Apparently I'm a dumpster diver now

Do you remember the last time I "inherited" some new furniture from the dumpster in my neighborhood? I ended up with a great piece of furniture that I still use in my classroom.

The new project started Friday when I got home from work. I took Minnie out for a walk in the cold and saw a leaning bookshelf sitting in one of our dumpster carports. I looked around to see if anyone was in the middle of moving and just rested it there. Nope. It was in the trash.

I came home and texted Molly to ask for advice. Should I pick it up? I've always wanted one, but wasn't sure I had the spot for it in my condo. I didn't think I could carry it and was almost sure it wouldn't fit in my car. Molly replied to say, "Take it and decide later!" So, I hopped in my car and drove it around the development to see if the shelf was still there. I put the shelf in my back seat, but had to drive back to my building with the back door open because the shelf was so big.

Mom came over this afternoon to help me find the perfect spot for this shelf. The office seemed to be the best option. Last summer I had rearranged the office to make room for a new dresser. It was still a mess and we had to move things to make it all work.

Here are the finished products! The bookshelf was already painted this gray blue color. Thanks, friendly neighbor! I also hung that brown frame that Jilly gave me for my birthday a few years ago. I'm embarrassed it took me this long to get it hung. It is filled with baby pics of Ells because I don't seem to print pictures out anymore :(

Got rid of the tiny bookshelf on that right-hand wall and moved the brown dresser over there. That small bookshelf is now sitting out at the dumpster. I hope someone else can use it! The top of the desk is cleaned off, too. This couch is Minnie's spot during the day, hence the dog bed & towel.

After Mom left, she told me to get to work & finish organizing. So, I tackled the GIANT piles of filing I've been putting off for months. I hate to file papers, both at home and at work! I sat in that tiny open space for about 2 hours to get all these bills and papers put away.

Mom did a GREAT job of organizing and decorating the shelf for me. I love the way it looks.

I can still access my printer on the bottom shelf for the occasional time that I need to print something. Most of the other items came from on top of my desk or around my condo.

This is the cleanest my office has been in years! I'm hoping it will stick :) Not bad for a zero dollar makeover!

Crafty time + Crayons = Happy Girl

I saw this project on one of my favorite blogs and knew that I HAD to make it. Apparently this melted crayon art is all over Pinterest, which I have yet to play on because I know I'll never leave my laptop.

Last weekend, I headed to Wal-Mart for a deal on Crayola Crayons, because they are the only acceptable brand of crayons. If you are a parent who shops for school supplies, please don't send your kid to school with Rose Art supplies ... they just don't do the trick! Jill came with me because she saw the link and also wanted to make some art for her classroom!

We each bought a box of 64 and an additional box of 48 for this project. We picked out the pretty colors ... who knew there are so many versions of brown in a box of crayons?

Jill went with blues, purples, white and a few reds. I went with a rainbow of colors, primarily pink. Are you surprised? After we picked out enough crayons, we carefully hot-glued them to the canvases. I had canvases left over from a previous crafty project that I ended up hating. The canvases were about 18x24 inches. We used painter's tape to line them up straight when gluing. About 1/4 inch was left between the top of the crayons and the edge of the canvas.

LOTS of crayons ... glued on our canvases. At first, I thought I wanted to glue my crayons with the color names facing out, but Jill & I decided that the Crayola label facing out added some interesting graphics to the art.

And here comes the hard part. Get a friend to hold your canvas upright. Use your hair dryer on HIGH heat and LOW air flow to heat up the crayons. The papers will start to glisten & then you'll see the tips of the crayons start to drip, drip, drip onto the canvas. I started on one side and melted about 8 crayons at a time. They will start to melt, and you can get them to melt more or less depending on how much you put the hair dryer on them. The entire canvas took about 35-45 minutes to get it looking the way I wanted it.

Then, it was Jilly's turn. This was when she said to me, "Betsy. Even your hair dryer is pink!" :) Her crayons were glued onto the canvas vertically, so she wanted them to drip a bit more/longer than mine did. We realized it is boring to be the "holder" of the canvas, but it is a lot of fun to watch the crayons melt right before your eyes.

