Necklace Holder

Today is J's birthday Eve. Around 7:00 I started getting tired. Seriously considered going to bed.

J told me I should work out. Isn't that the weirdest thing? You have to actually expend energy in order to get energy. Seems like it should be against the law of physics. But it actually works.

So I did a zumba video. Felt better. And finished my necklace holder.

I'd been using this snow bunny for my necklaces. It worked until I got too many. My Mom made it for me when I was really small and it's hung in all of my bedrooms for decades. So it will still hang, but I needed a new option.

I bought a piece of wood for 98 cent. Cut two pieces down to 21 inches. And screwed it together.

Then I stained it. Added some hooks.

Tried to figure out how a person is supposed to nail in a nail that small without smashing fingers.

Did not smash my fingers.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. One thing I would do differently is to actually think about my dimensions. My original plan had been to screw a hook every inch. For a 21 inch long shelf, that is 40 hooks. When it actually came down to it, I decided that was too much work. But 21 inches doesn't divide easily and the end hooks would have been unevenly spaced. 

I contemplated cutting my board down, but decided that was too much work so I just eye-balled it. My second mistake is that I didn't actually count my necklaces. But some of them just doubled up and it's not a big deal. I think it looks pretty good.

So I am ready for J's birthday tomorrow with something crossed off my To Do list. I am ready for the day I have planned.

An Unfortunate Discovery

It was a Monday.
I left work to meet my Love for lunch.
Had a great lunch.
On my way back to work, I was listening to a song I have often enjoyed.

My mama don't like you and she likes everyone

And I never like to admit that I was wrong

And I've been so caught up in my job,

Didn't see what's going on

But now I know,

I'm better sleeping on my own

'Cause if you like the way you look that much

Oh, baby, you should go and love yourself

And if you think that I'm still holdin' on to somethin'

You should go and love yourself

I was singing along, when I happened to glance down.

I have one of those faceplates that tells you the radio song info.

I saw one word.

BIEBER

I froze.

I am an unintentional Bieber fan??

How could this happen?

I felt the same way I felt when I learned Donald Trump had a real shot at being president.

Shock.

Horror.

Reevaluating the whole world.

I have been going through the stages of grief. Denial. Anger. 

I told a coworker about my ordeal. The coworker advised me of another song I have enjoyed that is also a Bieber song.

He invited me to a concert with his small child.

Said we could have t-shirts made.

I had been eyeing Canada as a nice place to live. May as well embrace one of their own, eh?

New Sign

When I found my new curtains at TJ Maxx I also found a piece of art that I thought was nice. (Art being a loosely used word. I feel a little shame at buying stock art from a store. But not enough shame to stop me.)

But then that red McClellan family sign started to bug me. It doesn't match anymore. If it did ever match. (I made it during a craft day and there were limited paint options.)

So I stained a piece of wood.

Cut out vinyl with my silhouette machine. 

J always helps me make sure things are straight.

And this little corner looks a lot better.

The box is on top of the cabinets in an attempt to keep the cat (cats when Jacob and Crystal were living here) down since they kept knocking things over.

I chose the words because it's right next to the kitchen. Since J is the cook, one of the things I like to do is look at what he made me and ask if he made it with love. He grins at me and responds, "Always." 

I'm pretty happy with it. I used the fonts Journal and Abraham Lincoln. I originally tried to use a stain that was lighter, but it had a reddish tint I did not love. Since it's darker than I thought, I'm glad I decided to use white vinyl instead of black.

This project didn't cost me anything. I hate when people say that, because actually, yes it did. But I had all the stuff, so I should say, I didn't spend any additional money. 

New Curtains

I decided, about a year and a half ago, that I wanted to redecorate.

It's been taking some time.

I finally found some new curtains I like.

Apparently it was an extremely emotional decision. One that could not be taken lightly.

And of course, I forgot to take a before photo. Instead of putting the old curtains back up to take a before, I decided my time was better spent digging through old photos for a half hour trying to find one of the living room.

Time well spent.

Osa's first Christmas.

This was just last Christmas. 

The below photo cracks me up. The reason for it can be found here. 

The red curtains just weren't working anymore. Plus, they were torn. I'm not really sure how it happened but I'm blaming a cat.

I thought grey curtains might be nice. J wanted white. I just wanted something that was reasonable priced. Plus I needed 95 inches in length and 84 is the standard.

I finally found some, randomly, at TJ Maxx.

When we first bought the house we purchased light blocking curtains. The new ones are much more sheer and it brightens up the house during the day. And I tested it at night; you can't see through, so that satisfied my paranoia about creepers.

J likes them so much, he wanted some for his office.

He commented that the old curtains are ugly and he doesn't know why we even bought them.

The change is nice.

I thought about trying to clean things up before I took the picture, but this is real life yo.