I need to finish before the month is over. I won't say what book, because it's too embarrassing to admit to. So let's just move on.

I have lots of projects going on... I'm ready to share some, even though some aren't completed (actually, none of them are completed. Maybe this will force me to complete them now that I'm sharing everything with the whole world.

#1.

Here, you can observe the waterfall that took place inside our home gym not even 3 weeks ago.

Here, you can see the amount of water that quickly filled the room.

This was the weekend of the freeze. We were lucky, because a lot of people had their whole homes flooded. We just had a tiny bit of our garage, and this gym covered with rubber flooring, get flooded. (Comma splice, anyone?) So, THANK YOU insurance company, for helping us out with this and covering our deductible. Because of you, we were able to completely re-do a room that would have never gotten done, plus a lot of other things around the house. We will definitely be renewing with you next year, and praying for a hail storm this spring!

I don't have after pictures yet, although it's done. Now I feel the need to actually decorate it. The big debate now is whether or not I would feel un-inspired to work out if Kennedy hangs his Star Wars posters in there.

To give you a hint, I took some color ideas from Stephanie's bedroom for this room. We're excited to not be working out in our living room anymore.

#2. (haha)

Did I mention I got one of these for Christmas?

That leads me to share one of my current projects!

Relax, it's not finished yet. But I have 3 of these chairs (one with arms), that I'm going to be sewing slip covers for. Right now, it's upstairs waiting for me, all pinned up and ready to be sewn. I even made piping for the seams! What is piping, you ask? Google it. Or wait and I'll show you later.

#3.

 I love this movie.

#4. Thrift shopping.

I went thrift shopping today. It's one of my favorite things to do, and I've been doing it nearly all my life. Before it was cool to wear thrift-store clothes, I was wearing them. Not because I was a trend-setter, but because we were poor. Not like, eat of the trash can poor, but like, no new clothes in the middle of the school year poor. 

So, as I'm walking through the 3rd thrift store of the day, basking in the cheapness of all these things, and loving that every thrift store has their radio blaring with Lite-Rock or Oldies, it was all ruined. Some creeeeeeeeeeepy man walked by and said "hello, beautiful." Pause. I didn't respond to this. He was looking at the ground and walking really quickly by, as if he was about to get caught doing this. When I didn't respond to that, he continued "how are you doing today?" Again, I didn't respond. He quickly disappeared and I was left feeling entirely creeped out and MAD that he ruined this thrifting experience for me. Jerk.

But on the bright side, I found a TON at my very first thrift store. Let me share it with you now!

Everything came to $10.61, and I had a $3.00 off coupon! Woohoo!

These were great finds, that with a little polish, are gonna be great accessories in our home!

I'm excited for these...

To become this...

Cute!

And I know what you're thinking about this...

But trust me, it's not staying this way!

I'm thinking it will turn out a little more like this...

More to come, stay tuned!!!

To my precious pup

Today the 2nd love of my life, Elvis the dog, turns one year old. And yes, if you're wondering, Kennedy is the 1st.

Elvis has brought much adventure, joy, and laughter to our otherwise monotonous lives and we want to celebrate him today!

Kennedy and I got Elvis a new tag for his collar with his name and my number. We also got him several toys, which I dumped out of a bag onto the floor and let him carry every single one over to his dog bed. This dog is so spoiled, but he deserves it!

Hopefully, now that Elvis is an official "adult", we hope for him to have shed these habits:

1. Digging through the bathroom trash and clamping his jaw around things you don't want to imagine.

2. Knocking glasses and cups off of tables to get to their contents.

3. Biting through computer cords and other various wires.

4. Barking at the toad in the back yard.

5. Commencing a game of "chase" every time we try to put his leash on.

Things that we hope Elvis NEVER grows out of!

1. "Hating cats" - from Kennedy

2. Snuggling (and burrowing into our sides and neck so hard that he cuts off his air supply and snorts like a pig)

3. His curious personality

4. His extreme excitement any time he hasn't seen us for at least 5 seconds.

5. His head tilt when we talk to him like a human.

We love you, Elvis! Happy Birthday!