My finished product! I'm pretty pleased with it. That brown-looking crayon in the middle of the oranges is actually gold. It didn't look as pretty as I thought it would :( Oh well! It's the first time I've done this.

I took it to school on Monday and hung it up in my room. My students oooooh'd and aaaaah'd over it. Lots of fun & I have a feeling a few of them might tackle this project at home, too!

Craftpalooza

Kathryn, Jill & I planned to have a crafty weekend. Jill worked on her dishcloths for her giveaway contest. Kathryn came to create a cookie sheet calendar similar to the one I made a few years ago. Here is a picture review of the process!

Ta da! All done! It took me an ENTIRE Spring Break to complete my calendar and with our hard work, we finished Kat's in just under 4 hours. We even have an idea for our next crafty project. Love craft time with the girls :)

Is this my next project?

Do we think I'm ready for stop-motion photography?

It took me a few seconds to really understand how this would have been done. Check out the clock, too. The comments on YouTube say that this organization took 13 hours. Amazing!

I think this video is absolutely lovely. I was thinking about the logistics of doing this video for days after first seeing it. The song is nice, too.

Something to work towards ... who wants to help?

Looking for change

I love these apothecary jars, and I started collecting them before I even had a home to put them in. When I moved into my condo, I was excited that I had the perfect place for them. I have a counter that opens up to both my kitchen & my living room. Most of the other condos that have the same floor plan have an extended counter that allows them to have bar stools there for eating. I wish my counter was like that, because it might mean the counters wouldn't become my catch-all for mail, recycling, magazines, etc.

Anyhoo ... the jars have been filled with various grains and beans for 2 years, and I think I'm over it. I'm looking for ideas for new fillers. Candy would be a lot of fun, but that's just a recipe for a disaster (and a bigger a$$). I can also take them away completely for a cleaner look, but I like them so much.

They could go on top of this cabinet in my dining room and I could put the lamp somewhere else. They might look nice with the sunlight coming in through the jars, even if they were empty.

The other place I need help is with my TV and table. This is one of the few new pieces of furniture I have in here. My TV used to sit on my coffee table, but when I found this great piece, that had storage, I was happy to have my coffee table back! Erik's parents were nice enough to let me have this TV when I moved in because they were doing some redecorating. The one I had before this was a measly 19 inch TV, which was difficult to adjust to since I had gotten used to Molly & Erik's GIANT TV when I lived with them. The problem is that this table isn't very sturdy and I think the weight of the TV is causing the joints to shift, and the cabinet doors and drawers are becoming difficult to open.

Since this has been the summer of spending for me, I'm not sure that I have the money for a replacement TV, but I know a thinner, lighter TV would probably be the answer.

I'm taking any and all suggestions at this point. Today's Day Of Cleaning has been slow going, but I know that if I really work on cleaning this place top to bottom today, I'll be much happier once I head back to work full time!

Whatcha think?

After some advice from family, I got an itch to go ahead and clean and rearrange today.

I moved the couch to come out from the wall like Mom suggested.

And moved the dresser into the corner where the couch used to be. Not sure I'm crazy about this placement. Maybe this dresser needs some paint this summer. I also wanted to take the drawers out & put baskets in their place ... that seems like a lot of work.

Minnie seems to like this spot, too. As long as she can bark at children, dogs, cars, leaves, the wind outside the window, she's happy!

I moved the "desk" behind the couch. It doesn't need a chair, just room to get into the file cabinet drawers. I also needed room for my drying rack.

And ... the bookshelf. Still needs sorting & organizing. That will have to wait for another day.

Whatcha think? Good rearranging, or do I still need help?

I need your help!

But please don't look too closely at these pictures :)

This is my 2nd bedroom on the first floor of my condo. It's set up to be an office. But let's be honest, it's really just become the room for all the crap I don't know where to put anywhere else.

