Leftover wood scraps + housewarming gift

Dee, who I've dubbed "my little sister" (really Rew`s sister, but what`s his is mine), and her boy toy have moved into their very own place! Woo! Well, really it`s the cabin, but it`s "theirs" for now. I've been trying to convince her to become a housewife for the entirety of summer so we can make pretty things and get shmashed on girly drinks, while having fruit smoothies for lunch & Supper every day. I'm really becoming quite the expert at "finding other things to do other than my thesis." Not good.

Anyways.. in-between trying to convince her to entertain me on my days off from work, I decided she they needed a housewarming gift!

After finishing my Nightstand & DVD Ladder Shelf thingymajigg, I had some wood leftover. Quelle Surprise. Truth is, the DVD ladder shelf thingymajigg was created with a vision that began with the scrap wood from the nightstand. But when I put the "vision" on paper, I realized I needed more wood. The exact same thing happened with what I just finished (but am keeping hidden for right now because Rew and I are arguing about stain, paint, and lack thereof). It grew from the scrap wood I had from these projects, including the wood I stole from Dee to make her a bookcase. Why am I using the wood I stole from her to make something for myself? That's a story for another day.

Where was I... Oh scrap wood and housewarming gift.

With it being spring and all, one day I decided I needed a tall vase for pretty flowers. The kitchen needed to be "spruced up" a bit. So I made a matching set of "vases." Because I didn't want to have to wait the 2-3 days it takes me when I stain anything (it was still cold and snowing at this point, making everything impossible to dry. And no, it wasn't that long ago. 2-3 weeks?) I decided to give her them one of mine!

The plan was to buy pretty flowers to put in it. But that was still not enough. So I surfed the web to find designs she may like. Huge lover of anything with orange in it. And decided to make her these coasters. Which she loved and demanded I make a few more for her to display. Oh yeah, I should do that, oops.

These babies were made with my new love (& craft Fling); Mod Podge. Oh how many ideas I have of things I need to make with this stuff. If I were to list them all, this post would never end....



Yup, I even put a fancy ribbon



After finishing the coasters and looking back at the vase thing.. the plain stain`ness of the vase was just not enough anymore. That and it wasn`t her. She`s not a "simple" girl by any means. And I do mean that in a good way. It was just too dull for it being a gift that was meant specifically for her. For Rew, maybe. He likes to think he's simple. Ha!

Without further hesitation...

I added a little spunk.

Since my coaster making things were still out, I mod-podged the crazy out of it.

Okay, maybe not that bad.

I used some of the leftover texture/design from the coasters, cut them very carefully (Straight lines and I are not friends).

And voila!



Safe to say, after I finished her vase, my vase was looking rather bleh. I gave it it's own little makeover. I had to try and make it not-so-girly so Rew wouldn't take my the wood and tools from me. He not-so secretly loves my new obsession for making things out of wood for the mere fact that his style is country/western everything.

I grabbed some cute ribbon and some rocks from the old fish tank to stop the flowers from tipping over and ended up with this...

I may or may not have temporarily put it like this with a bunch of scotch tape just to see if I'd like it. Hence why you're seeing varying angles of the same side. But, I'm thinking it will stay like that -- Much easier to change it with the seasons and holidays!

The playoffs make me yell at the tv.

I really shouldn't watch an entire evening of Hockey playoffs. I'm so wound up right now.. Ahhh!! FREAKIN OVERTIME! Thank goodness the players finally woke up and started playing hockey. I don't even like either the Canbucks or Blackhawks (but I'm obviously going to cheer for the Canucks.. they're the next best thing to the Habs. And they have Luongo).

Ah! They won!! WOOOOOO.

Okay. But see. It winds me up and I can't calm down.

It's a love/hate relationship.

Rew usually keeps me in check. And by "in check," I mean that he refuses to let me watch any kind of sport on tv. And dislikes bringing me to any live game. He's pretty much against all organized sport. Something about being pressured into being awesome at High School Football turning him off.. Too much pressure, yaddy yaddy yadda...

I, on the other hand.. LOVE IT! Whether playing, watching, talking about or even thinking about it. I just can't get enough of it.

I'm competitive, okay. I admit it.

I get into it. I sit on the edge of my seat. I stare, often forgetting to blink. I mumble, swear, yell, shriek.

Yes, I shriek. And growl.

Tonight I had to contain myself. I watched the games with Rew's dad. (Rew is gone for the night, I stole the remote control! and indulged).

I basically sat at the kitchen table with my most recent project in front of me, slowly getting the last little bits together, staring... mumbling... swearing... telling off the refs.

Okay, maybe I didn't swear. Unless you count, "ARE YOU FREAKIN SHITTIN' ME!"

I wouldn't say it in front of my Great Aunt the Nun or my priest. It counts.


Ack, and I have to go through this all over again tomorrow.

I can't wait.

Happy Easter!

Rencontre notre future "Poule de Paques." / Meet our future "Easter Bunny."

I still don't get it, in English it's an Easter Bunny. In french it's une Poule (chicken) de Paques (Easter).
Who makes this stuff up! I'm pretty sure they had had a bit more than just chocolate when they decided upon this...

Ahh well... Whether a chicken or a bunny, this morning we awoke with lots of goodies;
... sandals, purse, shorts, shirts.. and the most-necessary chocolate. What a great way to start a morning... that and church, of course.





So I decided to start a new tradition this year. I wanted to last year, but someone wouldn't let me. I made an Easter tree.

Ankor and I found the most perfect branch from our lovely collection of perfect branches (otherwise known as shrubs and Ankor's favorite spot to get tangled into), cut it down, fixed it up, lost a mini branch or two (oops), spraypainted it, put it in a pot and Voila!

Okay, not quite so easy. The pot was originally very ugly. And I struggled with how to pretty'fy it.

I'm not sure why, but first I made it all black...

Horrible idea.

Too blah... Most definitely not very spring like.

So I added some green. Like grass.

Of course, this would make it pretty.

I liked how it turned out. But most definitely not what I was going for.

I left the black underneath, spray painted my mom's favorite blue'ish turquoise'ish color, & dry brushed a bit of white for effect...

Eventually it ended up like this! Ta da!

 Much better!

Simple. Cute. Nice color. I did end up adding more eggs on the tree. It looks naked here.

Yes, that is snow in the background, at the end of April. We had a mini snowstorm last week... yet today I got a small sunburn on my shoulders. -- I was TRES excited!!

JOYEUX PAQUES!