Rivet Gun

October 2010 I blogged that I am a Halloween Scrooge. Can a Scrooge be rehabilitated? 

I was/am excited about Halloween costumes this year.  Would I be a rubiks cube?  A minion from Despicable Me?  In the end Rosie and I got up and went to work today.

 

Do I want to share my candy? The answer is still no. But maybe finding fun costumes will start to thaw this Halloween Scrooge's heart!



Repurpose and Renew

On a trip to the Seattle area in January I purchased a 5 drawer dresser at Goodwill for $15.00.

One of my first blog posts a couple of years ago had been a refinish project. I learned a whole lot from that project and felt that I could be much more efficient this time around.

However, as the project moved along the plan changed enough that it took me far longer than I expected.

The challenge came after I decided to try and convert the top 2 drawers into a cabinet section. I also wanted to use the dawer facings as my cabinet doors. And so the adventure began.

The dresser was a weird green, brown and white color.

First step was to strip the paint. Sadly I didn't take enough before pictures of the dresser. Trust me though, it was not pretty.

After I finished stripping the old paint, the second step was to put a coat of spray polyurethane on the peice. Looking back I should have sanded first. When sprayed the poly made the piece look a little green around the gills.

Third step was to remove the drawer faces off 2 of the drawer. No problems there, but I got stuck trying to figure out how to convert then make the doors.

Huge thank-yous to Jim and Patty. I chatted with Patty a great deal about this project and her husband Jim was willing to cut the drawer faces for me!

Fourth step included a trip to Home Depot to have a piece of lumber cut to size for the new cabinet shelf. The trip was successful, but my measurements were a little off, and I spent a good part of an afternoon shaving down the shelf. 1/4" doesn't seem like a lot, but it can make all the difference!

I found a fantastic Etsy shop where I was able to customer order the drawer pulls I wanted for the dresser.

The picture above is my order courtesy of:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kmadson

The drawer knobs are amazing!

Things ground to a halt for awhile due to weather and travel. The sun was out this weekend and so in a flurry of activity I finally finished out my project.

Things accomplished this weeked:

Sanded the surface area, the poly is gone and it looks much better.

Built the cabinet doors from the peices that had been cut for me.

Put the new cabinet shelf in.

Attached the dawer knobs

Attached the hinges.

The hinges were another new element for me. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what kind of hinge to use. The dresser frame is pretty narrow, and the drawer faces had some unique insets and groves left over from their previous life. In the end the easiest choice worked. So glad for that!

Below is the finished product. Looks pretty sweet. Will now be the home for my ever growing piles of fabric.

Snow Days.

January 17th, 2012 came the snow. Then came the ice.

Massive tree limbs fell all through northwest Washington.

Work was cancelled for snow, ice and no power.

Lessons learned from Januay 2011 snow days.

1. Snow days are no fun when the power is out.

2. Three days is the longest I am willing to go without power.

3. I am utterly dependent on electricity.

Just need a Tutorial.

I can do all things through YouTube tutorials.

The story of despair and hope. A very short story.

In January 2012 the front driver's side headlight went out on my ever steady mode of transportation.

I got home, and mentally ran through all my options.

They were slim at best.

YouTube then entered the fray.

After multiple views of a YouTube tutorial, and chanting the instructions to myself, I decided that I could conquer. Well, I hoped I could.

The next morning I awoke to find a thick fog hanging over the area.

A trip to the car parts store gave me the needed light source.

Yes, I changed that light myself. I am a road warrior.

Evidence of the light I changed. All. By. Myself.

Next up: replacing a sink and learning to hulu hoop.

YouTube's gotta have something for those.

Ribbons and Bows! Oh My!

September 2011 introduced ribbon lights to my blog. I had only finished one at the time, but ribbons and lights multipled rapidly after that.

I found a fantastic website http://ribbonandbowsohmy.com/ that has all kinds of great ribbons. One massive box of ribbons shipped to me helped to create many of the themes below. Another fantastic resource for lots of ribbon at a great price is Costco.

My box ribbon has grown exponetially.

Shared these as gifts for co-workers and we used them to decorate our cubicles. They were a huge hit in the office. We had visitors from other floors in the building come to look at the ribbon lights. They are pretty striking when plugged in.

One great suggestion came from my friend who got the St. Patty's day themed ribbon light. She was going to see if she could find a way to plug the light in to a small battery powered source, then wear as a boa.

Viva la ribbon!

The candy cane themed ribbon light above is my favorite of the color combinations. I made more than one of these.

The blue/white/silver snowflake themed ribbon lights are a close second to the candy cane colored lights.

Sewing Again

I now have a plethera of fabric.

March 2011 was my first post, post sewing machine purchase.

I am still learning, but have tried to branch out and have even modified patterns.

Who am I?

SewExpo and the Shop Hop here on the west side of Washington state are pretty big events in the world of fabric. I've had to put myself on restriction. No new fabric until I get more items finished. That only seems to apply to in store purchases though. On-line is still fair game!

Most of the projects have been baby blankets. They are about the right size for me to finish and start. Good thing so many people I know keep reproducing.

Below are blankets this year that all went to friends and their new progeny.

The gray and pink is an exception. It is still in my possession waiting for the right baby to send it to.

Smelly Soap

I love me some smelly soap.
I have a drawer full of it. The picture below features Zum bar Almond soap. It is one of the world's greatest things. (many can attest to my deep and abiding affection for almond smells. hmmmmm almond extract)

However deep my affinity for almond, I am at a loss to explain why the 3 oz soap that was put in the dish MONTHS ago is still the soap in my dish. I have many other soaps waiting for their turn. I can't figure out how this one little bar of soap has managed to last so incredibly long. I don't remember the exact date that I introduced this soap to my bathroom. Primarily because it has been so very, very long ago. And yes, I wash my hands regularly.
So almond bar soap you are now on notice.
I am watching you buddy.