Since it's officially summer for me, I thought I'd take all the projects I've been putting off all year & "assign" one per week for me to tackle. This room should be one of the easier projects.

I think it needs some rearranging and some organization. I don't use it as an office, except for the occasional day that I hook my laptop up to the printer to have a paper copy of something. I'm not married to the arrangement, and I'm sure it could be done better. I think I can even move the furniture by myself, so I'm not asking for any of your manual labor ... just ideas!

Minnie must have just discovered this room, because it's become her new hide-out during the day when I'm at work. She naps on the couch and I don't blame her. She can see outside & it's really cool in this back room for some reason. I'd like to move the couch away from that window for a few reasons: I don't like that you can see it when you walk down the hall, and that window started leaking with the BIG rain storm the other afternoon. The entire back of the couch was soaked. Not cool.

This is the desk I made out of 2 file cabinets & a piece of laminated plywood for the top. The dresser was found at an estate sale with Mom, and I do use all the drawers & my printer is currently on the top.

I've never sat at this desk. I don't even have a chair for it. 99% of the time, my laptop is on my coffee table in the living room. This is why I feel like I don't really need it set up like this. I will still need the file cabinets accessible since I use them for mail, bills & other things. Well ... my mail & bills should be in the drawers. Don't look at the floor where there are piles & piles to be filed. It's a lot like my classroom :(

This is the opposite wall. I have that small bookshelf which is full of things, but none of it is that important. That closet is full of all my craft supplies :)

And that's the rest of the room.

Ideas? Help? I'm looking for tips. You are all invited over to see the room in person & give advice. It's not a big room, just 9 feet x 15 feet. You don't have to move or pack up anything. You can just point where you think I should move things.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Tie-Dying is NOT for perfectionists!

What? You don't think I'm a perfectionist? I guess I don't think I am either ... but when it comes to crafty things, I don't have a lot of patience with a difficult learning curve.

When I want to start a new craft, I jump all in! I buy all the materials at once. I think this new craft will become my new favorite hobby & it's okay to spend all my time and money on it. P.S. DON'T ever look in my craft closet at all the yarn, stamps, scrapbook supplies and paint that haven't been touched for months.

When Mom taught me how to knit, I learned, but that was it. Just knitting. Don't ask me to turn my stitches around to purl. Don't ask me to read directions. Don't ask me to follow a pattern.

Then I thought I could easily pick up crocheting in a short amount of time to make a baby blanket for Molly when she was already about 5 months pregnant. I became so frustrated with my hands that were stuck in knitting mode and I almost stabbed myself with my crochet hook. That was the end of my crochet craft time. It's a good thing Mom convinced me NOT to buy the yarn & pattern books I wanted to when I first walked into Michael's.

And here we are to the new (to me) craft portion of this story.

Jill mentioned that she had tie-dyed some t-shirts with her yearbook students as a fun end-of-the-year activity. She then bought a few tie-dye kits since summer was quickly approaching. I've never tie-dyed before ... or if I have, I don't remember it.

We FINALLY found time to get together for a belated birthday BBQ and to try out our dying skills. Adam was our resident expert since he was apparently a tie-dying fool in his former life :) Jill pulled out all the dyes and a giant handful of rubber bands. And we were off!

Jilly & Mitz working hard to get the perfect twists & bands on their shirts.

Adam & Heather, doing more of the same.

Here I am with finished product #1. Leggings for Ellen. My title refers to the fact that I had a VERY difficult time understanding that there is no right or wrong way to band up your fabric. There also was a serious amount of dye mixing! COLORS MIXING UP! Me no likey! I like things to be just so! I used yellow & blue on her pants with the hopes they would mix up just a bit to form some green bands.
This is the second shirt I made, and I did a bulls-eye pattern for Jill's shirt.

Here's all our equipment. It was messy ... also something I don't like. Good thing Jilly came prepared with gloves. That is my other tank top in the ziploc baggie on the bottom left of the picture.

