"Owl Always Love You"

I feel like I should explain where I've been, but that is way too much to type out. Basically, I've just been living everyday, and sleeping a lot.

I haven't worked on many projects lately, but here's one I'm particularly excited about!

For as long as I can remember, Grandma has loved owls. It's always been her favorite bird...or at least I have thought it has... maybe it hasn't...either way, she always likes when I show her owl things.

A while ago, I went to Color Me Mine with Rich. I made an adorable little owl mug. Less than a week after bringing it home, I left it in the fridge and one of the kids accidentally knocked it out...causing it to break on the kitchen floor. I was pretty disappointed, but it's just a cup. Life goes on. Grandma, however, really liked the cup, so she saved the pieces and meticulously glued it back together:

After it was already glued back together.

She did a really good job if you ask me. You can barely see here that it was glued back together. There are a lot of tiny holes, so it won't ever hold liquid again, but it looks nice still. 

I'm going to end up using it as a nice little pen holder or something. 

Anyway, back to my explanation. 

Grandma loves owls, so much so that she repaired my mug because it was cute. See this shelf? I was going to just stick it on there, but there isn't room. See the wall? See all the eclectic wall decorations? See all of the space on the wall? 

All of these little decorations are things that Grandma loves. (Some of them are hand made, some are gifted. One is even a Christmas card that she framed because the picture was adorable.) I decided that since my mug has no room on the shelf, I would make grandma a little cross stitch owl to hang on the wall right by the sleeping mouse in the black frame.

I picked out an image for an owl. I picked out a tree design to put the owl in. I even picked out a cute little phrase to put around it. I'm going to start it today, and see how quickly I can get it done.

I anticipate it take a while, because I'm making the pattern up out of my own imagination...I don't have a pattern or design chart. But it'll be worth it. I want her to know that "Owl always love [her]".



Sorry this post was so weirdly written and really dull. I'm just very stoked for this project. I'll post an update soon about how it's going. 

Twin Falls ID

Just some things I made

 This would make a pretty cool clock if you ask me. 

Just some prickly cacti. 

Musical Jewelry Box

This little box has stolen my heart. Working on it has been tedious, and I didn't do as great a job as I would have liked, but I love it nonetheless.

It was more work than the night stand I did!

This thing was a LOT bigger than my little blue box...but it wasn't nearly as tedious to revamp... Holy Cow! 

My upcoming projects include:

 a little dry-erase to-do board

a filing cabinet

a chair

Those are the projects in the foreseeable future. Who knows how it'll actually go! I might run into another little darling box that I can't pass up. 

Finished Lamp

Remember that lamp I acquired a while back? The funny gold and wood one? I finished it. finally. It took MONTHS. Jk, it took about two weekends. It spent the rest of the time in the shed (sad face).

Anyway, here is the finished product!

Just a reminder of how far this lamp has come: 

Lets look at these side by side, ol' school way (meaning I don't want to get photoshop out and create a single image of the before and after side by side) 

Also, I made them small. Deal with it. 

Isn't it awesome? I sure as heck think it is. I plan on finishing my other chair, the mirror and whatever else comes my way. =) 

P.S. I ate it really good roller skating yesterday...two sprained wrists...magical. #yolo

I made this

And I'm proud of it. Just thought I would share. =)
 EDIT: I also made these. Photo and Sculpture credit goes to Frank McEntire.

EDIT: Also this...I made this.

Latest Project - "Fan Stand"

I recently finished a new little project! I always feel so accomplished when I do that.

My latest little project was turning a childhood chair into a stand for my small fan. I have one of those little desk fans in my room, and to keep it off the floor, I set it on a broken chair that I had as a kid. It was the ugliest little thing. It had been left outside all winter and it was a mess. The back had broken off, the finish was all chipped, and the seat had warped. I like my fan sitting on it, so I decided it needed a make-over.

Before I even thought to take pictures, I sawed off the rest of the back that hadn't snapped off. Here is the beginning after it was sawed off.

 I sanded it, and cleaned it as best as I could. I also tightened all the screws on the sides, it was incredibly wobbly. (More wobbly than time...for all you doctor who fans out there...)

 Before painting it, I sprayed it with a white base. Brian suggested that, so that the colors stand out more. (Thanks, Bri) I hadn't thought of that. I'm glad he suggested it. It did help the colors stand out more.

To pick colors, I looked at my antique chair. I got every possible paint sample card from Home Depot, and then laid them out on my chair. I came up with a set of colors that matches the upholstery really quite well. Then I went to Hobby Lobby and picked craft paint to match. That was trickier, since craft paint doesn't come in nearly as many shades as Behr paint or Martha Stewart paint. I also am new to this whole painting thing, so mixing colors is a little tricky for me. I try to stick with out-of-the bottle colors.

I chose green and brown. This is how that turned out:

 While that was drying, I decided to practice painting little flowers. I wanted to put a design on the stand, but I'm not terribly artistic. I haven't practiced enough for that. So I practiced something simple on a piece of paper.

I made a decision on where the flowers would go. And went at it. The vines were done by Brian, and with his help. I'm actually not too great at painting leaves... The flowers I rocked though! All of the colors are straight from my chair, so it'll match that when it's done. Not that they will ever be in the same room, but you never know!

Here is my finished product!

I also sprayed it with a clear protector. I don't want it to chip. I'm really excited for how it turned out. It's cute, and simple, and my first project of this type. It was good practice.

That's all for now. I'm still working on my antique chair. I had to glue the bottom before I could cover the springs, so that's where that is. I'm sure it's dry by now, but I just don't have time...yet.

10 days til graduation!!