Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Wandering with One-Eyed Dan & Donkey~*

For those not in the know, One-Eyed Dan is Thing 3's friend.  

He's also a miniature pony.

I grew up with horses, as did my Mom {which is why we had them}.  It was awesome.  Sabrina (palomino), Samson (palomino) and Ti-ee (appaloosa). 

Anyway.

One-Eyed Dan was adopted by Thing 3's boyfriend's{aka Stretch} family .  And he has a back story.

One-Eyed Dan was accidentally blinded by his previous owner.  I will spare you the rather uncomfortable details of the accident that created the mini-pony's name.  

Stretch's family adopted One-Eyed Dan, despite his disability, but that wasn't enough.  One-Eyed Dan was lonely, so they brought in Donkey, a miniature..well...donkey. Duh.  To keep Dan company.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  Stretch's people are good people.  

Dan is understandably timid.  Donkey is very not timid. They are a great pair.
I asked Thing 3 to take some pics of Dan & Donkey for a Wednesday post. And here they are.  Two buddies. For your viewing pleasure.

**In case you doubt how miniature a miniature pony & donkey can be, I've included two photos on the end to give you a size reference.  They are amazingly mini.  And very sweet.














I will be adding a few other pictures to Thing 3's art page soon.  On other exciting news, we are currently prepping some of her pics for sale at a local shop!  I'll let you know when they go up {&, of course, post pics}.  


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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

How Tos-Day Room Redo & Beach Blanket Pillows~*

There is a thing about room re-dos.  You can re do a room to look perfect, but as you live in it the perfection declines.  I mean, you just don't know how a room will work until you've lived in the room, you know?

And so it was with Thing 3.  We did her room not too terribly long ago, but it just didn't take.  As the days went on it turned out it just wasn't practical, wasn't functional, wasn't Thing 3 enough.

Notice I have carefully refrained from bringing up Thing 3's teenage-ness.  Because being a 15 year old had nothing to do with the sudden & dramatic need for a change.  Oh noooo. 

Anyway.

We needed a change.  And, as it turns out, more Sponge Bob.  Because Thing 3 has developed a Sponge Bob passion.  Sigh.

She had moved her furniture around a few weeks ago, and we just finished bringing the rest of the room up to pace.  Jer & I took the opportunity to surprise her {with her permission, she is, after all, 15 years old & deserving of privacy & respect} with a completed room redo.

We touched up wall paint, bought a new comforter & added some other touches-- like beach towel pillows.

We bought an assortment of inexpensive beach towels {$3.87 per at Walmart} and used pillows we already had-- including a body pillow and various throw pillows.  Use the pillow you want to cover as a pattern, cutting the towel slightly larger than the pillow itself.  After cutting & pinning, sew the edges of what will be the open end, then sew the sides {right sides together, wrong sides facing out}, turn right-side out and there ya go~*




Here are the finished pillows.  The pink striped one is a contoured memory foam pillow, the orange is a spare throw pillow & the yellow striped is a body pillow {the other side is a turquoise beach towel, so she can change it up}...


And here is the finished room!



We used a tension line across her room to suspend poof balls & fishies.  A party quality fishing net (like this) and some round paper clips (like these) makes a handy spot for pictures & mementos.


We painted one wall a cheery yellow.  We added a large chalkboard-painted square for notes & attached some black plastic office organizers to hold chalk & a large yellow sponge that will serve as an eraser.


Her "vanity", which is actually a black glass desk, was covered with a rainbow-esque table runner that I had on hand from years gone by, then encircled by a hula-ish table skirt.  The chair was purchased at our favorite used office supply place for a whopping $12.50.  


The mirror was an inexpensive door mirror that we've had for years.  We took off the cheap plastic frame, attached it to the wall with mounting putty and hot glued shells around the top edge 


She is our soccer star, so we made a soccer corner, complete with a teddy bear from her younger days wearing the medals she got over the past few years.  She made the wooden soccer sign a few years ago when we did a wood burning project.  I added a hook to hold her cleats {though she'll be getting new ones before the season gets started}.  Becks oversaw the whole thing.


Here is a wider shot to orient you to the whole room...




As a side note, Mac aka Zombie Cat seems to like the bed...


While Boromir the Brave prefers to peek out of the hula grass like a lion in the plains. 



 Interesting.  Cat Psychology.  I should write a book.




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Monday, June 17, 2013

Still Just Happy June~*

What a whirlwind of a long weekend we've had.

Farmer's Market & Father's Day, now with more llama.
 

We managed to pull off a fishy Thing 3 room redo whilst she was vacationing with Stretch's family.


And a sweet owl pillow for Natalie, the winner of A Cat Like Curiosity giveaway extravaganza.


But more on those things later.

With our summer schedules, neither my husband nor I are teaching Fridays.  So every weekend this summer is a 3-day weekend.  Well, technically, I have 4-day weekends, since I only teach Tuesday & Thursdays.

Just in case you missed it, I love my job.  I love being able to share with others all the stuff I find endlessly fascinating & get paid for it.  I love prepping lectures & finding pictures & making movies & forming powerpoints.  I love teaching.  I love the timing.  I love my job.

Academics rocks.  Mostly.  I do hate grading.  And paperwork. Oooh, and I'm not very good on committees.

Anyway.

We are getting a ton of things done, and have a few more up our sleeves.  Finishing the guest room/craft room, repainting the living room & at long last a repaint of the master bedroom.

I love projects & change & DIY-ing.

So happy.  June is awesome~*












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Friday, June 14, 2013

Working for the Weekend With Giveaway Goodies & Maxi Dresses For All

A fairly low key weekend planned for us.  Farmer's Market on Saturday {look for pics on instagram} & a trip to the hardware store.  A surprise room fix up for Thing 3 {shhhhhh, don't tell her} and a planned skype chat with a fellow blogger Saturday afternoon.  Sunday will find me painting & primping & finishing up a variety of projects.  An owl pillow for Natalie {giveaway winner} & other goodies.  And all my favorite hops for the weekend too {check my sidebar & join in the fun}




A fun weekend & good times.

OH!!  Don't forget about the eShakti code for $40 OFF for a first time order of $55.00 or more 
THEC1HEC

Its only good until July 15th, so don't waste time.  And for those of you who have asked about my dress, its back in stock here:  http://www.eshakti.com/Product/CL0027468/Graphic-bloom-print-maxi-dress  .  Trust me, its gorgeous and sooooo comfie.  You won't regret it {& we can be fashion twinsies!}.  And with the code, its a real bargain!


Speaking of a good bargain...FREE is always a good bargain.  And there are a lot of free goodies on the Tales of Beauty for Ashes giveaway, so you best all enter now while there is still time!  You can enter below~*

And before I leave you to the weekend, be sure to visit all my friends as they answer their Five Among Friends questions.  You can find them in my sidebar, or by clicking the links below!






The Closet Intellectual
| Crafty Spices
| Dawn's Disaster
| Dream Brite
| Everyday Bloom
| Just Pirouette and Carry On
| Lady Lund
| My Mom's a Whack Job
| Secret Obsession
| Squishable Baby
| Closet Intellectual



Make this weekend one to remember!  See you Monday my friends~*

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