Jill was dressed for the evening. This is the shirt she made with her yearbook kids. She had great tips for us after seeing how her first shirt came out: wet your shirt, because the dye seems to soak in better, and continue to squeeze dye on the fabric, even when you think you are done, because the insides need to get color, too! This picture also shows her breaking Adam's cardinal rule ... and cutting the rubber bands off BEFORE her shirt had dried! She gave it about an hour.

I think it came out great! She then was able to hang in on their clothesline to dry over night.

Here are my finished products:

Ellen's leggings. I'm hoping she'll grow at some point in the future so she can wear them! They are pretty cute with the ruffles on the bottom. I wished I had picked other colors, because I didn't realize the yellow would be that bright. I also thought the colors wouldn't mix as much as they did. The biggest challenge will be finding a shirt to match these pants.

And here's the tank-top I made for myself. I haven't washed it since it's dried, but I LOVE the way the pattern came out!

Not too bad for my first attempts at tie-dying, huh? Who wants to join us for round two?

The biggest front yard I've ever been in!

I've been participating in my Project 365 with other friends & photographers on Twitter since January. For months, I've been hearing about people doing "photo walks" in their hometowns. The idea is for a group of people with various levels of photography skills to get together, take pictures & share tips.

Most days I'm that crazy lady on the walking path by myself, crouched down on the trail or in the weeds getting a picture of some rock or shadow. I even was "caught" by one of my neighbors when he was out walking his dog, too. People look at you funny. If you go with a group of people ... there is safety in numbers. Or at least, I like to think so.

I wrote some friends on Facebook with a wide range of photography skills: takes photos for her job, takes photos of her kids, used to work as a photographer, wants to get better with her camera, etc. The first date I picked fell on a busy weekend for many people. I ended up going to Loose Park with just Molly and Ellen. I never got pictures uploaded from the first one, but you can see them on Molly's blog.

I wanted to schedule another photo walk before May got completely hectic and crazy. Today was the day. So I asked for suggestions from the girls and they came up with great ideas. Molly's suggestion was the Nelson-Atkins Museum lawn. I haven't been there in years, but I knew it would be a great place with many photo opportunities!

We showed up at 10:30, and the group had tripled from the last time. Progress! We stuck together for the most part, but some of us broke off on our own for various shots.

You can see Jill's pictures on her blog. And Marie's pictures on her blog. Oh, and Molly's pictures on her blog. In case you didn't already know it ... in order to be my friend or family member, you should have a blog! :)

Here are my pics in a slide show. They seemed to be easier to share this way.

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Who wants to join us for the next photo walk? I'm thinking I'd like to schedule a monthly get together, weather permitting. You would NOT have seen me out in the snow last winter for a photo walk! :)

Thanks ladies for coming! I had a ton of fun!

blik for betsy

Maybe you'll remember a post I wrote about the blik decal that Molly, Mom & I put on the Ellen's nursery wall. That was before we even knew Ell's name ... and she was still Lulu to us! :)

Since then (October of 2008), I've wanted to get a blik decal for my condo. It didn't matter where one would go ... because I've got PLENTY of empty walls. That's what happens when you are a single teacher, who can't afford nice decor for your home :)

Over winter break, I started looking at the site, www.whatisblik.com and I found lots of patterns that I liked. Then, I came across the Me, MyShelf & I wall decal. It was exactly what I needed for my loft! If you are looking for any kind of wall art, I HIGHLY suggest checking out the site. These lights, plants & headboards are some of my favorite decals they sell!

Here is a slideshow of the process to put the decal on my loft wall. With the three of us, I'd say it took us about two hours from start to finish.


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What do you think? You likey?

Crafty project for my classroom!

I found that one of my neighbors was getting rid of this rolling shelf, and since I'm an elementary school teacher, I like free stuff that I can use in my classroom. Free furniture is even better!

I went to get some fun contact paper at Home Depot yesterday and then started covering it to make it look a little fresh & new.

About 2 hours later ... and I have this fun piece of furniture to take to school in August! You like?